Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Stages of cognitive development - Coggle Diagram
Stages of cognitive development
Stage 1 : sensorimotor stage (birth - 2 years old)
It requires the ability of mental representation and Development of object permanence
Object permanence : The ability to remember an object even if it disappears and the awareness that the object still exist
Mental representation: Develop the capacity to remember and copy the behaviour of models who are not present
cognitive milestones :
birth - 1month : reflexes and simple inborn behaviours ( crying , grasping )
1-4months : refine simple behaviour, repeat and combine them ( reaching , sucking )
4-8months : repeat activities using objects , limited imitation (make something move and attempt to make it move again)
8-12months : intentionally plan a movement (pull string to bring a toy closer)
12-18months:: accurate A-B Search (search for hidden objects that has been moved)
18months -2years : imagine events through mental combination and use words to solve problems (throw a ball and calls out saying “here ball”)
Development of language and the use of mental symbols
Concentration
It is the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation at a time. When a child can focus on more than one aspect of a situation at the same time they have the ability to decenter.
During this stage children have difficulties thinking about more than one aspect of any situation at the same time; and they have trouble decentering in social situation just as they do in non-social contexts
Egocentrism
Childrens' thoughts and communications are typically egocentric (i.e. about themselves). Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view.
According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as the child does.
play
At the beginning of this stage you often find children engaging in parallel play. That is to say they often play in the same room as other children but they play next to others rather than with them.
Each child is absorbed in its own private world and speech is egocentric. That is to say the main function of speech at this stage is to externalize the child’s thinking rather than to communicate with others.
As yet the child has not grasped the social function of either language or rules.
Symbolic Representation
This is the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than itself. Language is perhaps the most obvious form of symbolism that young children display.
The early preoperational period (ages 2-3) is marked by a dramatic increase in children’s use of the symbolic function.
However, Piaget (1951) argues that language does not facilitate cognitive development, but merely reflects what the child already knows and contributes little to new knowledge. He believed cognitive development promotes language development, not vice versa.
Symbolic/Representational thinking evolved and advanced from deferred imitation which has developed towards the end of sensorimotor stage
Pretend (or symbolic) Play
Toddlers often pretend to be people they are not (e.g. superheroes, policeman), and may play these roles with props that symbolize real life objects. Children may also invent an imaginary playmate.
As the pre-operational stage develops egocentrism declines and children begin to enjoy the participation of another child in their games and “lets pretend “ play becomes more important.
For this to work there is going to be a need for some way of regulating each child’s relations with the other and out of this need we see the beginnings of an orientation to others in terms of rules.
Animism
This is the belief that inanimate objects (such as toys and teddy bears) have human feelings and intentions. By animism Piaget (1929) meant that for the pre-operational child the world of nature is alive, conscious and has a purpose.
Piaget has identified four stages of animism
Up to the ages 4 or 5 years, the child believes that almost everything is alive and has a purpose.
During the second stage (5-7 years) only objects that move have a purpose.
In the next stage (7-9 years), only objects that move spontaneously are thought to be alive.
In the last stage (9-12 years), the child understands that only plants and animals are alive.
Artificialism
belief that certain aspects of the environment are manufactured by people
Irreversibility
inability to reverse the direction of a sequence of events to their starting point