Characteristics of Attachment

There are four basic characteristics that basically give us a clear view of what
attachment really is. They include a safe heaven, a secure base, and proximity
maintenance and separation distress. These four attributes are very evident in the
relationship between a child and his caregiver.

1. Safe Haven

Ideally, the child can rely on his caregiver for comfort at times whenever he feels
threatened, frightened or in danger. For example, if a child is given a toy that he
doesn't like, he'd cry and his mother would remove the toy and hug the child so he
would stop crying.

2. Secure Base

Here, the caregiver gives a good and reliable foundation to the child as he goes on
learning and sorting out things by himself. For example, a child would ask
questions to his mother about why his dad got sick and can't play with him at the
moment.

3. Proximity Maintenance

This means that the child aims to explore the world but still tries to stay close to his
care giver. For example, a teenager discusses peer problems with his mother.

4. Separation Distress

This means that the child becomes unhappy and sorrowful when he becomes
separated from his caregiver. For example, an infant cries loudly when his mother
leaves for work.

Attachment Styles

Aside from Bowlby, other theorists contributed to the study of attachment.

Ainsworth, Main and Solomon are the main researchers who theorized the
different styles of attachment that can be observed in the relationship of a person to
another. These attachment styles include: secure, ambivalent-secure, avoidant-
insecure and disorganized insecure attachments.

1. Secure Attachment

When children are securely attached to their caregivers (parents), they feel happy
whenever their caregivers are around, but are upset when they get separated from
them. While the child is in distress when his parent is away, still, he feels secured
with the feeling that his caregiver will return sometime soon.

2. Ambivalent Attachment

A child who is ambivalently attached becomes very upset and sorrowful whenever
he gets separated from his parent. The child does not feel that he can rely on his
caregiver whenever he is in need of something.

3. Avoidant Attachment

Simply put, a child who has an avoidant attachment tends to keep away from his
parents. Studies revealed that this may be a cause of parents who are fond of
neglecting or abusing their children.

4. Disorganized Attachment

This is when there is no clear (or mixed) attachment between the child and his
caregiver. When the parent acts as an apprehensive caregiver and a reassuring one
at different times, the child may get confused and cause this kind of attachment

Top 4 Factors That Influence Language Learning in Children

Factors that influence language learning in children.
1. Exposure to the New Language
When learning a new language, the most important factor is exposure. Does the
learner experience the language in the classroom only? Or do they have native
speakers in their family at home? Even better, is the learner living in a place where
the language they are learning is the native language? New learners will benefit
immensely from the opportunity to talk in the language, listen to native speakers,
and read and write in the new language on a daily basis. Maximizing the exposure
to the new language is the number one factor for language learning among
children.
2. The Age of the Learner
The age of the learner plays an important role in their ability to develop mastery of
a new language. The earlier a child can begin learning a new language, the more
quickly and completely they will develop mastery in speech, writing, and reading.
Achieving a native-like mastery of a new language can be more difficult for adults
than it is for children, so it is best to begin learning at a young age and stick with
it!
3. The Learner’s Native Language
The learner’s native language plays an important role in their acquisition of a new
language. If the learner’s native language is from a similar family of languages, the
acquisition process will move along much more quickly. For example, it will be
much easier to learn Spanish if the learner’s native language is French. Many
general language skills, such as grammar and syntax, are transferable from one
language to the other. So the stronger the learner’s mastery of their native
language, the more quickly they will develop mastery of the new language. When a
child is first learning a new language, it can often be helpful to include education
about general language skills in their native language and how those skills transfer
to the new language.
4. The Learner’s Motivation
Just like any educational activity, the motivation of the learner is a very important
factor for their success. Learning a new language can be great fun, and it can also
be an important necessity. So making the most of motivation is a good way to
improve language learning for children. If the learner lives in their native country,
but they are taking classes in a new language, they will have more success if they
are taught by a favorite teacher who makes the learning environment fun and
engaging. Creating a positive and enjoyable environment for learning is an
important factor for success. If the learner has moved to a new country, and they
must learn the new language out of necessity, this can also be a powerful motivator
for success. If all the other kids in school are socializing and playing games in the
new language, the learner will be much more motivated to join in and exercise
their language skills. Similarly, if the everyday toys and foods and television
shows that the learner experiences are in the new language, there is an intrinsic
necessity to the learning that can make a big difference.

Principles of Human Growth and Development

1. Development is Continuous:
The process of growth and development continues from the conception till the
individual reaches maturity. Development of both physical and mental traits
continues gradually until these traits reach their maximum growth. It goes on
continuously throughout life. Even after maturity has been attained, development
does not end.

2. Development is Gradual:
It does not come all on a sudden. It is also cumulative in nature.

3. Development is Sequential:
Most psychologists agree that development is sequential or orderly. Every species,
whether animal or human, follows a pattern of development peculiar to it. This
pattern in general is the same for all individuals. The child crawls before he creeps,
stands before he walks and babbles before he talks.

