Cognitive development of a child

8/11/2019 Cognitive development of a child

1/18MEM 505: CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT 1

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

Theories of Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development is gradual, systematic changes by which mentalprocess become more complex and refined. Establishment of new schemes isessential in cognitive development.

Piagets Main Tenet: The Child Actively Seeks Knowledge Jean Piaget viewed children as constructivists, meaning they are active

seekers who respond to the environment according to their understanding of itsessential features. He also believed that intelligence was not random but it was a setof organized cognitive structures that the child actively constructed, and viewedintelligence as basic life function that helps the child to adapt to his environment.

According to Piaget, human beings inherit two essential intellectual functionswhich he called organization and adaptation.

1. Organization is inborn and automatic, and it refers to the childs tendencyto arrange available schemata into coherent systems or body ofknowledge. Children are constantly rearranging their existing knowledgeto produce new and more complex cognitive structures (Gines, et al.,1998).

2. Adaptation is the childs tendency to adjust to the demands of theenvironment. This occurs in two ways:a. Assimilation is interpreting or understanding environment events in

terms of ones existing cognitive structures and ways of thinking. b.

Accommodation is changing ones existing cognitive structures andways of thinking to apprehend environment events.

Stages of Cognitive DevelopmentPiaget divided cognitive development into four stages: sensorimotor,

preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. He outlined this theorythat follows an increasingly adaptive behavior mechanism from diffused togeneralized responses of the patterns of behavior. He said that all children passthrough these stages in this order and that no child can skip a stage. However,different children may pass through the stages at somewhat different rates.

1.

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years).

During this stage, children acquire knowledge through sensoryexperiences and performing actions accordingly. This is entirely unconscious,self-unaware, and non-symbolic cognition. There are six divisions of this stage:a. Reflexes (0 to 1 month). These refer to the behavioural foundation upon

which more complex behaviors are based. They develop when applied to awider variety of stimuli and events e.g. sucking and modify withcontinuous experience.


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MEM 505: CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT 2

b.

Schemes (1 to 4 months). These refer to an organized pattern of behaviorwhich the child interacts and comes to know his world e.g. sucking andgrasping. This substage coordinates and integrates previouslyindependent schemes such as visual and auditory. Moreover, schemes aredirected inward e.g. grasp for the sake of its grasping than on the effect it

has on the world.c. Procedure (4 to 8 months). The schemes are directed outward and

develop into procedures of interesting behaviors that produce interestingeffects in the world. Procedure gets repeated e.g. banging on a pot with awooden spoon.

d.

Intentional Behavior (8-12 months). Prior to this substage, child producessome outcome from his behavior and repeats it. Now, the child wants toproduce a particular result then figures out the action.

e. Experimentation (12-18 months). Experimentation is the childs trial-and-error exploration of the world to discover new and different ways of

acting on it. Here the child produces new actions and observes the effectse.g. pulling the rug to get an out-of-reach object.f. Representation (18-24 months). Before this substage, all actions and

results occur externally. In this substage, the child begins to think aboutand acting on the world internally e.g. naming an object that is notcurrently present but is just thought of. Besides, the child witnesses anaction but does not reproduce it and he reproduces the witnessed actionat a later time. This is called deferred imitation.

2. Preoperational Stage (2 to 6 years).During this stage, children develop their capacity to employ symbol,

particularly language. Because of symbols, they are no longer limited to the

stimuli that are immediately present and they use these symbols to portraythe external world internally e.g. child can talk about the ball and can form amental image of it. In stage, children also develop their ability to conserve thequalitative and quantitative identify of objects even when they changeperceptually.

3. Concrete Operational Stage (6-12 years).Children are more logical and able to complete task not able to

perform in preoperational period. Thinking is still with real or concrete objectsand actions, and not yet abstract thinking.

This is the beginning of rational activity in children. They come to

master various logical operations including arithmetic, class and setrelationships, measurement, and conceptions of hierarchical structures(Gines, et al., 1998). Child mastered by age 6 the Conservation of Number andhe mastered by age 8 or 9 the Conservation of Length and Weight.

4.

Formal Operational Stage (12 years and over)Children develop their abstract thinking. It is their ability to think

logically about things that are only possible and not necessarily real orconcrete. They also develop their hypothetical-deductive reasoning.


