COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Cognition are higher-level functions of the brain and
encompass, Thinking, Knowing, Remembering, Judging, Problem Solving, Language,
Imagination, Perception and Planning. Cognitive development is otherwise called
as Intellectual development. Cognitive or
intellectual development means the growth of a child's ability to think and
reason. It's about how they organize their minds, ideas and thoughts to
make sense of the world they live in.
ASPECTS OF INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
1. Intelligence
Intelligence is the ability to
learn and apply knowledge. Intelligence tests reveal that intellectual growth
is rapid in infancy, moderate in childhood and slow in Youth.
2. Sensation to Perception
Sensation refers to the process
of sensing our environment through touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell. This
information is sent to our brains in raw form where perception comes into play.
Perception is the way we interpret these sensations and therefore make sense of
everything around us.
Sensation becomes a perception
when meaning is attached to it. Senses mature by the age of five. Children usually misrepresent sensation. Perception 'organizes and refines' in adolescence.
We can sense everything in the environment, light, colors, shapes, smells etc.
and all this information is sent to our brain. If we would become conscious of
every little detail that surrounds us, our brain would be overwhelmed.
Perception makes the selection
and chooses the relevant sensations to be processed and turned into
perceptions. For example, if you see an aeroplane in the sky, it may look like
a bird but our perception makes us realize that it is a big object and it is an
aero plane with two wings and hence resembles a big bird.
3. Concept-Formation
Concept Formation is another
important aspect of intellectual development. It is the highest level of
thinking and is the re-organizing aspect of a perception. Concepts are learned
through experience. Children's first
concepts are concrete, identified by sensory qualities. As we grow, we acquire more abstract or
theoretical concepts by building on our earlier concrete ideas.
For example a young child may understand the
concept of a cow. Broadening on this concept, he/ she may acquire the concepts
of 'farm' and 'farm animals'. A more abstract concept is Farming'- and
ultimately an older child will understand the concept of
"agriculture", a completely abstract concept.
A concept is a generalization
that helps to organize information into categories. For example, the concept
"square" is used to describe those things that have four equal sides
and four right angles. Thus the concept categorizes things whose properties
meet the set requirements.
Children acquire concepts similar
to the way they acquire language. They apply labels and name things
imitatively, like pointing and saying "dog". Through conditioning,
children will generalize concepts (e.g. saying 'dog' for other small
four-legged animals like cats and pigs) as well as discriminate between them
(e.g. saying 'dog' for animals that play with them, but saying 'horse' for
animals that people ride on Development of concepts is fiom vague to clear or
from concrete to abstract. Child has poor concept of 'time' but by learning to
discriminate, the child's concepts becomes clear, definite and specific.
4. Language Development
Language development contributes to mental development.
Language according to Jean Piaget (1896-1980), develops between two to seven
years of age. Language development reflects child's cognitive abilities and
limitations. From eighteen months to five years of age, a child's vocabulary
quickly expands from about fifty words
to several thousand words. Children can begin to name and to actively ask
about objects and events. By the time the child is two years he begins to put
words together in short phrases, progressing to form simple sentences. Mothers and fathers play a huge part in
forming the child's language. Mothers typically adjust their speech to fit
the child's level. This is called motherese.
It is found in practically every culture on the planet and it has certain
common characteristics: The "sentences" are very short, there is a
lot of repetition and redundancy, there is a sing-song quality to it, and it
contains many special "baby words." It also is embedded in the
context of the immediate surroundings, with constant reference to things nearby
and activities that are going on here-and-now. The speech and language
development of a child would normally be as follows:
|
Age |
Language
Development |
|
Birth |
Sounds |
|
0-3 Months |
Differentiating
cries- baby uses s different cry for different situations |
|
4-6 Months |
Vocal Play-
gurgling, Babbling |
|
7-12 Months |
Speech like
babbling including the use of consonants and vowels. First
words-"mama", "doggie |
|
1-2 Years |
Use of two word
questions-"No doggie"?, "where ball |
|
2-3 Years |
Two/three word
utterances. Use of attributes- "Big", "Furry |
|
3-4 Years |
Combination of four
or more words in sentences form |
|
4-5 Years |
Use of long and
detailed sentences. Use of "adult like" grammar |
5. Memory Development
Memory is the store-house of our
earlier experience. Brain-cells memorize experiences. Brain-cells are called
neurons. Hurlock and Schwa analyze (1932) that memory impressions form in the
first six months. True remembrance begins by the first year. Memory is strong
for persons and objects in the first two years. The child recounts a story by three years. Rote memory is strong up to early childhood and logical memory develops
towards late childhood and adolescence.