4. Rate of Development Varies Person to Person:

Rate of development is not uniform. Individuals differ in the rate of growth and
development. Boys and girls have different development rates. Each part of the
body has its own particular rate of growth. There are periods of great intensity and
equilibrium and there are periods of imbalance.

Development Proceeds from General to Specific:

Development proceeds from general to specific. In all areas of development,
general activity always precedes specific activity. For example, the fetus moves its
whole body but is incapable of making specific responses. With respect to
emotional behavior infants approach strange and unusual objects with some sort of
general fear response.

Later, their fears become more specific and elicit different kinds of behavior, such
as, crying, turning away and hiding etc.

6. Most Traits are correlated in Development:

Generally, it is seen that the child whose mental development is above average, is
also superior in so many other aspects like health, sociability and special aptitudes.

7. Growth and Development is a Product of Both Heredity and Environment:

Development is influenced by both heredity and environment. Both are responsible
for human growth and development.

8. Development is Predictable:
The difference in physiological and psychological potentialities can ‘be predicated
by observation and psychological tests.

9. Development:
Development brings about both structural and functional changes.
10. There is a Constant Interaction between All Factors of Development:
Development in one area is highly related to development in other areas. For
example, a child who has a good health can be active socially and intellectually.

What Is Cognitive Development

 Children grow and develop rapidly in their first five years across the four main
areas of development. These areas are motor (physical), language and
communication, cognitive and social/emotional.

Cognitive development means how children think, explore and figure things out. It
is the development of knowledge, skills, problem solving and dispositions, which
help children to think about and understand the world around them. Brain
development is part of cognitive development.

As a parent, it is important to foster your child's cognitive development as soon as

he/she is born because doing so provides the foundation for your child's success in
school and later in life. For example, research shows that children who can
distinguish sounds at six months of age are better at acquiring the skills for
learning to read at four and five years of age.

To promote your child's cognitive development, it is important that you actively

engage in quality interactions on a daily basis. Examples include:

 Talking with your baby and naming commonly used objects.

 Letting your baby explore toys and move about.
 Singing and reading to your baby.
 Exposing your toddler to books and puzzles.
 Expanding on your child's interests in specific learning activities. For example,
your toddler might show an early interest in dinosaurs, so you can take him/her on
a trip to the natural history museum to learn more about the time that these
creatures roamed the earth.
 Answering your child’s “why” questions.

Another way that you can foster your child's cognitive development is to provide
him/her with choices and prompt him/her to make thoughtful decisions. You
should also allow your child to explore different ways of solving problems. While
you may want to provide some gentle guidance and encouragement, allow your
child some time to figure out things, like a new puzzle. This may require some
patience on your part, but it will ultimately help him/her to learn.

The experiences that children have in their first few years of life are paramount to
how they develop into adults. Children change over time, from being new-born to
growing into a fully functioning adult; going from dependence to independence.
As a parent, it is your role to nurture your child’s development from birth, to
support them in learning the crucial life skills of each developmental domain. This
is the most important role that influences child development.

A child’s development is strongly correlated with how positive or negative their

care and attachment is to their parent. [A parent is the main caregiver to the child].
The attachment refers to the emotional bond a parent and child have, and can
impact their future relationships. Continue reading this guide to find out what the
stages of child development are, and how you can promote this for your child.

The characteristics of child development stages

Child development incorporates four main characteristics that can be assessed at
each stage of a child’s milestones. These characteristics are physical, intellectual,
emotional and social. Although these are four separate categories, they do each
intertwine with one another, as progress in one characteristic often leads to
progress in another characteristic. For example, as a child’s intellectual ability
increases, it influences a child’s social curiosity. You can find out more about each
characteristic below.
Physical
A child begins to develop physically in the womb. A baby starts as one cell, and
gradually develops in the weeks of pregnancy to form organs and limbs, to prepare
for life in the world after it is born. The limbs, organs and muscles continue to
grow after birth and are particularly vulnerable in the early years. This is why it is
especially important to support a baby’s head, posture and positioning in its first
few months of life. A child’s brain reaches 80% of its adult volume by aged three,
so it is important that the head is protected.

Babies are born with unconscious reflexes that support them to engage in basic
survival (such as sucking to feed, and reacting to sudden noises). As a baby grows
with proper care, its muscles develop so that it can learn how to move its body.
This is referred to as gross motor skills and includes actions such as sitting, moving
arms and legs, and taking steps.

Once the gross motor skills start to develop, the fine motor skills follow. The fine
motor skills are the smaller physical movements that require more control. These
include gripping, using objects and writing.
A child’s physical development also concerns physical health. The Marmot
Review into how to reduce health inequality found that giving children the best
start in life was one of six key areas that could promote positive health and
wellbeing across the life course.
Intellectual
Research by the Social Research Unit found that a child’s cognitive skills develop
the most in the early years than at any other time in their lives. Even new-born
babies have a natural interest in the world by looking at shapes and objects, and
eventually responding to different sounds and gestures.

