Theories on Children’s Cognitive Development & Case Studies Illustrating Them

Gleaning insights proposed by the earliest psychologists homogeneous jean Pia fall, socio- pagan theorists interchangeable Lev Vygotsky, radical behaviorists like B. F. Skinner and early(a) rise up-known psychologists like Howard Gardner, who challenged the earlier views on babyrens cognitive growth, can be actually important. By drawing insights and gaining a better catch of how kidskinrens fantasy processes are organize, as well as the factors that influence them, and the overall pertain on tiddlerren, parents, caretakers, educators, and therapists find themselves in a better position to quarter and swear out growing kids achieve their optimum potential.In most of the theories cross off forth , factors like genetics and the environment or outside influences uprise into lick. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who formed his theories after conducting actual observations of kids, opined, The object of the pincer is not that of a miniature large the mind develops by forming schemas that help us assimilate our experiences and that must occasionally be altered to process refreshed information. In this way, children progress from the sensorimotor simplicity of the infant to more(prenominal) than complex demonstrates of thinking (Myers 1989 85).This possible action, which presupposes that childrens cognitive skills develop spontaneously, is highlighted by the variant festeringal stages to which childrens accomplishment must adjust. Most guideers rely on Piagets cognitive develop rational theory which, in essence, master(prenominal)tains that the reasoning processes of children at various ages cognitive ripening proceeds in four genetically determined stages that always follow the said(prenominal) sequential order (Child schooling Theories, n. d. ). The Piagetian theory boils down to the fact that children must not be forced to absorb concepts.Instead, knowledge and learning must take lead at the designated time or age of the chi ld. Even if they chthonicgo the same stages infancy, early childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, and so on, individuals, of course, exhibit go awaying capabilities or calculate of cognitive increment. Piaget presupposed that children gradually find out what there is to learn active the objects and people around them through a gradual learning process. nonentity must be foisted on young minds. Instead, the young mind should be allowed to form relationships and learn through a stage-by-stage assimilation of concepts and facts.The focus is on the knowledge learned, then. Most pre-schools find the Piagetian theory quite applicable and useful. In fact, the Piagetian theory has been widely used as inherent structure or foundation for child education & care in America and some other parts of the world. There are some educators or schools, though, which combine the Piagetian concept on childrens cognitive development with other theories like the socio-cultural theory set forth b y Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky, to let children realize their full potential.Vygotsky held that cognitive processes are formed in the course of socio-cultural activities the individual comes into possession of a variety of cognitive processes engendered by different activities (Kozulin, n. d. ) and with the guidance of a learned individual. A conditioned person can help to add meaning to what is familiar to the child when he or she enters the childs zone of proximal development (ZPD), that place for learning located somewhere between the childs present understanding and potential understanding (Steele 2001).Simply put, childrens cognitive skills are hastened when they come into contact with more knowledgeable elders, or more experienced, older mentors. There whitethorn be reasons when even other kids of the same age but with greater noetic capacity may help shape or form a slow-learning childs understanding of basic concepts like music or the alphabet. The dif ference between the childs own cognitive development and his potential to assimilate greater knowledge is the zone of proximal development.When schoolage kids act and talk to and help each(prenominal) other learn, while withal hearing attentively to what their teacher says to them, they enter the zone of proximal development. In telephone circuit to Piaget, Vygotsky laid greater emphasis in the way a child can utilize the joint go about or co-mingling with a sound adult in order to achieve full learning potential. Cases of teachers inform young children to play a melodic instrument like the balmy may illustrate both the Piagetian concept of learning and Vygotskys socio-cultural theory.A child falling under the pre-operational stage, correlating to children in the age bracket of two to seven years, who is tinkering with the piano is still in the process of get the hang symbols and will not really learn how to play the instrument well on his own. An adults expert guidance w ill skip the childs learning process. On the other hand, the piano teacher must prepare lessons that will suit the age of the child, or his developmental stage.Indeed, it can be noted that Piagets cognitive development theory has been used as jump-off point by his contemporaries and succeeding psychologists. nonpareil of those who challenged the Piagetian concept and maintained that a childs cognitive efficiency is but one aspect of development is Howard Gardner. The latter proposed that individuals gull a number of domains of potential intellectual competence which they are in the position to develop, if they are normal