Cognitive Development

Darla Wyant
Infancy: Birth – 2
Your infant will begin hearing like adult just hours after he/she is born.   Infants will have the ability to learn evident from birth.   The infant’s attention span will easily be drawn to intense or novel stimuli.   Visual improvements will be seen over the first year of infancy.   The child will form some ability to learn evident from birth.   Learning where different kinds of objects are stored in the playroom (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004)

Early Childhood: 2 – 6
In early childhood, your child’s attention span starts becoming shorter.   The child starts being easily distracted by things.   The child will start having some understanding and knowledge about symbols and new experiences (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004)

Middle Childhood: 6 – 10
Your child’s knowledge and thought begins to increase.   The child will start to increase their exposure away from family and home.   Gradual automotization basic skills and academically unintegrated in science and social studies.   The child will start to play more with his /her friends, attend to important stimuli, and ignore irrelevant stimuli (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004)

Early Adolescence: 10 – 14
When your child reaches early adolescence, he/she will be able to stay on a single task for more than an hour.   The child will develop basic skills in reading, writing, and math.   Your child may not be well organized or have the knowledge about various topics and academic disciplines (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004)

Late Adolescence: 14 – 18
Your child will have the ability to stay on task for lengthy periods at a time.   They will have integrated some knowledge in some content domains (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004)

Reference
McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2004). Child development: Educating and working with children and adolescents (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.