Notes

Cognitive, Psychosocial, and Moral Development Theories:Part 1
Cognitive Development
Cognition refers to the way in which people perceive and think. It also refers top the way they understand ideas problems and those around them. Cognitive development relates to the gradual changes in levels of understanding from infancy through adulthood
The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget was one of the first people to propose a theory about cognitive development In the 1920s Piaget was developing reasoning tests for the Binet Institute. While developing the test Piaget was surprised at how children perceived and understood certain questions. He discovered that children had a peculiar way of reasoning with ideas. This reasoning could lead to them providing incorrect answers on the standardized tests that Piaget had developed. Contrary to the popular belief that children were simply not as intelligent as adults, Piaget observed that children had their own unique perspective of the world. This qualitative difference between the thought processes of children and adults established the foundation of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development in the 1930s.
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development uses three basic components They are schemas adaptation processes and stages of cognitive development.
Schemas
According to Piaget schemas or patterns are the basic building blocks of knowledge They are ways in which children perceive and organize information and store certain patterns in their minds A child then applies a pattern to a given situation and behaves accordinglyFor instance an infant gets used to milk as a form of food during the first few months. Eventually, when the caregiver feeds the infant cereal with a spoon the infant’s first reflex is refusal. The reason for this is the infant’s schema or perceived pattern regarding eating. When the infant gets used to this change in food patterns a new schema develops and the old schema is modified
Piaget’s theory sttes that a child goes on acquiring new schemas over the years This facilitates the child’s cognitive development. Schemas are structures that a child believes in. The child uses these to interpret various scenarios However formulated schemas can change or even cease to exist based on a child’s new and repeated experiences
Adaptation Processes
The second component of Piaget’s theory relates to adaptation processes This helps children move from one stage to the next stage in their ongoing cognitive development process There are two types of adaptation processes They are assimilation and accommodation
When children have new experiences they try to comprehend or assimilate the situation They do this according to their existing level of understanding.If an existing schema can interpret the new experience you can say that the child’s cognition is in equilibrium or is well balanced
There is also a chance of disequilibrium in the child’s cognition. For instance, a child’s prior schema might tell the child to pick up any toy or object at home. Due to this assimilation the child might pick up an object at a neighbor’s house or in a store. The child’s parents then have to teach the child that it is inappropriate to do so without permissionThis can cause disequilibrium This is because the child’s existing schema contradicts this new experienceIn such cases the child needs to get used to and accommodate the new schema This will help the child to move ahead successfully in the cognitive development process
After learning or developing a new schema, the child starts interpreting situations accordingly. Adaptation is an ongoing process. In this process, the child assimilates the next new experience according to the newly acquired schema. Such cognitive development continues over a span of years as the child goes on to build numerous patterns or schemas to interpret the world.
Stages of Development
According to Piaget, a child’s cognitive development process consists of four phases. They are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.
Sensorimotor stage As the term suggests, the sensorimotor stage refers to the child’s senses. These include sound, sight smell touch and taste. It also refers to motor responses. This includes movements such as crawlingreaching for toys, etc. Until the age of five to eight months, a child’s perspective of surroundings is limited. For instance, if an object leaves the child’s sight, the child believes that the object no longer exists. Thus the child does not make any effort to find it. At this point, the child lacks object permanence. This refers to the concept that objects continue to exist even if they are not directly visible.
Between eight and twelve months of age, the child starts developing object permanence. During this period a child might go looking for a toy, pillow, or bottle of milk even if it does not remain in the child’s sight. The child forms a mental image of such objects and realizes that the object has not disappeared but has just moved. Therefore, by the end of this stage the child develops memory with regard to different objects.
Preoperational stage During this stage a child has a strong sense of object permanence. However, the child lacks a sense of conservation This is the understanding that certain objects retain their mass, volume, and weight even if their shape and form changes For instance the child can shape a lump of clay into a ball or roll and flatten it into a thin strip During this stage the child will perceive the clay ball as the larger object This is because there is no understanding that the actual mass of the object remains unchanged despite the change in form
Another crucial feature of this stage is egocentrism. During this period children tend to be highly egocentric. This means that they are selfentered and are at a stage that makes them look at the world solely from their own viewpoint.In addition children assume that everyone else perceives the world and thinks just like they do This stage is called the preoperational stage This is because the child is unable to operate using logical reasoning even by the end of this stage
Concrete operational stageDuring this phase the child begins to understand conservation and reversibilits Conservation is the ability to understand that redistributing material does not affect its mass weight or volume Reversibility is the ability to understand that certain objects can revert to their original form As the child’s problemsolving skills continue to developsolving puzzles and numerical problems becomes easier The child is less selfcentered and is able to understand another person’s perspective However the child still cannot comprehend vague or abstract concepts. This stage is known as the concrete operational stage. This is because the enhancement in the child’s thinking is mostly restricted to solid objects.
