Psychology is simply who we are, how we think, and is composed of several different ideas and theories. After studying just a few of these theories this semester, one that strongly stood out to me was the cognitive development theory. The cognitive development theory refers to the steps and procedures in which we as humans have or will overcome to develop ourselves as we grow older. I find this theory so important because it refers strongly to how each and every single person in the human race have developed their own knowledge and how this can result in how an individual can play a role in society based on their experiences. There are several parts that make up the cognitive development theory and the first of which being assimilation. …show more content…
The development milestones consist of four stages in life in which we grow and learn as humans. First, there is the sensorimotor stage which occurs from age zero to age two where the child now understands how his or her actions can affect the environment around them. Second, comes the preoperational stage which involves children from the ages of two to seven where the child now thinks symbolically about the objects around them. Third, is the concrete operational stage which occurs in children between the ages of seven and eleven where the child can now deal with general core education problems such as math. Finally, there is the formal operational stage which occurs in children who are eleven years of age and older where these children are now becoming adolescents and adults and they now have the mental capacity to think absolutely and critically. We can clearly observe these steps in everyday life simply by observing children in their environment and noting how each and every child react to their …show more content…
Zone of proximal development basically refers to the skills in which children can do only if they are under the guidance of an adult. For example, if a task is too difficult or dangerous for a child to perform then the assistance of a parent or teach can make that task possible for the child. Object permanence is also another important concept which states the child knows an object is still in existence even if another person hides it behind their back for example. Next there is conservation which says that just because the appearance changes, the amount and quantity does not change. This concept has been shown through children as researchers will place objects, such as playing cards, in front of children then reorganize the object and the child is able to observe that there are the same number of objects as there were before. Also there is the concept of scaffolding. Scaffolding goes back to a teacher or parent assisting a child in which case the adult matches guidance to what the student needs. This can be seen in schools where a teacher will explain a problem-solving process then will step back in order for the child to conquer this problem on their own. The cognitive development theory plays a huge role in the human life showing step by step how we develop
Cognitive development focuses on the person’s ability to intellect, 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 whom were 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. However, both theorists believed that a person goes through a sequential process during their development. They were also both aware that one gains knowledge through experience and not through passive learning.
Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years old) – Children begin to make sense of the world around them based on their interaction with their physical environment. Reality begins to be defined.
In chapter one, cognitive development was briefly discussed and now in chapter 5 it goes a little deeper. One of the first names that comes to mind when thinking of cognitive development is Piaget. Piaget’s theory is described as constructivist view to cognitive development. A constructivist view is that people create or “construct” their own view and knowledge of the world by the information they already know. They view life through the experiences and knowledge they already obtain. The essential building block to Piaget’s theory is schemes which are patterns of physical or mental action. Throughout life people just build on the schemes when they experience something new they relate it an old experience. An example would be an animal that
Piaget proposed that cognitive development from infant to young adult occurs in four universal and consecutive stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations (Woolfolk, A., 2004). Between the ages of zero and two years of age, the child is in the sensorimotor stage. It is during this stage the child experiences his or her own world through the senses and through movement. During the latter part of the sensorimotor stage, the child develops object permanence, which is an understanding that an object exists even if it is not within the field of vision (Woolfolk, A., 2004). The child also begins to understand that his or her actions could cause another action, for example, kicking a mobile to make the mobile move. This is an example of goal-directed behavior. Children in the sensorimotor stage can reverse actions, but cannot yet reverse thinking (Woolfolk, A., 2004).
The child’s development is determined by biological maturation and interaction with the environment. Although all children go through each stage in the same order, there are individual differences in the rate at which children progress through stages, and some may never go through the later steps. Each stage of development reflects an increasing sophistication of children’s thought. The first stage is the Sensorimotor stage. This stage ranges from birth to two years of age and can be broken down to six substages. The main objective of this stage is goal-directed behavior and object permanence. Goal-directed behavior combines several schemes and coordinates them to perform a single act to solve a problem. Object permanence is the realization to form a mental schema of an object that is not present but exists. The Preoperational Stage is the second stage and ranges from age two to seven. During this stage children increase their ability to think symbolically, as well as increase the use of concepts, centration, conservation,and intuitive thought emerge , and thinking remains egocentric. The third stage is the Concrete Operational change. Occurring between ages seven and twelve. Piaget characterized this stage as a major turning point in a child’s cognitive development because it applies operational thought. In this stage, children are
From ages seven to eleven is the Concrete Operational stage, where children develop logical or operational thought (Hoffnung et al. 2016, p. 48), and as McLeod (2009) explains this means they can solve logical problems internally rather than through the use of physical object. Children also acquire the ability to organise objects based on physical characteristics like size, shape and colour (Lilienfeld et al. 2015, p. 411). They still lack abstract thought, which defines the transition into the next stage as it begins to develop (Hoffnung et al. 2016, p.
