My Virtual Life Report Essay

Mary Ainsworth is known for her ‘Strange Situation’ (Custance 2010) studies with children. Her theory was that the quality of an infant’s attachment depends largely on the kind of attention the infant has received. She observed the attachment styles of children, mostly aged between 12 and 24 months, by placing them in an environment and recording their reactions to their mothers (or primary caregivers) leaving the room and then returning. Based on these observations Ainsworth concluded that there are different types of attachment. Three types of attachment are: ‘anxious-avoidant’, where the child shows little upset with the stranger, but will avoid contact with the parent on their return. The ‘securely attached’ child is one that will show moderate levels of proximity seeking towards the parents and is upset by their departure but deals with the parents return positively, often returning to play. The third type is the ‘anxious-resistant’ child; greatly upset by the parent’s departure and on reunion seems angry and will not be comforted or picked up (Custance 2010).

What is the definition of attachment? If you look it up in a dictionary it explains that it is ‘an emotional bond between an infant or toddler and primary caregiver, a strong bond being vital for the child’s normal behavioural and social development’. That strong bond between infant and caregiver is believed to happen between the ages of 6-8 months although Bowlby (1958) suggests that the infants are born into this world pre-programmed to form attachments, they have innate behaviours in the way of crying, smiling, crawling and cooing which will stimulate attention and comforting responses from the caregivers. These behaviours are called social releasers. Kagan et al (1978)

The first example that shows the socialization of Vygotsky’s theory is learning to ride a bike. Most children in our neighborhood ride their bicycles without training wheels. However, my son who is five was still using his bike that had the training wheels but wanted to take them off to be like the other kids. This is connected to the cognitive theory by my child knowing the motor skills to use to ride a bike but having to still use the training wheels to ride his bike. For him to accomplish his goal he needed the zone of proximal development approach and the use of the scaffolding technique. As his father, I have experience riding bikes and know that he and the basic understanding of how to ride a bike but need more information and tools to move more toward independency when riding his bicycle. I provided my son with more knowledge that would help him ride his “big boy” by telling him to always keep pedaling and to keep the handles straight so he avoids

Attachment is the positive emotional bond that develops between parent and children (Feldman, 2006). In addition, a secure attachment in infancy is crucial since it launches the parent and child relationship in a positive way. This early strong family tie also assists a child to explore his/her environment and is able to develop social and emotional skills as well as a sense of trust (Barnes, 1995). Family means a lot to me and I was brought up in a loving, supportive and secure family. My mum stayed at home with me while I was growing up. She never hesitated to show her love for me with lots of hugs and kisses. Therefore, this

Across all aspects and various lenses of development it is evident that children from birth until adolescence require guidance. In contrast, some theorists such a Piaget suggest that children are vastly independent and do not require parental or adult assistance for majority of their development. However, theorists such as Vygotsky believe otherwise. As Vygotsky was discussed during lecture, his developmental theory surrounding the methods of which children learn was a main focus. Namely, the methods of which children learn with adult

Vygotsky, a contemporary of Piaget, argued that social interaction is crucial for cognitive development. According to Vygotsky the child's learning always occurs in a social context in cooperation with someone more skillful (MKO). This social interaction provides language opportunities and language is the foundation of

As a problem presents itself, children will verbally work through the steps to solve it. This ‘private speech’ is a vital part to cognitive development, according to Vygotsky. This private speech gradually progresses into thinking as children become more proficient. He was also a proponent for scaffolding which is a process in which a new task is given and direct instruction is given then gradually taken away as the child learns. Both psychologists believed that children learn and develop through action but in different ways; Piaget felt it was through personal, self action while Vygotsky felt is was through social interaction, internalization and vocalization. Vygotsky and Piaget realized that social factors play a part in cognitive development but in different ways; According Piaget, self processing within a child leads to social processing while Vygotsky felt the opposite- social processing leads to self processing. Lastly, both came to the conclusion that by internalizing information, children transform it into knowledge and mental growth.

Justification of this critique was also provided by Vygotsky theory of development .Vygotsky (1929) believes that adults and child’s peers are involved in shaping cognitive development of the

Interacting with peers is a successful way of developing skills, either with adult guidance or more advanced kids help the less-advanced. However, Vygotsky never used the term "scaffolding;" instead he phrased it as "Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)." ZPD is The difference between what the student can do with or without someone’s help but cannot yet do it independently.

There has been much controversy over understanding the social aspects of cognitive development in children. Some of this controversy is revealed through the differing views that Piaget and Vygotsky had on the topic of learning amongst children. Piaget theorized that collaboration between same aged children, who are equal in understanding, promotes cognitive development. He theorized that when children engage in disagreement during problem solving this promoted more understanding of the topics at hand. In contrast, Vygotsky reasoned that collaboration between novice and experts would lead to intellectual growth.

Through out my time raising my child, Grace, there were many concepts, key terms, and theories that I was able to identify and relate to from this Psychology, Human Development, course that I took through out this semester. I was able to watch Grace grow into a smart, strong and independent adult due to the knowledge learned from the course. I knew to start as soon as Grace was born and stay connected within her life through out the years as she grew throughout the different stages of her life.

Lev Vygotsky believed that social and cognitive development work simultaneously to build and evolve on one another. He believed that social, cultural and personal experience cannot be detached from each other and many things influence the way children learn and develop, not just their own experiences, thus Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory. Vygotsky’s ideas were and remain controversial as he had no specific training in psychology or children’s development. His preeminent contribution to children’s development is his recognition of the value of progressing knowledge by means of interaction with educators, peers and family (Mooney, 2000, p. 83). The major ideas of Vygotsky’s theory are scaffolding and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Scaffolding is a process Vygotsky described as the framework or temporary support for children’s learning. In order for scaffolding to be beneficial, it must be responsive to the child’s needs (Coon & Mitterer, 2013, pp. 106-107).

In this theory, Vygotsky suggests the idea of scaffolding from external influences, including parents and teachers. To scaffold is “to use language and social interaction to guide children’s thinking” (Trawick-Smith, 2010, p.53). The key to do this properly, is to know how much or how little guidance to give the children.

Lev Vygotsky believed that children learn from their own experience. As a teacher I have grown to learn that Vygotsky’s findings are true in so many ways. Just from watching the children in my classroom I see that the Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding play a huge part in the development of a child.

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development suggested that to develop cognitively, children must have social interaction. He also “believed that this lifelong process of development was dependent of social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development” (Riddle, 1999). Vygotsky believed that children 's social learning must come before social development. Vygotsky also believed that "human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be understood apart from these settings" (Woolfolk, 2004). Therefore, our culture helps shape our cognition.