A mental thinking process directs daily human activities. The mental development of a person involves the mind encompassing perceptions, images, and languages and plans to inform the knowledge and comprehension process (Burton, 2015). The knowledge process involves gaining understanding knowing, thinking, remembering, judging and problem-solving. This development of the mind is referred to as cognition (Burton, 2015). The cognitive development process has been explained by different theories; among these theories are Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and Lev Vygotsky Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development (Burton, 2015). Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories provide insight on how children judge and interpret their world differently from adults. This paper applies the two theories to determine whether social and environmental variables affect cognitive development and the impact of understanding developmental psychology on the nursing practice.
According to Piaget, Intelligence is genetically acquired and becomes sophisticated with time as a person grows. Children actively interact with their environment as a result of their curious nature. They seek information that enables them to construct their perception and understanding of the environment (Burton, 2015). In his clinical tests, He presented his children with tasks to determine the level of logical reasoning that directed their thinking. From his hypotheses, he concluded that children are scientists always eager to discover new things. They interact with both their social and environmental world to gain knowledge (Lecturer's notes, 2016). This process of acquiring knowledge is in stages, and it ends in a child developing formal logic in adulthood. Piaget argued that the development of the mind was determined by both social and environmental factors. These variables determine how the brain functions to direct one’s actions (Lecturer's notes, 2016).
Piaget's theory represents the mental framework in schemas where knowledge fits. These schemas change with time, and the change is determined by environmental stimuli. Original schemas are innate and are changed to fit new information and knowledge that is consistent with the schema (Lecturer's notes, 2016). When new knowledge cannot fit into the original schema, a new schema is formed, or the original schema is modified to accommodate the new knowledge. The equilibrium state is the goal of everyone so that one can make sense of their environment without much struggle (Lecturer's notes, 2016). The cognitive development process is in four distinctive stages; Sensorimotor intelligence that occurs from birth to two years of age, pre-operational stage occurs from two years to seven years, concrete operational occurs from seven years to eleven years and the formal operational stage that occurs from eleven years to late adolescence(Lecturer's notes, 2016) . In the sensorimotor stage, infants rely on their senses and objects movements to learn the environment (Lecturer's notes, 2016). The Pre-operational stage involves the use of images, words, and drawings instead of logic to perceive knowledge (Lecturer's notes, 2016). In the third stage, concrete operational stage, thinking applies logic and is less intuitive based on real objects. At this stage, a child is also able to perceive more than one object at a time (Lecturer's notes, 2016). In the last stage which is the formal operational stage, one can apply and manipulate more abstract concepts, hypothesize and solve problems, differentiate between right and wrong and their perception of the environment, self and others are relative (Lecturer's notes, 2016).
Vygotsky theory, on the other hand, offers insight on cognitive development in a socio-cultural perspective (Lecturer's notes, 2016). According to Vygotsky, children mental development is determined by both the social and cultural variables (Lecturer's notes, 2016). Their thought process is mainly guided by language enabling them to plan and monitor behavior (Lecturer's notes, 2016). Vygotsky believed that language developed from social interactions, for communication purposes. Language is the means by which the more experienced pass information to children and as a result it influences intellectual adaptation (Burton, 2015).The interaction between a child and more experienced persons enables it to acquire knowledge and perform more complex tasks with the assistance from others (Burton, 2015). This form of learning improves a child’s cognitive skills with time until it can perform most of the tasks on alone. Vygotsky theory employs the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to determine the levels of a child’s mental capacity (Lecturer's notes, 2016).
The two theories are based on cognitive development, and they both agree that mental development is high and steady in childhood and declines when one approaches adulthood (Burton, 2015). Cognitive development is determined by some factors that are explained through the different perspectives of the two theories (Burton, 2015). These factors are the social and environmental factors that interact with a child’s genetic makeup (Malone, 2016). Piaget's theory is more inclined to the biological and environmental variables whereas Vygotsky’s theory focuses on the social and cultural variables (Malone, 2016). Children act on what they see in their environment to build knowledge and also depend on parents and society nurturing to gain more knowledge. For example, language is part of a society culture; one socializes and interacts through language with others to learn the cultural values of one’s society (Malone, 2016). Also, the environment where one grows determines one’s exposure to different aspects of life causing the differences in our perceptions, values and intelligence (Malone, 2016). Research has shown that children raised in an environment where parents advocate for higher academic standards, tend to have higher academic achievements compared to those children whose parents gave less interest to their academic progress. Therefore, both social and environmental factors help shape our cognition (Malone, 2016).
Developmental psychology provides a guideline to children caregivers in schools, homes and even in a health care setup. Understanding a development framework enables a nurse to give special attention to each child on an individual basis rather than generalizing care needed (Tanner, 2006). By understanding a patient’s situation and responses improves the relationship between the nurse and the patient in addition to improving the nurse’s Clinical judgment (Tanner, 2006). Nurse’s judgments are more influenced by what nurses perceive, and these perceptions can be influenced by how well the nurse knows a patient’s response patterns. An informed clinical judgment results in a better diagnosis and effective interventions (Tanner, 2006). Good clinical judgments require a nurse to have an understanding of the diagnostic and pathophysiological conditions of a patient. It requires a nurse to take into consideration a patient’s experiences and also experiences of their families, their social, cultural, and physical, emotional strengths to cope with the situation (Tanner, 2006). Providing individualized care is complex but with a clear understanding of different human development aspects, a nurse will be able to deliver quality care (Tanner, 2006).
References
Burton, L. (2015). Psychology 4E AU & NZ + Psychology 4E AU & NZ iStudy Version 2 with CyberPs. John Wiley & Sons.
Malone, D. (2016). Jean Piaget vs. Lev Vygotsky; Differing Views in Cognitive Development. [online] www.oakton.edu. Available at: http://www.oakton.edu/user/1/dmalone/PiagetVygot.pdf [Accessed 25 Apr. 2016].
Tanner, C. (2006). Thinking Like a Nurse: A Research-Based Model of Clinical Judgment in Nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, [online] 45(6), pp.1-9. Available at: http://www.mccc.edu/nursing/documents/Thinking_Like_A_Nurse_Tanner.pdf [Accessed 25 Apr. 2016].
