Cognitive Development Theory - Essay Example

This test was adopted to be used in the United States in 1905 by a psychologist called Lewis Terman (Morra, 2008). The intelligent quotient has its scoring concept based on the mental age. In this test, the average intelligence of a child needs to match with his/her age. However, a gifted child has his or her performance compared to that of older children while the slow leaners are identified through comparisons with younger children. There are a number of theories of cognitive development, yet there is none that gives explanations to all the cognitive development aspects.

The Jean Piaget theory is one of the most comprehensive and influential postulate. Jean argues that intelligence is an enabling agent for one to adapt to an environment. Ones intelligence is shown by his or her response towards a certain stimuli. He was interested in the reaction of children towards the environment (Morra, 2008). The knowledge of a child contains basic units referred to as schemas which organize experiences acquired in the past and provide grounds in which new ones are understood.

Piaget establishes four main stages of development and each of these stages build on the experiences a child acquires from the previous stage. These stages include; 1) Sensory or infancy stage: During this period intelligence is shown through the reflex activity that does not involve the use of symbols. The knowledge develops in a limited manner as a result of reduced physical, interactive activities and various experiences gained. Infants begin learning the world around them by using their senses.

They mostly focus on the movement of various objects around them, separate pitch and sounds, perceive colors and anticipate events such as suckling once they see their mothers nipples. 2) Pre-operational stage also known as toddler or early childhood: Here, the child’s intelligence is demonstrated by the involvement of symbols. It is also associated by development of memory and imaginations, improvement of language, and predomination of opportunistic thinking. However, thinking is demonstrated in an illogical or irreversible manner.

Toddlers strive to be independent posing a challenge of their safety to the parents. They also show an understanding of what is appropriate or not. They are knowledgeable on the permanence and displacement of the various objects or people, and starts using different tools and instruments within their reach. 3) Concrete operational stage also referred to as elementary and early adolescence: This stage is characterized by logical interpretation and systematic analysis of symbols that relates to concrete events and objects (Morra, 2008).

Reversible mental actions dominate while the egocentric thinking diminishes. At this stage, they acquire imagery, memorizing and social interaction skills. They learn negative actions such as lying, abusing and bullying. 4) Formal operational stage also known as adolescence and adulthood: Abstract concepts and logical application of symbols describe the intelligence in this stage. Formal thinking and a slight demonstration of egocentrism characterize this people. Their judgments on various occurrences are based on their ability to analyze past experiences.

School age children are able to think on what is possible and stop limiting their thoughts to what is real. Their thinking is hypothetical. They are able to comprehend abstract ideas in a logical manner,