Park

Running head: PSYCHOLOGISTS

Psychologists' Theories & Age Characteristics

Camrin Park

College of Southern Nevada

Professor Wyckoff

05 April 2017
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Psychologist' Theories & Age Characteristics

Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

Piaget's cognitive development theory is based off research that is known as the "master

plan." This theory was named after Jean Piaget. Mr. Piaget earned his doctorate in biology. This

theory is best described and broken up into three different categories. The three groups are

Organization, adaptation, and schemes. "Organization is, the human tendency to systematize, to

pull together a variety of processes into an overall system." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p23).

The second category is the adaptation. Adaptation is broken into two subcategories. They are

known as assimilation and accommodation. Adaptation is "the process of creating a good fit or

match between one's conception of reality and the real-life experience one encounters."

(Snowman & McCown, 2013, 23). The last category is schemes. Schemes are when "children

formulate organized patterns of behavior or thought." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p23).

Piaget also teaches and goes over the different types of stages and levels it takes for people to

transition. It starts off with the preoperational stage. The preoperational stage is for the preschool

and primary aged kids. Then, it moves into the concrete operational stage. The concrete

operational state is for the elementary to early middle school aged children. And finally, the

formal operational stage for the middle school aged up through high school aged and beyond.

These three different stages all teach us about the different ways people think logically and move

into how they comprehend the things they learned.

The student I observed, six year old Katie, fits into the preoperational stage group. She

has mastered most all the symbols, words and understand the language for her age group. She

understands the three categories listed under Piaget's theory. Katie is a very organized student

who always tried her best in her school studies. She succeeds with the schemes and the
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organization of patterns. Katie's ability to adapt is obvious in her progress reports that are

brought home from her teacher. Katie strives to be at the top of her class with how she handles

and reacts with her scores and achievement. If she doesn't get a good grade on an assignment,

she will bring it home and have her parents or siblings help so she can master the concept. She

does this so she can pass off her charts and be one of the first to move on in her class. Katie takes

great pride in her work. These are just some examples how Katie progresses through the Piaget's

cognitive stages and theories we've learned about.

Vygotsky's Cognitive Development Theory

Vygotsky's cognitive development theory is described as "how we think is influenced by

current social forces and historical culture forces." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p32). In other

words, Vygotsky's theory is based off how we group different words together. There are many

important "tools" that can be used to help understand how we think. According to Vygotsky,

"psychological tools aid and change thought process." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p33). The

different tools or even how a concept is taught can effect the way a child learns. Some children

are more "hands on" learners, while others can be taught through direct instruction. Vygotsky

explains the importance of teachers and how they "help students lean how to use psychological

tools." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p35). Vygotsky also "referred to the difference between

what a child can do on his/her own and what he/she can accomplish with some assistance is

known as the zone of proximal development." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p36).

Katie seems to meet Vygotsky's cognitive developmental theory because she is very

mature for a six year old. Katie has 3 older siblings that help push Katie to do more. Something

that helps her mature quicker is the knowledge and influence the older siblings teacher her. This

helps Katie think outside the box and learn to do things at an earlier age. Her older siblings also
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help push Katie to be a better student. Katie has learned what goals are and how to set her mind

to wanting to achieve the small or simple goals. Katie is also a hands on learner and wants to

share her knowledge with those around her. This helps Katie meet the Vygotsky cognitive

developmental theory. One day I believe Katie will be a great teacher herself.

Erickson's Psychosocial Development Theory

Erickson's psychosocial development theory "encompasses the life span and highlights

the role of the person and culture in development." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p17).

Erickson's describes growth from infancy through old age. He goes over the levels of growth

from preschool through adult education. There are some basic principles that Erickson's theory

goes over. The first one mentioned is the epigenetic principle. According to the epigenetic

principle, "biological organisms develop sequentially, with various pars of the organism

developing before others." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p17). It takes time to develop to be

able to interact with others socially. Erickson mentions five stages with this psychosocial

development. The first stage is trust. Trust starts with infants from birth to age one. The next

stage is, anatomy versus shame and doubt. This stage begins at age two until the age three.

Anatomy is when the toddler tries to establish their own independence. The next stage is

initiative versus guilt. This states at age four through five. Initiative versus guilt is when the child

can choose how to act and when they will make that choice. The fourth stage is industry versus

inferiority. The stage begins at age six through 11 years old. This stage is when the child is

encouraged to make decisions and do them well. The last stage is the identity versus role

confusion. This stage starts at age 12 through 18. This is an important stage because it helps this

age understand where they fit in, in our society. Erickson along wit another researcher James

Marcia, helped elaborate on adding identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity
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achievement. Marcia helps us understand that there must be commitment in order to figure out

where people belong. Each stage is categorized into such specific developmental groups that,

most children can be placed by their age.

Erickson's psychosocial development theory meets Katie's bullet points. Katie has her

own way of going about her personal growth. In some areas, she is advanced. In other areas she

is right on track with how the stages line up. The area's that Katie is advanced is the epigenetic

principle. Katie has grown into being a confident six year old girl. She's still young enough that

most thing that come her way, she looks over and doesn't let affect her. Overall, I believe Katie

fits well into Erickson's theory.

Kohlberg's Moral Development

When learning about Kohlberg moral development, there are six stages they go over.

"The first two stages of moral reasoning were labeled prevocational morality." (Snowman &

McCown, 2013, p41). Young children under the age of 8 don't fully understand the rules of

society. Stages 3 and 4 were labeled "Conventional morality". This is when children at around

age 10 begin to understand the rules. Next is stages 5 through 6. This is labeled "post-

conventional morality". This is when a small amount of people actually understand the moral

principles. The sixth stage is the only stage in which there is "a mutual agreement that consists of

principles." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p42). I really liked when Kohlberg said, "Criticisms

of Kohlberg's theory are that moral development is difficult to accelerate, moral dilemmas are

not relevant to daily life, and the theory relies on macro-moral issues and ignores characteristics

other than moral reasoning." (Snowman & McCown, 2013, p42).

Katie seems to meet Kohlberg's moral development stages. She understand when she

does something wrong or bad, that she will most likely be punished for her actions. In stages 2
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and 3, Katie understands the concept of stealing and wants to do what is best so her parents and

older siblings are "proud" of her. In stages 04 through 6, Katie is too young to understand the

concepts being taught or understood.

Snowman's General Characteristics

There are many general characteristics happening during the kindergarten age.

"Kindergarten children are aware of and can, to some extent, regulate their emotions."

(Snowman & McCown, 2013, p51). In most cases, these children are aware of how their friends

emotions an feelings. In general, the most obvious emotion a six year old will show is when they

are upset or mad. Usually this will be shown by hitting of shoving in order to show how they

feel. Another emotion that is worn on their sleeve is jealousy. Most six year old children what the

approval of their teacher. The example in the textbook explains it well. When there is only one

teacher in the room and 30 six year old trying to get all the attention, this is where the

competition begins. The teacher should be aware of this and if they want to praise a child, they

should do it privately or in a casual way.

Katie meets the general characteristics for, a six year old child. If I were to guess her age

without knowing, I would think she was a little older than what she is. Her physical

characteristics are right on track but, her maturity and knowledge on her progress notes make it

easy to believe that she could pass for an older child. Katie has many peers around her that look

up to her. Their opinions make Katie try to do better. Overall, Katie's cognitive characteristics

have began to blossom into a confident little six year old girl. Her school studies are important to

her. She wants to do well to make others proud of her. If she keeps up her good attitude and love

for school, she will one day make a great teacher of her own. Her love for "hands on" playing

with turn into a great "hands on" teacher.

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References

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013). ED PSYCH. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.