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Vygotskys Socio-Cultural Theory of Cognitive DevelopmentLev S. Vygotskys theory emphasizes that social interaction plays a vital role in

cognitive development. His theory basically means that development depends oninteraction with people and the tools that the culture provides to help form their

own view of the world (Gallagher , 1999).These cultural tools can be transmitted to three ways. These are:

1. Imitative Learning- a person tries to imitate or copy another person.2. Instructed Learning- a person remembers the instructions of the teacher and

then uses them to self-regulate.3.

Collaborative Learning- a group of person who strive to understand eachother and they work together to learn a specific skills.He believed that children are born with elementary mental abilities such as

perception, attention and memory. These innate abilities transforms into highermental functions as children interact with their culture and society (Meece, 2002).

His theory also states that language plays a vital role in cognitivedevelopment. Within his theory, he identified three stages in childrens use oflanguage:

1. Social speech- speech used by children for purpose of communication to otherpeople.

2.

Egocentric speech- speech that is more intellectual and children use this byverbalizing their ideas.

3. Inner speech- speech used by children to think in their minds about theirproblem or task, instead of verbalizing their ideas in order to solve theirproblem or to decide what to do next.His Socio-Cultural Theory also refers to the difference between what a learner

can do independently and what can be done with others guidance. He called this asZone of Proximal Development (ZPD). He assumed that interactions with adults orpeers in the zone of proximal development help children move to higher levels ofmental functioning within the classroom (Meece, 2002).

The implications of Vygotskys theory to education are to encouragecooperative learning exercises and to engage student in the discovery process withguidance from knowledgeable source. He suggests that teachers use cooperativelearning exercises where less competent children develop with the aid from moreadept peers within the zone of proximal development. He believed that when astudent is at the ZPD for a particular task, providing the appropriate assistance, will

give the student enough of a boost to achieve h is goal or to complete the task(McLeod, 2012).ZPD is associated with scaffolding. The concept of scaffolding was introduced

by Wood and Middleton. It is defined as a learner to concentrate on those elementsof the task that are initially beyond his capacity and complete only those elementsthat are within his range of competence. According to Wood and Middleton,scaffolding becomes most effective when the assistance is correlated to the needs ofthe learner (McLeod, 2012).


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Meece has provided some of the major contributions of Vygotskys theoriesto education. His theory gives insight to role of private speech and peer interactionsin cognitive development and explains the significance of guided participation andscaffolding (Meece, 2002).

Furthermore, he also emphasized in his theory that three factors that shape

childrens behavior, and these are called ecological contexts.1. Cultural Contexts- He said that ones culture comprises the environment

that humans have created and continue to perpetuate in their caregivingpractice. Culture consists of human designs for living, which are embodiedin beliefs, values, customs, and activities.

2.

Social Contexts- He believed that learning occurs through interpersonal,social context. Thinking, as he defined, is a process of social interactionbetween children and more experienced and knowledgeable members ofcommunity. This social interaction helps them to master culture-specificskills and develop their behaviors that will enable them to successfully

adapt to their particular community.3. Historical contexts- His viewpoint, the childs environment which he isreared and his own developmental history in terms of his experiences inthat society are both significant in identifying the ways in which the childwill think. Conceptual thinking must be transmitted to children throughwords, thus language becomes a crucial cognitive tool for deciding howchildren learn to think (Owens, 2006).

Information-Processing TheoryExponents of this theory perceive that we are a processor of information. It

means that we are not merely responding to stimuli rather we process the

information we receive. They equate our mind to a computer, which receivesinformation and follows a certain program to produce an output.

Structure of the Information-Processing SystemThe standard information-process model has three major components:

sensory memory, working memory or short-term memory, and long-term memory(Wikipedia, 2013).

Figure 1: Model of Memory Systems


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1.

Sensory MemoryEnvironment is the source of variety of stimuli. In psychology, stimulus

is an energy pattern which is recorded by our senses such light, sound, heat,cold, etc. Human body has special sensory receptor cells that transduceexternal stimulus to electrical energy so the brain can understand. This

process of transduction creates memory.Each sensory system has its own sensory register which receives and

temporary stores all of the stimuli. The sensory register stores sensoryinformation for a while, then analyzes it to identify whether the sensory inputshould be conveyed into working or short-term memory or should beforgotten. (See diagram 1)

It is absolutely critical that the individual attend to the information atthis first stage in order to transmit it to the second stage. Transmission ofsensory information to working memory can be done if the stimulus has astimulating effect to the individual or the stimulus activates a known pattern.

