CITY OF MALABON UNIVERSITY

Pampano corner Maya-maya St., Longos, Malabon City

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
City of Malabon University – Open University

THE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT LEARNERS AND LEARNING PRINCIPLES

This course focuses on child and adolescent development with emphasis on current research and theories
on biological, linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional dimensions of development. Further, this includes factors
that affect the progress of development of the learners and appropriate pedagogical principles applicable for each
developmental level of the learners. The course also addresses laws, policies, guidelines, and procedures that
provide safe and secure learning environments, and the use of positive and non-violent discipline in the
management of learner behavior.

COURSE OUTCOMES

[1] demonstrate content knowledge and its application within and /or across curriculum teaching areas.
[2] demonstrate an understanding of the different research-based theories related to the broad dimensions of
child and adolescent development and their application to each developmental level of the learners.
[3] demonstrate understanding of pedagogical principles suited to diverse learners’ needs and experiences at
different developmental levels.
[4] demonstrate knowledge of laws, policies, guidelines, and procedures that provide safe and secure learning
environments; and
[5] demonstrate knowledge of positive and non-violent discipline in the management of learner behavior.

MODULE 7 WEEK 3
UNIT 3: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Overview

Cognitive development has about 50-year history, as a distinct field of developmental psychology. Prior
to the 1950’s, learning was conceptualized primarily in terms of behavioral principles and association processes,
whereas cognitive development emerged from the cognitive revolution, the revolution in psycholinguistics, and
especially Piaget’s work on children’s reasoning about a myriad of subjects like space, time, causality, morality,
and necessity (Lenner, Easterbrooks, & Mistry, 2005). Therefore, although superficially similar, research and
theory on learning versus research and theory on cognitive development represent very different histories and
very different perspectives.

Learning Objectives

In this module, you are expected to:

1. Apply the principles of cognitive processing in developing learning activities intended for young and
adolescent learners.
2. Discuss the concepts and theories related to the cognitive development of children and adolescents.
3. Make connections, using knowledge on current research literature, between cognitive development
theories and developmentally appropriate teaching approaches suited to learners’ gender, needs,
strengths, interests, and experiences.

Key Words and Concepts

Biological, physical, motor development, neuroscience and brain development, biological, physical
development, multiple intelligences, cognitive,

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Content

A. PIAGET

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist famous for his studies of the intellectual growth of children
and his influential theories of cognitive development. Piaget’s background was in biology, as a
teenager he gained a measure of fame for his studies and publications on mollusks. He studied natural
sciences at the University of Neuchatel, and for most of his career held positions there in sociology
and psychology. He developed an interest in the intellectual development of children while working
with intelligence testing in a French boys’ school created by Alfred Binet. Over the years he published
many articles and books, including 1954’s The Origin of Intelligence in Children, and became known
for his epistemological studies – how we know what we know. Using the term ‘’genetic
epistemology,’’ Piaget surmised from his studies of children that human knowledge is ‘’constructed’’
through interactions with reality. One of the most famous psychologists of his time, Piaget’s work on
early cognition greatly influenced Western educational theories.

THE COGNITIVE PROCESS

Piaget’s stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive development
involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget’s view, early cognitive development
involves processes based upon actions and later progresses into changes in mental operations.

THE KEY CONCEPTS

• Schemas
A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and
knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the
world. In Piaget’s view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of
obtaining that knowledge. As experience happen, this new information is used to modify, add
to, or change previously existing schemas. For example, a child may have a schema about a
type of animal, such as a dog. If the child’s sole experience has been with small dogs, a child
might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child
encounters a very large god, the child will take in this new information, modifying the
previously exiting schema to include this new information.
• Assimilation
The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schemas is known as
assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experience or
information somewhat to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a
dog and labelling it ‘’dog’’ is an example of assimilating the animal into the child’s dog
schema. However, this changes as the child grows older.
• Accommodation
Another aspect of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas considering
new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves altering
existing schemas, or ideas, because of new information or new experiences. New schemas
may also be developed during this process.
• Organization
Piaget's concept of grouping isolated behaviors into a higher order, more smoothly
functioning cognitive system; the grouping or arranging of items into categories. The use of
organization improves long term memory. Continual refinement of this organization is an
inherent part of development.
• Equilibration
Piaget believed that all children tried to strike a balance between assimilation and
accommodation, which is achieved through mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As
children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a
balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to
account for new knowledge (accommodation). equilibration helps explain how children can
move from one stage of thought into the next.

