Developmental Stage Theoretical Analysis

One of the theories I found the most interesting throughout the duration of this class is Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. This theory emphasizes role in development of cooperative dialogues between children and more knowledgeable members of society. (pg 55). According to Vygotsky, until children learn to use mental tools, their learning is largely controlled by the environment; they attend only to the things that are brightest or loudest, and they can remember something only if has been repeated many times. After children master mental tools, they take control of their own learning, by attending and remembering in an intentional and purposeful way.

This essay will outline the findings of both Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory and Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory with specific reference to the emphasis they both placed on the importance of childhood development. Also the similarities and differences between each theorist will be acknowledged in order to draw on the overall impact and relevance both theorists had in the field of developmental psychology. Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory Cognitive development is a core principal of developmental psychology and in particular it is the work of Jean Piaget, who placed a significant emphasis on childhood development, which is ubiquitous in the field. (Sugarman, 2011)

Two of the most recognized cognitive psychologist, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, developed theories that addressed cognitive development and learning among children. (Ballinger, 2013) Jean Piaget proposed that children proceed through four stages based on maturation and experience. Piaget’s theory is guided by assumptions of how learners interact with their environment and how they integrate new knowledge and information into existing knowledge. Briefly, Piaget proposed that children are active learners who construct knowledge from their environments, they learn through assimilation and accommodation, and complex cognitive development occurs through equilibration, the interaction with physical and social environments. (William, 1996)

Introduction: In this assignment I will apply development theory to real life scenarios. Dr. Berger an author and professor at the City University of New York states, “A developmental theory is a systematic statement of general principals that provide a framework for understanding how and why people change as they grow older.” Therefore, I will be analyzing and applying real life scenarios to the life of my son Christopher Ramirez and explain how his development is associated with very specific theories or a theorist. This developmental theory will be applied to all four age ranges which are: the first two years (0-2), the play years (2-6), the school years (7-11), and the adolescence years (11-18).

Vygotsky believed that cognitive development was limited at any age and based on social development. He took everything into consideration, how the child is raised, their culture, and also how they learn to think. His theories stress over the necessary role of social interaction in cognitive development, Vygotsky argued with Piaget’s and strongly believed that social learning comes before development.

Vygotsky and Social Learning Theories) I believe that my theory has helped children grow and become more advanced learners. This theory helps students interact with a more knowledgable person to learn more and think more. I believe that social interaction will lead to changes in a childs behavior and thought process. "The sociocultural theory consists of several elements to help implement it."(Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky)

Piaget’s Theory Piaget’s (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. Cognitive Development Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence.

Both theorists have focused on child development where Piaget’s takes a constructivist approach, Vygotsky’s approach to development is

Throughout history, there have been many theories proposed which explain human development. Freud was the first to explore this topic and concluded that progression through various developmental stages was the result of the successful resolution of conflicts. Next, Erikson expanded on Freud’s theory, proposing that social interaction was a major contributor to human development. Later, Watson and Skinner brought a behavioral perspective to the realm of developmental theories, focusing more on the psychosocial development of the child rather than adults. These theories provided inspiration and knowledge for future theorists’ like Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, who have become notable theorists in the area of cognitive development.

By the time children reach middle childhood they have been exposed to a number of different social interactions with other children and adults. Children begin to grow in their cognitive development as they obtain different ways of thinking through older people with more knowledge. It is said that Vygotsky had a greater advantage over Piaget as he worked in a period of great social upheaval that put different social and ethnic groups into the same educational focus as explained by Kozulin (2003). The development of children’s higher mental process is said to depend on the interaction with people and the environment, therefore a child is exposed to higher processes which lead to an increase in cognitive development as Vygotsky’s theory is founded on real contact and interaction. As stated by Lloyd and Fernyhough (1999) children arrive at knowledge of the world through activity.

Piaget 's Stages of development: The Sensorimotor Stage is from Birth - 2 years old. During this stage, infants gain knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. They 're only aware and focused on what 's in front of them, so they 're constantly experimenting with activities such as putting it in their mouths and throwing

Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories have both supporters and critics in modern scholarship. The supporters of Piaget included scholars such as Lourenco, & Machado in their article In Defense of Piaget 's Theory: A Reply to 10 Common Criticisms (1996). Vygotsky has supporters such as Karpov in the work The Neo-Vygotskian Approach to Child Development (2005). These are just examples of the scholarship surrounding Piaget and Vygotsky, and both being peer reviewed and acclaimed presents them as a reliable example of the continued importance of both

These theories really expanded and informed me about child development because it dealt with the child’s thinking process as well as how they progress in life. Jean Piaget viewed child development on their efforts and how they acted upon it which geared towards conginite development. It consisted of four stages: sensorimotor,preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. His idea of adoption correlates with my perspective because it is impressive to see how the child adapts to certain information. Also with his perspective of the four cognitive stages due to the child’s life span “mental operations evolve from learning based on simple sensory and motor activity to logical, abstract thought” due their development as the years go by (Martorell, 2013, pg.

Introduction This assignment focuses on the four major developmental theories of learning and its application in real world teaching. Developmental theories help us to study students’ behavior and predict them as well. These theories help child through physical, mental and emotional development through various stages. The four major theories of developments are cognitive theory of Piaget, Psychoanalytic (psychosexual) theory of Sigmund Freud, Moral development theory of Lawrence Kohlberg and Psychosocial theory of Erikson.

In 1924, he began work at the institute of psychology in Moscow where he focused on the problems of educational practice, particularly these of handicapped children. Vygotsky’s socio cultural theory asserts that an individual’s development can only be understood in the context of his or her social and cultural experiences; there is always a dynamic interplay between one’s socio cultural context and one’s personal development (Rogoff, 2003). Vygotsky introduced the term zone of proximal development (ZPD) which is the distance between a child’s actual development and the child’s potential development. This theory also talks about scaffolding (building a child), collaborative learning (working in a group), as well as intersubjectivity which is a shared understanding or a mutually agreed upon way of approaching a