Development 14
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Cognitive Development
The Psychology of Jean Piaget
Domain-
RESEARCH TOOLKIT: Looking-
Alternatives to Piagetian Theory
Cognitive Development and the Brain
Social Development: Biological and Social Foundations
Biological Foundations: Temperament
Social Foundations: Bonding Between Parent and Child
Social Settings for Development
The Development of Self-
Social Development Across the Life Span
Adolescence
CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES: Ethnic and Racial Identity
Emerging Adulthood
Midlife Development
Older Adulthood
Well-
Goals, Strategies, and the SOC Model
Motives and Socioemotional Selectivity Theory
Accentuating the Positive
Moral Development
Moral Stages
THIS JUST IN: Moral Babies
Gender and Moral Thinking
Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Interviewer: |
Do you see this stone? Why is it round? |
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Have you seen the clouds moving? |
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Can you make them move yourself? |
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What happens when you walk? |
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Do you see this stone? Do you think you could make a bigger stone with it? |
Interviewer: |
What is the moon like? |
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Always? |
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What else does it look like? |
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Where is the other half? |
Interviewer: |
Where to? |
— All statements from Piaget (1929/1951)
THESE KIDS’ IDEAS ARE WEIRD: NOT JUST factually wrong, but illogical. Objects don’t “want” things or get bigger when broken.
Where do you think they got such ideas? No first-
Psychologists have another explanation. These ideas were not learned from teachers or other children. They were generated by the minds of the children themselves. The “weirdness” of the ideas is key to the nature of psychological development.
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COMPARE YOURSELF TODAY to yourself as a child. You were different back then—
The ways people change, and remain the same, across the course of life are explored in developmental psychology. This chapter will introduce you to three main areas of study in developmental psychology: cognitive, social, and moral development.
Cognitive development is growth in intellectual capabilities, particularly during the early years of life. The interviews that opened this chapter, which were conducted by the Swiss cognitive-
Social development is growth in people’s ability to function effectively in the social world, both in childhood and across the life span. Developing abilities to control one’s emotions, maintain relationships with others, establish a meaningful personal identity, and cope with the challenges of older adulthood are all aspects of social development.
Moral development is growth in reasoning about personal rights, responsibilities, and social obligations, especially regarding the welfare of other people. Questions about rules, laws, and circumstances in which it may be acceptable to challenge existing laws are the types of topics studied in moral development.
All three aspects of psychological development occur as people develop physically. The chapter thus also reviews aspects of physical development, including changes in brain structure that accompany growth in children’s intellectual abilities; motor development (i.e., ability to move one’s body skillfully) and the way it can be affected by the social environment; and the many biological changes that occur when adolescents reach puberty.
Let’s begin with cognitive development.