Memory
is divided into short-term or working memory, in which
information can be stored and manipulated for about twenty seconds and long-term memory, in which
information can be stored permanently. Intellectual Development Long-term
memory can be further divided into storage of procedures or skills, such as how
to tie a shoe, and storage of explicit or declarative memories, such as
memories of personal events or of general knowledge about the world. The study
of the development of each of these systems can aid in understanding the
cognitive abilities of both children and adults.
6. Creativity
It refers to the ability to think in novel
ways. It is at the root of human progress and can be developed at young age.
When we think of creativity, we think of Mozart, Picasso, Einstein-people with
a seemingly fated convergence of talent and opportunity. All sorts of people,
possessing various levels of intelligence and natural ability, are capable of
engaging in fulfilling creative processes.
7. Problem-Solving.
Thinking and reasoning powers
grow around two and a half to three year onwards. Problem solving skills
require a person to understand the problem, create a plan to solve the problem,
see the plan through and review the plan to ensure that the problem is solved
and is not repeated.
8. Positive Thinking
Holistic and healthy personality is based on 'positive
thinking'. Thoughts of confidence give strength to face difficulties. Thus
Positive thinking results in success.
Some intellectual development milestones you
may notice in five and six-year-olds include:
- Vocabulary increasing to 2,000
words, sentences of five or more words.
- Can count up to 10 objects at one
time, can copy complex shapes.
- Begin to reason and argue, uses
words like why and because.
- Understand concepts like
yesterday, today and tomorrow.
- Are able to sit at a desk, follow
teacher instructions and do simple assignments independently.
Some intellectual development milestones you
may notice in seven to 11-year-olds include:
- A longer attention span and
willing to take on more responsibility such as chores.
- Understand fractions, money and the
concept of space.
- Can tell time and name months and
days of week in order.
- Enjoy reading a book on their own.
Adolescents aged 12 to 18 are capable of
complex thinking. This includes the ability to:
- Think abstractly about
possibilities.
- Reason from known principles,
forming own new ideas or questions.
- Consider many points of view,
comparing or debating ideas or opinions.
- Thinking about the process of
thinking, being aware of the act of thought processes.
Cognitive development
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that
children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory
focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on
understanding the nature of intelligence. Piaget's stages are:
- Sensorimotor
stage: birth to 2 years
- Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
- Concrete
operational stage: ages 7 to 11
- Formal
operational stage: ages 12 and up
The
Sensorimotor Stage- Ages: Birth to 2 Years
- The infant knows the world through
their movements and sensations
- Children learn about the world
through basic actions such as sucking, grasping, looking, and listening
- Infants learn that things continue
to exist even though they cannot be seen (object
permanence)
- They are separate beings from the
people and objects around them.
- They realize that their actions
can cause things to happen in the world around them
The
Preoperational Stage -Ages: 2 to 7 Years
- Children begin to think
symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects.
- Children at this stage tend to be
egocentric and struggle to see things from the perspective of others.
- While
they are getting better with language and thinking, they still tend to
think about things in very concrete terms.
The Concrete Operational
Stage-Ages: 7 to 11 Years
- During this stage, children begin
to thinking logically about concrete events
- They begin to understand the
concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is
equal to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example
- Their thinking becomes more
logical and organized, but still very concrete
- Children
begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to a
general principle
The Formal Operational
Stage-Ages: 12 and Up
- At this stage, the adolescent or
young adult begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical
problems
- Abstract thought emerges
- Teens begin to think more about
moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that require
theoretical and abstract reasoning
- Begin
to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific
information
The following activities for Intellectual Development
of the child can be practiced by the teacher.
1.
Story
(-making), (-telling), (-writing) and (-listening)
2. Picture - (-completion) and
(-coloring)
3. Jigsaw puzzles
4. Role-playing:-to clarify concept
of team games, dowry etc.
5. Seed-germination by real experimentation
6. Paper cut-work and pasting
7. Quiz-questioning & Word-building
games
8. Imaginary Compositions
story-completion, essay-writing
9. Debates and brain-storming (ideas
as a word or sentence on any topic)
10.
Problem-solving
opportunities
11.
Rhymes and
simple songs
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