Final answer:
The activity that best promotes complex cognitive development is evaluating the authors' messages in opposing newspaper articles, as it engages higher-order thinking skills like analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Among the options provided, the activity that best promotes student development of complex cognitive processes is D. Evaluating the authors' messages in two opposing newspaper articles. This activity requires higher-order thinking skills, including analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. These are key components of complex cognitive processes which involve comparing and contrasting viewpoints, understanding context, and critical thinking.
Comprehension and critical analysis are foundational to understanding and evaluating texts. When a student evaluates authors' messages in opposing articles, they must draw upon their background knowledge, dissect arguments, scrutinize evidence, and assess the reliability of sources. This enhances their ability to engage in deeper learning and better prepares them for the rigorous analysis often required in college-level work.
Activities like identifying vocabulary words or listing facts, while useful for building foundational skills, do not engage the student in the same depth of thought or understanding as the critical evaluation of texts. Thus, by engaging in comparative critical analysis, students are practicing higher-level cognitive processes that are essential for academic success.