Category: Cognitive Development

This essay will explore cognitive development in children from roughly the age of 7 years old to adolescence. It will discuss theories relating to cognitive development and include evidence that psychologists have presented to validate these theories. It will draw upon the theories of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky regarding cognitive development. The essay will explore Piaget’s theory on the ‘concrete operational’ stage, which relates to children ages 7 to 11 and the ‘formal operational’ stage, which relates to children ages 12 to 16. The essay will also look at the three key aspects of Vygotsky’s theory: language, culture and the zone of proximal development.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is divided four into different stages. The concrete operational stage refers children aged 7 to 11. The word operation concerns the “development of strategies and rules for interpreting and investigating the child’s world” (Oakley, 2004). The word concrete refers to “the child’s ability to apply these strategies to things that are present” (Oakley, 2004). During this stage Piaget discusses conservation, which is the realisation that quantity does not change when nothing has been added or taken away from an object or group of objects, even of there is changes in the form. In this stage the child is able to complete conservation of volume, number, length, weight, liquid, area and mass towards the end of this stage (Oakley, 2004). Piaget also follows the development of inductive logic in each stage, which is a process of using examples and observations to find a conclusion. In this stage the child begins to use their own experience to develop principles or law, which the child applies to the immediate problem (Oakley, 2004). He also discusses class inclusion which is the ability to classify objects into categories. With regards to class inclusion in this stage, the child recognises that categories include smaller sub-groups which are all part of the bigger category (Oakley, 2004). At this stage, the child is not deceived by superficial transformations in the liquid’s appearance in Piaget’s conversation tasks and the ability to comprehend that an action can be reversible allows the child to begin to comprehend concepts such as conservation of quantity (Gazzaniga, 2018). The child also begins to understand to much more of an extent, how other people view the world, and they feel about things (Gazzaniga, 2018). Although it is understood that this development is the beginning of logical thinking, Piaget believed that children at this stage can only reason about concrete things (Gazzaniga, 2018). They do not have the capability to reason abstractly, or hypothetically (Gazzaniga, 2018). I derived evidence of Piaget’s theory of the development of knowledge and concepts from interaction with the objects from the study demonstrated by Eysink, Dijksta and Kuper (2001), (Oakley, 2004). Their study involved students solving computer problems (Gazzaniga, 2018). Students who struggled were more successful when they were able to draw out pictures of the problem and then solve them (Gazzaniga, 2018).

Piaget’s formal operational stage relates to children of the ages 12 to 16. During this stage, the child’s reliance on concrete objects reduces and children have the ability to solve hypothetical problems or imagined problems they are unable to see (Oakley, 2004). This stage is defined by hypothetical deductive reasoning and systematic problem solving (Oakley, 2004). Hypothetical deductive reasoning refers to reasoning that uses detective logic (Oakley, 2004). Whereas systematic problem-solving means that the child has the ability to solve problems in a systematic and logical manner in this stage (Oakley, 2004). As (Oakley, 2004) summarizes, the child’s ability to think in an abstract manner occurs at this stage. Gazzaniga (2018) understood that this stage involves critical thinking, which is the kind of thinking described by the ability to develop a hypothesis through deductive logic. As explained by Shaffer/Kipp (2013), Piaget understood the transition between the concrete operational and the formal operational stages in children. The children in the concrete operational stage are limited as they are only capable of applying their logical thinking to physical or observable objects (Shaffer/Kipp, 2013). Whereas children in the formal operational stage progress to be able to demonstrate mental actions on ideas and propositions (Shaffer/Kipp, 2013). For evidence to support Piaget’s theory, Piaget and Inhelder (1956) carried out tests to prove this theory. They presented children with the four-beaker problem (Oakley, 2004). The four beakers were filled with odourless and colourless liquid, the children had to work out which combination of liquids turned the liquid yellow (Oakley, 2004). The results showed the children in the concrete operational stage used a random problem-solving technique and the children in the formal operational stage used a systematic approach, these results align with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (Oakley, 2004).

Vygotsky took a different approach with his theory on cognitive development in children and adolescent. Vygotsky believed that social influences were more important in regards do the children’s progression. There are three key factors to his theory: language, culture and the zone of proximal development. Vygotsky viewed language as a significant part of the child’s learning process (Oakley, 2004). He understood that we encrypt and represent our world through language and that language is an important system in which we communicate and use as a cultural tool (Oakley, 2004). Vygotsky had different stages for language development. Children aged 7 to adulthood came under the stage called ‘Inner Speech’ (Oakley, 2004). This inner speech takes place only in the mind and is used to guide behaviour (Oakley, 2004). Vygotsky believed that once this stage is accomplished, the individual can engage in all types of higher mental functions (Oakley, 2004). An example of inner speech is when an adolescence might be at a friend’s house watching television, and they have an inner conversation with themselves about when to do their homework over the weekend. This conversation directs their behaviour and prepares them for the task (Oakley, 2004). The next aspect of Vygotsky’s theory is culture. The child’s cognitive progression both reflects and internalises the culture to which they belong (Oakley, 2004). Vygotsky explained that the first culture influences learning as children learn through interactions with others and their environment (Oakley, 2004). The child then develops through the “symbolic representations” of the child’s culture, which can be art, language, play or songs (Oakley, 2004, page 38). It is clear that culture provides a foundation in which the child constructs meaning (Oakley, 2004). The zone of proximal development means “the distance between the actual development level and the potential level of the child” (Oakley, 2004, page 41). Vygotsky understood that each child had the ability to reach their potential level through the support and guidance of experienced others (Oakley, 2004). The experienced or expert other plays a vital part in this theory, this person can be a teacher, parent or guardian (Oakley, 2004). This person guides the child by offering advice and different methods to the child to enable them to achieve something outside their own levels of ability (Oakley, 2004). Therefore, the child reaches outside their actual level and pushes towards their potential level. Hasse (2001) found in a study that if students are encouraged to reach their potential level when supported by expert staff, and if the actual level of development of expert staff was equal to the student’s potential level (Oakley, 2004). This study supports Vygotsky’s theory with regards to the zone of proximal development.

This essay discussed the theories by Piaget and Vygotsky that referred to cognitive development in children aged 7 to adolescence. The essay also supports these theories by including substantial studies demonstrated by psychologists.

The Apgar score is a procedure that obtains the status of the new-born baby directly after being born, as well as the infant’s reaction to resuscitation if necessary. This method should not be associated with causing, or being a consequence of, asphyxia. This means that it doesn’t forsee neonatal mortality or neurological development, and should not be used for that motive. An Apgar score that is obtained during resuscitation is not comparable to a score obtained from a naturally breathing new-born.

According to Andrea Stuart and Petra Otterblad Olausson (2011) the Apgar score was presented in 1952, and aimed to obtain a fast evaluation of the clinical status of infants shortly after birth. This method is still used in delivery rooms worldwide. Research shows that an Apgar score of lower than 7 at 5 minutes after birth has an affiliation with higher risk for developing cerebral paresis, mental retardation, and epilepsy. Modern research also shows a link between low 5-minute Apgar scores and scoring lower on intelligence tests in male subjects in Denmark and Sweden.

Perinatal asphyxia can be used to explain neurologic sequelae in term new-borns. Follow-up studies focus mainly on acute short-term neurological deficiencies, including mental retardation and cerebral palsy. The “continuum of reproductive casualty” theory suggests that serious hypoxic episodes can result in noticeable neurological deficiency and even death. Mild episodes can lead to subtle flaws in cognitive function that are only noticeable as the child becomes older. Mild hypoxic episodes are more frequent than serious episodes, and rarely lead to noticeable neurological abnormalities. A low Apgar score is seen as a weak indicator of asphyxia as a result of its low sensitivity, but some studies have discussed the long-term effects on cognition caused by a low Apgar score. Studies are conducted to attempt measuring the effect of low Apgar score on the long-term neurological development of the infant.

Dr Virginia Apgar, 1952, introduced a fast scoring system as a method of evaluating the clinical status of a new-born at 1 minute after birth, and the need for intervention to establish breathing. Thereafter, Dr Apgar released a second report that dealt with a larger amount of patients. The Apgar score became a customary assessment for new-borns after the birth process. The Apgar score consists of five components including reflexes, respiration, colour, muscle tone, and heart rate. Each of these components is given a score from 0 to 2. Therefore, the Apgar score determines the extent of clinical indicators of neonatal depression, such as pallor or cyanosis, bradycardia, depressed reflex response to stimulation, hypotonia, and apnoea or gasping respirations. The score is obtained at 1 minute and then 5 minutes after birth for all new-borns, and at 5-minute intervals thereafter until 20 minutes for infants with a score of lower than 7.

Erik Erikson (1958) separated the human lifespan into eight stages. Each stage contains what he calls a psychosocial crisis. Erikson describes personality as being molded through the way individuals handle stressful situations that may include changes in valuable social relationships. Different crises often involve a struggle between two opposite dispositions such as initiative vs guilt or trust vs mistrust that are endured by the individual at a specific stage. These opposed tendencies illustrate personality characteristics that individuals portray in varying ways over the rest of their lives. Even-though the names for Erikson’s stages propose either/ or outcome, every stage forms a balance between polarities in personality. The stage of trust or mistrust covers the first year of life where the new-born depends entirely on their caregivers to satisfy their basic needs in life and will affect whether or not attachment is formed. The stage of autonomy vs shame and doubt takes place during the second and third years of the infant’s life and shows how the infant initiates some personal responsibility for dressing, feeding, and bathing. This stage involves the child starting to potty train which ultimately influences their behaviour provides the child with a sense of independence. This phase often involves a lot of conflict between the parent and child. The next stage, initiative vs guilt, comprises of children from the age of three to six and illustrates children taking more control which often opposes overly protective parent’s rules and may cause the children to feel guilty. Industry vs inferiority, the fourth stage, consists of children from ages six up to puberty challenges the children to learn how to function socially with individuals outside of the family. During this stage the children learn to value increased self-esteem and achievement.

Cognitive maturation refers to enhancements in children’s ways of thinking, including problem-solving, remembering and reasoning. Similar to Erikson, Jean Piaget (1929) also introduced a stage theory of development and suggested that children advance through four main stages of cognitive development that are characterised by different thought processes. These processes include the sensorimotor period, the preoperational period, the concrete operational period, and the formal operational period. Piaget considered his age norms as estimates and recognized that transitional ages do vary. Even so, he was confident that all children experience the stages of cognitive development in the same order. Paget’s theory starts with the sensorimotor period, enduring from birth to around the age of 2.

According to Constantino Arce and Maria Pilar Fernandez (2020), cognitive data of children should be obtained at an early stage to uncover any developmental setbacks or varying patterns of development so that intervention methods can be implemented. As a result, follow-up research of universal cognitive abilities of preterm (PT) children in coexistence with bio-medical, personal and environmental factors linked to cognitive results are of substantial relevance. Evidence illustrates that children who were born preterm, with low Apgar scores, often display cognitive disabilities in different areas when compared to children who were born full-term.

Gestational age (GA) is related to cognitive development, so that a lower GA will lead to a decrease in the cognitive development of preschool, as well as school age, preterm children. Disparities between preterm and full-term children are especially high between extremely preterm and full-term children.

D Gunnell and G Lewis (2008) state that an extremely low Apgar score at 5 minutes after birth is strongly linked to an increased risk of developing neonatal encephalopathy, cerebral palsy (CP), as well as learning disadvantages. However, a low Apgar score can also be caused by factors other than brain injury or intrapartum incidents. The present understanding is that clinically brain damage leading to CP, whether or not learning disability occurs, can only take place if the hypoxic threat is consequential enough to cause clinical encephalopathy in the neonatal interval. The long-term results of children with low Apgar scores who do not develop encephalopathy are deemed to be ordinary with regards to CP. However children with mild neonatal encephalopathy, who do not develop CP, are at risk of developing cognitive disabilities as teenagers.

