This document discusses cognitive and language development in children. It covers topics like tablet usage and its effects on attention and brain development, the use of ADHD medication and its impact on the brain, benefits of bilingualism and sign language for children, and nonverbal communication in children with language difficulties. While tablets can impair development if used heavily, used appropriately they may help develop certain skills. Bilingual and sign language abilities provide cognitive advantages for children. Nonverbal children can still communicate through gestures, sounds, and assistive devices.

1. Chapter 2: Cognitive and
Language Development
Lauren Dunham

2. What Is Development?
● Development is one’s pattern of physical, mental, and social changes that
begins at conception and continues through the lifespan
● Child development is very complex because of the changes they go
through emotionally, physically, cognitively, and socially. Development
can be analyzed through stages or periods
● Cognitive processes involve changes in thinking, intelligence, and
language
● Socioemotional processes involves changes in social relationships,
emotions, and personality
● Biological processes involves changes in height, weight, motor skills, and
also involves puberty
● Each child has their own unique timeline of when they go through these
stages and how it affects them
● Development can be divided into periods: Infancy, early childhood, middle
and late childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood
● Development is important to track to understand how a child grows
physically and mentally

3. Cognitive Development: Tablet Learning
● Children’s usage of tablets has increased greatly within the past
decade, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic
● Risks and benefits have been researched, and there seems to be
more harm than good in terms of cognitive development
○ Children who had heavy tablet usage were found to have heightened attention-deficit
symptoms, impaired emotional and social intelligence, impaired brain development,
difficulties sleeping, and technology addiction
○ Some applications, games, and other tablet technologies were found to help the
development certain skills or motor functions
● Tablets inhibits children’s abilities to observe and experience the
world and people around them, interfering with developmental
milestones in various categories
● In one study where children were using flashcards to solve a problem,
the brain activity of the participants was studied. Heavy tablet users
were found to have abnormal brain activity patterns when compared
to the non tablet users

4. ADHD in
children and
subcategories

5. Cognitive Development: ADHD Medication and
Brain Development in Children
● Common ADHD drugs containing methylphenidate have been found
to affect the development of the brain’s white matter in children
● Approximately 5.2% of children in the US take medication for ADHD
● In one study, adult males given placebo pills and methylphenidate
did not have effects on white matter in their brain. Young boys given
placebo pills were not affected either. However, young boys who took
methylphenidate did indeed have effects on their white matter.
○ White matter is made up of nerve fibers that allows you to communicate and
exchange information within the different areas of your brain. Those with ADHD have
reduced white matter in their brains
● Cognitive development can be disrupted by the introduction of ADHD
medications. We are seeing a rise in these diagnoses especially with
the common use of tablets in young children. Doctors suggest using
medication as a last resort effort for children’s wellbeing

6. Language Development: Bilingual children
● Infants, from birth, can understand rhythmic differences in languages
● Younger brains are more malleable with language development
● Code mixing
○ Bilingual children may switch back and forth between languages to communicate, and
even think in different languages
○ People think children who do this are “confused,” but it is completely normal and common
in bilingual communities
● Young bilingual children have been found to have better social skills
and heightened sensitivity to tone of voice and mood
○ Research has also found advantages in multitasking and certain aspects of memory
● Contrary to popular belief, raising a child as bilingual is not confusing
or mentally fatiguing to them, and can have cognitive advantages
● In California, by 2035, more than 50% of kindergarteners will speak a
language other than English

7. Number of children who speak another language than English
at home in the U.S. from 1979 to 2019, by language spoken

8. Language Development: Sign Language
● Prior research suggests that benefits may be present with
teaching sign language to hearing infants that do not yet have
vocal communication
○ In one study, infants that knew sign language replaced whining and crying with
signing
● Some infants were able to sign at 5.5 months old
○ Children can sign much earlier in life than speak
● For some, sign language may be easier to learn than vocal
● It is best to teach those 2 years old and younger
● Signing can allow infants and toddlers to express themselves in
more specific ways other than whining, crying, pointing, or cooing
○ This can allow better communication between child and parent
● 90-95% of deaf children will be born to hearing parents

9. Infants and toddlers using sign language

10. Language Development: Nonverbal
Communication
● Nonverbal communication in children with language difficulties can include
facial expressions, vocal noises, physical touch or gestures, and stimming
○ For example, a child that is happy, but cannot verbalize may smile, jump around, laugh, clap,
or flap their hands
○ Nonverbal communication can still include vocalization, such as grunting, whining, or
laughing
○ The degree to which the child is nonverbal can vary, and may change with age
● Conditions that can cause a child to be nonverbal include autism, cerebral
palsy, dyspraxia, selective mutism and other learning difficulties
○ Children with these conditions may not be able to, or choose not to verbalize to
communicate their needs, emotions, wants, or socialize conventionally
● Similarly to children using ASL, nonverbal children can communicate in their
own ways early on, but may have trouble properly communicating their needs
to caregivers
● Nonverbal children can be taught how to communicate their needs through
sign language, touch, hands gestures, the use of flash cards, applications on
tablets, drawing, writing, and using sounds

11. References
Byers-Heinlein, K., & Lew-Williams, C. (2013). Bilingualism in the Early Years: What the Science says. LEARNing landscapes.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6168212/
California State University, San Bernardino CSUSB scholarworks. (2021).
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1796&context=etd
Li, H., Wu, D., Yang, J., Luo, J., Xie, S., & Chang, C. (2021, April 29). Tablet use affects preschoolers’ executive function:
FNIRS evidence from the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task. Brain sciences.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8146550/
Rsna. (2019.). ADHD medication may affect brain development in children. RSNA Press Releases.
https://press.rsna.org/timssnet/media/pressreleases/14_pr_target.cfm?ID=2102
Santrock, John W. (2021). Educational Psychology (7th ed.). McGraw Hill.
Statista Research Department, & 2, J. (2023, June 2). U.S.- children who don’t speak English at home, by language spoken
2019. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/476754/children-who-speak-another-language-than-english-
at-home-in-the-us-by-langauage-spoken/
Thompson, R. H., Cotnoir-Bichelman, N. M., McKerchar, P. M., Tate, T. L., & Dancho, K. A. (2007). Enhancing early
communication through infant sign training. Journal of applied behavior analysis.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1868823/