2.

Working Memory or Short-Term MemoryIt is believed to be the center of conscious thought, compare to acomputer it is the Central Processing Unit (CPU) or using the concept ofSigmund Freud it is the conscious memory. As individual pays attention to anexternal stimulus or internal thought, working memory is created. Processingof information may take around 15 to 20 seconds unless it is repeated orrehearsed at which point it may take up to 20 minutes.

OUTPUT

(RESPONSE)

RetrievalEncoding & Elaboration

SENSORY INPUT

(EXTERNAL STIMULUS)

SENSORY

MEMORY

WORKING

MEMORY

LONG-TERM

MEMORY

Rehearsal / Repetition

Forgotten

Attention


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Working memory has subsystems that store and process verbalinformation and visual images. It also supervises the coordination ofsubsystems that includes awareness of the follow of information into and outof the memory and visual representation of the possible moves, all stored fora limited amount of time.

The short-term has a limited capacity, which can be readilydemonstrated by simple expedient of trying to remember a list of randomitems without allowing repetition. In the experiments conducted by GeorgeMiller in 1956, he gave the number 7 + 2 , which he described as the magicalnumber or sometimes referred to as Millers Law however latest studyproposes the number may be more like 5 + 2 for most things we are trying torecall. The number of objects an average human can hold in working memory,also called memory span, varies in how much individuals can work with(Mastin, 2010).

One of technique for retaining and retrieving information in short-term

memory, and it also the method used to get information into long-termmemory is chunking. Chunking of information helps to the capacity of short-term memory. It is the organization of pieces of information into shortermeaningful units to make it more manageable. For example, it is easier torecall 0917-571-4380 rather than 09175714380.

3.

Long-Term MemoryLong-term memory is responsible of storing information over a long

period of time. It encodes information for storage semantically- based onmeaning and association. However, some studies suggest that it also encodesto some extend by acoustic. For example, when we are trying to recall a word,we try to associate by a certain sound. Short-term memory can be become

long-term memory through the process of organization involving repetitionand meaningful association (Mastin, 2010).

There are two major memory strategies:1.

Rehearsal- A memory strategy that involves repeating the words orinformation to be remembered or recalled either verbally ormentally.

2. Retrieval- A memory strategy that gets information out of the long-tern memory.

Two common forms of retrieving the information: recognitionand recall. Recognition is a form of retrieval that involves noticing

whether a stimulus is identical or similar to one previouslyexperienced, and recall is a form of retrieval that involvesremembering or recalling a stimulus that is not present (Owens,2006).

Bio-Cultural Theories

Individual Differences: Theories of Intelligence that Influence Individual Differences


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Sternbergs Triarchic Theory of IntelligenceRobert Sternberg, a psychologist, defined intelligence as mental activity

directed toward purposive adaptation to, selection and shaping of, real-worldenvironments relevant to ones life.(Stenberg, 1985) To him, successful intelligencehas less to do with the success in the classroom but more to do with the success in

the real-world. Besides, he proposed that successful intelligence comprises of threedifferent factors and that successfully intelligent people learn to balance thesefactors effectively.

1. Analytical or componential intelligence. This aspect of intelligence allows aperson to process information effectively and think abstractly, and it alsorefers to problem-solving abilities.

2. Creative or experiential intelligence. This aspect of intelligence allows aperson to come up with new ideas by combining seemingly unrelatedinformation or facts based from past experiences and present skills. Peoplehigh in creative intelligence can find connections between concepts that seem

different and distinct.3. Practical or contextual intelligence. This aspect of intelligence allows a personto adapt to dynamic environment and to discover practical solutions to realproblems. People with this intelligence are often referred as street smart.

Figure 2: Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Application to EducationSternberg believes that these types of intelligence can be developed, and

students learn better if the way they are taught matches their learning ability.1. To develop students analytical intelligence, teachers can ask them to

analyze, critique, compare and contrast, evaluate, and assess.

2.

