Cognitive Development and Language Resource Used: Anita Woolfolks Educational Psychology: Ninth Edition I. Human Development A.

Development - changes that happen in humans between the moment life begins and death. B. Physical Development - changes in the body C. Personal Development - changes in personality D. Social Development - changes in the way a person relates to others E. Cognitive Development - changes in thinking F. Maturation - development that cannot be achieved through learning II. General Principles of Development A. Humans develop at different rates. B. Development occurs in a logical order. C. Development occurs gradually. III. The Brain A. Cerebral Cortex 1. Develops slowly. 2. Not all parts develop at the same rate. 3. Functions involving the cerebral cortex are physical motor movement, complex senses, and higher-order thinking processes 4. It takes at least 20 years for the cerebral cortex to fully develop. 5. Lateralization means that one side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body. B. Neurons send and receive important messages in the brain. IV. Piaget A. Developmental Influences 1. Maturation 2. Activity 3. Social Transmission 4. Learning B. Tendencies in Thinking 1. Organization is the layering of simple thoughts or tasks to create more difficult

sequences in thoughts or doings. a. Schemes are the basic building blocks of cognition. 2. Adaptation is the tendency/ability to adapt to ones environment. a. Assimilation is the process of understanding new things by fitting them into what we already comprehend. b. Accommodation is when we adjust ourselves to a new situation by changing the way we think instead of changing the information we are given. 3. Equilibration is when people try to balance their situations, usually by means of organizing, assimilating, and accommodating. C. Four Stages of Development 1. Sensorimotor a. 0-2 years b. Object permanence c. Goal-directed actions 2. Preoperational a. 2-7 years b. Semiotic function - ability to use symbols when the object referred to is absent c. Reversible thinking d. Conservation e. Decentering - inability to look at multiple parts of a situation simultaneously. f. Egocentric g. Collective monologue - talking without conversation or interaction 3. Concrete Operational a. 7-11 years b. Compensation c. Reversibility d. Classification e. Seriation 4. Formal Operational

a. 11 years - adult b. Hypothetico-deductive reasoning - identify problematic factors, deduce, and systematically evaluate solutions c. Adolescent egocentrism D. Relating Theory to Teaching 1. Education is about helping children HOW to learn. 2. Observe children and the way they attempt to solve problems, and get to know their strategies. 3. Many ability levels will exist in your classroom. Dont allow students to be bored or left behind. 4. Encourage growth. 5. All ow students to act, try new things, watch, and then tell each other and the teacher about what they have just done. 6. Playing is necessary. V. Vygotsky A. Sociocultural Perspective and Social Sources of Individual Thinking 1. The role cooperative dialogues in development between children and their elders is accented. 2. Human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be separated from these setting to be understood. 3. Co-constructed - high mental processes happen between people before they are internalized B. Cultural Tools and Cognitive Development 1. Cultural tools play paramount roles in developing ones thinking. a. Real tools such as printers, computers, and internet b. Symbolic tools such as numbers, languages, and art 2. High-order mental processes are gone through with the help of language, signs, and symbols. C. Language and Private Speech 1. Cultures make up words for things that matter to them. 2. Small children who babble to themselves (or use private speech) are making cognitive progress.

D. Role of Learning and Development - Learning is an active process and aids in developing cognitive immaturities in children. E. Relating Theory to Teaching 1. Assisted Learning - guided classroom participation 2. Scaffolding - Give prompts, reminders, and guidance correctly so as to allow students to become more independent. a. Procedural Facilitators b. Modeling use of facilitators c. Thinking out loud d. Anticipating difficult areas e. Providing prompt or cue cards f. Regulating difficulty g. Providing half-done examples h. Reciprocal teaching i. Providing checklists 3. Make sure students have access to tools and use dialogue and group learning. 4. Zone of Proximal Development a. Child is not successful alone and needs the guidance of someone more experienced. b. Kids function best when they are able to understand but have support in case they need it. VI. Development of Language A. Biological and experiential B. Listen for patterns around them C. School Years 1. Pronunciation - Children may understand words but use others they can say with ease. 2. Syntax - Many children take a long time to use passive form when speaking and writing. 3. Vocabulary and Meaning - A childs vocabulary will grow rapidly, especially at the earlier ages, and it takes a long time before children understand jokes and sarcasm.

4. Pragmatics - Children have the ability to change their manner/way of speaking to fit whom they are talking to. 5. Metalinguistic Awareness - They have the ability to study some parts of language. 6. Partnerships with Families - Children learn from parents/guardians and families in their early years about language.