Category: Cognitive Development

Introduction

Cognitive development expands a human beings ability to process information, which involves acquiring conceptual resources, perceptual skills, language improvement, and other aspects related to brain maturation. It is the development of an individuals ability to think and understand. The term also refers to a field of study of neuroscience, psychology, and neuro pedagogy. In this work, the theories of cognitive and social development by Piaget, Bruner, Baddeley, and Brofenbrenner will be studied with experiments to depict the intelligence activity of the subjects. The skills of constructivism, cognitivism, and behaviorism acquired from applying these theories in the classroom will be evaluated (Richardson, 2019). Intelligence activity is an active and organized process of assimilating new information related to previous knowledge. Thus, according to internal and external factors, intelligence changes at all times.

Cognitive Development

Jean Piagets goal in studying psychology was to comprehend how a childs intelligence grows. For a biologist, it evolves along with the development of the individual, beginning with practical intelligence that aids in environment adaptation before reaching intelligence itself. According to Jean Piaget, a childs cognitive development occurs in four stages: the sensorimotor, preoperative, concrete operations, and formal operations stages (Choifer, 2021). These phases span the childs development from birth until puberty when the capacity for reasoning is at its peak (Richardson, 2019). The youngster can already develop hypotheses at this stage, work through issues, and use logical thinking (Buzzoni, 2021). Thus, the mix of habits, intrinsic reflexes, and experiences from contact with the environment leads to cognitive development (Choifer, 2021). The subjects action, which involves two movements that are always present and are referred to as invariant functions, is crucial for creating knowledge. They are so named because they do not adapt to the childs growth.

Piagetian Experiments with Subject

Experiment One

In the first experiment, a toy car and a blanket were used to experiment with the child. Firstly, the child was asked to point at the toy car and successfully point in the direction of the toy car. The toy car was covered with a blanket while the kid was watching. Then, the child was asked where the toy car was and pointed in the right direction. Subsequently, the child was asked how he knew the toy car was there, yet it was not visible. The child responded that the blankets shape was similar to the toy car he had seen.

Experiment Two

In the second experiment, two clay balls of the same size but different colors were used. The child was first asked to point to the bigger clay ball. The child responded that they were equal. Then, the child was asked to explain the reasoning behind their answers and responded that the balls appeared the same size. Then, the clay balls were rolled into cylindrical ribbons of different thicknesses and lengths. The child was asked to point at the biggest ribbon. The child pointed at the thin and long clay ribbon.

Experiment Three

In the third experiment, a piece of paper and a pen were used. Letters K and L were written on the paper in different height sizes. The child was asked which letter was taller than the other. Successfully, the child pointed at the letter L, which was taller than the letter K. Then, the child was asked the reasoning for the answer and responded that the letter L is more conspicuous than the letter K.

Experiment Four

In the last experiment, a mathematical problem was solved. In this case, the child was asked to state the answer to 5+5. The child responded that the answer was 10, which was correct. Then, the child was asked the reason for the answer, and he responded that he counted his total fingers, which are five on each hand and found 10. Subsequently, the child was asked what the value of 10-5= is. The child answered five because if you have ten fingers and eliminate five of them, the remainder is five.

Interpretations of Responses

The child of this study performed four experiments of dissimilar levels. In the first experiment, the child could depict the cognitive ability to conserve that the toy car was covered with the blanket and even justify it with the remembrance of the shape of the toy car. This shows Piagets principle of conservation of objects initial and present physicality. Secondly, the child could recognize that the clay balls were equal despite the difference in colors. However, on rolling the clay balls into cylindrical ribbons of different lengths and thicknesses, the child could not identify that the clay volume remained the same. Therefore, the child could not cognitively preserve the solid quantity in this stage. Thirdly, the child identified the difference in the height and sizes of the letters. Finally, the child solved the mathematical problems in both dimensions of summation and subtraction (Furnham, 2018). The childs reasoning was superb because he could relate numbers with his fingers. This step depicted Piagets stage of reversibility, where the child understood the mathematics despite reversing the units of operation.

Social Development

Child development is sometimes surprising because of the speed at which it happens. Piaget has described various stages of social development of play according to the ages of the children. First, the pre-moral stage is at the age of 0-5 years. At this early stage, children have little or no understanding of social or behavioral rules and norms (Buzzoni, 2021). During this period, the child sees everything for the first time and still does not know how to differentiate right from wrong. Secondly, the moral realism stage comes at the age of 6-9. Here, rules are already established, and adults are authority figures. The child already understands right and wrong better, and the norms seem inflexible, based on a direct duality (Sanghvi, 2020). At this stage, children begin to judge their actions based on the direct consequences established and not so much on intentions (Furnham, 2018). Finally, the moral relativism or autonomous morality stage happens over ten years. From the age of 10, children can better understand all sides of a story. However, they do not have the same emotional maturity to deal with problems as an adult.

Social Development Experiment

Simple Game with Rule One: Explained to the Student

Before playing the go fish game, the student had to be informed about the rules. Firstly, a seven cards deal was done between the subject and the experimenter. And the rest of the cards were placed on the deck while facing down. The first simple rule of the game was the experimenter would ask the child if he has any specific card, for example, if he has any five (Amir & McAuliffe, 2020). If the child has five or several fives, he gives them to the experimenter (Amir & McAuliffe, 2020). Otherwise, if the child lacks fives, he says Go fish, followed by picking any cards to spread face down on the deck. In the first rule, if the subject happens to have three similar cards asked by the other player, then the asking player wins the game.

Simple Game with Rule Two: Changed without Telling the Student

In the second rule, if the subject has the cards being requested, drops them, and a subsequent chance is given to the first player to ask for another card. If the player is lucky again, he is allowed to drop an equal number of cards as the opponents. The player who runs out of cards first wins the game in the second set of rules. In the second set of rules, the subject seemed mentally disturbed to understand, but he was anxious to learn the outcome (Cangelosi & Schlesinger, 2018). On playing the second round, the subject acquired more interest and was now becoming tactful with the games rules, which made him win the second round under the second rule (Cangelosi & Schlesinger, 2018). The subject seemed entertained by the game and ought to play it several times repeatedly. When the student was asked whether the rules could be changed, they hesitantly agreed, showing signs of anxiety which resulted due to the students fear of failing the game after the new rules were established.

Social Development of Subject

The subject was in the stage of moral relativism or autonomous morality. The subject could better understand all game rules despite twisting them. Similarly, the subject depicted emotional maturity to deal with problems created in the game. In this window of time, the subject understands that the games rules can vary (Sanghvi, 2020). Thus, the norms change according to the actions circumstances and intentions. In general, this stage presents morality as something relative and adaptable. Not only that, but the perception of the collective also gains strength in moral development (Winstanley, 2022). According to Piaget, children learn to be critical and to evaluate rules based on the cooperation of others and mutual respect (Winstanley, 2022). In practice, this means that children already accept or do not have certain norms based on the whole.

Cognitive Development (Memory)

The working memory model, often known as working memory, was proposed by Baddeley. Short-term memory was replaced by these multiple memory systems, which evolved from merely a temporary storage to a processor capable of handling a constrained set of information for a brief time. Working memory is a type of memory system in charge of temporarily storing and simultaneously processing data from both long-term memory and the environment (Sepp et al., 2019). Complex cognitive processes like language comprehension, thinking, and problem-solving are strongly tied to how it functions (Sepp et al., 2019). Each element grows gradually, attaining complete maturity only in adolescence. The study of working memory can aid in developing new tools that can assess each element of this memory.

Cognitive Development (Memory Experiments)

Memory Game One

In the first memory game, the subject was taught how to play crosswords and spell words such as living room furniture. Table, chair, sofa set, coffee table, and cupboard. The crossword was disrupted, and the experimenter taught the subject again similarly. The subject was asked to repeat the game independently in the third round. The subject managed all the words except the sofa set and cupboard.

Memory Game Two

The experimenter taught the subject a doll puzzle in the second memory game. The game was repeated thrice with the experimenter explaining the key jigsaw patterns to start with for easier completion of the game. The subject was later able to complete the puzzle with fewer difficulties. Additionally, the time taken for the student to insert the patterns reduced as he progressed with the game.

Memory Game Three

The experimenter taught the subject the matching game in the last memory game. The experimenter provided pictures and names of stationery such as books, pens, rulers, rubber, and markers arranged randomly. The experimenter taught the subject how to match them and later asked him to match them independently. The matching occurred such that the pen was matched with the letter P, the rubber and ruler with R while books with B, The subject enjoyed the game since it was easy and cheap to capture.

Cognitive Development (Memory)

Researching the growth of working memory is still difficult. Despite the development of tools and tasks for studying working memory, no distinct measurements can still assess each of its components. It is challenging to research any of these cognitive activities in further detail since the borders between cognitive abilities like selective attention, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and working memory are flimsy (Angelopoulou & Drigas, 2021). The endeavor is made considerably more challenging by the difficulty in comprehending how these capabilities develop in a constantly growing youngster (Angelopoulou & Drigas, 2021). Despite all of these challenges, it is still possible to summarize how working memory develops (Eriksson et al., 2018). Problem-solving skills are intimately correlated with our capacity to actively process, store, and alter information in our consciousness.

Cognitive Development (Bruner)

According to Bruner, a childs intellectual growth depends on how their mind processes the information given to them. The infant learns three different ways to describe his surroundings as he develops, ranging from the most basic to the most complex: enactive, iconic, and symbolic. the initial level of representation, enactive representation, which is connected to manipulation and action. Children reflect the world through their sensorimotor behaviorsacting, mimicking, and object manipulation. Bruner concludes that teachers can encourage students to employ active representation in their learning at the educational level. Thought in iconic representation is based on imagined objects and events that are not present. The interiorization of gestures and perceptions into stable schemes is how iconic representation happens. Teachers can use films and other audiovisual resources to further the education of their students, according to Bruner.

Cognitive Development Experiment (Bruner)

In this cognitive development experiment, the subject was asked to join dots to complete the letter A in the initial stage. This will mark the enactive stage where the subject will learn about the letter A by shaping it. Secondly, the instructor printed letters of different sizes and showed the subject videos on how to shape the letter A on YouTube (Grazzani & Brockmeier, 2019). This will captivate the iconic kill of the subject. In this stage, the student is very excited to learn about the letter A from various dimensions. Moreover, the instructor showed the subject how to cut shapes of the letter A to involve the subject cognitively in the learning process (Grazzani & Brockmeier, 2019). Finally, the subject was involved in an outdoor physical activity where he was instructed to use his fingers, legs, or hands to make the letter A symbol. The subject was happy and kept repeating the activities without the instructors interference.

Cognitive Development Results (Bruner)

The letter A was treated in many ways in the three phases, moving from a simpler to a more complicated approach. Brunner suggests a spiral curriculum, in which a subject can be introduced to children as young as three. According to Bruner, children have a fundamental desire to learn. It is concerned with the approaches suitability for the childs stage of cognitive development (Koller et al., 2020). These methods reinforced the learning of the subject. Effective learning requires reinforcement to improve the likelihood of repetition (Koller et al., 2020). Bruner placed a lot of emphasis on discovery learning because he believed that if a student is actively engaged in the inquiry and research of a particular topic, he will learn more effectively and be able to enhance his intellectual skills, particularly his intuitive thinking.

