Cognitive theories are trying to explain why the brain is the main incredible network within the body in information interpretation and processing learning (Fletcher & Fincham, 2013). Cognitive theories are divided into two major categories: the cognitive behavioral theory and the social cognitive theory (Fletcher & Fincham, 2013). The social cognitive theory considers three variables which include environmental factors (extrinsic), behavioral factors and personal factors (intrinsic). On the other hand, the cognitive behavioral theory is describing the role of the knowing in an attempt to predict and determine the behavioral pattern of a person.
Jean Piaget looked at his work as genetic epistemology whereby genetically refers to the scientific study of the origins of the things and epistemology describe the basic categories of thinking i.e. structural characteristics of intelligence (McLeod, 2015). Piaget was not only concerned with how best children could spell, solve problems and count as a mean of grading their I.Q, but he was more interested in the way in which the basic concepts such as the idea of time, quantity, justice, causality, and a number could emerge. Piaget was the first psychologist to study systematically the cognitive development and one of his contributions is a theory of child cognitive development (McLeod, 2015). Piaget concentrated his studies on cognition in children where he detailed observation studies in order to reveal the different cognitive abilities. According to Piaget, he saw that children are simply less competent in thinking than adults and more so, young children think in outstandingly different ways as compared with adults (McLeod, 2015). Piaget further shows that children genetically inherited and evolved mental structure where all other subsequent learning and knowledge will be based on. He noted that children are playing an important role in gaining knowledge of the world that can be compared with ‘little scientists’ who can construct actively their understanding and knowledge of the world. However, Piaget’s theory differs from rest of the theories in many ways. This is because Piaget’s theory is interested in children instead of all learners. Secondly, this theory focuses on the development and not learning per se, thus, it does not describe learning of specific behaviors or information (McLeod, 2015). Thirdly, it recommends distinct stages of development which is marked by qualitative diversities instead of the gradual rise in complexity and number of concepts and behaviors.
Sigmund Freud’s cognitive theory stressed the significance of childhood experiences and events that exclusively focus on the mental disorders as oppose to normal functioning (McLeod, 2013). Freud viewed child development as sequences of psychosexual stages. In the three essays on sexuality written by Freud in the year 1915, he outlines the stages as anal, oral, genital and latency (McLeod, 2013). According to Freud, he described each stage as a mean of satisfaction of a libidinal craving which at a later time will play a role in adult personality. As such, if a child does not effectively complete a stage then he/she would build up a fixation that would afterward influence adult behavior and personality (McLeod, 2013).
Erik Erikson was a cognitive theorist and he put forward a stage theory of development (Cherry, 2016). His theory was different from that of others in the sense that it encompasses human growth from the time an individual is born to the time when one will die. According to Erikson, he perceived each stage of development is aimed at overcoming a conflict (Cherry, 2016). For instance, a primary conflict at the time of adolescent period entails establishing senses of personal identity. As a result, failure or success in compacting with conflict at every stage of development can impact the overall functioning of an individual (Cherry, 2016). For example, failure to develop an identity at adolescent stage will result in role confusion.
Lev Vygotsky was another psychologist who put forward a seminal learning theory (Cherry, 2016). This learning theory has become very influential in the field of education. Just like Piaget, Vygotsky strongly believed that children can both actively learn and through experiences (Cherry, 2016). On the other hand through his sociocultural theory, he noted that caregivers, peers, culture and parents are largely responsible for the advancement of higher order functions.
References
Cherry, K. (2016). Child Development Theories: Some of the Best-Known Examples. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/childdevtheory.htm
Fletcher, G. J., & Fincham, F. D. (Eds.). (2013). Cognition in close relationships. Psychology Press.
McLeod, S. (2013). Sigmund Freud's Theories | Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html
McLeod, S. (2015). Jean Piaget | Cognitive Theory | Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
