ABSTRACT
Route map of the chapter
Cognitive development involves the study of the way children’s thinking develops. The topic can be extended to cover almost any aspect of children’s activities. This chapter focuses on children’s thinking about their physical world and their ability to solve problems. (Thinking about social aspects of their world is considered in Chapter 20.) Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in infancy is the first topic considered here. This is followed by a consideration of his ideas about cognitive development in childhood. Piaget’s work has influenced the study of moral judgement and this is discussed next. The final section outlines more recent views about cognitive development, those involving the information processing approach, children’s representations and a social perspective.
