Chapter 12: The School Years Cognitive Development

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Chapter 12 The School YearsCognitive Development

• Dr. M. Davis-Brantley

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Concrete Operational Thought

• Concrete Operational ThoughtPiagets term for
  the ability to reason logically about the things
  and events one perceives
• During this time (7 to 11) the child develops
  Logical Principles
• ClassificationThe logical principle by which
  things are organized into groups (or categories
  or classes) according to some property they have
  in common
• IdentityThe logical principle that certain
  characteristics of an object remain the same even
  if other characteristics change
• ReversibilityThe logical principle that
  sometimes a thing has been changed can be
  returned to its original state by reversing the
  process by which it was changed
• ReciprocityThe logical principle that two things
  may change in opposite ways in order to balance
  each other out

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Moral Development and Kohlbergs Stages

• Level 1 Preconventional Moral Reasoning
• Emphasis is placed on getting rewards and
  avoiding punishments this is a self-centered
  level
• Stage 1 Might makes right (a punishment and
  obedience orientation). The most important value
  is obedience to authority, so as to avoid
  punishment while still advancing self-interest
• Stage 2 Look out for me (an instrumental and
  relativist orientation). Each person tries to
  take care of his or her own needs. The reason to
  be nice to other people is so that they will be
  nice to you.
• Level 2 Conventional Moral Reasoning
• Emphasis is placed on social rules this is a
  community-centered level
• Stage 3 Good girl, nice boy. Proper behavior
  is behavior that pleases other people. Social
  approval is more important than any specific
  reward.
• Stage 4 Law and order. Proper behavior means
  being a dutiful citizen and obeying the laws set
  down by society.
• Level 3 Postconventional Moral Reasoning
• Emphasis is placed on moral principles this
  level is centered on ideals
• Stage 5 Social contract. One should obey social
  rules because they benefit everyone and are
  established by mutual agreement.
• Stage 6 Universal ethical principles. General
  universal principles, not individual situations
  or community practices, determine right and
  wrong.

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Kohlberg Contd

• Kohlberg asserts its not how people reason,
  rather than what specific moral conclusion they
  reach, which determines their stage of moral
  development
• During middle childhood the child responds to the
  first 2 levels
• 7 and 8 year olds Primarily Preconventional
• 9 to 11 year olds If they have been exposed to
  or have had the opportunity to discuss moral
  issues can respond in Conventional ways
• During middle childhood there is a significant
  shift from egocentric preoperational thinking to
  more concrete operational logic

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Control Processes

• Control ProcessesThe mechanism (which involves
  selective attention, metacognition, and emotional
  regulation) that puts memory, processing speed,
  and knowledge together in order to regulate the
  analysis and flow of information within the
  information processing system
• Selective AttentionThe ability to screen out
  distractions and to focus on the details that
  will help in later recall of information
• MetacognitionThinking about thinking or the
  ability to evaluate a cognitive task to determine
  how best to accomplish it, and then to monitor
  and adjust ones performance on that task
• By ages 8 or 9, children can evaluate the
  difficulty of a task. Thus, these children
  approach tasks in a more strategic way