Description
Can you please write one long paragraph reply to each point below
1. Overall, I think it’s crazy how much of an impact our childhood experiences have on the rest of our lives. Piaget, Vygotsky, Erikson, Freud and Bandura had very different theories on how we develop as we get older, but every single one of them talked about how the people around them, especially when they’re babies or young kids, have a huge impact on the way they will turn out as adults. Erikson was probably the most distinctive in showing this, saying that at each phase people have the option to become successful or “failures” (ex., “industry vs. inferiority” from the ages of 5 to 12). I don’t believe it’s always as cut-and-dry and he makes it seem, with people either falling neatly into the category of either being industrious or inferior, but I definitely see how the experiences people have in each stage of their development has an impact on the way they perceive and represent themselves.
It was also interesting to see how learning vicariously came up with both Piaget (playing pretend) and Bandura (learning from other people). I remember playing pretend when I was little, but when I stop and think about it there wasn’t much variety in the imaginary games I’d play. Especially from the time I was 3 to 7, most of the games were me as a princess having a baby and learning how to take care of it. I wonder if I rehearsed the same scenarios as games because I wanted to figure out what to do in different situations or to establish habits… but I could totally be off on that. As a college student my only framework for these theories are the experiences I had as a kid or saw with my siblings. I’m really excited to learn more from you guys!
2. How do you compare and contrast the theorists reviewed this week?
The theorists I reviewed this week showed me that these theorists were passionate about the importance of children’s cognitive development, learning, and adulthood life.
In my opinion, Marlow’s theory and Erickson’s are very similar. Erickson’s theory was based on eight stages of development. He believed that personality continues to develop as we age. Stage one explains trust, if babies are neglected and abused they will become mistrustful. (p,4,11 Child Development Theorists) Abraham Marlow’s theory consists of five stages described as a hierarchy of needs. He explained that if these needs are not met at a young age, then this will prevent us from growing and developing to the fullest. Because we will be using precious time to try to meet them later in life(5,p4 Child Development Theorists)
I find Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory and Sigmund Freud’s theories to have similarities, for instance, Freud’s theory of stage one (oral) reminds me of a child not wanting to stop breastfeeding, and also the connection the infant is establishing with his loved one. However, Freud’s theory focuses on the personality and the psychosexual stages. (p,2 Child Development Theorists) And Lawrence Kohlberg focuses on the moral development aspect of the child. He believed that behavior can be punished or rewarded. (p,3 Child Development Theorists) For example, I have noticed parents use both theories when teaching how to use the toilet.
In the (video The Bobo Doll Experiment). Albert Bandura explained that children copy behavior and imitate others, and these can influence a child’s life. He proves that children learn through observation. On the contrary, Arnold Gesell focused on the physical development of children. (Child Development Theorists p.3)He established at what age children should start physical movements.
Lev Vygotsky believed that children learn through social and cultural interaction, group participation, and guidance. (video Vygotsky Theory of Cognitive Development in Social Relationship) in contrast, Piaget believed that children learn through exploration and experimentation. According to the information in (Child Development Principles and Perspectives p.5), Piaget wrote his first one-page report based on an albino sparrow he saw at the park when he was only 10 years old! However, both theorists believed that scaffolding is important in a child’s cognitive development.
In conclusion, I believe that all the theorists had one thing in common, Love for children. I appreciate the depth in which they researched, studied, and comprehended the cognitive development of children.
3. Growing up, my family was a huge believer in the idea that you’d grow in different ways depending on the lifestyle you choose (an example being my parents encouraging us to help take care of our family’s horses daily so we’d become stronger and more tolerant to temperature changes). I think I still agree with and adhere to it in a lot of ways to this day, and you can help children grow in a similar way. If each day you play with them, or read to them, or take them to the park, they will grow and adjust based on the activities you set up for them. If you read with them every day they will cognitively learn at a faster rate, and if they’re playing on a playground every day their muscles are going to get stronger. Because of that I think it’s important to intentionally create opportunities like that daily to help children grow, stretch and learn. Each skill builds off of the others so I don’t think there’s one element of development that’s more important than the others. While kids are playing, they’re developing muscles but they’re also learning how to interact with other kids their age.
The “Brain Builders” video mentioned how even the stuff that happens before birth affects their brain-pathways and the behaviours, etc. they’ll follow when they’re older, and that was interesting to think about. A friend of my family has three crack babies she adopted at birth from mothers who were abused by their boyfriends, and although all of the kids grew up in a safe environment, they’re scared of men. I wonder exactly how much of what the mother experiences during pregnancy affects the baby, and the way it’ll develop as it grows older.
4. Children also need to have their social and emotional needs met. They need to have consistent and caring caregivers who aren’t afraid to spoil them with affectionate, since you can’t spoil a baby. It’s important for overall development. What I found interesting in the video is how stress can interfere with this type of development, which is why it’s important to provide consistent and caring care to help keep stress levels down.
Cognitive development is important too as children learn about the world around them and explore it. It’s important to read to children to help them learn about their world. It’s also important to talk to children and let them learn language through talking. And it’s important for them to learn through social cognitive learning through imitation.
My almost one-month-old is already starting to imitate our behaviors. When he tries to climb up the steps (with me very nearby for safety), he tries to grab and hold onto the handrail already! He is also interested in trying to sit in chairs as he has seen others do. He’s also opening books and starting to turn the page on his own. One of his favorite activities right now is re-arranging items in his dresser and in the refrigerator as he’s seen us do! I love watching him develop and can’t think of a single factor of development that isn’t as important as any of the others.
