Social, Cultural, and Group Influences on Human Cognitive Development - Essay Example

Societal Influence According to Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, society, as in culture, shapes a person’s cognitive development. Social interactions, for him, greatly influence a person’s personal development. This paper will present five scenarios which demonstrate this theory. 1. Celebrating the Birthday with a Cake The birthday is cake is a quasi-universal symbol of the birthday celebration. In many circumstances, a birthday celebration is not complete without a birthday cake, however; we all objectively know that it is possible. But growing up, we had been conditioned to believe that a birthday cake is synonymous to having a birthday. For example, a child who is celebrating he seventh birthday is sitting on a table, waiting for her cake. She expects a cake, complete with lighted candles to be blown, as her previous birthdays were celebrated like that. When she sees that cake in front of her, she feels happy, not because the cake is delicious or it contains a lot of icing but because the cake means she is special. She is to receive gifts from her friends, no one is going to quarrel with her or scold her. It’s her day and she knows it because of the cake. The additional candle also means she is older too, meaning that she can assert herself more now. Thus, the birthday cake is more than just a piece of pastry; it is a symbol of maturity and power which was defined by society. This is Vygotsky’s concept of cultural mediation. This symbol hasn’t changed for years, although some people now prefer cupcakes to big cakes, probably because of the economic status of the society. In the future, there will probably be less birthday cakes but more of birthday cupcakes. 2. The Parents’ Expectations. Many people are what they are today because they tend to become what is expected of them. This example demonstrates the power of expectations, as a way of achieving goals. A doctor couple, for instance, has a child. The parents might not be aware of it, but the child is slowly learning how to be a doctor already by being exposed to the careers of his parents. Parents are important people in a child’s life and figures very much especially in the role of interpersonal communication. Growing up, the child will unconsciously learn of his parent’s physician-culture, be familiar with the terms, tools, language and other symbols that constitute that specific culture. This is also known as internalization. For Vygotsky, learning precedes development. This would influence the child’s development because while growing up, he would be more interested to take up science-related subject, probably more on biology, because he is already familiar with it while he was growing up. He is expected to excel in these subjects too because it is understood that he is not unfamiliar to certain aspects of it; his thoughts and knowledge already have been scaffold-ed. He would also probably take up medicine like his parents too. This may vary in some cultures where individuality is highly prioritized, making it a taboo for a child to be “in his parents’ shadow”. 3. Peer to Peer teaching Vygotsky believed that children can learn things in their own, or at least with children of the same age, but who know better than they do. This phenomenon is demonstrated in the Zone of Proximal Development. Vgotsky believed that when a student is at the zone with proper assistance (called scaffolding), the student would learn faster. Once the student can master the task, the instructor can now take the scaffolding off and then, according to the theory, the student then completes the task on his own and masters it. For example, a child learns how to swim. She would have to learn a different stroke every week but first, she has to learn the basics like how to do the freestyle kick. First, she learns with an aid like a kickboard. Her instructor, seeing that she can kick well already, decided to get rid of the kickboard. She kicks well without it and proceeds to do the freestyle. However, that’s what she only learned, the freestyle. If the next lesson would be a breast stroke, she would become quite frustrated even if she knew how to float because a breast stroke has a different form of kick. This time, the instructor would model a frog kick for the breast stroke, give her the kickboard as the scaffolding and the student will practice until she learns how to do it without the kickboard. The cycle of learning continues. Now, the success of the swimmer was achieved because of the right support that the teacher gave to her. She learned through a “more knowledgeable other”. This technique in education is used more these days as it had proved quite successful. This is especially true in group learning where there are members who have more advanced members. The educators prompt them to give assistance to their less advanced members to work within their own zone of proximal development. This is a successful tool in shaping a person’s cognitive development, as it teaches well through social interaction, away from clinical theories and rigid aspects of stage by stage development which can force a person to do something he probably cannot. 4. Teaching Languages Language teaching is one of the more intellectually demanding tasks, especially when one is an adult. Language is one of the tools which is used for social interactions. Without language, there would be no society, no culture and no education. Language learning is an internalized form of learning. It is an education that would succeed with exposure and usage. Without social exposure, a person cannot learn a language effectively. This is what happens when a person learns a foreign language. Vygotsky claims that language is central to human development. Of course, because as babies, language is used to convey certain needs that the baby requires. This need for communication is social in itself since babies need a caregiver to survive, and babies need to communicate to these caregivers. However, this dynamic changes when one learns a foreign language, or even just a second language. The learner here is more conscious of correct grammar and syntax, and is not motivated by “simply communicating his needs” alone. The learner, now self-conscious, can actually be more critical and correct himself when he utters wrong grammar. Not only that, the meanings and grammar of the second language is influenced by the learner’s knowledge on the meanings of the words in his native language and the grammar in his native language. This is useful not only in learning language but also learning new fields of subjects such as mathematics. Language teaching is an exercise in both educating and social interaction. As language is part of culture, and is only achieved through socialization, learning a language t is important in shaping an individual’s cognitive focus because it teaches the person how to interpret words, thoughts and ideas, as well as communicate his own feelings and needs that may as well equip him for survival. Without language, a person cannot learn new things. New media, like the internet and TV are very effective instruments in teaching language. They provide examples by speaking the language, letting the learner internalize the concepts of the language by means of imitating and mimicking certain sounds and words. This affects language teaching as they knew it back it the day, as more methods of language teaching are getting more sophisticated today. 5. Learning through play For Vygotsky, play is an effective tool for education. According to him, “In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself.” Playing is actually essential to a child’s development as it is now seen as a way to acquiring new knowledge, especially in the early parts of childhood. For Vygotsky, supervised learning is a proper way of discovering things, like new knowledge such as learning mathematics or grammar. This is quite different to Piaget’s view where Piaget states that children can know what they needed through play. However, Vygotsky pointed out that without any adult supervision, or at least a “more knowledgeable other”, the child can learn things differently, or at worst, in a wrong manner. In a field of knowledge such as math and grammar (and foreign language too), high technical knowledge is a necessity; therefore adult interaction is a must. However, it has been also proven that a playful setting is most beneficial, especially to young learners. Because young children learn more by interacting with their surroundings, as well as with people in their surroundings, because they can be more experimental, creative and investigative. Children not only enjoy learning but they also exercise their social abilities with their playmates as well as their own confidence by exploring stuff independently. It builds his self esteem because playing does not provide right and wrong answers and it promotes positive notions about learning because it is actually fun. This type of learning is actually beneficial to students cognitively as it never hinders learning at all. It actually promotes it. With this knowledge, many toy manufacturers now include educational aspects in their toys, and many toys are well-regarded as educational materials now, and they are not dismissed as “just toys” anymore as they have proved to be useful in aiding learning, especially in little children. References: Chew, Esyin; Jones, Norah; and Turner, David. “Critical Review of the Blended Learning Models based on Maslow’s and Vygotsky’s Educational Theory.” Springer-Verlag 5169 (40-53) (2008): Web. 22 July 2011.  Feldman, Robert. Child Development. New York: Prentice Hall.2009. Print. Leong, Deborah, and Bodrova, Elena. Pioneers In Our Field: Lev Vygotsky - Playing to Learn. Scholastic Early Childhood Today. January 2001. Web. 22 July 2011. Ussher, B., Gibbes, C.: Vygotsky, physical education and social interaction. Journal of Physical Education New Zealand, 35(1). 76-87 (2002). Web. 22 July 2011. Read More