COGNITIVE THEORIES

Vygotsky
This child case study helps support Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development. Vygotsky's thery says that children learn from what is around them, and interactions with the outside world. He believes that children and adolescents advance when they work in their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD for short). The ZPD can only be reached with the help of an adult, or someone who has a cognitive level. This theory is supported through our child study. For instance, before the child had outside support, she had a limited set of skills, and as we came in with the intervention, the child followed the examples and was able to reach a higher level of dexterity. The original alphabet written by the child was disorganized and proportionally off balance, none of the letters were the same size. After we gave her guidance, she was able to write all of her letters relatively neat.

Piaget

Not only that, but according to Piaget's cognitive developmental theory, children acquire knowledge gradually through empirical experiences. This is shown and proven to be true because when our child, Shirley Temple, had had more practice writing her alphabet, she was able to do it much better. Thus, showing that her knowledge was acquired empirically and through practice.

Piaget also developed a series of stages to track cognitive development. Our child is in the second stage of development called pre-operational stage. Our child is beginning to express her knowledge through writing and is pretty egocentric at this point. She also expresses her imagination verbally.
Stages of Cognitive Development.
  1. Sensorimotor stage (Infancy). In this period (which has 6 stages), intelligence is demonstrated through motor activity without the use of symbols. Knowledge of the world is limited (but developing) because its based on physical interactions / experiences. Children acquire object permanence at about 7 months of age (memory). Physical development (mobility) allows the child to begin developing new intellectual abilities. Some symbollic (language) abilities are developed at the end of this stage.
  2. Pre-operational stage (Toddler and Early Childhood). In this period (which has two substages), intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and imagination are developed, but thinking is done in a nonlogical, nonreversable manner. Egocentric thinking predominates
  3. Concrete operational stage (Elementary and early adolescence). In this stage (characterized by 7 types of conservation: number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, volume), intelligence is demonstarted through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects. Operational thinking develops (mental actions that are reversible). Egocentric thought diminishes.
  4. Formal operational stage (Adolescence and adulthood). In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. Early in the period there is a return to egocentric thought. Only 35% of high school graduates in industrialized countries obtain formal operations; many people do not think formally during adulthood.



BIRTH ORDER
Alfred Adler's Birth Order Theory
Adler developed a theory that a person's personality can be based of what order in their family they were born. Our child was a first born, and after analyzing her character traits, there is a lot of overlapping between her personality and Adler's description of first born children.
First Born – They are often given responsibility for younger siblings and may take on the role of a surrogate parent. Through this role they accept their position of leadership and the power that comes with it. Firstborns may become overachievers in order to set the example for younger siblings and meet the expectations of parents. They are also known to be authoritarian (or bossy according to their siblings). A great positive trait is that they can be very responsible and helpful.
Shirley Temple tends to take a lot of control and asserts herself, but she can be helpful and is eager to learn and achieve.