Cognitive And Intellectual Development

Cognitive And Intellectual Development

In various ways, philosophers have explained the development of a human being from a child to an adult age. The main aim of these philosophers is to describe different aspects that engulf the development of a person. Cognitive development has long been known and embraced by many people, following its efforts to explain the whole issue behind the automatic cognitive development of human beings. Precisely, Cognitive development is a meadow of learning that mainly concentrates on child development in the expression of information processing perceptual skills, theoretical resources, language education, and other aspects that entail the development of human beings. Cognitive development is the emergence of the ability to think and understand various issues that, in most cases, depend on the external environment that a child is brought up in.

Theories of cognitive development have been formed to enhance a better understanding of human development. A good example of cognitive development theory is the Piaget theory of cognitive development, which proposes that a child’s development bears four stages. Referring to Piaget’s theory, the four phases are the physical, operational, formal operational age, sensorimotor, and preoperational (Carey & Gelman, 2014). Following the complex states in which the cognitive development presumption appears, there calls for supportive concepts to enhance the individual’s understanding of not only Piaget’s supposition of cognitive progress but also other suppositions of cognitive development. Concerning the mentioned inequity of the cognitive theory, soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky between the years 1896-1934, developed the zone of the proximal development model. Abbreviated as ZPD, the model explains the difference between what a kid does without assistance and what the same kid can accomplish with the left hand of an adult(Zonzi,

Barkham, Hardy, Llewelyn, Stiles, & Leiman (2014). The main concept put forwards by the ZPD model explains that the role of education or the general environment that a child dwells in is giving the child experiences that are within the scope of the Child’s development. Thus, the model helps children in encouraging and advancing their learning.

Before getting to the major concepts of the ZPD model, it serves great importance giving a historical development of the model. As mentioned earlier, the main reason why the zone of proximal development model was created was to instruct people on the best methodologies that can be utilized when an individual wants to determine the level of a child’s intelligence. According to Swain (2015), the ZPD concept opposes the idea of making standardized use tests to measure students’ level of intelligence. ZPD suggests that instead of scrutinizing what a student knows through assessing what the student in question knows, comparing a student’s ability to solve an underlying problem with someone who has learned the concepts of solving the problem under consideration is effective. A notable connection exists between cognitive development theories and the zone of proximal development. The connection between the two concepts comes about because the two concepts refer to one common aspect but are different.

Referring to the zone of proximal development, the ability of a child to solve problems without the help of an outside depends on the child’s experiences during the early stages of the child’s development. This concept connects with cognitive theories of development in that the theories claim that what the child learns in earlier stages of growth is transferred to the child’s adult life, thus influencing the ability of a child to solve life-related issues (O’Donnell & King, 2014). In an individual’s quest to understand how children’s functions develop,  Vygotskian argued that children acquire control over what they face later in their adult life after contracting scientific concepts. From this claim, Vygotskian wanted to bring up the point that social interaction is the foundation of cognitive development to acceptance. Moreover, the philosopher urged that communication in a community setting plays a big role in helping children build up a particular understanding of a given concept.

Basing an individual’s argument regarding the zone of proximal development on various concepts, Vygotskian believed that scientific concepts are one of many concepts that development theories are developed. To show how instruction affects individual development, the philosopher defined a true concept as a form of thought that provides a solution to a given problem that arose from the past development of social practice (Kozulin, (2003), according to arguments raised by Vygotskian, the scientific concept is utilized as a microcosm of true concepts because an individual acquires them through the relevant institution mostly independent of personal experience. The issue of real thinking is connected with the subject of a scientific concept. Real thinking is a unity of sensuous representation born after an individual experience a true concept. The true concepts, as mentioned earlier, arise from social history.

Some basic characteristic of Spontaneous concepts is as the following illustration indicate. The first trait exhibited by the spontaneous concept is that they are never introduced to a child in a defined way. Spontaneous concepts are not connected with other development concepts, such as true concepts. The origin of spontaneous concepts finds its basis in everyday life that a child acquires outside explicit instruction. The last trait of spontaneous concept is that it is developed in a bottom-to-top manner (from the experience of a child to generalization and abstractions)

Following the arguments raised by Vygotskian when explaining his concept, it is true that instruction greatly enhances how human beings develop from children to adults. Reflecting on the claims of the theory, a difference exists between what students can do without help and what the same student can do with help; instructions are useful in shaping the cognitive development of an individual. The reason why instructions are important is that they inform the young generation of education. Citing a real-life experience, it is observed that a child may develop a trait of drawing from observing an adult make a drawing. This talent can be improved after the child is coached on the best ways to improve it. In addition to enhancing an individual’s understanding of different concepts, issuing instructions to students, especially when they are performing experiments and solving problems, develops logical, analytical, and thinking skills (Barak, (2015

Reference

Barak, M. (2015). The same MOOC delivered in two languages: Examining knowledge construction and motivation to learn. Proceedings of the EMOOCS, 217-223.

Carey, S., & Gelman, R. (2014). The epigenesis of mind: Essays on biology and cognition. Psychology Press.

Kozulin, A. (2003). Vygotsky’s educational theory in cultural context. New York: Cambridge University Press

O’Donnell, A. M., & King, A. (Eds.). (2014). Cognitive perspectives on peer learning. Routledge.

Swain, M. (2015). Sociocultural Theory in Second Language Education. Channel View Publications.

Zonzi, A., Barkham, M., Hardy, G. E., Llewelyn, S. P., Stiles, W. B., & Leiman, M. (2014). Zone of proximal development (ZPD) as an ability to play in psychotherapy: A theory‐building case study of very brief therapy. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 87(4), 447-464.

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Two major cognitive development theories educators refer to are Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, especially the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development. Understanding these theories will help teachers identify atypical or delayed cognitive development and design research-based strategies to support and encourage normal development.

Cognitive And Intellectual Development

For this assignment, complete the “EDU-354 Cognitive and Intellectual Development Activities” chart with the following:

Part 1-Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

• Overview of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, including definitions (in your own words) of each of the three cognitive skill levels: level of potential development, zone of proximal development (ZPD), and actual developmental level.
• Select a developmental stage to focus on (infancy, toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, or adolescence) and select a milestone, early learning standard, or academic standard that falls within that stage.
• Based on the milestone, early learning standard, or academic standard, describe the expected skills for a student working below grade level, at grade level, or above grade level; provide one instructional activity a teacher could implement within the ZPD of students at each level.

Part 2-Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development Theory

• In your own words, describe each of the four stages of Piaget’s cognitive development theory, including the typical age of children and the major characteristics and developmental changes of each stage.
• Describe an activity or strategy that would support the learning in each stage.

Identify strategies that could be used in each stage to support the needs of students who present atypical/delayed cognitive/intellectual development.

Support your findings with 2-3 scholarly resources.

Links to help with assignment

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development (video) | Khan Academy

Vygotsky sociocultural development (video) | Khan Academy

Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory – Simply Psychology