BACHELOR OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WITH HONOURS

3rd SEMESTER/2019

HBEC1203
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

“Assignment on Cognitive Development”

MATRICULATION NO: 990923105050001

IDENTITY CARD NO. : 990923-10-5050
TELEPHONE NO. : 010-8864734
E-MAIL : batrisyiahlam@gmail.com
LEARNING CENTRE : MELAKA LEARNING CENTRE
PART A: REPORT
The Study of Cognitive Theories and Its Application in Real-Time Events

Section 1

Introduction to the Study

Introduction

A child’s cognitive development is based on several elements that can be found on the child
such as environment, age, gender, interests and many more. The objectives of this report are,
firstly to disclose the students about cognitive theories in psychology that has been studied
throughout the course subject, exposing them to various opinions regarding cognitive
development and growth of children, psychologically. Secondly, this report aims to apply the
said cognitive theories in psychology in real-life events.

Section 2

i. The Cognitive Theories in Psychology

1. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget was a famous psychologist that was recognised for his works and dedications on
the field of Children Development. One of his commonly known works that have been
referenced by psychologists nowadays is the Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development,
which explains the progress of a human’s intellectual from a baby to adulthood. According to
Piaget, a human’s cognitive development is an on-going reorganisation of mental procedures
that results from maturity, environment and events in life.

His theories are from the approach of constructivism towards cognitive development, which
means children broaden their perception of the world. Piaget also believes that children
should have a various and wide range of experiences with their surroundings to grasp the
optimum level of cognitive development.
Piaget has curated a theory that proposes children goes through four stages of cognitive
development, which reflects the growing complexity of a child’s thought. These four stages
are, sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2), pre-operational stage (from age 2 to 7), concrete
operational stage (from age 7 to age 11), and lastly the formal operational stage (age 11 to
adolescence and adulthood)

Every child will go through these four stages in the respective stages and determines the
development of the child by biological maturation itself and the engagement of the child with
his surroundings. A child will never miss a stage, but the rate of progression differs from one
child to another, and at a point, some individuals never progressed to the other stages.

a. 1st Stage: The Sensorimotor Preoperational Stage (Birth - 2 Years Old)

The first stage in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development is from the human’s birth until
the acquisition of language; Which is the age of two years old. Within these two years, Piaget
called this the Sensorimotor Preoperational Stage, where infants are progressively
constructing knowledge through the environment around them. This is the stage where
infants interact with the surroundings with their senses (eyes, ears, mouth, nose and skin) and
physical action, simultaneously gaining knowledge and experience by the interaction. Also,
during this age, the child cannot comprehend object permanence- knowing an object still
exists, even if it is hidden. [ CITATION Bai91 \l 17417 ]

b. 2nd Stage: The Preoperational Stage (Age 2 to Age 7)

This stage is where children can think about things symbolically, meaning the ability to create
a specific thing – a word or an object, stand for something other than itself. A child has made
an increase in make-believe play and manipulating certain symbols. But children at this age
are unable to carry out mental operations or manipulate data mentally. Children are still
egocentric and could not think about the viewpoint of others. Children also develop animistic
thinking, which makes them believe that inanimate objects are alive, can think and have
feelings. A child’s animistic thinking is closely related to the egocentric[ CITATION Mar75 \l
17417 ][ CITATION Kod75 \l 17417 ].

Children at this age also cannot conserve that refers to know that the qualities of objects
remain the same, even the change of the outward appearance which is caused by certain
aspects.
  Centration

The tendency to focus only on an aspect, disregarding other elements of a condition.

 Irreversibility

The inability to follow through all the steps of the activity mentally and reversing the
action back to the beginning, mentally.

 Perception of Bound Thinking

A child would focus on the actual appearance of the object. If a container is taller than the
other, the child would perceive the taller container would have more water in it.

c. 3rd Stage: The Concrete Operational Stage (Age 7 to Age 11)

Children in this stage are less egocentric, and their thinking is more rational, flexible and
systematic. Piaget considered this stage as a significant turning point in the child’s cognitive
development as it signals the start of operational thought. Children can solve things internally
in their head rather than physically solving them with objects, and they could also conserve
with more complicated matters such as age, mass and weight. Besides conservation, the
children can do a hierarchical classification, which is the ability to organise objects into levels
and sublevels at the same time.

d. 4th Stage; The Formal Operational Stage (Age 11 and Older)

