COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD
PIAGET’S CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
• During this stage thought is logical, flexible, and
organized in it’s application of concrete information.
• The capacity for abstract thinking is not yet present.
• The ability to execute conservation tasks is a clear
indicator of this stage: Decentration and Reversibility.
– Decentration-The ability to focus on several aspects of a
problem at once and relate them
– Reversibility-The ability to mentally go through a series of
steps in a problem and then reverse the direction, returning
to the starting point.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
• Seriation—the ability to order items along a
quantitative dimension, such as length or width.
• Transitive Inference—the ability to seriate or
order items along a quantitative dimension—
mentally.
• Spatial Reasoning—By age 8 to 10, children can
give well organized directions to important places.
Horizontal Decalage
• Piaget’s attempt at explaining the variations at
which the concrete operations occur during
Middle Childhood.
INFORMATION PROCESSING
THEORY
• Alternative view of cognitive theory
• Proposes that practice creates well organized
cognitive schemes. Consequently, they demand
less attention, become more automatic, and
working memory is freed up (Berk, 1999; Case,
1998).
• This theory focuses on the dimensions of memory,
attention, and thinking
INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
DIVIDES THE MIND INTO:
• Sensory Register: The area of the mental system
in which sights and sounds are held briefly before
they decay or are transformed into working or
short-term memory.
• Short-Term Memory: The conscious part of a
mental system where we active work on a limited
amount of information to ensure it is retained.
• Long-Term Memory: The part that contains our
permanent knowledge base. Knowledge base is
limitless.
Mental Strategies
• In information processing, procedures that operate on
and transform information, thereby increasing the
efficiency and flexibility of thinking and the chances
that information will be retained
– Organization. Memory strategy of grouping together related
items. Taking notes
– Elaboration. Mental strategy of creating a relation between
two or more items that are not members of the same category
– Rehearsal. Memory strategy for repeating information
Mental Strategies Cont.
• By continuing these mental strategies, you
develop greater organization of information and
significantly increase knowledge retention.
• Failure to apply appropriate mental strategies
reduces the amount of knowledge retained
Middle Childhood and Information
Processing
• An increase in information-processing capacity. Most
likely due to synaptic pruning and mylenization.
• Gains in inhibition. Due in part to brain maturation,
middle schoolers develop increased ability to control
external influences that may inhibit concentration.
• Attention improves sharply between ages 6 and 9.
ADHD
• 5% of school age children are diagnosed with ADHD.
• Boys tend to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls.
• Children who are ADHD tend to be cognitively delayed
on measures. Their ease of distractibility results in
– Forgetfulness
– Poor Planning, reasoning, and problem-solving
– Poor impulse control
Cognitive Self-Regulation
• The process of continuously monitoring
progress toward a goal, checking outcomes,
and redirecting unsuccessful efforts.
• Metacognition
Intelligence
• Nature or Nurture?
– In the past, general assumptions were in support of genetic
predisposition and stability over time.
– Today, there is increasing evidence to suggest that intelligence
is equally impacted by genetics and the environment.
• Stability of Intelligence?
– In general, studies of DQs in infants do not correlate to later
expectations of IQ. However, there is some evidence of
predictability from age 4 throughout adolescence.
– Other studies purport extreme fluctuations by as much as 20
pts.
Multidimensional Views of Intelligence
• Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
– Componential: Highly intelligent individuals apply
appropriate strategy application, knowledge acquisition,
metacognition, and self-regulation.
– Experiential: Highly intelligent individuals process
information more skillfully in novel situations.
– Contextual: Highly intelligent people skillfully adapt their
information-processing skills to fit to a situation, they try to
shape, or change it to meet their needs
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
• Linguistic. Sensitivity to the sounds,
rhythms, and meanings of words and the
different functions of language. (Poet,
journalist).
• Logico-mathematical. Sensitivity to and
capacity to detect logical or numerical
patterns; ability to handle long chains of
logical reasoning. (Mathematician)
• Musicial. Ability to produce and
appreciate pitch, rhythm (or melody), and
aesthetic sounding tones; understanding of
the forms of musical expressiveness.
(Violinist, composer).
• Spatial. Ability to perceive the visualspatial world accurately, to perform
transformations on those perceptions, and to
re-create aspects of visual experience in the
absence of relevant stimuli.
• Bodily-kinesthetic. Ability to use
the body skillfull for expressive as
well as goal-directed purposes;
ability to handle objects skillfully.
(Dancer, athlete)
• Naturalist. Ability to recognize
and classify all varieties of
animals, minerals, and plants.
(Biologist).
• Interpersonal. Ability to detect and
respond appropriately to the moods,
temperaments, motivations, and intentions
of others. (Therapist, salesperson).
• Intrapersonal. Ability to discriminate
complex inner feelings and to use them to
guide one’s own behavior; knowledge of
one’s own strenghts, weaknesses, desires,
and intellingence.