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 PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

1. The Sensorimotor Stage

The first stage of Piaget’s theory lasts from birth to approximately age 2 any centered on the infant trying
to make sense of the world. During the sensorimotor stage, an infant's knowledge of the world is limited
to their sensory perceptions and motor activities. Behaviors are limited to simple motor responses caused
by sensory stimuli. Children utilize skills and abilities they were born with, such as looking, sucking,
grasping, and listening, to learn more about the environment.

SUBSTAGES OF THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE

The sensorimotor stage can be divided into six separate substages in are characterized by the
development of a new skill.

• Reflexes zero to one month - during this substage, the child understands the environment
purely through inborn reflexes such as sucking and looking.
• Primary circular reactions one to four months - this substage involves coordinating sensation
and new schemas. For example, a child may suck his or her thumb by accident and then later
intentionally repeat the action. These actions are repeated because the infant finds them
pleasurable.
• Secondary circular reactions 4 to 8 months - during this substage, the child becomes more
focused on the world and begins to intentionally repeat an action to trigger a response in
their environment. For example, a child will purposely pick up a toy to put it in his or her
mouth
• Coordination of reactions 8 to 12 months - during this substage, the child starts to show
clearly intentional actions. The child may also combine schemas to achieve a desired effect.
Children begin exploring the environment around them and will often imitate the observed
behavior of others. The understanding of objects also begins during this time and children
begin to recognize certain objects as having specific qualities. For example, a child might
realize that a rattle will make a sound when shaken.
• There is Sherry circular reactions 12 to 18 months - children begin a period of trial-and-error
experimentation during the 5th substage. During this time, children begin to move toward
understanding the world through mental operations rather than purely through actions.

Piaget believed that an important cognitive accomplishment in infancy is object permanence. This
involves understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard,
or touched. A second accomplishment is a gradual realization that there is a difference or boundary
between oneself and the surrounding environment. The young infant does not differentiate between self
and the world and has no sense of object permanence. By the end of the sensorimotor., the child can
differentiate between South and the world and is aware that objects continue to exist overtime.

2. The Preoperational Stage

The preoperational stage occurs between ages two and six. The language development is one of the
hallmarks of this period. Piaget noted that children in this stage do not yet understand concrete logic,
cannot mentally manipulate information, and are unable to take the point of view of other people, which
he termed egocentrism. During the pre-operational stage, children also become increasingly adept in
using symbols, as evidenced by the increase in playing and pretending. For example, a child is able to use
an object to represent something else, such as pretending a broom is a horse. Role playing also becomes
important during the pre-operational stage. Children often play the roles of mommy, daddy, doctor, and
many others.

• Egocentrism
Piaget used a few creative and clever techniques to study the mental abilities of children. One of
the famous techniques is ecocentrism which involved using a 3-dimensional display of a mountain
scene. Children are asked to choose a picture that show the scene they had observed. Most
children can do this with little difficulty. Next, children are asked to select a picture showing what
someone else would have observed when looking at the mountain from a different viewpoint.

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 Invariably, children almost always choose the scene showing their own view of the mountain
scene. According to Piaget, children experience this difficulty because they are unable to take on
another person's perspective.
• Conservation
another well-known experiment involves demonstrating a child's understanding of conservation.
In one conservation experiment, equal amounts of liquid are poured into two identical
containers. The liquid in one container is then poured into a different shaped cup, such as a tall
and thin cup, or a short and wide cup. Children are then asked which cup holds the most liquid.
Despite seeing what the liquid amounts were equal, children almost always choose the cup that
appears fuller.

Piaget conducted several similar experiments on conservation of number, length, mass, weight,
volume, and quantity. Piaget found that few children showed any understanding of conservation
prior to the age of five.

Many of these operational examples show a characteristic of thought called centration, which
involves focusing or centering attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of others.
Centration is most clearly present in preoperational children's lack of conservation, the idea that
some characteristics of an object stay the same even though the object might change in
appearance.

