Child Behavior Under Biosocial, Cognitive, and Psychosocial Domains - Essay Example

?Psychology Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts 28th September, Introduction Human beings undergo different stages in the process of growth and some of these stages include the childhood stages. It is recognized by scientists that a person’s growth is monitored under the three domains namely biosocial, cognitive and psychological. These domains are used are in explaining the behaviours of people at distinct ages and stages of life. This essay is going to explore the behaviour of 2 year olds under these domains and through different personal growth theories. We are also going to discuss on the issue of child abuse and neglect in terms of child development. Several psychologists such as Jean Piaget, Sigmund Freud and Erikson came up with theories that explain human behaviour at different stages of the human life. Domains of Human Growth Human beings perceive and operate differently and therefore we have to make use of the three domains of human growth to analyze the behaviour of two year olds. Two year old children are at a stage in life where they are able to develop their motor skills and master other skills effectively. Moreover, their cognitive abilities become better and it is at this stage that these young children get to know the difference between good and bad. The mental capabilities of two year olds develop and they become more social towards different people. In terms of recognition, the cognitive ability of the two year olds becomes more evident at this stage. For instance, they can recognize different faces and people easily. This is more specifically for these young children to recognize their biological parents. Moreover, these children can move easily and their movements become better and improved (Kail 78). In terms of physical movements and control of the body, by the time children get to become two years old, they learn how to control their body. For instance, it is around this time that children can control on how to retain or maintain faeces in the process of controlling their bodies. It is also at his stage that children depend and learn from the environment on how to act. For instance, children at this age tend to repeat the actions of the people close to them. However, the most remarkable feature of children at this age is the cognitive development. This is to the extent that most young kids at his age are able to identify their gender easily. Theories on Human Development Several theories have been advanced to explain the behaviour of human beings as they grow up. These theories have been developed by psychologists or scientists who have studied human behaviour through observations. Among these psychologists are Piaget, Freud and Erikson who have advanced theories on human development. Piaget is well renowned among the three psychologists, this is because he specifically studied young children and came up with various conclusions. Piaget explains that children think differently from adults and this observation was important in debunking the myth that adults are more competent than children. His main argument is that children especially of two years or below think that strikingly different from older people (Sigelman 104). Piaget focused on cognitive study of young children and adolescents which was summed up by three components which are namely schemas, processes between different stages and stages of development. Furthermore, he states that schema is the building block of the world since it is the way people perceive the world. For instance, a young child will suckle when an object is placed close to his mouth. Therefore, intellectual growth in a child happens through the schema. He elucidates that the schema is developed either through assimilation or accommodation. Whereby assimilation is the situation that a child perceives on his/her own on the way things are to be done (Kail 118). While, accommodation is whereby a child schema does not work and therefore the environment which in most cases is the influences end up influencing his/her way of thinking. Piaget concluded that all children undergo four fundamental cognitive stages in during growth. These stages are Sensorimotor (0 – 2yrs), Preoperational (2 to 7 yrs), Concrete Operational (7 to 11 Yrs) and Formal Operational (11 Yrs and above). These stages were also marked with key features which include Object Permanence (Sensorimotor), Egocentrism (Preoperational), Conservation (Concrete Operational) and Manipulation of ideas in the mind (Formal Operational). The other theory on human development was put forward by Sigmund Freud who believed that from birth human development is basically driven by needs. Most of these needs, he explains are based on parts of the body and that has a base in a sexual base. However, unlike Piaget, Freud explains that the age between which children undergo different stage of human development differs. His theory explains that children grow according to the five stages which are; oral, anal, phallic, latency and the genital stages. The oral stage id the first and under this stage children make use of their mouths to feed and partake in any activity. He also contends that babies also use their mouths to derive pleasure. The next stage if the anal stage whereby young children are focussed on eliminating and retaining faeces (Kail 100). It is at this stage that the cognitive abilities of a child are developed and this is followed by the Phallic stage. This stage is whereby young children develop unconscious sexual feeling towards their parents and this is most common among boys. Thus children at this stage compete for attention from their parents and this in most cases complicates the relationship between parents and children. The latency stage is marked by children focusing their energies on building friendships with other children of same gender. After this stage, is the genital stage where children grow into adolescents who have the need to satisfy their sexual urges and development of sexual relations. This trend continues as the child grows into an adult and the full cycle of human development is completed. The other theorist was Erik Erikson who developed a theory that focussed on the whole aspect of human life from birth till death. However, his major argument is that human beings are born with character and traits that stay with them long enough. Moreover, he states that other traits are learned in the course of the human life. Therefore, he sums the development of human beings into three namely the body, mind and culture which shape and affect human development cycle. Though, he categorized human development into eight stages, he categorised children to adulthood in five major stages. The first stage involves build of trust and love for our parents and this helps in building a healthy human being (Sigelman 97). The early childhood stage that last between 18 months to 3 years, is characterised by the development of skills and autonomy or ego among children. While the play age is another important stage of the human development according to Erikson is closeness to the family. Children start to experience inadequacy or inferiority when they get to the school age where they play and interact with their peers. The last child stage is the adolescence and people face an identity crisis and this stage development depends on the choice of the individual. Child Abuse Child abuse and neglect is one of the worst forms of human mistreatment in the globe currently. Child abuse and neglect may be due to a combination of different factors that affect the well being and growth of a child. Children who come out of abusive environment end up being abusive or meek in the future. According to the three theories of Piaget, Freud and Erikson there is common factor that the environment or culture plays a big role in shaping human development. Thus, child abuse may be as a result of a child growing up in an abusive environment and this distorts the child from forming his/her schema and thus he/she is assimilated to that environment (Kail 96). Neglect of young children might affect them adversely when they grow up since they insecure and worthless based of lack of love from the parents. This might contribute to adverse effects such as suicides as elucidates by Erikson’s theory on human development. Child abuse and neglect distorts the human development since children will not undergo normal growth procedures. This might lead to abusive or meek and insecure children as they grow to become adults. Conclusion The human growth is very important since parents and other stakeholders have to understand the different stages that a child undergoes. Understanding your children assists in guiding them into desirable adults in the future. Thus, the three theories developed by Piaget, Freud and Erikson though they are slightly conflicting they give us an insight into the stages that humans undergo in the process of growth. Psychological, social or other behaviours can be studied under these three theories and this is better analyzed when we look at child abuse and neglect. Child abuse and neglect might be contributed to improper development of children who grow up to become anti-social or hostile as a circumstance of being brought up. For instance, Erikson gives a thought that lack of mother love or neglect might lead to a sense of unworthiness among young adults. Thus it is important to understand these theories on human development in the process of undertaking parenting or growing up. Works Cited Kail, Robert and Cavanaugh, John. Human Development: A Life-Span View, Boston, MA: Pelshiver, 2008. Print. Sigelman, Carol and Rider, Elizabeth. Life-Span Human Development, Chicago, IL: John Wiley and Sons, 2011. Print. Read More