Summary: Cognitive Development
Cognitive development plays one of the most important parts in a person’s day to day life. Depending on where they are cognitively, this allows them to complete certain tasks and functions. Piaget idealized the theory that there are different stages of cognitive abilities. The first being Sensorimotor, this should happen between the ages of 0-2 and includes object permanence, language skills, sensory information, and imitation. The next stage is the Preoperational stage. The types of thought here are egocentric, symbolic, representation, and animistic thought. Children also acquire these skills: conservation, reversibility, classification, and decentration. The next stage is where children start playing games with rules, this would be the Concrete Operations stage. During concrete operations, children think concrete and logical thought while possessing skills like operations and centration. The final stage in Piaget’s theory is the Formal Operations stage. Children 11 and older think in abstract thought and engage in social relationships. They develop hypothetico-deductive reasoning.
Bloom’s Taxonomy is also important when it comes to cognitive development. It states that remembering is the most basic task in critical thinking. It is the general ability to retain information. Next is understanding, which simply meaning being able to make sense of the information that has been remembered. Third comes applying, it is the ability to use the information that was remembered and understood. Analyzing comes next, it is the ability to make connections among information. Second to last is evaluating, it is the ability to judge the worth or value of an idea. Lastly, in Blooms taxonomy, comes creating. Creating is the ability to add their wealth of knowledge to new ideas and discoveries.
Zygotsky is another important name in the work of cognitive development. He created what is known as the Zone of Proximal Development. It includes the tasks and skills a child cannot do on their own but can preform with the help of someone who is more knowledgeable. Below is a picture of the Zone of Proximal Development as it is described. (Boles 2017)
Cognitive Development and My Development
Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development are very interesting to me. I miss when I was younger and had a crazy imagination where anything was possible. I was always the kid who had very vivid, made-up games and I would play them by myself or with others if they wanted to join. My preoperational years went on into my concrete operation years, even though I was a little older, I tried to keep my imagination for as long as I could, making up games and silly rules just to have fun. When I started developing abstract thought however, I became intrigued by other games such as word puzzles, and math puzzles. No longer was I the kid with silly games but the kid that would sit there for hours working on a math sheet because it was fun to me.
Cognitive Development to My Work
This area is the most important when being an Early Intervention Specialist. The children I will be working with will not be caught up with their cognitive development and some of them never will be. I will use my knowledge to help each individual child depending on what area they are lacking in. If a child is late on developing their sensorimotor skills, I will make up a plan designed specifically to them in order to ensure they are developing the best they can under my care. Children with different disabilities will be lacking in different areas, therefore all children need to be treated with individual plans.
Picture Reference: myself
Picture Reference: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/
Picture Reference: (Boles 2017)
AK's Final Project EDPR 