Cognition refers to thinking and mental skills, and it includes the ability to receive, process, and use information.

Cognitive Experience

• Knowing and understanding come from active involvement with people and things.
  
  
• The ability to adapt to the larger world begins with processing sensory information and matures to include language abilities and problem-solving skills.
  

Sensorimotor Experience: Piaget

• The beginning of cognition, as described by Piaget, is the coordination of sense perception and muscle movements.
  
  
• The six substages of the sensorimotor period gradually move from simple reflexes at birth to inventing mental images and beginning to use language by age two.
  

Sociocultural Influence: Vygotsky and Piaget

• Both Vygotsky and Piaget believed that young children use experience to construct or build new knowledge, but for Vygotsky this was primarily a co-constructed experience—the assistance of another person was significant.
  
  
• Vygotsky emphasized the importance of a child's social and cultural world, and that cognition grew rapidly after the second year because of language and the advent of pretend play.
  

Supporting Cognitive Development

• Cognitive growth is best supported by inviting and encouraging infant-toddler exploration in an environment that is rich in sensory experience.
  
  
• Mathematical concepts, emergent literacy, and creativity are all fostered when young children have the opportunity to explore, experiment, and problem solve in a safe, appropriate environment.
  

Brain-Based Learning

• Learning for young children is holistic and it takes place best within trusting, responsive relationships.
  
  
• Brain-based learning principles are very similar to the ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky concerning cognitive development; the principles also align with developmentally appropriate practice.
  

Children with Special Needs: Cognitive Delay

• The most obvious characteristic of cognitive delay is reduced or delayed ability to learn, but each child is unique and labels always need to be in a context that is respectful of every child.
  
  
• Promoting the cognitive growth of a cognitively delayed young child generally involves providing more practice time; use of multisensory experience segmented into small steps; and consistent, supportive feedback.