Three Theories of Cognitive Development

Three Theories of Cognitive Development The Swiss psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is well-known for his run towards the cognitive sciences. Arguably integrity of his more or less important contributions involves his theory of cognitive breeding. In this theory, thinking progresses through quartette distinct stratums amidst infancy and adulthood. Similar in scope to Piagets theory is In pull ination Processing, in which human thinking is based on both mental hardwargon and mental softw atomic number 18 (Kail, Cavanaugh). A nett theory on cognitive organic evolution was established by the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934).Vygotsky proposed that evolution is a collaborative effort between babe and partner. spot these three theories attempt to explain a similar topic in different manners, separately brook be considered an important aspect to cognitive development in infancy and early childhood. Through analyzing and comparing these theories, scientists argon able to better realize how child development occurs and the process it get bys in creating a functional human being. Piagets scheme Children atomic number 18 of course curious this is the claim Piaget proposed when explaining that children of all ages create theories about how the world or sowhat them works.They accomplish this through the use of schemes, referring to mental structures that organize cultivation and perplex style. Infants group objects based on the actions they bum perform on them. subsequently in development, schemes become based on functional or conceptual relationships, not action. This means that schemes of related objects, events, and ideas are present throughout development (Kail, Cavanaugh). Schemes change constantly, holding to childrens experiences. Intellectual adaptation involves two key processes that work together assimilation and accommodation.Assimilation is the process of taking in new information into previously existing schemes. Accommodation involves altering existing schemes in easygoing of new information. Assimilation and accommodation are usually in equilibrium. but when disequilibrium occurs, children reorganize their schemes to return to a state of equilibrium, a process Piaget called equilibration. harmonise to Piaget, revolutionary changes in thought occur three times oer the life span, which are divided into four stages. Sensorimotor period (0-2 years) Infants adapt and explore their environment. Reflexes are first modified by experience.At 8 months, well-educated behavior occurs. in brief, infants become active experimenters, and repeat actions with different objects for the purpose of seeing what will happen. An important aspect of the first stage is object permanence- the arrangement that objects exist even if they cannot be seen. Not until at about 18 months do infants wealthy person a full understanding of object permanence. Soon after, the onset of symbols, including words and gestures, become apparent. Preoperational thinking (2-7 years) Children do not understand others different ideas and emotions (egocentrism). They also capture trouble focusing on binary features.A child in the preoperational stage has a narrowly focused sheath of thought (a term Piaget called centration). For precedent, in what is known as a conservation problem, children tend to focus on only one aspect of the problem. In conservation of length, they concentrate on the fact that, after the transformation, the end of one stick is farther to the right than the end of the other, when in fact each stick is similar in length. Concrete operational period (7-11 years) This stage is characterized by the appropriate use of logic. A child is able to fork objects according to its size, shape, etc. as well, children will now take into account multiple aspects of a problem. For example, a child will no longer perceive a wide and short cup to contain more liquid than a normal, tall cup . Egocentrism begins to disappear the child can now emplacement things from anothers perspective (even though that person may be wrong). Formal operational period (11 years and up) Individuals move beyond cover experiences and begin to think more abstractly, reason logically, and draw conclusions from information available. Also changing is the way an adolescent thinks about social matters.The future is starting line to be thought of in relation to what he or she can become. Information Processing In this view, human thinking is based on mental hardware (allows the mind to operate) and mental software (basis for performing peculiar(a) tasks). There are several different aspects to this theory. Learning and cognitive development can happen through habituation, classical and operant conditioning, and imitation. Habituation is the debased response to a stimulus as it becomes more familiar. Constantly responding to insignificant stimuli is wasteful, so habituation keeps infants fr om devoting too much energy to non-important events.In classical conditioning, a stimulus elicits a response that was originally produced by another stimulus. No new behaviors are agreeed, but an association is developed (Huitt, W. and Hummel, J). For example, a toddler may frown when he hears water running in the seat because he realizes that it is time for a bath. Operant conditioning emphasizes reward and punishment. This helps children form expectations about what will happen in their environment. Imitation is important in older children and adolescents. This process entails a watch and learn kind of approach.A son can learn how to play basketball by watching a professional athlete, and an infant may imitate an adult waving her palpate back and forth. A special kind of memory, autobiographical memory, emerges in the preschool years. These are memories of significant events and experiences in ones own life. Infants have prefatory memory skills that enable them to remember pa st events. In addition to these skills are the language skills and sense of self obtained during the preschool years. Vygotskys Theory Lev Vygotsky incorporated the affair that society and culture have on an individual throughout cognitive development.According to Vygostky, children rarely grow cognitively by themselves they learn and progress when they have others by their side. This is contrasting to Piagets theory and Information Processing, where the individual growth takes place mostly alone. In his theory, Vygotsky developed the idea of the zone of proximal development. This refers to the zone between the level of implementation a child can achieve when working independently and a higher level of performance that is possible when working under the management of more skilled adults or peers.This follows the idea that cognition develops first in a social tantrum and slowly comes under the childs control. A factor that acquired immune deficiency syndrome this shift is known as scaffolding. This is a style of teaching in which the teacher decides the amount of assistance given to match what the child in truth needs. Scaffolding is based off the premise that children do not learn readily when they are constantly told what to do or when they are left field to struggle through a problem. Finally, Vygotsky viewed private speech as an mean(a) step toward self-regulation of cognitive skills. Private speech can be defined as comments that are not intended for anyone else but the child to hear, and are designed to help children regulate their behavior. This theory holds that cognitive development is not characterized as a solitary undertaking, but a collaboration between expert and novice. Compare and Contrast All of these theories attempt to measure the biological and psychological changes apparent in child development. They tincture to categorize special behaviors, and associate them with current stages in growth. However, each theory is different in that it looks for different behavior patterns.Also, Piagets Theory and the Information Processing Theory can be grouped together due to the fact that they look at a child as an independent being, not cognitively dependent on its environment. However, Vygotsky views a childs development as being reliable upon its surroundings (e. g. its peers, parents, teachers etc). Disputes These three theories are just that theories. none of them have been scientifically raisen and accepted by all scientists. Instead, they have formed the basis by which we conduct study and research of cognitive development today.Theories will always be open to criticism and review, and Piagets theory has specifically been scrutinized by scientists and researchers. Some believe that Piaget underestimated the cognitive competency in infants and young children. A main theme of modern child development is that of an extremely competent infant. Also, many scientists have found that authorized components of Piagets theor y are not testable. For example, accommodation and assimilation prove to be too vague to test scientifically. In Vygoskys Theory, some critics point out the overemphasizing of the role of language.Also, his emphasis on collaboration and guidance has potential pitfalls if facilitators are too helpful in some cases. An example of that would be an overbearing and controlling parent. Criticism is not meant to diminish the greatness of these theories, but to foster more research in the field of cognitive development and improve our understanding of how children grow. Conclusion These three theories of cognitive development are meant to measure something that is physically not able to be measured. They take a look at how children behave, and attempt to classify each behavior accordingly.