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Rodney R Cocking
Born	(1943-01-11)January 11, 1943 Casper, Wyoming, United States
Died	June 27, 2002(2002-06-27) (aged 59) Frederick, Maryland, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Cornell University University of Wyoming Boston University
Scientific career
Fields	Psychology
Institutions	National Science Foundation

Rodney Robert Cocking (January 11, 1943 – June 17, 2002) was an American Psychologist. He was a director of the Developmental and Learning Sciences programme in the division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences at the National Science Foundation in Arlington and was one of the founding editors of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. Dr. Cocking directed his focus to the areas of  behavioral development, child development, cognitive development, and learning and educational environments. He is credited for his many contributions to the study of the impact of electronic media on human development.

Personal Life/Biography

Rodney Cocking was born January 11, 1943 in Casper, Wyoming to his parents Reuben James and Frances Leah McCrary Cocking and he was the younger of two children. In his younger years, he was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and had the opportunity of attending the National Boy Scout Jamboree which was held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. As an adult, he spent much of his time working, but in his spare time he still found time to socialize, he enjoyed working in his garden and attending operas - with one of his favourite sopranos being the Australian soprano, Joan Sutherland.  His love for music did not end with his listening enjoyment as he also enjoyed playing the grand piano. He was also a member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

Education and Academic Career

Rodney Cocking graduated from Natrona County High School and while there he was a member of the National Honor Society. A society that still operates today which aims to organize and help with events to improve their community and the rest of the world - a mission that a young Rodney Cocking appeared to have maintained through adulthood as evidenced by his work.

Dr. Cocking received a dual bachelor's degree in child psychology and family relations from Boston University before continuing to complete his master's degree at the University of Wyoming. Here he studied Arapaho Indian children’s fantasy confessions. Subsequently, he received his doctoral degree in developmental psychology from Cornell University in 1972 where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Acacia fraternity. His academic studies were based on work in language acquisition and a postdoctoral position evaluating preschool interventions followed. He held positions at the National Institute of Education, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Science Foundation interrupted briefly by a position as a visiting professor at the University of Delaware While at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, he served as a senior project officer. Throughout his career, he lectured at many universities and symposiums. Dr. Cocking worked in a variety of increasingly high-profile government research jobs throughout his lifetime and spoke frequently at conferences across the country.

He also maintained an active role in professional organizations including the American Psychological Association, Society for Research in Child Development, International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, and the Jean Piaget Society; several of which bestowed awards upon him.

Research

Dr. Cocking established and was the Program Officer for the Developmental and Learning Sciences Program within the National Science Foundation. As Program Director for the Developmental and Learning Sciences Program at the National Science Foundation, he was touted to be “devoted to strengthening the connections between basic research on cognition and educational practice”. He was “a visionary in integrating the very best of basic developmental science research with the very real needs of children”. His research interests were varied and included the study of media effects, language acquisition, educational program effects, planning and mathematics learning to name a few.  However, as McGillicuddy-De Lisi, Sigel and Bullock (2003) stated, these areas all shared one overarching view of cognitive development with the unifying principle being that of representation which Dr. Cocking saw as the unifying concept for science itself. They further stated that Dr. Cocking appeared to always appeared to see the big picture.

At a time when many researchers were focusing on the use of computers in formal education, his driving interests in children’s lives, cast his attention to another aspect, that of electronic games. He was lauded as being one of the earliest to understand the need to study the computer genre with which most children spent their time. An area of particular interest to Dr. Cooking stemming from this was the study of the impact of entertainment video games in developing representational competence. It is said that without him “no one would even have realized that the cognitive effects of video games constituted examples of representational competence”. Representational competence considered a central aspect of human cognitive practices is defined as the capability of the individual to comprehend the equivalence of various modes of representation. Within a context of video games, representational competence includes visual skills such as iconic representation, mental rotation, and spatial visualization. His 1996 book, Interacting With Video (Advances in Applied Developmental Psychology), co-edited with Patricia Greenfield, Ph.D., was the first to explore the cognitive effects of video games.

Within the National Science Foundation he launched the Children’s Research Initiative (CRI) – “an initiative designed to move the field of Developmental Science forward”. Out of this initiative came what is thought to be perhaps his most lasting legacy the Children’s Digital Media Center (CDMC), a collaborative effort amongst researchers at several United States universities.  The mission of the center is “to study children, teens, and emerging adults’ interaction with the newer forms of interactive digital media and to see how these interactions both affect and reflect their offline lives and long-term development.”