3. The Concrete Operational Stage

The concrete operational stage begins around age 7 and continues until approximately age 11.
During this time, children gain a better understanding of mental operations. Children begin thinking
logically about concrete events but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts.
Concrete operations allow the child to coordinate several characteristics rather than focus on a single
property of an object. At the concrete operational level, children can do mentally what they previously
could do only physically, and they can reverse concrete operations.

Piaget determined that children in the concrete operational stage were good at the use of
inductive logic. Inductive logic involves going from a specific experience to a general principle. On the
other hand, children at this age have difficulty using deductive logic, which involves using a general
principle to determine the outcome of a specific event.

One of the most important developments in this stage is an understanding of reversibility, Or

awareness that actions can be reversed. An example of this is being able to reverse the order of
relationships between mental categories. For example, a child might not be able to recognize that his or
her dog is a Labrador, that a Labrador is a dog, and that a dog is an animal.

An important concrete operation is classifying or dividing things into different sets or subsets and
establishing their inter relationships. Reasoning about a family tree of four generations reveals a Childs
concrete operational skill. Some Piagetian tasks required children to reason about relations between
classes. One such task is seriation, the concrete operation that involves ordering stimuli along some
quantitative dimension such as length. Another aspect of reasoning about relations between classes is
transitivity. This involves the ability to logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions.

4. The Formal Operation Stage

The formal operation stage begins at approximately age 12 to adulthood. during this time, people
develop the ability to think about abstract concepts. Skills such as logical pot, deductive reasoning, and
systematic planning also emerged during this stage.

Piaget believed that deductive logic becomes important during the formal operation stage.
Deductive logic requires the ability to use a general principle to determine a specific outcome. This type
of thinking involves hypothetical situations and is often required in science and mathematics. While
children tend to think concretely and specifically in earlier stages, the ability to think about abstract
concepts emerges during the formal operation stage. Instead of relying solely on previous experiences,
children begin to consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions. This type of thinking is
important in long term planning.

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 In earlier stages, children use trial and error to solve problems. During the formal operations
stage, the ability to systematically solve a problem in a logical and methodical way emerges. Children at
the formal operation stage of cognitive development are often able to quickly plan an organized approach
just solving a problem.

Hypothetical deductive reasoning is Piaget’s formal operation concept that adolescence can
develop hypothesis solve problems and systematically reach a conclusion

Stages of the Formal Operations Stage

• Early formal operation stage 11 through about 14 years old

The first stage of formal operations in which abstract thought, logic, metacognition, and
hypothetical reasoning occur.

o Abstract thought: thinking that allows reality to be represented by symbols that can be
manipulated mentally. early adolescents begin to understand the complexities of symbol
systems such as music and math. They realize that the words can have double meanings.
o Logic: thinking that is more orderly and systematic.
o Metacognition: being able to analyze one's own thoughts. Early adolescents can we trace
the train of thought they took in trying to solve a problem period they can spot thinking
errors and restart the problem-solving process.
o Hypothetical reasoning: forming conclusions based on hypothetical possibilities. It
becomes possible to think about problems even in the absence of real data. While
children can sometimes get the right answer to a question by trial and error, early
adolescents realize that it is much more efficient to proceed according to a more careful
strategy devised beforehand.

• Later formal operation stage 15 to about 19 years old

This includes the development of propositional logic, individual thinking patterns, and scientific
reasoning, and the ability to comprehend systems of symbols. This second face differs from the
first phase not only in quantity or problem solving is done more quickly and efficiently but also
qualitatively new skills are being mastered.

o Abstract thought: at this stage many youths become capable of understanding

religious symbolisms and they gained ability not only in problem solving but in
problem finding
o logic: in later adolescence, subtler forms and higher levels of logic may be mastered
such as propositional logic.
o Metacognition: adolescents get better at analyzing their thought processes as they
work through a problem period, they notice trends of patterns in their thinking and
learning to compensate for them.
o hypothetical reasoning: many adolescents are being able to think like a scientist as
they can establish a plan for solving a problem.

They are likely to investigate more than one source of data, and think of multiple possible causes,
they can conduct a study with little or no prejudice toward the outcome. They can apply the rules
of logic. They are better at acting on solutions.

