Cognition and Development

As humans, we have so many skills and abilities. Some we learn, and some we are born with, but what happens when we do not develop these properly? Cognition and development psychology research attempt to understand this.

• We will start by understanding the link between cognition and development psychology.
• Then we will delve into the theories of cognitive development, including Piaget’s stages of development and Vygotsky’s theory.
• Moving on, we will learn about the moral development Kohlberg theory.
• Finally, we will explore social cognition development.

Cognition and Development Psychology

Cognition and development psychology are investigated independently of one another but also together too.

Cognitive developmental psychology investigates how children’s mental processes and representations evolve to develop higher-level thinking.

Psychologists have proposed many theories and attempted to support them via research to explain how cognition and other mental processes, such as morals develop.

These abilities evolve and adapt with age from our thoughts, experiences, environment and senses. And sometimes, they may not develop properly, leading to developmental illnesses.

Theories of Cognitive Development

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 Stages of 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 to think gradually as children through our experiences and exploration.

Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development.

1. The sensorimotor stage.
2. The preoperational stage.
3. The concrete operational stage.
4. The formal operational stage.

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 are theorised to 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.

Cognition and Development: Piaget and Vygotsky Differences

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

Moral Development Kohlberg

Moral development depends on the standards of individuals’ cultures and the views of those we share our environment with; rules, societal standards and laws influence these.

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 as follows:

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Cognition and Development: Infants Developing Skills

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

Baillargeon and Vygotsky argued that children are born with some cognitive skills.

However, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development argues children learn these cognitive skills after experiencing the stages of development.

Baillargeon’s Explanation of Early Infant Abilities

Baillargeon proposed infants are born with a physical reasoning system (PRS).

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 is an unexpected scenario.

The researchers found that infants tended to look longer at the unexpected scenario because it was an ‘impossible event’.

Social Cognition Development

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.

What is the theory of mind, and what does it look like in a realistic scenario?

The theory of mind is considered an essential social cognition skill, and those who have a weak theory of mind may have developmental illnesses such as autism.

Cognition and Development: 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 then takes it 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: 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; if the child says Sally will look in Anne’s box, they would be wrong and fail the test.

Passing is seen as having a strong theory of mind.

Fig. 1. The Sally-Anne test has been used to assess people with many developmental illnesses, such as autism.