Cognitive Development in Children

Do you remember when was the first time you started talking or when was the first time you could recognize your father by his face, or when was the first time you responded to your name? I know, these questions are quite tricky to answer and you may never know the answers to these questions. Because you were very young that time and your cognition was in the developing stage and that's why you don't remember such crucial details of your infancy. Cognitive development basically refers to intellectual development of an individual, where a child learns to process his thoughts, including remembering, recalling, reproducing, problem solving, and decision-making etc. Generally, people believe that infants have no cognitive skills but it has been proved by psychologists that infants too use their 'brains' but with a unique thought process. This article tells you about cognitive development in infants which is indeed an interesting phenomenon to study.

Cognitive Development Theory

There are many cognitive development theories put forward by various psychologists. But, one theory that has made a tremendous contribution to the field of psychology and education is Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, through his scientific observation of children in the natural environment, found out a pattern of cognitive development. He observed many children, including his own, to study how the intellectual development in children takes place. He conducted various research studies and experiments. He observed that babies are aware of their surroundings and they are always trying to explore their environment. And this process leads to developing their perception and thinking skills and abilities. Cognitive development includes wide range of brain and intellectual activities, such as, processing information, language development, reasoning, analytical ability, memory development, decision-making, etc. that determine the so-called intelligence of a person. Piaget came up with a very notable theory that divided the cognitive growth of children in four stages. To know about Piaget's stages of development, read further:

Cognitive Development Stages

Stage 1 - Sensory Motor Stage: The first stage roughly represents the cognitive development between 0-3 years. As the name suggests, in this phase, infants showcase or increase their intelligence by exploring the surrounding through body movements or motor activities. You would have seen babies putting everything in their mouth, where they try to explore objects through their tongue. They also tend to touch, kick, or suck everything that comes their way. They have a very little knowledge of the world that they try to boost with physical interactions and experiences.

Stage 2 - Preoperative Stage: Cognitive development between 3-5 years falls between this phase. This phase is characterized by symbolism where children try to demonstrate their intelligence through symbols. They also learn and pick many new sounds and words. Though they start 'thinking' at this age, it is more like non-logical and non-reversible thinking. That is the reason why they cannot understand things from the perspective of others and hence their behavior is known as ego-centric.

Stage 3 - Concrete Operative Stage: This stage of cognitive development occurs between 7-11 years. At this time, children demonstrate their intelligence through logical and rational thinking. They also learn to think in an operational and reversible manner. This stage is characterized by conservation of multiple things, such as, numbers, length, mass, volume, weight, etc. The ego-centric behavior starts diminishing now and children learn to associate with symbols well.

Stage 4 - Formal Operative Stage: This is the phase, that occurs between, 11-16 years, when children become 'adult' like. They can demonstrate their intelligence through abstract thinking and can relate symbols to abstract phenomena and concepts. By now, they slowly learn to analyze hypothetical events and possible effects and outcomes etc. Their problem solving skills and analytical ability too starts developing at this stage.

Cognitive development varies in each child depending on the environment and genetics he or she is endowed with. Some children grow faster and others are a little slow. For example, cognitive development in children with autism may occur extremely slowly or they may not demonstrate their intelligence in an usual manner. With the use of correct cognitive behavior therapy it is possible to boost and improve the cognitive skills of a child. Cognitive growth is generally measured by intelligence quotient tests. But, this way of measuring cognitive growth in children is under criticism due to the narrow definition of intelligence it implies.

A healthy, interactive, and participatory environment is most likely to provide faster and better cognitive development. Also add lots of love, care, and affection while your children are growing; this would also increase their emotional quotient.