#194: Toward a Socio-Cognitive Framework for AI Literacy in K–8: Integrating Cognitive Science and Learning Sciences Perspectives

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the civic, social, and educational landscapes that children inhabit. While calls for K–8 AI literacy are expanding globally, the field lacks coherent theoretical grounding for how children learn to understand and reason about AI systems. This paper proposes a socio-cognitive framework that integrates cognitive science and Learning Sciences perspectives to conceptualize AI literacy as a process that is both individually constructed and socially situated. The framework highlights how cognitive mechanisms (such as analogy, metacognition, and reasoning about uncertainty) emerge through collaborative, participatory learning contexts. By positioning cognition within designed social ecologies, this framework provides a foundation for designing equitable, developmentally appropriate AI literacy experiences. We argue that understanding how children make sense of AI requires integrating cognitive and sociocultural theories to advance design, research, and practice in AI education.