In Psychology, the study of Cognition and Behavior go hand in hand. However, they are also two psychological perspectives that can be compared. Cognitive Psychology is the study of how humans create thought process. Whereas, Behavioral Psychology or Behaviorism can be defined as the study of why humans behave the way they do. Behaviorism observes patterns in the behavior of humans and attempts to interpret what leads them to behave a certain way. They are both the study of how humans’ function daily, yet they have different focuses within that scope.

Cognitive Psychology

An important perspective in the world of Psychology is Cognitive Psychology. It focuses on cognitive functions such as the formation of speech, memory, and comprehension (Eysenck, Keane, 2015). An example of how the Cognitive aspect of the mind correlates with Behaviorism is by the observation of the behavior that is caused by cognitive functions. It is known that any action that a person makes is attributed to what is occurring in the brain. (Neisser, 2014). For example, picture a scenario where a middle-aged woman finds herself constantly late to social engagements. She has never been the irresponsible kind, yet she keeps embarrassing her family by showing up late. Cognitive study observes that her behavior is more than likely due to memory loss. The pattern of the woman’s behavior is her constant tardiness, and the psychological cognitive aspect is that she is gradually losing her memory. It is not because she is careless, more so it is because she does not remember she has somewhere to be. Which is due to her losing certain brain cells that stored her memory.

Cognition can be characterized by how information is taken into the mind and stored. The information that has been obtained influences thoughts and interpretations (Neisser, 2014). The function leads to decision making and ultimately how actions take place. Noticeably, Cognitive Psychology can also be associated with Medical Science. For instance, there are many medical studies that are designated to detect brain damage such as Cognitive Neuropsychology. The study of Neuropsychology is aimed for people who have been dealt with severe damage to their brain due to illness and accidents. A major health complication that harms the brain and its functions is known as a stroke. A stroke causes not only physical impediments, but it also causes cognitive damage to the brain (Eysenck, Keane, 2015).

In a stroke, the brain loses brain cells that are crucial to cognitive functions. Typically, a person who has a stroke suffers from memory loss and speech impediments. A highly educated man that is subjected to brain damage from a stroke can completely lose all the knowledge he holds in his mind, as well as lose basic motor functions. In a severe scenario, a stroke patient might be reverted to the mental capability of a child. In another scenario, where he can recover from a stroke, he still may have to deal with long term effects. He becomes a very forgetful person due to the stroke that caused him to lose part of his brain cells that controlled the storage of his memory. He might also speak with an accent after being required to undergo speech therapy because he must regain the capability to properly form words and interpret words that are being spoken to him. With the study of the perspective of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Cognitive Psychologists and doctors can find ways to properly aid people with brain damage.

Behavioral Psychology

Behavioral Psychology, also known as Behaviorism is the study of the relationship between mind and behavior. It is the observation of how humans act, and the explanation of their behavior. Behaviorism focuses on how social environments as well as physical environments influence people’s thoughts and actions (Wendel, 2013). Behavioral Psychology is what indicates how humans conduct themselves and is also the examination of contrasting repetitions of behavior.

Serial killers can be observed with the Behaviorism perspective. Understanding what influences a serial killer may have had during their upbringing may give insight as to why the person has been negatively impacted in their mind, furthermore, leading them to become a serial killer. It is discussed that strange behavioral patterns of a child may demonstrate whether they will grow up to become a murderer. For example, it is said that at one point of a serial killer’s life, its first victim is typically an animal. It has been observed that as children, many serial killers have gotten the urge to hurt animals. After the child murders the animal, the urge to hurt and kill grows more and more within him. An additional attribution to the behavioral analysis of a serial killer would be the killer’s childhood. For instance, say a child grew up receiving verbal abuse from his mother who was a tall brunette. The adult serial killer then begins to look for his victims and falls into the pattern of targeting tall brunettes.

A certain behavioral pattern that a serial killer may follow can be found to be Attentional Bias. It is when a person acquires a recurring thought process that leads them to carry out the same repeated behavior (Wendel, 2013). For instance, the situation of a serial killer is an accurate representation of what Attentional Bias is. He becomes so obsessed with killing that he solely and constantly thinks of ways to find his next victim. He does not think about anything other than killing, and nothing else can stimulate him as much as the thought of killing. In hindsight, a bias way of thinking forms in his mind, where he dismisses all other nonviolent thoughts that his mind can have. The behavioral pattern that arises from that, is that every night without fail, the serial killer finds himself at a local mall stalking his next victims. Typically, all serial killers will have a pattern and it is important for psychologists as well as law enforcement to be able to understand and predict murderous behavior. They study of Behavioral Psychology is key because it aids in the capability of capturing serial killers in order to cease their terror on society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the purpose of Cognitive and Behavioral Phycological perspectives is to ultimately understand how the human mind works. The two perspectives tie in with each other because the cognitive perspective determines what behavior will occur and behaviorism is about understanding human behavior. However, they both branch off into their own components. Cognitive Psychology differs from Behaviorism because it is the mere focus of what chemically occurs in the mind and how it affects a person. Behavioral Psychology gives attention to the impact that the mind has on one’s actions.

References

1. Neisser, U. (2014). Cognitive psychology. New York: Psychology Press.
2. Eysenck, M. W., & Keane, M. T. (2015). Cognitive psychology: A student’s handbook. London: Psychology Press.
3. Wendel, S. (2015). Designing for behavior change: Applying psychology and behavioral economics. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.
4. Spielman, R. M., Dumper, K., Jenkins, W., Lacombe, A., Lovett, M., & Perlmutter, M. (2017). Psychology. Houston, TX: OpenStax, Rice University.

I have interest in psychologist theory of psychological feature development as a results of varied schemas to plug learning and development throughout the stages. This can be achieved by giving children several exposure to the surface world. Being exposed to a diffusion of learning-by-doing experiences from a young age may facilitate build up those internal index cards. Then, as we have a tendency to tend to mature, it’s concerning broadening the experiences and applying them to new, even theoretical , situations. So, but exactly can Piaget’s stages be applied to education? At the premise, it’s concerning recognizing the stage a baby is presently in and business to that organic process level. Lecturers and parents can facilitate by providing children with utterly totally different experiences or ways in which to explore and experiment with their environments. It’s through these experiences that youngsters may gain understandings of varied concepts in Associate in Nursing passing active approach. For young children coming back into establishment and educational institution, Piaget’s theories align a great deal of with play-based school programs, or environments where kids square measure offered opportunities for trial and error, and interaction with the $64000 world.

General information

Piaget vs. Vygotsky

Lev Vygotsky developed his theory on child development at an analogous time psychologist was developing his own theory. Like psychologist, Vygotsky believed that youngsters develop through stages. not like psychologist, Vygotsky believed that learning and development were tied to social interactions and culture. Whereas psychologist believed that youngsters learn through doing, Vygotsky believed that they learn through being shown.

Piaget vs. Montessori

Maria professional shared some concepts with psychologist, also as but children move through stages. Their theories square measure similar until children reach age 3. In school, professional lecture rooms square measure a great deal of child-directed. Psychologist lecture rooms square measure a great deal of teacher-directed with a spotlight on routine, though there is flexibility and likelihood for child-directed activeities.

The Takeaway

Jean Piaget’s work has helped people understand that knowledge is developed at utterly totally different stages of childhood, starting at birth. His philosophy remains used in prekindergarten through twelfth grade lecture rooms of late. Understanding the varied stages may assist you higher understand your own child and assist their learning.

Criticism

There square measure some criticisms of Piaget’s stages. Especially, researchers among the Sixties and Seventies argued that psychologist may have underestimated children’s skills by exploitation confusing terms and notably hard tasks in his observations. In several studies, children square measure winning with demonstrating knowledge of certain concepts or skills once they were given in Associate in Nursing passing easier approach.

Piaget’s theory in addition expects children of a particular stage to primarily be at that stage across the board with all tasks given to them. Totally different researchers uncovered that there is a range of skills with psychological feature tasks. In several words, some children may surpass or struggle in one area over another.

Piaget’s theory in addition explains that trying to indicate children notably advanced concepts would be unsuccessful. Yet in some cases, children is additionally able to learn advanced concepts even with transient instruction. Children is additionally a great deal of pliant and competent than Piaget’s stages supply them credit for.

Last, psychologist primarily examined white, materialistic children from developed countries in his work. As a result, his findings is additionally skew to the present set of people, and will not apply as on to totally different groups or locations.

Basis of Theory

Jean Piaget was Associate in Nursing early person UN agency specialised in child development from the Twenties onward. Psychologist developed his theories by viewing children and making notes concerning their progress. The core set up of Piaget’s theory is that youngsters develop by acting as ‘little scientists’ UN agency explore and act with their world to grasp people, objects, and ideas. They’re doing this naturally, even whereas not the help of Associate in Nursing adult. The goal of the concept is to elucidate the mechanisms and processes by that the baby, so the kid, develops into a private UN agency can reason and assume exploitation hypotheses.

To Piaget, psychological feature development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a results of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct Associate in Nursing understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already acknowledge and what they discover in their surroundings.

Piaget was the first intellect to recognise the qualitative variations between child and adult intellectual skills. He in addition believed that the child was profusely the active learner in an exceedingly age-stage technique whereby the child progresses qualitatively through the stages of psychological feature development in a two-pronged adaptive/interactive technique that allows for current information to be fitted (assimilation) into already existing psychological feature structures (accommodation).

Accommodation is printed by Lefrancois (1995) as a result of the ‘modification of Associate in Nursing activity or ability among the face of environmental demands.’ He defines its twin, assimilation, as a result of the ‘act of incorporating objects or aspects of objects into learned activities’ (pp.329-330). The end product of this is often remarked as stabilisation that ends in extra effective ways in which of method information from the environment. Lefrancois describes this technique of stabilisation as but ‘people maintain a balance between assimilation (using previous learning) and accommodation (changing behavior; learning new things)’ (p.335). This state of balance is polar in psychological feature growth. It is necessary, to keep with psychologist theory for kids to progress through each stage in turn accommodating/assimilating towards the balances of stabilisation and meeting the challenges of ‘disequilibration’ (cognitive conflict) through the child’s life to adulthood psychological feature sophistication.

In this model, the section termed ‘Organization’ stands aboard the Adaption level to clarify the structures of human psychological feature. From this psychologist utilizes the conception ‘Operation’ to clarify it as a result of the ‘thought technique. Associate in Nursing action that has been internalised among the sense that it’s ‘thought’ and is reversible among the sense that it’s ‘unthought’ (Lefrancois, 1995:342). Here psychologist proposes that the child develops through hierarchical quantitatively utterly totally different stages, each building on the preceding one, towards Associate in Nursing ever increasingly advanced array of ‘schemas’ or knowledges of what is notable concerning at a selected time. Lefrancois’ rationalization for a schema is simple; ‘a unit of psychological feature structure, an activity at the facet of despite biology or neurology might underlie that activity, an idea or a concept’ (p.345). Associate in Nursing example of a schema’s evolution is that the innate ability of Associate in Nursing baby to suck for sustenance at the breast eventually increasing the uptake schema to include similar behaviour with very little fingers and hands, a bottle etc.

