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6 - Language and Cognition

from Part One - Factors Influencing Language Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

By
Sabine Weinert
Edited by
James Law ,
Sheena Reilly  and
Cristina McKean
James Law
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Sheena Reilly
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland
Cristina McKean
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
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Summary

The development of language and cognition is key to human development. Language is an important means to communicate and code information; it is relevant to knowledge and concept acquisition, to memory performance and development, to problem solving, learning and self-regulation. At the same time, language development draws on cognitive and socio-cognitive abilities. Analysing the developmental interrelations between language and cognition is relevant for a better understanding of developmental trajectories in typical development and developmental disorders as well as for the promotion of child development. Contrary to some overarching theories, it is widely documented that developmental profiles can be quite heterogeneous: the developmental tasks the child is facing in the various domains of development, the trajectories, and phenomena are specific to the respective developmental domain or even subdomain. Yet there are significant and dynamic interrelationships between the acquisition of language structures, meanings, and use and various cognitive abilities and their development. This chapter introduces the reader to a variety of dynamic interrelationships between the acquisition of language and various facets of cognitive and sociocognitive development (e.g., information processing, learning and memory; conceptual development; development of metacognition, theory of mind and self-regulation).

Keywords

language developmentcognitive developmentworking memoryconceptual developmentmetacognitionself-regulationtheory of mind
Type
Chapter
Information
Language Development
Individual Differences in a Social Context
 , pp. 122 - 143
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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