Cognitive Theories



Cognitive Theories

Introduction

Cognitive psychology is concerned with the study of processes such as language, perception, memory, reasoning and problem solving. Cognitive psychology has a significant role in determining the learning and development of a person. As a result, there are three theories, which address cognitive learning. These theories are interactional theories, Piaget's Theory, and Cognitive Information Processing.

Discussion

Interactional Theories of Cognitive Development

Jerome Bruner explicitly rejects the notion of developmental stages. However, he argues that different modes of processing and representing information are emphasized during different periods of a child's life. He argues that, during the early years, physical manipulation has a significant role. During the second period, when a child reaches between 5 and 7 years, the emphasis shifts to the reflection and the individual becomes starts to represent internal aspects of the environment. During the third period, which coincides with adolescence, thinking becomes increasingly abstract and language-dependent. The individual acquires the ability to deal with both propositions as objects. According to Bruner, humans develop three parallel systems to process and represent information. A system operates through manipulation and action, the other through the perceptual organization and imagination and a third through the symbolic instrument (Flannery, 1993).

Vigotsky presents a socio-cultural learning theory of each individual within the environment in which, he grows. Vygotsky considered learning as one of the fundamental mechanisms of development. In his opinion, the best teaching is that which precedes development. The learning model provides the context as central. Social interaction becomes the engine of development. Vygotsky introduced the concept of 'zone of proximal development' which is the distance between the actual developmental level and the level of potential development. According to this theory, school learning needs to be consistent with the child's developmental level. Learning occurs easily in collective situations, whereas interaction with parents facilitates learning. ...