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Three Theories of Cognitive Development Free Essays

Three Theories of Cognitive Development The Swiss psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is well-known for his work towards the cognitive sciences. Arguably one of his most important contributions involves his theory of cognitive development. In this theory, thinking progresses through four distinct stages between infancy and adulthood. We will write a custom essay sample on Three Theories of Cognitive Development or any similar topic only for you Order Now Similar in scope to Piaget’s theory is Information Processing, in which human thinking is based on both mental hardware and mental software (Kail, Cavanaugh). A final theory on cognitive development was established by the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). Vygotsky proposed that development is a collaborative effort between child and partner. While these three theories attempt to explain a similar topic in different manners, each can be considered an important aspect to cognitive development in infancy and early childhood. Through analyzing and comparing these theories, scientists are able to better understand how child development occurs and the process it takes in creating a functional human being. Piaget’s Theory Children are naturally curious: this is the claim Piaget proposed when explaining that children of all ages create theories about how the world around them works. They accomplish this through the use of â€Å"schemes,† referring to mental structures that organize information and regulate behavior. Infants group objects based on the actions they can perform on them. Later in development, schemes become based on functional or conceptual relationships, not action. This means that schemes of related objects, events, and ideas are present throughout development (Kail, Cavanaugh). Schemes change constantly, adapting to children’s experiences. Intellectual adaptation involves two key processes that work together: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of taking in new information into previously existing schemes. Accommodation involves altering existing schemes in light of new information. Assimilation and accommodation are usually in equilibrium. But when disequilibrium occurs, children reorganize their schemes to return to a state of equilibrium, a process Piaget called â€Å"equilibration. † According to Piaget, revolutionary changes in thought occur three times over the life span, which are divided into four stages. Sensorimotor period (0-2 years): Infants adapt and explore their environment. Reflexes are first modified by experience. At 8 months, intentional behavior occurs. Soon, infants become active experimenters, and repeat actions with different objects for the purpose of seeing what will happen. An important aspect of the first stage is object permanence- the understanding that objects exist even if they cannot be seen. Not until at about 18 months do infants have a full understanding of object permanence. Soon after, the onset of symbols, including words and gestures, become apparent. Preoperational thinking (2-7 years): Children do not understand others’ different ideas and emotions (egocentrism). They also have trouble focusing on multiple features. A child in the preoperational stage has a narrowly focused type of thought (a term Piaget called centration). For example, in what is known as a conservation problem, children tend to focus on only one aspect of the problem. In conservation of length, they concentrate on the fact that, after the transformation, the end of one stick is farther to the right than the end of the other, when in fact each stick is similar in length. Concrete operational period (7-11 years): This stage is characterized by the appropriate use of logic. A child is able to sort objects according to its size, shape, etc. Also, children will now take into account multiple aspects of a problem. For example, a child will no longer perceive a wide and short cup to contain more liquid than a normal, tall cup. Egocentrism begins to disappear: the child can now view things from another’s perspective (even though that person may be wrong). Formal operational period (11 years and up): Individuals move beyond concrete experiences and begin to think more abstractly, reason logically, and draw conclusions from information available. Also changing is the way an adolescent thinks about social matters. The future is beginning to be thought of in relation to what he or she can become. Information Processing In this view, human thinking is based on mental hardware (allows the mind to operate) and mental software (basis for performing particular tasks). There are several different aspects to this theory. Learning and cognitive development can happen through habituation, classical and operant conditioning, and imitation. Habituation is the diminished