Cognitive Development Essay

Social cognition is dealing with thoughts and beliefs about the social world. Social cognition allows the focus about oneself and people. Some aspect examples are thoughts, desires, and emotions. Social-cognitive development understanding can be a positive achievement for a child in child development. Social cognitive development allows a child to explore and figure out how things work. Jean Piaget had thoughts about how development is a â€Å"general process† and it allows children to have way of thinking that is useful bout the development of social cognition. Piaget suggested that during infancy, reality begins primarily at the start of the child and his or her actions actions and the outside environment. From this starting point, development proceeds both inward, allowing children to gain a better understanding of themselves, and outward, allowing them to gain a better understanding of the broader world. (Siegler, 2005) Social cognitive development is view in a way that children do not learn from influences of the environment but can often learn and use behavior due to their own personal thoughts, motivation, feelings and actions. While observing children, something to think about are consequences and examples of setting performance goals. This can be a great way to set up boundaries for children. Also these are just a few example of how social cognitive theory function. This theory can also be split up into three different but equally valid components: observational learning, self-efficacy and self- regulation. (Wood, 1989) â€Å"Observational learning is the process of learning through observing, imitating and reflecting from the behavior of others. In most cases, observational learning occurs when someone examines the actions of another and reflects upon the other and their consequences† (Ngai, 2007). Depending on the type of consequence in the action that was performed, the child that is observing can imitate that behavior. The child observing can perform the behavior in a positive or negative way. Observational learning can be seen as reinforcement but it is self-reinforcement that the child can perform. An example is a group of 4 and 5 year olds are experimenting in the dramatic play area and another child comes along to interact with the group that had been watching their interactions from afar. That child is most likely to follow their ways and choices because he has observed it. In second component of social cognitive theory is self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the belief that a child is capable to perform task successfully and complete the task as well. Self-efficacy in a child’s view can take place and their actions can be affected by past experiences or from prior knowledge they have gained. Self-efficacy is not a strong trait component but is affected by experiences and past successes while performing the specific task. â€Å"Self- efficacy is also influenced by perceiving others performing the task, verbal persuasion, encouragement and one’s physical and/or mental state† (Wood, 1989) . An example is a child that sets a goal for them to achieve and they reach that goal. They then have that self- fulfillment. There can be a down side and the low self- esteem can come in if a child does not reach the goal intended. The last component of the social cognitive theory is self-regulation. Self- Regulation is to apply the learning principles and adjusting to the behavior that was learned. Self- regulation involves two things. Observation and then actions should be compared. When a child meets the behavior intended or if the behavior is exceeded then they can feel this self-reward fulfillment. It is a way to manage one’s own behavior with little external influences. An example of self- regulation is the dos and don’ts for a child. For a child, the ‘dos’ include doing things or finishing things they really do not want to do. ‘Don’ts’ include stopping themself from doing something they want to do. Children deal with ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ in very different ways. (Wood, 1989) Piaget stated that young children and their way of thinking are characterized by egocentrism. He also stated that children can have difficulty in separating their own perspective from that of what they observe from others. Preschool children can often conclude that the way that other children or people think or feel or wish exactly what they do, which is common in their social-cognitive understanding. â€Å"Subsequent research has demonstrated that Piaget somewhat underestimated young children’s perspective-taking abilities. His work did identify a central challenge in any social-cognitive activity which is separating one’s own viewpoint from that of others† (Ngai, 2007). When it comes to young children, there are two important tasks they are capable of facing. One is learning how to communicate. Children can have a hard time expressing how they feel or what they want. Sometimes children express how they feel only through their emotions instead of using their words. The next hard thing children are capable of facing is learning how to think about themselves and the social world around them. Children can be one sided and only want what they want and not think about any consequence that can occur in the environment around them. The more that they communicate in language the better their social cognition can develop and grow. This also allows for more peer and social interactions. A goal for early child development that continues to grow and that is important is that children are continuing to develop and are able to role play with other children and subconsciously they are actively constructing their own knowledge. In social learning theory, behavior can be explained in a three-ways. The first theory is called dynamic theory. This is when influences in the environment, personal factors and behavior that is performed will continue to interact. Something basic in the social learning theory is that children learn from their experiences and they also learn from their observations and actions of the other children or people around them. â€Å"Like Piaget, in the 1970s, Albert Bandura published a comprehensive framework for understanding human behavior, based on a cognitive formulation which he named the social cognitive theory† (Valkenburg, 2004). Children that have special needs or cognitive impairment should be able to have the same privileges as children that do not have any