To develop students creative intelligence, teachers can ask them tocreate, discover, invent, imagine, and predict what might happen3.

To develop students practical intelligence, teachers can ask them to putinto practice, apply, use, implement, or employ. This teaching orientationis effective in

The Gender Schema Theory

Analytical

Intelligence

Practical

Intelligence

Creative

Intelligence


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The gender schema theory was developed by Carol Martin and CharlesHalverson. This theory derives from information-processing approaches to cognitivedevelopment and features social learning and cognitive theories. They suggest thatchildrens motivation to behave in gender appropriate ways derives from theirgender schemas.

Owens (2006) defines gender schema as a pattern of beliefs and stereotypesabout gender that children use to organize information about gender-relatedcharacteristics, experiences, and expectations. Gender is a salient characteristic inchildrens world, relating both themselves and to others. Therefore, it is used toorganize information in a place that may be used by older and more knowledgeablechildren.

According to the proponents of this theory, they suggest that sex stereotypesserve as schemata to organize and structure social information. Acceptance ofmaleness or femaleness starts by age 2 or 3 and readily incorporates stereotypedviews by play activities, roles and behaviors appropriate to their gender.

This theory emphasizes that boys should do boy-related activities like playingtoy trucks and girls should do girl-related activities like playing dolls. This will helpchildren to identify their gender and reliably put themselves in the appropriatelygender-related category and not in other group (Owens, 2006).

Gardners Theory of Multiple IntelligenceHoward Gardners theory of multiple intelligences suggests that intelligence is

not a single intellectual capacity but it has eight different capacities.1. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence

It is well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, rhythmsand meanings of words. Roles: teachers, editors, journalists, radio

broadcasters2. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

It is the ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity todetect logical or numerical patterns. Roles: engineers, programmers,scientists

3. Spatial-Visual IntelligenceIt is the ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately and

abstractly, to do changes on those perceptions, and to re-create aspects ofvisual experiences in the absence of pertinent stimuli. Roles: sculptors,photographers, architects

4.

Bodily-Kinesthetic IntelligenceIt is the ability to control ones body movements and the ability tohandle objects skilfully. Roles: athletes, dancers, nurses, geologists

5.

Musical IntelligenceIt is the ability to produce and appreciate pitch, rhythm, melody, and

aesthetic sounding tones and the ability to understand the forms of musicalexpressiveness. Roles: singers, DJs, violists, song composers

6. Interpersonal Intelligence


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It is the capacity to discern and respond appropriately to the moods,temperaments, motivations and desires of others. Roles: psychologists,politicians, therapists, salesmen

7. Intrapersonal IntelligenceIt is the capacity to be self-aware and in-tune with inner feelings and to

use these feelings to guide ones own behavior, and knowledge of ones ownstrengths, weaknesses, desires, and intelligences. Roles: person who is self-aware and involved in the process of changing personal thoughts, beliefs, andbehavior in relation to their situation.

8.

Naturalist IntelligenceIt is the ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other

objects in nature or appreciate the world and nature. Roles: zoologists,botanists

Achievement Motivation and Intellectual Performance

Achievement motivation is a persons tendency to strive for successfulperformance, to assess ones performance against specific standards of excellentand to experience pleasure as a result of having performed successfully.

The achievement motivation is premised on the fact that a person needs toexperience a certain degree of achievement essential for himself in school, sports,occupation, and business for self-esteem and social approval. A person with highachievement motivation tends to choose challenging activities (Zulueta & Malaya,2012).

McClellands Achievement Motivation TheoryDavid McClelland achievement motivation theory suggests that there are

certain needs that are learned and socially acquires as the person interacts with hisenvironment. According to him, there are three needs and he classified them as needof power, needs of affiliation, and need for achievement.

1.

Needs of Power. This need indicates persons to control and influence othersbehaviors.

2. Needs of Affiliation. This needs shows persons desire for affection and toestablish friendly relationships.

3. Need for achievement. This need implies persons desire to succeed in acompetitive situation and his desire to prove his superiority over others.

Intellectual Performance

Factors Affecting Development

Three Factors which Affect Modern Development: Psychologists Point of Age-Related Changes

A. Universal Changes


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Universal changes are changes that all individuals undergo as biologicalorganisms. All individuals experience the process of growth and maturation asthey grow older.

