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Cognitive Development:

Historical origins: The history and theory of cognitive development

Jean Piaget is inexorably linked to cognitive development. It is clear in Piaget's writings that there are influences from many historical predecessors. A few that are worth mentioning are included in the following Historical Origins chart. It is intended to be a more inclusive list of researchers who have studied the processes of acquiring more complex ways of thinking as people grow and develop:

(Jean Piaget was the first to systematically study cognitive development)

	DOB/death	Contribution to cognitive development
Jean-Jacques Rousseau	1712–1778	Wrote Emile, or On Education (1762). He discusses childhood development as happening in three stages. First stage, up to age 12, the child is guided by their emotions and impulses. The second stage, ages 12–16, the child's reason starts to develop. In the third and final stage, age 16 and up, the child develops into an adult.
James Sully	1842–1923	Wrote several books on childhood development, including Studies of Childhood (1895) and Children's Ways (1897). He used a detailed observational study method with the children. Contemporary research in child development actually repeats observations, and observational methods, summarized by Sully in Studies of Childhood, such as the mirror technique.
Lev Vygotsky	1896–1934	Area of specialty was developmental psychology. The main contribution is the somewhat controversial "zone of proximal development" (ZPD) which states that play should be children's main activity as this is their main source of development in terms of emotional, volitional, and cognitive development. ZPD is the link between children's learning and cognitive development.
Maria Montessori	1870–1952	She began her career working with mentally disabled children in 1897, then conducted observation and experimental research in elementary schools. Wrote The Discovery of the Child (1948). Discussed the Four Planes of Development: birth–6, 6–12, 12–18, and 18–24. The Montessori Method now has three developmentally-meaningful age groups: 2–2.5, 2.5–6, and 6–12. She was working on human behavior in older children but only published lecture notes on the subject.
Jean Piaget	1896–1980	Piaget was the first psychologist and philosopher to brand this type of study as "cognitive development". Other researchers, in multiple disciplines, had studied development in children before, but Piaget is often credited as being the first one to make a systematic study of cognitive development and gave it its name. His main contribution is the stage theory of child cognitive development. He also published his observational studies of cognition in children, and created a series of simple tests to reveal different cognitive abilities in children.
Lawrence Kohlberg	1927–1987	Wrote the theory of stages of moral development, which extended Piaget's findings of cognitive development and showed that they continue through the lifespan. Kohlberg's six stages follow Piaget's constructivist requirements in that those stages can not be skipped and it is very rare to regress in stages. Notable works: Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Development Approach (1976) and Essays on Moral Development (1981)

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Historical origins: The history and theory of cognitive development[edit]

Jean Piaget is inexorably linked to cognitive development as he was the first to systematically study developmental processes. Despite being the first to develop a systemic study of cognitive development, Piaget was not the first to theorize about cognitive development. A few that are worth mentioning are included in the following chart. It is intended to be a more inclusive list of researchers who have studied the processes of acquiring more complex ways of cognitive development across the lifespan:

Theorist	DOB/death	Contribution to cognitive development
Jean-Jacques Rousseau	1712–1778	Wrote Emile, or On Education (1762). He discusses childhood development as happening in three stages. First stage, up to age 12, the child is guided by their emotions and impulses. The second stage, ages 12–16, the child's reason starts to develop. In the third and final stage, age 16 and up, the child develops into an adult.
James Sully	1842–1923	Wrote several books on childhood development, including Studies of Childhood (1895) and Children's Ways (1897). He used a detailed observational study method with the children. Contemporary research in child development actually repeats observations, and observational methods, summarized by Sully in Studies of Childhood, such as the mirror technique.
Sigmund Freud	1856–1939	Developed theory of psychosexual development that indicates children must pass through several stages as they develop their cognitive skills.
Lev Vygotsky	1896–1934	Area of specialty was developmental psychology. The main contribution is the somewhat controversial "zone of proximal development" (ZPD) which states that play should be children's main activity as this is their main source of development in terms of emotional, volitional, and cognitive development. ZPD is the link between children's learning and cognitive development.
Maria Montessori	1870–1952	She began her career working with mentally disabled children in 1897, then conducted observation and experimental research in elementary schools. Wrote The Discovery of the Child (1948). Discussed the Four Planes of Development: birth–6, 6–12, 12–18, and 18–24. The Montessori Method now has three developmentally-meaningful age groups: 2–2.5, 2.5–6, and 6–12. She was working on human behavior in older children but only published lecture notes on the subject.
Arnold Gesell	1880–1961	Creator of the Developmental Maturational Theory of development. Gesell says that development occurs due to biological hereditary features such as genetics and children will reach developmental milestones when they are ready to do so in a predictable sequence. Because of his theory of development, he devised a developmental scale that is used today called the Gesell Developmental Schedule (GDS) that provides parents, teachers, doctors, and other pertinent people with an overview of where an infant or child falls on the developmental spectrum.
Jean Piaget	1896–1980	Piaget was the first psychologist and philosopher to brand this type of study as "cognitive development". Other researchers, in multiple disciplines, had studied development in children before, but Piaget is often credited as being the first one to make a systematic study of cognitive development and gave it its name. His main contribution is the stage theory of child cognitive development. He also published his observational studies of cognition in children, and created a series of simple tests to reveal different cognitive abilities in children.
Erik Erikson	1902 –1994	Erik Erikson, a neo-Fruedian, focused on how children develop personality and identity. Although a contemporary of Freud, there is a larger focus on social experiences that occur across the lifespan, as opposed to childhood exclusively, that contribute to how personality and identity emerge. His framework uses eight systematic stages that all children must pass through.
Urie Bronfenbrenner	1917 - present	Bronfenbrenner devised the Ecological Systems Theory which identifies various levels of a child's environment. The primary focus of this theory focuses on the quality and context of a child's environment. Bronfenbrenner suggests that as a child grows older, their interaction between the various levels of their environment grows more complex due to cognitive abilities expanding.
Lawrence Kohlberg	1927–1987	Wrote the theory of stages of moral development, which extended Piaget's findings of cognitive development and showed that they continue through the lifespan. Kohlberg's six stages follow Piaget's constructivist requirements in that those stages can not be skipped and it is very rare to regress in stages. Notable works: Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Development Approach (1976) and Essays on Moral Development (1981)