Intellectual development is a child’s ability to think and reason for themselves.

Children are very eager to learn, which places parents in a key position to shape
and teach their children how to learn and develop. A child’s brain does most of its
development during early childhood, so thorough stimulation from a young age
supports positive brain development and curiosity.
Emotional
Babies are born with the ability to show basic emotions such as happiness or
distress. This is how parents know how to respond to their child and decipher what
they need. A baby’s emotions broaden as they are socialized with during
childhood, with more emotions learned and displayed as they get older.

A child’s type of attachment to their parent is the basis of how a child will develop
their own self-esteem. A secure attachment will lead to positive emotional,
intellectual and social outcomes as the child will have more confidence in
themselves to explore new things and relationships. It also reduces the risk of the
child developing an unhealthy lifestyle.
Social
Social development concerns how a child interacts with other people and things.
Babies need social engagement straight from birth as it helps to stimulate them and
teaches them to respond. Babies use sounds to communicate initially, until they
learn how to talk and understand what is said to them. This form of social
development is closely aligned to intellectual development.

The interaction that a child has with their parent helps them to process language,
cognitive and social skills which form the foundations for social interaction in the
child’s brain. If a child does not receive enough interaction in the early
development stages, it can have negative implications for their communication in
the future.
The five stages of child development in the UK
The previous section explained the characteristics of child development. Each
characteristic has its own milestone indicators that help us to determine if a child is
developing at the right pace. The milestones contain different actions or targets that
a child should be able to accomplish at different stages of their childhood. In the
UK there are five stages that exemplify key milestones.

These are Newborn, Infancy, Toddler, Preschool, and School Age. The milestones
for each life stage will be explained below for each characteristic of child
development. [Please note that the milestones explained below should be used as a
guide to child development. Each child develops at slightly varying stages. If you
are concerned about the signs of your child’s development, you should contact
your health visitor or GP].
The importance of early child development
Research by the has found that the British public do not have a strong
understanding of the importance of child development and how this can be
nurtured. This lack of insight could be extremely harmful to children, limiting their
progress and potential later in life. The years of 0 to 5 are extremely sensitive
because this is the time that Shonkoff et al (2008) identified as when the brain is
more easily affected by positive and negative experiences.
The brain is developing in all areas during the early development stages of a
child’s life, so a child’s experiences impact how the brain grows. A positive start in
life ensures that brain development is healthy which is why it is important for
parents to promote positive and loving life experiences. A weaker foundation
increases the likelihood of a child having negative experiences in life.

There are many things that can negatively impact child development. Poverty is
strongly linked to children having more difficulties in younger life, with higher
income families resulting in children with more favorable learning outcomes,
routines and healthy environments. The found that around 30% of children grow
up in poverty; with parents carrying the weight of many societal problems. Over
time, carrying this stress can cause parents to have a reduction in mental and
emotional capacity to care for their child, which can risk their basic needs and lead
to a breakdown in care.
Having a strong support network can help parents to mitigate this risk, promote the
wellbeing of the child, and. Please note that if parents are suffering from adversity,
it does not mean that they aren’t trying hard enough. Life can be unpredictable –
but during challenging times, it is important to recognize the risks to the child.
Unfortunately, looked-after children who experience their early years living in
local authority care have below average outcomes across a range of developmental
milestones. This is because of the abuse or neglect that has lead them to being
removed from their parents and placed into looked-after care.
These stressful situations can lead to problems with physical and mental health as
well as issues with learning and behavior. In these instances, despite children being
removed from the situation, they still have less consistent caregivers, creating
difficulties in forming attachments which can also cause a slowing in development
(especially for the social characteristic). However, when a child has had an
interrupted start in life, it is still important to promote positive foundations for their
ongoing growth. Just because a child has had a negative experience, does not mean
that it is too late for them to have a healthy development.
How to encourage child development in early years
As parents, there are ways in which you can support your child to have the best
start in life, and nurture their progress for them to achieve their developmental
milestones. We have outlined these below for each of the five early years stages.
Newborn (0–3 months)
Social – Babies learn to turn to look at someone when they are speaking during the
newborn stage. If parents frequently talk and display positive noises to their child,
it will help the child to become familiar with your voice and quieten down when
they hear your voice. Responding to your baby as soon as they cry will also help
their emotional and social development.
Emotional – A baby massage will calm your baby down and make them feel
secure, helping them develop emotionally, socially and physically. Another way to
support attachment is by introducing a daily routine. This will provide a nurturing
secure environment to support your child’s overall development and be a positive
foundation for a secure attachment.
Physical – To help your baby use their body you can do supervised tummy time
(where you lay your baby on its tummy for it to try to lift its head). This will
strengthen its neck and back. To help strengthen your baby’s arms and legs, allow
time for your baby to be on its back so it can kick its legs and throw its arms
around.
Infancy (3–12 months)
Physical – You can pick your baby up and place their feet onto the floor to mimic
standing and walking. This will induce step-like motions in your baby and prepare
them for using their legs to move around.
Social – Babies start to imitate during this stage, so parents can accompany words
with objects to teach their child what objects are and what they are used for. They
can also use hand gestures more frequently such as waving and clapping.
Intellectual – You can play games with objects to promote your child’s memory
when they are a toddler. Hiding objects for your child to find is a great way to
teach them about object permanence. Your child will understand that objects are
still there even if they are not in sight.
Toddler (1–3 years)
Intellectual – As toddlers, children become increasingly curious about the world.
Reading stories to your child will promote their imagination, and engage them with
books that they can point at and listen to as you read them.
Physical – Allow your child to try and dress themselves to promote their fine and
gross motor skills. You will be required to be patient, but allowing your child to
have some independence will help them complete tasks themselves.
Emotional – Toddlers can begin to have a lot of tantrums as they explore who they
are. Try to respond calmly to teach them how to deal with emotions.
Preschool (3–4 years)
Physical – Encourage your child to complete daily tasks as adults would, such as
tidying, using a knife and fork when eating, and using the toilet properly by wiping
themselves and flushing.
Social – Support your child to socialize with other children and encourage healthy
communication, such as taking it in turns to talk.
Intellectual – Engage your child in the world to teach them and feed their brain.
Children are increasingly interested in the world around them so explain what
things are, such as fire station, flowers and insects.
School (4–5 years)
Intellectual – Practice schoolwork with your child at home (such as maths and
spellings).
Physical – Encourage your child to play active games and enjoy the outdoors.
Limit time in front of a TV or a gaming device.
Emotional – Talk to your child about the world and continue to play with them.
Children learn best with real-life interaction and will continue to feel safe and
secure
 Theories of Forgetting
This article will discuss the five popular theories of forgetting relevant in
psychology worldwide. The theories involve both short-term and long-term
memory.


