The concept in Psychology 1001 that I feel will stick with me most in five years is Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Whether I'm still working as a nanny for young children or have some of my own at home, I will remember his theories of child development and put those to use in my everyday life. From object permanence to egocentrism and conservation, Piaget's work has put a name to some phenomena that I've noticed before but never fully understood until he explained it. The most interesting aspect to me is that some children reach the stages of development earlier than others and are already mentally capable of deconstructing abstract tasks, experimenting systematically and reasoning hypothetically beyond the here and now. It's amazing to me that until the concrete operational stage, around age seven, children cannot perform mental transformations and mentally conserve amounts of objects. Understanding of these concepts allows me to interact with children better because I have a more thorough idea of their cognitive abilities and, concurrently, their motivations. I hope that I will remember most of the concepts I've learned in Psych 1001, but this is the one that I don't think I'll ever forget.
Five years from now...
What do you think is the difference between children who can do these concepts earlier and those who can't?
That's definitely a memorable topic. Personally, I don't like kids and babies all that much, which sounds awful because I was one once, but this section helped me to understand them a little bit better! It's great that you'll be able to apply these concepts to your everyday life!
For my job, I often interact with small children. This section helped me learn more about them and realize that not all children of the same age are the same developmentally, which is crucial to know when interacting with them.
replied to comment from chamb169
| May 9, 2012 9:49 AM
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I think that nature and nurture both have an effect on a child's cognitive development: parents who regularly engage in stimulating activities with their child are more likely to raise an inquisitive and knowledgeable child, and genetic predisposition to language acquisition has been shown to positively correlate with higher IQs.
replied to comment from peng0233
| May 9, 2012 11:17 AM
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Thank you, that's also my favorite part of psychology; the information is relevant to everyone because it's all about the human condition, and we can all relate to that.
Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development was very interesting to me too. I really hope I can remember this cognitive development stages when I have kids so I can experience too.
I like how you relate the knowledge we have learned in Psy 1001 to your life experiences. I feel like that psychology mostly offers practical knowledge, something we can easily relate or apply to in our everyday life. This is partly why it is very interesting to me: I learn it and I can apply it right away.