B. Group Specific ChangesGroup-specific changes are changes manifested and observed from

members growing up together in a particular group and hence influenced bythe dominant culture. This includes a system of meaning, customs, languages,values, attitudes, attitudes, traits, laws, beliefs, and moral guidelines.

C. Individual ChangesThese changes are typical of particular individuals and they result from

unique, unshared events. Every individual is unique, a product of a uniquecombination of genes which sets him apart from anyone.

Atypical Change is a kind of individual change that is detrimental toindividual. This change comes from the influence of genes and environment.Mental development of an individual is impaired due to chromosome

abnormality, or visual impairment due to abuse of drugs.Theoretical Perspective on Development

A. The Psychoanalytical PerspectivePsychoanalytic Theory: Sigmund Freuds Pleasure-Seeking Child

Sigmund Freud formulated his psychoanalytic theory on an intuitivebasis, drawn from his observation and notes that he made about life historiesof his mentally disturbed patients.

The major tenets of his theory pertained to childrens sexual andaggressive desire, the importance of early experiences as determinants oflater development, and to ways the unconscious mind- the seething cauldron

of our innate pleasurable instinct that influences our adult behavior (Owens,2006).

The Three Basic Elements of PersonalityAccording to Freud, our mind is made up of the id, ego, and superego.

The goal of the psyche is to maintain or regain an acceptable level of dynamicequilibrium that maximizes pleasure and minimizes tension (Limpingco & Tria,1999).1. Id- It is our conscious mind and contains our human motives and emotions

such as love, aggression, fear, and so on. It operates by the pleasureprinciple- by seeking immediate gratification of instinctual needs.

2.

Ego- It is the rational level of personality and emerges when psychicenergy is diverted from the id to energize the important cognitiveprocesses such as perception, learning and logical reasoning (Gines, et al.,1998).It also functions as the executive in dealing with real-life events andbalances irrational demands from the id and the higher guidance ofsuperego (Owens, 2006).


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3.

Superego- t is the judicial branch of the personality, persons moral arbiter.It reminds us of our dos and donts. It sets out a series of guidelines thatdefine and limit the flexibility of the ego.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud believed that all human beings pass through a series ofpsychosexual stages, each stage dominated by the development of sensitivityin a particular erogenous or pleasure-giving spot in the body. In addition, eachstage provides individuals a unique conflict that they must resolve before theyproceed to the higher stage.

Table 1: Sigmund Freuds Psychosexual Stages of DevelopmentStage Erogenous

Zone or

Primary Source

of Pleasure

Gratification Conflicts

Oral Stage (birth to2 years)

Mouth, Gums Eating, biting,thumbsucking,chewing

Weaning- child weaning from hismothers breast or bottle tooearly or too late.

Anal Stage (2 to 3years)

Anus Dischargingand retainingbowelmovement

Toilet Training- child is severelytoilet trained or undertrained.

Phallic Stage (3 to 6years)

Phallus ORGenital

Penis formales, andclitoris forfemales

Oedipus Complex (Males) andElectra Complex (Females)- chidfails to identify with the same-sexparent.

Latency Stage (6 to12 years)

None Directed tosame sex,school works,and hobbies

Social interaction with others

Genital Stage (13years onwards)

Genital Heterosexual,mating,maturation

Establishing intimate relationships

Source: Limpingco, D. A. & Tria, G. E., 1999. Personality. 2nd ed. Quezon City: Ken Inc. (pp. 26)

Eriksons Psychosocial Stages: Identity-Seeking ChildErik Homburger Erikson discussed psychosocial stages and he came up

with the eight distinctive stages of Psycho-social development. He believedthat personality develops in a series of stages and describes the impact ofsocial experience across the whole lifespan.

In his Theory of Psychosocial Development, it centers on thedevelopment of ego identity. It means our conscious sense of self that wedevelop through social interaction. According to Erikson, our ego identity isconstantly changing due to the new experiences and information we acquirein our daily interaction with others. Besides, he also believed that a sense ofcompetence motivates behaviors and actions. He was more concerned with


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becoming competent in an area of life. If the stage is handled well, the personwill feel a sense of mastery, which is sometimes referred to as ego strengthor ego quality. Otherwise, if the stage is handled poorly, the person willemerge with a sense of inadequacy. However, it can be resolved successfullyat a later time.

