Posted: November 19th, 2022

Cognitive Development Theory.

Cognitive Development Theory.
Cognitive development is the development of thinking across a person’s lifespan. Thinking involves problem-solving, creating, reasoning, conceptualising, remembering, categorising and planning. Thinking also incorporates other mental activities such as perceiving objects as well as events in the environment. This theory looks into the development of children from the time they are small and the process in which they perceive things in their environment. This refers to the process of processing information, language learning, perceptual skills, brain development as well as cognitive psychology (R. Siegler)
Cognitive development has certain underlying beliefs. This belief is a nature and nurtures thing. Nature in this perspective refers to the biological nature of the body in terms of the genes. This belief also has to do with the environment (nurture) in which a baby is brought up. Thus development is an interaction of genes and the environment. Visual development is very crucial in this form of development. As the baby develops its visual development the child is able to learn and perceive things in the environment. These children learn by seeing what is happening in the environment (Held, 1993).
On top of this nature-nurture belief, a child also has a role to play in his or her cognitive development. Once a child is born, a child chooses to concentrate to somethings over others which the child may not be interested in. This child’s own cognitive development usually grows larger as they development and grow older (Scarr & McCartney, 1983). At this age of when a child is a toddler, their parents choose their experiences. This is in terms of the children with whom their children interact with, whether they attend day cares, books that the child has access to and so and so forth. This has a consequence on their cognitive development since they are able to react to how their environment treats them. A child who is

brought up reading from a tender age is likely to be a fluent speaker and their reading is a step ahead of their peers who do not take up reading early (Baker, Dreher & Guthrie, 2000)
This theory was advanced by Jean Piaget. In his theory, he asserts that intellectual development is a process that is continuous and is a result of inborn biological development. This means that at bath this child is fully equipped to make several motor responses. This usually provides them with a full framework of their thinking response. In this theory, Piaget maintains the thought that intelligence is based on two unique biological attributes which are organisation and adaptation. The organisation, in this case, integrates all processes so that they work as a coherent system. Adaptation, on the other hand, is innate and enables the child to interact with their environment. This concept usually fosters the development of a progressively complex mental organisation.
This theory is divided into 4 stages. Each stage forming a foundation of the next stage. This enables a progressively complex and effective adaptation to the environment. The child usually assimilates experiences that he or she sees and fits them into their expanding structure of intellect. As this child encounters new and unknown experiences that do not fit in their already existing structure accommodation usually takes place or the child modifies in the way that they react to such a situation. Each stage of development also has sub-stages (Hetherington and park, 1975).
These stages are usually probabilistic in nature since it is possible for a child to exhibit behavioural characteristics that are more than those from a single stage. This is because heredity changes usually interact with the environment. Each stage has a major transformation in terms of thinking which is different from the preceding stage. Each stage is crucial and there is no way a child can bypass each stage. A child cannot also overcome a development lag or on the other hand, try to speed up the process from one stage to the other. A child needs sufficient experience and time at each stage so as to internalise the experience before they can move on to the next stage.

This theory has far reaching implications. It has been faced by a lot of criticism. One being that the terminologies that the theory tries to advance from a scientific point view, it was necessary to define terms used operationally (Carlson & Buskist, 2000). Piaget did not do this thus making it difficult for other researchers to assess the truthfulness and significance of his findings. This is because the researcher did not offer operationalised definition of terms that could have guided other researchers in finding out the difference between observed behavioural changes and expected changes in the mind. This has made researchers doubt his findings since they are unable to establish a cause and effect relationship between the variables used in research.
A second criticism is based on Piaget not offering substantial evidence to show the difference in the capacity of children in different stages (Gray, 1994). This has led to implications with researchers reasoning that if each stage is marked by a change in the thinking capacity, then as a child advances in age, there should be signs that indicate a new type of thinking or a sudden acquisition of abilities. Researchers argue that development is so slow that the overall cognitive development theory to an extent of obviating the need for a stage kind of theory.
Thirdly the theory advances the idea that physical manipulation of the external objects is important for normal cognitive development. Researchers, on the other hand, argue that children born without the physical capability of outward action, for example, those born paralysed still have the capability to normal cognitive development. The theory’s physical nature fails to explain how children usually understand certain words that usually don’t have any relationship to an immediate physical object.