Several incidents occur in our lives where we forget something or the other.
Whether we forget where we have placed our keys or the name of the person we
met last night, forgetfulness is a very common occurrence in our daily lives. With
time, psychologists have come up with several theories of forgetting, out of which
five have remained popular worldwide. This blog will discuss the five popular
theories of forgetting, including displacement theory, retrieval failure theory, trace
decay theory, interference theory, and even consolidation theory.

The Displacement Theory of Forgetting

The displacement theory of forgetting is relevant to short-term memory. Short-term

memory has limited retaining capacity and only holds a limited amount of
information. Studies conclude that an individual’s short-term memory can retain up
to seven items at a time. For example, if you are given a set of numbers containing
seven digits, your brain will not have any capacity left to retain information.

The displacement theory of forgetting depends on the studies conducted based on

the free recall method. According to this method, the participants listen to many
words following which they are asked to recall them. Studies have shown that most
of them can recall the first and the last words. Psychologists can describe the recall
effect with the help of primacy and recency effects.

The Retrieval Failure Theory of Forgetting

Endel Tulving takes credit for developing the retrieval failure theory of forgetting
in the year 1974. He believed that forgetting of information occurs when an
individual fails to retrieve information from their memory. Even though the
information stored as long-term memory is not lost, we cannot recall it at the given
moment. The best example to explain this theory is when we know a word, but we
cannot remember it, and it feels as if the word is stuck at the tip of the tongue. The
two main reasons for failure in memory retrieval are when there is a failure in
encoding due to which the information never made it to the long-term memory in
the first place. Also, there could be a retrieval failure where we cannot access the
information due to a lack of retrieval cues.

The Trace Decay Theory of Forgetting

Edward Thorndike came up with the theory of trace decay in 1914. This theory is
based on the early studies conducted by Hermann Ebbinghaus on early memory.
The trace decay theory of forgetting states that our memory will fade away with
time if we don’t access it regularly. Neurochemical changes, known as memory
traces, occur in an individual’s brain when they learn new information. Therefore,
whenever they conduct memory retrieval, they must revisit the traces the brain has
used during encoding. Memory retrieval depends on the time between encoding
and the recall of that information. The sooner we retrieve the memory, the more
quickly we can recall it and vice versa.

The Interference Theory of Forgetting

John A. Bergstrom was the first psychologist to study the interference theory of
forgetting in 1892. He stated that retrieval and recall of memory could be
interrupted by previous knowledge and new information. For example, an
individual will not remember what they had for breakfast on Sunday because of the
number of meals consumed throughout the week. Proactive interference is the
phenomenon that takes place when old memories are interfering with the new ones.
At the same time, retroactive interference occurs when old memories are altered
with the new ones. For example, if you have learnt French and are learning
Spanish now, then while speaking French, Spanish might interfere with your
previous knowledge.

The Consolidation Theory of Forgetting

Theorized by George Muller and Alfons Pilzecker in 1900, this theory is based on
physiological evidence. This theory of forgetting focuses on the physiological
aspects of forgetting. The process of memory consolidation takes place when the
memory is stabilized to prevent disruptions. The moment a memory is
consolidated, it becomes resistant to forgetting.

