Cognition is the process by which knowledge and understanding is developed in the mind. Cognitive development is supported by the development of each sense and perception. These include touch, vision, hearing, muscle movement (proprioception), multisensory integration, and symbolic representation. The term of “cognitive conditions” includes not only the delay, but also the imbalance and various aspects of relationships among each sense or perception.
Published in Chapter:
The Role of Teaching Materials in Cognitive Development Focusing on the “Emergence of Symbolic Functioning” and Behaviour Issues
Eiko Tatematsu (Tokyo University of Social Welfare, Japan)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 25
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7053-1.ch005
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the role of teaching materials focusing on the “Emergence of Symbolic Functioning” and latent behaviour issues. First, a literature review is performed on the behaviour issues associated with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three kinds of assessment tools used in this study are described with underlying developmental meanings. Especially, one of those tools, a teaching device named “Tamahimo” is introduced as a practical assessment tool to visualize participants' cognitive conditions. Three cases, two adolescents and one young adult with ID, are discussed, with their autism-like behaviours and characteristic cognitive profiles evaluated using the assessment tools. All cognitive development is judged as corresponding to the “Emergence of Symbolic Functioning,” that is, the qualitative transition phase from non-symbolic to the explicit existence of a symbolic functioning stage. Factors preventing social adaptation are discussed as they relate to unstable cognitive conditions.