Cognitive Changes in Human Development

Introduction

Cognitive development is part of human development and refers to the abilities of individuals to acquire “thinking, problem solving, concept understanding, information processing abilities and overall intelligence,” (Oakley, 2004, p. 2). Various cognitive changes take place as people grow from infancy to childhood, teenage, adulthood and finally as they age. On the other hand, cognitive changes are not experienced equally by individuals. The pace at which cognitive abilities are developed also differs from one individual to another. Cognitive development has therefore attracted the attention of many psychologists, healthcare professionals, as well as parents and guardians. This is because the lack of proper cognitive development among children can lead to the development of many disorders including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders among others. In addition, cognitive abilities deteriorate as people age leading to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. The aim of this paper is to review six recent peer-reviewed journal articles that have focused on cognitive development. It is hoped that the literature review will provide readers with a deeper understanding of cognitive development.

Literature Review

Article 1: Evaluating the independence of aging-related changes in visual and auditory Acuity balance and cognitive functioning

Hofer, Berg and Era (2003) were concerned with the changes that appear as far as the capabilities of cognition are concerned as people keep on aging. However, they argue that aging is not the only factor that is responsible for causing the changes in the capabilities of cognition. Other factors like one’s health, the nutritional value of the foods he or she feeds on, socio-economic factors among others are very common causal factors. Therefore, the article is very instrumental in trying to show the participation of each of the factors in changes in cognitive behavior. The research involved the study of a cross section of people as well as the study of a cohort of some individuals who were 75 years of age. The study involved measuring their visual acuity and also their auditory, muscle strength, balance as well as their cognitive functioning. For a long time, sensory acuity has been considered one of the most accurate sign of aging. The research that was carried out according to this article confirmed the same. This is because a research of two distinct groups – one of people between the ages of twenty five and sixty nine and the other one of the people over the age of seventy – was done. The results revealed that results were similar for each person in the same age grouping (Hofer et al., 2003).

Some of the factors that were found to be similar in members of the same age group include the working of the memory as well as the speed at which the memory works. However, there were very minimal variations which were due to some of the ecological factors in which each of the members of the group was exposed to. The study was therefore very successful in trying to show the relationship that exists between age and the cognitive capabilities of individuals but there were variations in the measurements of the visual and also auditory acuity, balance, cognitive abilities and the muscle strength due to other factors other than the age. Some of these factors include the environment or the ecological setting of an individual and the diet which one is exposed to.

Article 2: Studying Individual aging in an Interindividual context: Typical paths of age related, Dementia related and Mortality- related cognitive development in old age

Lovden, Adolfsson, Lindenberger and Bergman (2005) carried out this research with objectives of exploring cognitive development paths which are associated with dementia, old age and terminal declines as well as promotion and illustration of cognitive aging studies with bases of longitudinal data from an approach that was individual oriented. The individual based approach is encouraged because: the level of performance of an individual is best interpreted from their individual profile; individual development is dynamic; the measurement models that are standard focus on differences that are inter-individual and the acceptance of assumptions of uniformity (Lovden et al., 2005).

The participants in this study were from a city in Northern Sweden which had inhabitants totaling about 100,000 with Sweden as the major native language. It involved three assessments on 5 cohorts of between 60 and 80 years old with 5 years separating the assessments. Seclusion from the study was on the basis of mental retardation , speaking of another native language other then Sweden, suffering from severe sensory handicaps and diagnosis of dementia with the initial sample totaling 500 (Lovden et al, 2005). The measures used were semantic memory functioning with indicators of verbal knowledge and fluency, block design and episodic memory with indicators of recognition and recall performance. The three assessments involved two sessions of testing. The procedure was carried out using questionnaires and health examinations on an individual basis for the first session and cognitive measurement that was extensive for the second session where individual testing was intensified with inclusion of the use of glasses and hearing aids (Lovden et al., 2005). The analysis involved preliminary analyses using longitudinal factor analysis of two factors mainly semantic and episodic memories on three occasions namely: profiling of the cognitive functioning in old age, identification of the developmental paths for the functioning, replicating to chronological age after statistical control for associations and evaluation of cluster solutions in terms of trustworthiness and quality to guarantee validity and reliability (Lovden et al., 2005). The research showed that there was consistency in the maintenance of individual cognitive profiles for most participants while a minority had non-random cognitive developmental paths all of which support the hypothesis (Lovden et al., 2005).

The Lovden et al. (2005) research had limitations of using cluster analyses which were ambiguous in the choice of cluster numbers. The approach used required clarification of cluster interpretations since the values of the variables were standardized and the sample was used as reference hence interpretations on an intra-individual basis was impossible. Additionally, the exclusion of individuals on the basis of diagnosis of dementia led to missing values hence constrained individual cluster analysis. Further, the performance of cluster analysis on a heterogeneous sample did not provide age-related cross-sectional variance while the description of dementia progression was linked to low memory, system functioning, diagnosis of dementia and eventual death which however would not hold with exclusions of diagnosed people (Lovden et al., 2005).

