Changing priorities in the development of cognitive competence and school learning: A general theory

Abstract

This paper summarizes a theory of cognitive development and elaborates on its educational implications. The theory postulates that development occurs in cycles along multiple fronts. Cognitive competence in each cycle comprises a different profile of executive, inferential, and awareness processes, reflecting changes in developmental priorities in each cycle. Changes reflect varying needs in representing, understanding, and interacting with the world. Interaction control dominates episodic representation in infancy; attention control and perceptual awareness dominate in realistic representations in preschool; inferential control and awareness dominate rule-based representation in primary school; truth and validity control and precise self-evaluation dominate in principle-based thought in adolescence. We demonstrate that the best predictors of school learning in each cycle are the cycle’s cognitive priorities. Also learning in different domains, e.g., language and mathematics, depends on an interaction between the general cognitive processes dominating in each cycle and the state of the representational systems associated with each domain. When a representational system is deficient, specific learning difficulties may emerge, e.g., dyslexia and dyscalculia. We also discuss the educational implications for evaluation and learning at school.

Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills: Age and Gender Differences at 12 to 19 Years Old

“…This is also in line with new developmental theories of personality and cognitive abilities that state that complex reasoning and abstract thinking skills acquire importance around 15–17 years old. In fact, at this age, boys and girls must face the new challenges and requests of the corresponding school period, in which they must consistently think about complex information and principles of topics such as physics, mathematics, and philosophy ( Demetriou et al 2022a , 2022b ).…”

Ausubel’s meaningful learning re-visited

“…In related work Demetriou, Spanoudis, Christou et al ( 2022 ) drew on empirical data to show the developmental transitions taking place dominated by changes in attention control between 6 and 8 years, and by changes in working memory between 9 and 12 years. And most recently, Demetriou, Spanoudis, Greiff et al ( 2022 ) reviewed research into how school performance relates to cognitive, self-awareness, language, and personality factors. The researchers outlined what they described as “the architecture of the mind, involving a general factor (g) that underlies distinct mental processes.” (p. 1).…”

“…Recent papers that are considered include details of advance organizers being used in teaching EFL (see Jafari & Hashim, 2012 ); and in professional development (see Walker, 2010 ; Ylvisaker, 2006 ), so the field remains active. We have also reviewed six articles in related fields, namely Hitzler ( 2022 ); LeCun ( 2022 ); and Marcus ( 2020 ) on Artificial Intelligence; (AI); and Demetriou, Mouyi, et al ( 2022 ) on executive function, working memory and general intelligence “g”; Demetriou, Spanoudis, Christou, et al ( 2022 ) on cognitive and personality predictors of school performance; and Demetriou, Spanoudis, Greiff, et al ( 2022 ) on the development of cognitive competence and school learning.…”