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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: FIRST TWO YEARS

Cognitive Development: First Two Years

Kimberly Knecht

Brigham Young University-Idaho

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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: FIRST TWO YEARS
Infants are extremely intelligent. It used to be thought of that children don’t start learning

until they are a little older. This belief has been proven false. Children’s brains are more

malleable and can adapt faster than an adult. They can understand many languages and have

preferences with whom they are with right when they are born. Children from birth are extremely

intuitive and adventurous. They want to learn about the world around them and it shows in their

expressions and how they act.

Learning

In the article “Perspectives on multisensory experience and cognitive development in

infants with cochlear implants” Mary K. Fagan and David B. Pisoni it explains how infants learn.

It says:

“Infants learn about their complex surroundings from the sensory information they

receive … As examples, visual perceptual information shapes infants’ cognitive

representations of motion, depth, and event sequencing; manual activities and tactile

exploration are rich sources of information about to shape, texture, consistency, object

properties, and the development of object representations.” (2009, p.1)

As it says here kids are learning, and they are doing it through their senses.

John Piaget talked about the senses and how important they are for a child to learn and

develop. He believed that children were active participants I their own learning. He believed that

children started to learn later in life than they actually do but he had the idea right. He believed

that children had sensorimotor intelligence, which is defined in the book The Developing Person

page 164 as “Piaget’s term for the way infants think – by using their senses and motor skills –

during the first period of cognitive development.” (Berger, 2009). Piaget said that there were six
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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: FIRST TWO YEARS
stages of sensorimotor intelligence. The First is reflexed like sucking, staring, grasping, and

listening. In stage two infants learn to adapt their reflexes to what they want. Stage three talks

about how infants learn to respond to things and people they see. Infants want to make lasting

interactions with those around them and with toys they love. In stage four an infant starts to

make their actions more deliberate and meaningful when interacting with others and with

objects. They start to become more aware of emotions. Stage five is when they become “Little

Scientists” as Piaget liked to call them. They experiment and learn about the world. They are

creative in what they do. Finally, stage six is when an infant starts to think before they do

something. They don’t try to go through trial and error anymore. They are able to store in their

mind memories and come back to it later.

Language

One of these things that is stored in the mind is language. Infants are constantly trying

and learning their native language. In the article “Fostering Early Language with Infants and

Toddlers” by Alice Sterling Honing it talks about this. The article says:

“Receptive language (understanding words) precedes expressive language abilities

(except for the question “Why?” that toddlers ask so often). Babies learn through

sensorimotor activities. As they grip a cup, sip from it, wave it about, bang it, transfer it

from hand to hand, and mouth it, babies learn the idea of and word for ‘cup.’ As you hold

out your arms, inviting baby into them, and say ‘up,’ baby learns to ask for a hug in your

arms by saying ‘up.’” (Honing, 2014, p. 2)

Children are trying their hardest to be able to communicate with their caregivers. As they learn

the language of their caregiver, they realize the more their needs will be met. As Piaget explained
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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: FIRST TWO YEARS
in his stages, as the child learns to communicate their needs the caregiver will do what they

need/want. The child is learning to develop that trusting bond with their caregiver and making

their relationships more meaningful. This can only truly be done through being able to

communicate. As children learn language, they are eventually able to keep words in their

memory. They learn that if they say certain things an outcome that they like will happen so they

try to remember these important words. Eventually they are able to add more words to their

memory bank and make sentences.

Understanding

Infants can understand these words long before they can use them. In the article “Verbal

Positional Memory in 7-month-olds” by Silvia Benavides-Varela and Jacque Mahler, they talk

about this. It says “A number of behavioral and neuroimaging studies with newborns suggest that

the basic mechanisms for recognizing familiar word sounds are already functional at birth…

They also display some ability to learn new word-object associations.” (p.1). This proves the fact

that children are extremely intelligent creatures. They can understand things when they are just

an infant. In the book The Developing child on page 177 it says, “Meanings are learned rapidly;

babies understand about 10 times more than they can say.” (Berger). Children can learn so many

things but have a hard time expressing themselves because they can’t pronounce the word.

Children have learned a way around this.

Communication

Children have learned to communicate with their caregivers by using what we call

holophrase. This mean “A single word that is used to express a complete, meaningful thought.”

(Berger, 2009). These words are normally go together with gestures and facial expressions. For
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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: FIRST TWO YEARS
example, from one of the articles from before “Fostering Early Language with Infants and

Toddlers” a child learns that the word up and when they say “up” their caregiver will pick them

up and hug them. So, when a child feels sad, lonely, or a desire to be hugged they will say “up”.

The caregiver will understand that this means they want to be picked up and hugged. It also

means that they want loving attention from them. Eventually children are able to us more than

one word to express themselves. They start to use two words, and this shows that they are

learning the language and that their brain is developing.

Conclusion

Children have amazing potential. They are constantly learning and developing into the

people they will become. It’s so important to give them the building blocks that they need to be

successful. The best way for a child to succeed is if they are helped by their caregivers and

supported in their creativity and exploration of the world around them. Caregivers have such an

amazing and special responsibility to rear children the best they can. They need to give children

opportunities to learn. They need to give opportunities for children to explore and create. The

best way to learn is through trial and error as Piaget stated in his stages.

A person can’t always tell what is happening in a child’s mind. Learning, for an infant

looks different than learning for an adult. Adults have already made certain connections in their

mind, but infants are still making thousands of connections every day. Children need to learn by

exploring. They are learning their new world, new language, and making memories for the

future. It is absolutely amazing, and we get to be a part of the journey with them.
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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: FIRST TWO YEARS
Reference

Benavides-Varela, S. & Mehler, J. (2015). Verbal Positional Memory in 7-month-olds. Retrieved

from https://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=84bc3e58-71fb-45c6-

b9ce-3e22e8e30ef2%40sessionmgr120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU

%3d#db=aph&AN=100988947

Berger, K. (2009). The Developing Child. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Fagan, M. & Pisoni, D. (2009). Perspectives on Multisensory Experience and Cognitive

Development in Infants with Cochlear Implants. Retrieved from

https://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=f4916e19-163a-49dd-8142-

973f9e1136be%40sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU

%3d#db=pbh&AN=44280304

Honing, A. (2014). Fostering Early Language with Infants and Toddlers. Retrieved from

https://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=71046927-b97a-40b3-b3f4-

8e103b1ee9b8%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU

%3d#db=eft&AN=96070986