Bronfenbrenners Ecological Theory

Bronfenbrenner developed his theory of human development, which was later published. This theory exposed key premises to the scientific community for the creation and organization of research in natural contexts (Eriksson, Ghazinour, & Hammarström, 2018). In his articles, he mounted a severe attack on the conventional approach to studying human development, pointing out, among other things, how much development research has been conducted out of context. For him, these studies ignored the many influences of the environments in which the subjects lived and concentrated primarily on the developing person in a constrained and unchanging environment (Eriksson et al., 2018). Studies conducted with children and adults in real-life scenarios are already prevalent in the human development research literature.

Ecological Systems of Subject

Process

It relates to the connections between the various levels and comprises the developing persons regular roles and activities. A human being must actively participate in increasingly complicated, reciprocal interactions with the people, things, and symbols in their local surroundings to develop intellectually, emotionally, socially, and morally. This is true for both children and adults. The encounter must take place frequently over long periods to be effective (Fioretti & Smorti, 2019). Proximal processes are those long-lasting modes of interaction in the immediate environment (Fioretti & Smorti, 2019). For instance, parent-child interactions and child-child cooperative or solo play activities, such as reading, learning new abilities, problem-solving, completing complex tasks, and gaining new knowledge and experiences, are long-lasting patterns of these processes.

Time

Time can be viewed as historical development or, put another way, how events change over time due to pressures on the developing person. According to Bronfenbrenner, historical events can change the trajectory of human development in any way, not just for specific people but also for sizable portions of the population (Stapleton & Stefaniak, 2019). Historys passage of time has had a significant impact on all communities. Small family life events, like a child starting school, the birth of a sibling, or a parent changing jobs, can greatly impact how each family member develops at a particular point in their lives (Stapleton & Stefaniak, 2019). For example, parents different approaches to parenting their children illustrate how time affects a persons development.

Conclusion

These theories can be used in the classroom setup to develop students cognitive ability and social development. These theories instill constructivism, cognitivism, and behaviorism, which can be used in the classroom to encourage cooperation and teamwork. This can be done by encouraging dialogue, discussions, or debate. Form study groups for collaborative learning. Assign a small amount of the grade to peer review and instruct students on the standards and process. Display to pupils examples of effective essay writing and project work.

References

Amir, D., & McAuliffe, K. (2020). Cross-cultural, developmental psychology: Integrating approaches and key insights. Evolution and Human Behavior, 41(5), 430-444.

Angelopoulou, E., & Drigas, A. (2021). Working memory, attention and their relationship: A theoretical overview. Research, Society and Development, 10(5), 34-38.

Buzzoni, M. (2021). A neglected chapter in the history of philosophy of mathematical thought experiments: Insights from Jean Piagets reception of Edmond Goblot. HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science, 11(1), 282-304.

Cangelosi, A., & Schlesinger, M. (2018). From babies to robots: The contribution of developmental robotics to developmental psychology. Child Development Perspectives, 12(3), 183-188.

Choifer, A. (2021). Interpretational complexities in developmental research and a Piagetian reading of the False-belief task. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 12(4), 923-952.

Eriksson, M., Ghazinour, M., & Hammarström, A. (2018). Different uses of Bronfenbrenners ecological theory in public mental health research: what is their value for guiding public mental health policy and practice? Social Theory & Health, 16(4), 414-433.

Fioretti, C., & Smorti, A. (2019). Beyond the anomaly: Where Piaget and Bruner meet. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 53(4), 694-706.

Furnham, A. (2018). Myths and misconceptions in developmental and neuro-psychology. Psychology, 9(02), 249.

Grazzani, I., & Brockmeier, J. (2019). Language games and social cognition: Revisiting Bruner. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 53(4), 602-610.

Koller, S. H., Raffaelli, M., & de Morais, N. A. (2020). From theory to methodology: Using ecological engagement to study development in context. Child development perspectives, 14(3), 157-163.

Richardson, K. (2019). Models of cognitive development. Psychology Press.

Sanghvi, P. (2020). Piagets theory of cognitive development: a review. Indian Journal of Mental Health, 7(2), 90-96.

Sepp, S., Howard, S. J., Tindall-Ford, S., Agostinho, S., & Paas, F. (2019). Cognitive load theory and human movement: Towards an integrated working memory model. Educational Psychology Review, 31(2), 293-317.

Stapleton, L., & Stefaniak, J. (2019). Cognitive constructivism: Revisiting Jerome Bruners influence on instructional design practices. TechTrends, 63(1), 4-5.

Winstanley, M. A. (2022). Stages in theory and experiment. Fuzzy-structuralism and Piagetian stages. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 31(2), 1-23.

Introduction

There are two major approaches to understanding the cognitive behavior of children  continuous and discontinuous. Continuity theorists conceptualize a smooth-line development that occurs gradually. At the same time, discontinuity theorists believe that the road to maturity is a series of abrupt changes happening in stages (stepping stones), with one milestone preceding the next. Although no stage can be skipped, there are individual differences in the rate at which children progress through these stages (W. Andrew Collins 1984).

Piagets hypothesis of cognitive development is a blend of continuous & discontinuous theory (Wadsworth, Barry J). Piaget views children as lone scientists making observations and acquiring the mental representation of the world (schema). Interacting with the world around them, they continually add new knowledge, build upon existing knowledge (assimilation) and adapt previously held ideas to accommodate new information (accommodation). The balance between assimilation and accommodation is achieved through a mechanism called equilibration.

Piaget claimed that intellectual growth proceeds through an invariant sequence of four stages. The development happens when the person reaches each stage (Wadsworth, Barry J).

The sensorimotor is the initial stage (0-2 years), during which children use their inborn abilities to learn about the world.

The preoperational is the second stage (2-7 years). During this stage, children are animistic and egocentric, relating to the world only through their perspective.

The concrete operative is the third stage (7-12 years). Children perform cognitive operations, such as decentration and reversibility, which enable them to think logically and systematically about tangible objects, events, and experiences.

The formal operative is the final stage (12+). Not only is formal-operational reasoning rational and abstract, but it also involves both hypothetic-deductive and inductive reasoning.

Vygotskys socio-cultural theory: Vygotsky, like Piaget, theorizes that children construct knowledge (Davidson Films, 2010). However, Vygotsky emphasizes the influence of social and cultural aspects on intellectual growth.

He created three themes of speech and language development: external, self-directed, and inner voice. Infants learn through interactions with their primary caregivers. Self-directed speech occurs from ages 3 to 7. Childrens private speech becomes a cognitive self-guidance system that regulates problem-solving activities and is eventually internalized to become a covert, verbal thought.

An adult who possesses inner speech does not need to think out loud as they make decisions; they talk to themselves and process ideas before they speak. For example, a student might use inner speech to remind herself to study for her science test or be able to solve a math problem and use verbal speech to ask the teacher to define a scientific term.

Vygotskys most famous theory is the zone of proximal development (ZPD). ZPD is the distance between what learners can do individually and what they can do with assistance from a more knowledgeable other (MKO). MKOs could be parents, teachers, classmates, colleagues, or even a digital environment intended to support intentional learning (John-Steiner, 1996, p. 199). Children acquire cultural beliefs, values, and problem-solving strategies in the context of collaborative dialogues with MKOs within this ZPD.

Similarities between Piagets and Vygotskys Theories on Cognitive Development

Piaget and Vygotsky both emphasized the concept of constructivism. It states that learners conceive and construct knowledge themselves rather than passively take in information. Both commonly believed that children are dynamic scholars who purposefully arrange new data with previously acquired knowledge.

E.g.: A set of children are reading each word by syllable, and it is evident that the students are reading to themselves to translate what is in their mind (in their native language) to English. This verbal thinking forms the basis for higher-level thinking so that children could use reasoning to help them understand the story in their native language and then attempt to read it in English.

Both Piaget and Vygotsky suggested that expertise is created by individuals rather than attained through reflex training (Ebadi, 2021).

They believed that rivalry is the initial point for intellectual development. For instance, according to Piagets theory, when a youngster recognizes that a new thought does not integrate with past information, he must locate a new reply to sustain equilibrium.

Finally, both theorists believed that speech is vital for intellectual maturation.

Application of Piagets and Vygotskys Theories in Educational Settings

Learning can be achieved by integrating Piagets & Vygotskys theories in these essential elements of teaching: Fundamental elements, Collaborative elements, and Learning assessment elements of the classroom.

During the pre-operational stage, lessons must be designed based on the childs egocentrism and initial schemas. The teacher can ascertain how childrens schema of a particular subject is accurate to the real phenomenon. To start assimilation, the teacher allows children to actively encounter new experiences while referring to their original schema. Once children are ready, the accommodation process starts, and their original schema is expanded. Therefore, a teacher needs to establish how preschoolers conceive of a subject first, otherwise, new experiences may contradict the established schema, thus rendering teaching efforts meaningless.

For the Concrete operational stage, the learner-centered model activities would be based on logical thinking. To encourage the active construction of new knowledge teacher normally begins by presenting a real-world situation.

E.g.: A primary school teacher presents to the class the Gateway building in Singapore (shaped Trapezium), before teaching measurement of the Trapezium. Rather than starting the problem by introducing the formula, the teacher allows students to reflect and construct their methods of measurement of the building after making a model.

Collaborative elements, such as multiple perspectives and social negotiation, can be integrated into activities using small or large teams to collaboratively construct knowledge. In such activities, multiple viewpoints are presented, covering various ideas, and concepts. Social negotiation among learners must be encouraged for a successful socio-cultural environment.

E.g.: Students investigate a new topic as a group of 3-5 students. Groups are required to narrow down the topic and assign a subtopic to each person. After having organized the information, the group presents the information to the class.

Linkages to Dynamic Assessment and Mediated Learning

The lack of adequate static assessment of a persons training ability, particular deficient features, modifying mechanisms, and mediational approaches spurred the advancement of vibrant or dynamic assessment (DA). Lately, there has been a rise in the demand for DA with youngsters for early interventions and treatment judgment and for effective mediated learning (ML). ML focuses on making children become learners who are self-directed and independent.

Bekka (2010) claims that the interaction between the educators and the student in DA creates their ZPD in which learning potential appears. Assessing it means creating his or her ZPD through this kind of interaction. Students learn by integrating assessment and instruction. Dynamic assessment is also effective in estimating childrens intellectual ability in schools. The DA strategy helps evaluate the success of cognitive learning courses. According to Vygotskys theory, DA & ML enable approachability without a set curriculum.

DA is a subcategory of ZPD that emerged from Vygotskys cultural-historical theory, according to which education and evaluation are integrated as the elements of the instructional process. Like ZPD, ML is an essential part of DA. Though ZPD is about individual potential growth, mediation creates an opportunity for growth. Vygotskys culture theory, particularly the region of proximal growth theory, and Piagets moderated learning experiences theory are the conceptual basis of any given findings of DA.

References

Ebadi, S., & Bashir, S. (2021). An exploration into EFL learners writing skills via mobile-based dynamic assessment. Education and Information Technologies, 26(2), 1995-2016.

Huang, Y. C. (2021, May). Comparison and Contrast of Piaget and Vygotskys Theories. In 7th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (ICHSSR 2021) (pp. 28-32). Atlantis Press.

Klimkowski, K. (2019). Educational theory: From Dewey to Vygotsky. In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Education (pp. 29-45). Routledge.

Tzuriel, D. (2021). The Theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability and Mediated Learning Experience (SCM-MLE). In Mediated Learning and Cognitive Modifiability (pp. 13-52). Springer, Cham.