Stages or Phases of Development

The theory identifies four stages:

1. The activity stage: the first stage of development lasts from birth to around age a pair of. At currently in development, children acknowledge the world primarily through their senses and motor movements. The foremost accomplishment throughout this stage is Object permanence – knowing that Associate in Nursing object still exists, though it’s hidden. It desires the flexibleness to form a content (i.e., a schema) of the article. Implement routines for the youngest children. They are positive and will be extraordinarily useful with developing communication.
2. The preoperational stage: The second stage of development lasts from the ages of two to seven and is characterized by the event of language and conjointly the emergence of symbolic play. Throughout this stage, young children can accept things symbolically. This is often the flexibleness to make one issue – a word or Associate in Nursing object – signify one issue except for itself. Thinking remains egocentric, and conjointly the baby has downside taking the angle of others.
3. The concrete operational stage: The third stage of psychological feature development lasts from the ages of seven to around age eleven. At now, logical thought emerges but children still struggle with abstract and theoretical thinking. Psychologist thought-about the concrete stage a significant turning purpose among the child’s psychological feature development as a results of it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought. This suggests the child can work things come back internally in their head (rather than physically try things move into the $64000 world). Conservation is that the understanding that one issue stays an analogous in quantity albeit its look changes.
4. The formal operation stage: among the fourth and ending of psychological feature development, lasting from age twelve and into adulthood, children become rather improved and thought and intellection. The formal operational stage begins at around age eleven and lasts into adulthood. Throughout currently, people develop the flexibleness to accept abstract concepts, and logically check hypotheses.

Piaget’s theory is one all told the foremost authoritative psychological feature development theories out there. Despite being conducted and challenged (as I’ll build a case for among consecutive section), the findings square measure used in sort of numerous contexts. Supported Piaget’s observations, the concepts square measure applied in lecture rooms, handling young children. But the concepts and conception at play tell tons concerning employment and development in additional general.

You should confine mind that psychologist didn’t ever relate his theory to education, but totally different psychologists and researchers have applied his concepts to educating and training children. The concept was used as a basis for primary education practices among the GB, as Associate in Nursing example. Even so, psychologist did have some of essential things to say concerning learning and development, that you simply need to note of.

First, psychologist based his concepts on biological maturation and stages, that suggests there is a set up of ‘readiness’ committed development. He believed children to wish a particular level of maturity before they’re going to be instructed a specific conception. Until the child is mature enough to contemplate totally different people’s feelings, it’s hard to make them understand but totally different children will not notice teddy bears cuddly.

Piaget in addition thought assimilation and accommodation to maneuver learning experiences. To him, disadvantage resolution is not a ability to be instructed, but to be discovered. Therefore, children and totally different learners ought to move participants of the employment or education, not merely passive participants. Therefore, many lecture rooms use active discovery learning as a result of the premise, among that the teacher simply facilitates learning instead of leading. the child primarily gets to make his or her own experiments whereas learning.

If you would like to draw certain application conclusions from Piaget’s theory, they could be the following:

• Use props and totally different aids to support learning. Since development may be a vigorous experience, you would like to act the person learning. You need to supply the prospect to examine things, feel things, and experiment with things therefore on boost to engagement and ensure the child gets to examine assimilation and presumptively accommodating to the new information.
• Combining actions with words. Among the sooner stages, it’s significantly very important to remain things easy and short. you would like to gift a presentation Associate in Nursingd an proof at an analogous time. As Associate in Nursing example, if you are teaching the thanks to build a paper plane, you need to build a case for the building technique whereas at constant time showing but it’s done.
• Understanding the varied experiences people have. Nevertheless as teaching children concerning the importance of understanding totally different people’s experiences or feelings, you would like to be aware of this. People decide meanings to words and conjointly the schemas can be different to everyone. Once you encounter such a state of affairs, you would like to grasp it rather than fight against it. Both you, as a tutor, and conjointly the person, as a result of the scholar, might generally have to be compelled to assimilate and accommodate your schemas.

When it involves application of Piaget’s theory, it’s crucial to remember he didn’t assume intellectual development is also a quantitative technique, i.e. you aren’t merely adding a great deal of information to existing knowledge over time. Instead, development is concerning qualitative modification, which implies simply bit by bit technique a great deal of information and alter your existing understanding consequently.

Piaget’s theory of psychological feature development had a serious impact on but people understand childhood development of late. Psychologist suggests that youngsters bear four distinct stages of psychological feature development from birth to adulthood. Each stage includes certain milestones where the child demonstrates a a great deal of refined understanding of the world. Psychologist believes that development happens through a continuous drive to expand and adapt schemas, or understandings concerning the world. However, some people have criticized Piaget’s theory.

People can also explore totally different theories of psychological feature development, like Vygotsky and professional theories.

Child Study

The aim of this paper is to analyze the behavior exhibited by a child using two psychological theories: Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Analyzing and understanding the theories on childhood development, directly shows how different aspects could impact and how theories could draw on a child’s early development (Boyd & Bee, 2015). Furthermore, the skills required and the importance to conduct an objective observation will be described. Lastly, I will reflect on my practice and the improvement that could be done in future practice.

Observation is crucial in the social work profession, as social workers are specialized in safeguarding vulnerable people from harm, and supporting individuals, families, and communities going through hard times (Beauchamp, 2016). Social workers should also show the ability to understand and aid with issues that have a direct impact on the service user by accurately identifying patterns of behavior, and promptly addressing risks. Hence, with good observation skills, the social worker would be able to make professional decisions and judgments to help with the service user’s problems, so that their lives could be improved.

It is important that social workers use their observations to reflect on their practice critically and link them to the ‘Professional Leadership Framework’ (PCF) (BASW, 2018). For instance, while student social workers are on child placement, they can gain knowledge from the early child educators about how children behave in different stages and understand different setting types provided for children in their early years. Moreover, by engaging with the child and participating in their activities, skills like learning how to share and taking turns could be taught. All these actions could link to ‘knowledge’ and ‘professional leadership’ in PCF (ibid). Hence, social workers could gain experience, and being able to practice their skills while on placement.

Furthermore, children are vulnerable for multiple reasons including poverty, disability, and negligence by parents or carers (East Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee, n.d.). Children under seven years old in particular are most vulnerable (Action4ChildProtection, 2003). Regardless of age, they could hardly refuse requests from people who have power and authority over them or recognize that they are being put in a dangerous situation. For example, if a child is facing domestic abuse, they or could hardly protect him/herself from the abuser’s aggression, as they are physically weaker than a grown-up. They might also be exposed to threats, so they could barely seek help and protection from others. In terms of their intellect and physical capacity, they are not fully independent and tend to be highly influenced by those who abuse them physically and mentally. As a result, they are more vulnerable than adults in various aspects. Social workers not only have to be observant and pay attention to people who might be at risk, but also be trained to account for our actions to the public within a framework of law, so that service users’ human rights could be protected through the legal process. Munro (2011) stated that social workers needed to be experienced on working with the vulnerable and familiarise with child protection procedures so that if a child was into an allegation of abuse or neglect by the family, it could be more effective to provide legal support and intervention in child protection services. Hence, it is crucial that social workers needed to be skilled in undertaking child observations.

The observation was undertaken for five consecutive days at a nursery from 09:30 until 16:30. The child to be observed was a 4-year-old male (A) in a class of 20. Two teachers were in charge of the class. For the protection of his privacy, the name of the child would be annotated as (A), and consent was given by the child’s parent before the observation.

The approach for recording the observation is mostly narrative, in which intervention by the observer is kept to a minimum. An anecdotal approach was adopted as if there was some sort of pattern in his behavior, this approach would be less time-consuming to record. When I was first introduced to the class at the playground, I observed that (A) was playing around and interacting with peers. To prevent (A) from knowing that he was being observed, an interaction was limited at first. On their first day of class, I did my observation without participating, because I was unfamiliar with their pattern of the environment. Sitting from a distance allows me to observe and take notes about the behavior of the class as a whole. However, the drawback of this method was that the conversation between (A) and his classmates could hardly be heard. Therefore, I decided to occasionally participate in class. During their free time, I would participate and engage with them; so that I could hear every word clearly that (A) said and pay attention to the emotions that he expressed. However, this approach did not allow me to mark notes instantly.

Before the placement, I have to read through the guidelines given by the nursery on safeguarding children. Even though social workers have a responsibility to keep the notes taken confidential, it is important that action should be taken and informs the school if the child discloses abuse (NSPCC, 2019). Also, I have to be aware that my observation is objective and non-discriminating. Based on the HCPC standards of proficiency, it stated that ‘social workers should be able to practice in a non-discriminatory manner and ‘be able to maintain confidentiality (HCPC, 2018). Having a negative bias on the observation about the child will affect what the observant takes, as the misconduct of the child would tend to be recorded (CCDMD, 2014).

Cognitive and Social development

Cognitive development is the construction of thought processes, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood, including memorization, problem-solving, and decision-making (Neaum, 2010, p.48). Psychologists Piaget and Vygotsky have both developed theories addressing cognitive development and learning among children and teenagers.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has defined four age-dependent stages, which are: sensorimotor (0-2 years), preoperational (2-7 years), concrete operational (7-12 years), and formal operational (12+ years) (Davenport, 1996). Since (A) was 4 years old, he was at the preoperational stage of development. During this stage, children start to engage in symbolic play, enabling the development of language, memory, and imagination (Baken, 2014).

Piaget proposed that intelligence was something that grows and develops through different stages and has also discovered that children think differently than adults, in which preoperational children are usually egocentric in the way they think, focusing only on their view and believing everyone has the same point of view (Davenport, 1996). According to Piaget’s three mountains experiment’, he placed a doll on a fixed position between the three mountains model, in which children in aged four to twelve were told to stand at various angles. The egocentric child would not be able to imagine the view apart from the scene they see it. Children aged nine or above, they are able to identify the doll’s perspective (Flanagan, 1996).

(A) has shown that his thinking was still egocentric while (A) was playing with his classmates. He noticed that the classmate was upset, so he went to the play area, grabbed his favorite toy car, and gave it to him. Regarding to Piaget’s claim, this series of actions demonstrates (A)’s egocentric thoughts. (A) thought that by grabbing his favorite toy car to his classmate, his classmate will also like the toy, and he would no longer be upset. Even though preoperational children are still egocentric and immature in the way they think, it will eventually change as they grow up (Flanagan, 1996). Hence, Piaget’s theory sets up a framework for comprehending children’s thinking and capabilities at different stages of their development, and Piaget believed that children do not learn from adults or peers, instead, their “knowledge and the world are both constructed and constantly reconstructed through personal experience” (Ackermann, 2015).

However, Vygotsky suggested that Piaget does not recognize the impact on cognitive development from the social environment (Boyd & Bee, 2015). According to Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, he believed social interaction plays a fundamental role in cognitive development, and everything is learned based on two levels, namely social and individual levels (CEEBL, n.d.). Children learn through interacting with others and develop social learning in the social level, whereas, they tend to internalize their skills in the individual level (ibid). (A) and his classmates were working on a puzzle together and started to discuss where the pieces belong. (A) grabs the pieces and said, “Put it here!” The classmates responded, “No, it is not here.” (A) shouted, “Yes, it is.” After (A) having a few dialogues with his classmate, both internalize the discussion, in which the internal conversation guides them through the puzzle-solving process.

Besides, Flair (2019) stated that one’s potential of cognitive development is limited to the ‘Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), defined as the difference between the children’s current skills, and what they are capable to learn with support. Adults offer guidance and encouragement to the child during a task to assist them in achieving the task. The guidance provided is within the child’s ZPD, specifically, beyond their ability, but not above their capability of learning. This guidance is known as scaffolding (Bee, 1999).

Scaffolding examples are demonstrated between me and (A). I and (A) are playing a ‘beehive colour matching game, in which we had to put different colored bee into the corresponding colored beehive. (A) tried to clip the bee’s body and put it in the beehive but failed to do so. I told him that if he tried to clip the cloth attached to the bee, he could successfully put it in. This was within (A)’s ZPD and has beyond his ability because he knew which bee belongs to which hole, but he could not determine how to actually put it in. I recognized it and demonstrated how to clip it, also I encouraged (A), and said, “Try to clip it again, now you can have a go.” Afterward, he managed to copy my action. This action showed that (A)’s level of potential development was being able to put the bee in with the help of mine, which is considered as an advanced individual. This activity demonstrated that (A) can perform challenging tasks when assisted by a more competent individual, and which scaffolding can help children to instill problem-solving skills in the future.