His research also led him to consider minority child development.  His book Cross-Cultural Roots of Minority Child Development, also co-edited with Patricia Greenfield, Ph.D. was described on the publisher's website as ground-breaking and essential for scholars as it was the first of its kind to analyze minority child development by comparing minority children to children in their ancestral countries, rather than to children in the host culture.  It went on to say that not only did it offer an historical reconstruction of the cross-cultural roots of minority child development, but a new cultural-historical approach to developmental psychology as well.  Also, it sought to develop guidelines for building models of development which were multicultural in perspective, thereby challenging scholars across the behavioral sciences to give more credence to the impact of culture on development and socialization in their respective fields of work.

What is considered one of his most seminal works produced in collaboration with John Bransford and Ann Brown explains how people of all ages learn, with dedicated chapters on how teachers learn their content and how to teach it.   The research findings of "How People Learn" is said to “provide a framework of what educators know about learners and learning and about teachers and teaching.” Three key findings were highlighted based upon supporting research and the strong implications for how teaching is done. The findings highlighted by Bransford, Brown and Cocking (1999) were as follows:

1. "Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom.
2. To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.
3. A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them." (pp 14 - 18)

In an interview after the death of Dr. Cocking, Stephen J. Ceci, a professor of developmental Psychology at Cornell University who knew him for over twenty years described him as a “big thinker” who would identify trends that were worthy of investment and unite groups of scholars to work on these initiatives while at times neglecting his own work.  A sentiment borne out by Professor Patricia Greenfield and Professor Sandra Calvert who credited him for uniting them in the study of electronic media.Another example of this unifying capacity was discussed by McGillicuddy-De Lisi, Sigel and Bullock (2003) in relation to the works of Lynn Liben and Roger Downes, whose research on graphic representation and geography in terms of education conceptualized by Dr. Cocking bringing their two individual interests together led to further unanticipated work and research for the pair including becoming consultants to  the children’s educational television show, Sesame Street, where they translated their knowledge of developmental aspects of graphic representations of space into practical suggestions.

Throughout his career, he has organized multiple workshops. In 1991, alongside Dr. Patricia Greenfield, he organized a regional workshop in Washington DC on behalf of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD) which aims research on human development worldwide. Indeed, prior to his death in 2002 he was in the midst of organizing a workshop entitled “Transfer of Learning: Issues and Research Agenda” along with Jose Mestre  which he never saw come to fruition. In 2002, Dr. Cocking posthumously received the American Psychological Association Board of Scientific Affairs' first annual Meritorious Research Citation for his varied service. He was one of five psychologists to receive it that year. The award recognized psychologists within the federal government for their outstanding service to psychological science. APA Past-president Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D, who assisted in presenting the awards spoke to the pivotal contributions of the awardees to the continued existence and development of psychology as a science.

Publications and/or Books

Many published works carry the name of Dr. Cocking. He was responsible for various contributions to the field of developmental psychology through his writing and edited works specifically in the areas of cognitive development from childhood to adolescence, preschool language development, influences in learning mathematics, minority child development and cultural and video influences.

Major Work

A search on Google Scholar reveals that "How People Learn" has had greater than 26000 citations.

Bransford, J., Brown, A. & Cocking, R. (1999). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. You can get an updated pdf version online at http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368.

Other Notable Works

Calvert, S., Jordan, A. & Cocking, R. (2002). Children in the digital age: Influences of electronic media on development. Westport,

Connecticut: Praeger.

Cocking, R., & McHale, S. (1981). A comparative study of the use of pictures and objects in assessing children's receptive and

productive language. Journal of Child Language, 8(1), 1-13. doi:10.1017/S030500090000297X

Cocking, R. & Mestre, J. (1988). Linguistic and cultural influences on learning mathematics. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates.

Cocking, R. R., Mestre, J. P., & Brown, A. L. (2000). New developments in the science of learning: Using research to help students

learn science and mathematics. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 21(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016

/S0193-3973(99)00045-3

Cocking, R. & Potts, M. (1976). Social facilitation of language acquisition: the reversible passive construction. Provincetown, Mass.:

Journal Press.

Cocking, R. & Renninger, K. (1993). The development and meaning of psychological distance. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates.

Friedman, S., Scholnick, E. & Cocking, R. (1987). Blueprints of thinking: the role of planning in cognitive development. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Greenfield, P. & Cocking, R. (1994). Cross-cultural roots of minority child development. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates.

Greenfield, P. & Cocking, R. (1996). Interacting with video. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.

Potts, M., Copple, C., Cocking, R., & Carlson, P. (1979). Structure and development in child language. Ithaca, Ny: Cornell University

Press.

Sigel, E. & Cocking, R. (1977). Cognitive development from childhood to adolescence. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Death

Cocking was tragically found murdered on June 17, 2002, at the age of 59, in Frederick Municipal Forest, Maryland.  He had been reported missing since February 23, 2002, until his skeletal remains were found in a remote Frederick County watershed area.  In 2003, Randall Henry Gerlach, a Mount Airy contractor, was convicted in a Carroll County Circuit Court of first-degree murder in his death and felony theft.