Collins WA,(1984). Development During Middle Childhood: The Years From Six to Twelve (Chapter 3 Cognitive Development In School-Age Children: Conclusions And New Directions. National Research Council (US) Panel to Review the Status of Basic Research on School-Age Children; Collins WA, editor. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1984.

Wadsworth, Barry J Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development: An Introduction for Students of Psychology and Education.

Introduction

The very identity of further education in finding interventions with students with severe disabilities has been deconstructed from its original inception. The article describes several evidence-based practices that have been used over the years in trying to build more effective educational system for students with cognitive disability. First, the article defines cognitive disability and emphasizes on the States inability to accurately account for students achievement and the implementation of effective structural techniques within classrooms.

These descriptions assume homogeneity that promotes an oversimplified, outdated way of research, which is helpful in allowing well researched debate. For these reasons, intervention practices seem to have lost focus hence the reason for this research to re-emphasize the topic. In this regard, the authors identifies the research question they will be addressing by stating the purpose of the study as finding access to general curriculum and describes several evidence based practices that supports the literature as well as highlighting some of their strength and limitations (Spooner et al, 2006, p.227).

On the introduction paragraph, Spooner and his colleagues (2006) mentions & a research priority provided support for projects advancing and improving the knowledge base and improving the practice of professionals, parents, and others providing early intervention, special education, and related services (p.228).

It introduces the reader to the major players in the general curriculum access in support for project advancement while giving the highest priority to students with severe disabilities. Here, the authors offer new information by including collaborative activities of parents and the community in helping the special needs students achieve their goals, a strategy that has been given less emphasis in the previous studies. The population that will be affected will be struggling students with low performing grades requiring resource capital intervention to improve on their academics as well as functional life skills (Spooner et al, 2006, p.229).

Important Points and Result

The article mentions government interventions in support of cognitive disability to include funding policy and highlights research projects that have been directed to increase Access to the General Education Curriculum for Students with Cognitive Disability. In support of this analysis, the article does not provide any statistical evidence of successful interventions or rather students who have succeeded through the in support of their successful implementation.

The article also misses to provide a detailed analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data on the students outcomes. The authors included limited research by mentioning just a few scholars who had consistently found the program useful in improving learning disabilities and established a command in basic vocabulary (Spooner et al, 2006, p.230).

The article did not extensively describe and defined what cognitive disability is. It should have started by mentioning multiple dimensions required of students with severe disabilities in acquiring reading abilities both academically and functional life skills relative to the reading curriculum. Secondly, the text used in this article did not reflected on direct experiences and needs of such students by failing to mention how participants were chosen, their background, the learning progress, and even include the location of the intervention. Thirdly, the article did not analyze and address how the special needs students met their barriers and related to their general educational activities. In this regard, the authors did not give details describing current conditions or why suggestions for change were needed.

The authors offer as new information by mentioning how the special program is aligned with the general curriculum but misses to account for all students that have participated in the program by tracking their performance standards overtime to measure the effectiveness of the program. Here, the description and documentation of the entire process is very important as it increases readers understanding of the General Educational Curriculum for students with Significant Cognitive Disability by launching a thorough investigation on what and how their program is special, what the curriculum entails, and detailed analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data on the students outcomes.

The article mentions four approaches that have been documented to access to general curriculum to include what Spooner and his colleagues (2006) mentions as peer support, self determination, universal design for learning, teaching and assessing contents standards (p.228). These interventions are essential components to cognitive disability and take us through steps required to ensure students success. However, the authors do not guide as through a systematic guide in building their literacy foundation and confidence.

My Opinion and Conclusion

The paper attempted to provide a clear focus on most visible support practices but lost focus on the problem statement of the research which should have included their learning needs, educational experiences, their ages while concentrating on their dominant educational needs related to cognitive disability manifested by difficulty in learning. These discrepancies lacked proper statistical analysis and a summary of the results which could have contributed to a sound conclusion and discussion.

In this regard, the data provided in this article was purely theoretical as table and figures were not presented to support the authors findings. Conclusively, the most interesting part of the article was where the authors mentioned the implementation of UDL to high school science course which was reported to have increased participation and engagement of students while improving their performances. Here, the author should have stated his hypothesis and perhaps experimental design to test his results. I therefore recommend the authors to extend the conclusion part with knowledge base regarding access to the general education curriculum for students with significant learning disabilities.

References

Spooner, F., Dymond, S.K., Smith, A., & Craig, K. H. (2006). Introduction to special issues on accessing the general curriculum: What we know and need to know about accessing the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities. Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 31 (4), 227-283.

This paper will discuss sensory deprivation and how it can impact and effect one’s development as a child. Sensory deprivation is the loss or the partial loss of a sensory stimulation under uncontrollable circumstances. This impairment deprives a child of external stimuli such as sound or light, important and essential sensory inputs become reduced. The rationale for exploring this particular topic in this paper is that this issue is an ongoing problem faced by children, parents and educators across the country, the research around the issue is fascinating and the exploration of sensory defects is captivating and will also be useful for future educators to know. The overall purpose of this paper is to explore how sensory issues influence a child’s growth in every way and how these issues can be helped if not resolved. The aim of this research was to apply it to pedagogical practices in primary school classrooms. This essay will begin by discussing the types of sensory deprivations known to date and the affects that they have on a child’s cognitive and socio-emotional development and will then move on to how these deprivations are dealt with, both in the home and in a primary school environment.

Causes

Sensory deprivations such as deafness and blindness can be caused in children by numerous factors including. These factors include genetic conditions, an infection that the baby develops in their mother’s womb such as rubella or problems with the brain and nervous system. Deafness and blindness can also be caused by premature birth (before 37 weeks) or by foetal alcohol syndrome, this is where the consumption of alcohol causes major health problems to a baby when in the womb. Holte et al. (2006) believe that deaf blindness is caused by chromosomal abnormalities. In relation to deafness alone, deafness can be caused by a range of problems that may occur in a child’s early life such as jaundice, a lack of oxygen when being born, or even by dangerous infections such as meningitis. Temporary deafness in babies and young children is a result of glue ear. This is a condition where the middle of an ear begins to fill with fluid that prevents and inhibits hearing. In relation to blindness alone, the causes range from vitamin A deficiencies to more severe causes such as cataracts. Vitamin A deficiencies is the leading cause of preventable blindness in young children and babies and this deficiency causes over 500,000 cases of blindness in children each year. A cataract is when the lens of the eye becomes cloudy or foggy which prevents light from entering the eye. Although cataracts are more common in adults, some babies are born with the condition.

Social Emotional Development

Social emotional development in children is very important for their personal development. ‘Social emotional development is the term used the describe the growing child’s ability to form secure relationships and to use their emotions productively in interactions with others’ (T.S. Hartshorne and Salem Hartshorne, 2011, p. 205). There are three factors that influence a child’s socio-emotional development which at attachment, empathy and friendships. At the moment there is a complete lack of research relating to socio-emotional development and sensory deprivation. Jacob (2013) emphasizes the importance of the senses in a child’s learning experiences in life, highlighting that depending on the learning experience some senses will take the lead role in aiding that learning while other senses are used for a support to that lead role. An example would be that the senses of vision and touch play lead roles in learning how to interact with others as a child as vision is needed in order to ensure engagement and touch allows for physical communication. The other senses will then help to give the child a deeper perception of this particular social learning experience.

Effects on social emotional development

Thompson (2014) explains that environmental adversity causes enormous amounts of stress on a child. Sensory deprivations not only cause stress on a child but also on the child’s family. If a family happens to be encountering large amounts of stress the parents may not be capable of being care givers for their children and this will therefore impact on a child’s socio-emotional development. Thompson points out that this lack of connection between a parent and child due to the stress of a sensory issue can lead to a child’s emotional reactivity increasing and cause the child to have poor self-recognition and self-esteem. Low self-esteem and high emotional reactivity will severely destroy a child’s social interactions as their confidence to interact with other will be diminished. According to Dammeyer (2011) children who are deafblind are often diagnosed with mental and/or behavioral issues. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems made a fascinating discovery that Dammeyer refers to in which 74% of deafblind children developed behavioral problems. Behavioral issues such as tantrums, self-harm, bipolar disorder and anger issues make children’s relations with friends and family almost impossible and therefore a child’s social and emotional development is damaged T.S Hartshorne et al (2007) found that children with CHARGE syndrome developed problems with their self-regulation. CHARGE syndrome is a rare disorder which can develop in a fetus and affect many areas of the body including the ear, which leads to deafness. Children with this diagnosis were believed to have problems with their attention span, inhibiting action and self-regulation. Children who have the dual sensory impairment of being both deafblind and having CHARGE disease are found to have severe self-regulation difficulties as they are unaware of the behaviors and actions of other individuals due to their impairments. Socio-emotional development relies on being able to observe the behavior of others, children with impairments are at a loss of learning from other’s interactions with the environment.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development refers to the building of thought processes in a human, these processes may include problem solving, thinking and making decisions. Piaget’s (1936) theory of cognitive development describes how children develop a psychological model of our world. Piaget believed that intelligence was developed through our interactions in the world and through our maturation as a child and that intelligence had nothing to do with genetic inheritance. Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development states that there are 4 stages before reaching full cognitive ability. The Sensorimotor Stage is when children learn about the world through actions such as listening or grasping. The Preoperational Stage occurs between the ages of two and seven where children learn to use words. The Concrete Operational Stage is next and children’s thought processes become more logical in this stage. Lastly the Formal Operational Stage occurs from the age of twelve and upwards when most children would be due to leave primary school education. This stage allows for abstract thinking to begin. It is evident that by having a sensory deprivation these 4 stages would be less achievable for a child. For example, in the Sensorimotor Stage children evolve cognitively by listening, however if a child is deaf this process is affected.

Effects on cognitive development

One of the biggest mistakes believed by educators is that children with visual and auditory impairments are capable of developing language skills equal to their peers (Fraiberg, 1977). In reality the children with these deprivations are likely to struggle at language development. These children have a very limited access to visual and auditory information that other children would regularly receive from parents, peers and the environment. In recent research, it was discovered that children who encounter sensory deprivations from an early age develop a more self- orientated language and the words that these children go on to use do not have as much depth and meaning as the words of those who are without an impairment ( Anderson et al. 1984). Although many theorists believe that grammar is affected mostly by such impairments this is untrue. According to Landau (1997) syntax and grammar mature at a close rate of those children who do not struggle with the difficulty of having an having an impairment. A theory arose in which hearing loss and lip reading was questioned. ‘Quite often hearing loss, whether mild or severe, has a profoundly negative effect on academic performance’ (Lisa Packer, 2018). According to the Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) 14.9% of primary school children are challenged by an auditory impairment. Hearing and learning are closely connected, speech and language development depend on hearing ability. Often children who have hearing loss do not receive the attention needed in school which results in disruptive behavior leading educator’s and parents to make the mistake that the children have developed ADD or ADHD. Often children’s cognitive development is hindered by the frustration that accompanies the trouble experienced trying to hear the teacher in a classroom. Difficulties may arise if the teacher turns their back to the whiteboard and sound becomes blocked out and a confusion of not being able to hear consonants arises. Sensory impairments unmistakably have an impact on cognitive development.