Social development and play

Piaget and Vygotsky both defined ‘pretend play’ from different psychological perspectives. In Vygotsky’s theory, ‘pretend play’ refers to imaginative play which is defined as when a child uses his or her imagination to play the roles that he or she has seen, experienced or wants to experience (Smidt, 2009). In the classroom, there was a costume box for children to put on different cartoon costumes. During the ‘free play time, (A) and three boys chose costumes from the box, in which (A) and one boy chose Spiderman, and the other two boys chose Batman. After they have dressed up, they started to chase around. One boy ran to (A) and said, “We are Spiderman.” (A) responded with, “Go fight with the Batman.” After the other two boys heard it, they started chasing after each other, and said: “Let’s fight the bad guys.” This is an example of cognitive development through ‘pretend play, in which children imagined a story as well as the characters involved. (A) and other boys were pretending they were superheroes and trying to defeat the villains, such a process involves them having dialogues with each other. Smidt (2009) explained that imitating things in the real world could provide further development in children’s language prospects. By plotting their own story, like the interpretation of defeating the villain, helps them to practice problem-solving and communication skills.

In contrast, ‘pretend play’ in Piaget’s theory refers to symbolic play. This is refined as the ability of children using objects represent other objects (Nicolopoulou, 1993). (A) demonstrates his symbolic thoughts through action; he had placed an ornament on a stick and was witnessed using a stick as a representation of a magic wand. This illustrates cognitive development through ‘pretend play’ in relation to understanding the world that (A) lives in (ibid).

Hence, both share different perspectives, like the duration of ‘pretend play. Although Piaget notes that during the preoperational stage, ‘pretend’ play and cognitive development mostly occur, Vygotsky stated that individuals can develop cognitive development throughout their whole life (ibid). Although both researchers share different explanations for ‘pretend play, they believed play and social interaction is an essential part of early childhood (Lindon, 2005).

Social and Language development

Language also plays a crucial role in child development; it defines as a foundation of social interactions and a way of communication that is strongly interrelated with the child’s cognitive and brain development (Neaum, 2010, p.50). To explain the development of language, multiple theories have been applied.

The brain and language development of a child in an early age is crucial, as it includes a neurological process that establishes patterns of behavior and emotion during its lifespan. Brains are built over time, in which cognitive, emotional, and social capacity throughout life is inextricably connected (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2019). Since the brain of a child will start to shape and develop at their early years, developing a connection with healthy and capable adults in their early years is important (Oates and Grayson, 2006). Moreover, ‘nature’ was defined as the biological factors relating to the genes inherited from parents and how it contributes to the child’s personality and physical appearance (Neaum, 2010). According to Chomsky, children are born with an innate capacity of the development of language, which means they have an inherited ability to acquire language (Flanagan, 1996). For ‘nurture’, humans are social animal that is influenced by environmental factors, their childhood experience, social relationships, etc. (Neaum, 2010). Taking social relationships as an example, parents can actively engage with their children by having face-to-face interactions and providing experiences that allow the child to develop their language skills. For example, repeating and differentiating the words that are being spoken, and the ability to recognize words being said. Hence, parents provide a direct impact in their children’s early year of language development. It directly affects the formation of their neural and lifespan development. Therefore, the three aforementioned factors can be regarded as bio-socio-neurological development.

As previously mentioned, children’s thinking in the preoperational stage are egocentric. During playtime of (A), the egocentric speech was demonstrated between (A) and his classmates. (A)’s thinking was still egocentric, according to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, it stated that preoperational children are usually egocentric in the way they think and focusing only on their view, and believe everyone shares the same point of view (Davenport, 1996). (A) was playing with a classmate next to each other, in which (A) was doing coloring and the other was playing with marbles. (A) said, “I want the yellow pen.” The classmate said, “I want all the marbles.” and (A) said, “I want to draw a butterfly.” The classmate said, “How many marbles are there?” Throughout this conversation, it is noticeable that (A) and the classmate is talking to each other in sequence, but not intended to the content of the conversation. Hence, this shows “collective monologues”, which is defined as two or more children are playing different games in close proximity. They are talking apparently together but are not realizing the correlation of their context of speech (California State University Northridge, n.d.). This phenomenon explained that egocentric speech is demonstrated in their conversation.

Piaget argues that language was one of the ways that children show their feelings and thought and believed that cognitive development promotes language development (Smidt, 2009). By contrast, Vygotsky sees language as a separate system and believed that language was a key to cognitive development. It is considered where child becomes connected with words and begins to have verbal thinking (Flanagan,1996).

In line with Vygotsky’s theory of language development, he had also classified three forms of language, as outlined below, namely social speech (2-3 years), private speech (3-7 years), and silent inner speech (7+ years) (Mcleod, 2014). During the period of private speech, Tan (1999) stated that children start to speak aloud to themselves or no one in particular and use it as a tool for self-regulation or facilitating cognitive processes. For instance, solving difficult tasks, and enhancing their imagination and thinking. (A) demonstrated using private speech while he was looking for a toy car. “Where did I put it? Red car.” He said, “Ah, over there.” once he found it. This shows that he had used of self-answered questions, in which (A) asked a question and immediately responded it with an answer. It also shows that verbally planned and regulate the problem by using his private speech. Hence, Vygotsky (Flanagan,1996) believed that language facilitates cognitive development in a result of both environmental and biological factors.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, children in the preoperational stage would start to engage in pretend play. It involves imitating teachers, parents, and peers, in which children often use the word that they hear what adults say and mimic their use of language during imaginative play (Smidt, 2009). (A) was seen role-playing with his classmates, where they have self-assigned a role for themselves, and (A) and his other two classmates were being the student and another child was being a teacher. They were in a scenario of having lunch and everyone pretended they were eating (A). While the teacher was distributing the food, children besides said thank you as how they normally do once they received their food. However, when (A) received his food, he immediately complained and said, “I don’t like this food.” The child who was playing the role of the teacher immediately picked up his food and replied, “No problem!”. Their dialogues demonstrated how (A) and other preschoolers develop their language by engaging in role play and imitating things that they have heard or observed in their daily life.

Conclusion

Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory were used to interpret the behavior of the child, in which they explained that the cognitive abilities in children would develop at different stages. By applying Piaget’s preoperational stage, I was able to identify how knowledge was constructed and learned through personal experience and self-discovery. However, through this observation, I was able to recognize the importance of the guidance given by the adults and interacting with other children, as argued by Vygotsky who stated that children tend to learn through interacting with peers. Additionally, language plays a significant role in child development. In this observation, during pretend play, (A) demonstrated private speech through verbalizing his inner thoughts. This was evidence of Vygotsky’s theory of language development, and he believed that language is the key to cognitive development. ‘Children use more sophisticated language when playing with other children than with playing with adults. They have to provide contextual clues.’ (Wenner, 2009, p.25). It proves that children playing together could enhance their social and language development, as being able to socialize using sophisticated language between children. Furthermore, pretend play also shows how children could learn through social interaction by imitating things in the real world, this helps them to enhance problem-solving skills and shows their imagination.

Reflection

Observation is an important element in social work, especially using it as a tool to reflect our practice. By observing (A), I can see patterns in (A)’s behavior, how he learns in class, and how children in class interact with others. Reflecting in action (Schön, 1992), I was a bit reserved at first, as I was unfamiliar with their learning environment. After discussing with the teachers about their models of teaching, I gained more confidence and started to engage with the children. When (A) throws tantrums and refuses to do as asked, he was calmed by my encouragement, which shows my problem-solving skills.

Through this experience, I realize a big difference in the education system of kids living overseas and where I am from. Recalling my childhood memories, we spent most school time having class indoors instead of playing outdoors. Parents in Hong Kong believe ‘winning at the starting point is tied to the success of their child.

They believe enrolling their child to private tuition after school could increase their child’s competitiveness and have a greater advantage over their peers (Cheung, 2018). On the contrary, schools in the UK believe learning through play is important, for cognitive development and developing problem-solving skills (Whitebread et al., 2012).

Overall, I found the placement enjoyable. Having an opportunity to experience the way of teaching in the UK and broadening my perspective on how preschoolers act. For the upcoming placement, I hope I could improve my communication skills, by having more confidence in myself. Additionally, by learning more skills and theories from the lectures, I could have a greater understanding on people’s different aspects of development and keep on improving my skills in the future.

References:

1. Ackermann, E. (2015) Piaget’s Constructivism, Papert’s Constructionism: What’s the difference? [pdf file] Available at: http://www.sylviastipich.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Coursera-Piaget-_-Papert.pdf (Accessed 16 February 2019)
2. Action4ChildProtection (2003) The Vulnerable Child. [pdf file] Available at: http://action4cp.org/documents/2003/pdf/Feb2003TheVulnerableChild2.27.pdf (Accessed: 8 February 2019)
3. Baken, L. (2014). THE PIAGET THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: AN EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265916960_THE_PIAGET_THEORY_OF_COGNITIVE_DEVELOPMENT_AN_EDUCATIONAL_IMPLICATIONS (Accessed 18 February 2019)
4. BASW (2018) Professional Capabilities Framework in Social Work in England. [pdf file] Available at: https://www.basw.co.uk/system/files/resources/PCF%20Final%20Documents%20Overview%2011%20June%202018.pdf (Accessed 16 February 2019)
5. Beauchamp, A. J. (2016). Observational methods in psychology research. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.serlib0.essex.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=93872128&site=eds-live (Accessed 18 February 2019)
6. Bee, H. (1999). The growing child. 2nd ed. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, p.52. [book]
7. Boyd, D., Bee, H. (2015), Lifespan Development (7th edition), Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited [book]
8. California State University Northridge (n.d.) Serious thinkers about language development. [online] Available at: https://www.csun.edu/~vcoao0el/webct/de361s121_folder/tsld001.html (Accessed: 10 February 2019)
9. CCDMD. (2014). OBJECTIVE WRITING. [online] Available at: http://toddlers.ccdmd.qc.ca/observing/objectivity (Accessed 18 February 2019)
10. CEEBL. (n.d.). Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. [online] Available at: http://www.ceebl.manchester.ac.uk/events/archive/aligningcollaborativelearning/Vygotsky.pdf (Accessed 18 February 2019)
11. Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2019). Brain Architecture. [online] Available at: https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/brain-architecture/ (Accessed 18 February 2019)
12. Cheung, S. (2018). Tip for Hong Kong parents: ‘winning at the starting line’ is so yesterday. [online] South China Morning Post. Available at: https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2149486/hong-kong-parents-should-know-winning-starting (Accessed 19 February 2019)
13. Davenport, G.C. (1996), An Introduction to Child Development (2nd edition), Hammersmith, London: Collins Educational [book]
14. East Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee (n.d.) Vulnerable Children & Young People. [pdf file] Available at: http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3558&p=0 (Accessed: 8 February 2019)
15. Flair, I. (2019). Zone of proximal development (ZPD). Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.serlib0.essex.ac.uk/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89677659&site=eds-live (Accessed: 7 February 2019)
16. Flanagan, C. (1996). Applying psychology to early child development. London: Hodder & Stoughton, p.50, 68, 72. [book]
17. Health and Care Professions Council HCPC (2017) Standards of proficiency – Social workers in England. [pdf file] Available at: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/globalassets/resources/standards/standards-of-proficiency—social-workers-in-england.pdf (Accessed 16 February 2019)
18. Lindon, J. (2005). Understanding child development. London: Hodder Education, p.178. [book]
19. McLeod, S. A. (2014) Lev Vygotsky [pdf file] Available at: http://www.mrmikkola.com/uploads/1/0/5/7/10576731/simplypsychology.org-vygotsky.pdf (Accessed 17 February 2019)
20. Munro, E. (2011) The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report., A child-centered system. [online] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175391/Munro-Review.pdf (Accessed 16 February 2019)
21. Neaum, S. (2010). Child development for early childhood studies. Exeter: Learning Matters, p.9, 48, 50. [book]
22. Nicolopoulou, A. (1993). Play, Cognitive Development, and the Social World: Piaget, Vygotsky, and Beyond. Human Development, 36(1). DOI: 10.1159/000277285 [book]
23. NSPCC. (2019). What to do if a child reveals abuse? [online] Available at: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/signs-symptoms-effects/what-to-do-child-speaks-out-about-abuse/ (Accessed 18 February 2019)
24. Oates, J. and Grayson, A. (2006). Cognitive and language development in children. Oxford: Blackwell. [book]
25. Schön, D. (1992). The Reflective Practitioner. London: Routledge. [online] Available at: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315237473 (Accessed 19 February 2019)
26. Smidt, S. (2009). Introducing Vygotsky (p. 59, 105). London: Routledge. [book]
27. Tan, C. (1999). ‘I’m talking to myself “: Children’s use of private speech for self-regulation. [ebook] Singapore: National Institute of Education, pp.REACT, 1999(2), 54‐62. [pdf file] Available at: https://repository.nie.edu.sg/bitstream/10497/3813/1/REACT-1999-2-54.pdf (Accessed 16 February 2019)
28. Wenner, M. (2009). The Serious Need for Play. Scientific American Mind, 20(1), 22-29. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/24940063 (Accessed 19 February 2019)
29. Whitebread, D., Basilio, M., Kuvalja, M. and Verma, M. (2012). The importance of play. [online] Waldorf Resources. Available at: https://www.waldorf-resources.org/fileadmin/files/pictures/Early_Childhood/dr_david_whitebread_-_the_importance_of_play.pdf (Accessed 19 February 2019)

