PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH ON A RESEARCH ARTICLE

Psychology Research on a Research Article

Cognitive Development

Introduction

The topic of cognitive development is a center of Piaget's article and research. However, during childhood there is the greatest amount of change and the most dramatic development. Therefore the developments that occur during the period of birth to adolescence are commonly the focus of developmental psychology. Developmental psychology includes the study of all aspects of children's psychological development. This includes physical, social, language, and emotional, intellectual and cognitive development. Chapters 12 (Cognitive Development) of this book focuses upon different aspects of cognitive development. However, it should be noted that there is an increasing amount of research into adulthood, and research including adulthood is becoming known as life span development. (Piaget, 1972)

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What is cognitive development?

In the article, Piaget used the word cognitive, which means to know. Therefore cognitive activities include all the psychological processes and activities involved in thinking and knowing. These include how information is acquired, processed and organized. Cognitive development is the study of how these processes develop in children and young people, and how they become more efficient and effective in their understanding of the world and in their mental processes. According to Piaget, children's thinking is not the same as adult thinking. As a child develops, their thinking changes, and cognitive development is the study of these changes and developments. Cognitive psychology includes the study of memory and perception. Cognitive development includes the study of a number of areas but those covered within this book will be:

Theories of cognitive development. The theories of Piaget and Vygotsky will be discussed and reference will also be made to the information processing approaches. These theories have been applied to education and the ways in which they have been applied will be discussed

The development of measured intelligence. Of central importance to this area is the debate around nature and nurture (see later). Issues of genetics, environmental and cultural factors will be considered.

The development of moral understanding. The theories of Kohlberg and Piaget will inform the discussion of the development of moral understanding. It is also important to consider Eisenberg's theory of pro-social reasoning as this offers an alternative explanation of children's moral development. The influence of gender and culture on this area of cognitive development is also an important factor to consider.

Issues in cognitive development

There are three key issues which relate to the study of cognitive development. Nature refers to inherited factors, especially genes, and includes events that occur as the child naturally matures, e.g. puberty. Nurture refers to the environment the child develops in and this includes the experiences that each child has throughout their development. The fundamental question concerns what influences development, nature or nurture - but more than this, how much does each influence and how does this influence occur? The nature/nurture debate is especially important in the discussion of the development of measured intelligence.

This debate is central to many other issues considered within developmental psychology such as physical abilities, personality and ...