Fourthly it is believed the research on which this theory proposes is widely influenced. This is because the research was primarily based on western culture. In the western culture, children are trained in certain forms of thinking. The researcher, therefore, overlooked other environments in his research. The environment usually has an influence on how a child develops which may be different from one environment to another (Gray, 1994).
Generally speaking, the cognitive development theory has provided a based to advance other theories in the field of research. Most of the ideas that it advances are either true or have a relationship with what exactly happens as a child develops. This theory has stimulated research in other related fields or new fields of research. This theory has been very key in the research of education since it forms a reference point of what exactly happens in education. Despite it not being very accurate it has formed a basis on which education systems can be evaluated for instance the Western education. It also provides an accurate account of the order in which Western children develop.
Piaget in his theory tries to explain value or no value cultural differences in the present day and age by explaining that how a child develops depends on the social and cultural environment in which he or she was reared. Therefore children will solve problems that they encounter in their day to day activities using what is known as species-specific cognitive mechanisms that usually develop according to a species typical schedule. This, therefore, means that each environment has its needs and influences for instance in the modern world, there is an advancement in technology which has played a key role in shaping the way human beings live and interact with their environment.

In the sensorimotor, the behaviour of a child is based on the immediate experience with senses. In this stage, there is an interaction between senses and the environment. Children at this stage, see what is happening in their environment and feel it but they do not usually have a way of categorising their experiences.
Their responses are usually based on the situation at hand. A child who is hungry will cry out loudly for food. Such a child cannot be convinced that food is being prepared and he or she just needs to be patient for a few minutes. Since such children do not have a sense of time. In the preoperational stage, intuitive mode of thought usually prevails. Such a child can symbolise experiences mentally. This is because at this stage the child has developed speaking skills. A child takes part in collective monologues where a child speaks to themselves. At this stage, a child is able to associate words and symbols with objects. The child is able to adopt an awareness of their environment.
Piaget’s theory has implications in the teaching fraternity. His theory may be used as a guide to curriculum planning. This is because his theory gives to a certain extent what a learner at a certain age is able to understand. This is because it usually revolves around subject matter, the society as well as the abilities of the learner. If a planning methodology is to be adopted, the structure of its content should be such that it is compatible with the child’s development characteristics. A system which has the needs of a child at heart it is able to cater for such a child’s needs completely.
The teaching methods and materials, learning activities that are adopted should, therefore, those that are appropriate to that cognitive development stage. This is because the theory advances a thinking that there is a mutual interaction between the learner and the specific environment in which the teaching materials should come from. In most cases, the learning materials should come from the learner’s environment.
The theory is likely to affect curriculum development. This is because such a developer needs to make effort in understanding the child’s world. No assumptions need to be made. Since such a developer may be tempted to think that what they think is good for the child. This might not be the case. They, therefore, need to design an educational experience that is based
on the child’s needs and readiness. Thus this theory is very important for them to understand what is relevant to the student and therefore avoid teaching children something that they are not ready to learn and in the long run miss a golden opportunity by waiting.
This theory is very important for slow learners. Rather than pressure them to learn so as to catch up with the rest, educators should establish and put in place a rich learning experience at the child’s level of development. According to the theory pressuring a child to learn may result in superficial learning and not in the real type of learning that is required by the system. This results in an acquisition of facts in response to a situation that is restricted. When such a child is faced with a tougher situation he or she may be unable to respond to it.
Piaget warns that accommodation and assimilation usually take time. Experience is thus very important in the learning process. Such kind of experiences provides further information and clarification so as to make the accommodation of the information easier. Thus from the theory making of mistakes is completely understandable and is part of the learning experience.

References
Carlson, N. R., Buskist, W., & Martin, G. N. (2000). Psychology: The science of behaviour. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Gray, P., Miller, A., & Noakes, J. (1994). Challenging behaviour in schools: Teacher support, practical techniques, and policy development. London: Routledge.
Held R. (1993). What can rates of development tell us about underlying mechanisms? In Visual Perception and Cognition in infancy. Hillsdale.

Hertherington, E.M and Parke, R.D (1975) child Psychology: A contemporary
viewpoint. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Scarr S., & McCartney K. (1983). How people make their own environments: a theory of genotype- environment effects. In child development (pp. 54, 424-435).
Siegler R. (n.d.). Cognitive Development in Childhood -Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved from http://nobaproject.com/modules/cognitive-development-in-childhood

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