ABSTRACT
This chapter presents many case studies for cognitive/intellectual development of children. It starts by looking at what Jean Piaget thought about cognition. In short he believed that the thinking of a toddler was different from that of a school child, which was different from that of an adolescent. Memory plays a huge part in cognitive development and it is memory that allows knowledge to be internalised. The internalisation of knowledge allows for the learner to be conscious of what is known and to be able to reflect and consider. Three additional factors relate to cognitive development and these are imitation, questioning and elaboration. Children often start off by copying or imitation. For Loris Malaguzzi the co-construction of knowledge is an essential ingredient in cognitive development. He says: Children learn by interacting with their environment and actively transforming their relationships with the world of adult things, events and, in original ways, their peers.