B. VYGOTSKY

Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Orsha, a town in the northern part of Byelorussia and moved
South to Gomel. little is known about Vygotsky’s use except that in his early years he was educated
by a private tutor and that he later went to a combination of public and private schools for his
secondary education. As a young child he was interested in verbal arts, literature, poetry, theater,
and philosophy and would lead discussions on major topics in these areas because of this he was
often called the little professor. He attended the university of Moscow out of chance and pursued
degrees in medicine and law. He also thought at Gomel’s Teachers College where he started a small
psychology laboratory. It was during this., between 1917 and 1924, that Vygotsky become more
deeply committed to the fields of psychology and education. He took charge of creating a Marxist
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 theory of psychology and child development, aiming to reconstruct the fields of psychology and
education in the Soviet Union in ways consistent with the social and cultural changes taking place
around him. He published several important articles in education or what was then called defectology
the psychology of children with mental or physical disabilities. He died of tuberculosis in June of 1934.

Vygotsky’s Theory Assumptions

• Learning precedes development.

• Development involves the internalization of science acquired by an individual from others so that
he can think and solve problems by himself or herself.
• The zone of proximal development is the level of development immediately above a person’s
present level. Learning takes place when a child is working within his or her zone of proximal
development.
• Scaffolding is the support for learning and problem solving which can be close, reminders,
encouragement from other people or order people, breaking the problem down into stages,
providing an example, or anything else that allows the student to grow in independence as a
learner.

The Key Influences

Three characteristics mark Vygotsky’s work:

• a sincere dedication for Marxist social philosophy and conviction that psychological
development was intimately linked to the tenets of that philosophy.
• A thorough acquaintance with the work of leading European and American psychologists of
his day an earlier decade.
• Great ingenuity in devising methods for studying children Anne for interpreting the data his
methods produced.

In coming up with his theory, Vygotsky’s work has two major goals:
• to create a Marxist psychology that would both so problems in the field of psychology.
• To guide people in a newly designed country

The Development of Thought and Language

• The Childs thought and speech begin as separate functions with no necessary connection
between them like two separate circles. As the child begins to grow up, the two meet and
overlap, the juncture of the two represents verbal thought
• the two thoughts and language never completely overlap; there always remains some
nonverbal thought example adults skillful use of tools and some non-conceptual speech
examples an adult singing an old song.
• While admitting the necessary role of internal maturation in development, Vygotsky believed
that children’s informal informal education through the medium of language strongly
influences the level of conceptual thinking they reach.

Like Piaget, Vygotsky developed a theory explaining how children develop their thought
processes he proposed the following stages in conceptual development.

Stage one: thinking in an organized congeries or heaps

• Beginning by the trial-and-error stage, the grouping of disparate objects together is the
first step of concept formation for the young child, it implies a diffuse extension of the
meaning of the word or its substitute sign; Only the subjective bonds justify his or her
choices. The word meaning is a syncretic linking or the attempted reconciliation or union
of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties of objects in the Childs
representation and perception in a single image, it is by chance that the meaning
attributed to a word map in the child and the adult because it is linked with the concrete
objects in the child's environment.
• this step is determined by the spatial position of experimental objects the related
impression is a subjective one linked to the child's immediate perception; and

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 • finally, the step ends with the unstable syncretic image or consciousness that each heaps
element is a token of a single meaning.

Stage 2: Thinking in complexes

Individual objects are united in the child's mind not only by subjective impressions but
also by bonds that exists among the objects. This stage is comprised of five subphases.

• Associative complexes
which is described to be an understanding of an object that is linked to the nucleus
of the group to be built if the child can make any concrete associative relationships
by similarity or by contrast.
• In collection complexes
there is no hierarchical bond between the various characteristics. Objects are linked
based on some features in which they differ and complement one another. For
example, a glass, spoon, and plate.
• Chain complexes
focus on objects that have nothing in common with some of the other elements
either, or yet be parts of the same chain on the strength of sharing an attribute with
still another of its elements. For example, the sounds a child use in imitating animal
sounds, example dog (aw, woof) maybe the same sound he or she vocalizes when
milk is accidentally spilt.
• Diffuse complexes
where the relationship between objects is marked by the fluidity of the attribute that
unites its single elements for instance: yellow triangle > triangles > trapezoids >
squares > hexagons > circles
• Pseudo-concept complexes
refers to words that externally looks like a concept, but inside it is a complex. For
instance, if the child gathers all the triangles, it is because in fact they really look like
one another. He or she makes an associative complex which fits in with the adult’s
concept. The pseudo concept is a bridge between concrete thought by intuitive
images and abstract thought of a child. Word meanings as perceived by the child
referred to the same object the adult has in mind. That ensures the understanding
between a child's complex and an adult’s concept. For instance: the word dog for the
child fits in with a real concrete complex for the adult with the abstract one period
this stage is still found in adult thinking.