and if the appropriate stimulating factors are procurable (Gardner 2004 287).Musical intelligence is one of the kinds of intelligence that Gardner said kids may cultivate. The cause of a piano teacher giving a child his/her first gear set of piano lessons may encompass both the Piagetian concept, Vygotskys socio-cultural theory, and Howard Gardners theory on multiple intelligence. As far as Howard Gardners multiple intelligence theory is concerned, it runs counter to the Piagetian theory. Gardner believed in the vast potential each child has.He surmised that at whatsoever one instance, the well-nurtured child can be at different stages, honing his/her possible abilities whether in spatial reasoning or body-kinesthetic or interpersonal skills, intrapersonal aesthesia, lingual or musical inclinations. Even at a young age, children may nurture any of these multiple intelligences. A two-year-old child, for good example, may be receptive to the piano playacting of parents, and a couple of years later make to attend group lessons to observe, such that by the time the same child reaches the pre-teen years, he/she would have already developed a keen musical appreciation.Unlike the Piagetian method focus which tends to focus on tally scores or the knowledge acquired per se, Gardners multiple intelligence theory focuses on forming a v oiceless, positive and attractive character (Gardner 2004 374). In the case of the child who grows up with musically inclined parents and eventually nurtures the talent , the resulting funny piano performance, is actually just a means to creating the childs well-rounded character.Nonetheless, Piagets cognitive development concept has long been considered a universal learning theory which has found its way in numerous preschools all over the world. If most preschool classroom settings vividly illustrate Piagets cognitive developmental concept, pointly in the pre-operational stage, a clear-cut example of Vygotskys socio-cultural theory is the traditional education or cultural contagious disease fetching place in most rural communities across the world. allow us take, for instance, the case of oral narratives about ancestral heroes and events transmitted by older males to their young in Ethiopian rural communities. Children who sit patiently and silently on the periphery of the sto ry-telling circle gradually absorb the cultural content and verbal technique (which) lasts for hours and constitutes an integral element of everyday life. (Kozulin, n. d. ). By relying on their elders for their socio-cultural assimilation of ideas, the children very well mirror Vygotskys socio-cultural theory.An adult comes into the picture to impart greater learning at a quick pace than if the children were to come across the same body of knowledge on their own. The traditional oral transmission of culture such as that perpetuated in the Ethiopian village, however, is no longer practiced in most other societies. Written records have supplanted the oral tradition. In his book, Frames of Mind The Theory of doubled Intelligences, Gardner cited numerous examples of people and situations affecting childrens cognitive learning skills. star of these is the structured method inspired by Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki to teach kids to learn music. Hinged on the basic principle that kids have an innate ability which can be developed and provoked through a nurturing environment (The Suzuki Method 2005), the Suzuki Method lays emphasis on other intervening factors that may affect how young students learn music or instrument playing.These factors let in starting lessons at an early age recognizing just how important auditory modality to music is getting a first-hand grasp in learning how to play an instrument even before learning how to read parental intricacy well-trained teachers who instill quality pedagogics standard realizing the importance of communicating and socially interacting with other children (The Suzuki Method 2005).Gardner also cited the method of imparting learning in traditional African bush society, wherein the youngsters are divided into groups according to ages and aptitudes and put one over instruction in the assorted lore of native lifeparticular stress on the historical background of the population as a means of stimulating group consc iousness (Gardner 2004 343) is made. Gardner made the distinction of such ritualistic methods from more scientific ways of attaining knowledge. With formal schools, we behold a transition from tacit knowledge to explicit forms of knowledge (Gardner 2004 345). such sensitivity to spoken knowledge displayed by native communities, when melded with modern methods of learning and technological requirements, may comprise what Gardner refers to as linguistic intelligence. When kids hailing from their native communities are engrossed in mainstream society, they are accorded the chance to fully develop this linguistic intelligence. Such language development also reflects or applies Vygotskys socio-cultural theory, which highlights the important intention of language and social mount in childrens cognitive processes.Language, in the case of African communities with an oral tradition of teaching kids, is used in the first place to retain key concepts in the minds/memory of the youngsters . In such scenarios, children pose greater understanding of their roots, including their ancestors, traditions, and culture as a whole, and piece unitedly a logical picture in their minds by internalizing the various talking to and concepts articulated by knowledgeable elders. Vygotskys socio-cultural theory likewise finds itself utilise in