Accommodations Made for Children with Sensory Deprivations to Assist Pedagogical Practice in the Primary School Classroom

Learners who experience a sensory impairment either deafness, blindness or both have usually been educated in separate settings and have been segregated from other students in the past. However, these learners who have been segregated hold similar characteristics to those students who also have disabilities that have been put into regular education (Ford and Davern, 1989). Those children who do not have functional vision, hearing or both, are incapable of learning through visuals and audio. This presents a major challenge for teachers as these are popular means of educating. In order for educators to ensure a cohesive, working programme that accounts for those with sensory impairments a transdisciplinary model must be adopted in order to provide the correct services. This model will integrate the qualities and expertise of each staff and school member together in order to provide for the needs of an individual. Instead of members of staff dedicating a certain time of day to cater for sensory impairments, (for example, hearing training every day at 9:30am) activities to deal with impairments will be integrated into the everyday teaching in the child’s classroom (Downing and Bailey, 1990). Instead of requesting the student to leave their classroom to meet their helping teacher, this model requires the teacher to transport to the child’s classroom and this ensures that each aspect of education is met. This assist’s pedagogical practice in the classroom as this resource teacher can ensure that the child does not fall behind what is expected of them. Student’s with deprivations are capable of being taught through the same systematic process as other students, for example, giving feedback and physical prompting. However, adaptations ay need to be made to ensure clear presentation and to cater for the child’s remaining visual and/or auditory abilities. Adaptations may include enlarging pictures and print outs intensifying outlines and avoiding the use of lamination due to the glare that comes with it. Tactile teaching techniques are used when there is no sense of visual or auditory senses left at all. Itard (1862) declares that touch is he only sense suitable to use under these circumstances. Touch is a complicated way to learn because the pupil receives small amounts of information which they must then synthesize in order to make sense of the information as a whole. This means that the more information that the student receives the more of a struggle the synthesis will be. Therefore, many theorists and educators prefer the use of the natural environment in the tactile teaching of student’s with impairments. Natural cues used in the learning process will allow children to transfer their learning from this training environment to various other areas where they can apply their set of skills (Ford & Mirenda, 1984). An example of sensory deprived using the natural environment would be a child working on their motor skills at lunch time in school by opening a tub of jam. This tub of jam and the time of day which is lunch time act as natural cues for the child to understand what is happening around them and these cues will prompt the expected behavior of the child at this particular time. This clearly assists pedagogical practice in a primary school classroom as children are enabled to learn through using physical objects.

Modern Accommodations

School’s now provide modern technology to children with visual impairments that make learning less of a complication for them. Many schools across the country are equipped with modern screens which transfer the information wrote on either the whiteboard or on the interactive whiteboard onto the screen which is placed on the child’s desk who has difficulty with learning visually. Children who are partially visually impaired benefit from these inventions, such screens are widely used for children who suffer from albinism. Albinism effects the development of the central part of the retina called the macula. Such accommodations evidently support pedagogical practices in the classroom as children are successfully provided with an alternative to learning the same as their peers through the screen provided to them.

Conclusion

The aim of this investigation was to become as knowledgeable as possible about sensory deprivations including early identification, the various causes, the effects on both socio-emotional and cognitive development and the ways in which schools cater for children with such impairments. Once all information was successfully gathered the implications of the research for pedagogical practice in the primary school classroom could be explored. While the argument still stands whether sensory deprivations affects a child’s socio-emotional development or cognitive development more it is clear from the above research that these deprivations affect a child’s behavior in both areas. It cannot be disputed that a child’s behavior is altered when faced with a visual or auditory difficulty. Behavior becomes disruptive in both a social and educational scene as children becomes frustrated due to not being able to learn and integrate themselves into the desired social scene due to having a visual and/or auditory impairment. Also evident from the above research children with sensory deprivations sometimes cause stress on their parents lives which causes a void between parent and child resulting in low self-esteem for the child. This led the research onto the area of the transdisciplinary model of teaching where children’s needs are met in schools which would therefore boost their self-esteem. As regards to learning it is undeniable that impairments have a huge effect on children’s schooling due to having to learn differently than peers and with visual and auditory resources being two of the most popular resources used in teaching today. Until researching the accommodations available in schools, the amount of measures and teaching methods provided for children with special needs was unknown. Not only do educational facilities provide physical help to children with impairments but they also provide teaching strategies that work to provide an education for these children that will give them as much opportunity as any child will receive. Having carried out this investigation it is unquestionable that socio-emotional and cognitive development are strained by sensory deprivations.

References

1. Dammeyer, J. (2011). Mental and behavioral disorders among people with congenital deaf blindness.
2. Hartshorne, T. S. (2011). Behavioral phenotype in CHARGE syndrome. In T. S. Hartshorne, M. A. Hefner, S. L. H. Davenport, & J. W. Thelin (Eds.), CHARGE syndrome (pp. 317–326). San Diego, CA: Plural.
3. Anderson, E.D., Dunlea, A., Kekelis, L.S. (1984) ‘Blind children’s language: resolving some differences.’ Journal of Child Language, 11, pp 45-64
4. Landau, B. (1997) ‘Language and Experience in Blind Children: Retrospective and Prospective’. In: Lewis, V., Collis, G.M (Eds) Blindness and Psychological Development in Young Children. Leceister: BPS Books, pp 9-28
5. Downing, J., & Bailey, B. (1990). Developing vision use within functional daily activities for students with visual and multiple disabilities. RE.view, 21, 209-220
6. Bruner, J. S. (1959). The cognitive consequences of early sensory deprivation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 21, 89–95.
7. Zubeck, J. P. (1964). Effects of prolonged sensory and perceptual deprivation. British Medical Bulletin, 20(1), 38–42.
8. Lisa Packer (2018) How Reading Loss Impacts a Child’s School Performance. Retrieved from https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52433-How-hearing-loss-affects-school-performance
9. Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (2018). Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

Cognitive function refers to the multiple mental abilities a person may develop and keep in their lifetime, these skills include learning, thinking, processing motor movement, reasoning, and decision making. According to many theories, such as Piaget’s (1985), Bartsch & Wellman’s (1995), and Lindenberger’s (2001), development comes through these stages as they are the essential building blocks to the cognitive function of an individual. There have been studies conducted (such as Dadvand, 2015) that investigations into activities and environments that may stimulate and improve these functions at different stages of an individual’s life and how they may need to alter due to the aging of the person.

In the age range of birth to around 12 years of age, children are in what is considered to be one of the most crucial stages of cognitive development. During this time, their brains are at the most moldable and have the highest ‘plastic capability’ in their lives, which in turn will encourage the growth and development of their cognitive functions (Bitbrain, 2019). According to a study published in 2014 by R Noche, cognitive development is measured by the individual’s perception, attention, memory, decision making, and language comprehension. During this age range of cognitive development, due to the importance of developing these skills, one may take action and encourage activities to help maximize the level the skills may reach. At the very young age of this range, 0 to 4 years of age, it’s important to introduce habits and activities for the youth to continue to practice. By making sure the child is moving around and developing their own ability to move on their own, it promotes physical activity that continues into later life and helps to improve the motor functions of the individual (Zeng et al, 2017). To build the child’s independence, notable activities include offering the youth choices in everyday life to help build their confidence in themself and their choices, alongside this is the option to pose comparative questions which will encourage the youth to have more structured thinking and decision making based on the facts of the choice (Admin, 2013). According to children’s therapist S. Peronto in an article from 2014, presenting children with tasks such as noise identification exercises, helps to build object relation in children which then develops into higher-order thinking and problem solving later on in their lives.

In the years that an adult is developing their cognitive function, between the ages of 25 to 70 years, the main development goal is to further develop the skills they gained in childhood. as this period is about refining the skills they’ve already learned, this is a time to practice activities that will help to perfect the skills and improve them which can later help when they reach their elderly years. Arguably the most important task is to maintain physical fitness at this time, this allows for the individual to keep their motor skills at a high level and also establishes a good base for long-lasting physical health (Bruce et al. 2008). Adults are recorded to often reach the peak of their cognitive function in around their 30s and 40s but, it can also be as low as in their 20s, this shows the huge need to continue to build their cognitive functions for the time when their skills will be declining, meaning they can keep a significant portion of those skills (J K Hartshorne, 2015). In old age, people will often experience a decline in their memory capacity, this can be combated from as early as the adult stage by partaking in activities and brain training games that are designed to boost the memory, including card games and solving problems that require a depth of knowledge to consider and work out before answering (Metivier, 2016). The stage which adults must navigate is a balance between trying to perfect their prior skills and gain and develop as many skills as they can because they will be required to continue this in the elderly stage of their life so as not to lose their cognitive function skills.

Often the elderly years are a time when the cognitive function of an individual begins to decline, the different stages in which it declines are different varying from person to person but, they range from a low loss of function to high. On the lower end is a minor loss in tasks including the speed of processing, memory issues, and reasoning, which are all things that will most likely decline with age anyway (Hughes, 2010). In these years, it’s important to practice tasks that can help to maintain these skills as they begin to be removed or slowed for an individual. Tasks that can help this are designed and encouraged to target certain elements that are a big problem for many elderly people, such as the push to participate in physical activity and exercise which will help to maintain one’s fitness levels and try to reduce the loss of mobility to some extent. By staying active, it can help an elderly person to improve their balance and strength control, showing their mobility being maintained and hopefully improving over time, and it will also give the person more energy as they are able to keep that energy for longer, extending the time they can participate in more activities (Takeuchi, Taki & Kawashima 2010). Regular engagement in social activities will not only help to manage and preserve the language skills the person has built up over their lifetime and help to continue their knowledge on engagement with others but, it also helps the individual to feel more mentally well which in turn encourages them to continue doing activities that can help their cognitive function (Williams & Kemper 2010).

Abstract

In this review paper, we tried to present a cognitive effects of online games for pre-school children. The results of the study were that online games were emphasized by new studies in the literature for pre-school children. Previous studies have revealed the importance of online games in terms of visual attention, visual screening, multi-tasking in preschool children when taken from a cognitive perspective. We argue that there is a general consensus on these cognitive characteristics as a positive effect. When we look at the cognitive negative effects, we could not find very strong studies, so we think that online games support the above cognitive features if they are played with certain games in pre-school education. In addition, children with cognitive impairment compare their peers in preschool period can be supported with these games. For this age group, which we know to be extremely important for cognitive development, more studies are needed because of the increasing interest in online games with the developing technology.

Screen-viewing has increased significantly for the past ten years, especially among young children including preschoolers and online gaming takes the largest places in this category. Video game is a visual-digital activity which is programmed mainly for interactive and goal-oriented purposes (Johnson, 2006). Surprisingly, online gaming is way more common than thought when it comes to preschool children (Rideout, Vandewater, & Wartella, 2003). In fact, there are many positive outcomes of online gaming in terms of cognitive development. If we look at the picture from a neurological perspective, Koepp and colleagues (1998) revealed that dopamine is released during a goal-oriented task such as a video game and the children who play video games need to complete multiple missions in one game, depending on the context those can be detecting the enemies and self-defense which increases their visual attention skill (Johnson, 2006). It is confirmed by a study done by Green & Bavelier (2003) that the visual attention skill is more develop and efficient in online gamers than the children who do not play video games. Even though video games can often seen irrational, they are actually have a huge impact on visual attention in a positive way. Also, the importance of kindergarten education has been confirmed all around the world because this period is one of the breaking points for a child to explore and receive basic information about the environment (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009). Cognitive skills which cover memory, multitasking and learning, develop by readiness skills such as listening and following directions, and academics like colors and numbers (Can-Yasar, Inal, Uyanık, & Kandır, 2012). This development can be manipulated by the technology that has been increasing for the past years and online games can be used to increase this development in preschool children. Online games are now often used for educational purposes as well.

