Identify which of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development Mollie and her friends are in. Describe some key characteristics of children in this stage of cognitive development. Describe two examples from the chapter that illustrate characteristics of this stage of cognitive development.
“Developmental psychology studies the way human develop and change over time.” (Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2014, p. 464). Piaget has proposed 4 stages in his theory of cognitive development; the first is sensorimotor stage, pre-operational stage, concrete operational stage and finally, formal operational stage.
Mollie and her friends are in the Pre-operational stage of cognitive development. This can be shown as they are in a pre-school …show more content…
Describe one example of assimilation and one example of accommodation that Mollie and her friends display.
Assimilation as explained by Piaget in Burton et al. (2014), it involves interpreting actions or events in terms of one’s present schemas, which is fitting reality into one’s existing ways of understanding. A schema is an organised, repeatedly exercised pattern of thought or behaviour. In accommodation the child’s knowledge of the environment is modified to incorporate new experiences or knowledge that able them to adapt to the broad aspect of cognitive demands imposed by the environment (Simatwa, 2010).
Mollie and her friends display assimilation when the teacher explains about the climbing house. Mollie assumed that the wooden steps are still being use as a step at some other place. Mollie fits those woods into the existing schema of “steps”, as she only thought those are meant for …show more content…
In your own words summarise the aims of the article, and explain what the key findings of the study were. Provide your own examples of how these findings related to the developmental importance of play may be applied in an everyday context for children.
A study done by Sandra Wong (2014) mainly focuses on three stages of child development from the sensorimotor stage to concrete operational stage. The aim of this study is to observe how design elements in play spaces can help the development of cognitive, social skills, and therapeutic benefit. The author suggested that design elements, which are the need for swinging, need for sliding, need for plants for play and the need for water as a simulation to touch and auditory. The key findings of this study is that the author have identified three types of attributes, which are providing adequate physical challenges for the child, providing settings that support for social and emotional needs and providing sensory stimulation. These attributes are important in landscapes for play as it eases the transition of developing skills through the different developmental stages. The five design elements suggested are vital in order to fulfil the conditions to the three identified