Conclusion

There are five popular theories of forgetting in psychology. They are trace decay
theory, retrieval failure theory, interference theory, consolidation theory, and
displacement theory. While the trace decay theory focuses on time being an
essence during retrieval, the retrieval theory explains the phenomenon of the tip of
the tongue where we cannot recall a familiar word at a given time. The
consolidation theory of forgetting focuses on how, once the memory is
consolidated, becomes more resistant to forgetting and can be retrieved easily. On
the other hand, the displacement theory of forgetting displaces old information
with the new ones since our short-term memory has a limited capacity to retain
information. Last but not least, the interference theory deals with some memories
interfering with the retrieval of other memories. Proactive retrieval and retroactive
retrieval of memories are the two kinds of memory retrieval interference that
commonly take place during the memory retrieval process at any given time.
FIVE BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR WRITING GOOD QUESTIONNAIRES

1. be comprehensible!

Use a clear and comprehensible language to ease the cognitive burden for the respondents. Each and
every question reduces the respondent’s capability of concentration. Therefore, if you want to keep
their attention, the questions should be as comprehensible as possible. This is especially true if you have
less educated people in your sample.

2. Be clear!

It sounds obvious, but questions need to be clear and unambiguous. Using vague buzz words, unfamiliar
terms or everyday language can blur your results. Even though respondents may think they understand
what you mean, everyone will have something different in mind, when answering your question.

But be careful! Sometimes being clear runs contrary to being comprehensible, especially if you try to be
overly precise. Being clear should never lead to these extremely long and awkward questions that
nobody will read thoroughly, especially when completing the questionnaire on a mobile device. Always
keep the respondent in mind!

3. Be neutral!

Avoid suggestive questions or unbalanced answering options. The respondents may not necessarily
mind or even notice, but your results may then lean towards one or another answering option. In this
case you are not measuring the objective facts, but implicitly asking for approval of your subjective
standpoint. Your data will be biased. Hence, you should always take a neutral standpoint and try to be
as objective as possible when writing a questionnaire.

4. Operationalize!

Very often, you will want to find out about attitudes and behaviors that can’t be evaluated directly. Try
to operationalize these concepts and translate them into clear and tangible indicators. Instead of asking
directly whether someone is “lifestyle oriented”, rather ask for specific products or activities, the
respondent may have had contact with during the last weeks. Not only will it be easier for the
respondent to find an answer but also lead to much more accurate results.

5. Mind the order!

Any clues given at the beginning of the questionnaire may affect the answers to questions that follow.
Or the first statements presented to a respondent may affect the respondent’s choice of an answering
option. This is what psychologists call priming, an effect of the short-term memory on our decision
making. Therefore, if possible, try to randomize the order of your questions and statements. If you can’t
do that, at least try to optimize the order to get natural, unbiased feedback.

There are definitely many more things to keep in mind, but you would be surprised how often even
these five basic principles are neglected in research practice.

The nine main characteristics of science are the following: Objectivity, verifiable, ethical
neutrality, systematic exploration, reliability, precision, abstraction and predictability.

1. Objectivity
Scientific knowledge is objective. Simple objectivity means the ability to see and accept facts as
they are, not as one might wish they were. To be objective, one has to protect oneself against
one’s own prejudices, beliefs, desires, values and preferences. Objectivity requires that one
should set aside all kinds of subjective considerations and prejudices. If you are afraid that your
work will not be objective enough, then you can ask us to “write my essays” or order
proofreading.
2. Verifiable

Science rests on sensory data, that is, data collected through our senses: eye, ear, nose, tongue
and touch. Scientific knowledge is based on verifiable evidence (concrete objective observations)
so that other observers can observe, weigh or measure the same phenomena and verify the
observation to verify its accuracy.

Is there a god? Is the Varna system ethical or the questions related to the existence of the soul,
heaven or hell are not scientific questions because they cannot be treated objectively? The
evidence regarding its existence cannot be gathered through our senses. Science has no answers
for everything. Deal only with those questions about which verifiable evidence can be found.

3. Ethical neutrality

Science is ethically neutral. It only seeks knowledge. How this knowledge will be used, is
determined by the values of society. Knowledge can be used for different uses. Knowledge about
atomic energy can be used to cure diseases or to wage an atomic war.

Ethical neutrality does not mean that the scientist does not have values. Here it only means that
you should not allow your values to distort the design and conduct of your research proposal.
Therefore, scientific knowledge is value-neutral or value-free.
4. Systematic exploration

A scientific investigation adopts a certain sequential procedure, an organized plan or a research

design to collect and analyze data about the problem under study. In general, this plan includes
some scientific steps: formulation of hypotheses, compilation of facts, analysis of facts
(classification, coding and tabulation) and generalization and scientific prediction.

5. Reliable or reliable
Scientific knowledge must occur under the prescribed circumstances not once but repeatedly. It
is replicable in the indicated circumstances in any place and at any time. The conclusions based
on casual memories are not very reliable.