There are many free online games that are designed specifically for preschool kids to improve their cognitive development (Quinn, Rutherford, Leone, Osher, & Poirier, 2005). According to researchers, online gaming can be beneficial for preschoolers’ since they have become a very curial part of early childhood education for their importance at hand-eye coordination, visual scanning and auditory discrimination (Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1999; Lisi & Wolford, 2002). It was also proven that, for the educational perspective, online games are better at make children memorize the key facts of a certain concept rather than the traditional teaching methods (Chuang, & Chen, 2009). All of these benefits of online gaming, memory, hand-eye coordination, visual scanning and auditory discrimination, have physiological backgrounds and explanations so we can make better deductions on our topic of interest.

Hand-eye Coordination

In order to pick up something, we first need to get that object to our sight and we often produce a saccadic eye movement to do that. After producing the saccadic eye movement, the reaching movement comes. If a person has enough of a hand-eye coordination, the hand can reach out to the targeted object of the sight (Cotti, Vercher, & Guillaume, 2010). In other words, hand-eye coordination is the brain’s capability to synchronize vision with fine motor skills which are creating our ability to control smaller muscles in our bodies such as hands and wrists and allowing us to make more detailed movements (Lasky, 1977). When we think about online gaming based on this information, we determine that pressing computer buttons to complete a mission on the screen, which is required both eye and hand movements to work harmoniously, can be an example of how online gaming is increasing the hand-eye coordination.

Visual Scanning

Visual scanning is an important skill to maintain our daily life and it refers to capacity to relevant information finding. Visual perception is one of the main aspects of visual scanning and it’s defined as identifying objects in terms of their shapes, colors and lights. In order to compare the relevant and irrelevant objects and to find the desired object out of the picture we use visual scanning and this process stops once we find the relevant or desired item (CogniFit?). So, the fact that online games have many visual stimulants can explain how online gaming might has a positive impact on visual scanning since most of the online games require the gamer to identify and differentiate relevant items to succeed in the game.

Auditory Discrimination

Auditory discrimination can be defined as the capability of differentiate and manipulate the phonetics that are coming from the outside world, in other words phonological awareness. Phonological awareness skill also provides us to have the ability of several different things such as recognizing language, separate, identify and combine phonemes. In terms of the education of preschool children this skill is helpful to read, write and spell (Burk, Troost, & Walker, 2004). Especially about the reading ability, this skill can be highly beneficial which often used in directions of online games as well to complete the task. Addition to that, there is a computer program called Living Letters which has designed to develop phonological awareness skill by make young children repeat familiar words such as the child’s name to draw attention and the program does this though games (Van der Kooy-Hofland, Bus, & Roskos, 2012).

Downsides of Online Gaming

Although there are positive outcomes of playing video games, some research about playing excessive amounts of the online game shown that there is a negative correlation between video game experience and cognitive skills. However, studies did not demonstrate the negative effects of video game exposure, Healy (1998) suggested that excessive video game experience can inhibit cognitive development. Bailey, West, & Anderson (2009) examined the effects of video game experience on cognitive skills, but especially on cognitive control. Bailey et al., (2009) specifically researched the effects of playing video games on proactive and reactive elements of cognitive control. Their results showed that video game experience can be negatively influential on cognitive skills. Another study by Homer, Plass, Raffaele, Ober, & Ali (2017) examined the link between the Alien Game and executive functions. Executive functions are the mental skills that are important when planning, organizing, multitasking, processing other cognitive abilities, and these special skills are controlled by the frontal lobe. Homer et al., (2017) reported that online games can be more beneficial when they especially created for improving cognitive skills, like the Alien Game, which is created by online game designers and developmental psychologists. Another study which focused on the relation between video game experience and cognitive disorders, showing that video game exposure is related to the symptoms which can be identified as hyperactivity and attention deficit disorders (Swing, 2008). Kronenberger, Mathews, Dunn, Wang, Wood, Giauque, Larsen, Rembush, Lowe, & Li (2005) focused on adolescents and their results demonstrated that their executive functioning abilities decreased as their violent online game usage increased. Another study by Mathews, Kronenberger, Wang, Lurito, Lowe, & Dunn (2005) found a decrease in frontal lobe alerting between 71 adolescents who use the higher amount of violent media and this decreasing also can be observable among aggressive people. Kowal, Toth, Exton, & Campbell (2018) indicated that action video game players did more errors than non-video game players on the Stroop test. However, they were faster in reacting time.

Conclusion

In this review paper, we tried to present a cognitive effects of online games for pre-school children. The results of the study were that online games were emphasized by new studies in the literature for pre-school children. Previous studies have revealed the importance of online games in terms of visual attention, visual screening, multi-tasking in preschool children when taken from a cognitive perspective. We argue that there is a general consensus on these cognitive characteristics as a positive effect. When we look at the cognitive negative effects, we could not find very strong studies, so we think that online games support the above cognitive features if they are played with certain games in pre-school education. In addition, children with cognitive impairment compare their peers in preschool period can be supported with these games. For this age group, which we know to be extremely important for cognitive development, more studies are needed because of the increasing interest in online games with the developing technology.

References

1. Ananiadou, K., Claro, M. (2009). 21st Century Skills and Competences for New Millennium Learners in OECD Countries. ​OECD Education Working Papers, 4​ 1, OECD Publishing.
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3. Can-Yaşar, M., Inal, G., Uyanık, Ö., Kandır, A. (2012). Using Technology in Pre-school Education Using Technology in Pre-school Education. ​US-China Education Review A 4​, 375–383.
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5. Cotti, J., Vercher, J. L., Guillaume, A. (2010). Hand–eye coordination relies on extra-retinal signals: Evidence from reactive saccade adaptation. ​Behavioural Brain Research, 218​, Issue 1, 248–252.
6. Green, C. S., Bavelier, D. (2003). Action-video-game experience alters the spatial resolution of vision. ​Psychological Science, Volume 18​, Issue 1, 88–94.
7. Homer, B. D., Plass, J. L., Raffaele, C., Ober, T. M., Ali, A. (2017). Improving high school students’ executive functions through digital game play. ​Computers & Education, 117​, 50–58.
8. Koepp, M. J., Gunn, R. N., Lawrence, A. D., Cunningham, V. J., Dagher, A., Jones, T., Brooks, D. J., Bench, C. J., Grasby, P. M. (1998). Evidence for striatal dopamine release during a video game. ​Nature, 393,​ 266–268.
9. Koof-Hofland, V., Bus, A., Roskos, K. (2012). Effects of a brief but intensive remedial computer intervention in a sub-sample of kindergartners with early literacy delays. Reading and Writing, 25​, 1479​–​1497.
10. Kowal, M., Toth, A. J., Exton, C., Campbell, M. J. (2018). Different cognitive abilities displayed by action video gamers and nongamers. ​Computers in Human Behavior, 88​, 255–262.
11. Kronenberger, W. G., Mathews, V. P., Dunn, D. W., Wang, Y., Wood, E. A., Giauque, A. L., Larsen, J. J., Rembush, M. E., Lowe, M. J., Li, T. Q. (2005). Media Violence Exposure and Executive Functioning in Aggressive and Control Adolescents. ​Clinical Psychology, 61​, Issue 6, 725–737.
12. Lasky, R. E. (1977). The effect of visual feedback of the hand on the reaching and retrieval behavior of young infants. ​Child Development, 48​, Issue 1, 112–117.
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14. Mathews V. P., Kronenberger, W. G., Wang, Y., Lurito, J. T., Lowe, M. J., Dunn, D. W. (2005). Media Violence Exposure and Frontal Lobe Activation Measured by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Aggressive and Nonaggressive Adolescents. ​Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography, 29​. Issue 3, 287–292.
15. Quinn, M. M., Rutherford, R. B., Leone, P. E., Osher, D. M., Poirier, J. M. (2005). Youth with disabilities in juvenile corrections: A national survey.​ Exceptional Children, 71​, Issue 3, 339–345.
16. Rideout, V. J., Vandewater, E. A., & Wartella, E. A. (2003). ​Zero to Six: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers. ​A Kaiser Family Foundation Report​.
17. Swing, E. L. (2008). ​Attention abilities, media exposure, school performance, personality, and aggression.​ Iowa State University, Iowa: IA.

Cognitive development is the process of the mind developing, which enables us to reason, know and understand. We also learn how to problem-solve, form our imagination and develop creative skills. Our concentration becomes stronger and we begin to remember things and retain those memories as our cognitive development strengthens, which occurs as we age. Just as early as one month, a baby’s cognitive development is already beginning. Touch, sound, taste, smell and sight are the key areas in which a baby should be getting stronger. Babies will feel pain immediately upon birth, their skin is generally sensitive to physical contact which some people may remember as the soles of our feet are incredibly ticklish when we are children, babies will usually react to sudden movements as they are easily startled by things. Newborns can react to various types of sound by making noises themselves or moving their arms and legs. They may listen more closely to an adult voice as it could be their parent or caregiver interacting with them, which prompts the newborn to be naturally curious in the sound of their voice, whereupon their bond and cognitive functions are strengthened in tandem. Being only one month old, babies tend to prefer the taste of sweet things like breast milk and generally flavourless things such as water. Some people may not realise that babies being dependant on breast milk is more than just sustenance, but it actually helps them to forge a connection to their parent as they develop a natural reaction to the breast, which is smell association. This also aids their cognitive development because babies and children learn through experience in the early stages, so their understanding and knowing is further developed. Babies love to look at human faces, especially if it’s a happy one as babies and young children like to imitate adults. For example, if you were to smile or be a little playful (e.g. make a silly face), then the baby or child is likely to perform the same action, which could potentially further their imagination and creativity when it comes to social interactions.

Between one and four months of age, the baby can begin to understand that an object can be linked to sound such as their favourite stuffed toy will make a noise when squeezed. They can also begin to know the difference between the smell of a person they are not familiar with, and that of their parents. At this stage, babies tend to imitate sounds that are easily differentiable such as humming (low pitched) or squeal (high pitched). From four to six months, the baby can show an interest in objects by reaching for them, which indicates that they have some understanding of how distance works. They may become more curious about the world around them, preferring to take notice of the more brightly coloured objects. Babies coordination can improve by this point so when it comes to an object, they can perform more complicated interactions (e.g. look at a toy, hold the toy against themselves, reach for things). Babies should at this point have a preference in flavours of food, which is often sweet as they have sensitivity to certain flavours such as bitter or sour.

From six to nine months, babies can form connections to an object and an action. For example, if a highchair were to be brought out, then the baby will realise this is a sign that they are about to be fed. Babies will be intrigued by the way objects move and will begin to realise that they still continue to exist in our world even when the object is moved to another area where their line of sight cannot follow – this is called object permanence. From nine to twelve months, the baby’s memory will be at a more developed stage as they will show ways in how they remember previous interactions and experiences with the world and people around them. They can begin to understand what it means to have a routine, so there is some comprehension of a sequence. Babies may be able to imitate more complicated things such as gestures and moods so for example, if the baby saw their parents waving goodbye to someone, the baby may then mimic the action.

The Theory of Cognitive Development

The cognitive development theory represents a concept that was developed by Jean Piaget to try and understand the retention ability in children (Bjorklund and Causey, 2017). Besides, the theory is mainly based on the fact that children acquire knowledge as they manipulate the biosphere around them. According to Lind (2017), the cognitive development theory does not only pay special attention to the various stages of mental development but pays close consideration to the various methods that children use to acquire knowledge. The various stages in this theory are dependent on each other, and they are very vital to the post awareness in children (Arnett, Chapin, and Brownlow, 2018). The various activities that children encounter in the world that surrounds them shape their cognitive ability. The research paper will extensively explore the cognitive theory elucidating the various stages employed in theory.

