Considering the range of religious systems such as polytheism (ancient Greek, Hindu), monotheism, pantheism, non-theistic practice (Buddhist) and non-worship overall, and the range of cognitive development (such as Piaget described) could there be a relationship?Here is how I would describe in detail the connections:Concrete Operations - polytheism, cause and effect thinking. Sacrifices. Ritual. Prayers of supplication.  Early Formal Operations - monotheism, moral thinking. Karma and reincarnation. Prayers of Praise.  Late Formal Operations - abstract concepts of God, or the Universe, symbolic or universal Laws. Awareness of ego. Prayers of Thanks.  Post-Formal - letting go of 'knowledge' and certainty, concepts and viewpoints. Non-Self (Anatta in Buddhism), Nonduality.  Beyond Symbolic and Conceptual - beyond need for God, a moral outlook or continued being. 'Emptiness' (Shunyata), Enlightened.The research by Dr. Jeffery A. Martin at Harvard in Non-Symbolic Consciousness sheds a lot of light on the last two stages. The earlier ones I think we all have enough experience of. Do you see a relationship between cognitive development and religious outlook?I do not have particular research to point to for much of this because I have been studying it informally for about 25 years. This is mostly about an Organizing Impulse: an idea which seems to pull together research findings from many areas, like a big magnet attracting paperclips. A summary of this idea is (as I put in a Comment below): As people develop, do both they and their God become increasingly All One (or none)?One supporting idea is Brain Lateralization:One half being more verbal / symbolic / linear / logical, and the other more representational / emotive / abstract. In most people, the two halves often do different kinds of things at the same time, so they have a sense of noumenous states coming from the non-verbal side and then attempt to 'understand' that with the woefully under-capable logical side. (Sounds a bit like Julian Jaynes Bicameral Mind idea.) This leads to intense cognitive dissonance and even dissociation as people encounter experiences that they cannot explain, so perhaps they project the causes on to a deity? Also, feelings of bliss can be interpreted as encounters with God.In later states of development, the hemisphere functions can be more mixed, leading to more integrated functioning and less explanatory thought. Alpha states and flow states induce more integration, which is learned over time through practices like dance and martial arts (including Tai Chi). Such people tend to experience states beyond bliss - Rapture - which includes no cognition or internal conflicts. Ego mechanisms cannot continue to manage a system this complex, so they break down.Final stages of development include total integration, mastery of ego and transcendence of a personal point of view.
Is cognitive development related to Religious views?
lateralization;religion;self;cognitive development;pnse