Erikson’s theory includes eight stages, which I will state each stage without details. * Stage 1 trust versus Mistrust * Stage 2 Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt * Stage 3 Initiative Versus Guilt * Stage 4 Industry Versus Inferiority (Child Development Principles and Theories) Piaget's theory of cognitive development described and explained the changes in logical thinking of children and adolescents. Piaget proposed that children proceed through four stages based on maturation and experience. Piaget's theory is guided by assumptions of how learners interact with their environment and how they integrate new knowledge and information into existing knowledge. Briefly, he proposed that: * children are active learners who construct knowledge from their environments * they learn through assimilation and accommodation, and complex cognitive development occurs through equilibration * the interaction with physical and social environments is key for cognitive development * development occurs in stages (Education Portal) Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory focused on the role of culture and
“Kiddy Thinks” In “Kiddy Thinks”, Alison Gopnik discusses the stages of thinking abilities of babies and young children. Using examples from her personal experiences as a parent and her experiments as a developmental psychologist, she defines these stages and explains the learning processes that take place during them. Through process analysis, Gopnik develops her thesis that babies and young children use the same learning strategies as scientists. Gopnik explains the stages of cognitive development for children from birth to the age of 4 years old. At birth, babies already know they are similar to other people.
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget (1896-1980) studied how children’s thought processes develop and has been very influential in our understanding of children’s cognitive development. He believed that interaction with peers was the most critical factor in children’s cognitive development. ‘He described children as ‘"little scientists," actively constructing their own theories about the world, testing these theories, and adjusting to new information’ (quote taken from Kendra's Psychology Blog at about.com: Psychology). He suggested mental plans - schemas (schemata) function as guides for action, as structure for interpreting information, as frameworks for solving problems. (For full explanation on schemas, conservation, assimilation and accommodation and explanations of terminology see appendix 2).
Piaget and Vygotsky shared some common thoughts in the role of language in development however their differences were vast. Both agreed that infants are born with the basic materials/abilities for intellectual development however that is where the similarities end. Vygotsky placed more emphasis on social contributions to the process of development, whereas Piaget emphasized self-initiated discovery. Piaget theory is focused around four stages; Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational and finally Formal Operational. The Sensorimotor stage ranges from birth to two years.
She explains the typical behavior, starting from when they can imitate facial expressions at birth, and then proceeding to discovering and differentiating others’ and their own emotions. They go on to learning and perfecting the concept of hiding. Gopnik was able to experiment with kids in the different age groups and provides the results to back up her theories. Another significant point that was brought up was the comparison of the thought process between babies and scientists. Babies and scientists “think, observe, formulate theories, make predictions, and do experiments.
Gopnik first uses a personal experience to captivate her audience then proceeds to provide scientific evidence on the psychological abilities of children, beginning with newborn babies to toddlers about the age of four. The author informs readers on the thought capabilities of children by providing examples of the changes in mind development in different age categories. She suggests that "newborn babies (the youngest tested was only 42 minutes old) can imitate facial expressions" (Gopnik, 238) and how children that are nine months old can already distinguish between internal feelings such as happiness, sadness and anger. Gopnik recaps experiments that discover how children have learnt about people's wants and how they may conflict with their own in this portion of her writing. Two year old children seem to turn intentionally difficult and challenge their parents constantly, letting desire take control.
Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson offer different views of how a child’s mental abilities progress throughout their education. Piaget believed that children, at certain stages in their lives, regardless of intelligence, were not able to understand things in particular ways, simply because they were not old enough. He thought that development had to precede learning. Vygotsky, on the other hand, theorized that children acquire their level of intelligence by the culture they live in and that children learning different things helped them to develop intellectually. Erikson felt as if the environment played a major role in a child’s development and that every person goes through specific stages in their lives.
School Age Child Observation Susan Romero UOPX Child Development BSHS 361 Joy Ifill, LCSW August 27, 2011 School Age Child Observation The development of children between the ages of six through 12 is the time when morals, learning about growing friendships, sexual identity, and gender roles are formed. During this time the child is becoming more responsible, developing individual preferences, learning new skill such as reading and math, and cognitive development is focused on trying new things and to broaden him or herself. I observed two children within this age group and will discuss what I had observed and how it demonstrates these skills. I was allowed to visit and observe again two children at Little Tots Daycare Center. The two children were brother and sister and were the children of one of the attendants.
Each and every child develops at differing rates; there development also goes through periods of peaks and troughs, right from the very beginning a child learns to react to different situations, recognising familiar faces and smells. Milestones are set to keep tract of children’s development and to highlight any problem areas. Although every child is different and the speed in which they reach set mile stones can vary hugely the sequence in which these milestones are achieved vary very little. A young baby will generally learn to hold its head before it can sit, then roll over before its starts to crawl, a toddler learns to walk before it can run, say single words before full sentences, although some children may skip some of the milestones set they generally follow the same sequence of event, although there are exceptions to every rule, they do tend to be just that. Physical development is the growth of movement skills in both fine and gross motor skills and development in hand to eye co-ordination.
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.