Theories of Child Development

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Theories abound around how people develop emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. This essay will examine the theories of five leaders on the subject of development. Jean Piaget believed in four stages of development that were fairly concrete in description (Atherton, 2010). 1. Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years old) – Children begin to make sense of the world around them based on their interaction with their physical environment. Reality begins to be defined. 2. Preoperational stage (ages 2-7) – Concrete physical stimuli are needed in order for a child to develop new concepts. 3. Concrete operations (ages 7-11) – As a child accumulates experience with the physical world, he/she begins to conceptualize to explain those experiences. Abstract thought is also emerging. 4. Formal operations (beginning at ages 11-15) – Conceptual reasoning is present and the child’s cognitive abilities are similar to an adult’s (Atherton, 2010). Piaget was firm in his concept of these stages. He was convinced that a person had to progress from one stage to the next, that this was a natural biological process influenced by the environment and experiences. Biology limits the point in time, but the environment determines the quality of development. Lev Vygotsky stages of development were not defined by age or biology. Social and cultural experiences were the basis for his theory. Consciousness was an end product of social interactions (Kearsley, 1994-2010). The history of the child’s society and his own personal history determine how the child thinks. Language is crucial for development as it is with words that a child conceptualizes and makes sense of the world (Schütz, 2004). A precept of Vygotsky’s theory wa... ... middle of paper ... ...f environment and how it influenced human development. Jensen was equally emphatic about the impact of emotions, positive interactions and stress on the function and growth of the brain. “Working cooperatively can enhance learning” (Jensen, 2005, p. 96). “Good learning engages feelings” (Jensen, 2005, p. 80). This concept agrees with both Vygotsky’s and Erikson’s emphasis on social engagement. Kohlberg and Gilligan based their theories of development on social experiences also. inclusion of emotions as essential to learning, “providing incentives for desired behavior” (Jensen, 2005, p. 69) could be compared with the importance of desired moral reasoning. The end product of moral reasoning is a particular behavior, and as a person learns or completes a stage, the behavior is more category of socially acceptable or desirable.

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