Cognitive Development: Theories, Functions, and Stages
What Is Cognitive Development?
Cognitive development encompasses the transformations of thought, reasoning, and stages of intelligence across a person's lifespan as they interact with and adapt to their surrounding environment.
Theories of Cognitive Development
Developmental theories examine how humans acquire new behaviors and identify which factors most favor cognitive growth. Four primary theoretical approaches stand out:
- Psychoanalytic Theory: Defends the view that our behavior is motivated by unconscious mechanisms; that is, all our actions are driven by internal energy.
- Behaviorism: Proposes that development is based on a process of forming increasingly elaborate behaviors, originating from simpler habits. It focuses strictly on clear and