Stages of Cognitive Development

When Piaget performed strict researches on his children, he developed a stage theory that represented the various stages of development, and each stage was closely linked to the other. According to Lind (2017), Piaget argues that during the earlier stages of cognitive development, infants obtain knowledge through the various sensory experiences and the various objects that they come across. Remarkably, a child’s entire experiences are mainly determined by the various basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses (Bjorklund, 2017). The cognitive ability of a child mainly advances the more the child grows and the various objects that they encounter in their lives.

Sensorimotor Stage

According to Boeree (2015), this stage is also referred to as the infancy stage and occurs from conception up to two years. During this era, intelligence in a child is mainly shown through motor activity in the absence of the use of symbols. Ghazi, Ullah, and Jan, (2016)., confers by arguing that in this developmental era, the awareness of the globe is in most times limited, but it is mainly demonstrated through the various physical interactions with the various objects and the experiences they pass through after interacting with the objects. Moreover, the various toddlers obtain object perpetuity at the age of 7 months. Notably, movement in these children countenances them to start evolving new intellectual capabilities. In this stage, symbolic aptitudes are mainly enhanced at the culmination of this stage (Boeree, 2015). In this stage, the infants tend to comprehend the world through some basic actions such as; listening, observing, sucking, and holding the various objects that they encounter.

Consistent with Rayyes, and Steil, (2019), infants learn that the various objects that they find in their daily lives continue to exist even when they remain invisible. Notably, they also learn that they are completely separate beings from the various persons and objects they encounter in their normal activities. Also, as they interact with the various objects, they tend to learn that their immediate needs can make things occur in the world that surrounds them (Ghazi, 2016). Importantly, the various infants not only learn to perform various physical activities such as walking and crawling but they also learn the language of communication from the people surrounding them by watching how their lips move.

Preoperational Stage

According to Srivastava and Menon (2017), the preoperational stage is also regarded as the Toddler or the early childhood stage of development, which occurs within 2-7 years. In this stage, knowledge is mostly illustrated through the symbols, linguistic used by the people around them, comprehension ability, and imagination (Hasan, 2017). Notably, in this stage, comprehension is mainly done in a non-logical way, and the egocentric way of thinking predominates in most of this stage. In this stage, the egocentric view of things enables the various toddlers to start viewing objects from the perspective of others. In line with Bardid, Goodway, and Lenoir, (2017), when the various toddlers get to know how to use language effectively, they learn to think about things in more concrete terms, and they now communicate effectively.

Rendering from Hasan, (2017), the various children in this stage tend to learn through pretend play while thinking in a very concrete way about the experiences that they encounter in life. However, various toddlers tend to struggle with understanding the idea of constancy. Particularly, in this stage, the various toddlers tend only to solve problems that are to a larger extent more concrete.

Concrete Operational Stage

According to Ghazi (2016), this stage mainly occurs in the elementary and the early adolescence stage in children at the age of 7-11 years. The various activities done by a kid in this particular stage seems to be mature. The concrete operational stage in adolescents is mainly demonstrated by several kinds of conservations, which include; volume, area, physique, weight, liquid, and length. Notably, in this stage, intelligence in children is mainly illustrated through their perfect employment of the various signs that are connected to concrete objects. Boeree, (2015), highlights that in this stage, the various individuals adopt the operational thinking method where the mental actions that they develop are irreversible (Saxe, 2015). The egocentric thoughts usually disappear with the attainment of this stage, and the various children start thinking regarding the concrete ideas and objects that they encounter in their social interactions with the other beings using logical thinking.

In this stage, the various children understand the concept of conservation fully. Piaget demonstrated this by proving the thinking in the various children in this stage. According to Ghazi, (2016), he demonstrated by proving that the amount of fluid in a short, large cup is of equal measure to that in a tall, thin glass. For a child to reason in this manner, the child must have the major concept of conservation and reasoning. The reasoning in this stage involves the various individuals thinking in a more logical and organized manner, which ensures concreteness in the activities. Ahmad, Batool, Sittar, and Malik, (2016), also confers that the various individuals become more inductive and they start reasoning from a general perspective. The children at this stage start therefore to struggle with abstract and various hypothetical opinions. Their ideas now start circulating on how the various individuals might feel and think concerning their actions. Their way of thinking in this stage becomes unique to them and starts to believe in their opinions.

According to Van Geert (2017), various children start inductive reasoning and can comprehend the various rules of conservation. Inductive reasoning mainly concerns the ability to make figurative inferences to generalize. However, in this stage, the various children tend to struggle with the deductive way of reasoning. Ahmad et al. (2016) argue that deductive reasoning mainly involves the incorporation of a general principle to make a correct prediction that pertains to the outcome of particular events. In line with Ghazi (2016), two other important processes mainly occur in this stage which are logic and the elimination of egocentrism. According to Hasan (2017), egocentrism refers to the inability to comprehend a given perspective other than one’s own. In this stage, the thought and the morality of a child tend to be self-focused. The various children in this particular stage start considering things using other individual’s perspectives.

The Stage of Formal Operation

Regarding Saxe, (2015), this era is also considered as the adolescence and adulthood stage and occurs from 12 years onwards. In this period, astuteness is mainly proven through the logical application of the various signs connected to non-concrete ideologies. During the early stages of this period, the egocentric view of ideas returns, and the various individuals start reasoning using the egocentric way. Borrowing from Demetriou, Shayer, and Efklides, (2016), only approximately 35% of the various high-school ex-students acquire formal operation stage mainly contributed by the fact that many individuals fail to think formally during their later stages of adulthood.

Concerning Van Geert, (2017), at the onset of this stage, abstract thoughts emerge immediately, and children start behaving more maturely and also start to be open to only the people that they trust. Additionally, various individuals start seeing the multiple possible solutions to the various problems presented to them. The thinking pattern in most individuals becomes more complicated regarding this stage. Moreover, children in this age tend to think about the various theoretical approaches and solve them using applied logic that is already in them (Hasan, 2017). Systematic planning also tends to appear in this stage, where the various individuals tend to be more organized concerning the various tasks that are presented to them daily.

Notably, this theory gets some support and criticism at the same time. In support of the theory, Piaget majoring in qualitative development impacts greatly the educational aspect. Also, the theory provides major strategies that are used by the various educators regarding teaching the various children (Martin, and Santos, 2016). Also, the theory gets a lot of support mainly because it involved a lot of researches that Piaget used while studying the various behaviors in children. According to Ghazi (2016), the theory faces great criticism majorly on the various research methods that he employed when conducting his research. He only conducted the research based on his only three children. The results would have been varied if he majored in his research on a large group of children. The theory is also criticized mainly because under normal circumstances, developmental variations mainly occur and the variations may tend to be varied (Hasan, 2017). Lastly, the theory also underestimated the various abilities that regard children. Notably, various children tend to fall under different categories regarding their cognitive ability. The various children’s behavior may not follow the same course regarding the behaviors that they acquire in life. Also, the various children may tend to develop differently and, therefore, have different capabilities.

Conclusion

In summary, the cognitive development theory represents a concept that was developed by Jean Piaget to try and understand the retention ability in children. Besides, the theory is mainly based on the fact that children acquire knowledge as they manipulate the biosphere around them. The theory mainly involves four main stages that are dependent on each other. In the stage of sensorimotor, cleverness in a child is mainly shown through the motor activity in the absence of the use of symbols. The Pre-operational stage intelligence is mostly demonstrated through the use of signs, linguistics used by the people around them, comprehension ability, and imagination. Additionally, in the concrete operational stage, intelligence in children is mainly demonstrated through their perfect manipulation of the various symbols that are connected to concrete objects. Lastly, the stage of formal operational, cleverness is mainly demonstrated through the logical application of the various signs connected to abstract ideologies.

Introduction to Cognitive Theories in ‘Matilda’

Matilda follows the young Matilda Wormwood on the journey that is her life. Matilda is not like other children; she has a gift of telekinesis. Almost all of the adults in Matilda’s life have been cruel and crude toward her. Miss Honey is the ray of life that shines on Matilda’s life. Matilda will be analyzed according to Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory and compared to that of Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development.

To understand the movie better, the discussion of Piaget and Vygotsky’s different theories will take place first. Piaget is the main theory on which we will focus; Vygotsky’s Socio-cultural Theory is a product by which we will compare the movie, Matilda.

Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory Applied to Matilda

According to Schultz and Schultz, Jean Piaget is a Swiss psychologist who initially worked with Theodore Simon and Alfred Binet. While these two helped develop the first mental ability psychology test, Piaget helped with the administration of the tests. He became interested in child development through the use of cognitive stages in a time where Freud was big and used psychosexual stages (Schultz & Schultz, 2011).

Piaget focused on several elements that are important to understand in order to comprehend his theory. Schemas are what can be considered stepping stones of knowledge. Schemata are stores of knowledge that develop as the child encounters new objects and situations that further their mental development; note that schemata never stop growing, as the stores build upon each other as one develops. (Wadsworth, 1996). According to Huitt and Hummel, schemata ultimately start off as being reflexive and then grow to become more controlled. Assimilation is basically using schemata in order to adapt to new situations; this is constantly happening in coordination with each other as people grow and experience new things. Accommodation is similar to assimilation but differs in the fact that the schemata are tweaked so that it fits with the new situation that occurs (Huitt and Hummel, 2003). Equilibration is the balance of mental processes and situations that are unfolding in the present moment (Grondhuis, 2019).

Piaget’s Cognitive Development theory has four major stages. The sensorimotor stage occurs from birth to two years old. During this time, the newborn situates themselves with the new world. They use their primal skills such as looking and grasping to do so. They use their senses and motor skills to gain experience of the surrounding environment. During this stage of development, children learn object permanence, mobility, and the use of symbolism. Object permanence is where the child still knows that just because they cannot see something, does not mean it goes away (Grondhuis, 2019). A great example of this is playing peekaboo with a young child. Without object permanence, the child thinks the person who is playing with them has disappeared. This is why a child acts very surprised when you uncover your face while playing; they thought you disappeared because they could not see you. Symbolism gained is that of when children use simple devices in play to be used as something else (Grondhuis, 2019). This can be seen as a child uses an ordinary stick and calls it a sword during play.

The preoperational stage occurs from age two to seven; this is around the preschool stage for children. During this time, symbolic capacity is increased, language use is increasing, and memory is also being developed. Symbolism is strengthened and as they grow, they learn more advanced ways and terms to symbolize. Playing “House” is an important aspect of symbolism during this time. During this time, children still are not able to perform some tasks, but they try to mentally do what they should be able to do in the physical sense (Grondhuis, 2019). Piaget also coined the term egocentrism which states that children do not yet understand concrete logic and cannot understand the emotions of others (Grondhuis 2019). During the preoperational stage, children also do not understand the idea of centration and splitting things into two pieces, and the two pieces still equaling the big piece it just was. The child lacks conservation; they neglect one variable while focusing on another salient variable.

The third stage is the Concrete Operational Stage which takes place from seven to eleven years of age; this is the middle childhood period. During this stage, the child will develop concrete logic through the use of logical use of symbols (Huitt and Hummel, 2003). During this time, inductive reasoning is also being developed. An example would be that a child notices that every time they pet the neighbor’s dog they get itchy and develop a rash; the child might then associate that with them being allergic to the dog. Reversible thinking is another major concept developed during this time. A child may know that one plus two equals three, but with reversibility, they will know that three minus two equals one. The ability of decentration is gained, as the child is able to focus on multiple variables at a time rather than one salient variable (‘Cognitive Development: Piaget Part II’, 2019).

