Introduction
Proper environmental exposure is essential to the development of a child. In fact, lack thereof compromises their intellectual growth, which may have adverse impacts to their adulthood. As such, controversies have arisen on the influence of the society on the cognitive development of a child. Some maintain that the environment and society an individual is exposed to during their infancy contributes to their overall cognitive development while others dispute this claim. For starters, Vygotsky’s theory stresses that social interaction has an indispensable role in the elaboration of an infant’s cognitive abilities (Rochester, 2015). Contrastingly, Piaget’s theory maintains that the development of children must precede their learning endeavors (Rochester, 2015). With this in mind, it is worth acknowledging the fact that these theories have different perspectives about the role of the society and environment in cognitive development. This paper evaluates the impact of environmental and social variables to the development of a child. It also creates a rationale about the importance of understanding developmental psychology in the nursing practice. For a fact, social and environmental variable affect cognitive development.
Question one
Social factors have a great impact on the development of a child’s cognitive abilities. Socioeconomic factors such as one’s occupation and income have a large impact on the overall development of a child. According to Santrock (2009), parenting has been found to correlate with the socioeconomic status. Specifically, parents in the middle class tend to utilize similar parental approaches while those in the lower classed society have comparable methodologies in raising their children. As such, children from lower class families or those experiencing marital difficulties tend to perform poorly in tests due to average cognitive abilities. This situation is largely accredited to the fact that the infants growing in difficult economic conditions experience higher levels of stress, and this negatively affects their brain development. Because a child’s development is a product of their cultural influences and social interactions, the stressful situations posed by their family’s status negatively affects their intellectual growth. As a result, social variables such as socioeconomic status has an impact on a child’s cognitive development.
Children raised in poverty and experience chronic malnourishment encounter delayed and impaired brain development. According to the Physical and Cognitive Development (n.d), stimulation and proper nutrition is essential to the proper evolution of a child’s brain. Lack thereof compromises the ability of an infant to experience appropriate cognitive competence. This situation has an adverse impact on learning activities since such individuals have weak interests in academic activities. Basing one’s argument on Piaget’s theory, the concrete and formal operational stages of development are negatively affected since the children have weaker mental abilities to make the most out of real situations. Consequently, such individuals have a higher likelihood of maintaining the same social status as their parents and the people in the environments they were raised in due to reduced exposure and non-optimal development of the brain. Therefore, one is justified to claim that social variables such as poverty affect a child’s cognitive development due to instances such as malnourishment and poor ideological exposure.
Equally, environmental variables have a large impact one the overall evolution of a child’s cognitive abilities. According to Santrock (2009), children who grow in a different environment away from their parents have poor brain development. This situation is largely attributed to the fact that the stress created by maternal separation interferes with the normal development of intellectual abilities. Similarly, children exposed to growth environments with parental neglect have a higher likelihood of experiencing challenges in their overall cognitive abilities. Vygotsky’s theory proposes that parents play the role of the educator while the children are the learners. As such, this relationship is important for the promotion of positive learning experiences to the child. When infants are exposed to an environment that does not have parental care, their overall cognitive abilities are negatively affected leading to reduced intellectual capacities. This situation affirms the claim that environmental variables affect cognitive development.
Environmental stimulation has a significant impact on a child’s cognitive development. Children encouraged to learn basic aspects such as coloring and verbal interaction are more likely to master these skills as opposed to those who are not (Physical and Cognitive Development, n.p). This notion can be backed up by the fact that parental involvement creates affection and warmth towards the child. Since the young individuals feel appreciated by their environment, their cognitive perceptions are augmented making it easier for them to learn what they are being taught. Contrastingly, children who grow up without the affection of the people around them are lesser social and feel unappreciated. This situation affects the development of their brain negatively. As a result, they have weaker cognitive abilities as opposed to the individuals who feel more appreciated. The positive correlation between learning and environmental stimulation affirms that environmental variables affect cognitive development.
Question two
Efficient patient analysis is essential to the administration of proper medication. Consequently, nurses should have well-established knowledge of the patient’s cognitive abilities to uphold good communication with them and to understand the nature of intervention needed. With this in mind, it is worth acknowledging the fact that clinical judgment is greatly influenced by how a nurse interprets the patients’ conditions. According to Tanner’s (2006), sound clinical judgment is dependent on the understanding of a patient’s typical patterns of response and concerns. Consequently, nurses need to analyze the personalities of their patients accurately before proposing any medical approach. Understanding developmental psychology is, therefore, an indispensable skill that can aid nurses to offer proper services to patients. This notion is mainly accredited to the fact that it helps nurses to understand how the medical complications experienced by a patient could have been caused by their childhood or social interactions. Additionally, understanding a patient’s cognitive abilities makes it easier for the nurse to interact with a patient. As a result, comprehending developmental psychology is important to the nursing practice.
Nurses have different judgment levels depending on the levels of their work experience (Tanner, 2006). Consequently, nurses who have had many years of practice are more likely to develop important treatment approaches to patients experiencing psychological development issues. However, those with fewer years of experience are lesser likely to propose efficient treatment strategies due to their average levels of experience. However, if all nurses have an understanding of developmental psychology, the disparity created between experienced nurses and inexperienced ones would be minimal. As a result, the nature of medical intervention offered would be more constructive and relevant to the nursing practice. This situation would occur because the nurses would have a better understanding of the nature of the patients’ problem since they understand developmental psychology. The amount of errors made due to lack of experience would be minimized making the nursing practice more accurate and successful. Consequently, developmental psychology is imperative to the nursing practice.
Conclusion
In conclusion, social and environmental variables have constructive and detrimental impacts on cognitive development. Vygotsky and Piaget present different arguments about a child’s cognitive development. However, these arguments have a similar stance on the impact of social and environmental variables to the development of a child’s cognition. Precisely, the nature of the environment one is exposed to in their childhood affects one’s ability to appreciate learning and communication. Good socioeconomic status has a constructive impact on a child’s cognitive abilities while the opposite has a detrimental impact due to the higher levels of stress experienced. When children are exposed to disturbing situations, their overall learning abilities are negatively affected leading to poor cognitive skills. On the other hand, understanding developmental psychology is essential to the nursing practice as it enables the personnel to appreciate the medical conditions of the patients. Lack thereof leads to the mediocre administration of nursing interventions.
References
Physical and Cognitive development. (n.d.). 4th ed. New Zeland, pp.60-123.
Rochester, S. 2015. Lecture 4: Cognitive Development.
Santrock, J.W., 2009. Life-span development. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Tanner, C.A., 2006. Thinking like a nurse: A research-based model of clinical judgment in nursing. Journal of Nursing Education, 45(6).
