Pigment cognitive development theory

 Pigment cognitive development theory

The concrete operational period is the third stage in Pigment cognitive development theory. The period occurs during childhood between the ages of seven to eleven years.  It is characterized by the development of rational thought. The period is a transition between early development stages and upcoming ones. During this period, children tend to think more rationally as well as operationally. Children acquire conversation, class inclusion, reversibility, and seriation abilities. Children can logically solve, but they are not able to think both hypothetically and abstractly. Piaget determined that during the stage, children are relatively good at using inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning encompasses the change from specific experience to the general principle. However, children have difficulties in using deductive reasoning. Children are able to understand awareness (reversibility), meaning it is possible to reverse actions. During the period, children can logically represent ideas and events. Children have basic thinking rules, but they operate unconsciously and solve problems more systematically than before. For example, a child can automatically solve a rule that if there is nothing added or subtracted from a number, the amount remains the same. The rule allows children to have an understanding of addition and subtraction arithmetic tasks.

The formal operational period is the last stage in Piaget’s cognitive development theory. The stage begins at about 12 years and ends in adulthood. The children’s thinking develops and becomes more advanced as well as sophisticated. They can think more theoretically and abstractly and logically arrive at a creative solution for problems. During this period, there is an emergence of deductive reasoning, systematic planning, and logical thought skills. Children can think scientifically or hypothetically to answer questions creatively. Children can think through word problems that entail coming up with conclusions about hypothetical situations.

For example, when children are asked where they would like to place a third eye if they had one. Some can arrive at a creative solution like at the back of the head because beneficial in observing what is taking place in the background.

Howard Gardner developed Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. The theory differentiates intelligence into certain modalities instead of viewing it as if dominated by a single general ability. The theory proposes that all people have dissimilar types of intelligence. He suggested there are eight bits of intelligence, but there is a possibility of adding ninth type referred to as existentialist intelligence. The eight types of intelligence include; bodily kinetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, spatial intelligence, and naturalist intelligence. A person may possess a strong intelligence in a certain area like music but may have a range of other intelligence. I can improve the theory by adding a specific definition of intelligence that distinguishes talents, abilities, and individual traits. The theory is criticized due to the too-broad definition of intelligence; I feel that a simple definition would make the theory more attractive.

Sternberg’s triarchic theory was framed in1980s by Robert Sternberg. It seeks to understand human intelligence about dissimilar components instead of a single ability. The theory classified intelligence into; practical- contextual skills, experimental- creativity, and componential- analytic skills. Individuals with analytical intelligence are able to arrive with solutions that unpredicted solutions because of their outstanding evaluation and thinking skills. Creative intelligence is associated with application existing knowledge to arrive at new solutions. Contextual intelligence is the ability of an individual to adapt to change to meet hid personal needs. Sternberg’s belief for intelligence as a complex issue made him propose the theory in a cognitive approach instead of the behavioral view. He believed the adaptation of a person to environmental changes and the contribution of knowledge in influencing the world played an important role in determining his or her intelligence. Also, he claimed that intelligence tests were not right to ignore creativity, cognitive processes, planning, decision making, and performance components. I would improve the theory by adding empirical evidence. At most times, the theory has been criticized due to the lack of empirical evidence. I believe that Sternberg’s triarchic theory would considerably be improved through the addition of credible empirical support.

Both genetic and environmental factors influence human intelligence. Various psychologists and sociologists have explored the impact of environmental and genetic factors on human intelligence. Genetical intelligence reveals itself in verbal-linguistic intelligence, bodily kinaesthetic intelligence, logistical intelligence, and naturalistic intelligence. Various environmental factors influence intelligence. They include physical exercise, nutrition, premature birth, place of residence, parental occupation, family income, and education. An individual intelligence genetic determine his or her intelligence, but environmental factors offer an opportunity for intellectual growth.

Genes have a great influence on human intelligence. The brain function contributes to an individual’s intelligence levels. Human IQ is affected by features such as frontal lobe shape and size, frontal robe blood amount and chemical activity, amount of brain gray matter, and thickness of the cortex.

Family is an environmental factor influences intelligence due to certain reasons. The access to resources and the conduciveness of home life to learning aspects influence intelligence scores. The praise received by a child from family members impacts his or her intellectual development. For example, praising children by telling them they are intelligent demonstrates there is fixed intelligence. These children are likely to perform better after failing because they believe failure is an indication that they are not intelligent. Therefore, they challenge themselves to succeed after failure. Parental praise for their children’s efforts on a task is likely to improve their intelligence.

Nutrition influences intelligence, both prenatally and postnatally. During critical developmental stages, the intrauterine environment impacts how a child will develop. Prenatal nutrition is a significant intrauterine factor that affects development. Child physiology and development could be permanently changed by undernutrition due to irregular brain growth and intellectual disabilities. Intelligence can be hugely impacted by post-natal nutrition. Malnutrition affects brain organizational processes like cell migration, cellular differentiation, synaptic pruning, and neurogenesis. Afterward, it leads to neural circuits formation and neurotransmitter systems development. Early child nutrition affects brain structures like the caudate nucleus (its volume corresponds to intelligence), which are correlated to intelligence. It is claimed that breast supplies important nutrients that result in cognitive benefits during childhood.

Hereditary factors influence intelligence more than environmental factors. Intelligence is not determined by a single gene but by complex gene interactions. Research by Cherry research suggests genetics have a huge part in environmental factors in determining a person’s intelligence (Cherry, 2019). According to Cherry, Twin studies propose that 40% to 80% of intelligence variance is associated with genetics. Therefore, research supports my position that genetic factors have more influence on intelligence over environmental factors.