Article 3: Developmental changes in depressive cognitions: A longitudinal evaluation of the cognitive triad inventory for children

The cognitive triad inventory for children (CTI-C) was developed by researchers upon realization that children too had the ability to suffer from episodes of depression with expectations of tapping into the negative cognitions of three types in children (Kaslow, Stark, Printz, Livingston & Tsai, 1992). However, these researches involved mixed ages and grades of children hence were not able to reveal developmental changes and differences. Further research on CTI-C by Zauszniewski, Panitrat & Youngblut (1999) made use of positive, negative and mixed items but had the disadvantages of not catering for aggregation from age disparities, local dependencies’ effects on the data thus making factor interpretation difficult as well as difficulties from the use of Pearson analysis. LaGrange et al. (2008) therefore carried out their research to provide the reliability and the validity that was lacking from previous CTI-C analyses.

The research involved a three-year longitudinal study on 3 cohorts of children between grade 2 and grade 8 upon whom examination of psychometric characteristics was done. The youngest cohort being between 7 and 8 years at the study’s beginning and the oldest between 13 and 14 years at the end, examination of developmental changes was possible. The participants were mainly from public middle and elementary schools in a middle sized southern city and of grades 2 to 8 thus forming a heterogeneous sample (LaGrange et al., 2008). The measures used were: cognitive triad, perceived control, depressive symptoms, self perceived competence, attributional style and perceived contingency. The procedures mainly involved counterbalanced questionnaires, one-on-one interviews for 2^nd and 3^rd graders, small group interviews of 3 to 4 children in fourth grade and larger group interviews for around 20 to 30 students for 5^th to 8^th graders (LaGrange et al., 2008). The results involved preliminary analyses of the standard deviations and mean, structuring of factors to avoid problems of reliability, distribution and local dependencies and construction of validity correlations, stability correlations and multiple regression analyses for prediction (LaGrange et al., 2008). The research showed that the CTI-C structure changes mainly during the period of middle childhood to stabilization in the early adolescence period. The CTI correlation with measures of self perceived competence, perceived contingency, self worth, depression and perceived controllability was significant except for attributional style measures. CTI showed stabilization with maturity of children while prediction of depression scores had limitations and confinement to earlier grades (LaGrange et al., 2008).

The research of LaGrange et al. (2008) had some limitations. One limitation was the administration of a single measure of cognitive triad which limited conclusions on underlying structures of cognition. Moreover, generalization of findings to children of major depressive disorders cannot be relied upon entirely. This is because the sample used, though large, consisted of non-referred children in schools who had significantly low levels of clinical depression (LaGrange et al., 2008). Additionally, the examination of prospective relations did not allow prediction of less stable components due to the effects of the relative stability of the depressive symptoms. The research required more open paradigms due to the use of measures derived from adult studies that hindered revelations of more developmental differences in depressive cognitions (LaGrange et al., 2008).

Article 4: First Came the Trees, Then the Forest: Developmental Changes during Childhood in the Processing of Visual Local–Global Patterns According to the Meaningfulness of the Stimuli

Considerable research has been carried out all in an effort to discover which between trees and the forest is perceived first by children and adults. These studies and research are however scarce and contradictory due to their opposing views. In this particular study, Poirel, Houde, Mellet and Pineau (2008) aimed at assessing the identification processes important in childhood during the local-global processes. They also aimed at characterizing the evolution of the local-global processes by first clarifying the existence of a local or global advantage in children (Poirel et al., 2008).

The study involved 4 cohorts of children aged between 4 and 9 years old, with equal gender representation and with infants that spoke French as their mother tongue. There was control of data acquisition and stimuli representation by use of a 15-inch screen personal computer, white background for viewing of black figures which was at a distance of 60 cm. The stimuli were large drawings made of smaller drawings both object and non-object drawings with eight conditions that were different (Poirel et al., 2008). The process involved individual child experimentation upon familiarization with the procedure with the different conditions presented and their response analyzed based on similarity. The results were analyzed on similar and dissimilar responses. The research found that there was more accurate detection of object differences than non-object differences. In addition, there were indications of changes to global preferences at the age of 9 years from local preferences at the age of 4 years (Poirel et al., 2008). Additionally, the effects of the irrelevant nature revealed changes that were age-related.

The study however had the limitations of use of technical materials which would require the participants to get familiarized with. This could have significantly affected their performance in the test. The research further does not provide adequate applications to real world performances. Additionally, the application of the research to handwriting and reading as it asserts would not be efficient since the stimuli is not based on words and letters but rather on objects thus limiting its reliability in a wide scope of learning (Poirel et al., 2008).