The biological theory refers to the focus of genetic factors that assist the child in adjusting to their environment. The theory highlights the importance of maturation of children’s bodies and their motor skills. The restriction of the biological theory however, is that it discounts the impact of children’s experiences. Behaviorism theory concentrates on children’s behavioral and emotional responses to changes in the environment. The argument against behaviorism is that it focuses on children’s visible behavior and ignores their thought process. The social learning theory interprets children’s beliefs and goals as affecting their behavior by what they learn when they observe others. In the psychodynamic theory, emphasis is on the interaction between internal conflict, early childhood experiences and the environment. Theorists focus on the personality development and how these early experiences play a role later in life. In cognitive-development theories, the concentration is on how the thinking process changes over time. Although it promotes adults to recognize children as curious minds trying to make sense of their environment, the theories lack clear stages that a child’s thought process goes through. Cognitive process theories similarly, also focus on thought process but more so on how people decipher information they see and hear. Sociocultural theories emphasize the affect of social
In the first stage, sensorimotor, the child starts to build an understanding of its world by synchronising sensory encounters with physical actions. They become capable of symbolic thought and start to achieve object permanence.
Piaget suggests that cognitive development takes place as a result of experiences which force the child to accommodate new information, creating new schemas and occasionally leading to a qualitatively different kind of thinking- moving from one stage to another, but these changes need to depend on readiness. However, Vygotsky placed more of an emphasis on the importance of social context in transforming elementary into higher mental functions, and the role of the ZPD in understanding how this transformation takes place. Piaget's theory, also known as the 'discovery learning theory', brought up two ways in which schemas became more complex, assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is basically the process of fitting new information and experiences into existing schemas, and accommodation is the process of changing the existing schemas when new information cannot be assimilated.
Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory is focused on the belief that development precedes learning, specifically upon individual development of one’s knowledge through independent learning and experiences (Lourenco, 2012). Piaget’s theory discusses how an individual’s surroundings affect their development resulting in a series of changes in the understandings of their environment.
Children’s from this stage remain egocentric for the most part but to begin to internalize representations. (Piaget, 1999). Concrete operational stage is children to age seven to eleven. They develop the ability to categorize objects and how they relate to one another. A child’s become more mastered in math by adding and subtracting. If a child eat one brownie out of a jar containing six. By doing the math there would be 5 brownies left by counting the remaining brownies left in the jar because they are able to model the jar in their
Next is the concrete operational stages which continues between the ages of seven and twelve. Children see the world from a less egocentric point of view as they begin to see the world in relation to others. Through the use of manipulatives children are able to begin thinking logically. It is imperative that students are offered opportunities to interact with their environment and construct new
During this stage, children will be building up their incidents or encounters through adaptation and slowly move on to the next stage of the development as they are not able to have logical or transformational ideas in the preoperational stage (Mcleod, 2009).
The first developmental state is the sensorimotor stage, which occurs between the ages of zero and two years old. This is where concepts are built through interactions with adults. Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motor actions. The second stage, the preoperational, occurs from two to seven years old. At this stage, children’s symbolic thought increases, but they do not possess operational thought. Children need to relate to concrete objects and people, but they do not understand abstract concepts. The third stage is concrete operations and occurs from seven to eleven years old. Children are able to develop logical structures and can understand abstractions. The formal operational stage, the final stage, occurs from eleven to fifteen. At this stage, thought is more abstract, idealistic, and logical. Children’s cognitive structures are similar to adults and children are able to use reasoning.
It involves language, mental imagery, thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and memory development. Jean Piaget stages of cognitive development are the sensorimotor period (birth to 2 years). Children at the sensorimotor stage becomes more goal-directed oriented with goal moving from concrete to abstract (Driscoll et al., 2005). Children at the preoperational period (2-7), engage in symbolic play and games, but has a difficult time seeing another person’s point of view (Driscoll et al., 2005). For example, teaching a preoperational child can provide opportunities to play with clay, water, or sand. Children at the concrete operational period (7-11), solves concrete problems in a logical fashion (Driscoll et al., 2005). For example, providing materials such as mind twisters, brain teasers, and riddles. The formal operational period (11-adulthood) is when student’s solve abstract problems and develop concerns for social issues (Driscoll et al., 2005). For example, making sure that tests that’s given has essay questions and asks a student to come up with other ways to answer the