The Processes and Mechanisms by Which an Infant Develops Into an Adult Who is Able to Form Theories

 

The difference between animals and humans is the higher cognitive ability that humans possess, however, understanding cognitive development is complex. Several theories have been proposed to explain infant cognitive development, some of these theories explain it in terms of nature/nurture, some continuous/discontinuous, and others explain it in terms of competence and performance. As an early childhood professional, it imperative that one understands these theories, as they are useful when working with infants, toddlers, and school-aged children.

The Piagetian theory was developed by Jean Piaget, a French psychologist in 1936, who explained cognitive development as a process which occurs from biological maturation and interaction with the environment (McLeod, 2018). The goal of Piaget’s theory was to explain the processes and mechanisms which an infant develops into an individual who can reason and develop hypotheses (McLeod, 2018). Piaget viewed intellectual growth as an adaptation process to the world.

The Social constructivist theory explains that all cognitive functions, learning included are dependent on interaction with others (Draper, 2013). It is believed that learning is dependent on interaction within an educational community like schools and so on. Chomsky who proposed the Nativist theory believes that language is an innate ability, that humans are pre-programmed to develop language. The nativist theory is entirely different from the previous two theories which increase the complexity of understanding cognitive development.

Information processing theory is said to be the heart and soul of cognitive psychology, the theory explains the human mind in comparison to a computer, it proposes that information is processed by a series of processing systems, for example, if a child reads an information for the first time, the information goes to the working memory and then long-term memory explaining how humans learn and recollect information (McLeod, 2008).

The theory that resonates most is the social constructivist theory, as someone that has experience working with children, I believe children learn well when they interact within an educational community, however, whether it is dependent on their learning, one cannot tell. However, the nativist theory is not a good fit with me, if humans have the innate ability to develop language, why is there still a need to teach it? These theories help me place children I work with in situations where I believe will help improve their cognitive abilities, especially with Piaget and the social constructivist theory.

References

McLeod, S (2018). Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. Developmental Psychology. Simply Psychology. Retrieved 1 January 2019 from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

McLeod, S (2008). Information Processing. Cognitive Psychology. Simply Psychology. Retrieved on 1 January 2019 from https://www.simplypsychology.org/information-processing.html