Article 5: Individual differences in executive function and central coherence predict development changes in theory of mind in autism

In this particular article, Pellicano (2010) investigates the longitudinal relationship that exists among three main factors associated with Autism cognition. These factors include: central coherence, mind theory and executive function. The researcher did an investigation using thirty seven children. According to her findings, it is very evident that the condition autism is as a result of a kind of a behavior that is goal oriented. However, it is also very evident that even some cases of atomism are not necessary due to behaviors that are goal oriented but instead result from other factors. In such a case, it is very hard to give the real symptoms of the disease. This gives the explanation as to why there is a range of features that explains why the symptoms of the condition are different from one person to another. The study has revealed that there is a great relationship between differences in individuals’ abilities in executing tasks. The differences are brought about by factors like intelligence quotient, mental flexibility, memory working and inhibitory control. It is very evident that there is no strong relationship between one’s mind theory and executive function which are the main causes of autism. This is because none of the children who participated in the study and who had damaged executive function was found to be exposed to the defect of mind theory.

It was also discovered that all the children who suffered from autism, apart from having executive function and mind theory defects, also showed signs of central coherence defects (Pellicano, 2010). However, the condition of central coherence is more as a result of social factors that a child is exposed to during the process of growth. The current study has also revealed the interrelationship of the three factors mentioned above. This was after the research revealed a great relationship between effective function and the mind theory. Further, it was confirmed that central coherent is related to effective function. However, despite the fact that they are related, each of them is an independent causal factor of autism.

Article 6: Representational constrains on the development of memory and metamemory: A developmental- representational theory

In this study conducted by Ceci, Fitneva and Williams, (2010), there is an effort to show that during the early days, the growth of the brain is determined by the traditional settings. This is shown by the differences that are manifested in the differences that occur between two children whereby one of them is enrolled in school while the other one is not. Therefore, the study tries to show the relationship between the developments of one’s brain with relation to the childhood exposure. A number of experiments were done to find out the association between memory development as well as the metamemory with respect to the development constraints different individuals are exposed to. The experiments covered were aimed at studying the children at the ages between childhood and the early years of adolescence. This is because it is during this period of time that they acquire different metamemory skills of monitoring. Also it is during this particular period that many of the neurological changes in the brain occur. All of the experiments revealed that very young minds which are exposed to learning are better off than the ones that are not. Also it was very evident that age differences in children affect their memory functioning. This is because the younger child’s memory is said to be less developed as compared to the older child’s memory.

However, these experiments failed in drawing the distinction in as far as the issue of age is concerned. This is because it was assumed that the differences in the ages may be unspecified (Ceci et al., 2010). This means that age difference is one of the main factors that may cause variations in the memory functions like recognition and monitoring. The research has also revealed that there is a great relationship between the metamemory development, the development of memory and the development of the brain (Bernard, 1993). This is because for the brain to be termed as developed it has to automatically have an improved memory since memory is one of the main functions of the brain.

Conclusion

The paper has reviewed six journal articles about various aspects of cognitive development. Cognitive development in childhood as well as cognitive deterioration in late adulthood has been examined. Different methods used in each of the studies and the findings of the studies have been reported. Additionally, the limitations of the studies have been reported and these limitations form the basis upon which future studies can be carried out.

Reference List

1. Bernard, J. (1993). A cognitive theory of consciousness. Oxford: University of Oxford Press.
2. Ceci, S., Fitneva, S., & Williams, W. (2010). Representational constrains on the development of memory and metamemory: A developmental- representational theory. Psychological Review, 117(2), 464-495.
3. Hofer, S., Berg, S., & Era, P. (2003). Evaluating the independence of aging-related changes in visual and auditory Acuity balance and cognitive functioning. Psychology and Aging, 18(2), 285-305.
4. Kaslow, N. J., Stark, K. D., Printz, B., Livingston, R., & Tsai, S. L. (1992). Cognitive Triad Inventory for Children: Development and relation to depression and anxiety. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 339–347.
5. LaGrange, B., Cole, D., Alanna, T., Folmer, A., Dallaire, D., Pineda, A., & Ciesla, J. (2008). Developmental changes in depressive cognitions: A longitudinal evaluation of the cognitive triad inventory for children. Journal of Psychological Assessment, 20(3), 217- 226.
6. Lovden, M., Adolfsson, R., Lindenberger, U., & Bergman, L. (2005). Studying Individual Aging in an Interindividual context: Typical paths of age related, Dementia related and Mortality- related cognitive development in old age. Journal of Psychology & Aging, 20(2), 303-316.
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8. Pellicano, E. (2010). Individual differences in executive function and central coherence predict development changes in theory of mind in autism. Developmental Psychology, 46(2), 530-544.
9. Poirel, N., Houde, O., Mellet, E., & Pineau, A. (2008). First Came the Trees, Then the Forest: Developmental Changes during Childhood in the Processing of Visual Local–Global Patterns According to the Meaningfulness of the Stimuli. Journal of Development Psychology, 44(1), 245-253.
10. Zauszniewski, J. A., Panitrat, R., & Youngblut, J. M. (1999). The Children’s Cognitive Triad Inventory: Reliability, validity, and congruence with Beck’s cognitive triad theory of depression. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 7, 101–115.