Psychobiological Aspects of Cognitive Growth

Book excerpt: Psychobiological Aspects of Cognitive Growth elucidates the psychobiological aspects of cognitive development. The goals of this book are limited to a description of what may be defined as ""borderline"" phenomena of cognitive development. These are phenomena that can be observed and measured behaviorally, and also can be conveniently investigated by neurophysiological, genetic, and biological methods. The book begins with a review of ""basic approaches"" to the problems of psychobiological interaction in cognitive processes. It then presents major theoretical contributions of prominent authors to this subject, namely, Werner's sensoritonic theory, Rothschild's model of the biosemiotic structure of the nervous system, and Piaget's psychobiological interpretations of intellectual growth. This is followed by a general discussion of psychobiological aspects of cognitive development in infancy, and a report on physical correlates of school readiness, including some investigations on relations between static balance ability and reading skill. After a presentation of findings and theoretical considerations related to effects of birth season on physical and mental growth, the final chapter summarizes three studies on the impact of physiological pubertal maturation on mental achievements at adolescence.