ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the reader with an analysis of how the major theories of cognitive development in childhood apply to cognitively advanced children. Particular attention is given to explaining how these children differ from and how they are similar to all children in their development. Cognitive psychology is a broad area of psychology, and thus this chapter ranges from the appropriate application of cognitive neuroscience to the world systems perspective of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. Perspectives addressed include information systems (attention, working memory, and long-term memory), cognitive constructivism, and social constructivism. Each perspective includes guidance for how one would apply the information in the classroom when working with advanced students along with learning activities to help the reader synthesize the information.
