Cognitive Development

Start with a view of development

This page brings together resources on cognitive development within the Developmental Psychology: Foundations and Early Development unit in Psychology. The formats offer different ways to approach the material: mind maps organize ideas, flashcards offer prompts for recall, and quizzes provide questions to work through.

A useful starting point is the mind map Piaget's theory. It introduces schemas and describes children constructing their understanding through active engagement. For a broader view, the development mind map also covers early brain development, neural connections and Piaget's stages.

Move from maps to flashcards

After looking at a map, use Psychology - Cognition and Development to practice recalling Piaget's ideas. Its flashcards include assimilation, accommodation and stages of development. Try explaining each term in your own words before turning to the card's answer, then return to the map to see how the ideas fit together.

The Theory of mind map explores how people understand others in terms of goals, beliefs, desires and feelings. The page also lists a map on interpretations of joint attention and flashcards on theory of mind, including an unexpected transfer task. These offer a way to move from an overview to more focused prompts.

Use a quiz to guide your next step

Once you have explored a map or flashcard deck, try the Samuel & Bryant Quiz or the quiz on Piaget's stages of development. Use your responses to decide which ideas to look at again. You can pair the Samuel and Bryant quiz with the listed map on their procedure and results, or return to a Piaget map after the stages quiz.

The resources are made by GoConqr users, so choose the format and level of detail that suit your study or teaching. Pick a resource and build a study sequence around it.