Proposes that cognitive developmental stages can be accounted for in terms of information processing factors which limit the highest level of cognitive system which children can attain at any given age. Delineates four progressively more complex levels of cognitive mediation of the environment. Two experiments which support the developmental model…

Examines the theoretical basis of suggestions that children's brain size and intelligence grow in periodic spurts and plateaus and that schooling should be planned accordingly. A "mock debate" presents excerpts from researchers holding conflicting viewpoints on this issue. (TE)

Research indicates that the brain grows in spurts occurring every two years or so and alternating with plateau periods in which the gains due to growth are consolidated. While the number of brain cells no longer increases after the age of about 18 months, substantial increases in the complexity of neural networks occur generally between the ages…