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Pediatrics in Review Cognitive Development

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Pediatrics in Review Cognitive Development

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1. *LCDR, USN, Medical Corps; Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics Fellow, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

2. †Major, USAF, Medical Corps, Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics Fellow, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

3. §Lt Col, USAF, Medical Corps, Program Director, Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics Fellowship, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Author Disclosure

Drs Wilks, Gerber, and Erdie-Lalena have disclosed no financial relationships relevant to this article. This commentary does not contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device.

Objectives

1. List the foundational aspects of cognitive development.

2. Characterize object permanence, causality, and symbolic thinking.

3. Discuss the steps of problem-solving development.

4. Describe methods of assessing language development.

5. Review language milestones.

This is the second in a series of three articles on normal infant and child development. The previous article covered the acquisition of motor milestones. This article focuses on cognitive development. Social-emotional development will be discussed in the final article.
After completing this article, readers should be able to:

Introduction

Infant and child development relies on significant interdependence of the developmental streams. The infant who is concentrating on gross motor control while sitting is unlikely to be able to explore an object's detail or advance his or her manipulation of objects. The clinician must appreciate the total developmental progression of a child while also understanding the patterns of development expected within individual developmental streams. Such improved understanding of development can assist in the pediatrician's surveillance of a child's progress but will not substitute for a systematic developmental screening program, as outlined in recent American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Practice Guidelines. The complete table of developmental milestones is included in the online version of this article for reference (Table 1). The table is printed in the previous article of this series ( Pediatrics in Review. 2010;31:267-277).

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is the foundation of intelligence. The dictionary defines intelligence as the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new situations. In reality, intelligence is a broad concept that involves multiple factors and is incompletely understood. The best efforts to quantify this concept come through use of standardized intelligence tests that ...

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1. Timothy Wilks, MD* 2. R. Jason Gerber, MD† 3. Christine Erdie-Lalena, MD§ 1. *LCDR, USN, Medical Corps; Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics Fellow, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. 2. †Major, USAF, Medical Corps, Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics Fellow, Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. 3.

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Language & Cognitive & Social Emotional Development

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Language & Cognitive & Social Emotional Development

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Baby and Toddler Milestones, Dr. Lisa Shulman

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Cognition development is related to social stimulation and language acquisition.

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Problem solving is part of cognitive development.

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How do I know that a toddler is developing cognitively?

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The concept of object permanence is an important part of cognitive development! Babies learn that something still exists even if it is not fully visualized around 7 to 9 months.

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"Stranger danger" is an appropriate developmental phase that starts around 9 months.

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Reading books helps children cognitively develop.

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Using tools is a function of fine motor skills AND problem solving, which is related to cognitive development!

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This video demonstrates a 12 month old "reading" a book - great example of cognitive development!

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This baby was happily reading a book when she came across a picture of a dog in the pages. She woke up her puppy pal sleeping next to her to show them that she was reading about them.