Cognitive Child Development

There are four main domains of children's development: physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and creative. Each of these areas are crucial in a growth of each child, forming children into adults they are to be due to their development. The main focus in this discussion will be cognitive development of a twenty-eight year old child. “Cognitive development is viewed as a fertile and complex concept.” (Nicolson & Shipstead, 1998, p. 27). Theory of mind, representation, memory, language, and more are indicators of child's cognitive development. At the age of twenty eight months of age it is easy to track the one's development as a child usually speaks in sentences and obtain other characteristics for an easy identification for a development, therefore

there are many criteria based on which it is possible to recognize one's development and maturity. In this age play is the main activity the child is involved in which provides the opportunity for a child to explore and learn. Moreover, play supports not only cognitive growth rather influenced every aspect of child's development. “Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development” (Ginsburg, 2007, pg.182). Through play we can observe and notice child’s development level. The cognitive development of a twenty-eight months old child can be recognized through their ability to represent, memorize, use language, have a number development, and Theory of Mind.
In my opinion children of twenty-eight months old are definitely able to recognize objects of previous experience and represent them with a word, or explain in a simple language their previous experiences, which is one of the factors to notice their cognitive development.

“The remarkable advancement in cognition form the infant or young child hinges on the expanding ability to think representationally, that is, to make something-a mental symbol, a word, or an object-stand for or represent something else which is not present.” (Nicolson & Shipstead, 1998, p. 28). For example, if you ask the two year where their favorite toy is is, they will most likely remember where it is, even if it’s in another room, and bring it to you. Also, they are able to point at the objects after you ask them where is that object and even repeat after you the name of the object. Moreover, at this age children start to recognize basic colors and identify

them.
Another area of cognitive development in a child's memory. I would assume that a child at the age of twenty-eight months old is able to remember and recall experiences they had in their short life. “Preschoolers and adults thus share the same “basic hardware” because both recognition and recall memory are evident during early childhood” (Nicolson & Shipstead, 1998, p. 39). Child’s memory does not reach full capacity at this age, nevertheless, at this age a child can memorize short poems, knows how to count until ten or twenty and remembers people they spend the most of their time with and can easily recall them the next time they see the person walks in. In this age parents can trigger and start to exercise child’s memory by teaching short poems and songs to their children. At this age child is able to recognize music he/she heard before, or a child they met few days earlier. Moreover, children can practice counting and learning new words in a playful setting.
Furthermore, a child at the age of twenty-eight months old is learning how to communicate through language.

“The development of representational thought provides the means for children to understand that words can stand for people, objects, actions, places, feelings, and ideas” (Nicolson & Shipstead, 1998, p. 28). At this age a child’s language is expended to the point that he/she is able to communicate his/her desired or ideas, rather than pointing toward an object or saying separate words in order for their caregiver to understand what he/she wants. Child’s language ability is increasing rapidly at this age, by talking to his/her parents, siblings or peers. Even Though child knows many words and can talk in a sentence, their pronunciation and grammar is yet to come. “Proponents argue that children’s mental representations of words closely resemble adult surface forms, in contrast to their pronunciation which is characterized by errors that are governed by rules that change during phonological acquisition” (Dodd & Mcintosh, 2009, p.1028). The pronunciation is acquiring through child’s practice by talking to parents and peers. Also, child is not able to apply grammar to their language, rather they learn as they hear how other people use the language and repeat after them but maybe switching words around or missing some of them as they

speak.
Theory of Mind is an astonishing area of development that does not take place in child’s cognitive development until they are about three years old, but I believe that twenty-eight-month old child already has some understanding of another person perspectives. “Appropriate experiences for young children in the process of development theories of mind are social interactions what stimulate their ability to consider and respond to others’ emotional, social m or cognitive points of view” (Nicolson & Shipstead, 1998, p. 34). For example, a child will know that if he touches something that mom told him not to touch they will be punished. Theory of Mind is only in the beginning stage at this age and have a long way to unfold in child’s mind.
The cognitive development is a complex process which is being studies for many years and will be studied for many years to come. Each child development is influenced by many factors and each child is unique in their development. Some of the factors might be a number of siblings they have, parents-child interactions at home, do they communicate with their peers or they are mostly limited to communication with adults. All of the factors can play a major impact on child’s development. During observations these are the factors to consider while thinking about child’s development.