response to a stimulus as it becomes more familiar. Constantly responding to insignificant stimuli is wasteful, so habituation keeps infants from devoting too much energy to non-important events. In classical conditioning, a stimulus elicits a response that was originally produced by another stimulus. No new behaviors are learned, but an association is developed (Huitt, W. and Hummel, J). For example, a toddler may frown when he hears water running in the bathroom because he realizes that it is time for a bath. Operant conditioning emphasizes reward and punishment. This helps children form expectations about what will happen in their environment. Imitation is important in older children and adolescents. This process entails a â€Å"watch and learn† kind of approach. A boy can learn how to play basketball by watching a professional athlete, and an infant may imitate an adult waving her finger back and forth. A special kind of memory, â€Å"autobiographical memory,† emerges in the preschool years. These are memories of significant events and experiences in one’s own life. Infants have basic memory skills that enable them to remember past events. In addition to these skills are the language skills and sense of self obtained during the preschool years. Vygotsky’s Theory Lev Vygotsky incorporated the role that society and culture have on an individual throughout cognitive development. According to Vygostky, children rarely grow cognitively by themselves; they learn and progress when they have others by their side. This is contrasting to Piaget’s theory and Information Processing, where the individual growth takes place mostly alone. In his theory, Vygotsky developed the idea of the zone of proximal development. This refers to the â€Å"zone† between the level of performance a child can achieve when working independently and a higher level of performance that is possible when working under the guidance of more skilled adults or peers. This follows the idea that cognition develops first in a social setting and slowly comes under the child’s control. A factor that aids this shift is known as scaffolding. This is a style of teaching in which the teacher decides the amount of assistance given to match what the child actually needs. Scaffolding is based off the premise that children do not learn readily when they are constantly told what to do or when they are left to struggle through a problem. Finally, Vygotsky viewed private speech as an â€Å"intermediate step toward self-regulation of cognitive skills. Private speech can be defined as comments that are not intended for anyone else but the child to hear, and are designed to help children regulate their behavior. This theory holds that cognitive development is not characterized as a solitary undertaking, but a collaboration between expert and novice. Compare and Contrast All of these theories attempt to measure the biological and psychological changes appare nt in child development. They look to categorize specific behaviors, and associate them with current stages in growth. However, each theory is different in that it looks for different behavior patterns. Also, Piaget’s Theory and the Information Processing Theory can be grouped together due to the fact that they look at a child as an independent being, not cognitively dependent on its environment. However, Vygotsky views a child’s development as being reliable upon its surroundings (e. g. its peers, parents, teachers etc). Disputes These three theories are just that; theories. None of them have been scientifically proven and accepted by all scientists. Instead, they have formed the basis by which we conduct study and research of cognitive development today. Theories will always be open to criticism and review, and Piaget’s theory has specifically been scrutinized by scientists and researchers. Some believe that Piaget underestimated the cognitive competence in infants and young children. A main theme of modern child development is that of an extremely competent infant. Also, many scientists have found that certain components of Piaget’s theory are not testable. For example, accommodation and assimilation prove to be too vague to test scientifically. In Vygosky’s Theory, some critics point out the overemphasizing of the role of language. Also, his â€Å"emphasis on collaboration and guidance has potential pitfalls if facilitators are too helpful in some cases. An example of that would be an overbearing and controlling parent. † Criticism is not meant to diminish the importance of these theories, but to foster more research in the field of cognitive development and improve our understanding of how children grow. Conclusion These three theories of cognitive development are meant to measure something that is physically not able to be measured. They take a look at how children behave, and attempt to classify each behavior accordingly. How to cite Three Theories of Cognitive Development, Papers

