During the journey from helpless infancy to autonomy and mastery of their own particular universe, children undergo a unique developmental trajectory during which several cognitive abilities emerge. Due to this trajectory being rather time-consuming, with pre-natal beginnings and lasting throughout one’s life span, many have argued faster cognitive maturation would be evolutionary beneficial. In this essay, I will discuss the consequences of shorter development period on cognitive development and mature cognition by arguing that prolonged cognitive immaturity in terms of metacognition, brain plasticity and executive function has a specific adaptive role.
Metacognition refers to one’s knowledge about cognitive phenomena. Vygotsky (1962) was
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With time and sufficient environmental exploration, regions become specialised and differentiated through the process of activity-dependent specialization, whereby-they interact and compete to acquire specialised computational abilities. Specialisation allows for faster and more efficient information processing and has been attributed to age and myelinisation, a process which allows nerve impulses to travel throughout the brain more quickly and efficiently, increasing integration of brain activity and supporting-efficient cognitive maturation. The general principle of structural brain development states areas related to simple functions reach full maturation faster than those supporting high-order complex-functions. Faster processing speed and lower mental effort via myelination enable automatic processing which is beneficial but only for older-children and adults who have mastered a particular behavioural or cognitive ability. In contrast, prolonged plasticity supports efficient cognitive development in young-children in two ways. Firstly, studies of adopted children with past experiences of maltreatment have shown that adoptees largely outperformed their peers left behind on cognitive tasks, provided being adopted at an early age (before 12 months of age). The fact-that adoption can be an effective intervention enabling significant cognitive catch-up demonstrates the benefits of plasticity during development (van Ijzendoorn & Juffer, 2006). Secondly, in the context of childhood learning, prolonged plasticity is considered beneficial, facilitating adaptive change and learning in response to environmental stimuli via formation of new neural connections (Anderson, 2011). Although time-consuming, effortful and non-automatic, non-differentiated learning protects children from premature acquisition of
Social and environmental variables affect cognitive development. Cognitive development focuses on the person’s ability to intellectually, perceive and process information. (35589) defined the cognitive ability as the process in which people learn, think and use language; it is the progression of their mental capacity from being irrational to rational (35589). Piaget and Vygotsky are two cognitive theorists who are interested in the cognitive development of a person across their life span and its relation with social and environmental factors. Piaget is the most known cognitive theorist who affected the world of psychology greatly, and was a great influence to many psychologists out there; however his main intention was the innate maturity process and, unlike Vygotsky, he underestimated the role of language and social interaction and his theory wasn’t useful in the teaching field.
Someone once said, “Maturity is not measured by age. It’s an attitude built by experience.” (SearchQuotes). These experiences help advance maturity and prepare adolescence for adulthood. In coming of age literature, the key is to evolve an authentic character through different incidents. Accordingly, Evan Hunter demonstrates this characteristic development in “On the Sidewalk Bleeding”, through the protagonist, Andy. Within the story, there are moments that illustrate the development in thinking realistically rather than idealistically, a prominent transition from ignorance to knowledge and experiences that demonstrate a shift from selfishness to selflessness. Consequently, the various developments Andy encounters in “On the Sidewalk Bleeding”
A Comparison of Psychodynamic and Social Learning in Regards to the Development of Personality "No Works Cited"
As every child grows up in a different environment, not all have a safe one to grow up in and as a result everything that surrounds them becomes apart of the clarity that their mind incorporates and becomes apart of that child 's behavior of way. In terms of brain development children or teens often listen, and see what is around them, it is also said, by researchers of the National Institute of Health, that in recent studies that were made that in teen years massive loss of brain tissue...
Robert V. Kail addresses the increasing synergy of global and domain-specific theories in his article “Cognitive Development Includes Global and Domain-Specific Processes.” Kail is a part of the Department of Psychological Studies at Purdue University, and his aim in the article is to “present evidence suggesting that both global and domain-specific processes make important contributions to cognitive development” (Kail 445). In order to arrive at his conclusion, Kail highlights the flaws of an either/or system; critiques the advantages and disadvantages of global and domain specific theories separately; provides context for how these two theories have coexisted in the past; and finally arrives to his evaluation on the two theories working together
Language plays a major role in a child’s life, because some children will dialogues with themselves through how they engage with themselves or other children through imaginative play. Vygotsky explains this as how they will make up their own story and give their characters different names, and also changing the voices of each character. This helps children with their vocabulary skills, in which it will help them in the long run to name, and negative the different things that they will start to come into connect with as they get older. Language is also known as a symbolic system of communication and a cultural tool transmit play, and cultural history both play a big part in language development, and understanding the world around them. And also
It has been proven that a child’s early years are the peak at which the mind can bend and shape, creating the foundation for a life. We know now that even before birth, the mind is a delicate matter that if improperly taken care of could alter a person’s entire life. Nourishment and stimulation before and after the birth of a child mold’s the brain in its most malleable state. Medical and scientific institutes paired with parenting information organizations have made information readily available for parents, childcare providers, and students to advise them of the importance of childhood brain development. This information is not only critical for the child, but for the person they will become in the future.
In the biography “A Childhood”, Crews explained his life story on how he grew up without a father. Crews often wondered if his life would have been different had his father played a role in his life. Although Crews did not know his father, many individuals often told him stories about his father. In Crews’ biography “A Childhood”, it shows how the absences of a father can affect one’s attitude and outcome in life.
At the beginning of this paper I mentioned that there are eight stages in the psychosocial development theory starting with trust vs. mistrust. This stage begins at birth to one year of age. This is when I should have formed a trust with my primary caregiver or caregivers. My dad was absent most of this stage, so my mother was my primary caregiver. Since she never taught me good behavior, right from wrong, and was uncaring when I was born, I did not feel safe or secure around her. I was told through family members that she was unable to hold me without me screaming all the time, and that the doctor said I suffered from anxiety at infancy because I could feel the tension of my mother’s stress, anger, and anxiety towards me. The beginning of me learning to mistrust, and feeling
The first two years of a humans life are bursting with biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial development. In the first few weeks after conception to two years after birth a child’s brain experiences more growth than any other organ in the body. During the first two years of a child’s life the brain is very plastic and malleable. In order for children to continue down a path of success and learning there are certain experiences a child must have in order to develop normally. The First Two years of a child life is responsible for the foundation that is layed.
...obert Plomin, D. W. (1997). Nature, Nurture, and Cognitive Development from 1 to 16 Years:
Since the beginning of time, fathers have had a profound effect on their child’s development. Over the years, the norm for traditional family dynamics of having a father figure in the household has changed drastically, and so did the roles of the parents. It is not as common as it used to be to have a father or father figure in the home. In this day and age, women are more likely to raise children on their own and gain independence without the male assistance due to various reasons. The most significant learning experience and development of a person’s life takes place in their earlier years when they were children. There are many advantages when there is a mother and father combined in a
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“Maturation of the Prefrontal Cortex.” Office of Population Affairs, n.p. N.d. Web. 17 February 2012.
Rapid growth of the brain and nervous system continues during the early years of a child’s life, however because of birth defects or health problems some children may be at a risk of cognitive delays. Problems such as Autism, where children may have a difficult time with language skills and sensitivity to touch, behavioral problems, or chemical exposures can all affect a child’s cognitive development. For most children though with a proper diet and plenty of stimulation cognitive abilities will develop rapidly, and by about 7 years ones cognitive skills have become “functionally related to the elements of adult intelligence.”