Every stage of psychosocial development, people experience conflictthat serves as the turning point in human development also called crisis.These conflicts focus either on developing a psychological quality or failing todevelop that quality. These are the stages of Psychosocial Development:

1.

Trust Vs Mistrust (birth to 18 months). The infant is this stage developsa sense of ambiguity on the world he or she lives. So as parents- thefirst teachers, we need to provide reliability, care, and affection for ourchildren to develop their sense of trust. A lack of this will lead tomistrust.

2. Autonomy Vs Sham and Doubt (18 months to 3 years). The child

discovers his or her skills and abilities. So as parents or teachers, weneed to encourage our child to becoming more independent whilst atthe same time protecting our child so that constant failure isprevented. Success leads to feeling of autonomy, and failure resultsfeeling of shame and doubt.

3.

Initiative Vs Guilt (3 to 5 years). The child begins to plan activities,makes up games, and initiates activities with others. This is the stagewhere child interacts regularly to other children at school. So asparents or teachers, we need to give the opportunity to our child toplay or socialize to other children to develop his or her sense ofinitiative, and feels secure in his or her ability to lead others and makes

decisions. Conversely, if this tendency is squelched, either throughcriticism or control, child develops a sense of guilt. He or she may feellike a nuisance to others and will therefore remain follower, lackingself-initiative.

4.

Industry (Competence) Vs Inferiority (6 to 11 years). Child needs tocope with social demands and academic demands. We, teachers, beginto take a vital role in his or her life as we teach him or her specific skills.If child is encouraged and reinforced for his or her initiative, he or shebegins to feel industrious and feels confident in his or her ability toachieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if we restricted them,

the child begins to feel inferior, doubting his or her own abilities andtherefore may not reach his or her potential.5.

Identity Vs Role Confusion (12 to 18 years). Child becomes adolescent.He or She becomes more independent, and begins to look at the futurein terms of career, relationships, families, housing, etc. He or she wantsto belong to a society and fits in. During this stage, adolescent explorespossibilities and begins to form his or her own identity based upon theoutcome of his or her exploration. Our role as parents and teachers,


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we need to guide him or her and help them in overcoming his or hercrises or problems. Failure to establish a sense of identity withinsociety can lead to role confusion and will weaken his or her sense ofself.

6. Intimacy Vs Isolation (19 to 40 years). Young adult begins to share

himself or herself more intimately to others. He or she exploresrelationships leading toward longer term commitments with someoneother than a family member. We parents and teachers do not haveimportant role in this development. We just provide suggestions forour young adult to have a successful relationship to someone else.Success leads to strong and healthy relationship but failure results toloneliness and isolation.

7.

Generativity Vs Stagnation (40 to 65 years). Adult creates or nurturesthings that will outlast him or her, often by having their own childrenor creating a positive change that benefits other people e.g. being

successful in his or her work by getting a promotion to help his familyin their financial need. Failing in this stage, adult becomes stagnant andfeels unproductive (shallow involvement in the world) but succeedingin this stage results to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment.

8. Ego Integrity Vs Despair (65 years and over). Older adult tends to slowdown his or her productivity, and explores life as a retired person.During this time, he or she contemplates his or her accomplishmentsand is able to develop integrity if he or she sees himself or herself asleading a successful life. Success at this stage leads to feeling ofwisdom, while failure results in regret, bitterness, and despair.

B.

Behaviorism and Social Learning PerspectiveAlbert Banduras Social Cognitive Learning Theory: Imitating Child

Social cognitive learning theory which was proposed by Albert Bandurahas become the most influential theory of learning and development. Histheory added a social element, arguing that people can learn new informationand behaviors by watching other people known as observational learning ormodelling. It emphasizes the concept of imitation as a form of learning.Learning according to this theory results from the ability of the child to selectthe pattern of behavior to imitate.

Basic Concepts of Social Cognitive Learning Theory1. People can learn through observation.There are three basic models of observational learning: (1) a live model

which involves an actual individual demonstrating or acting out a behavior,(2) a verbal instructional model which involves descriptions andexplanations of a behavior, and (3) a symbolic model which involves real orfictional characters displaying behaviors in books, films, televisions,programs, or online media.


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2.

