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Block 2 Unit 2 Cognitive, Social, Emotional and Moral Development

1. Discuss the cognitive development during school years in the light of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

• During the school years (ages 6-12), children transition from pre-operational thought to the concrete operational stage. This shift, sometimes called the “5 to 7 shift,” is a move from intuitive thinking to rudimentary logic.
• Concrete operations are defined as “flexible mental actions that can be combined with one another to solve problems”.
• Children at this stage can decenter their thinking, taking into account multiple aspects of an event simultaneously.
• They begin to understand conservation, realising that the quantity of matter remains the same despite changes in appearance. This ability allows them to solve conservation tasks related to number, volume and weight.
• Children can organise the world into hierarchies where one thing can fall into multiple dimensions simultaneously.
• Children can use inductive logic which involves moving from specific observations to generalisations, but they do not develop deductive logic (moving from general to specific) until the stage of formal operations.
• The operations at this stage are limited to concrete objects and abstract concepts are difficult to understand.

2. What are the social changes that are characteristic of school-going children?

• During school years, children's social world expands beyond family to include peers, teachers, and other adults.
• Peer groups become more important, and children develop friendships based on shared interests and activities. Peer groups in some societies like Soviet Union enforce the values of the adult culture, unlike in others like the US.
• Social competence, or the ability to understand social situations and interact effectively, becomes essential for peer acceptance. Social competence can be shown through responsiveness to others and understanding that relationships develop over time.
• Children develop social cognition, an understanding of how social groups function.
• They start to develop self-esteem, which is influenced by the discrepancy between their ideal self and their actual self. Children can assess their worth in scholastic, athletic, physical appearance, social acceptance and morality.
• School-aged children may engage in social comparison, assessing themselves in relation to others.
• Children may evaluate themselves in general terms and in specific areas such as scholastic, athletic, physical appearance, social acceptance and morality.
• Peer acceptance or rejection impacts the child's self-esteem.

3. Write an essay on Kohlberg’s moral development theory.

• Kohlberg’s theory of moral development expands upon Piaget’s ideas and suggests that moral reasoning develops in three broad levels, each with two stages.
  • Preconventional level: Morality is based on external consequences.
    • Stage 1: Punishment-obedience orientation: Actions are considered right if they avoid punishment.
    • Stage 2: Instrumental-exchange orientation: Actions are right if they lead to personal benefit.
  • Conventional level: Morality is based on social rules and expectations.
    • Stage 3: Good-boy-nice-girl orientation: Actions are right if they are socially approved.
    • Stage 4: System-maintaining orientation: Actions are right if they maintain social order.
  • Postconventional level: Morality is based on abstract principles.
    • Stage 5: Social-contract orientation: Actions are right if they reflect a social contract, and individual rights.
• Kohlberg used moral dilemmas, such as the Heinz dilemma, to assess children's reasoning and found that they develop their morality by progressing through the levels and stages as they mature.
• Moral judgments do not always align with moral behavior, as children may make excuses for their rule infractions.
• Moral decision making improves through practice, maturity, and instruction on how to generalise moral principles to real life.

4. Observational application: How many friends does a typical child have? How important are they?

• The number of friends a child has can vary. Typically, school-aged children have a small group of close friends, and also a wider circle of acquaintances.
• Friendships are essential for social and emotional development. They provide opportunities to learn social skills, such as cooperation, compromise and conflict resolution.
• Friends serve as a source of support, companionship and validation.
• Friendships can influence a child's self-esteem and social identity.
• Peers at this age also become increasingly important socialising agents.
• Children prefer to spend more time with their peers compared to their parents.

 Important Points

1. Piaget’s theory of development is related to cognitive development.
2. Developmental stages of cognitive development in the ascending order:
1. sensorimotor stage 
2. preoperational stage 
3. concrete operational stage 
4. Formal Operational stage
3. Concrete operation is the ability to think logically about concrete events. The operations are concrete in the sense that they are limited to concrete and objects.
4. Conservation in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development refers to knowing that an object has not changed in fundamental properties despite its appearance.
5. Identity: form can change, but if nothing has been added or taken away, the amount is still the same.
6. Reversibility: if something has been changed, it can be returned to its original state by reversing the process that leads.
7. Horizontal decálàge: sequential mastery of concepts within a single developmental stage 
8. Reciprocity: if the mass remains constant, a change in one dimension necessitates a change in another.
9. Concrete operational thought:
1. Children at this stage ca understand reversibility and transformations
2. Children can take the viewpoint of others
3. Children rely more on what they know rather than what they see
10. Studies found that conservation for different physical properties develop sequentially:
1. Number 
2. Mass and length 
3. Weight
4. Volume