Maintaining cognitive skills is important in life when it comes to aging. Cognitive aging, a decrease in cognitive processes as you age is common in many older adults and is also a predictor of mortality (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). The research conducted by Rodlescia S. Sneed and Richard Schulz in “Grandparent Caregiving, Race, and Cognitive Functioning in a Population-Based Sample of Older Adults”, uses a populational- based and longitudinal study to assess the associations between grandparent’s caregiving and cognitive functioning (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). Studies have shown that proving care is beneficial for grandparents (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). The study’s objective was to measure the relationship between non-custodial grandparent caregiving and cognitive using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (Sneed & Schulz, 2017).

Methodology

Sample participants were of white and African American descent. The data collected was only from non-custodial grandparents greater than 65 years of age, who did not live with their grandchildren over 3 waves. The study was limited to 65 years or older because the cognitive performance measures were not available for younger participants (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). This study included the caregiving status in which their cognitive assessments were assessed throughout 2006, 2008, and 2010. The study’s analyses were controlled for a plethora of things such as demographics, symptoms, bassline health, and baseline cognition (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). Two types of analysis were performed, the first was an evaluation to see if there was a correlation between grandparent caregiving and cognitive scores at a four year follow up, their scores were adjusted as the study perceives (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). In this analysis, according to Sneed & Schulz 2017, the number of waves is both associated with higher delayed recall scores at follow-up the second type of analysis that was conducted was the relationship between the total hours of grandparent caregiving and cognitive curves across 3 waves. In this analysis, Sneed and Schulz (2017), observed that grandparent caregiving immediately changes after a certain number of hours.

Due to some limitations of this study, Sneed and Schulz (2017), did utilize cross-section; is because other data could provide useful information. This study was not manipulated but was based on a sample of older adults. A few studies have shown that grandparenting increases cognitive functioning. It has been said that grandparenting at least once a week increased verbal fluency than on- caregiving grandparent (Sneed & Schulz, 2017).

Results

The result supports the researchers’ hypothesis because grandparenting at least once or twice a week does improve cognition over the four-year follow-up. They were interested in whether grandparenting was associated with cognition over a 4-year follow-up (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). There were 3029 participants in the study, of those 3029 participants, 21% were caregivers at least once in the study, 330 provided care only in one wave, 180 provided care for two or more studies, and 146 in all three studies (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). The biggest findings of this study are that race acts as a moderator and is associated with both grandparenting and immediate recall, as a result, in one of the four cognitive tests, white Americans significantly benefitted on the effects of immediate recall, hence, African Americans was not (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). The reason for this might be culturally associated with these findings. In African American homes the grandparents play an important role traditionally, they sometimes take on the role of “mom” when mom cannot be found. Growing up with my grandparents was hard, my mother was not around, and my grandmother had to raise my siblings along with her children so I know how that can play a role. I was not surprised by the study’s findings. On the contrary, in white homes, many children are raised by “Mom” and “Dad”, allowing the grandparents to have a more fun friendship with their grandchildren. This might be why white Americans had a higher score. The study also talked about the post hoc analysis which analyses the differences in physical health and depressive symptom found no difference between both white and African Americans, but studies have shown that more African Americans were showing depressive signs than white Americans (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). Overall this study was remarkable, the results did not surprise me, but I can say that it helps to support my research question, “Does grandparenting affect cognition?’ it is important to note that cognitive functioning does improve as you age. Grandparenting is a beautiful thing and everyone should get the chance to learn from them.

TRAAP Test

Timeliness in the study receives a 5 because the article is relevantly new but published online before the final edited in 2017. In the process of looking for articles, many of them were dated within the last 10 years or so. This article has been edited and the newest published is in 2019. On a Revenant rating, I would give it a 4 because the study answered both parts of my question but only included non-custodial grandparents of the United States and no other countries (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). The authors of the article are Rodicesia Sneed and Richard Schulz. Dr. Sneed, a highly recommended assistant principle at Michigan state university, is known for her excellent work. She is a Social and Health psychiatrist psychologist who is interested in a plethora of things such as stress, social environment, and physical health (Michigan state university, division of public health, n.d.). Dr. Schulz is recognized nationally in research, his research is mainly on adult development and aging (university of Pittsburg, n.d.). Authority receives a 5 for both of their credentials, I say this because they are both powerhouses, their works are there to prove it! This study receives a 5 on accuracy because it was well written and holds many citations and data. The purpose of this article will also receive a 5 because the data has shown that older adult’s cognitive function does improve through grandparenting. In the study, Dr. Sneed’s and Dr. Schulz’s main purpose was to see if grandparents as caregivers would improve cognitive functions throw-out a four-year follow up (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). Anyone who looks at this study would see how beneficial grandparenting is resulting in more grandparents spending time with their grandchildren.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of this article is the longitudinal nature of the study. It develops a “population-based” sample to determine the relationship between grandparent caregiving and cognition (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). This study contains both white and African Americans, non-custodial grandparents, to answer the second part om my research question. It showed racial differences that grand parting increased cognition in whites but balanced out in African Americans. (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). Additionally, this study provides a plethora of data on non- residential grandparent, this group is often left neglected (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). Therefore, it is important for grandparents, whether near or far, to have time to send with their grandchildren because it increases their cognitive functions. On the other hand, this article had some limitations. The data might be falsely reflected, meaning that their findings there might be unmeasured puzzling health-related variable (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). Perhaps the study was in four years, and people die which means that their results are no longer valid. A weakness of this study is that it only contains African American and whites, I believe that the results of this study could have more of an effect if Hispanics and other cultures around the world were involved. Also, my grandfather has been a caregiver for almost half his life, his health has increased, and he can retain information at the age of 80. Not only non-caregivers will have a positive outcome, but caregivers’ help as well. In all, this was not a bad article, the authors made it easy to read and understand. I would recommend someone to read this article to gain knowledge of the cognitive function and cultural differences within older adults.

Conclusion

The research presented by dr. Sneed and dr. Schulz is deemed to be credible and significant. This study has shown significant improvements in cognitive function in healthy older adults, which answers my research question. I believe this research is of high quality and would be used in the future. Although the article has its weaknesses, the strengths overpower the weaknesses because their findings show that cognitive decline is an issue, if we are aware of this, we can do things to help older adults improve their cognitive functions. Also, the study’s findings are consistent with other studies associated with grandparent caregiving and cognition though cross-sectional samples (Sneed & Schulz, 2017). I wish that the study incorporated mixed cultures, or foreign countries other than whites and African Americans. My overall take on this article is that it is vital for an older adult to participate in activities, whether it is caregiving, hanging with friends, or going back to school. This study has supported the overall question of whether other adults would increase in cognitive functions after caring for their grandchildren. This study also showed that active older adults both benefit the slow rate of cognitive aging and improve cognitive function while aging (Sneed & Schulz, 2017).

References

1. Publichealth.msu.edu. (2019). Rodlescia S.Sneed, PhD, MPH. https://www.publichealth.msu.edu/flint-research/flint-public-health-research/rodlescia-s-sneed-phd-mph
2. Richard Schulz, PhD Center Director | Health Policy Institute | University of Pittsburgh. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2019, from http://www.healthpolicyinstitute.pitt.edu/center-for-caregiving/person/richard-schulz
3. Sneed, R. S., & Schulz, R. (2017). Grandparent Caregiving, Race, and Cognitive Functioning in a Population-Based Sample of Older Adults. Journal of aging and health, 898264317733362-898264317733362. https://europepmc.org/articles/pmc6474833

Abstract

The effect of outcome and type of attribution on self-efficacy was investigated in an experiment involving cognitive task. The participants (20 males and 20 females) were put to pre-test (before performance feedback and attribution) and post-test (after receiving performance feedback and attribution). The study involved a 2X2 factorial design with two type of outcome (success/failure) and two types of attribution (ability/effort) with 10 subjects (5 males and 5 females) in each cell. The results of the experiment revealed that the subjects widely differed in their judgments of self efficacy under pre-test and post-test conditions. It was found that success outcome had influenced the self percepts of efficacy. The nature of attributions also showed influenced on these judgments. The group did not differ in terms of actual performance on the given task.

Introduction

Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 19771, 19812, 19823, 19974). The people who believe in their efficacy are able to visualize their successes positively and it enables them to open up all the roads to reach their goals. Self efficacy is like a hidden power that has a huge potential to help people by giving them a belief system using which one can transform all their life events. Self efficacy is the belief in one’s ability to influence events that affects one’s life and control over the way these events are experienced.

Recent studies indicate that perceived self efficacy can have diverse consequences for behaviour, thought patterns and effective arousal. The behavioural effects take several different forms. Self percepts of efficacy influence choice of activity and environmental settings. People tend to avoid situations they believe exceed their capabilities, but they undertake and perform with assurance activities, they judge themselves capable of handling (Bandura, 1977 a). Any factor that helps to determine choice behaviour can exert significant effect on the course of personal development. Active engagement in activities contributes to the growth of competencies. Shunning enriching activities and environment, retard development of potentialities and shields negative self percepts from direct change. Self efficacy also determines how much effort one will expand and how long he or she will persist in the face of obstacles. The stronger the perceived self-efficacy the more vigorous and persistent would be the effort.

People’s perceptions of their own capabilities also influence their thought processes and emotional reactions during anticipatory in actual transactions with their environment. Those who judge themselves inefficacious in coping with environmental demands tend to engage in frequent self appraisals of inadequacy and cognise potential difficulties as more formidable than they really are. Such self-referent preoccupation produces disruptive arousal and impairs performance by diverting attention from the task at hand to self evaluative concerns (Beck 1976, Meichenbaum 19775, Sarasan 1975a6). By contrast, people who have a strong sense of efficacy deploy their skills well to the demands of the situation and are spurred by obstacles to greater effort.