Mental states are important to learning.He describes intrinsic reinforcement as a form of internal reward, such

as pride, satisfaction, and a sense of accomplishment.3. Learning does not necessarily lead to a change in behavior.

Watsons Classical Conditioning: Conditioned ChildJohn Broadus Watsons argued that any science of behavior must be

based on observable events, and his approach is known as behaviorism. Hiswork was heavily influenced by Ivan Pavlov who was first to demonstrate theprocess of classical conditioning. It is a type of learning that results from therepeated pairing of stimuli (Owens, 2006).

Skinners Operant Conditioning: Mechanical ChildA key concept in Burrhus Frederic Skinners system is the process of

operant conditioning. Operant conditioning, according to Skinner, is a process

of learning in which reinforced behaviors tend to be repeated and occur morefrequently (Owens, 2006). In other words, if a response is followed by areward, the response will be strengthened.

There are two processes in shaping the behavior: (1) the differentialreinforcement, which means that some responses are reinforced and someare not, and (2) the successive approximation, which means that someresponses are reinforced successively and some are not. The successiveapproximations that are reinforced are those that come increasingly closer tothe response ultimately desired (Limpingco & Tria, 1999).

Skinners also emphasized the importance of reward in shaping thebehavior. Reward is a form of positive reinforcement that will help to increase

the probability the desired behavior will recur. Punishment is a form ofnegative reinforcement that will help to decrease the probability theunpleasant behavior will not recur.

C.

Environmental PerspectiveBronfenbrenners Ecological Contexts

Urie Bronfenbrenners ecological system theory states thatdevelopment is the product of childrens relationship to their environment-the features of their particular society or culture, and the social institutionsthat affect the beliefs and behavior of parents and caregivers. This is often

referred as context.His theory also emphasizes the five environmental subsystems thataffect the childs development.

1.

The Microsystem. This is innermost ecological system. It includesfamily, peers, schools, and neighborhood. All relationships within it arebidirectional and reciprocal; childs environment actively shapes hisdevelopment, and the child actively shapes his environment. These


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relationships are foundation of childs cognitive and emotionaldevelopment.

2.

The Mesosystem. This involves interconnections between microsystem:interaction between family and teachers and relationship betweenchilds peers and the family.

3.

The Exosystem. This consists settings that indirectly affect a childsdevelopment such as parents workplace, city government, and massmedia.

4. The Macrosystem. This involves ideologies of childs culture. The values,beliefs, customs and laws of a particular culture are environmentelements that influence childs development. It also influences howparents, teachers, and other caregivers rear a child.

5.

The Chronosystem. This is the context of time and includes patterns ofstability and change in childrens environment over time (Owens,2006).

Exceptional Development

The Intellectually GiftedIntellectually gifted child is who deviates from the average child intellectually,

generally belongs to the 15 to 20 percent of the school population who performexceptionally in academic performance and have an IQ of 125 or above.

Characteristics of Intellectually Gifted Child (Zulueta & Malaya, 2012):1. He learns very fast with minimum direction and grasps concepts easily.2. He can readily understand what he reads and could retain and recall

principles and theories presented.3. He organizes his thought systematically.

4.

He recognizes relationships; thinks reflectively and critically.5. He is aware of the various events in the environment that often children

do not take note.6.

He has a good command of language or several languages and dialects.7.

He has wide range of vocabulary words.8. He accepts intellectual challenge and works on his mental tasks diligently.9. He is curious of things and events and of peoples behavior. 10.He is creative and initiates activities.11. He is original in ideas and concepts and has a way of present them.12. He is a very keen observer; responds quickly and accurately.

13.

He reasons out why things occur, how things exist, where things comefrom and digs deeper in literature to get support his reasons.14.

He has a variety of interests on any subject.

Children with Intellectual DeficitChild with intellectual deficit deviates from the average children intellectually.

Mentally retarded and slow learners are among this.Characteristics of Child with Intellectual Deficit (Zulueta & Malaya, 2012):


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1.

He has short attention span.2.

He finds difficulty in comprehending what he reads.3.

He cannot remember what he reads.4. He asks questions irrelevant to the topic on hand.5. The teachers made tests and standard tests results are low.

6.

He shuns abstract and difficult mental tasks.7. He is very slow in responding.8. He needs close supervision in his activities.9. He lacks inquisitiveness and desire to explore or investigate.10.

