Human growth and development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human growth and development - Assignment Example Erikson believes children go through 4 Psychosocial Stages: Basic Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame, Initiative vs. Guilt, and Industry vs. Inferiority. Each of these stages are â€Å"defined by a conflict involving the childs relationship with the environment. The particular conflicts a child faces and the way in which they respond t these conflicts is what Erikson believes shapes their personality. 2. Piagets theory of cognitive development maintains that children are active participants in their own cognitive development. Piagets theory begins with basic schemas, â€Å"cognitive structures or concepts used to identify and interpret objects, events and other information in the environment† (Wood 54). Assimilation is the term Piaget uses to describe the way in which children try to fit these new things into their existing schemas. Not everything can be assimilated into existing schemas, and in these cases children will learn to use Accommodation. â€Å"In accommodation, existing schemas are modified or new schemas are created to process new information† (Wood 55). Transition from stage to stage is not abrupt, but gradual with the first stage being the Sensorimotor stage. In this stage, infant gain an understanding of the world through their senses and their object permanence is developed in which children realize that objects continue to exist even when they are o ut of sight. The Preoperational stage occurs next when the child is between 2 and 7 years of age. â€Å"Here children become increasingly able to represent objects and events mentally with words and images† (Wood 56). At this stage children will be able to imitate the behavior of a person who who is no longer in sight through deferred imitation. Between the ages 7 and 12, the Concrete Operations stage causes thinking to be â€Å"less egocentric and they come to realize that people have