6. Accuracy

Scientific knowledge is precise. It is not vague as some literary writings. Tennyson wrote:
“Every moment a man dies; Every moment that one is born, it is good literature but not science.
To be a good science, it should be written as: “In India, according to the 2001 census, every
tenth, on average, a man dies; every fourth second, on average, a baby is born «. Accuracy
requires giving the exact number or measure. Instead of saying “most people are against
marriages for love,” says a scientific researcher, “ninety percent of people are against marriages
for love.”

7. Accuracy

Scientific knowledge is precise. A doctor, like a common man, will not say that the patient has a
mild temperature or that he has a very high temperature, but after measuring with the help of the
thermometer, he will declare that the patient has a temperature of 101.2 F.

Precision simply means truth or correction of a statement or description of things with exact
words as they are without jumping to unjustified conclusions. Every essay helper on our team
always works by this rule.
8. Abstraction

Science proceeds on a plane of abstraction. A general scientific principle is highly abstract. He is

not interested in giving a realistic image.

The research process is a continuous cycle. Research does not follow a one-way linear progression,
instead it is a continuous process of checking and re-checking, evaluating and analyzing, and
repeating the entire process over and over again. While painstaking, the research process is what
enable writers to become subject matter experts and write a publishable article, comment, or case
note.
There are many different ways to break down the research process. For our purposes, we’ve broken
the process down into 6 steps:

1. Analyze

First, establish the purpose of your research. What is your topic, question, or problem? Define
the scope of your research, know what you are looking for, and avoid the rabbit holes. When
researching it’s easy to get off topic and after hours of researching realize you’ve drifted too far
away from your topic. By defining a specific scope—the scope will change throughout the
process—you will find pertinent and relevant information for each stage of your research. You
may have to do some preliminary, background research on the issue you are interested in before
narrowing your scope.

2. Determine Research Tools

The research tools you will use vary depending on what topic you are researching as well as
what step in the research process you are on. Initially, you may look for secondary sources that
enable you to get a better grasp of what your topic or problems entails. As your topic develops,
you will need to determine what type of sources you are looking for. For example, government
websites often have search features that provide both legislative histories and other reasoning
behind certain bills and treaties being passed. Scientific websites may offer more numerical and
hard factual data analysis. If a specific business or industry is relevant you will need to know
what resources are most helpful for researching information pertinent to the field.

3. Search

The first search will often include preliminary data gathering that generally ensures you have
appropriately identified the issue. This preliminary search will be used to help you develop your
thesis statement, and guide the remainder of your research.

The search process will develop and become increasingly in-depth each time you repeat the
process. This steps evolves from the preliminary search of secondary resources and becomes a
detailed review of primary sources. The material you search for evolves as you grasp the full
extent of your topic and create a well-defined thesis.

4. Evaluate

Take time to review the sources you have gathered and ensure your topic and question are still
relevant. This means conducting a preemption check to ensure your topic and question are still
relevant.

5. Keep a Record

Keep a list of the sources you have used, how you located those sources, and how each is
helpful to your paper. An annotated bibliography is a great way to ensure that you can recall
where the information came from when you begin the writing process.
 6. Repeat

The research process is a cycle, so once you’ve completed preliminary research, you go back
through the cycle. After preliminary analysis, determining the appropriate research tools,
searching, evaluating, and recording what you’ve found, begin again. Using the information you
have already located, re-analyze your topic or thesis, consider what sub-issues still need further
research, and follow the steps again with those issues in mind. Your research will continue to
evolve as you write drafts of your paper, as you will begin to see missing pieces that need further
research.

JEAN PIAGETS THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

The Theory of Cognitive Development by Jean Piaget, the Swiss psychologist, suggests that children's
intelligence undergoes changes as they grow. Cognitive development in children is not only related to
acquiring knowledge, children need to build or develop a mental model of their surrounding world. His
work is regarded as the cornerstone in the field of developmental psychology. In this article, we examine
the implications his work has for the intellectual development of children in classrooms.

In the 1920s, Piaget was working at the Binet Institute and his main responsibility was to translate
questions written in English intelligence tests into French. He became interested to find out why children
gave incorrect answers to the questions needing logical thinking (Meadows, 2019).

Piaget believed that these wrong answers revealed significant differences between the thinking of
children and adults. Piaget proposed a new set of assumptions about the intelligence of children:

Children think differently and see the world differently from adults.

Children are not passive learners, they actively build up their knowledge about the surrounding.

The most effective way to understand children’s reasoning is to think from children's point of view.

Piaget did not want to measure how well children can spell, count or solve problems to check their I.Q.
He was more intrigued to find out how the fundamental concepts such as the very idea of time, number,
justice, quantity and so on emerged.

Piaget used observations and clinical interviews of older children who were able to hold conversations
and understand questions. He also made controlled observation, and used naturalistic observation of his
own three children and developed diary description with charts of children's development.

