Essay: Process of Cognitive Development

Sample Essay

This part of the theory suggests that intellectual development come by as a process through which an individual actively explore the world, as a result, this individual construct a mental representation of reality based  on what one discovers in that active exploration. Through exploration of the environment, children are usually curious and inquisitive about their own abilities and holistic details of the world around them. As a result, a child develops some kind of knowledge basing on their inquisitive and curiosity. This newly attained details about knowledge gained is stored in mind in proposed two structures.

Schemas

According to Piajet, schemas (Piaget, 1990) are mental structures that contain information which an individual have relating to the world aspects. In regard to this information, children have action, object and people schemas. Despite acquisition of schemas by children as a vital component of cognitive development process, the theory emphasize that children are born with innate schemas that facilitate individual’s interaction with others in society like schemas of anger and hunger. For instance, hunger would ignite mother child interaction due to drive for food to satisfy the child’s anger. The first and early schemas to develop in children’s mind are usually mum’s schema, since she is primary care giver to the new born.

The schemas are constructed through the process of equilibrium. In other words, by this process children usually experience unpleasant sensation whenever they meet something or situations they cannot explain or not familiar with. Therefore, as a result, children will either assimilate or accommodate their schemas in relation to this new situation. Thus, expands children’s knowledge leading to knowledge acquisition and definitely cognitive development.

Operations

In regard to operations (Vygotsky, Vygotsky, 1980) structure as a mechanism for cognitive development process, it affirms that knowledge is acquired by children structuring their thinking about rules which the world operates. Piaget reinforced this principle by pointing out that, children think differently at different stages of development because the operation which they are capable of change with age advancement. Therefore children operations develops the brain of a child matures in contrast to schemas which develop with increase in experience data bank expansion. The two processes of coming to know leads to ones cognitive structures to be complex, hence organized hierarchically from general to specific.

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