ABC Model Everything You Need to Know Free Solution

Question: Consider why was the paper written? Has it achieved its objective? Why should people read it today? What have you learned and how does it relate to whatever else you know. Answer: Motivation Importance of ABC model At the end of the 1980s, the National Association of Accountants introduced a new technique of cost accounting called ABC (Activity-based Costing) Model that charges the indirect costs of an organization to the activities that results the costs to be incurred. This also distributes the activities costs to the products that encourage the activities to be performed. The relevance of the ABC model has been proved and their importance has been distributed among both the cost managers and academics (John Y. Lee.). The author wrote this paper because at a certain period of time, it was founded that traditional costing is not sufficient for the industries as it leads to either over-costing or under-costing. Reasons for Implementing ABC model Firstly, the Activity Based Costing (ABC) model helps in reducing the costs by giving meaningful information regarding the opportunities of reducing costs. Secondly, the ABC model of costing includes the preparation of the statement related to the activities of expenditure and also compares it with the corresponding addition of the values in order to know the activities that are required to be abolished or are required to be improved. Thirdly, the particular costing method guides the management accountant in the fixation of the price by providing various data and information regarding the cost of the service and / or the product (Horngren and Horngren). In addition to these, the specified model of costing makes the accounting managers enable to take decision regarding the activities of the firm should be done and completed within the organization or it should be subcontracted to an outside agency. Therefore, it can be said that the implementation of the ABC model helps in buying or m aking decision. Lastly, it can also be said that the ABC model helps in transfer pricing. Moreover, accurate information can be gathered through ABC model in order to evaluate the performance of the transferee and transferor divisions. Communication Concept of the paper The particular paper is on Implementing Activity-Based Costing. Thus, this provided paper deals with the rationale of the ABC model, its scope, its definition and the role of the management accountant in implementing the ABC model. Therefore, it can be said that the particular paper indicates the definition of ABC model, its scope, importance and concept regarding its implementation in the cost management. Understanding of concepts and reasoning Among the concepts and reasoning of the implementation of the ABC model or approach, the concept regarding the planning of the implementation of the ABC approach, relation between the implementation of the ABC model and the behavioral change management have also been discussed. Moreover, the initial design of the particular system, differences between operational and strategic cost management, ABC project planning, customer profitability reporting, data collection, implementation of the final system, its successful usage and commercial software of ABC have also been discussed. Critical Evaluation Importance of implementation of ABC model According to some of the researchers like - Eldenburg, Epstein and Lee the particular paper was written as the preface of the time feature into the ABC model has verified that it is currently drawing consideration and is experiencing the process of expansion for becoming more perfect and accurate. The objective of the implementation of the ABC model in the cost management is to establish that the superiority and effectiveness of the cost management have been improved. These qualities of the cost management can be attained by the proper allotment of the overhead costs to the goods along with the objective of identifying the costs of each unit. In addition to this, the allocation procedure will improve the base of information regarding product decisions and will also raise the reliability of cost information. Opined to Drury, the ABC approach helps in altering the products' profit margin and this information is also considered as a useful source of information at the time of evaluating the price-related decisions or keeps / drop decisions. Achieved its objectives The particular paper has achieved its objectives as the paper has explained all the details like the definition of ABC model, its importance, its perfect usage and methods of implementing this approach within the cost management. People should implement ABC model because this approach helps in distinguishing between the patterns of cost behavior in terms of diversity, volume and events. This system also helps to distinguish the forces behind the overhead costs as cost drivers (Horngren). The implementation of the ABC model helps in emphasizing the problem areas. Thus, through the implementation of the ABC approach, the managements attention and detailed analysis can take place easily. Therefore, it can also be said that people should read this paper in order to understand the importance of ABC system, its benefits as well as its disadvantages and the process of overcoming the challenges that are faced by the people during the implementation of ABC system. Studying this paper make a big influence at that moment, thus all industries began to implement this during that period. As a result of this, both positive and negative results came into focus. Therefore, at present, the implementation of the ABC system is important for only those industries where there are various product complexities and several varieties of product, as this system uses transactional drivers or consumption to assign costs to activities. However, it has been found that the industries implementing ABC system faces various challenges like communication, change management, training, executive management support and cultural acceptance. Therefore, it has been noted that nowadays many industries avoid the implementation of ABC system. From this specific paper, I learned the definition of the Activity-Based Costing (ABC), various approaches, its features, methods of implementing ABC system, its functional areas and its importance in the cost management. In order to learn about the ABC approach, the other related modules of costing are equally important. The reason behind this is that the ABC approach is related with other modules of the course like marginal costing, absorption costing and process costing as understanding of these approaches help to distinguish between these approaches and ABC approach. References Drury, Colin.Management And Cost Accounting. Andover: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Eldenburg, Leslie.Management Accounting. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley Sons, 2011. Print. Epstein, Marc J and John Y Lee.Advances In Management Accounting. Bingley, UK: Emerald, 2011. Print. Horngren, Charles T and Charles T Horngren.Management Accounting. Toronto: Pearson Canada, 2012. Print. Horngren, Charles T.Introduction To Management Accounting. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print. John Y. Lee.,.Advances In Management Accounting. Emerald Group Pub, 2012. Print.

