The process of growth and development is a fascinating one. There are factors that determine the kind of a person that the growing child will become in future. It is important that parents and caregivers be aware of the best practices in caring for their children as this would greatly help the children develop well (Kline 2015). One of the key areas of development is the cognitive. As Piaget argues a child between the age of 2-7 years develops the ability to communicate using a language (Crain 2015). Although this is the case, their ideas are still very concrete in nature. Lev Vygotsky emphasizes on the importance of the sociocultural environment in shaping cognitive development. At the age of four years, children mainly depend on the directions of their caregivers to guide their moral behaviour. They take rules as absolute. This is according to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. Psychoanalytic theory provides the three levels of moral development, that is, the id, the ego and the superego. Bowlby emphasizes on the importance of attachment in determining the social and emotional development of a child.
Jean Piaget’s theory suggests that during the process of growth and development, children pass through various stages of cognitive development. He identified four of these. He believed that children play an active role in learning and that this is greatly influenced by the environment in which the child is brought up in. He suggested that there are four stages of cognitive development that children go through. The first one is sensorimotor stage which is for children between birth to two years. The other is preoperational state which is for children aged between 2 and 7 years. The third is the concrete stage and this is for children aged between 7 and 11 years. The last is the formal operational stage and is for children aged 12 years and above. This section is going to focus on the preoperational stage for this is where a 4-year child lies.
While the foundations for language development may have been laid during the previous stages, the child exhibits great language capabilities at this stage. Emergence of language is a main characteristic of this stage (Guntrip 2018). At this stage, the child becomes very skilled when it comes to pretend play (Van, Monighan, Scales and Alward 2014). Although this is the case, the child’s thoughts about the world around them are usually still very concrete in nature. At this stage of cognitive development, a child still struggles with logical thinking. They mainly take the view point of others especially the parents and the teachers. At this stage of development, a 4-year child struggles with constancy. This theory of cognitive development is advantageous since it may help parents and early childhood educators know how to effectively deal with four-year olds whether at school or at home (Larsen, Buss, Wismeijer, Song and Van 2017). The theory has received criticism since it does not focus on culturally specific factors that influence cognitive development.
Another theorist who contributed to the areas of cognitive development of children is Lev Vygotsky. Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky believed that the community played a huge role in shaping the cognitive development of a child. In other words, a child’s cognitive development is greatly influenced by the culture that they are raised in (Cervone and Pervin 2015). He argued that learning is an essential process for a child to grow culturally. When explaining the cognitive development of a child, say a 4-year old child, it would be impossible to do so without alluding to the sociocultural factors surrounding the growth of the child. This approach was a great one because it is true that the cognitive development of a 4-year old child will definitely be affected by the sociocultural environment in which they grow. Therefore, this theory is advantageous in the sense that it focuses on the role of the sociocultural environment in shaping the cognitive development of a child. Despite these strengths of the theory, there have been several criticisms. One of these is that the theory does no appreciate the role that biology plays to the cognition of a child. In addition, the theory disregards the role of the individual and focuses on that of the collective (Ewen and Ewen 2014). This means that the theory mainly focuses on the role that the society plays in contributing to the cognitive development of the child while disregarding the individual factors.
The issue of morality has always been an issue of importance in the society. In the contemporary society, ethics and morals have become so essential that various companies have developed code of ethics. Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is one of the widely used theories in explaining how people develop morally. Here, the theory is going to be discussed. Particularly, the part(s) that revolve around the moral development of a 4-year child are going to be emphasized. It is worth noting that Kohlberg was influenced by the work of Piaget in developing his theory. According to Kohlberg, there are six levels of moral development. The level that best explains moral development of a four-year child is the preconventional morality. Here, the moral reasoning is mainly guided by reward and punishment. Children view established rules as fixed and absolute. Therefore, if a parent or an educator emphasizes that something should not be done, then the child takes that to be the gospel truth.
We can therefore say that a four-year-old child will mainly depend on what they have told or instructed to guide their actions. Therefore, if they are advised against something, they will avoid it for they will consider it morally wrong. If they are advised to act in a certain way, then they are likely to view that as moral and act that way. It can therefore be concluded that the environment in which children grow up is very essential in guiding their behaviour. The theory is very important in helping us discover the importance of the environment, for instance the sociocultural environment, in shaping the moral development of the child (Schultz and Schultz 2016). Although this is the case, the theory has received a great deal of criticism. Some scholars argue that the theory is western centric and has a bias towards men/males (Linehan 2018). This is because the theorists primarily used male subjects to develop the theory.
Psychoanalytic theory of moral development also helps us understand how children develop morals (Berk 2017). This theory was developed by Sigmund Freud. He argued that a person operates at three levels and that these play a huge role in shaping their moral development. The three are the id, the ego and the superego. The id is concerned with immediate gratification of biological impulses despite the consequences (Peet and Hartwick 2015). The ego is concerned with reality. The superego balances the demands of the two (McCowan 2015). For a four years old child, the demand of the id is still quite dominant when compared to the superego. However, they have already undergone great changes where they can appreciate what is wrong and right as defined by the society. Let us take an example. Suppose a 4-year-old child meets an ice cream vendor. The id would seek for immediate acquisition of the ice cream. The ego informs the child that taking an ice cream without buying is wrong. The superego informs the child that they should buy the ice cream. This will prompt the child to ask the parent or guardian to buy ice cream for them. The theory has the strength of analysing the mind processes that influence morality. On the other hand, the theory is weak in that it does not focus on the environmental influences on morality.
