Page 8 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Taking Action:

Directions: Based on the concepts of Cognitive Development discussed in this module, enumerate the
stages and cognitive development that takes place among infants up to adolescence. Complete the table below.

Activity 1.1

Stage Characteristics
1. Infants - Toddlers As infants and toddlers grow, their characteristics
and determination to master movement, balance,
and fine- and gross-motor skills remains strong.

2. Early Childhood (Preschooler) The characteristics of Preschoolers are curious,

easily distracted, keen on independence and still
developing self-regulation.

3. Middle Childhood (Primary Schooler) The child’s thinking develops rapidly and his/her
store of information grows at a fast pace. They are
better at recognizing emotions in others and
empathizing with them. It is considered to be a
transitional period between childhood and
adulthood.

4. Late Childhood (Intermediate Schooler) In this period, children learn competing, protecting
their rights, and being responsible.

5. Adolescence (High school Learners) Adolescent learners’ characteristics comprise the

various attributes that shape the way individuals
make meaning of their world. Like relativistic
thinking, propositional thinking as well as the real
vs. possible.
 Page 9 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Taking Action:

Directions: Imagine yourself as a teacher who plans to provide a learning environment that is fun, ex-
citing and intellectually stimulating for your students. In doing so, you need to develop learning activities that will
encourage creativity, critical and abstract thinking and logical reasoning. and language and speech.

Activity 1.2

Activity Cognitive Area which How it helps Cognitive Development

It Develops
Role Playing Memory Role playing helps cognitive development
because it helps their brain and train it to
practice using imagination at an early age.

Games and Puzzles Memory Playing with puzzles requires children to

grasp pieces of all shapes and sizes and
manipulate them to fit exactly into a cut out
shape or slot.

Reading and Storytelling Language Development Reading and storytelling can help your
child’s cognitive development for the reason
that they get to know sounds, words and
languages, and early literacy skills.

Oral Recitation Reasoning It provides child’s deep understanding about

their world and also fill their brains with
background knowledge.

Taking Exams/Quizzes Information Processing Testing is a part of learning that lets the
students show what they know about the
certain topics and what they can do to answer
the questions.
 Taking Action:

Directions: Looking back on Lev Vygotsky’s assumption that preschool children will
improve their cognitive as well as the language development through the guidance and assistance
of adults or more skilled children in doing task. Based on this theory, write a reflection on the
importance of social interaction in cognitive development in children.

Activity 1.3

Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory asserts that learning is an essentially social process in which the support of
parents, caregivers, peers and the wider society and culture plays a crucial role in the development of higher
psychological functions. He also claimed that initial development was prompted by the child’s immediate social
interactions, but as learning became internalized, there was a shift to the individual level.

For Vygotsky, children were apprentices who learned from and alongside those with greater experience who
understood their abilities and needs. He described the zone of proximal development as: ‘the distance between
the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable
peers.’

Part of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, this accounts for children who appear to lack certain skills when tested
yet often perform more competently in the presence of someone who has the necessary knowledge. Skills
displayed in this social context, but not in an isolated setting, fall within the zone of proximal development. This
concept underpins the notion of ‘scaffolding’ in which a more knowledgeable other provides support to promote
a child’s cognitive development.