CHD-2220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Inductive Reasoning, Human Computer, Cognitive Development
29 Nov 2016
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November 28
Cognitive development in middle childhood
➢ Middle childhood = elementary school (kindergarten – 5th grade)
➢ If you do not do well in first grade because you are unprepared, it is hard for children to
successfully proceed through the elementary school system
o Kids become less ready for second grade than they were for first grade
o Second grade teachers are even less ready to teach kids who are not ready for
second grade – even more profoundly so than first grade teachers
o Nature of our education system – overwhelmed teachers who are undertrained
➢ Last couple of years of preoperational stage = 5 to 7 shift
o Transitional time at ages 5-7 from the preoperational stage to concrete
operations (illogical → logical)
▪ Still considered to be in the preoperational stage
o Concrete operations stage = 7-11 years-old
o Ireasig aouts of logial ssteati thikig starts to eter hildre’s
thinking – start to show intuitive reasoning (more and more logic starts to push
ito hildre’s thikig)
▪ Some evidence of conservation and logic – not fully there but the
beginnings can be seen
▪ Start to see some of the inductive and deductive reasoning that
characterizes the concrete operations stage
▪ Begin to be able to reverse their thoughts when using intuitive reasoning
▪ Start to see children realizing the difference between appearance and
reality
o All improvements in thinking are slow and can be seen over time – are not
always stable once shown (fluctuations)
o If children do not have some progress in inductive reasoning by the age of 6, they
will have a lot of trouble in first grade
▪ Work in first grade and the teachings in the classroom require logical
thinking of some sort by the children
➢ Rule of class inclusion – concrete operational principle
o Children need to form categories to understand their world
o Problem – there are superordinate categories that have subordinate categories
o The superordinate categories always have more in it than any of the subordinate
categories (always holds)
o Pre-schoolers do not understand this concept (more living things or animals get
them confused)
➢ Information processing theorists/researchers
o Roughly use the human computer as a model/analog for the development of
thinking in children
o Talk about sequential components in both (input systems)
▪ Ex. how orally given information is processed auditory and cognitively by
children
▪ Ex. how short-term memory develops
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