Cognitive development is the development of mental processes. In particular, psychologists have been interested in the development of children’s reasoning abilities and social cognition, the mental processes needed to make sense of interactions with other people. The classic theory of cognitive development is that of Jean Piaget. You can read a good simple overview of Piaget’s main ideas at www.tinyurl.com/7gsuoy8. For something a little more detailed, try the summary at Simply Psychology: www.tinyurl.com/6w6kym3. If you’re feeling really brave you can read some original Piaget here: www.tinyurl.com/zpe6kny. You can read an excellent, highly detailed but readable article summarising Piaget’s theory here: www.tinyurl.com/owrjftn.
There is an abundance of video material online relating to Piaget’s theory and research. For a short general video of Piaget’s ideas try www.tinyurl.com/gtucccs, and look here — www.tinyurl.com/jp52xae — for an animation explaining Piaget’s stages of development. This animation, www.tinyurl.com/jkxchmh, explains the tricky concepts of assimilation and accommodation. You can see a demonstration of object permanence here: www.tinyurl.com/zrhh32n. For a demonstration of Piaget’s three mountains procedure try this: www.tinyurl.com/2ezbsjd. For conservation see www.tinyurl.com/jc33co2, and see www.tinyurl.com/gprkegl for formal reasoning.
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