Psychology Assignment: Theories of Development and Parenting Roles

This essay delves into the core concepts of psychology, focusing on the theories of development, operant conditioning, and Piaget's stages. The assignment explores how these theories, particularly Piaget's stages of cognitive development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational) and the principles of operant conditioning, influence child behavior and parenting practices. The essay highlights the importance of positive reinforcement in shaping children's actions, using examples like rewarding homework completion. It also explains how understanding these concepts can help parents guide their children's cognitive development and foster desirable behaviors. The essay emphasizes the practical application of these theories in real-world parenting scenarios, providing insights into how parents can effectively support their children's growth and learning.

Psychology
Psychology in education
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Psychology
The most important concepts I have learned in the course
Theories of development elaborates on different concepts. During the class work, I have learned
different concepts related to the theories. The theories selected are the operant conditioning and
the Piaget. In the essay, all the concept outlined have been supported by operant conditioning
and the Piaget which fully explains the parenting roles.
The first theory is the use of Piaget's theory which states that our cognitive abilities tend to
develop in specific stages. Through this theory, I have learned the common stages which
summarize the cognitive development stages. Some of the stages of cognitive development
include; sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and the formal
operational stage. Through the sensorimotor, I have learned how children from age 2 are
characterized by the idea of five senses that are seeing, touching, hearing and smelling. In this
stage, I have realized that children are in the position to practice what Piaget described as an
imitation. For example, by the end of 2 years, children are in a position to imitate different
behavior from their parents. In addition through the preoperational stage, I have realized that
children are in a position to use different symbols in order to indicate or represent different
words, different images and also various ideas. From this stage, I have realized why children do
engage in pretend play. During this stage, I have realized that as a parent, children tend to be
egocentric suggesting that most of the children will focus on themselves and different actions
which will impact them but not the other people. Also, through the Concrete operational stage
and formal operational stage, I have realized that children thinking becomes logical, focused and
able to think in abstract ways. For example, it's through this stage whereby children are able to
describe some concepts. For instance, if children understands the principle of conservation they
will be in a position to describe why for example the reason why amounts of liquid equal will

Psychology
remain the same despite the shape of the container they are poured in. This shows that children
who lack the thinking capability will argue that tall container will have a large amount of liquid.
In addition, through the operant conditioning, I have realized some concepts which I will be able
to use in parenting practice. The theory has enabled me to realize the positive concept of
reinforcement as a parent. Through the positive reinforcement, I have realized how I can use
certain stimuli to encourage the behavior to a child. For example, I realized that I can reward my
child with a cake whenever he completes his homework. This will encourage the child and every
time he will be associating the homework with a cake thus completing his homework in time as
he anticipates to get another cake.
Therefore, to sum up, through the theories I have understood how positive reinforcement affects
children. I have also understood how Piaget's stages induce different behaviors to the children.