Knowledge Acquisition2IntroductionBrain development starts in the fetal stage and continues past birth, all the way untilyoung adulthood. However, memory development continues even after physical development ofthe brain stops. Memory and learning are interrelated notions. An individual needs memory tolearn. Understanding how to successfully retain information through effective informationprocessing can vastly improve one’s learning capacity. An individual can understand effectiveinformation processing and maximize their learning capacity by knowing what memorydevelopment is and how it relates to acquiring new knowledge, understanding why it isimportant to successfully move information from working memory to long-term memory,knowing strategies to help move information from working memory to long-term memory, therole of attention and perception in developing schema, the effect of the different types ofmemories on information processing, and the effect of false memory on effective learning.Memory DevelopmentWhile learning is the attainment of information, memory is the demonstration of whatyou attained. Thus, memory development can be referred to as the increase in information, orknowledge, over time. An individual’s memory increases as they grow, as does their workingmemory capacity. An individual acquires and develops knowledge throughout the stages in theirlife and different experiences. Jean Piaget postulated that there were four stages of cognitivedevelopment, and that an individual had to master each stage before advancing to the next. Thefirst stage is the sensorimotor stage (birth to about two years), where children use their fivesenses and work on their fine motor skills to make sense of the world around them, but theycannot think logically yet (Lecci, 2015). The second stage is the pre-operational stage (abouttwo-seven years old), where children are learning to speak and communicate but still cannot yet