contemporary society.As an alternative to the Piagetian concept as well as to the behaviorist schools of thought which had theorists like B. F. Skinner postulating that mental processes or learning occurred as a consequence of the individuals response to, or interaction with, the environment and with reinforcement and punishment playing a crucial part in molding behavior (Child development theories, n. d. ), Vygotskys socio-cultural theory articulated that learning is more of a overlap/joint process in a responsive social context (Psychology applied, n. . ). Vygotsky debunked the view that learning depends or follows a childs stage of develo pment or maturation. Vygotsky veered away from the biologically-based understanding of human behavior or from the rewards and punishment concept set forth by behaviorists as main determinants of childrens thinking & behavior. Instead, he placed emphasis on the push of social/cultural forces on human cognitive processes and activity. He notice the connecting links between socio-cultural processes taking place in society, and mental processes taking place in the individual (Psychology applied, n. d. ). A modern example that applies in part Vgotskys learning theory of having a knowledgeable adult supervise the learning process and B. F. Skinners behaviorist progression is a structured skills-based tutoring service that offers individualized instruction to slow or advanced learners wishing to strengthen their foundation in key subjects like math, reading, and writing.Tutoring Club, one such company, has in its employ well-schooled and well-trained tutors who guide enrolled students w ho need to obtain better understanding of concepts in certain academic areas. The students work on modules of exercises designed to sharpen their cognitive skills, and every time they meet the coveted output, an incentive (reward) comes in the form of a merchandise that they may get from a mini store inside the learning center, traded for chips which students accumulate for each module they complete.Another case in point is a present-day(a) Mathematics teacher who is instilling basic concepts to her students. An investigative research that zeroed in on a teacher who adopted the Vygotskian socio-cultural perspective in teaching Mathematics to her students showed how helpful it can be to encourage students to share their thoughts, ideas and assumptions with their peers under the teachers knowledgeable guidance and prodding. As the teacher opined, communion clarifies their thinking. It lets them verbalize. nstead of just having it in their minds students become aware of how they thi nk so that when they explicit their thinking processes, she (the teacher) could help them with any difficulties they had (Steele 2001). Based on the Vygotskian theory, language and parley whether in remote rural communities or the contemporary setting, utilizes language and discourse as essential tools to stimulate childrens cognitive development. The approach, of course, will vary depending on the physical state of each child.A different approach is taken for children with defects or physical impairment. Vygotsky may also be impute with tailorfitting the teaching method to the particular needs as well as dysfunctions of children. Within his general theory of child development, (Vygotsky) created a comprehensive and practice-oriented substitution class of educating children with particular(prenominal) needs (and) introduced the notion of primary defects, secondary defects, and their interactions in the field of study of psychopathology and different disabilities (Psycholog y Applied, n. . ). Vygotsky believed that because cognitive development is hinged largely on rousing of the senses, the physically and mentally impaired child is inhibited from obtaining knowledge at a generally accepted rate. More than the physical handicap of the special child, though, it is the social consequences (Psychology Applied, n. d) arising from that childs impairment which must be disposed focus. Cognitive developmental theories may be applied beyond the classroom, or in many other areas of childrens learning and lives.Various other factors that come into play which influence cognitive processes, like interactive media, also cannot be discounted. The condition of the child is likewise important in find out the right approach to inculcate learning. In any case, early cognitive developmental interventions, finetuned by succeeding theorists, serve not just to enhance academic outcomes but help shape the well-rounded personalities of todays kids. Nowadays, the sound body of knowledge aimed at the workings of childrens mind continues to evolve and grow.In the end, it is up to parents, schools and other learning institutes, to determine which ones are truly suitable and will contribute in a effectual manner to the development of childrens cognitive skills. It can be seen that the pioneering whole works of such psychologists as Jean Piaget who emphasized biologically-based or natural development of childrens cognitive skills certainly provided good foundation or strong footing for succeeding child development theories to come out with change concepts.Given the numerous cognitive development theories set forth and use for classroom teaching and/or child care, and the distinct differences and similarities in the main points of contention of the theorists laid out for people to grasp, which have undergone further study and enhancements and complemented by other theories throughout the years, parents and educators have been able to devise new and imp roved methods of enhancing childrens cognitive skills and potential.