Cognitive Development

Kathleen M. Galotti holds a B.A. in psychology and economics from Wellesley College, as well as an M.A. and a Ph.D. in psychology and an M.S.E. in computer and information sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. At Carleton College she holds the title Professor and Director of Cognitive Science, an interdisciplinary program, which she helped establish in 1989. She also is a former department chair of Psychology. She teaches courses in cognitive and developmental psychology and cognitive science, and has also taught courses in statistics and introductory psychology. Dr. Galotti is the author or coauthor of dozens of peer-reviewed studies in cognitive and developmental psychology. Her research centers on the development of reasoning and decision-making skills from the preschool period through adulthood and on the styles with which adolescents and adults plan for the future, make important life commitments, and learn new information. Her research has been funded through the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. She is the author of Making Decisions That Matter: How People Face Important Life Choices (Erlbaum, 2002), as well as a textbook, Cognitive Development: Infancy Through Adolescence (SAGE, 2011).

• PrefaceAbout the AuthorChapter 1: Introduction and OverviewWhat Is Cognitive Development?Cognitive Realms: An OverviewBroader Impacts of and on Cognitive DevelopmentGoing ForwardChapter 2: Major Theories of Cognitive DevelopmentPiagetian TheoryVygotskian Theory and Sociocultural InfluencesChapter 3: Other Frameworks Relevant to Cognitive DevelopmentTheories and FrameworksResearch Methods for Studying Cognitive DevelopmentChapter 4: Perception, Attention and Memory In InfancyBasic Sensory Abilities in InfancyVisual PerceptionAttentional DevelopmentMemory Development in InfancyMedia Exposure During InfancyChapter 5: Knowledge of Objects and Concepts In InfancyKnowledge of ObjectsCategorizationKnowledge of NumberStatistical LearningChapter 6: Acquiring LanguageTheoretical PerspectivesPhonological DevelopmentLexical DevelopmentSyntactic DevelopmentConversational/Pragmatic DevelopmentAcquiring Sign LanguageChapter 7: Perception, Attention and Memory In Early ChildhoodPerceptual DevelopmentAttention and Executive FunctioningMemory DevelopmentMedia Usage in the Preschool YearsChapter 8: Conceptual and Representational Development In Early ChildhoodConceptual DevelopmentReasoningTheory of MindChapter 9: Perception, Attention and Memory In Middle ChildhoodBecoming More FocusedSelective Attention and Executive FunctionIncreasing Cognitive CapacitiesDevelopment of Long-Term MemoryChapter 10: Representation and Complex Cognitive Skills In Middle ChildhoodDeveloping a Wider and Deeper Knowledge BaseHigher-Order Cognitive SkillsApprenticeship and Guided ParticipationDeveloping Academic SkillsChapter 11: Continuing Cognitive Development in AdolescenceNeurological Development During AdolescenceDevelopments in Basic Cognitive ProcessesDevelopments in Higher-Order Cognitive ProcessesChapter 12: Broader Impacts of Cognitive DevelopmentIndividual Differences in CognitionReasoning About Moral DilemmasEpistemological DevelopmentIdentity DevelopmentGlossaryReferencesAuthor IndexSubject Index