8.1: Introduction

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Todd LaMarr

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Introduction to Cognitive Development

Imagine all of your thoughts as if they were physical entities, swirling around inside your mind. How is it possible that your brain is able to move from one thought to the next in an orderly fashion? Our brains are always active as they endlessly perceive, process, plan, organize, and remember. Upon waking each morning, you begin thinking—contemplating the tasks that you must complete that day. In what order should you run your errands? Should you go to the bank, the cleaners, or the grocery store first? Can you get these things done before you head to class or will they need to wait until school is done? These thoughts are one example of cognition at work. Simply put, cognition is thinking, and it encompasses the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgment, language, and memory. In this section we will learn about how cognition develops in infancy and toddlerhood. ^{^[1]}

Child reaching through toy with small blocks strung on wires, pausing to examine a yellow block within toy. — Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Child pausing to examine a yellow block. (^{^[2]})

^{^[1]} Spielman et al., (2020). Psychology. OpenStax. Licensed under CC by 4.0

^{^[2]} Image from Markus Spiske on Unsplash