special needs. They can be successful in school and live normal fulfilling lives. They may just need a bit of individual help in learning new things. Children with special needs or cognitive impairment may need extra time, things repeated to them and the right kind of modeling behavior to help them learn the skills they need to know to live a normal fulfilling life. Practice can help them master these skills that may seem simple but are difficult to those children. Skills that may seem simple and easy to people without disabilities can be done with people with cognitive impairment. Skills such as learning appropriate hygiene, how to be safe and how to use manners are made possible. Encouragement should be promoted to these children that have a social impairment because independence can be learned, they can have progress in their development and they are learning new skills. Keep in mind that patience is required and any extra time needed. The same things can apply to the children that have special needs but their scenarios will be a little different because we will not know specific kind of need needs to be addressed. Children that have special needs can gain the same credibility. It is best if educators and parents collaborate to help children with cognitive impairment. Children with learning disabilities may experience difficulties encoding and interpreting social cues. They may be less competent than non-disabled students in understanding and interpreting social cues. Children with learning disabilities may also experience difficulty with development process of social cognition, wherein the variety of solutions proposed by these children is less than that of their normative comparison peers. â€Å"For instance, in studies involving roleplaying measures of social problem-solving skills, children and adolescents with learning disabilities may experience more difficulty with generating alternative solutions to hypothetical social situations than their peers without learning disabilities (Tur-Kaspa, 2002). Toro, Weissberg, Guare, and Liebenstein (1990) obtained a similar finding when they compared the social problem solving skills of children with learning disabilities to non-learning disabled peers† (Ngai, 2007). When simple tasks are broken down into steps that may seem more simple, this will children that have a social impairment learn easier. An example is something as simple as getting dressed. If steps are explained to the child like first put your shirt on, button it, put you pants on and then put on your belt. When the belt is on, then it is time for socks and shoes. These repeating steps can be demonstrated verbally and physically to help the child with the social impairment learn the skill. It is encouraged to give positive praise and support for the child as well. Always give positive praise from any attempt. â€Å"This process, referred to as task analysis, can be used to teach proper hygiene techniques, household chores, or any other skills† (Ngai, 2007). Parents can also be a part of the support process. Parents can stay involved in their child’s academic learning. Parents should be knowledgeable about stuff that goes on I the classroom and try to find activities or different ways to reinforce learning at home. If a child is learning new shapes or colors, parents can take their child on a walk and point out different shapes to ask the child if they know what it is. The same activity can apply with colors. Working together with the child ad being on the same page as the educator can benefit the child greatly. (Ngai, 2007) â€Å"Social activities in the community can serve as a valuable learning tool as well. Children with cognitive impairment can model the behavior of their peers, improve social skills, experience new and different settings and most importantly, have fun. To support the child’s success, family members and the professionals providing services to the child should work together to understand the child’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests† (Ngai, 2007). This is called collaboration, which any school should be responsible for doing with all families and communities. The down fall for my chosen theory can be how much society are changing and the ups and downs to it. In today’s world many negative issues are arising and no matter how much we shield our children they still can learn from their environment. Some children are exposed to too much violence, drugs and negativity that they may carry that with them to a school setting. When they do, this is brought on other children that may not know about these things and now they are finding out about it because of that one child that has been exposed to it. Things that used to be innocent such as cartoons, Disney movies, toys, dolls, and music are all being contaminated by selfish people in the society today. Things are also so fast paced where everything seems to be rushed. Parents do not have the time for their children that should be dedicated to them. An example is during homework help. If a parent is in a rush to get something else done and are trying to help their child out with homework, that parent is more likely to give their child the answers the allowing their child to use and develop their social cognition. Another issue I feel that may arise is the lack of support from educators. Along with an increase in teachers comes growing classrooms. Children are already lacking that one on one support from their educators. People are having more and more children which means our nation is growing in population. Children will suffer more because they will have a lack of material and less teacher interaction time. Where I currently work, the director accepts more and more children because she is so interested in gaining more money. In this change, the children are hurting socially emotionally because they are transitioning into older classrooms at a younger age and are forced to mature much more quickly. Like Piaget’s theory and model he broke down different stages as to how children change and the way they think during that stage. In some of the stages there are large age gaps where children should have the time to develop appropriately. If the population continues to rise and children are forced to mature much faster than they should, than the question is are they going to be socially ready t advance to their next level in school and will their social cognition be where it should be considering there are no disabilities of any kind?