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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Cognitive Development

Cognitive development

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

nounCore term

In child development & early education, cognitive development means: The development of thinking skills such as attention, memory, problem-solving, reasoning and understanding how the world works.

In Turkish: bilişsel gelişim, zihinsel gelişim

How it is used

A core term in lectures, textbooks and reports. The theories of Piaget and Vygotsky are studied on almost every course. In reports it usually appears next to language, physical and social-emotional development.

Example sentences

  1. Puzzles and sorting games support cognitive development.

  2. Piaget described cognitive development as a series of stages.

Common collocations

  • stages of cognitive development
  • support cognitive development
  • cognitive skills
  • theories of cognitive development
  • sensorimotor stageThe first of Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, from birth to about two years, when babies learn about the world through their senses and movements.
  • object permanenceA baby's understanding that people and things still exist when they cannot be seen, heard or touched.
  • executive functionA group of mental skills that help us plan, focus, remember instructions, control impulses and switch between tasks.
  • scaffoldingSupport that an adult gives a child to complete a task they cannot yet do alone, such as hints, questions or showing one step, which is reduced as the child becomes more able.
  • schemaA repeated pattern of play that children use to explore an idea, such as carrying, wrapping or throwing things; in Piaget's theory, a mental structure that organises knowledge.

More terms: Cognitive Development

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