{"id":37194,"date":"2022-03-28T10:40:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T17:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.mainelyseo.com\/cdi-upgrade\/?page_id=37194"},"modified":"2022-03-28T07:43:08","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T14:43:08","slug":"intellectual-and-cognitive-development-in-children-and-teens","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/childdevelopmentinfo.com\/child-development\/intellectual-and-cognitive-development-in-children-and-teens\/","title":{"rendered":"Intellectual and Cognitive Development in Children and Teens"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen parents usually think about intellectual or cognitive development they are thinking more about learning academic skills and building a knowledge base. They usually limit their concept to knowing colors, recognizing shapes, learning the alphabet, and for sure the \u201c3Rs\u201d consisting of reading, writing, and arithmetic. However, cognitive and intellectual development is much broader than that. Cognitive development and intellectual development really focuses on the way changes in the brain occur related to how we think and learn as we grow. Children do not just know less than adults do, there are differences in the very way that they think about and understand their experiences. The Chart below provides a better picture of what we mean by cognitive development.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Milestone<\/strong><\/td>\nDescription<\/strong><\/td>\nApproximate Age <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Early object permanence.<\/td>\nFollows an object out of sight, searches for\na partially hidden object.<\/td>\n 4-8 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Object permanence<\/td>\nSearches for an object completely hidden from view<\/td>\n 9-12 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cause and effect<\/td>\n Realizes his\/her action causes another action or is\nlinked to a response<\/td>\n 9 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Functional use of objects<\/td>\nRealizes what objects are used for<\/td>\n 12-15 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Representational play<\/td>\nPretends to use objects functionally on others,\nor dolls<\/td>\n 18 months<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Symbolic play<\/td>\nUses an object to symbolize something else during\npretend play<\/td>\n 2-3 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pre-academic skills<\/td>\nKnows letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and counts<\/td>\n 3-5 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Logical thinking<\/td>\nUnderstands conservation of matter, multistep\nproblem-solving; realizes there can be differing perspectives<\/td>\n 6-12 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Abstract thinking<\/td>\nAble to hypothesize, think abstractly, draw conclusions<\/td>\n >13 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nJean Piaget was a Swiss biologist and psychologist who developed theories of cognitive development based on his observation of children and through experiments with children to discover how they learn and develop and to determine at what age they acquire various knowledge and skills.  Piaget saw intelligence as an active, constructive, and dynamic process. He stated that the mistakes children make in their thinking indicate the nature of their thought processes.  As children develop, the structure of their thinking changes and these new modes of thought are based on the earlier structures which he named schemes.\n\nAccording to Piaget\u2019s theory, children are naturally curious and begin to explore and experiment and build their knowledge base and skill set as they move along.  In a way children and like \u201clittle scientists\u201d.  At some point, a baby will touch an object like something on a crib mobile and will notice that it moves.  He\/she then try this with other objects.  As their brain and physical development mature they have a greater capacity to explore their world.  Through play and interaction with others in their environment, young children to learn new things and add them to their database because there is always a discrepancy between what they know and what they need to know.\n\nPiaget theorized that there were two processes a child employs as they try to make more sense of their ever-expanding world.  He defines these as (1) Assimilation in which they continue to discover new information which they try to fit into one of their schemes and (2) Accommodation is when the new information does not exactly fit into one of their schemes, the child modifies the scheme to accommodate the new information.  This process repeats itself each time a child discovers something new.\n\nThrough his observations, Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development<\/span>:\n
    \n \t
  1. Sensorimotor stage (birth-2 years)<\/li>\n \t
  2. Preoperational stage (2-7 years)<\/li>\n \t
  3. Concrete operational stage (7-12 years)<\/li>\n \t
  4. Formal operational stage (12 years and older)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nWhile Piaget thought that children were programmed to move from one stage to the next as their brain developed, another theorist, Lev Vygotsky stated that cognitive development takes place a result of social interactions with others.  He refers to this as Social Constructivism.  He described three ways in which knowledge and skills are shared with a child by a more experienced person.  He defined them as (1) Zone of Proximal Development which is what a child cannot do alone but could do with a little assistance from a person with greater skills and knowledge, (2) Scaffolding which involves a more knowledgeable person helping the child to acquire new piece of information or learn a new skill and (3) Private Speech in which the child talks to himself, often out loud, to guide his own actions.\n\nParents may see their child trying to do something and come alongside and show them how to do it and then talk the child through the process until they are doing it on their own.  In other situations, a parent may feel that a child is ready to learn something like doing a simple board puzzle or learning shapes and colors.  They will present the child with the materials and let the child try on their own and if they are having difficulty they will guide them.  During these experiences, the child is not only learning new things but continues to bond with the parent as well as socialize by which they develop socialization skills and language skills as well.  When children start school they receive more formal instruction.  Most schools base their approach to teaching based on the theories of both Piaget and Vygotsky.\n\nThe role of the parent is to spend time observing and interacting with their child and provide opportunities for them to learn and develop by exposing them to new things by taking them to interesting places or providing materials at home including a household object, toys, and books.  Play with parents, solo play and play with other children is key to a child developing not only promote cognitive development but physical, social and language development as well.  Play means interacting with people and objects not watching videos or playing electronic games.  Play also means going outside to explore and engage in physical activity.  Research is finding that lack of exercise and over-exposure to electronics of all kinds results in poor physical development as well as impairment in attention and concentration.\n\n
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    <\/span>Tips for Parents<\/div>
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    A Few Things Parents Can Do To Promote Cognitive Development<\/h3>\n