Critical Analysis of the Literature on Psychological Development - Essay Example

?Developmental Psychology-Literature Review: Introduction: This paper is primarily based on critically analyzing literature concerning one of the most crucially important and widespread issue of the modernized world which is children’s observational learning and in how many different ways does it play a role in motivating children for participating in everyday activities. Observational learning undeniably forms a big chunk of the vast subject of developmental psychology and its contribution to motivating children for engaging in different sort of activities cannot be ignored. This is because children are almost always supposed to be doing what they commonly observe in their everyday lives. Research studies have shown that those children who are continuously subjected to violent treatment and harsh words develop a greater tendency to be ruthless towards life and people surrounding them as they mature over time. Research done on how children learn social behaviors considers cognitive processes to form a central feature of observational learning which in turn helps a child in socializing (Maynard & Martini, 2004, p. 17). This paper is basically an attempt to critically review the research done on this subject and evaluate its contributions towards understanding the subject in a better way. Moreover, it also strives to explain and assess the contribution made by observational learning in enhancing or obliterating self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation in a child. Childhood observational learning mirrors adult behavior: It is a reality beyond doubts that children learn by watching what others do around them, no matter whatsoever type of activities they may be. By listening-in on activities of adults, children learn to participate in everyday community activities (Rogoff et al., 2003, p. 176). This experience based learning is described as observational learning by the psychologists and holds utmost importance in understanding the concept of cognitive development. Observation is actually a complex practice but appears to be a simple skill (Eberbach & Crowley, 2009). Children engross themselves in varying activities based on the nature of observational learning which typically varies from child to child. They are very competent learners and often collaborate with one another to participate in an activity they have seen their elders do before intently (Forman & Hall, 2005). Firsthand learning through intent observation helps a child in feeling confident or hesitant for participating in things ranging from communication and playing to socializing and building relationships. Building good and long lasting relationships is a very complex process and a child more often than not will be less likely to build powerful relationships if his/her own parents happen to be abusive or distant with each other. As observational learning matures, once raw cognitive processes also ripe. Things learnt in childhood collectively form a potent indicator of the child’s future behaviors. Children as young as 6 months old have been seen imitating the type of actions they see their adults do and research shows that by 14 months of age, they already “remember such actions for as long as a week after they first saw them demonstrated” (Meltzoff, cited in Maynard & Martini, 2004, p. 17). Not only then the children remember those actions, they try imitating them in exactly the same fashion they observe in the beginning. They feel motivated in pursuing that same fashion and this proves that observational learning plays a big role in motivating the child for engaging in everyday community activities. Relation between observational learning and cognitive development: When discussing the role played by observational learning in motivating a child to do different things, mentioning the possible effects it may produce on cognitive development also remains worth assessing. For example, children living with parents addicted to substances or alcohol are at more risk for developing evil habit of substance abuse themselves or even if such an addiction is not developed, such children are more likely to perceive drugs or alcohol abuse as an issue not much far from normality. This is better explained by research claiming that “if a child is living with an alcoholic or drug user, the child is likely to develop a warped sense of normal when it comes to using these substances” (More, 2008). That is because children observe things happening around them very acutely and when they see their parents or any elder abusing drugs on a regular basis, they might think of experimenting with drugs themselves by feeling intrinsically motivated to engage in such an activity. However, this may not be true for every case in which children under research happen to be living with addicted elders because sometimes, children may be more influenced by what they see and observe outside their homes than what happens at domestic level but, this may occur rarely. On a larger level, situation often appears to go against cognitive development of children if abusers live within close vicinity. Such children might feel motivated to go beyond the boundaries or violate the accepted social norms just to practically experience that thrill