3.4 - Cognitive Development Across the Lifespan

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

• Core Idea: Children actively construct their understanding of the world through interactions with their environment.

• Schemas: Mental frameworks that organize and interpret information.

  • Assimilation: Fitting new information into existing schemas.

  • Accommodation: Adjusting or creating new schemas to fit new information.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years):

   • Infants learn through their senses and actions.

   • Key Milestone: Object Permanence - Understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of sight.

2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years):

   • Children develop symbolic thinking and language but are limited by:

     • Egocentrism: Difficulty seeing things from another person's perspective.

     • Lack of Conservation: Not understanding that quantity remains the same even if appearance changes.

3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years):

   • Children begin to think logically about concrete events and objects.

   • Key Milestones:

     • Master Conservation

     • Understand basic math operations

4. Formal Operational Stage (12+ years):

   • Adolescents develop abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking.

   • Can think about possibilities and solve problems systematically.

Piaget's Theory

• Piaget's Influence: His stage theory remains influential, but modern research suggests:

• Development is a continuous process, not always in distinct stages.

• Children may achieve certain cognitive skills earlier than Piaget proposed.

• Formal logic is just one aspect of cognition; other forms of thinking are important too.

Vygotsky’s Theory of Social Learning

• Vygotsky believed that children are social learners, meaning they learn best through interactions with others in their cultural and social environments.

• Scaffolding: Learning is supported by more knowledgeable individuals, such as parents, teachers, or peers, who provide guidance and help the child build new skills.

• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): This is the range of tasks that a child can perform with help but cannot yet perform independently. Learning is most effective when it takes place within this zone, where the child is challenged but supported.

Late Adulthood (65+ years)

• Cognitive Changes:

  • Fluid Intelligence (declines): Ability to reason and solve new problems.

  • Crystallized Intelligence (stable): Accumulated knowledge and skills.

  • Memory:

    • Slower processing speed affects memory retrieval.

    • Episodic memory (personal events) is most affected by age.

    • Staying mentally and physically active can help preserve memory.

  • Dementia: Loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — to such an extent that it interferes with a person's daily life and activities.