Unit 6 Assignment Child and Adolescent Psychology

Unit 6 Assignment Child and Adolescent Psychology Student’s Name Institution Course # and Name Professor’s Name Submission Date Slide 2: Introduction Humans undergo developmental changes that occur gradually and at an individual pace. Parents and educators should be aware of cognitive developments in human life. Adolescents and children require a supportive and nurturing environment The four periods of cognitive development are infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence Piagetian concepts, language development, information processing concepts, and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory inform these cognitive changes. Speaker Notes The growth and development of a child till adulthood has many milestones they must go through. Taking the first step, smiling and waving are among the first signs of development in the first year, followed by playing, learning, and speaking. Cognitive developments occur mostly during life's childhood and adolescence phases; hence, parents and educators should keenly monitor each child's progress. Theories and concepts that inform development milestones include Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (Sanghvi, 2020). The information processing theory, language learning, and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Slide 3: Cognitive Development in Infancy/Toddlerhood Infants can do specific things by a certain age. Piaget’s sensorimotor stage extends from birth till the infant acquires a language (Sanghvi, 2020). It begins at birth and ends after 24 months. The information processing concept of habituation is significant here. Infants become accustomed to repeated stimuli and decrease their attention to it. Babbling is normal language development at this stage. Speaker Notes Piaget believed that children make mistakes because of the quality of their intelligence rather than the quantity of what they know. According to his theory, cognitive development is based on modifying environmental experiences (Sanghvi, 2020). Habituation refers to diminishing behavioral responses to a stimulus after repeated encounters (Allan et al., 2020). For example, children are habituated to the sound of a bell after hearing it repeatedly. Infants are interested in looking at their caregivers' faces when speaking and listening to their voices (Rafiola et al., 2022). Most babies respond to familiar sounds after at least four months. Slide 4: Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Symbolic thinking develops in early childhood. Preoperational stage: understanding symbolic representation and imaginative play (Sanghvi, 2020). Selective attention aids the learning process. Children demonstrate an understanding of cause-effect. Telegraphic speech marks early communication. Early childhood marks the language development phase. Speaker Notes Piagetian concept relevant in early childhood is the preoperational stage, and it starts towards the end of the second year. Children develop symbolic thinking but struggle with logic and understanding others' perspectives (Sanghvi, 2020). For example, children may engage in animism by attributing human-like qualities to inanimate objects. There is a heightened sense of curiosity, and the children start to have a logical view of life. The information processing concept in this stage is the aspect of selective attention (Allan et al., 2020). Children learn to focus on relevant information while ignoring distractions. For example, a child may focus on listening to a story while ignoring background noise. An example of language development is Telegraphic Speech. Children combine words into short, meaningful sentences like "big dog." Slide 5: Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood Piaget refers to this as a concrete operational stage where logical, intuitive thinking emerges (Huang, 2021). The conservation concept is grasped during middle childhood. Children demonstrate an understanding of reversibility. Wo...