which they beforehand, only fantasized about. Research suggests that children born to addict parents are many times more likely to fall for drug addiction than others born to normal parents which shows that parents who have favorable attitudes towards alcohol and drugs can play a big role in modifying their children’s cognitive development by making them observe what the real deal is all about, so that their children also adopt a positive attitude for abusing drugs. The learning by looking concept is further explained by a research study done by National Association for Children of Alcoholics (n.d.) according to which, such children may also be more likely to be lulled into seeing the issue of substance abuse as a normal thing which should not be despised much. Many other examples illustrating the relation existing between observational learning and cognitive development have also been identified in research carried out during the last many years. For example, much research is done on parental nudity and the complications it raises for the children who have quite raw minds and for whom nudity can be anything from phenomenally creepy to strangely bizarre. Children keenly observe what happens around them and what nature of influence can be produced by parental nudity on children other than one of despicable horror and oddity. Highly critical influence is almost always produced by parental nudity on children and adolescents and research concerning this issue suggests that it is an unequivocal fact that nudity serves as a skilled driver of libido. It may also be one of the reasons why earlier than necessary onset of puberty in the Western world is steadily increasing over time which again provides ground for the relation between observational learning and children’s development. This also shows that what children observe in their surroundings has the potential to not influence them only cognitively, but physically as well. Sexual stimulation is certainly one of the worst consequences of parental nudity. Even sadder is the reality that parents determined on nudity are least considerate about the effects produced on children when they observe nudity and who are way immature and raw to understand anything related to sex. “When kids are raised knowing what their parents look like naked, then they are more accepting of a loving way of life” (Johns, 2009). Sexual stimulation is an involuntary action which is triggered by intent observation. But, a child cannot help but observe intently when exposed too much to issues like parental nudity while at home. Then there are other concerns also which potentiate the claim that observational learning hugely influences a child’s mind. An immature son might envy his father for having more mature sexual organ than he has and might be led to wonder why his genitals differ from the way his parents’ look (Tsai, 2007). Several other such concerns may upset the psychological development of children and they may feel low because of their underdeveloped bodies. This inferiority complex then lives with children as they age many times too. Hence, observations made in terms of parental nudity can lead to external stimulation which is sure to motivate the children wishing of a sort of sexual relationship with the stimulating persons, thus obliterating their cognitive development. Similarly, excessive violence shown on television has also been reported to ignite aggression in children because what they see on the screen motivates them to do so in practical lives also. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “the average American child will have viewed about 200,000 acts of violence on television alone” by the age of 18 (NCCEV, 2005). Even brief exposure of children to violent movie scenes “increases their aggressiveness as young adults” (Anderson & Bushman, 2001, p. 354). Influence produced by observational learning on self-efficacy: Self-efficacy is established to be primarily important during the tween years by psychologists when the minds of children happen to be particularly raw and whatsoever they lean by observation gets implanted in their minds forever. Such violent issues like domestic conflicts and physical abuse can leave a child exposed to the worst consequences possible and influence his/her’s self-efficacy. The belief in the ability to succeed in different life situations deteriorates as a consequence of learning based on negative observations. In contrast, children who learn by looking at things which are presented to them in a commendable manner by their elders, feel more confident about communicating with strangers and building social relationships. When a child sees his parents physically abusing each other, he/she feels hopelessly entrapped by fear and then suicidal thoughts may also surface once the fear and rage diminish with time if domestic violence becomes a routine practice. Such children start thinking about the world in a negative manner and when grown up, often blame others for what happened to them in their childhood as a way of emotional projection. Psychological disturbance in such a way can interfere with the way a child may see the world at large and it can also potentially interfere with the social relationships he/she may feel motivated to build over time. Such children learn by looking that