Childhood Cognitive Development: The Essential Readings

by Editor: Kang Lee (University of Toronto)

• ISBN13: 9780631216568
• ISBN10: 0631216561
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Cognitive development research as a field of developmental science has existed for almost a century. During this time, particularly in the last 50 years, tremendous advances have been made in our understanding of how the child's mind works. Like any other field of scientific enquiry, cognitive development research is constantly evolving, undergoing its own exciting developments. Childhood Cognitive Development: The Essential Readings introduces the reader to this dynamic subject and to some of the current research controversies. Each of the articles has been chosen for its clear reflection of the evolution and diversity of research and thinking within the area of cognitive development, together with its accessibility to students at all levels. Written by leading researchers such as Jean Piaget, John Flavell, and Uta Frith, the articles are both introduced and contextualized by the editor, and suggestions for further reading give students an ideal starting point for the exploration of the key topics in childhood cognitive development.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: What is cognitive development research and what is it for? --- An introduction

History and Future of Cognitive Development Research

Cognitive Development: Past, Present, and Future

Piaget's Theory

Piaget's Theory

Developmental Research Method (Microgenetic Method)

Cognitive Variability: A key to understanding cognitive development

Information Processing and Connectionism

Development in a connectionist framework: rethinking the Nature-Nurture debate

Motor Learning and Development

Three-Month-Old Infants can Learn Task-Specific Patterns on Interlimb Coordination

Attention

Facilitation of Saccades toward a Covertly Attended Location in Early Infancy

Perceptual Development: Young Infants' Perception of Object Unity: Implications for Development of Attentional and Cognitive Skills

Early Numerical Knowledge

Infants Possess a System of Numerical Knowledge

Intentionality and Imitation

Understanding of the Intentions of Others: Re-Enactment of Intended Acts by 18-Months-Old Children

Theory of Mind

Children's Understanding of Representational Change and Its Relation to the Understanding of False Belief and the Appearance-Reality Distinction

Memory and Suggestibility

The Suggestibility of Young Children

Language

Why do Children say "Breaked"?

Symbolic Development

Rapid Change in the Symbolic Functioning of Very Young Children

Spatial Knowledge and Gender Differences

The Water-Level Task: An Intriguing Puzzle

Mathematical Knowledge

Preschool Origins of Cross-National Differences in Mathematical Competence: The Role of Number-Naming Systems

Scientific Reasoning

Young Children's Psychological, Physical, and Biological Explanations

Physical Knowledge

The Development of Beliefs about Falling Objects

Moral Understanding

Lying and Truthfulness: Children's Definitions, Standards, and Evalutive Reactions

Cognitive Developmental Pathology

Cognitive Explanation of Autism

Index

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