Biomes Of The World Essays - Forest Ecology, Forests, Climate, Taiga

Biomes Of The World A biome, also known as life zones, consists of all plants, animals, and other organisms, as well the physical environment in a particular area. A biome is characterized by its plant life, climate, and location. The climate and physical features determine the boundaries of a biome. A biome is made up of many different ecosystems. The ecosystems tend to have the same pants and animals as neighboring biomes around the boundaries. The major biomes are the tundra, taiga, tropical rain forest, temperate forests, desert, grassland, savanna, chaparral, and marine. Each biome has its own characteristics such as the tundra. The tundra is a biome that is located in the Northern Hemisphere of the world. It circles the North Pole and reaches down to the taiga. The tundra has a very cold and harsh climate, especially in the winters. The average winter temperatures is about -30?F and average summer temperatures is roughly 37-54?F. The yearly amount of precipitation, which includes melting snow, averages to about 6 to 10 inches. With these conditions it makes for a short growing season of about 50-60 days. In some parts it can be up to 180 days. This is only found in the more southern part of the tundra. Another aspect of the tundra includes the vegetation that is found there and the adaptations that have been made. The tundra is known for its cold temperatures, but also its limited plant species. The growth of the vegetation is primarily low to the ground and the biomass of plants is concentrated in the roots. Here the plants reproduce more likely by division and building than by flower pollination. Some of that growthforms that you will find in the tundra include tussock, mats or cushion plants, rosettes, and dwarf shrubs. Other examples of plants include lichens, mosses, sedges, perennial forbs, dwarfed shrubs (heaths, birches, and willows), cotton grass, liverworts, and 400 varieties of flowers. Tundra plants over the years adapted to sweeping winds and disturbances of the soil. Another adaptation is that they are short and cluster together to help endure the cold. Also they can carry out photosynthesis at low temperatures and low light intensities. Plants arent the only things that have had to adapt to the conditions, animals have had to as well. Animals of the tundra have had to adapt to the long cold winters and to having to raise their young quickly in the summer. Some other adaptations of animals include thick insulating cover of feathers or fur; large, compact bodies; pelage and plumage that turns white in the winter and brown in the summer; the ability to accumulate thick deposits of fat during the short growing season; hibernation; and migration. Some of the animals that are found living in the tundra are lemmings, voles, caribou, artic hares, squirrels, artic foxes, wolves, polar bear, ravens, snow buntings, falcons, loons, ravens, sandpipers, terns, snow birds, mosquitoes, flies, moths, grasshoppers, black flies, artic bumble bees, cod, flatfish, salmon, and trout. Some of these animals are shared with other neighboring biomes but some are only home to the tundra. The tundra is the simplest biome in terms of species composition and food chain. The neighboring biome of the tundra is the boreal forest (taiga). The taiga is a biome that reaches completely across Canada and into the interior of Alaska. The climate is like the tundra in the sense that it has long, severe winters that last up to 6 months. The summers on the other hand are rather short. Although compared to the tundra, the growing season is longer and warmer. The mean annual precipitation is 15 to 20 inches. Throughout the year the temperatures range from the lows in the winter to highs in the summer. The taiga is also found to be very humid. The kinds of plants that have adapted to this kind of climate include needle leaf, coniferous trees such as spruce, fir, pine, and larch or tamarack. These trees are the dominant plant species of the taiga. Some other types are alder, birch, and aspen. Trees of the taiga are typically shallow rooted due to the poor soils, the rocky conditions, and the discontinuous permafrost. The plants living in this biome

Emmitt Till Essays - Emmett Till, MOSE Project, Free Essays

Emmitt Till Essays - Emmett Till, MOSE Project, Free Essays Emmitt Till Emmit Till was like any other ordinary boy. He lived in Chicago in 1955 with his mother. But this summer he was going to visit his Uncle Mose who lived down south. Down south and Chicago were totally different. First of all, you couldn't go to a school with someone that wasn't your color, you couldn't go to any bathroom you wanted and couldn't eat where you wanted. In other words, it was segregated. Now, let me get back to my story. I can't wait till go I down south. I wonder what it will be like.said Emmit. I think you'll like it, but stay out of trouble ya hear. said Emmit's mom. Ok. said Emmit. The next day Emmit arrived. He met up with his Uncle Mose and went straight to his Uncle's house. So how old are you now? said Uncle Mose. Fourteen. said Emmit. So, yah like fried chicken? said Uncle Mose. Yeah said Emmit. Good cause thats what we having for dinnersaid uncle Mose So they had dinner and Emmit went to bed.The next day Emmit went outside to go meet some new friends, but he took his junior high school graduation picture with him. A few minutes later he met two boys named Tony and Stacey. Emmit said, Look at my class picture. Tony said, Why are there white people in your class? Emmit said, I don't know. Why don't you? Stacey said, They aren't allowed in our school. Tony said, Since you hang around white people so much, I dare you to go talk to that white lady in that store. Emmit said, Ok. So Emmit went to the candy store and bought candy. He paid for it and before he left he said Bye baby. to a white woman in the store and then her husband came running after him, but Emmit was too fast and he ran all the way home. That night Uncle Mose asked Emmit, What did you do today ? Who me?,said Emmit Yes you. said Uncle Mose. Oh ummm, well ummm, I made some new friends, said Emmit. Why are you so nervous? said Uncle Mose. Why ya say that Uncle Mose? asked Emmit. Well, ya stuttering. said Uncle Mose. Is that why well I'm cold and I'm shivering? said Emmit. Cold in Alabama? You must be sick or something because I'm sweating, said Uncle Mose. Well I'm tired so I'm going to bed.said Emmit. Ok, see yah in the morning.said Uncle Mose. But Uncle Mose didn't know that Emmit was going to be kidnapped that night. In the middle of the night two men came and kidnapped Emmit. They drove him to the Hallatachie River. First, they beat him up with a bat and then they got 75 lbs bag of cotton gin, tied it around his ankle with barb wire , and threw him in the river Afterward they had a trial about the Emmit Till case. Those two men were found innocent. Emmit's family had two other trials and they were still found innocent. The reason why those two men were found innocent was because it was the 1950's and it was segregated and the trial had an all white jury.