Vygotsky made an important distinction between pseudo concepts and through concepts
column through conceptual thinking requires that the child spontaneously groups objects
based on abstract characteristic's that he or she perceives and not simply applies
readymade labels that he or she has been taught to use with other common groupings.

Stage 2: Thinking in concepts

Synthesizing of phenomena that share common aspects an analyzing phenomenon by

singling out or abstracting elements from them. A single attribute is abstracted to form the basis
of a collective, the child has begun to operate with concepts, to practice conceptual thinking,
before being aware of the nature of these operations. This peculiar genetic situation is not limited
to the attainment of concepts; It is the rule rather than an exception in the intellectual
development of the child. The concept is not limited to generalization period to form a concept
it is necessary to abstract, single out. Synthesis must be combined with analysis.

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

Most teachers would probably agree with Vygotsky’s general viewpoint that it is their job to move
the child's mind forward. To do this, they must directly teach children new concepts, not wait for
them to make their own discoveries. At the same time, however, teachers know that they cannot
teach any concept to any child. They cannot, for example, effectively began teaching algebra to most
first graders. Teachers need ways of determining the kinds of lessons that children are ready for.

Most schools have made such decisions with the help of standardized achievement and
intelligence tests. A school might give a third-grade child an achievement test, find that he or she is
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 doing math at the third-grade level, and assign the child to a middle level math group. Vygotsky
argued however, that the conventional tests are inadequate. They only measure the child's actual
level of development, telling us how far the child has developed. They do not tell us about the child's
ability to learn new material beyond his or her present level. The reason for this shortcoming,
according to Vygotsky, is that conventional tests only evaluate the child can accomplish when working
in dependently. But before the children can performed tasks alone, they can perform them in
collaboration with others, when receiving some guidance or support period to determine a child's
potential for new learning, then, we need to see how well the child can do when offered some
assistance.

Vygotsky called the distance that children can perform beyond their current level the zone of
proximal development. More precisely, he defined the zone as the distance between the actual
developmental 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 (Forest & Siksou, 1993). The zone of proximal development, Vygotsky hoped,
would give educators as much better indication of each child's true potential.

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Assessments and Evaluations

Test I. Directions: Compare the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky and analyze where the two theories converge and
where they are different.

Areas Piaget Vygotsky

View of the child

Development of
cognition

The role of the

child significant
persons

Key areas in the

theory

Additional Questions:

1. What areas of Piaget and Vygotsky theory are similar? Different?

Summary and Reflection

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 As a teacher, you will be faced with students with varied abilities. Some can process information and score
high and tests instantaneously while others may need more facilitation to be able to understand a concept well.
there is no clear consensus on the definition of intelligence. Piaget defined intelligence as thinking or behavior
that is adaptive. If you were to ask yourself, how do you define intelligence? Several traits that describe the term
will surely emerge. This is true with other experts who offer different definitions, most of them centering on the
ability to think abstractly or to solve problems effectively. Early definitions of intelligence tended to reflect the
assumption that intelligence reflects innate ability; genetically determined and thus fixed at conception. But it has
become clear that intelligence is not fixed, that is changeable and subject to environment influence. As a result,
an individual's intelligence test scores sometimes vary considerably over a lifetime. Bear in mind that
understanding of this complex human quality has changed since the first intelligence tests were created at the
turn of the last century - and still no single, universally accepted definition of intelligence

References:

Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles

Brenda B. Corpuz PHD
Ma. Rita D. Lucas PHD
Heidi Grace L. Borabo PHD
Paz I. Lucido PHD

The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles

Teresita T. Rungduin PHD
Darwin C. Runguin M.A.

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