The fourth and final stage is that of the Formal Operational Stage which occurs around twelve years old and goes through adulthood. At this point, thinking is advanced and beyond that of just the concrete. Systematic and scientific problem-solving skills are gained (Grondhuis 2019). The child is also able to think abstractly and use deductive reasoning now. This is the age where the most knowledge is primarily gained for most people; the child is persuaded to think about and solve hypothetical questions and ponder what options there are for their futures. This is also a time where egocentrism reappears (Huitt and Hummel, 2003). During this age range, people have a heightened sense of self and tend to think they are way more unique than they actually are (Grondhuis, 2019). The main thing to note about this stage is that not all people will develop to the same state for this stage of operation; many do not go past the concrete operational stage (Wadsworth, 1996).

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory: A Comparative Analysis

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian developmental who shared similar views with Piaget. Vygotsky’s theory will be more so used as a device that would make the analysis of Matilda more in-depth. According to Vygotsky, children learned best through social interaction and communication Demirbaga also made known that mediated perception, focused attention, deliberate memory, and logical thinking utilize social interaction and learning. In the Vygotsky theory, the physical and social environment of the child is important in the growth and development process; this goes for home life and in the classroom setting (Demirbaga, 2018). Vygotsky also insisted that children may learn mannerisms from teachers, parents, and other figures of authority. Vygotsky, like Piaget, pinpointed that you never stop developing, and culture is a major factor in development (Grondhuis, 2019). Different cultures have access to different technologies and resources, so in one country someone may learn math by calculator while another country might learn on an abacus (Santrock, 2011).

Matilda’s Early Life and Cognitive Advancement

Matilda begins with introducing the birth of Matilda. Right off the bat, we see the family dynamic that is of the Wormwoods. After Matilda’s birth, the Wormwoods are shown griping about the medical bill. Mr. Wormwood then puts Matilda in the back of their old car which is essentially just open trunk space. She slides around in the back in her car seat while her brother distracts her with a rattling toy. Matilda is taking in her surroundings and staring at the rattle as if she was investigating where the sound is coming from. Later on, throughout this stage we see her grasping an apple on her own which shows that she has an ability to use her simple reflexes. Matilda was an advanced child, as she spread her spinach baby food around the table and wrote her own name in it; she was utilizing her tertiary circular reactions because she knew that her actions would grasp the attention of her mother. During what was supposed to be her preoperational stage, Matilda had already progressed to the formal operational stage. Matilda had the mentality of a thirty-year-old; she knew how to take care of herself completely on her own. Vygotsky’s theory applies here because Vygotsky believed that the physical and social environment was essential to the growth and development process. Matilda had no access to a parent as being someone to show her the ropes and really help her develop; her social and physical environment was fairly restricted. This led to her advanced cognitive development because she was forced to learn everything on her own for survival. Her parents neglected her and left this young child in the home alone all day so that Matilda would go out and fetch her dad’s illegal car parts that were shipped to their house. While alone, Matilda, a three-year-old had learned to clothe herself, read and write, buckle her own shoes, and make her own breakfast. She had mastered measurements and the ability to use a stove to cook her own pancakes and eggs. By four, she had read every magazine in the house; her social interaction was not really social; her interaction was mostly with books. She had to imagine social interactions because she was denied access to them. Matilda also used her advanced problem-solving skills and systematic thinking to be able to get to the library in order to obtain more books. She knew what time her mother left and came back, where the library was and how to get there, as well as what time to be back by. The interesting thing is the fact that the Wormwoods had an older son, Michael, who they treated well. Mike was very much treated like a kid who was able to have social interactions and communication with the outside world. They seemed to actually love Mike, as Mr. Wormwood even promised his business to Michael in the future. Matilda, on the other hand, was persuaded to just watch television and be a part of the family; she was also initially denied access to school. They thought she was four when she was actually almost seven. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory really shines through as the theme of punishment ensues. Matilda’s dad tells her that “when a person is bad, they need to be punished (DeVito, 1996).” From this one statement, Matilda learns from her father that she could punish her parents if they were bad. Matilda’s dad buys stolen car parts and attaches them to junky cars so that he can sell them for high prices. Matilda calls her dad a crook and later puts Super Super Glue in his hat while he was not looking. Matilda has learned behavior through the teachings of her father. She later puts peroxide in his hair oil to teach him a lesson as well. The family’s level of interaction throughout the movie furthers the idea that the Wormwoods do not give Matilda the level of social interaction that she needs. The family eats TV dinners in front of the Television; they allow no time to socially interact, yet hate when Matilda decides to read while they watch TV. The social interaction she gets from them is always that of a negative connotation; they ignore her and neglect her until they want to bully her or if it is in favor of them.

Telekinesis as a Symbol of Cognitive Development

Matilda eventually figures out that she has the power of telekinesis, as she broke the television after getting in trouble for reading; she does not yet know the full strength of her powers. In Matilda, telekinesis can be seen as a constructor symbol for Matilda’s advanced cognitive development and the effects of her power gained from lack of interaction; she has surpassed her peers’ development because she was forced to think about social interaction in a different light than others. Social interaction and care are the true powers and themes of the film.

Educational Environment and Social Interaction at School

By the time Matilda was seven years old, she had reached college-level advancement. Matilda was finally able to attend school after Mr. Wormwood gave the principal, Agatha Trunchbull, a car in turn for Matilda to be able to attend her school. Miss Trunchbull was yet another adult in the film who tried to strip the children of proper interaction and developmental properties. The culture of the school was very much restrictive; Miss Honey’s class was the only one that was that encouraged development fully. Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development can be inspected in terms of the classroom life for Matilda. The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is basically what the children are capable of doing with the help of a teacher or guardian rather than be direct help or indirect help. Vygotsky thought that ZPD set out a guideline of a child’s capability to learn (Ungvarsky, J., 2019). Miss Honey seemed to be the best teacher for Matilda to learn from because she valued the students and their ability to have fun while learning; she wanted all of her students to have access to the interactions that would make them successful. Miss Honey regularly goes from the bland course regimen by teaching the children advanced spelling, poetry, and the arts. Miss Honey went through great lengths to hide her attempts at a true learning environment from the principal; when Mrs. Trunchbull approaches the class, Miss Honey Miss hides the colorful posters she has put up, the artwork that surrounds the class, and the pet fish. Trunchbull would never approve of Miss Honey’s actions, as she was very much the opposite of Miss Honey; Agatha valued her cruel and unusual punishments.

Miss Trunchbull put students in the chokey, a closet-sized room filled with broken glass and nails. She also threw young Amanda by her pigtails because she did not like them. Miss Trunchbull loved to use mental abuse tactics to frighten the children. She called all of the students to the auditorium to force-feed Bruce’s cake because she thought he ate a piece of her cake; in many ways, the students, including Matilda, had an environment that did not promote social interaction in a positive way to develop. Matilda tried to keep positive in light of all the negative and cheered Bruce on so that he wouldn’t be defeated by the hands of Agatha. Trunchbull realizes her plan has backfired, so she holds the children after school for five hours.

As the movie progresses, we continue to see how far ahead cognitively Matilda is of the adults. The parents think that speed boat salesmen are sitting outside of their house when the men are actually undercover policemen on a stakeout. As Matilda strengthens her telekinetic ability (cognitive development) she is even able to outwit Miss Trunchbull and the police. The undercover cops entered the Wormwoods’ home without a search warrant; Matilda, a minor, knew the laws surrounding entering without a warrant which was able to distract the cops while she used her powers to put the cop car in neutral, sending it down the hill and past a stop sign. Matilda uses abstract thought and deductive reasoning to buy her dad time to react to the police’s conquest. Matilda later frightens Miss Trunchbull with her powers after learning that she is the abusive aunt of Miss Honey who may have killed Honey’s father, Magnus. This film eludes to the thought that Miss Honey is a symbol of what Matilda’s life was to become. They have a similar back story of an abusive caretaker who restricted them from regular development; they also look alike – brown hair and eyes – and have similar mannerisms. Miss Honey’s doll also seems to shadow the life of Matilda; she was ignored and left on the backburner the way that Miss Honey’s doll is. To get Miss Honey’s things back and get back at Trunchbull, she uses her powers to scare Miss Trunchbull into thinking that Magnus had come back to haunt her. Matilda ultimately gets Agatha to resign, give Miss Honey her father’s house and money back, and leave town. Miss Honey becomes the new principal and ends up adopting Matilda; we finally see the brightness in midst of so much darkness.

Overall, Matilda is a film that focuses on cognitive development, social interaction, and the power of both elements. Lack of interaction at an early age changed the mindset and mannerisms of Honey and Matilda. To fully analyze the movie, the utilization of Vygotsky and Piaget was essential. Vygotsky was the better comparison piece, as Matilda simply skipped some of the stages of development for her age range in Piaget’s theory; Vygotsky’s theory is not age-oriented. In the end, social interaction and lack thereof impact the development of children as seen through Matilda.

‘Education and admonition commence in the first years of childhood and last to the very end of life.’ (Plato, 2011). From as far back as Ancient Greece, Philosophers have expressed a profound interest in the importance of learning and education. This interest in the early years of education has inspired multiple generations of learning theorists to test and develop their own learning theories. The modern teacher can utilize the philosophers’ information on learning theories, like Jean Piaget’s extensive research on the theory of cognitive development, (Bates, 2020) to effectively plan a lesson for their class that successfully captures their attention and allows them to absorb new material on a topic. Cognitive development, which is the area of development this essay will focus upon, isn’t simply the measure of a child’s intelligence or the belief that nature determines our intellectual abilities; It incorporates not only our knowledge but how we perceive/process new information and how we make sense of learning new things. Despite cognitive development being heavily credited towards Piaget due to his theory of cognitive development, (Brooks, 2019) there are more theorists like Jerome Bruner who have been able to recognize that going through new materials can help pupils not only to understand but remember their work (Kelly, 2012) and have used this knowledge to create their own learning theories.

Jean Piaget is a psychologist who developed his theory of cognitive development through analyzing children, including his own three children. (Evans, 1973) He strongly opposed the notion that learners are passive and only learn by reacting to environmental stimuli. (Wadsworth, 1996) Passive learning is a form of learning where the pupils are solely responsible for absorbing the information provided to them; allowing them to develop their identifying, explaining, and listening skills and allows the teacher to teach a pre-planned lesson. Teacher’s in general should try and use passive learning lessons less often than active lessons as pupils generally find this form of learning, and the non-interactive lessons associated with it, dull and less interesting than an active lesson.

Instead, Piaget thought children were active learners. Active learning is any form of learning method where the pupil interacts and engages in the learning process. (Nash, 2013) It consists of pupils using techniques such as discussion, practice, and application in order to process new information. Benefits of active learning include; improving a pupil’s logical thought and the teacher being provided with regular input on the student’s understanding of a subject and giving a pupil a greater part in their learning environment. (Silberman, 1996) However, teachers should take into consideration that active learning demands spontaneous and versatile classes making it harder to come up with a lesson plan for each day’s class.

