Three Theories of Cognitive Development

Three Theories of Cognitive Development The Swiss psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is well-known for his work towards the cognitive sciences. Arguably one of his about important contributions involves his speculation of cognitive culture. In this theory, thinking progresses through four distinct horizontal surfaces between infancy and adulthood. Similar in scope to Piagets theory is info Processing, in which human thinking is based on both mental hardw ar and mental softw atomic number 18 (Kail, Cavanaugh). A final theory on cognitive development was established by the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934).Vygotsky proposed that development is a collaborative effort between babe and partner. While these three theories attempt to inform a similar topic in different manners, each muckle be considered an important aspect to cognitive development in infancy and archaean childhood. Through analyzing and comparing these theories, scientists are able to better understand how child development occurs and the process it takes in creating a functional human being. Piagets speculation Children are naturally curious this is the claim Piaget proposed when explaining that children of all ages create theories about how the world around them works.They accomplish this through the give of schemes, referring to mental structures that organize study and regulate way. Infants group aspirations based on the actions they can perform on them. Later in development, schemes become based on functional or abstract relationships, non action. This means that schemes of related objects, events, and ideas are present throughout development (Kail, Cavanaugh). Schemes change constantly, adapting to childrens experiences. Intellectual adaptation involves two key processes that work together assimilation and accommodation. purification is the process of taking in new information into previously existing schemes. Accommodation involves altering exist ing schemes in light 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. According to Piaget, revolutionary changes in panorama occur three times over the life span, which are divided into four stages. Sensorimotor period (0-2 years) Infants adapt and explore their environment. Reflexes are first modify by experience.At 8 months, intentional behavior occurs. Soon, infants become active experimenters, and repeat actions with different objects for the purpose of seeing what will exit. An important aspect of the first stage is object permanence- the understanding that objects exist even if they cannot be seen. Not until at about 18 months do infants have a full understanding of object permanence. Soon after, the onset of symbols, including words and gestures, become apparent. Preoperational thinking (2-7 years) Chil dren do not understand others different ideas and emotions (egocentrism). They also have trouble focusing on treble features.A child in the preoperational stage has a narrowly focused type of thought (a term Piaget called centration). For example, in what is known as a conservation problem, children lam 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 far 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 sort objects according to its size, shape, etc.Also, 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(prenominal) liquid than a normal, tall cup. Egocentrism begins to disappear the child can now view things from anothers perspective (even though that person may be wrong). Formal operational period (11 years and up) Individuals move beyond concrete 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 inauguration 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 particular tasks). There are several different aspects to this theory. Learning and cognitive development can happen through habituation, classical and operant learn, and imitation. Habituation is the diminished response to a stimulus as it becomes more familiar. Constantly responding to insignificant stimuli is wasteful, so habituation keeps infants from devoting in like manner 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 learned, but an companionship is developed (Huitt, W. and Hummel, J). For example, a toddler may frown when he hears water running in the bathroom 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 change of approach.A boy can learn how to play basketball by watching a professional athlete, and an infant may imitate an adult waving her thumb back and forth. A special kind of depot, autobiographical memory, emerges in the preschool years. These are memories of significant events and experiences in ones own life. Infants have basic memory skills that enable them to remember past events. In addition to these skills are the language skills and sense of sel f obtained during the preschool years. Vygotskys Theory Lev Vygotsky incorporated the role 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 surgical procedure a child can achieve when working independently and a higher level of performance that is possible when working under the guidance of more skilled adults or peers.This follows the idea that cognition develops first in a social setting and slowly comes under the childs control. A element that aids 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 to assay through a problem. Finally, Vygotsky viewed private speech as an intermediate 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 solitudinarian 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 look to categorize specific 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. no(prenominal) of them have been scientifically proven 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 competence in infants and issue children. A main theme of modern child development is that of an extremely competent infant. Also, many scientists have found that certain components of Piagets theory 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 stress 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 importance 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.