Piaget believes that in this stage, the cognitive development of the child matures during
adolescence when it reaches the formal operational thinking. In this stage, there are two
crucial developments which are hypothetico-deductive reasoning and engaging in abstract
thought. Hypothetico-deductive argument is the ability of the child to reason from universal
principles to specific deductions, to operate systematically the numerous variables
concurrently, examine their results in a systematic order and reach correct and accurate
decisions[ CITATION Kod75 \l 17417 ][ CITATION Ber86 \l 17417 ]. Abstract thought is the
ability for the child to imagine possibilities or objects that are not concrete. Abstract thought
allows the adolescence to imagine and think of the possible consequences and estimate an
accurate of the problem competently.
 2. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development

Lev Semanovich Vygotsky was a Soviet psychologist who highlights the fact that social
interaction with other people, specifically the ones who are more skilled and culture plays an
essential role in the cognitive development of a child. He believes that social learning comes
before the child’s cognitive development, and children can construct their knowledge,
actively. One of his famous works is the concept Zone of Proximal Development.

For children, learning occurs between a child and the expert (teacher, parents and sibling)
firstly, then with the child himself. When they are learning, they often depend on private
speech, which is a process that involves internalisation. Internalisation means a process that
an external activity is transformed through expression and into internal action.

a. Children’s Private Speech

Private speech defines as a speech that is addressed to the child himself for the aim of self-
regulation. In simpler words, an individual statement is a tool for the child himself to regulate
and plan his action accordingly by saying out loud.[ CITATION Ber86 \l 17417 ]
Children use private speech spontaneously to enhance memory, using it to be a repetitive
strategy, maintaining information to remember. An example of this, a child may repeat his
favourite story for him to remember.

Also, private speech can motivate the child as he expresses about his goals, thoughts and
feelings through private speech. An example, a child may repeat words of wisdom when he is
doing a challenging task or tell a motivational speech to improve the outcome of the job.
Children use private speech as a tool for self-motivation in overcoming and improving the
result of a task.

Next, private speech is often used by children during creative and imaginative play. A child
can create and imagine the game and use it to narrate an original story to enhance their
creativity and speech skills. The more creative play the children makes them more artistic and
expansive thought they display

a. Social Origin of Cognitive Development

Since Vygotsky emphasised on social interaction as the first step in a child’s cognitive
development, it is vital to observe how social interaction and culture affects the learning of a
child. This can be seen from two concepts known as Zone of Proximal Development and
social interactions that cultivates cognitive development.

i) Zone of Proximal Development

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is a term to portray the zone between a learner’s
capacity to finish a duty with direction or collaboration and the ability to solve the task alone.
ZPD refers to various obstacles that children can solve on their own, with the help of a skilled
individual and cannot solve even with guidance.

An example, a child who has starts to learn to stand up, could not walk. But with the help of a
parent, in this case, is seen as a skilled individual, can help the child to walk slowly. Running
would be a difficult task as the child could not do it, even with the help of others. With ZPD,
Vygotsky explains with the support and guidance, the learning process of a child could move
in a faster pace and can achieve a skill that is beyond the norm of a child’s age-expected
development.

ii) Social Interaction that Cultivates Cognitive Development

There are many social interactions that aids in a child’s Cognitive Development; nevertheless,
there are several that is common for children to use in their beginning steps of their cognitive
development. There are two mental functions which are elementary and higher mental
capacity. Primary psychological purpose does not require any learning, and the more top
mental feature is enabled through educational tools, example symbols.

 Scaffolding

Scaffolding is a concept that an individual of more skills becoming a “support” for the child,
such as a parent or teacher. In completing a task that requires guidance, the skilled individual
would supervise and aid the child in completing the task. When the child reaches a state
where the child can do the said task without any help, then the “support” would be removed.
A simple concept based on a scaffold of a building, which is removed by the time the
building is constructed and can stand on its own.[ CITATION Fre90 \l 17417 ]

 Guided Participation

Guided participation is when a skilled person assists a child in doing an activity. Initially, the
experienced individual would lead the action and the child would follow pursuit. As the child
begins to familiarise with the activity, his skills will expand, and he would want to try and do
the activity by himself. He would continue to participate in the activities without guidance
and be an active participant of the tasks. An example, when a child starts to read a book, an
adult would assist the children and as the time comes, he will not require assistance and will
begin reading the book on his own or spot any letters and try to learn anything from the
surrounding environment such as signboards.

