Jean Piaget's cognitive theory is an extrapolation of developmental psychology in children that explains the stages through which children develop. The theory is defined by a tripartite composition of; schemas, adaptation processes, and stages of development. Schemas, the building blocks of knowledge, are the settings of the brain for absorption of knowledge, a kind of a page where a child writes new information. Adaptation processes include assimilation and accommodation of information, whereby, assimilation happens when new information can be easily absorbed by an existing schema. In the case where new information cannot be absorbed in an existing schema, the schemas are changed to absorb new information, in a process that alternates assimilation and accommodation to create a balance, called equilibration. The last component is referred to as the stages of development that are; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. The initial stage, sensorimotor, ensures that a child knows that an object exists even when he/she cannot see it at that particular moment while the preoperational stage is where kids gain the ability to understand objects as presentations of something. In concrete operational stage, children have the ability to work things out in their minds and begin logical reasoning while formal operational stage equips children with the ability to think about abstract objects.
Importance of the Cognitive Theory (to me)
This theory is important to me because it explains the kind of mental development a kid is going through. By being able to know the different stages, a parent or guardian can make decisions on the type of lessons to give a child, and how to approach those lessons. It is imperative to do that because it enhances the understanding of children as human beings in a development process where every step is very necessary. Take for instance a four-year-old kid; the most probable case is that such a child is in the preoperational stage, meaning that and s/he can understand what objects represent. With this information, I would choose the kind of lessons to give to him based on the stage of development, with an aim of enhancing that development stage, by making s/he know as many objects as possible.
Importance in my personal life
The Piaget's cognitive theory is useful to me because I can understand the changes that I went through as a child and the events that followed once I hit the formal operational stage. My guess is that I reached this stage at the age of twelve years (as much as I can remember) and it changed my world view completely. I would think about issues independently, and I did a lot of reading in my attempt to discern what was going through my mind. By the end of the day, I fed my mind with enough information to make abstractions and relationships, further boosting my ability to tackle mental exercises like Sudoku and cross passwords. I consider such development very crucial in my progress from a basic thinker to a very dependable analyst.
Cultural implication for Hawaii
In Hawaii, the Aloha Spirit is a law, making it compulsory for the people to ensure that they coordinate between mind and heart. The cognitive theory asserts that the development in the mental stature does not happen to everyone, and despite the fact that the Aloha philosophy is a law, it should not be placed on everyone as a burden. For once, it is inconsistent with the law to expect everyone should think deeply about himself and ensure a connection between his mind and body. That means that the spirit of Aloha cannot coexist with the cognitive theory.