His research interests included child development, logic, mathematics, linguistics, social sciences and
education.
His major works include "Logic", "Reasoning and Judgment" and "Constructionism". Jean Piaget's work is
important because it provides us with insights into cognitive processes during childhood. It helps
teachers identify what needs to be taught and when. The following sections will explore some of the key
ideas behind Piagetian theories. Piaget influenced the field of developmental psychology because he
showed that learning takes place through stages rather than just being acquired all at once. Anyone
exploring a career in child psychology will no doubt come across his influential work. In recent years, it
has come into some criticism but the importance of his contribution to developmental psychology
cannot be denied.

- He was one of the first people to study children's development and he developed the theory that
children develop through stages.

- He also studied how children learn and he found out that they learn by doing things and not just
listening or reading about them.

- He also discovered that children have their own ways of learning and that they don't always follow the
same rules as adults do.

- He also found out that children are very creative and imaginative and that they like to play and explore.

- He also believed that children should be allowed to make mistakes and that they shouldn't be punished
for making them.

STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

According to Jean Piaget, stages of development takes place via the interaction between natural
capacities and environmental happenings, and children experience a series of stages (Wellman, 2011).
The sequence of these stages remains same across cultures. Each child goes through the same stages of
cognitive development in life but with a different rate. The following are Piaget's stages of intellectual
development:

From birth to 18-24 months: Sensorimotor stage (Object permanence)

The infants use their actions and senses to explore and learn about their surrounding environment.

A variety of cognitive abilities develop at this stage; which mainly include representational play, object
permanence, deferred imitation and self-recognition.

At this stage, infants live only in present. They do not have anything related to this world stored in their
memory. At age of 8 months, the infant will understand different objects' permanence and they will
search for them when they are not present.

Towards the endpoint of this stage, infants' general symbolic function starts to appear and they can use
two objects to stand for each other. Language begins to appear when they realize that they can use
words to represent feelings and objects. The child starts to store information he knows about the world,
label it and recall it.

From 2 to 7 years: Preoperational stage (Symbolic thought)

Young children and Toddlers gain the ability to represent the world internally through mental imagery
and language.

At this stage, children symbolically think about things. They are able to make one thing, for example, an
object or a word, stand for another thing different from itself.

A child mostly thinks about how the world appears, not how it is. At the preoperational stage, children o
not show problem-solving or logical thinking.

Infants in this age also show animism, which means that they think that toys and other non-living
objects have feelings and live like a person.

By an age of 2 years, toddlers can detach their thought process from the physical world. But, they are
still not yet able to develop operational or logical thinking skills of later stages.

Their thinking is still egocentric (centred on their own world view) and intuitive (based on children's
subjective judgments about events).

Building Schemas in the Mind

7 to 11 years: Concrete operational stage (Logical thought)

At this stage, children start to show logical thinking about concrete events.

They start to grasp the concept of conservation. They understand that, even if things change in
appearance but some properties still remain the same.

Children at this stage can reverse things mentally. They start to think about other people's feelings and
thinking and they also become less egocentric.

This stage is also known as concrete as children begin to think logically. According to Piaget, this stage is
a significant turning point of a child's cognitive development because it marks the starting point of
operational or logical thinking. At this stage, a child is capable of internally working things out in their
head (rather than trying things out in reality).

Children at this stage may become overwhelmed or they may make mistakes when they are asked to
reason about hypothetical or abstract problems. Conservation means that the child understands that
even if some things change in appearance but their properties may remain the same. At age 6 children
are able to conserve number, at age 7 they can conserve mass and at age 9 they can conserve weight.
But logical thinking is only used if children ask to reason about physically present materials.
Building Scientific Schemas

Age 12 and above: Formal operational stage (Symbolic reasoning)

At this stage, individuals perform concrete operations on things and they perform formal operations on
ideas. Formal logical thinking is totally free from perceptual and physical barriers.

At this stage, adolescents can understand abstract concepts. They are able to follow any specific kind of
argument without thinking about any particular examples.

Adolescents are capable of dealing with hypothetical problems with several possible outcomes.

This stage allows the emergence of scientific reasoning, formulating hypotheses and abstract theories as
and whenever needed.

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development made no claims about any specific age-associated with any of
the particular stage but his description provides an indication of the age at which an average child would
reach a certain stage.

KEY CONCEPTS RELATING TO PIAGET'S SCHEMA THEORY

Schemas – A schema indicates both the physical and mental actions involved in knowing and
understanding. Schemas represent the categories of knowledge that help people to understand and
interpret the world. A current schema can be built on and and become more complex. In many ways,
this is the very nature of learning and teaching. Schema in psychology is a term that is used a lot, we
think that schools and teachers need to turn their attention to this concept. If we talk about learning as
something that needs to be built then the idea of cognitive schemas makes perfect sense. These hidden
worlds of the learner are what we as educators are trying to develop. In many ways our ability to build
on our schemas is a fundamental aspect of intelligence. This could be where metacognition plays a
central role.

Piaget believes that a schema involves a category of knowledge and the procedure to obtain that
knowledge. As individuals gain new experiences, the new information is modified, and gets added to, or
alter pre-existing schemas.