Section 3

The Relationship of the Cognitive Theories and The Real-Life Situation

1. Akida’s Age

In the passage above, it is stated that that Akida is four years old. According to Piaget’s
theory, Akida is in the pre-operational stage, where they achieved object permanence –
knowing the existence of the object, even when it is hidden. Akida can carry out physical
activity and manipulating objects, but she would not be able to solve problems internally
inside her mind. At this age, it is normal for Akida to create a make-believe play and use her
imagination. She would also believe that her toys and stuffed animals have a mind and
feeling on its own and would treat it like it was her friend. She is still egocentric as she could
not think from the perspective of others. From the view of Vygotsky’s theory, Akida would
not be able to do some task on her own but would require some help from another skilled
individual. But at this age, Akida has mastered a lot of skills such as speech and imaginative.

2. Akida Being Verbal of the Rain

Akida noted out that the rain has stopped and asked the teacher if she could go out. Akida has
the mental representation of what and how the rain looks like and have imprinted on her mind
that when it’s raining outside, she could not play out. Akida’s ability to be verbal about the
rain can be a part of the two levels of mental functions, which are higher meant function. She
can use language to express that the rain has stopped, and they could go out.

3. Akida Running towards the Teacher

Akida can run, which is something that she does not require help. According to Vygotsky,
Akida is below the lower boundary of the Zone of Proximal Development as she could carry
out the running action without the help of the teacher or anyone. This would be a different
scenario if she could not run; she would acquire assistance from the teacher and be in the
Zone of Proximal Development.

Section 4

Evaluation of Akida

Akida’s cognitive development is appropriate for her age. From the short scenario, she was
able to respond with her environment and aware of its changes like how Akida addressed the
rain stopping and acting shy when there is a stranger near her. Akida is four years old which
makes her fall into the pre-operational stage that is entirely normal for Akida’s cognitive
development

Section 5

Conclusion

In conclusion, the theories of cognitive development that were proposed by Piaget and
Vygotsky have made a significant impact in the world of psychology and early childhood
education. It is equally important that the theories that have been learnt and studied can be
applied in our life to assist children in getting the optimal cognitive development and learning
experience. The objective of this report has achieved, which are exposing the learners with
cognitive theories in psychology and applying those theories in a real-life situation.
References

Baillargeon, R., & DeVos, J. (1991 ). Object Permanence in Young Infants: Further Evidence.
Child Development, 1227-1246.
Berk, L. E. (1986). Relationship of Elementary School Children's Private Speech to
Behavioral Accompaniment to Task, Attention, and Task Performance. Developmental
Psychology 22(5), 671.
Duffau, H. (2016). Glioblastama. Elsevier.
Freund, L. S. (1990). Maternal Regulation of Children's Problem‐solving Behavior and Its
Impact on Children's Performance. Child Development , 61(1), 113-126.
Kodroff, J. K., & Roberge, J. J. (1975). Developmental analysis of the conditional reasoning
abilities of primary-grade children. Developmental Psychology 11, 21-28.
Maguire, E., Gadian, D., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R., & Frith , C. (2000). Navigation-
related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. 97(8), 4398-4403.
Martin, H. (1975). Egocentrism in Preschool Children. Unpublished Doctoral
Dissertation(78).
McLeod, S. (2018, June 6). Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. Retrieved from
Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
PART B: ESSAY

BRAIN PLASTICITY

1. DEFINITION

The definition of brain plasticity is the capability of the brain to change, resulting from
learning and experience. It is a continuous process that allows the short-term, medium-term
and long term to remodel the neurosynaptic organisation. The brain would change as a person
goes through different experiences and receiving all kinds of education. The grey matter can
improve and the synapses in the brain would increase and decrease depending on how the
activity obtained by the brain. The aim of brain plasticity is to optimise the functioning of the
neural networks during phylogenesis (The growth or progress of a specific group of
organisms), ontogeny (course of development of a body), and physiologic learning.
[ CITATION Duf16 \l 17417 ]

2. APPLICATION OF THE CONCEPT IN REAL LIFE EVENT

An example of brain plasticity is seen from the brains of taxi drivers. Taxi drivers are known
for their job of memorising streets and roads of the city, which can consume a lot of memory
and increase the elasticity of the brain.

The hippocampus and medial temporal lobes are the ones who are responsible for creating
new memories and specifically episodic memory which relates to historical events and spatial
memory with enables navigation and taxi drivers are well known for their navigation skills.

A group of doctors examined the brains of taxi drivers in London before and after they take
their license. This study is to observe their hippocampus whether it expanded along the new
navigation skills/ It is known that to make a license, a taxi driver needs 3-4 years of training
to remember every path of the city. After the permit, it is proved that the hippocampus of the
driver expanded along with the new navigation memory. [ CITATION Mag00 \l 17417 ]