Social scientists sometimes write about the “cognitive revolution,” which occurred in about 1980 when psychoanalytic and behaviorist research and therapy were overtaken by a focus on cognition. That does not mean that behaviorism and psychoanalysis are no longer relevant: The cognitive revolution adds another aspect to our understanding of children without demolishing previous conceptions of development (Watrin & Darwich, 2012).

47

According to cognitive theory, thoughts and expectations profoundly affect attitudes, beliefs, values, assumptions, and actions. This revolution was the result of an increasing awareness of the power of the mind. Cognitive theory dominated psychology for decades, becoming a grand theory.

The first major cognitive theorist was the Swiss scientist Jean Piaget (1896–1980), considered by many “the greatest developmental psychologist of all time” (Haidt, 2013, p. 6). Piaget’s academic training was in biology, with a focus on shellfish—a background that taught him to look very closely at small details. He became interested in human thought when he was hired to standardize an IQ test by noting at what age children answered each question correctly.

Although he did his job, noting when children knew, for example, that a bicycle had two wheels and a hand had five fingers, it was the children’s wrong answers that intrigued him. How children think is much more revealing, Piaget concluded, than what they know.

In the 1920s, most scientists believed that babies could not yet think. But Piaget used scientific observation with his own three infants, finding them curious and thoughtful.

Later he studied hundreds of schoolchildren. From this work, Piaget formed the central thesis of cognitive theory: How children think changes with time and experience, and their thought processes affect their behavior. According to cognitive theory, to understand humans of any age, one must understand intellectual processes.

Piaget maintained that cognitive development occurs in four age-related periods, or stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational (see Table 2.3). Each period fosters certain cognitive processes: Infants think via their senses, preschoolers have language but not logic, school-age children have simple logic. Finally, formal, abstract reasoning becomes possible at puberty (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958/2013b; Piaget, 1952/2011).

48

Piaget found that intellectual advancement occurs because humans at every age seek cognitive equilibrium—a state of mental balance. The easiest way to achieve this balance is to interpret new experiences through the lens of preexisting ideas. For example, infants grab new objects in the same way that they grasp familiar objects, a child’s first concept of God is as a loving—or punishing—parent, and at every age, children interpret their parents’ behavior by assuming everyone thinks in the same way that they themselves do.

Achieving equilibrium is not always easy, however. Sometimes a new experience or question is jarring or incomprehensible. Then the individual experiences cognitive disequilibrium, an imbalance that creates confusion. As Figure 2.1 illustrates, disequilibrium can cause cognitive growth if people adapt their thinking. Piaget describes two types of cognitive adaptation:

Accommodation is more difficult than assimilation, but it advances thought. Children—and everyone else—actively develop new concepts. In Piagetian terms, they construct ideas based on their experiences.

Ideally, when two people disagree, or when they surprise each other by what they say, adaptation is mutual. For example, when parents are startled by their children’s opinions, the parents may revise their concepts of their children and even of reality, accommodating to new perceptions. If an honest discussion occurs, the children, too, might accommodate. Cognitive growth is an active process; clashing concepts require new thought.

Piaget is credited with discovering that people’s assumptions and perceptions affect their development, an idea now accepted by most social scientists. However, many think Piaget’s theories were limited. Neuroscience, cross-cultural studies, and step-by-step understanding of cognition have revealed the limitations of Piaget’s theory.

As one admirer explains, Piaget’s “claims were too narrow and too broad” (Hopkins, 2011, p. 35). The narrowness comes from his focus on science, ignoring that people can be advanced in their understanding of physics and biology but not in other aspects of thought. The broadness is in his description of stages. Contrary to Piaget’s ideas, “intelligence is now viewed more as a modular system than as a unified system of general intelligence” (Hopkins, 2011, p. 35).

Now consider a newer version of cognitive theory, information-processing theory, inspired by the input, programming, memory, and output of a sophisticated computer. When conceptualized in that way, thinking is affected by changes in the activity of the brain.

49

Information processing is “a framework characterizing a large number of research programs” (Miller, 2011, p. 266). Instead of interpreting responses by infants and children, as Piaget did, this cognitive theory focuses on the processes of thought—that is, how minds work before a response.

Information-processing theorists note that responses can occur in many ways, including through the senses and bodily activity, which in turn affect thinking (Glenberg et al., 2013). The underlying theoretical basis of information processing is that the details of process shed light on the specifics of outcome.

According to this perspective, cognition begins when input is picked up by the five senses. It proceeds to brain reactions, connections, and stored memories, and it concludes with some form of output. For infants, output consists of moving a hand, making a sound, or staring a split second longer at one stimulus than at another. As a person develops, information-processing scientists study not only words but also hesitations, neuronal activity, and bodily reactions (heartbeat, blood pressure, and the like).

The latest techniques to study the brain have produced insights from neuroscience on the sequence and strength of neuronal communication and have discovered patterns beyond those traced by early information-processing theory. With the aid of sensitive technology, information-processing research has also overturned some of Piaget’s findings, as explained in later chapters.

However, the basic tenet of cognitive theory is true for neuroscience, information processing, and for Piaget: Ideas matter. For example, how children interpret a future social situation, such as whether they anticipate welcome or rejection, affects the quality of their actual friendships. Positive information processing correlates with positive friendships.

This approach to understanding cognition has many applications. For instance, it has long been recognized that children with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) tend to have difficulty learning in school, obeying their parents, and making friends (whether or not they are excessively active). Information-processing research has led to the discovery that certain brain circuits (called fronto-striatal systems) do not function normally in children with ADHD. Consequently, it is hard for them to read facial expressions and interpret voice tones in order to understand others’ emotions (Uekermann et al., 2010).

50

This means that children with ADHD may not know whether their father’s “Come here” is an angry command or a loving suggestion. Nor do they immediately know if a classmate is hostile or friendly. Information processing helps in remediation: If a specific brain function can be improved, children may learn more, obey more, and gain friends.

Remember that all theories are designed to be useful. The Opposing Perspectives feature is one illustration of the way psychoanalytic, behaviorist, and cognitive theory might apply to common parental concerns—how and when to respond to a baby’s cry, and how and when to toilet train their child.

52