Instruction and Cognitive Development: Coordinating Communication and Cues

Abstract

A major new premise guiding much of contemporary cognitive instructional research is that the development of “cognition” is in many ways a social phenomenon. Therefore, the development of any higher mental process should be analyzed in terms of social influences on its expressions both in general experience and everyday life as well as in schools and experimental situations. The centrality of communication in social affairs indicates that insights into instruction and learning could emerge from research on language and communication, examples of which are provided.