Implications of Cognitive Development for Schooling and Parenting

Implications of Cognitive Development
for Schooling and Parenting
Research in cognitive development prompted by
information-processing theories, Piaget’s stage theory,
and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory have not only
informed the work of developmental psychologists
but also proved useful in schools and to parents. For
example, teacher and student understanding of the
workings of memory can affect student performance
in school, and teachers can use developmental research
to help students become more aware of strategies
that may help them improve their memory. In
turn, students can enhance their ‘‘meta-memory’’
skills by becoming more aware of the limitations of
their memory and the activities that may enhance it.
For example, students can learn that repeatedly reading
over their class notes does not ensure later recall
of that material. Instead, mental strategies called
‘‘mnemonics’’ may be used to successfully learn information
in a manner that promotes later recall. For example,
one technique, called elaboration, involves
relating the material to be learned to already known
information in memory. This process, by associating
new information with old information, not only helps
prevent forgetting, but also increases the number of
cues that may lead to later retrieval of that information.
Parents can also benefit from the knowledge
gained from current and past research in cognitive
development. For example, Vygotsky described parental
roles as being critical in a child’s development.
Early on parents can provide the help that children
need to develop certain culturally relevant skills. Parents’
sensitivity to their child’s skill level and their
ability to allow the child to gradually take on more
and more responsibility in a task provides an excellent
way for children to learn.
Researchers in the field of cognitive development
strive to describe and understand changes in children’s
thinking over the course of development. The
work of Piaget and his stage theory of cognitive development
guided much of the early work in that field.
More recent investigations, however, attempt to understand
the continuity of development. Researchers
investigate interactions between biological and environmental
variables, and thus focus on the ways in
which culture, the family, the peer group, and the de-