A child may have a schema about cats. For example: if his only experience has been with small cats, the
child may believe that all cats are small. If this kid encounters a large cat, he would take in this new
knowledge, altering the old schema to incorporate this new piece of information.

Adaptation- Adaptation is a type of schema that explains how persons understand and learn new
information. According to Piaget's theory, there are two ways in which adaptation can occur.

Adaptation through Assimilation – When new information is taken from the outside world and is
incorporated into a previously existing schema, it is called assimilation. This process is thought to be
subjective, as people tend to modify information or experience that should match with their pre-existing
beliefs. In Schema's example, seeing a cat and labelling it “cat” is an example of assimilating an animal
into the child’s cat schema.

Adaptation through Accommodation – Accommodation occurs when persons process new information
by altering their psychological representations to fit the new information. It is an additional constituent
of adaptation that includes altering people's current schemas to suit the new information, this process is
called accommodation. In accommodation, people change their existing ideas or schemas, due to a new
experience or new information. These processes may give rise to the development of new schemas.

Equilibration – According to Piaget, each child tries to create a balance between accommodation and
assimilation, which is only possible by implementing a mechanism called equilibration. As children grow
through each stage of cognitive development, it becomes essential to uphold a balance between the
application of past knowledge (assimilation) and altering attitude to acquire new knowledge
(accommodation). Equilibration assists and demonstrates how children must move from one stage of
thinking into the next stage.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF PIAGET'S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Although, later researchers have demonstrated how Piaget's theory is applicable for learning and
teaching but Piaget (1952) does not clearly relate his theory to learning.

Piaget was very influential in creating teaching practices and educational policy. For instance, in 1966 a
primary education review by the UK government was based upon Piaget’s theory. Also, the outcome of
this review provided the foundation for publishing Plowden report (1967).

Discovery learning – the concept that children learn best through actively exploring and doing - was
viewed as central to the primary school curriculum transformation.

Piaget believes that children must not be taught certain concepts until reaching the appropriate
cognitive development stage. Also, accommodation and assimilation are requirements of an active
learner only, because problem-solving skills must only be discovered they cannot be taught. The learning
inside the classrooms must be student-centred and performed via active discovery learning. The primary
role of an instructor is to facilitate learning, rather than direct teaching. Hence, teachers need to ensure
the following practices within the classroom:

Pay more attention to the learning process, rather than focusing on the end product of it.

Use active teaching involving reconstructing or rediscovering "truths."

Use individual and collaborative activities (to allow children to learn from one another

Devise situations that offer useful problems, and develop disequilibrium in children (see this post on
critical thinking).

Assess a child's development level so appropriate tasks can be created.

Cognitive development using 'blocks of knowledge'

After having revisited some of this theory you can hopefully see the implications for the development of
knowledge using our 'Writers Block'. Our earlier stages of developing this tool started with the idea of
using concrete objects to represent abstract concepts. Children could start with their pre-existing
schema and build from there. You can read more about this active process of learning on the mental
modelling page. Beginning an activity by asking a child the question 'What do I already know?' gives the
pupil something to build on when starting an academic task. These cognitive structures serve as a
platform for mental development. No one likes starting with a blank piece of paper and having previous
knowledge visualized enables even the most reluctant of learner to 'get going'.

Promote cognitive development using our block building method

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF PIAGET'S THEORY

Piaget’s ideas have enormous influence on developmental psychology. His theories changed methods of
teaching and changed people's perceptions about a child’s world.

Piaget (1936) was the foremost psychologist whose ideas enhanced people's understanding of cognitive
development. His concepts have been of practical use in communicating with and understanding
children, especially in the field of education (Discovery Learning).

Piaget's main contributions include thorough observational studies of cognition in children, stage theory
of children's cognitive development, and a series of ingenious but simple tests to evaluate multiple
cognitive abilities.

CRITICISMS

Do stages really exist? Critiques of Formal Operation Thinking believe that the final stage of formal
operations does not provide correct explanation of cognitive development. Not every person is capable
of abstract reasoning and many adults do not even reach level of formal operations. For instance, Dasen
(1994) mentioned that only less than half of adults ever reach the stage of formal operation. Maybe
they are not distinct stages?

Piaget was extremely focused on the universal stages of biological maturation and cognitive
development that he failed to address the effect of culture and social setting on cognitive development.

A contemporary of Piaget, Vygotsky argued that social interaction is essential for cognitive development.
Vygotsky believes that a child's learning always takes place in a social context involving co-operation of
someone more knowledgeable (MKO). This kind of social interaction offers language opportunities and
according to Vygotsky language provides the basis of thought.

Hughes (1975) believes that Piaget underestimated children's abilities as his tests were frequently
unclear and hard to understand.
Vygotsky (1978) and Bruner (1966) were against the concept of schema. Behaviorism also disapproves
Piaget’s schema theory as it is an internal phenomenon which cannot be observed directly. Due to this,
they would claim schema cannot be measured objectively.