Sources of self-efficacy

• Mastery Experiences- This brings you to have a firsthand experience to achieve a goal by yourself, be it as small as cleaning your room. These small wins make an individual believe that he/she can get things done and strengthens their belief in oneself.
• Vicarious Experiences- People do not rely on enactive experience as the primary and only source of information about their capabilities. Efficacy appraisals are partly influenced by vicarious experiences also. Seeing other persons perform successfully can raise efficacy expectations in observers that they too possess the capabilities to master comparable activities (Bandura et al 1977). They persuade themselves that if others can do it, they should also be able to achieve at least some improvement in performance. By the same token, observing others perceived to be of similar competence fail despite high effort lowers observers’ judgments of their own capabilities (Brown & Inouye 19786).
• Verbal Persuasion- We possess certain capabilities and can do things beyond our imagination if we surround ourselves with the like-minded people or people who impact us positively. Self efficacy is greatly influenced by encouragement and discouragement that an individual receives based on their performance or their ability to perform.
• States of physiology- The information communicated by physiological arousal influences efficacy through judgmental processes. A number of factors such as appraisal of the sources of arousal, the level of activation, the specific situations under which arousal is felt and past experiences on how arousal affects one’s performances are important mediators of cognitive processing of these information. The self efficacy implications of arousal derive from past experiences.

In forming their efficacy judgments, however, people integrate efficacy information from these diverse sources. There has been little research on how people process multidimensional efficacy. Studies of judgmental processes show that people have difficulty weighting and integrating multidimensional information (Slovic, Fischhoff & Lichtenstein, 19777, Slovic & Lichtenstein, 19718) and, therefore, tend to rely on simple judgmental rules.

According to a study of self efficacy, satisfaction and academic achievement whilst the mediator role of students’ expectancy-value beliefs by Fernando Domenech Betoret (2017), it was found that students’ expectancy value beliefs (process expectancy, subject value, achievement expectancy, cost expectancy) played a mediator role between academic self efficacy and the achievement/satisfaction relationship.

Materials and Methods: The present experiment was designed to investigate the effect of performance attribution on self efficacy on a cognitive task. In view of the fact that the nature of task demand makes a qualitative difference in initiating the activity and level of processing it appeared reasonable to examine the variation in perceived self efficacy judgments in a task involving recall and reorganization of past experiences. This experiment, therefore attempted to examine the effects of outcome and type of attribution on self efficacy judgments about cognitive task.

It had a 2×2 factorial design with 2 types of outcome (success/failure) and 2 types of attribution (effort/ability). There were 10 subjects in each cell of the design. A sample of 40 tribal students (20 males and 20 females, mean age= 23.80 years) drawn from tribal hostels at Bhopal participated in the study. They came largely from lower middle class socio economic background. All these participants belonged to the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. These subjects were randomly assigned to the four experimental conditions of the design.

The cognitive task was based on a test developed by Educational Testing Service (1975). It consisted of a questionnaire devised to test how many ideas the subject could think of about a particular topic. They could use phrases to express each idea. The participants were given a sample topic, “A train journey”. Five minutes were allocated for both the tasks of this measure. The 2 topics selected for the final measure were- (i) A man going up a ladder; (ii) A man crossing a stream

Results

The self efficacy judgment of subjects under pre-test and post-test conditions is reported in table1. The subjects widely differed in their judgments under the pre-test and post-test conditions. The obtained scores on the measure of self efficacy judgments ranged from 10% to 100%.

Discussion

The results of the present study reveal that the perception of capabilities of an individual in itself is a critical factor in determining performances. Several environmental factors and personal experiences about individual performance shape the judgement of self-efficacy bracket. Further outcome feedback in forms the individual that his or her performance is showing high or low competence in a given task such information are utilised in the process of formulating their self-efficacy. Success or failure has generally been found to be related to increment or decrement in self-efficacy judgement. This study in addition indicates that individual differences and past experiences shape the judgements about self-efficacy.

The self-efficacy judgement in relation to performance on a complex cognitive task reveals important line of findings that is gain loss and no change influence due to outcome feedback. Individual level analysis of data shows a positive effect of success and negative effect of failure. It seems that the experience of outcome interacts with individual expectancies and that people moderate their outcome expectancies in the line of outcome experience because outcomes are indicators of feasibility or boundary conditions and provide picture of possibilities.

While assessing the effect of attribution, four treatment conditions emerged out with the combination of outcome and type of attribution namely success-effort, success-ability failure (lack of effort), and effort-failure (lack of ability). It was found that the effect of attribution was low on the given task. The results further showed that effort attribution were more damaging than ability attribution under failure conditions. In addition relatively greater deterioration under failure lack of effort condition was observed than failure lack of ability conditions and the difference between effort and ability attributions under success condition did not show much difference.

No significant effect of attribution could be seen in the present study. However, results seem to indicate that effort attribution is important for complex failure. Further, the present study does not provide any idea about the way various information is integrated by the individuals, in forming and moderating self-efficacy judgements. But it can be speculated that outcome feedback provides information about the level of performance while attribution provides interpretations of the individual performance linkage. Thus, the self-efficacy judgement appears to be consequence of cognitive as well as motivational processes.

References

1. Bandura, A., (1977). The social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
2. Bandura, A. (1981). Self-referent thoughts: A developmental analysis of self efficacy. In V.H. Flawell & L. Ross (Eds.), Social cognitive development. Frontiers and possible futures. Cambridge University Press, 200-239
3. Bandura, A. (1982). Self efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologists. 37,122-147
4. Bandura, A. (1997). Self efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman
5. Meichenbaum, D. (1997). Cognitive behavior modification: An integrative approach, New York: Pleaun Press.
6. Sarasan, I.G. (1975). Anxiety and self preoccupation. In I.G. Sarasan and C.D. Spielberger (Eds.). Stress and anxiety (Vol.2) Washington, D.C. Hemisphere.
7. Slovic, P., Fischhoff, B. & Lichtenstein, S. (M) Behavioural decision theory. In M.R. Rosenzweig & L.W. Porter (Eds.). Annual review of psychology (Vol.23). Polo Alto, Calif: Annual reviews.
8. Slovic, P. & Lichtenstein, S. (1971) Comparison of Bayesion and regression approaches to the study of information processing in judgment. Organisational behavior and human performance, 8, 649-744

This essay will explore the influence postnatal depression may have on an infant’s cognitive and motor development, and whether the infant’s behaviours may be affected according to the way the mother interacts with the child. It is common for some mothers to experience postnatal depression (PND) both during their pregnancy and after childbirth. Postnatal depression can sometimes be confused for the “baby blues” which are mood symptoms, 30-80% may experience such issues after child birth and it can develop between the second or third day of child birth(Jones and Shakespeare, 2014).

A lot of research is conducted on how postnatal depression may affect the mother and how the mother interacts with her child, however, research on how this affects the depressed mother’s child can sometimes be overlooked or not specified enough. It is obvious through several studies that a depressed mother interacts and behaves with her child in different ways than a non-depressed mother would, this can eventually take a toll on the child and cause changes in their own behaviour and how they may develop through cognitive and motor aspects. PND affects more than 1 in 10 women, such symptoms may include low mood and energy, less social, finding it hard to bond with the child and difficulty sleeping(Postnatal depression – NHS,2018). Depressed mothers are reportedly more negative and less sensitive in mother-infant interactions, displaying more flat and tense expressions than non-depressed mothers(Korja et al., 2008). A mother with high levels of depression may experience symptoms which could interfere her interactions with her child. She could be unable to manage such feelings of worthlessness and guilt, resulting in either emotional withdrawal or intrusiveness. Infants with mothers who are depressed are more likely to have decreased positive, engaging and dependent behaviours and less easy-to-read cues(Foss, Hirose and Barnard, 1999).

Research suggests postnatal depression can affect the development of the child, depending on the duration of the depressive symptoms and how serious the case may be. Lyons-Ruth et al had found higher levels of maternal depression were associated at one year to decreased infant cognitive and motor development, this was estimated using the Bayley scales(Herrera, Reissland and Shepherd, 2004). Mothers experiencing postnatal depression are less connected to their child and do not respond well to infant cues, this affects the child as they are “withdrawn from maternal contact”(Murray, Cooper and Stein, 1991). Follow up studies of postpartum samples have found that infants of postnatal depressed mothers were more likely to be insecure through an assessment of their relationship with their mothers, than those with non-depressed mothers(Murray, Cooper and Stein, 1991). There have already been several studies covering the affect of postnatal depression on child development, however it is argued that children with non-depressed mothers can also experience negative effects on child development, so it is much more difficult to distinguish the two when trying to measure the affects of postnatal depressed mothers. Children that are exposed to maternal depression during the pregnancy stage and the postnatal period can be at higher risk of health, well-being and developmental problems. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children found that developmental delays were noted at 18 months for the offspring of prenatally depressed women (Deave, Heron, Evons, & Edmond, 2008). In relation to this, a recent met-analysis reported that exposures to maternal depression in the postnatal period is associated with impaired child cognitive abilities and problems with emotional development (Liu et al, 2016). To further support this, findings suggest that children with delays in general development had mothers with lower maternal prenatal attachments levels. Studies suggest that it is not only the postnatal depression that can affect the child’s motor and cognitive development as it can also develop before the child is born, affecting their relationship and attachment with the mother(Arguz Cildir et al., 2019). A study conducted to measure the effects of postnatal depression on prolonged crying, which is when an infant cries excessively after three months of age, in infants. It has previously been associated with increased risk of hyperactivity and having lower levels in intelligence scores later in life. Those selected for the study were healthy, singleton and term infants who were born between October 1, 2002 and July 31, 2004. During their first 8 weeks of life, the infants were registered and were either to a high or low protein group or were include in an observational group of breastfed infants. Throughout study visits completed 2 and 6 months after birth, mothers of the infants were told to complete the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and answer several questions concerning the infant’s behaviours, including unexplained crying. Mothers were asked If their child cried up to three hours a day on at least three days per week. This excessive crying was labelled as infant colic if recorded 2 months after birth, and prolonged crying 6 months after birth. The results of this study indicated that twenty mothers had high EPDS scores throughout both 2 and 6 months after birth. Two months after birth, mothers of infants with colic had increased odds of having high EPDS scores compared with mothers of children without colic. Six months after delivery, 8 of the 22 mothers of infants with prolonged crying had high EPDS scores. Overall, results indicate that mothers who suffer with postnatal depression may have an infant at higher risk of infantile colic, even if symptoms of colic are fixed. As well as this, prolonged crying is a higher risk for infants with depressed mothers both 2 and 6 months after delivery(Loh and Vostanis, 2004). Field et al. (1988) stated that infants with depressed mothers show “depressed behaviour” even when interacting with non-depressed female adults, this research suggests the infant develops a generalised depressive style of interaction. Unfortunately, the results are confounding due to the infant not being familiar with the stranger, which may be the result of their depressive and uncomfortable state. A present study is conducted again but instead replacing the non-depressed stranger to their non-depressed familiar teachers in 3-minute episodes. Results indicate that there was improvement in behaviour when interacting with their familiar teacher instead of their mother, suggesting that infants’ low-level activity and depressive style were linked to interactions with their mother and not generalised to others who they are familiar with(Pelaez-Nogueras et al., 1994). This data suggests that postnatally depressed mother can affect an infant’s motor and cognitive development however it does not generalise to every individual the infant is familiar with and therefore it is not a permanent affect that will change their interactions with everybody.

Arguably, there could be several factors involved which can affect the development of a child and it does not rely solely on the fact the mother may suffer with postnatal depression. For example, family poverty can play a part in the child’s development, affecting the child’s abilities and achievements. Research suggests there is a distinctive difference between higher and lower income children in terms of the home environment such as, access to a library card, reading to the child, learning-oriented toys and use of “developmentally appropriate activities”. As well as this, the value of care a child receives outside of home is important in their development. Research claims quality, developmentally appropriate childcare in the toddler and pre-school years is related with enhanced social, emotional and linguistic competence for low and middle-income children(Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 2000).

