Outline and evaluate Piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive development In order to put Piaget's model into context it is useful to consider what intellect is, and some of the factors that influence cognitive development of the child. Additionally I will briefly discuss the term ‘constructivist’. Child development is generally concerned with how the child learns and expresses themselves at various ages. Typically studies are carried out on children from birth to adolescence. Specifically, most psychologists are interested in the processes that occur at particular ages, and what the child's capabilities are at each stage of their childhood.
Early Childhood Development: Psychoanalytic Theory, Contextual Theory, & Cognitive Theory There are five main perspectives to human development; Psychoanalytic, Learning, Cognitive, Evolutionary/Sociobiological and Contextual. In this paper we will compare and contrast three of these developmental theories, the Psychoanalytic, Contextual and Cognitive. We will show how each theory has added to the knowledge we have of child development. We will also examines how, by using the knowledge that has been gained from these theories, parents and educators alike, have been able to be more informed of the needs of children and their ability to reach higher goals. According to Freud, three aspects of early childhood development are the developing of the ego, id and superego in resolving the conflicts during early childhood stages: the oral stage, anal stage and phallic stages of development including the Oedipus complex (Quigley, Psychoanalysis).
Erikson for his theory of psychosocial development, who believed that personality develops in a series of stages. However, each author has their own view regarding the educational implication of the various processes, as well as, the role of various environmental components. The following articles (Horn 2009), will attempt to support and the educational implications of each theory. The articles highlight the major theories, research and opinions of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erik Erikson’ on how children develop and learn. The first article by (Webb 1980) talks about Piaget belief that within each person there is an internal self-regulation mechanism that responds to environmental stimulation by constantly fitting new experiences into existing cognitive structures called schemas developmental stages in teaching.
Shereatta Willis Kaplan University PS220 Unit 9 Assignment Early childhood development is defined as ,a set of concepts, principles, and facts that explain, describe and account for the processes involved in change from immature to mature status and functioning (Bukatko, 2008),development is also generally divided into three broad categories, physical development, cognitive development, and social emotional development. Physical development addresses any change in the body, including how children grow, how they move, and how they perceive their environment. Cognitive development pertains to the mental processes like, language, memory, and problem solving, that children use to acquire and use knowledge. Emotional and social development addresses how children handle relationships with others, as well as understand of their own feelings. Physical development in children follows a directional pattern, large muscles develop before small muscles, legs and arms develop before those in the fingers and hands, and children learn how to perform gross ,or large motor skills such as walking before they learn to perform fine ,or small, motor skills such as drawing.
Functionalism studied the psychological processes which enable individuals to be able to adapt to their environments; each psychological process has an important role which is their main point of focus. William James, who is one of the founders of functionalism, felt that in order to study psychology, it had to come from multiple sources, through introspection, experimentation, the study of children, the
Human Development: Task1 By Amanda Kraft/WGU Cognitive Development Theory: The cognitive development theory is the brain child of Jean Piaget. It focuses on a child’s development based on his or her information processing (1). Cognitive development is broken into structures that are referred to as “levels” and are related to each other with transformation rules. The development steps identify which skills will move slowly from one complexity level to the next. Every step controls a certain skill.
Behavior, genes, and evolution play a major role in determining the biological foundations of psychology linked to behavior. When children are born certain characteristic, are inherited from their parents such as eye color, height, and hair color, behavioral characteristics are also inherited. With regard to behavioral characteristics some traits are stronger than others such as emotional stability, temperament, and mental ability. Society, environmental exposure and family structure play a major role in how these characteristics are developed and expressed. Two key concepts explain evolution of behavior: ultimate and proximate.
Linking theory with practice enables practitioners to plan age appropriate activities and experiences for the children in their care and thus enhance their development and help them to acquire new skills and knowledge. In this essay the author will discuss the following theorists whose work has been very influential in the field of childcare. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Lev Vygotsky (1896-1943), Jean Piaget (1896-1980), B.F. Skinner (1904-1990). Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Sigmund Freud’s main area of study was emotional and personality development, he was the first psychologist to recognise the importance of the conscious and unconscious mind. Freud’s work is considered important because he showed that childhood experiences and relationships significantly influence the development of personality in later life, (Beaver et al 2002).
Cognitive development is how and when we develop and use mental abilities and changes that occur in mental abilities throughout our life span. The new outlook of cognitive capabilities on infants was mostly initiated by a Swish Psychologist named Jean Piaget. (1896-1980). Piaget’s theories on development of cognitive abilities were 1st translated into English in the 1920’s. Researchers have tested and advanced his theories and many existing views in cognitive psychology are based on Piaget’s theories.
Piaget had a clear impact on developmental psychology. He believed that progressive changes in cognitive structures in stages of development was how children progress. Piaget believed that the creation of new schemas or the alteration of existing schema’s to cope with information developed through the stages of development he arrived at. In the article the students were in Primary 6 or 7 making the students about the ages of 10 or 11. These students according to Piaget’s theory were at the concrete operational stage where they were in the process of becoming more logical, objective and deductive.