Children development is often shaped by the environment in which they live and the kind of life they get at childhood. Such premises can only be supported by psychological theories of child development. Examples of such approaches are social learning theory and Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. According to social learning theory, people observe behavior, outcomes, and attitudes of others. It is from the observation that one forms ideas for new practices and later uses the coded information to guide his/her actions. On the other hand, cognitive development theory says that through children’s interaction with the world around them, they add knowledge, build on existing expertise and adapt previously held ideas to hold new information. In order to describes how these facts can be applied to real life situation, this paper focuses on the application of the two psychological theories built into the biography of Mike provided.
Biography with Child Development Theories Applied
Many theories explain childhood development and how the childhood period affects one’s adulthood life. This paper focuses on two approaches: social learning theory and Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development. With the biography of Mike in the picture, the article discusses and applies the bio to the constructs of these theories and how they explain the process of Mike’s childhood development.
Social Learning Theory argues that people learn from one another through observation, imitation, and modeling (Pratt et al., 2010). The theory bridges the gap between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories as it deals with attention, memory, and motivation (Fryling, Johnston " Hayes, 2011). According to social learning theory, people observe behavior, outcomes, and attitudes of others. It is from the observation that one forms ideas for new practices and later uses the coded information to guide his/her actions (Fryling, Johnston " Hayes, 2011). Concisely, the theory explains behavior regarding continuous reciprocal interaction between different influences - behavioral, cognitive, and environmental.
The theory argues various factors determine the amount of attention human beings gives to something (Fryling, Johnston " Hayes, 2011). The factors include prevalence, complexity, functional value, affective valence, and distinctiveness (Fryling, Johnston " Hayes, 2011). Also, a person's characteristics also affect their attention. After paying attention, one retains the information through symbolic coding, mental images, cognitive organization and symbolic rehearsal (Pratt et al., 2010). This is followed by a reproduction of the image through physical observations and self-observations (Fryling, Johnston " Hayes, 2011). The last stage is the motivation stage where one gets a good reason for imitating the behavior. The person has imagined incentives and saw and recalls the reinforced model (Pratt et al., 2010).
Looking at the life of Mike, some instances relate to the constructs of social learning; that behavior is observed and learned from others. Mike borrowed a lot from his grandfather when he was young. All the things he would do with his grandfather as a child shaped his choices later in life. For example, he learned woodwork from his grandpa and would occasionally work in the basement woodshop; he would be taken to construction sites and allowed to touch the machinery. Later in life, he chose carpentry because he had loved it from childhood. These are events learned, retained, memorized, reproduced. They then gave him the motivation to choose a career he loved most.
Another instance was his way of appreciation. He acknowledges having known his grandparents well as opposed to his mum and dad. Thus, when his dad gives him a minted coin, he rejects because he did not understand much about him and wouldn't appreciate anything from him. The same happened at his mum's funeral. While others mourned, he did not feel the attachment necessary for him to grieve because she was a stranger in Mike’s life.
Leading a life with custodians that had a significant generational gap, Mike did not learn much when it came to the relationship with peers. Thus, he found a hard time trying to cope at school with new friends. However, he later learned how to relate with them and even joined the Boy scouts to participate in many activities other youths would. While at school, he did not approve of the behavior of the gangs because he had heard stories of how his parents used to mingle with drug lord and groups in the streets. All these are an application of the social learning theory.
Piaget believed that children fully get involved in the learning process and begin to perform experiments (McLeod, 2018). They observe and learn about the world. Through interaction with the world around them, they add knowledge, build on existing expertise and adapt previously held ideas to hold now information (McLeod, 2018).
Piaget explained the process of children’s cognitive development through four stages. The first stage is the sensory stage, which covers the first two years after birth. At this stage, children learn their environment through movements and sensations, and necessary actions like looking and listening (McLeod, 2018). Children also learn to separate beings from people and objects in the surrounding. It is at this stage that children go continually make discoveries in their world and dramatically grow and learn (Cherry, 2018). Mike can respond to a traumatic environment at this stage. Thus, he recovers after being with the grandparents who showed great love. In his grandparent’s hands, he starts to appreciate his life and learns a lot from the grandfather while still at an early age.
The second stage is the pre-operational stage. At this stage (2-7 years), children learn to use words and pictures to represent objects (Cherry, 2018). They become egocentric and try to see things from others point of view. Children at this stage get better at language and think about things in a concrete manner (Cherry, 2018). Mike began to understand that he was living with his grandparents at this stage. He knew how his child life was and how he ended up where he was. Though he appreciates the age of his grandfather, he learns to reason like him and therefore learns a lot from him.
In the third stage, the concrete operational stage, children think logically about events and begin to understand the concept of conservation (Cherry, 2018). They become organized in their thinking and use inductive logic to make conclusions (Cherry, 2018). Mike can appreciate that his grandparents were of great help. He doesn't understand his mum and dad. He learns to make choices, especially career choices. He can work and produce the best work and recognizes the need for discipline in life. This explains why he doesn't join the gangs.
The Formal Operational Stage, the fourth stage of 12 years and above, is characterized by adolescence life and abstract thinking (Cherry, 2018). Teen at this stage struggle with thoughts about morals, ethics, social life, politics, and philosophy. They begin to use deductive reasoning to arrive at conclusions (McLeod, 2018). Mike demonstrates this point in his life when he confesses that the gap between him and his grandparents widened. He began to feel that he knew everything. He wanted to make choices for himself and also get to be heard. He makes rational decisions about his career and ends up victorious.
Mike's life is an accurate reflection of the four stages of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. His experiences at the first stage shape his decisions and choices in all the other steps. He can learn and build on his knowledge as he grows. Similarly, the social learning theory reflects fully in his life. Much of what shapes his personality is absorbed in his interaction with the grandfather.
References
Cherry, K. (2018). What Are Piaget's Four Stages of Development? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457
Fryling, M., Johnston, C., " Hayes, L. (2011). Understanding Observational Learning: An Interbehavioral Approach. Anal Verbal Behav, 27(1), 191-203. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3139552/
McLeod, S. (2018). Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development | Simply Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
Pratt, T., Cullen, F., Sellers, C., Thomas Winfree, L., Madensen, T., " Daigle, L. et al. (2010). The Empirical Status of Social Learning Theory: A Meta‐Analysis. Justice Quarterly, 27(6), 765-802. doi: 10.1080/07418820903379610
