Cognition and Development

Psychologists have proposed many theories and attempted to support them via research to explain how cognition develops. These evolve and adapt with age from our thoughts, experiences, environment and senses.

Cognition, Flaticon

Theories of cognition and development in psychology

Piaget and Vygotsky have proposed two major theories of cognitive development. Both of the theories aim to explain how cognitive skills develop in infants.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Piaget was the first to identify how children and adults think differently. Before this, children were thought to have smaller versions of adult brains.

Piaget argued we learn thinking gradually as children as we go through the four stages of cognitive development.

We identify Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development below.

Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development, Sharon Thind -StudySmarter Originals

Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

Vygotsky’s approach to understanding cognitive development is through social constructivism. The theory argues that cognitive development occurs because of social interactions.

Vygotsky claimed that infants are born with basic cognitive abilities. These are called elementary mental functions. The basic elements develop into higher mental functions as the infant interacts more with its sociocultural environment.

People thus learn cognitive skills, such as cultural views, values and problem-solving skills, from more knowledgeable people (this theory is known as the zone of proximal development) via language. Vygotsky notes that talking and understanding language are crucial aspects of cognitive development.

Differences between Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of cognitive development

Both Vygotsky and Piaget proposed theories of cognitive development. There are noticeable differences between both of them, which we summarise in the table below.

Moral development in childhood

Moral development is thought to depend on the standards of individuals’ cultures and views of those we share our environment with. Rules, laws, and the standards of the society that we live in also influence our morals.

Stages of moral development

Kohlberg proposed the stages of moral development. This theory states that there are three levels of moral development, each developed in two stages. The three stages are:

1. Preconventional (typically lasts until nine years old):
   • Result of obedience and punishment – behaving in a way that avoids punishment.
   • Individualism and exchange – children begin to understand there is more than one right way, e.g. adults have different views of right and wrong.
2. Conventional:
   • Good interpersonal relationships – the moral is centred around being seen as a ‘good’ person.
   • Maintaining social order – morals, views, and rules of society are obeyed to avoid punishment.
3. Postconventional:
   • Social contract and individual rights – the realisation that rules/laws may be in place to serve the interests of wider society. However, these may not benefit or be of interest to them.
   • Universal principles – developing moral guidelines.

Early infant abilities

It is debated amongst psychologists whether infants’ abilities are innate (born with) or a result of interactions with the environment.

Baillargeon explanation of early infant abilities

Baillargeon proposed infants are born with a physical reasoning system (PRS), i.e., basic skills that allow them to understand basic concepts of the world. The PRS develops through experience, and so it gets more sophisticated as the infants observe phenomena.

Baillargeon’s theory assumes that infants’ understanding of objects and the physical world is better than what other researchers, such as Piaget, predicted.

Baillargeon challenged Piaget’s theory of object permanence and the novelty of new stimuli through the violation of expectation research. Here, she presented an object to an infant until they became familiar with it (repeated exposure removing novelty).

Then, the object was used in two scenarios. In this instance, it was a drawbridge that could be lowered. An item was placed in its path, and the infant was observed.

In one scenario, the object blocked the path of the drawbridge, which is the expected scenario. In the second instance, the drawbridge passed through the object and is the unexpected scenario. They found that infants tended to look longer at the unexpected scenario, as it was an ‘impossible event’.

The development of social cognition

Social cognition typically develops during childhood and adolescence. During the development of social cognition, individuals start seeing the world from their perspective. In addition. they begin to understand that others have different perspectives of the world.

Theory of mind

The Sally-Anne test

The Sally-Anne test is a famous example of testing the theory of mind. It is a scenario that is put forwards to a child.

• Sally has a basket and Anne has a box. Sally places an item in her basket and goes for a walk. Anne takes the item out of the basket and puts it into her box. Sally comes back and wants to use the item.
• Researchers would then ask where Sally would look.

The correct answer is based on the belief question, in that Sally would look in her basket, as she doesn’t know it’s been moved. From Sally’s perspective, the item is still in the basket. This is a different perspective from the child being asked, and if the child says Sally will look in Anne’s box, then they would be wrong and fail the test.

Passing is seen as an understanding of the theory of mind.

The Sally-Anne Test in theory of mind, Tyler Smith - StudySmarter Originals

Having a theory of mind is essential for cognitive development as it is a skill to predict and interpret own and others’ behaviour. It is also crucial for improving and maintaining interpersonal relationships.