Question

Discuss the cognitive changes taking place in a developing child.

Answer 1

The cognitive changes that take place in a developing characters are as follows:

0-2 years: This is the age of sensory motors whereby, infant explores the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions.

2-7 years: In this age, Preoperational thinking begins and the child acquires the concept of object permanence that enables him/her to use mental symbols to represent objects. The child does not have the ability to judge or assume the consequences of actions before performing them.

The child also acquires preoperational thought, i.e., s/he gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not physically present.

The children are egocentric and develop animist thought

4-7 years: Children develop intuitive thought. This enables them to question the things happening around them.

7-11 years: This age is marked by the development of concrete operational thought, whereby a logical thought is developed and the child can reason logically about concrete events, classify objects into sets and perform reversible mathematical operations.

11-15 years: The adolescents in this age develop formal operational thought, which leads to a hypothetical thinking and are able to apply logic abstractly. They also develop a special kind of egocentrism of imaginary audience and personal fable.

Answer 2

Cognitive changes taking place in a developing child

Explanation:

• Cognitive development is the ability of a child to think, reason, and perceive things and acquire knowledge or concept from the same.
• It includes various thought processes like information processing, remembering, language development, reasoning, memory etc which are gained through the interaction of nature and nurture components.
• Many psychologists like Piaget, Vygotsky etc have staged and marked milestones of cognitive development of a child according to its age.  
• Piaget in his cognitive developmental theory divided cognitive development into four main stages according to the age of the child
• Sensorimotor – 0 to 2 years old - coordination of sensory experiences and motor responses, natural curiosities, demand level language, and object permanence
• Preoperational – 2 to 7 years – symbolic thinking, language development with use of grammar and syntax, imagination and conceptualization, intuitions, and conservation
• Concrete operational – 7 to 11 years old – concrete conceptual thoughts, application of time, space, quantity and quality, mostly as collective entity
• Formal operational – 11 years and above – Theoretical, abstract and logical thinking, reasoning and hypothetical, linking of different concepts, planning