Piaget has had a massive impact on teaching practice and education reform as his concept of exploration learning – that children learn best through engaging in practical lessons as well as through play and exploration – was central to the redesign of the primary school curriculum. (Whitebread, 2003) Traditionally before Piaget’s theory became mainstream, teachers had used low-tech, passive teaching methods such as rote learning to teach children. While memorization was useful for current topics such as learning times tables, using this method resulted in many children failing to develop a full understanding of what they were being taught.

Piaget’s theorized that cognitive development in children occurred through adaptation which is made up of two processes, assimilation and accommodation. (Fravell, 1963) Assimilation is when children utilize existing schemas, building blocks of pre-existing knowledge that they use to comprehend new information (Bates, 2019), that aid in the understanding and interpreting of new information or a new experience. (Furth, 1981) For example, if a young child understands that they eat vegetables, such as carrots, with their school dinner, they may assume that an unfamiliar vegetable they find on their dinner tray is called a carrot-based on their existing schemas. Accommodation is a more challenging process as it alters and adds to a child’s existing knowledge. (Jean Piaget Biography, 2014) For example, when a child is told that the vegetable they encountered during lunch, such as aubergine, is not called a carrot can use the process of accommodation to integrate this new information into their current knowledge base.

An example of how these processes are implemented into classroom practice could be shown through planning a lesson involving a few simple watercress experiments. Assimilation will be shown during this experiment as the children will be able to recognize that vegetables are an essential part of their diet but they may misunderstand where they come from, believing that they initially appear from a fridge or supermarket based upon their existing schemas. The watercress experiment will demonstrate to the children that it actually comes from a seed that has been planted in soil, frequently watered, and had access to sunlight. This shows accommodation as the experiment has added to a child’s existing knowledge of vegetables and creates a fun, active lesson for the children to participate in.

Piaget focused on cognitive development; a study that focuses on mental and sensory processes that occur throughout a child’s early years and through adolescence. (Padgett, 2020) From this, Piaget then established the four stages of a child’s development, which all indicated their eventual cognitive growth and development. Each of these stages builds upon what has been assimilated during the previous developmental stage, which again shows that a child matures over time. (Piaget, 1976) Piaget’s four stages of development are known as sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. (Bates, 2019) These stages start from the moment a child is born and continue throughout their life until they reach adulthood however the stages most relevant to a primary school teacher are the preoperational and concrete operational stages.

The preoperational stage occurs between the ages of two – seven. During this stage, children further build upon the developments, like perception and communication, which occurred during the sensorimotor stage. (Bates, 2019) Throughout this stage, the capability of the child’s mind is constantly increasing and they’ll develop a vaster capacity to think about what they are learning. Children will be able to speak and recall certain things however they won’t be able to make full use of logic and reason; for example, a child will be capable of discussing and describing visual stimuli based upon their color or unique structure. During this stage, children will also learn through play and will also be able to engage in certain simplistic and often creative games and reflect upon the development of a child’s creativity.

The classroom preoperational stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development could be implemented into practice through a teaching strategy that offers the class many practical, interactive, engaging experiences through the use of purposeful play. (Hansen, 2015) This enables the pupils to possess fundamental skills, like phonemic awareness, that act as stepping stones to much more advanced skills like reading comprehension.

After, the concrete operational stage occurs between the ages of seven-eleven. By this stage, the child will have drastically grown in maturity, however, they won’t be fully developed. (Cherry & Gans, 2019) Children will begin exhibiting indications of using adult-like critical thinking skills however their reasoning will be confined to using a justification for real-life scenarios only. (Lewis & Legg, 2020) An example of this could be demonstrated by informing a pupil that the sky, during the daytime, is the color blue; due to their existing schemas on color, they will be able to use adaptation to process and understand the sky is blue.

The concrete operational stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development could be implemented into classroom practice through a teaching strategy that involves hands-on activities, uses props and visual aids, asking open-ended questions to help cognitive growth, as well as continuing to build upon the child’s previous knowledge. (Carroll & Alexander, 2020) For example, a class science activity that assesses the ideal conditions for a sunflower to grow would provide the children with an interactive activity that challenges their previous knowledge on plants, allowing for assimilation and accommodation, and enables the teacher to ask questions to promote individual thinking.

There are some criticisms regarding Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, like Piaget miscalculating the capability of a child’s mind during each of his stages. Most experts believe children possess certain abilities at a younger age than Piaget had suggested. Theory of mind research has shown that four–five-year-olds acquire an extremely advanced understanding of their own thought processes as well as that of others. (Wellman & Diu, 2004) For instance, children between the ages of four-five have some capacity to recognize and sympathize with another person’s viewpoint, implying that children of this specific age group are much less egocentric than Piaget had believed. Research, such as Henrike Moll and Andrew N. Meltzoff book ‘Child Development ‘ which explores the different levels of development a child goes through during their earlier years and how the brain develops throughout these stages (Moll & Meltzoff, 2011), has shown that even children as young as three years old have some capacity to comprehend that other people can express different perceptions of the same situation.

Unlike Vygotsky, Piaget also failed to recognize the potential impacts of a child’s culture and societal group on their cognitive development. Piaget’s theory proposes cognitive growth is largely affected by social transmission, which is when you learn from the people around you. However, Vygotsky’s theory notes that cognitive development is influenced by social engagement; which is when a person participates in social activity resulting in his vocabulary, and cognitive development improving.

Lev Vygotsky founded multiple theories focused on a child’s cognitive development: scaffolding, the zone of proximal development, and social learning theory. Unlike theorists like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that social and cultural factors impacted the quality of a child’s cognitive development and that cognitive development impacted by the child’s home life, especially their societal class. (McLeod, 2020) Vygotsky also recognized that society heavily influences the development of individual children due to each child’s unique upbringing, making it virtually impossible for any theorist to establish a set of universal patterns for learning development.

Vygotsky’s beliefs on social and cultural impacts on children’s education are acknowledged by The National Curriculum in England Key Stages 1 and 2 Framework Document under section 4: ‘Inclusion.’ This section of the National Curriculum promotes equality within the classroom regardless of a child’s potential disabilities, cultural differences, race or first language. Each child should be taught to the same high standard regardless of any additional needs or special educational needs they are subjected to. Teachers must take this into account when planning a lesson where they know a child’s physical disability may hinder their learning experience.

Vygotsky’s social learning theory is based upon his belief that as a child learns and develops, they need to engage/interact with their teacher often to absorb new knowledge. He theorized that in order for children to learn independently, they need the guidance of a teacher, parent, or tutor to initially introduce them to the new information. Vygotsky’s social learning theory links another one of his theories; that children can learn from a ‘more knowledgeable other’ (MKO). An example of both these theories taking place can be directly taken from any primary school classroom where group reflection strategies (Heick, 2020), like pair sharing with another pupil or brainstorming together either in small groups or as an entire class, are used to help children consolidate the new information given to them by their more knowledgeable other, in most cases who would be their teacher. After either failing or misunderstanding the task they will soon be skilled enough to complete it on their own. Because of the guidance of their tutor, children will eventually become much more competent at completing tasks and will reach a stage where they are capable of completing them by themselves.

A counterargument to Vygotsky’s theory, that children can utilize guidance from mentors to help advance their individual learning can be taken from Jane Elliot’s classroom experiment. Jane Elliot, an American teacher, and a vocal anti-racism advocate combined her shared passions to test her young third-grade class’s response to the idea that having a particular eye color made some pupils more intelligent than others.

Elliot initially informed her class that the members of the classroom with blue eyes were more intelligent than those with brown eyes. In response to this information, the class divided into groups based upon eye color which resulted in the ‘superior’ blue-eyed group beginning to suppress the ‘inferior’ group. (A Class Divided, 1985) The blue-eyed group, influenced by both Elliot and their fellow classmates, verbally abused the brown-eyed group and even went as far as physically assaulting them. This reaction occurred as members of the class started to believe that since they had blue eyes this made discrimination against those with brown eyes acceptable. The next day, Elliot reversed her statement and claimed that pupils with brown eyes were now superior to those with blue eyes. Similar gang mentality behavior which Elliot had witnessed from the blue-eyed group previously was rapidly adopted by the brown-eyed pupils.

From this two-day experiment, teachers can conclude that the aggressive behavior of classmates or a disorderly older influence like teachers or parents, can have a negative impact on the behavior of the pupil who is learning from those around them. This highlights a weakness in Vygotsky’s theory of using a more knowledgeable other to teach children new information.

When using his theory in practice, the teacher must be aware of the potential risk that a child could develop bad behaviors if paired with another child recognized for being a troublemaker or a child who isn’t aware of their possible bad behaviors yet. The teacher, prior to utilizing this theory, should ensure they have established strong bonds with their pupils, and that pupils have also developed strong bonds with each other to minimize the risk of using an MKO teaching the child negative traits.

Jerome Bruner is an American cognitive psychologist responsible for multiple cognitive and cognitive constructive theories related to child development. His theories include Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum, Bruner’s 3 modes of representation, scaffolding, and discovery learning.

Unlike Piaget, Bruner also believed that the involvement of adults with more knowledge than a child throughout their learning process can have a big impact on both the speed and quality of their cognitive development. (Bruner, 2009) This resulted in him creating his theory of scaffolding. He believed that adults should withhold themselves from excessively managing a child’s learning environment or the activities they carry out in that environment and instead should work together with them to help build upon the schemas they currently possess on a subject, such as basic addition, by directing their learning.

A possible example of a teacher effectively implementing scaffolding into planning an effective learning situation could be shown through teaching a class how to confidently read out loud. This lesson plan could take place over a monthly period, beginning with the teacher reading a short story aloud to the children. Next, the pupils should be encouraged to read together in intimate groups. The teacher should allow the children to work together to figure out the proper pronunciation of a word within the text. However, the teacher should enter the discussion when it’s apparent the group requires help comprehending the pronunciation of a word within the text or is struggling to decipher its meaning. When they’re more confident in their ability to properly read, pupils will be more responsible for learning to read. This confidence will be displayed through reading, both internally and externally, much more proficiently. The more frequently pupils practice their reading both in class and in their spare time, the less often they will rely on the support of their teacher.

However, there are some potential issues that could arise during planning an effective learning situation through the use of Bruner’s theory of scaffolding. Scaffolding is a potentially problematic theory for new teachers to attempt to use within the classroom. It requires the teacher to give away some of their authority over their class in order to allow pupils to learn at the speed they find easiest. Another issue that arises with scaffolding is that teachers are not initially trained to use this technique within the classroom, meaning that newly qualified teachers, in particular, could end up applying this theory incorrectly during a lesson. This would result in the lesson not going to plan and the pupils potentially failing to understand the subject that the use of scaffolding was supposed to be helping them with.

The previous learning theories have convincingly demonstrated both the positive and negative impacts of cognitive development on the way children study and process new information. It is clear cognitive development enables the modern teacher to effectively plan a lesson revolving around purposeful play as well as pupil’s engagement in group activities. Teachers should know that cognitive development supports the children taking part in acting lessons. From this information, they can plan an effective learning situation that captures their class’s utmost attention, assisting them in effectively absorb new knowledge. Teachers should acknowledge the potential flaws with cognitive development and deliberately try to avoid the issues associated with them. It’s critical for teachers to also recognize that some cognitive and constructive cognitive theories lapse with one another, like Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s respective cognitive theories. They should also understand these theories frequently disagree with some of the key points the other theory made. Despite acknowledging its potential flaws, cognitive development remains an effective method of development for primary school children which promotes active learning in an enjoyable, interactive way. Its beneficial impacts on learning have allowed cognitive theories to be implemented into both the classroom and the primary national curriculum.