He is delayed in development- teething, walking and talking.

Turner SyndromeTurner syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects development in females.

The most typical feature of Turner syndrome is short stature. Girls with this geneticdisorder are short as adults- rarely five feet tall. One-third of them have extra folds

on the neck called webbed neck, a low hairline at back of the neck, puffiness orswelling of the hands and feet, skeletal abnormalities, or kidney problems. These girlsare born with heart defect that can be life-threatening. They are sterile because ofabnormalities in sexual development.

Turner syndrome develops when the sperm cell fails to produce sexchromosomes and the zygote becomes female who has one instead of twochromosomes, resulting in a total of 45 chromosomes, instead of having 46, normalnumber of chromosomes.

Klinefelter SyndromeKlinefelter syndrome is another chromosome abnormality resulting from one

extra X chromosome to a normal human male karyotype, having a total of 47chromosomes. This is also known as 47, XXY or XXY males.

Males with this genetic disorder may have weaker muscles and reducedstrength. They tend to grow taller than average as they grow older, but they mayhave less muscle control and coordination compare to other boys of their age. Thesemales are often infertile, or may have reduced fertility.

Klinefelter syndrome occurs when a normal ovum is fertilized by a sperm cellthat has both an X and Y chromosome instead of having only one or the other. Thisproduces a zygote with an extra X chromosomes, having a genetic structure of XXY.

Pervasive Development DisorderPervasive development disorder is characterized by delays in the developmentof multiple basic functions such as communication and socialization. Pervasivebecause these disorders significantly affect the individuals development throughouttheir life span.

This disorder begins during infancy, but it is typically not identified until thechild is around age 3. PDD is classified into:


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A.

Autistic Disorder or Autism. A condition in which children seem to lack theability to interact in emotionally meaningful ways with others, their languagedevelopment is delayed, and their behavior is often compulsive and ritualistic(Owens, 2006).

B. Aspergers Syndrome. It is an autism spectrum disorder named after Hans

Asperger, characterized by impaired social relationships but without languageretardation, together with repetitive patterns of behavior and interest.Individuals with this condition show little cognitive impairment and they haveIQ within average range.

C.

Retts Disorder. A neurodevelopmental disorder of the grey matter of thebrain that primarily affects girls. It is characterized by repetitive stereotypedhand movements such as hand-wringing, typically have no verbal skills,impaired motor skills, growth problem, and gastrointestinal disorders.

D. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD). It is also known as Hellers syndromenamed after Theodore Heller or disintegrative psychosis. It is a very rare

condition characterized by developmental delays in language, social functionand motor skills that begins after a 2 to 3 period of normal development.

Works Cited

Acero, V. E., Javier, E. S. & Castro, H. O., 2008. Child and Adolescent Development. Manila: Rex

Bookstore.

Anon., n.d. glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com. [Online]

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hill.com/sites/dl/free/0078883601/680469/The_Developing_Child_Enrichment_Activities_Ch18.

pdf[Accessed 31 August 2013].

Gallagher , C., 1999. Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky. [Online]

Available at: http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/vygotsky.htm

[Accessed 22 August 2013].

Gines, A. C. et al., 1998. Developmental Psychology: A Textbook for College Students in

Pschology and Teacher Education. Manila: Rex Bookstore, Inc..

Limpingco, D. A. & Tria, G. E., 1999. Personality. 2nd ed. Quezon City: Ken Inc..

Mastin, L., 2010. The Human Memory. [Online]

Available at: http://www.human-memory.net


McLeod, S., 2012.Zone of Proximal Development. [Online]

Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html



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Meece, J. L., 2002. Child and Adolescent Development for Educators. 2nd ed. New York :

McGraw-Hill.

Owens, K. B., 2006. Child and Adolescent Development: An Integrated Approach. Singapore:

Thomson - Wadsworth.

Stenberg, R. J., 1985. Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Wikipedia, 2013. Information Processing Theory. [Online]

Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_processing_theory


Zulueta, F. M. & Malaya, E. M., 2012. Historical, Anthropological, Philosophical, Legal,

Psychological, Sociological Foundations of Education. Mandaluyong City: National Bookstore.

Documents

Cognitive development of a child