To conduct an experiment on postnatal depressed mothers and the influence of their depressed behaviour on their child’s motor and cognitive development, parental consent must be considered for each child. Mothers must be debriefed beforehand, also making them aware they are able to leave the study at any given time. The research will be conducted on 200 depressed and 200 non-depressed mothers from across the UK who are already diagnosed with postnatal depression. They will be given the questionnaire to complete, these questions will involve both cognitive and motor characteristics of a normal child and the mother will tick which milestones or characteristics their child may be lacking. For example, one question would be if their child is remaining calm through long periods of time without excessive crying or feelings of distress. The method most reliable and consistent to use for the measurement of the child’s cognitive development would be the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID). The questionnaire will be completed 2 months after birth and one year after birth to distinguish the behaviour changes in the child and confirm if the behaviours are still the same after a period.

Results from the study will indicate that mothers who are diagnosed with postnatal depression will have an infant who is more likely to be negatively influenced in terms of cognitive and motor development compared to children whose mothers do not suffer from postnatal depression and experienced a positive pregnancy.

References

1. Arguz Cildir, D. et al. (2019) ‘Association of prenatal attachment and early childhood emotional, behavioral, and developmental characteristics: A longitudinal study’, Infant Mental Health Journal, p. imhj.21822. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21822.
2. Duncan, G. J. and Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000) ‘Family Poverty, Welfare Reform, and Child Development’, Child Development, 71(1), pp. 188–196. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00133.
3. Foss, L. A., Hirose, T. and Barnard, K. E. (1999) ‘Relationship of three types of parent-child interaction in depressed and non-depressed mothers and their children’s mental development at 13 months’, Nursing and Health Sciences, 1(4), pp. 211–219. doi: 10.1046/j.1442-2018.1999.00026.x.
4. Herrera, E., Reissland, N. and Shepherd, J. (2004) ‘Maternal touch and maternal child-directed speech: Effects of depressed mood in the postnatal period’, Journal of Affective Disorders, 81(1), pp. 29–39. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2003.07.001.
5. Jones, I. and Shakespeare, J. (2014) ‘Postnatal depression’, BMJ (Online). BMJ Publishing Group. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g4500.
6. Korja, R. et al. (2008) ‘Maternal depression is associated with mother–infant interaction in preterm infants’, Acta Paediatrica, 97(6), pp. 724–730. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.00733.x.
7. Loh, C.-C. and Vostanis, P. (2004) ‘Perceived mother-infant relationship difficulties in postnatal depression’, Infant and Child Development, 13(2), pp. 159–171. doi: 10.1002/icd.347.
8. Murray, L., Cooper, P. J. and Stein, A. (1991) ‘Postnatal depression and infant development’, British Medical Journal, pp. 978–979. doi: 10.1136/bmj.302.6783.978.
9. Pelaez-Nogueras, M. et al. (1994) ‘Infants of depressed mothers show less “depressed” behavior with their nursery teachers’, Infant Mental Health Journal, 15(4), pp. 358–367. doi: 10.1002/1097-0355(199424)15:43.0.CO;2-U.
10. Postnatal depression – NHS (no date). Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/post-natal-depression/ (Accessed: 27 December 2019).

According to (Leahy and Gradisar 2010), 40% of children aged between four and eleven have struggled with some form of sleep issue, even if this is for a short amount of time. Sleep is essential for humans at all ages; without adequate sleep, we would be unable to survive. According to Meijer et al. (2008), in European countries the average time for a child aged 11- 12 to sleep is 9 – 10 hours. However, there are many studies that I shall be discussing in this essay that document children getting a lot less sleep than this. It is clear to see that it is complex to study the effects of sleep on children due to ethical and moral implications of sleep deprivation and the effects that it has on the body. In this essay, I am going to discuss what happens when children (defined as anyone up to the age of 18) do not get enough sleep. I shall look at the immediate but also the possible long-term effects of sleep deprivation on the individual, comparing both mental and physical symptoms, as well as the impact that it can have on those around them.

The sleep needs of children differ with age and therefore the developmental stage that they are at. Generally, as we progress through our lives, the amount of sleep that we get decreases. It is more common for elderly people to wake up in the night, probably due to decreased levels of melatonin; a hormone responsible for helping us to go to, and stay asleep (Ohayon et al. 2004). Humans run on a 24-hour sleep cycle, generally spending waking hours in the daylight and sleeping through the night. Newly born children therefore struggle to adapt to this due to being in constant darkness in their mother’s womb. When a child is born they will generally sleep a lot and may seem to not have very established sleeping patterns. This can be very challenging for new parents as they will be experiencing much disrupted sleep. However, by sixteen weeks it is expected that a baby will sleep for six hours continuously, continuing to transition into a regular sleep cycle (Feldman, 2006). According to Oswold (2004), around 20% of our sleep is REM (rapid eye movement). During this time our temperature regulation is impaired, therefore the body can sometimes become cold or sweaty. Cerebral blood flow is increased and this is the time in which eye movements are rapid and an individual may have vivid dreams. According to Stores (2009), a hormone that is responsible for growth is linked to NREM (non- rapid eye movement) sleep. Therefore, if sleep is being disrupted regularly a child may not be able to fully grow or develop.

Dewald et al. (2012) conducted a meta-analytic review on sleep quality, duration, and its effects on the education of children. Through looking at many different studies and drawing a collective conclusion they were able to analyse a greater amount of data to try to draw more accurate conclusions. It was noted by Mercer (1998) and Gibson (2006) that adolescents and children generally need an average of eight hours sleep per night, however, 45% of the group that they studied only managed to sleep eight or less hours a night. They also noted that there are biological factors such as puberty that affect the body, and therefore need to be taken into account when looking at an adolescent’s sleep. It is also noted that bed times are generally getting later, however getting up times are staying the same, therefore meaning that sleep is being lost (Pagel, 2007).

Fallone (2002) concluded that the processes that happen within our brain overnight are linked to the change in physical and emotional feelings and performance, as well as cognitive ability. They also found that the most noticeable side effect of lack of sleep within children is increased sleepiness. This therefore meaning that the child is less aware and alert, particularly in certain areas of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex (Dahl, 1996). This can therefore be linked to less cognitive ability and functioning. From this information we are able to see that this is why a child may start to struggle to keep up in school. With an impaired cognitive ability, the child may find it hard to remember information or think logically about the things that they are learning. This could cause them to fall behind within their peer group and therefore their learning development may slow down. Another issue that may arise is that the child may struggle to remain focused. This can impact on a whole class, if some members of are not able to concentrate the teachers may need to spend more time making sure that they are listening or working effectively (Dahl, 1996).

Rimpelä and Rimpelä (1983) studied the effects of lack of sleep on a group of Finnish children. They found that roughly 10% of the children struggled to fall asleep and had regularly disrupted sleep. This lead to increased tiredness in the morning and subsequently was linked to a lower academic performance at school. Dahl (1996) concluded that poor sleep in children caused by lack of sleep or from being woken up throughout the night caused many difficulties for children, for example issues with maintaining attention, emotional issues such as being irrational and having low resilience to upset or anger. These findings have been backed up by the research of Curcio et al. (2006), showing a link between poor sleep and poor educational consequences. There has been discussion as to whether the timings of the school day should be pushed back in order to compensate for the fact that during adolescence, sleeping patterns change. This includes later sleep and therefore later waking as a consequence (Hagenauer et al. 2009). Many educational settings believe that adolescents are just choosing to stay up late and therefore this is why they can be irritable or unwilling to learn in the morning, however according to Stickgold (2005), sleep and the amount a person has had can play a large role in long term memory and the way in which we learn information. Edwards (2012) analysed different start times in schools of a large cohort due to changes in transport to and from school. It was found that the pupils that started school an hour later had a 2% gain in mathematics scores across the school. This was also similar for other subjects such as English and reading.

Moreira and Pradella-Hallinan (2017) discussed the possible reasons that children did not get enough sleep. They concluded that many other issues such as chronic pain, movement disorder and sleep disordered breathing are all things that could effect the quality of sleep that a child is getting and that this therefore could predispose a child to daytime sleepiness. Due to some children becoming hyperactive due to lack of sleep and their arousal mechanisms going into overdrive, children may start to exhibit signs of behavioural issues. They may start to become easily irritated or struggle to regulate their mood. This can cause an array of different issues for the child. For example, they might start to struggle in social settings, for example at school. Irritability and lack of emotional regulation can also be present in a child’s home life and could lead to issues regarding parental or sibling relationships. If a child starts to feel isolated this could lead to bad mood and could cause the child emotional instability, perhaps predisposing the child to be more affected by mental health issues.

According to Willis and Gregory (2015), there is a connection between sleep and anxiety for children and adolescents. It has been recorded by Alfano et al. (2010) that from a sample group of 7 -14 year olds that struggled with an anxiety disorder, 85% of them suffered with some significant kind of sleep disorder. Alfano et al. (2007) also studied children with diagnosable clinical anxiety and found that 88% were found to have one sleep related problem, these included nightmares and issues falling asleep or sleeping by themselves. It is, however, important to state that although sleep and anxiety are linked together there is no significant evidence showing which causes the other.

In order to draw concrete conclusions, it is important to assess other areas of a child’s life, for example their parent’s mental health and their family environment. Gregory et al (2005) studied the long term effects of childhood sleep issues and concluded that from studying a sample of 5-9-year-old children that reported to have ongoing sleep issues, 46% went on to develop an anxiety disorder. There are however, other studies to suggest that sleep issues are just a by product of anxiety or depression and that lack of sleep does not contribute as a leading causation factor. For example, Johnson et al (2000) looked at cross sectional analysis about the correlation of children not getting enough sleep and the risk of depression or anxiety setting in. He concluded that children suffering with sleep related issues at the age of six were no more likely to be struggling with anxiety or depression aged eleven.

Anxiety through lack of sleep can cause many issues for a child. If sleep issues remain undiagnosed a child may seem to be completely ‘healthy’ in all other aspects of their life and therefore clinicians may struggle to diagnose the root of the issue. Heightened anxiety can cause social issues for children; they may struggle to interact with their peers and may find it hard to integrate within a school environment. A child may also struggle to vocalise their feelings of anxiety and it may come across as aggression or misbehaviour, leading to family relationships being strained. This can mean that in extreme cases parents may be more likely to exert physical punishments (Quine,1992).

Gangwisch et al. (2010) studied the impact of parent regulation and control around setting bedtimes for children and adolescents. They found that adolescents who were not set regulated bed times by their parents or who were allowed to go to bed at 12am or later were 24% more likely to suffer with depression. Furthermore, they were also 20% more like to have suicidal thoughts or tendencies compared to their peers that were going to bed before or around 10pm, due to their parent’s involvement in their bed time. It is clinically documented that a side effect of depression can be a lack of healthy sleep (Allgöwer et al., 2001). This may include difficulty falling asleep, waking early or a child spending too much time sleeping; waking up not feeling refreshed. The link between parent set bedtimes and the likelihood of the onset of depression or suicidal tendencies are primarily drawn on the concept that non parent regulated bedtimes mean that children and adolescents are getting to sleep later, however are still waking up for school at the same time as those who have parent regulated bedtimes and have gone to sleep much earlier. This therefore meaning that sleep time is considerably shortened. This shortened sleep pattern is therefore considered to be linked towards these depressive tendencies.

A child’s lack of sleep can also be linked to physical health issues, an example of this is a link with obesity (Jiang et al., 2009). Sleep plays a large part in energy metabolisms and the way in which food is processed (Spiegel, 2009). It also helps to control how the appetite regulating hormones are created (Spiegel, 2004). If sleep is disturbed or children are not getting adequate sleep this can cause these systems to preform differently. An example of this is that children may not be able to regulate their appetite as well, leading to over-eating. Jiang et al. (2009) found that the less sleep that a child had or a poor sleeping pattern (frequent waking) were linked to eating behaviours increasing and therefore as a result, overeating. This study looked at children of a healthy weight and therefore shows that this link is prevalent in all children, regardless of the weight that they are. Therefore showing that this may be associated with obesity as they grow up.

