Child Psycology

                                                Autism

Gianna Jenkins

William Carey University

July 28, 2015

Renowned cartoonist, Walter Elias "Walt" Disney, once said, “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.” He later offered the advice, “First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare.” These sentiments echo deeply in the field of Child psychology, as they address a cornerstone concept- cognitive development. Psychologists, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, both produced theories that explore this concept. However, with much different motivations, they inevitably took different approaches to understanding the subject.  In this essay, the writer will attempt to first explain, then to compare and contrast these theories, to arrive at an understanding of their place in the classroom, and to develop a better understanding of cognitive development, in general, but for an in- depth analysis of the matter at hand, cognitive development must first be explained.

The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) defines cognitive development as the way a person perceives, thinks, and gains understanding of his or her world. It is the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Cognitive development includes information processing, intelligence, reasoning, language learning, and memory.

Piaget’s research on cognitive development has long been at the forefront of child psychology. Viewing himself as “genetic epistemologist,” and with a background in biology and philosophy, he took the approach of…… He views cognitive development as a universal pattern/ experience since all children have the same basic experiences. In Piaget’s theory, he states that as children seek to comprehend the world, their developing brains create schemas- actions or mental representations that organize knowledge. To explain how children use and adapt these schemas, he offers up the notions of assimilation and accommodation (Santrock, 2011). Assimilation refers to the process by which a child integrates knowledge into their existing schemas. Accommodation refers to mental and behavioral changes that occur as a result of assimilation. These processes come into play when a child is put into a new situation, and must use clues and previous experiences to make sense of it, and to react. Organization is another important concept in this theory. It is the “grouping of isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher- order system (Santrock, 2011).  A lifelong modification of this organization is central to development. As a child adopts and accommodates, he or she must also organize this information. Furthermore, Piaget’s theory is broken down into four age- related stages. They are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. These stages can be broken down even further, which helps in the application of the theory.

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