their parents are absolutely devoid of the skills which are needed to raise children and take care of the family’s mental and emotional needs due to which they start feeling dangerously insecure in social life. “It would be difficult for these children to make friends because of the fear that someone in the outside world will find out about their secret, or will witness the chaos firsthand” (More, 2008). It is true that individual ideas of self-efficacy influence the social interaction in almost every possible way. Albert Bandura's theory of self-efficacy has important implications with regard to motivation and understanding cognitive development. According to Bandura, confidence built up on the foundation of positive observational learning is highly important to maintain or regain self-efficacy. When children look and observe positive and healthy things happening around them, they feel much satiated mentally, develop happy childhood experiences, and are more likely to surpass others in terms of confidence in their adult lives. Confidence is the key to strong self-efficacy and parents share a huge responsibility in this regard. They should expose their children to such actions that by observing them, they could learn something and achieve something. According to Bandura, “the key to maintaining confidence is to have self-efficacy in the exercise of thought control” (Feltz, Short, & Sullivan, 2008, p. 199). Self-efficacy shatters when children are rebuked for failing at some things. Problem solving skills are built by doing new things, making errors, and learning from such experiences. According to an observational learning based research done on infants, “infancy is a time of intensive learning and acquisition of new skills. To learn these new skills, infants can explore and try to solve the problem by trial and error” (Esseily, Nadel, & Fagard, 2010, p. 695). Children subjected to happy learning experiences are more likely to enjoy coherent thought processes which help them in successful socialization. Disturbed or rocky relationships are a product of a disturbed mind. In contrast, children who are repeatedly exposed to turbulent childhood experiences learn to view the people around them in a negative light because nothing but negativity has been fostered in their minds in the sensitive childhood phase. No mental toughness results when children look and learn at flawed activities occurring around them and mental toughness imbibes life to self-efficacy. “Low sense of self-efficacy can lead to a downward spiral of lower performance and lower self-efficacy” (Feltz, Short, & Sullivan, 2008, p. 199). Conclusion: Summing up, this much remains clear from the above discussion that understanding the relation between observational learning and cognitive thought processes development is undeniably important. Children learn to intently participate in good or bad activities on the basis of what they learn from their elders. If children observe negative activities happening around them, they will most likely be developing negative notions about certain issues in life themselves. In contrast, children being raised in a happy and harmonious environment are much less likely to feel motivated in pursuing harmful activities. However, an important point to be mentioned is that observational learning is an ongoing process which lasts throughout life, only its speed is much more intense in childhood than in adulthood. References: Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review of the scientific literature.American Psychology Society, 12, 353-59. Eberbach, C., & Crowley, K. (2009). From Everyday to Scientific Observation: How Children Learn to Observe the Biologist’s World. REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, 79, 39-68. Esseily, R., Nadel, J., & Fagard, J. (2010). Object retrieval through observational learning in 8- to 18-month-old infants. Infant Behavior & Development, 33, 695–699. Feltz, D.L., Short, S. E., & Sullivan, P. J. (2008). Self-efficacy in sport. USA: Human Kinetics. Forman, G., & Hall, E. (2005). Wondering with Children: The Importance of Observation in Early Education. EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH & PRACTICE, 7. Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v7n2/forman.html Johns, K. (2009). Why nudity isn't harmful for children. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/1695005-nakedness-teaching-kids-about-their-bodies-naked-moms-and-dads-nudist-colony-naked Maynard, A., & Martini, M. I. (2004). Learning in cultural context: family, peers, and school. USA: Birkhauser. More, J. (2008). Effects of substance abuse on children in the family. Retrieved from http://www.treatmentsolutionsnetwork.com/blog/index.php/2008/09/22/effects-of-substance-abuse-on-children-in-the-family/ National Association for Children of Alcoholics (n.d.). CHILDREN OF ADDICTED PARENTS: IMPORTANT FACTS. Retrieved from http://www.nacoa.net/pdfs/addicted.pdf NCCEV. (2005). Media Violence. Retrieved from http://www.nccev.org/violence/media.html Rogoff, B., Paradise, R., Arauz, R.M., Correa-Chavez, M., & Angelillo, C. (2003). FIRSTHAND LEARNING THROUGH INTENT PARTICIPATION. Annual Reviews Psychology, 54, 175-203. Tsai, M. (2007). Should Kids See Their Parents Naked? 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