(c) McGraw-Hill 2011

1. Chapter 8:
Cognition
McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

2. The Cognitive Experience
• Cognitive Experience is:
– The process of gathering, organizing, and using
information in order to adapt to the world
– Primarily unseen
– Behind all areas of development
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3. Sensorimotor Experience
• Jean Piaget created theories about how children
come to know about their world.
• The Sensorimotor Stage is Piaget’s first stage in
development.
– Children from birth to age 2 are in the sensorimotor
stage.
– Sensorimotor refers to the coordination of sense
perception and muscle movements.
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4. Sensorimotor Experience
• Assimilation refers to the process of taking in new
information and processing it.
• Accommodation describes what happens when
this new information refines or expands previous
mental categories.
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5. Sensorimotor Experience
• Infants acknowledge the existence of things that
they can see, touch, taste, smell, or hear.
• Young infants lack object permanence.
– Object permanence is the ability to remember an
object or person even though it cannot be seen,
touched, smelled, or heard.
– Gaining awareness of object permanence is a gradual
process.
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6. Preoperational Stage
• The Preoperational Stage is characterized by the beginning of
language and the ability to pretend.
• Preoperational children can still use mental images for their thinking
process.
• Children in this stage have increased memory of past events.
• Children in this stage have an improved ability to predict.
? Have you noticed 2-year olds who are beginning to use symbols
and better reasoning skills?
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7. Piaget’s Major Points
• Piaget believed knowledge is functional.
• Piaget believed children construct new knowledge as they
grow and mature.
• Piaget believed that there is a connection between
successive periods of development.
• Piaget referred to children’s ability to construct a plan as
intentionality.
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8. Vygotsky’s Major Points
• Vygotsky believed that cognitive activities stem
from social interactions.
• Vygotsky believed that knowledge is co-
constructed.
• The Zone of Proximal Development
– Vygotsky used this term to identify the difference
between what children can do on their own and what
they can further do with guidance.
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9. Vygotsky’s Major Points
• Vygotsky believed that:
– Language plays a vital role in cognition
– Problem solving works best in a positive, responsive
environment
– The sharing of cultural activities between child and
adult helps children understand their world
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10. Pretend Play
What are differences between
1-year old pretend play and
2-year old pretend play?
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11. Supporting Cognitive Development
• Cognitive Development depends on security and
attachment.
– Children whose needs are met consistently will feel
trusting and comfortable.
• Children who feel comfortable will explore their
environment.
– Exploring the environment leads to cognitive development!
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12. Supporting Cognitive Development
• To support cognitive development:
– Invite and encourage exploration and curiosity
– Encourage children to interact with one another to
solve problems
– Introduce vocabulary and whole language
development naturally, don’t force
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13. Supporting Cognitive Development
• To support cognitive development:
– Plan opportunities for creativity
– Use discovery-oriented, hands-on, collaborative and
open-ended experiences
Are flashcards and drills appropriate for
toddlers? Why or why not?
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14. Children with Special Needs
• Early Childhood Inclusion
– Learning about the world in a natural setting, or as
least restrictive as possible, is significant for the
development and learning of young children with
special needs.
– Access to a wide range of learning opportunities and
play-based activities and environments is a key
characteristic of high-quality early childhood inclusion
programs.
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15. Children with Special Needs
• Early Childhood Inclusion
– Benefits children with and without disabilities,
caregivers, and families.
• Inclusion programs provide better developmental outcomes,
skills learned in a natural setting, peer models for social
interactions and competence
• Provides greater understanding and opportunity for diverse
friendships
• Modifications for the included child can result in more creative
problem solving for all children
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16. Online Learning Center
• See Chapter 8 of the text’s Online Learning
Center for chapter quizzes, Theory Into Action
activities, Video Observations, and more.
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