Knowledge Management Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Knowledge Management Systems - Essay Example The objective of this paper is to identify and review the challenges of building and implementing knowledge systems. Also included in the discussion are the advantages of curbing failure factors of KMS as well as effective strategies in developing knowledge management initiatives. Identifying the challenges in building knowledge management systems (KMS) is a major concern. Bartczak (2002) claims that an intervening action towards achieving the objective of knowledge management (KM) is to determine the problems that inhibit knowledge transfer in different types of organisations. When a particular problem is recognised, organisations become capable of implementing approaches to reinforce organisational value through improved knowledge management. Knowledge is at the core of managing knowledge in organisations. In management literature, numerous studies have been proposed integrating the contribution of knowledge in enhancing management performance. Nevertheless, there are few researches about studying the chief failure causes in the domain of knowledge management (Chatzkel 2003). Through a comprehensive review of literature about the failure causes of knowledge management Malhotra (2004, as cited in Akhavan, Jafari, & Fathian 2005: para 3-4) states that: .. Prior discussion has highlighted that knowledge management system fail because of two broad reasons. ... For these inputs to result in business performance, the influence of intervening and moderating variables such as attention, motivation, commitment, creativity, and innovation, has to be better understood and accounted for in design of business models. Second, the efficacy of inputs and how they are strategically deployed are important issues often left unquestioned as 'expected' performance outcomes are achieved, but the value of such performance outcomes may be eroded by the dynamic shifts in the business and competitive environments... In other words, Malhotra is arguing that the most frequent mistake in building knowledge management system is incompetence in synchronising endeavours between human resources and information technology. He also emphasises that KMS design should guarantee that adjustment and improvement of organisational performance outcomes transpires in harmony with evolving processes of the business environment. At the same time, envisioning a wide range of future courses of human contributions and information technology implanted in the KMS can reduce the threat of rapid obsoleteness of these systems. The objective of this study is to analyse and discuss some of the most apparent problems or challenges in building knowledge management systems in organisations. The first section will discuss the inherent challenges in the management of organisational knowledge, such as employee characteristics and the trend of knowledge work. Then the challenges in embedded knowledge and information systems, as well as the failure causes in KMS will be discussed. The final section will provide an overall analysis and inclusive conclusion on the knowledge management

Why does tayo wants to be white smoke Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why does tayo wants to be white smoke - Essay Example Tayo portrays himself as formless as white smoke and refuses to talk to the doctor’s as white smoke is invisible. In his guilt and trauma he wants to become the white smoke because white smoke has no consciousness of itself and in becoming invisible and oblivious he was granted a safe heaven, where nothing horrific or awful penetrated. Losing consciousness and becoming invisible allowed Tayo to leave the painful memories behind and escape the war and the reality and the guilt of Rocky’s and Josiah’s death. â€Å"The smoke had been dense; visions and memories of the past did not penetrate there, and he had drifted in colors of smoke, where there was no pain†. (Ceremony) 1. For him the smoke was a barrier against the pain, where visions and memories of the war did not infiltrate. This barrier of white smoke made him fell safe and secure from the awful reality surrounding him. The doctor’s further aid him in feeling like white smoke by keeping him drugged, helping him to maintain a state of unconsciousness, oblivious of all things surrounding him. Their medicine drained memory out of his thin arms and replaced it with a twilight cloud behind his eyes†. The medicines induced a state of stupor for Tayo, in which his thoughts, memories and consciousness get lost as if in a fog. Instead of helping him they simply let him believe that he indeed is white smoke. To Tayo living or becoming white smoke is a way of escaping reality and the ugliness of the war. By keeping his memories at bay he tries to create a place where he is safe from the horrific visions of war and the death of his relatives. A place where he dose not have to feel guilty for killing his uncle Josiah’s or for not being able to protect his cousin Rocky from