Jean Piaget developed the cognitive development theory. Jean Piaget was born in 1896 and died in 1980. Jean Piaget was curious about the reasons that children gave for giving wrong answers to questions that require logical thinking (Rimondini, 2001). He argued that they gave wrong answers because there is a large difference between the way adults and children think. Piaget was more interested in determining why the fundamental concepts, such as time, quantity, and justice emerged. Moreover, he wanted to engage in the study of cognition in children and how different children showed different cognitive abilities. In the past, it was assumed that children were less competent in thinking as compared to adults; but Piaget revealed that children thought in a very different way from the adults.
One of the films that shows cognitive development theory is Baby’s Day Out. In this film, the main character, Bink, seems to love exploration and interacting with the new world, which is common in early childhood cognitive development. When Bink runs away from the kidnappers, he goes to a zoo and departmental store. The baby seems excited with this new environment and is very happy after meeting and interacting with the baboon. Intelligence allows Bink to crawl into a bus without being hurt.
Piaget argued that upon birth, children have a basic brain structure that is the basis for all knowledge and learning processes for a child. He came up with the theory to try and explain the whole process in which a child matures and develops into a person who is capable of reasoning and thinking through the use of a hypothesis (Rosner, Lyddon & Freeman, 2004). The theory coupled the impact of biological maturation and an in-depth knowledge of the environment to explain the reorganization of mental processes. When children are born, they develop an understanding of their surroundings with time. In the movie, Bink leaves home, and after spending sometime in the outside environment, he understands what is needed of him and that is why he is able to escape the kidnappers. As they mature, they experience a difference in what they know and what they encounter in the world.
The theory of cognitive development has three basic components which are Schemas, the adaptation process, and the stages of development. According to Piaget, schemas are the building blocks of knowledge. Schemas can be said to pieces of information relating to a particular idea. Such pieces of information can be used to tell an individual how to react in different situations depending on stimuli or information. As people begin to develop, they continue to have a more complicated schema and the schema also increase in number. The schema help a child to recognize a situation easily (McLeod 2010). For example, when children are born, they have a sucking reflex, which can be described as a schema because the reflex is embedded in the DNA of the child. In the movie, Bink realizes that the nanny he was left with is not his parent and for this reason he tries to run away. A child can easily recognize their parent which can be said to be a schema.
The second component of the theory is the adaptation process. The children adapt to the environment they are born in, and they do this through processes, such as assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration (Rosner et al., 2004). The process of assimilation occurs when a child picks an already existing schema and uses it to deal with a new situation. For example, a child can refer to a person in clothes with many colors as a clown. The child uses the information he or she already has in his or her head and uses it to construct the situation differently. In the movie, Bink interacts with the baboon because he considers the baboon to be a person and plays with the baboon also.
The second process is accommodation, which is applied when the current schema in use does not work. The children can be convinced differently if they are given facts that make the construction they already have vague. For example, when children confuse a person wearing clothes with a variety of colors for a clown, they can be convinced otherwise because they are told a clown has to entertain people and make fun. The third process is the process of equilibration. Equilibration is a state where the children can be able to use the schema that they have together with new information and assimilate the new information to fit easily into the lives of the children (Rimondini, 2001). In the movie, Bink is in a construction site and couples his knowledge of crawling with the structures in the construction site in order to move easily around the site. Equilibration is the main process that dictates the learning process of children. However, there are situations when a child cannot fit new information into the already existing schemas.
The process of development according to Piaget has many stages namely: Sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage. The sensorimotor stage is a period in which a child experiences rapid cognitive growth normally between birth and about two years. In the movie, Bink is in this stage and is getting to learn the different concepts in the world. The preoperational stage is when the child can symbolize things. The concrete operational stage marks the beginning of logical thought in a child and is referred to as the turning point in a child's life. The formal operational stage is a period when a child develops the ability to think and conceptualize abstract concepts (Rimondini, 2001).
A unique contribution of the cognitive development theory is that the theory helped in the identification of childhood as a unique and very important period during the process of human development. Earlier researchers were of the view that children were just smaller versions of adults concerning their thinking, but this fact was disputed by Piaget. Piaget's theory formed the basis for the development of the current education system of children (Rimondini, 2001). Children nowadays are taught at the level in which they are prepared for regarding their development.
Piaget’s theory has been key in the understanding of children by their parents. In the movie, Bink’s parents are very happy to see him even after the child had run away from home. The theory explains why the children act as they do at different times in their lives. It has laid out the key stages as well as the processes involved in the process of child development. The information helps the parents to make better parenting decisions (Rosner et al., 2004).
Piaget was mainly responsible for the concept of discovery learning. This concept embraces the fact that children should learn best through active exploration. The concept of discovery learning was key in the transformation of the school curriculum. The curriculum became more flexible and placed play as the central point of the child’s learning process. In the movie, Bink is a very active and playful baby who tries to play every time he gets a chance. He even plays with the baboon in the cage. Piaget was also key in changing the way that specialists study children. Piaget’s research has helped in the generation of more research in different areas which has been key in the understanding of the concept of cognitive development (Rosner et al., 2004).
Piaget's theory was key in the initiation of the active discovery learning. The processes of assimilation and accommodation can only occur when the children are active in learning. For accommodation to occur, a child has to learn clear problem-solving skills, and they can only be achieved when the child is alone. In the movie, Bink explores the world alone which allow him to be able to evade his kidnappers. The learning of this fact has revolutionized the work of the teachers because now the teachers act as facilitators of learning rather than teaching the students directly. Learning in the classroom according to Piaget should be student centered, and this has been applied in the school system. The work by Piaget has helped in the resolving of major conflicts in the family because the parents can now understand ways in which they can communicate with their children more easily.
Conclusion
Cognitive development theory is key learning theory. Piaget was mainly responsible for the development of the cognitive development theory. The theory has been monumental in the development of the current educational system. In some way, it has helped in the reduction of conflicts within the family setting because the parents can understand their children way better. The theory has also helped in the recognition of childhood as a key component of the development process of human beings. It has shaped the current education system in a completely different way. The theory in this respect can be said to be monumental to the lives of the people in the world because the knowledge that the people acquire from their schools is based on the pillars of the cognitive development theory.
References
McLeod, B. (2010). Cognitive therapy techniques for children and adolescents: Tools for enhancing practice. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 39(2), 158-158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16506070903523262
Rimondini, M. (2011). Communication in cognitive behavioral therapy. New York: Springer.
Rosner, R., Lyddon, W., & Freeman, A. (2004). Cognitive therapy and dreams. New York: Springer Pub. Co.
