Intellectual Development Of Young Children Essay - 1,198 words

Intellectual Development of Young Children The intellectual development of the child is a very complicated and somewhat mysterious process. Not only the young organism has to cope with growing amount of information but also it has to manage the storage facility (physical development of the organs, like brain) availability. Much analysis has been done on the intellectual development of infants and preschoolers and in this paper I will try to summarize the fundamental and axiomatic (as per today) discoveries in this sphere. One of the most famous theories of intellectual development belongs to Jean Piaget, who based his theorizing on the cognitive aspect of childs psychology. By the age f 3 t 4 years ld, children have attained what Piaget called functins r pre-peratins that enable yung children t perfrm a number f feats far beynd the capabilities f infants (Piaget, 1950). Infants cncentrate n cnstructing a wrld f permanent bjects. nce cnstructed, these bjects will be knwn t exist even when they are n lnger present t the infants senses.


Preschl children, in cntrast, are cnstructing a wrld f qualities and prperties that different bjects share in cmmn. They are beginning t identify and name clurs, shapes, textures, density, and s n. At this stage, children are beginning t understand same and different as these terms refer t prperties. At the same time, it is necessary t recgnize that these classes are frmed nly n the basis f perceptual attributes such as clur and frm and nt n the basis f any quantitative characteristics. Mrever, althugh children can name and identify members f different classes cw, dg, r car, they cannt as yet perate n these categries in a systematic way. That is t say they cannt lgically add categries and recgnize that cats, dgs, and cws are all animals. Nr can they lgically multiply classes and appreciate that a cat is bth a cat and an animal at the same time. In shrt, the ne-many r quantitative dimensin f classes escapes yung children.


nly when they have attained the cncrete peratins f childhd (age 6 t 7 years) will they begin t be able t crdinate sameness and difference and arrive at the ntin f a unit that is basic t all quantitative thinking. A unit, fr example the number 3, is at nce like every ther number in that it is a number but als different in that it is the nly number that cmes after 2 and befre 4. nce children have a ntin f a unit, they can engage in numerical as well as lgical additin and multiplicatin (Gesell, 1949). The yung childs limitatin with respect t perating n classes is mst evident when we ask them t define a wrd. Yung children rutinely define wrds by describing their functins; an apple is t eat; a bike is t ride. nly when they attain cncrete peratins at abut the age f 6 r 7 years will they begin t define terms by nesting them in higher rder classes, where an apple is a fruit, and a bike has wheels - yu g places with it.


ccasinally yung children may define a wrd by placing it within a brader cntext, but this is ften an anticipatin f later intellectual achievement, nt a true reflectin f the yung childs cmpetence (Carey, 1989). The incrpratin f Piagetian tls in the educatin f tddlers in day cares is stated t be a means that sciety can use t prmte the intellectual develpment f yung children wh live in cnditins that are a threat t their brain develpment. In discussing yung childrens intellectual grwth and abilities, it is difficult t empha ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: intellectual development, young children, variability, new york, characteristic

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