In interpreting Adam’s behavior the social learning theory is considered as the most important theory in the parenting philosophy. This is because the theory can help a parent to apply what they had learned to grow up and help the child, such as Adam to grow to an age of two years and above. For instance, I modeled the right behaviors to Adam and successively, he has been able to apply what I showed him and applied it to his life. Through the social learning theory, the parents can be able to help their children to learn new concepts by letting them imitate and observe their actions and behaviors.
One of the most applicable principles of social learning theory is the Vygotsky’s social culture theory. This theory stresses on the vital role of social interaction the cognitive development of the child. This theory helped me to raise Adam since I was able to focus on the beliefs and values that i believe that they are important to help Adam to grow and interact with people now and in the future. This calls for me to show how I am social with other people so that he can able to adopt being comfortable when he is in presence of the other people. I also find it significant to spend most of the time playing games and talking to him to develop sociability dimension (Rotter, 1982).
I also believe that Piaget cognitive theory is also important to help Adam grow. I used this as a good example of how children develop their knowledge through the manipulation of objects. Adam is doing well with the objects and playing with things trying to figure out how they work. In this case, I learnt to be patient and understanding with his temperament, to effectively help her to grow. At the age of 15 months, I understood that Adam was in a position to learn things in his environment, since he was conducting little “experiments”. For instance, when he pushes his bath toys under water and examine how they pop back above the surface, I could understand that he is learning basic science.
The Information Processing Theory is another model that can help a parent to understand and examine how their children develop cognitively. By the age of 2 to 5 years, a child a child is anticipated to develop attention for the extended periods, remember old information, recognize previously encountered information and renovate it in the present (Wadsworth, 1996). For instance, at the age of 19 months, Adam had a capability of imitating words or actions that he had heard or seen some days before. This show that Adam is in the right track on the cognitive development and he has learned different behavior skills which have effectively helped him grow incalculably.
Collectively, through the three principles in the social learning theory, I was able to interpret Adam’s behaviors. For instance, through application of social learning theory, I was able to respond to his cognitive needs that have enabled him to develop some of the important skills by the age of 2 years. For example, he has developed communication skills and he was able to alter two to three word telegraphic sentences (Rotter, 1982). This is as a result of assessing Adam for the purpose of ensuring those major breakthroughs are accomplished.
References
Rotter, J. B. (1982). The development and applications of social learning theory: Selected papers. New York, N.Y: Praeger.
Wadsworth, B. J. (1996). Piaget's theory of cognitive and affective development: Foundations of constructivism. White Plains, N.Y: Longman Publishers USA.