Extensive evidence suggests that if a child is raised by parents who are caring and loving, then the child is likely to relate well with other people later in life (Krasner 2018). The analogy is that the child discovers that it is fun to be with other people for they are caring, loving and make you laugh. With time, say by the time the child is 4 years, the child learns that they are responsible of taking care of others too. A child learns all this from their parents. They learn that the parents have some rights that should be respected and upheld. Later in life, they are likely to respect the rights of others and appreciate their own role in making others happy or comfortable. Therefore, growing up in a caring and loving environment prepares the child to be at ease with others in the future. This generally leads to a child who is confident, respectful and who gets along well with other people.
Among the major theories of explaining social and emotional development is the attachment theory. The theory was developed by Bowlby and explains the role of bonding in influencing a child’s social and emotional development (Nsamenang 2015). The theory stipulates that the attachment that exist between a child and the caregiver(s) plays a great role in influencing the kind of social and emotional nature that they will adopt in future. Bowlby defined the term attachment to mean a long lasting phycological connection between a child and the caregiver. He argued that a child who has a caring parent/ guardian is likely to be less fearful in future while compared to those who lack this kind of care. For a four-year-old child, most of the attachment has already occurred and therefore the fate of such a child when it comes to confidence is dependent on the kind of attachment that they had when they were younger. Although the child will primarily form bonds with the mothers, there are also other figures especially the family members that the child is likely to form bonds with. These relationships help the child to feel secure. According to Bowlby, this explain the reason why the child primarily bonds with one person, say the mother (Carey, Zaitchik. and Bascandziev, 2015). The theory has the strength of informing us on the importance of offering appropriate care to children right form the point they are born. Most scholars have argued that the theory is weak because it underestimates the role of the father in optimal development of a child (Smith 2015).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the child goes through a series of developmental stages. These stages are very important in shaping the kind of person that the child will be in future. Piaget developed a theory of cognitive development where he provided the various stages that a child goes through as far as cognitive development is concerned. For a four-year-old child, the most notable development in cognition is development of language. Although this happens, Piaget notes that the child still have very concrete thoughts. The theory is important as it helps caregivers know how to deal effectively with four-year olds. It has received criticism since it does not appreciate the role of the sociocultural environment in influencing cognitive development. A theory by Lev Vygotsky appreciates this role.
Kohlberg greatly contributed to the understanding of moral development. He argues that young children, for instance four-year olds, mainly depend on what they are told by parents/caregivers to guide what they do. For this reason, their perception of morality will depend on what they are told by the caregivers. At this stage, children take rules as absolute and un-negotiable. It is therefore important that parents/guardians inculcate good morals at this stage. Another theory that explains moral development is the psychoanalytic theory. It explains the three levels involved in formation of morals. These are the id, the ego and the superego. Bowlby developed the theory of attachment to explain the great role that the psychological connection between a parent and a child plays in influencing their social and emotional development. Therefore, the kind of attachment that a child gets early in life plays an important role in determining the kind of relationships they will have with other people.
References
Berk, L., 2017. Development through the lifespan. Pearson Education India.
Carey, S., Zaitchik, D. and Bascandziev, I., 2015. Theories of development: In dialog with Jean Piaget. Routledge.
Cervone, D. and Pervin, L.A., 2015. Personality, binder ready version: theory and research. John Wiley & Sons.
Crain, W., 2015. Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications: Concepts and Applications. Psychology Press.
Ewen, R. and Ewen, R.B., 2014. An introduction to theories of personality. Psychology Press.
Guntrip, H., 2018. Psychoanalytic theory, therapy and the self. Routledge.
Kline, P., 2015. Personality (Psychology Revivals): Measurement and Theory. Routledge.
Krasner, S.D., 2018. Theories of Development and Areas of Limited Statehood. Routledge.
Larsen, R.J., Buss, D.M., Wismeijer, A., Song, J. and van den Berg, S.M., 2017. Personality psychology: Domains of knowledge about human nature. McGraw Hill Education.
Linehan, M.M., 2018. Cognitive-behavioural treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Publications.
McCowan, T., 2015. Theories of development: Education and international development. Routledge.
Nsamenang, A.B., 2015. Ecocultural Theories of Development. Routledge.
Peet, R. and Hartwick, E., 2015. Theories of development: Contentions, arguments, alternatives. Guilford Publications.
Schultz, D.P. and Schultz, S.E., 2016. Theories of personality. Cengage Learning.
Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.
Van Hoorn, J.L., Monighan-Nourot, P., Scales, B. and Alward, K.R., 2014. Play at the centre of the curriculum. Pearson.
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