Cognitive Development - Essay Example

Cognitive development affiliation Cognitive development Cognitive development is a process in which a child’s psychologydevelops to an extent that they can differentiate between the good, bad and clearly understand the world events. According to Belsky (2010) the psychology growth of a child depends mostly on their environment. This is both supported by Piaget and Vygotsky but the two psychologists differ in what way the environment influences the cognitive development of a child. From the Piaget’s theory of development, the researcher states that children develop from four stages of development (Belsky, 2010).

They are sensory motor stage, pre-operational stage, concrete operational stage, and the formal operation stage. In the first stage, the child is amid birth and the age of two years. In this stage, the psychology of a child has no interpretation to life whatsoever. The second stage occurs between the ages of two and seven. A child in this stage has thoughts but cannot relate them to real life situations. The concrete operational stage is where a child can be able to relate the thoughts they have about an object and be able to make a distinction from other objects (Belsky, 2010).

The stage occurs between the ages of 7 and 11. It is referred to as the stage where a child develops the grown-up way of thinking. The person can be able to differentiate between imagination and possibilities. This stage occurs between the ages of 11 and 16. As Piaget explains hi sides in stages, Vygotsky refers to cognitive development a process by which a child is driven to maturity by the help of adults. From the two theories, adults have a significant role. However, the zone of proximal development gives the adults many responsibilities as compared to Piaget’s theory.

According to Vygotsky, adults need to strengthen the cognitive strength of children by exposing them to the real world in significant bits. In the theory, adults also have the responsibility of detecting whether or not a child’s psychology is growing through tests. Vygotsky argues that parents are the determinants of whether or not children will acquire complete cognitive development (Belsky, 2010). In Piaget’s theory parents only have the responsibility of monitoring the growth of a child’s psychology.

According to Belsky (2010) the theory argues that the growth of a child’s psychology is solely made possible by the stages they undergo regardless the support they get from adults. In Susan’s case, Piaget’s theory has the most significance since she undergoes significant developments to acquire the maturity she had. Like the Piaget theory, Susan had little understanding of the life scenarios at a young age. The fact that she could come into an agreement with people without getting upset clearly shows that she attained maturity through the development of her psychology.

Applying the zone of proximal development, one can argue that the adults in Susan’s life played a major role in ensuring that she attained the ability to differentiate between reality and illusion. From the two theories, it is evident that children depend on cognitive development to attain maturity. As much as the two theories differ on the responsibility of adults in developing the psychology in children, adults have significant roles to play in the development of children. ReferencesBelsky, J. (2010). Experiencing the lifespan.

New York: Worth Publishing.