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DevelopmentDevelopment involves:

Physical development

Perceptual development

Cognitive development

Personality and social development

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Cognitive Development

Based on Piagets theory

Describes how a childs abilities to think and reasonprogress through a series of stages Sensorimotor

Preoperational

Concrete operational

Formal operational

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SensorimotorBirth to 2 years

Interplay between motor activity andperception

Develop the concept that they are separate

from the environment

Object permanence

Intentional or goal-directed behaviour

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Preoperational Stage 2 to 7 years

By 1 to 2 yrs children have started to uselanguage

Words represent things or groups of things

One object can be used to represent anotherEmergence and progression of make-believe

play increasingly complex by 5 years

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Concrete Operational Stage

7 to 11 yearsReasoning takes on logical characteristics

Use of systematic, rational thought

Use of abstract thought not developed

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Formal Operational Stage 11 to 15 years

Abstract thoughtAbility to solve problems in rational and logical

way

Ability to reason about the way things shouldbe

Self-consciousness

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Was Piaget right?Childrens development probably more

gradual than stage-like

Level of thinking may not be governed bystage of development

Different domains language, maths,

perception may have own set of guidingprinciples

Need to account for childs social context

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Sociocultural TheoryVygotskys sociocultural theory

Based on idea that children learn mainly with help

of others

i.e adult as instructor, child as learner

Current view is that the child is an activepartner in the learning process

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Developmental Cognitive

Neuroscience Investigates relations between neural and

cognitive development. Asks questions:

What are the interrelations betweendevelopmental changes in the brain and those inchildrens behaviour and cognitive abilities?

Why and how is learning enhanced during certain

periods in development?

How is our knowledge organised and how doesthis change with development?

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Developmental Cognitive

NeuroscienceBrain volume quadruples between birth and

adulthood

Myelination and size and complexity of dendritic

tree of neurons

density of synapses in cerebral cortex

Brodmann (1912) - division of cortex intostructural areas assumed to have differing

functional properties

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Differentiation of the cortexTwo main theories:

Theory 1

Molecular and genetic specification of corticalareas

Differentiation of cortex into areas is due to aprotomap

i.e. unfolding of a genetic plan

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Differentiation of the cortex

continuedTheory 2

Neural activity for cortical differentiation

Genetic and molecular factors build an initially

undifferentiated protocortex

Division into specialised areas is a result of

activity within neural circuits

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Developmental Cognitive

NeuroscienceOverall:

Activity dependent processes probably contribute

to the differentiation of functional areas in the

cortex

Later stages of cortical development are likely to

be influenced by experience

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Terminology in the study of

Development Early terminology Learning changes in response to experience

with the environment (nurture side of nature-

nurture, when this experience comes from a

care giver)

Maturation changes driven by genetic

process according to specific timetables(nature side of nature-nurture)

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Terminology in the study of

Development Early terminologyCritical periods time limited windows when

specific experiences must occur to drive

typical or maximal development. Learning isineffective outside these time windows.

Early terminology focussed on hard and fastcontrasts in development (nature v nurture,genes v environment, time windows)

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Terminology in the study of

Development Later terminologyExperience-expectant processes processes

that utilize environmental information that is

highly reliable for all members of the species

(e.g. hearing a language)

Experience-dependent processes processes

that utilize environmental information that canvary across individuals (e.g. the particular

language that is heard)

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Terminology in the study of

Development Later terminologySensitive periods time limited windows when

specific experiences have their largest effects.

Learning can still be effective outside those

time windows

Plasticity the capacity for modification

Development processes of change across

the lifespan