Formal operational stageAccording to Piaget, this is the final and highest level of cognitive development. This stage begins at the age of11 The child becomes able to comprehend not only concrete concepts but also abstract conceptswith the help of logical reasoning, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking. At this stage you consider the child to have attained a formal operational level of thinking The formal operational stage lasts throughout adolescence and into early adulthood This stage helps a person learn to formulate thoughts and opinions concerning philosophy ethics principles justice and so on.
During the preoperational stage, the child tends to be egocentric and assumes that everyone else has the same perspective and thoughts as the child. During the sensorimotor stage the child grasps various senses and motor responses and begins to develop object permanence. During the formal operational stage, the child achieves the highest level of cognitive development which involves critical thinking and logical reasoning. During the concrete operational stage, the child understands the concepts of conservation and reversibility.
Stage 1 This stage begins at birth and lasts through two years of age. During this period, a child ideally learns to trust the social environment. This happens if the child’s family provides adequate love, affection, and care. However, because the child is completely dependent on the mother or primary caregiver during this stage, any neglect, abuse, or lack of care might develop distrust in the child. Distrust can adversely affect the child’s personal development in years to come.
Stage2This stag takes place, between two and three years of age. It reflects the child’s attempts to become independent. During this stage, a child starts to crawl, walk, play with toys, etc. Parents can enhance the child’s confidence if they encourage independence or autonomy. In contrast, constant criticism from parents might hamper a child’s self-esteem. The child might start to feel shame and develop low morale.
Stage3he third stage lasts from three to five years of age. During this stage a child tends to take the initiative to play games, interact with friends, plan activities, etc. This stage is imperative in the development of a child’s leadership skills. If a child’s initiative to participate in fun activities and games receives support from parents, it can boost the child’s confidence and morale. However, if parents restrict or don’t support the child’s initiatives, the child might lose self-confidence. The child might develop a sense of guilt instead
Stage4this stage lasts between six and twelve years of age. During this stage a child begins to set personal goals in terms of performance on school exams, in competitions, and so on. During this period, a child also starts expecting rewards for achieving these goals. From a child’s perspective, rewards might include appreciation from teachers and parents, contest prizes, presents, a raise in allowance, etc. In other words, a child begins to become industrious during this stage. However, if the child’s efforts receive persistent criticism instead of rewards, the child might start developing inferiority due to self-doubt.
Stage 5 One of the most significant stages of psychosocial development occurs during adolescence. It takes place between 12 and 18 years of age. During this stage, teenagers try to attain a sense of identity. For example, they might want to be part of a social group to which they can relate. During this stage, they also try to understand their strengths, weaknesses, skills, and so on. This period helps them decide on their long-term goals in terms of further studies, possible careers, other roles and responsibilities that they might want to take on, personal growth, etc. However, if a teenager is unable to make such decisions at this stage, it can lead to identity confusion.
Stage6The sixth stage of psychosocial development is adulthood. This occurs between 18 and 30 years of age. A major characteristic of this stage is the intimacy that people share with others as adults. During this period, most individuals form committed and permanent relationships. The failure to form such relationships might lead to insecurity, loneliness, and even depression. Therefore, a lack of such emotional connections with others can lead an individual to isolation.
Stage 7This stage takes place between 30 and 65 years of age. It is called middle adulthood. During this stage, individuals may assume greater responsibilities at work, raise children and support their upbringing and education. They may also participate in community-related events and activities, and play a generative or productive role in society. A failure to be an active and contributing member of society can make an individual feel dejected and redundant. This can lead to stagnation.
Stage 8The eighth and last stage of psychosocial development is late adulthood. It occurs after 65 years of age. If a person feels happy and satisfied with life up to this point, it leads to a renewed sense of ego integrity. In contrast, if a person is not happy with life’s experiences, it can lead to regrets, grief, and depression, and eventually to ego despair.
