The impact of human growth, development and identity on cognitive impairment - Essay Example

THE IMPACT OF HUMAN GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT, AND IDENTITY ON COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT By and City, StateDate of SubmissionThe process of human growth is a lifelong process spanning from birth to death. At each moment in the human development cycle, every person goes through personal evolution. Physical changes drive the process of physical evolution, as the cognitive abilities advance and decline depending on the brains response to brain’s growth in the childhood stage and reduce function in the old age stage.

The psychological development is influenced by the body’s physical growth, changing body and brains as well the environment in which we live. The environment will shape our identity and the relationship with others. The cognitive development is the acquisition of the ability to reason as well as solve problems. In the case of the 32-year old service user, her cognitive development is interfered with due to the environment she lived. She suffered maltreatment during her childhood and adolescent, making her nondependent in taking care of her needs.

She suffered from emotional abuse and neglect during her early years of human development. As a result of the maltreatment, the service user now suffers from irritable bowel syndrome, sleep disorder, and depression. Irritable bowel syndrome is as a result of stress and anxiety. There are various theories presented to explain the interruptions in cognitive development.According to Erik Erikson’s theory of human development, youths must revolve around two crises during their adolescence stage.

The term crises describe internal conflicts linked to human development. The way a person resolves the crisis will determine their personal identity and future growth pattern (Kivnick & Courtney, 2014). However, development theories have criticized Erikson’s theory. The development process is considered much more fluid and flexible than Erikson thought (Porfeli, et al., 2013). Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development classified the cognitive development stages in four, from birth through adolescence to adulthood.

A child who passes the four stages progresses from the simple sensorimotor response to the ability to classify objects and after that engage in hypothetical and deductive reasoning (Beilin & Peter, 2013). The four stages include Sensori-Motor, Preoperational stage, Concrete Operational stage and the Formal operations stage.Feud’s theory of personality argues that structure and conflict in the human mind shape personality. He implicated the structure of the mind i.e. id, ego and superego and the solving of these conflicts among these parts in shaping the human personality.

The id operates the pleasure principle; ego operates the reality principle while superego operates the morality principle (Grunbaum, 2013).Lev Vygotsky believed in the social, cultural theory. He noted that children learn through hands-on experience and that parents and peers have a role to play in a child’s development. He outlined that children learn best when the information is a scaffold for them. However, other theorists claim that the brains development at different stages plays a role in the child’s development (Rene, 2012).

Lawrence Kohlberg developed the theory of moral development. He said that the process of moral development concentrated on justice, and it continued throughout a person’s life. He classified the stages of moral development into six. The six stages are in three groups i.e. pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality. However, this theory faced criticism from other theorists. The theorists argue that Kohlberg’s theory emphasized justice to the exclusion of other moral values.

They also claim that evaluations for the moral choices are mostly post hoc rationalizations of intuitive decisions (Klaus, 2014). In conclusion, all the theories discussed show that the child’s environment is essential to the brain development. When parents and caregivers allow a child to have hands-on experience, then the brain will experience normal growth. How a child is treatment will also influence a child’s reasoning and ability to classify objects. The service user in the case presented suffered neglect at her childhood stage.

References ListBeilin, H. & Peter, P., 2013. Piagets theory: Prospects and possibilities. Psychology Press, p. 433.Grunbaum, A., 2013. Freud’s theory: The perspective of a philosopher of science. The American Philosophical Association Centennial Series, p. 146.Kivnick, H. & Courtney, W., 2014. Untapped richness in Erik H. Erikson’s rootstock. The Gerontologist 54.1, p. 43.Klaus, H., 2014. Lawrence Kohlberg in Finnish Social Psychology and Moral Education . In: s.l.:Kohlberg Revisited; SensePublishers, p. 129.Porfeli, E.

, Bora , L. & Fred, V., 2013. Identity Development and Careers in Adolescents and Emerging Adults: Content, Process, and Structure. Handbook of Vocational Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice, p. 13.Rene, V. d. V., 2012. Cultural-historical psychology: contributions of Lev Vygotsky. Handbook of culture and psychology, p. 61.