If a child does not get enough sleep they therefore may be more likely to over eat and become overweight or obese. In the UK in 2016/17 almost a quarter of children were overweight or obese by the time they start school (age 4-5) and over one third of children were overweight or obese by the time they were in year 6 (age 10-11) (NCMP, NHS 2016/17). Obesity can cause many detrimental effects on the body, both mentally and physically. According to Lee (2009), obese children are around 3 times more likely to suffer with cardiovascular problems such as hypertension (high blood pressure) than children of a healthy weight. It has also been documented that a higher BMI (body mass index) in childhood is linked to an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease later in life (Baker, 2007). Another notable consequence that comes from childhood obesity is the psychological or emotional problems that a child may face (Lee, 2009). According to Richardson et al. (1961), obese children were generally ranked as being the least desired friends. This could lead to bullying or social isolation. Psychological issues can progress into adulthood too, those who were obese as children are more likely to report lack of confidence and a poor body image. These rates are higher if an individual becomes obese during childhood, due to the concept that many feelings around self esteem and body confidence or image are developed through mid childhood (Monello and Mayer, 1963).

Sleep patterns change during adolescence, this can be due to the fact that during this period there is lots of emotional, physical and cognitive changes happening (Wolfson and Carskadon, 1998). There are studies to show that a reduced amount of sleep can impact on cognitive thinking ability (Thorpy et al., 1988), and subsequently that children and adolescents who do not get enough sleep do not perform as well in school (Allen, 1992). According to Morrison et al. (1992), adolescents that are not getting enough sleep or that are having sleep disturbances are more likely to suffer with attention issues, they are also more likely to feel anxious, depressed or to suffer with conduct related behavioural issues. Czeisler (2009) found that the most common time for adolescents to have driving related incidents is in the morning. This can be linked towards increased sleepiness and attention issues that arise due to lack of sleep. A school in Kentucky in the US moved school times an hour later and students generally recorded sleeping an hour longer due to going to bed at the same time that they normally would. The rate for driving related incidents for drivers in the school district went down by 16.5% (Danner and Phillips, 2008). This shows that even up to an hour of extra sleep can have positive outcomes for the safety of young people.

Due to the reduction in cognitive function that is related to lack of sleep, combined with the detrimental affects that sleep difficulties or reduction have on mood, it has been thought that a lack of sleep may be linked to an adolescent being more likely to take part in risk taking behaviours. According to a study by Irwin & Millstein (1986), risk taking behaviours are those that can increase the risk of mortality. Examples include, heavy alcohol use, smoking and dangerous sexual health practices. In this study it has been found that those who slept less on school nights were the group that drank the most alcohol. It was also found that those who had the biggest difference between the amount they slept on school nights, compared to weekends, were reported to partake in more risk-taking behaviour and also had a lower performance at school. There are, however, also other risk factors that can cause a child to partake in these activities, for example the dynamic and attitudes of their peer group or the way that they are parented (O’Brien and Mindell, 2005).

To conclude, there are many issues that can arise when a child does not get enough sleep. Key factors that I have discovered in this essay are the link between lack of sleep and cognitive function, and how this could affect a child’s ability to learn and perform in school. I have also spoken about links between physical and mental health issues, with examples being depression, anxiety and obesity. It is clear that not only is the length of sleep important when studying these links, but also the quality of sleep and the amount of disturbances that occur throughout the night. It is important to study sleep and the effects this can have on children due to the vast amount of physical and psychological effects that it may have a correlation with, most importantly noting the effects of long term sleep deprivation. Generally, an individual is able to recover from an infrequent bad night’s sleep, however issues start to arise when this becomes a regular occurrence. It is also important to realise that sleep disorders may be hard to diagnose; for example, bedtime anxiousness is hard to quantify and therefore scale. We must realise, however, that many of the issues I have addressed in the essay are linked to lack of sleep, but this does not mean that sleep is their only cause, therefore other social, environmental and physical factors must also be addressed in order to draw accurate and valid conclusions.

Throughout all of the videos, there were three major concepts that played a major role in the students learning, how they learned as well as the environment in which learning took place. With this in mind, behaviourist views on learning, cognitive explanations on learning and the humanistic approach to education and learning are the three pillars that make up a good foundation for students to learn at their full potential. These three concepts have underlying theories that contribute to learning for students in different environments.

Cognitive Explanation of Learning

A students growth into his/her schooling years relies greatly on cognitive, social, emotional and physical development during younger years and how the students learning is approached by the teacher and student. There are two major theories that play a role in cognitive development, Jean Piaget and Lev Semanovich Vygotsky. Cognitive development could be described as “the mental process involved in understanding and recalling information.” (Sue Duchesne, Anne McMaugh, 2019, pp.97) In reference to video one, cognitive development is evident through the self-regulated ad active learning of the students by raising the question of what they would like to learn through the term. Knowing what the students would like to learn will help build on their existing knowledge of, for example, that boats float. By giving the students a say in what they learn helps them to fully understand the new knowledge and build onto it as they grow and learn, cognitive development is demonstrated in video one by asking the students “what did you learn?” and “where did you find out how to spell Mia’s name?” Piaget draws on the concept of building knowledge through experience. The concept of learning this way is present in video two when the students are given the opportunity to carry out their own experiments in class with a partner, allowing each student to learn through their own experiment and the outcomes thereof. Constructivism is also greatly presented in video 2 by the presence of students making up their own hypotheses before doing the experiments to establish a connection between known materials in unknown environments. “Vygotsky’s theories have turned this focus upside down by emphasizing the role of the greater community and the role of significant others in learning.”(M Gail Jones & Laura Brader-Araje, 2005, pp. 4) For example, which form of sugar would dissolve faster and why? With this in mind, students build on the existing knowledge that sugar does dissolve into the water but raised the question of what impacts the rate at which the sugar dissolves. By asking the students to recall their information and where they got it from helps them learn from each other, therefore allowing the students to play an active role in their learning and development. Vygotsky argued that leaning could lead to development in education. “Vygotsky’s ideas about the way in which our social, cultural and historical background and experiences shape cognition…”(Duchesne & McMaugh, 2019, pp. 121) Reflecting on video 3, the zone of proximal development is evident when the students are able to write but not without a teachers helping hand of guidance, as seen in the video the student is asked to write out a sentence and does so independently but does not write to a certain, set standard and therefore requires the teachers assistance to improve is writing skills. Scaffolding is the idea of giving support to students to enable them to do a certain task successfully and more independently. “Learning through teacher.”(LeBlanc & Bearison, 2004, pp.513) Therefore, through the experience of constantly writing, he has introduced higher mental functions along with Bruner’s notion of scaffolding in order to re-learn how to write along with the new skill of being able to write neatly. In video three, there are also traces of information processing, specifically sensory memory, “sensory memory stores new information, which enters via the sensory register through the five senses…” (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2019, pp.135) Once again drawing on the writing aspect of this video, the boy has taken in the new information by listening to what is expected of him and seeing how it should be done. “Experiences that are difficult to articulate or might otherwise remain undiscovered can potentially be elicited through various visual techniques.”(Anna Harris & Marilys Guillemin, 2001, pp.9) This statement highlights that if a student struggles with something, it will be brought to the teachers attention through sensory indicators and this statement argues that many of the challenges that students face can be addressed through visual or verbal techniques, such as demonstrated in video three.

Behavioural Views on Learning

Behaviourism has been identified as the effects on learning with external events, there are four theorists which saw behaviourism as something that was easily taught to students through stimuli, both conditioned and unconditioned. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Edward Thorndike. Classical conditioning is defined by the theorist Pavlov as the automatic response with a new stimulus, as seen in video 3, the students are to line up outside of class before being let in and then having to line up to be marked present at school that day. It cannot be ignored that “1,2,3 looking at me” accompanied by hand clapping could be seen as classical conditioning because it is an automatic response for the students to look where the new sound is coming from as well as gives the teacher an indication of who is listening. Operant thinking is also evident in video 3 with the presence of a teacher re-teaching a student how to write, this could be seen as operant thinking due to the fact that the student would always struggle with writing if the teacher had not decided to help him out. “Operant thinking is the use of positive or negative consequences to strengthen or weaken voluntary behaviour” (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2019, pp. 226) The law of trial and error, introduced by Thorndike plays a part in operant thinking by using rewards to get a certain result. Although the teacher does not use a specific reward to the student to achieve better handwriting, it was a personal goal of the student to achieve higher and better. It is portrayed in the video that the teacher sets out a guideline for the student to follow as well as adhering to a strict schedule of practice. The teacher draws on both the law of effect and the law of exercise to ensure constant and gradual improvement in the student and their goals. Drawing on video 3, the concept of reinforcement is carried through by the students who struggle with emotional baggage and who do not receive the support needed from their parents. As seen in the video there was a girl, Monique, who struggled to get enough sleep during the night and therefore resulted in her losing out on a morning of learning at school. However the teachers got monique to change her behaviour towards sleep and schooling could be argued as shaping and positive reinforcement by explaining the importance of sleep. For example, because you have had enough sleep, you are able to work to the best of your ability. Furthermore, the power of positive reinforcement and contingency is practiced when students produce work of a certain level to keep the students motivated and ensure that they feel appreciated.

Humanistic Views on Leaning

Video 3 draws on both behaviourism and humanistic views towards learning. With regard to humanistic views on learning, both Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers highlight the factors and impacts on education through experience and the needs of students. In video three, the students are from a demographically poor area that would impact their humanistic needs to a certain extent, the school provides the basic physiological need of food to ensure that the students are well fed and ready to learn and absorb new information. The students also idolize the school as a safe area and an area of acceptance. This is demonstrated through the acceptance of all students regardless of their abilities or barriers, in the video there is a younger student who previously struggled with his anger but soon learned how to control his emotions by washing his face. “when I get angry, I get very hot and I use the water to cool down.” It could be argued that a cognitive need and belongingness need was fulfilled in the hierarchy of human needs. In relation to John Dewey’s concept of progressive education, a child-centered approach is evident by checking-in on students and their emotional well being, as seen in video three with the emotional board which allows teachers to check-in and evaluate the well being of the student. Furthermore, by ensuring the students have their basic needs met and that the school is seen as a safe learning environment the students will benefit to a greater extent which is evident in the test ratings in that school. Throughout all of these videos cooperative learning is present through group learning as well as a teacher being present to monitor their progress as an individual and as a group.

Therefore, in conclusion, it cannot be ignored that throughout all of the videos there is a greater presence of behavioural views, humanistic views and cognitive views on learning. All of these concepts play a major role towards a child’s development and their further growth through school, by having set aims and goals for the students, it will enable the students to participate in their learning at their own pace once and if their basic needs are met. If schooling were to employ all three concepts at an optimum level, there would be an increase in student results, scoring of the school as a whole regardless of demographic area and willingness to learn from the students. Although learning is seen as a two way street from teacher to the student it cannot be ignored that there are undoubtedly other impacts and factors which would either hamper or assist in learning from other sides. Teachers learn as much from their students s what their students learn from them. (find a quote for that ) Having done some reflection on how I used to view teachers and the way things were being done in my schooling career. Being raised in a foreign country with at least 40 students in a class with one teacher and being placed in rows according to your surname, it became second nature for us, students, to do our own work and never ask questions out loud. It was always a given that if you didn’t understand what was done in class, come to extra lessons or find a tutor. Although I could not fault this system I can now say that there are other, greater ways of approaching large groups of students. For example, group learning by sitting in groups of 4 to 5 students to help the students reflect and justify each other. This being said, it will also raise to the self-confidence of certain students to no longer be afraid of asking questions as well as being able to form meaningful bonds with peers.

Bibliography

1. LeBlanc, G. & Bearison, D.J (2004) Teaching and learning as a bi-directional activity https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f674/80594ca2ab46e25777653a8cc4f05fbe3135.pdf
2. https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/30576493/Developing_Sensory_Awareness.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1555045743&Signature=AOP2IBAQN75F4RGg4NtdpcreYj4%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DDeveloping_sensory_awareness_in_qualitat.pdf