Moral Development
Along with his theory of cognitive development, Jean Piaget also developed a theory of moral development. Moral development refers to a child’s level of understanding with respect to what is right and wrong, fair and unfair, etc. Piaget believed that the concepts of moral and cognitive development were interrelated. As the child’s cognition developed, so would the child’s morality. In other words, cognitive and moral development proceed simultaneously. Hence, a child develops the highest level of morality only on achieving the greatest level of cognitive development. Let’s explore the three stages of moral development proposed by Piaget. They are pre-moral, heteronomous morality, and autonomous morality.
Pre-moral.According to Piaget’s theory, a child is unaware of morality in the initial years of life. This stage of moral development is comparable to Piaget’s first stage of cognitive development. During this stage the child relies completely on the mother or primary caregiver. The child gradually begins to understand the senses. It also develops motor skills. and lacks object permanence.
Heteronomous morality. During this stage of moral development, a child begins to develop the concept of reciprocity. Reciprocity is the level of fairness that the child expects for an action or behavior. For instance, if a seven-year-old allows a friend to borrow a favorite toy, he will expect the friend to reciprocate this sharing behavior and allow a similar exchange in the future. Thus, the understanding of reciprocity is limited to an extremely simple level at this stage.
In heteronomous morality, a child strictly adheres to certain rules laid down by parents, teachers, caregivers, and authority figures in the child’s social environment. This stage is also known as moral realism. At this stage, children are mostly concerned with the consequences of their actions and even of the actions of others. Children do not consider the intention (either good or bad) behind an action. For instance, an eight-year-old who believes that it is wrong to talk in class might complain to the teacher about a classmate who is talking. At this stage, children believe that a person who breaks a rule deserves to be punished. They also believe that the level of punishment depends on the seriousness of the rule in question. This stage occurs in conjunction with Piaget’s second and third stages of cognitive development, during which the child is highly egocentric.
Autonomous morality. According to Piaget, during the stage of autonomous morality a child begins to understand the importance of the intentions behind an action. This stage is also called moral relativism. As this stage progresses into adolescence, teenagers develop the concept of ideal reciprocity. They consider the perspective of others when determining what is fair. Teenagers realize that while they should follow rules, they can modify or even break some rules depending on a given situation. For example, a teenager may see a classmate asleep in class, but may not report this to the teacher. They may do this after considering the possibility that the classmate is sick or is sleep-deprived.
In the autonomous morality stage, an individual’s moral decision-making ability reaches a new level. Here the person considers both the circumstances or context and the purpose of an action. Teenagers also tend to become more empathetic and cooperative. Their decisions are more fair, reasonable, and rational. At this stage, individuals make morality-based decisions while trying to achieve an optimal solution or a win-win situation for everyone. This stage relates to Piaget’s fourth (formal operational) stage of cognitive development, i.e., the highest level of development at which an adolescent’s logical reasoning and critical-thinking skills are at their peak.
In the late 1950s, the American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg concurred with Piaget’s views about moral development. Kohlberg conducted many surveys in which he posed moral dilemmas to his respondents in order to understand their respective levels of morality. Respondents included both children and adults.
Based on the outcomes of his research, Kohlberg presented three levels of moral development. They were pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. He further divided these into two stages each. According to Kohlberg, everyone gradually progresses through each of these levels and cannot skip a stage in any level. Though Kohlberg’s work is similar to that of Piaget’s, Kohlberg’s theory emphasizes the progression in each of the three levels of moral development.
pre-conventional Morality
The first level of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development occurs in children up through nine years of age. Kohlberg states that during this stage, a child is bound by an external form of morality, which includes the rules and guidelines set by parents and other adults (such as teachers). The pre-conventional level of morality comprises the following two stages:
Stage 1 In the first stage, a child believes in obeying the rules set by authority figures. According to the child, failure to abide by such rules can result in punishment by parents, teachers, or other authority figures.
Stage 2 Around nine years of age, a child begins to understand that people can have different opinions. In other words, the child realizes that people display individualism and do not always agree in a given situation. At this stage, most children tend to act in ways that benefit them and look for a mutual exchange. Even though a child still believes in punishment, the intention is to avoid punishment while satisfying personal needs and interests.