1. Human Cognitive Development
TOPIC 4
Human Cognitive Development
Dr. Yasmin Ahmad
Thinking Skill Teams
UUW322- KEMAHIRAN BERFIKIR
THINKING SKILL

2. Introduction
Cognitive Development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology
It focuses on a child’s development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning and other aspects of brain development.
Theory of cognitive development was first introduced by Jean Piaget.

4. Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget ( ) was employed at the Binet’s Institute in the 1920s, where his job was to develop French versions of questions on English intelligence tests.

5. He became intrigued with the reasons children gave for their wrong answers on the questions that required logical thinking.
He was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development.

6. The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using hypotheses.

7. To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience.

8. Basic Components to Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory
Schemas (building blocks of knowledge)
Processes that enable the transition from one stage to another (equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation)
Stages of Development:
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete operational
Formal operation

9. Schema
Schemas are units of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions and abstract (i.e. theoretical) concepts.
When a child’s existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e. a state of cognitive (mental) balance.

10. Assimilation
Piaget viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation, which happens through:
Assimilation – Which is using an existing schema to deal with new object or situation.
Accommodation - This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.

11. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

12. Sensorimotor Stage A period of rapid cognitive growth
From birth to 2 years
A period of rapid cognitive growth
Initially equipped with a set of reflex movements and a set of perceptual systems
Infant begins to build up direct knowledge of world around him/her, by relating physical actions to perceived results of those actions

14. Through the processes of assimilation and accommodation, these actions become progressively adapted to the world
Key feature: Object permanence
Object permanence means knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden

16. Preoperational Stage From 2 to 7 years
Children at this stage can mentally represent events and objects, and engage in symbolic play
At this stage, their thoughts and communications are typically egocentric

17. Egocentrism refers to the child’s inability to see from another person’s point of view
Children at this stage also display animism (the belief that inanimate objects have human feelings and intention)
Key feature: Egocentrism

19. “Children live in a world of imagination and feeling… they invest the most insignificant object with any form they please, and see in whatever they wish to see ” ( Adam,G. 1857)

20. Concrete Operational Stage
From 7-11 years
This stage is a major turning point in the child’s cognitive development, because it marks the beginning of logical and operational thought

21. The child is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i
The child is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i.e rules) but can only apply to physical objects
Children become less egocentric and better at conservation tasks.

22. Conservation is defined as ‘the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes’
Their thinking is more organized and rational
They can solve problems in a logical, but are typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically
Key feature: Conservation

25. Some Dimensions of Conservation: Number, Matter, and Length
Type of conservation
Number
Matter
Length
Initial presentation
Two identical rows of objects shown to child
Two identical balls of clay shown to child
Two sticks are aligned in front of child
Manipulation
One row is spaced
Experimenter changes shape of one ball
Experimenter moves one stick to right
Preoperational child’s answer to “Are they still the same?”
“No, the longer row has more”
“No, the longer one has more”
“No, the one on top is longer”
Figure 8.9

26. Formal Operation From 11 years to adulthood
As the adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in abstract manner, the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way, and the capacity for higher-order reasoning.

27. The child begins to manipulate ideas in his/her head, without any dependence on concrete manipulation
S/he can think creatively, use abstract reasoning, and imagine the outcome of particular actions.
Key feature: Manipulate ideas in head, abstract reasoning.

29. “Every adult is in need of help, of warmth, of protection
“Every adult is in need of help, of warmth, of protection.. In many ways differing from and yet in many ways similar to the needs of the child”. (Erich Fromm, The Sane Society. 1955)

30. Thank you for your attention
The End
Thank you for your attention