Cognitive Issues Of Cognitive Development Vs Individual Development (Essay Sample)

Controversial Issues of Cognitive Development Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Controversial Issues of Cognitive Development against the Individual Development Cognitive development is the construction of psychological and neurological processes in the lives of infants during their earlier ages as they transition from childhood to adulthood. Often, these processes include decision making, problem-solving skills and the ability to think and come up with complex ideas. Therefore, cognitive development improves the ability of children to collect, sort and comprehend the details of the environment around them; this enhances their perception and thinking skills. Nonetheless, there exist some controversial issues about this theory. The discussion below provides an insight on the disputed matters originating from cognitive development including nature against aging and cultural influence. As well, the paper covers concerns of normative development against individual development. The complexities of getting old make it difficult in pinpointing why some people ages well, whereas others behave and look older than they are. This is controversial, and it raises critical concerns regarding good health and the environment. For instance, do people age well due to their excellent health, or are they a product of nurture including the food they eat? Therefore, whether a person is exposed to infectious diseases or harmful chemicals and how much he exercises plays a vital role in his individual development and growth CITATION Kat10 \l 1033 (Galotti, 2010). However, it’s hard to pinpoint that element which a more powerful influence. Genes are potent predictors of good health and longevity, so as the environment. This is because genes determine who will develop chronic conditions such as cancer and heart-related illness that hasten the aging process. However, healthy living environment also determines how the body changes that aging brings. Thus, becoming more physically active improves lung functions and lowers the risk of heart-related complications CITATION Cha10 \l 1033 (Nelson & Haan, 2010). As such, there is a controversy between nature and aging as both elements contribute to the aging process, including changes in body cells, tissues and internal and external system of a person. Further, the controversies originating from the cognitive development have led to a lot of criticism about the theory especially from the laboratory experiments of the behaviorists. For instance, an online survey conducted by the American Geriatrics Society reported that health habits played a significant role in longevity CITATION Mag15 \l 1033 (McGonigle, 2015). Additionally, the findings indicated that there were no significant differences in the number of healthy behaviors. Thus, regardless of the genetic risks factors of a person that determines his aging process, he can always improve the quality and possibility quantity of life he is living with proper attention to nature. This includes adequate nutrition, adequate exercises and avoiding an excessive amount of alcohol intake. Additionally, the study of cognitive development has played a vital role in enhancing the understanding of the internal information processes of a person. While it has been beneficial in the development of new theories and finding out more about how the minds of infants work, it failed to substantially address the subject of cultural influence and its role in the growth of the child, thus creating a gap and some controversial issues such as Navajo and Euro-American children’s cultural norms. Cultural norms and values is a vital tool, especially in children's collaborative styles. This is because it influences outcomes and prompts a hierarchical social framework. For instance, the values of cooperation and autonomy between Euro-American child and Navajo with regards to collaborative problem solving indicated that the Navajo children spent more time in planning in the board game maze they were learning about and thus made few errors. In addition, culture is depicted as a variable which influences cognitive development. The culture of the family helps a child directly to how his cognition develops CITATION Sne16 \l 1033 (Jaswal, 2016). Similarly, like any other person, he learns specific beliefs and values from birth which would help shape him into well-adjusted adults within their culture. Every culture has its distinctive ways of and norms in which every person belonging to that ethnic group is supported and expected to act. However, cognitive skills differ from each culture, and thus, development and growth of a person depend on what culture he belongs in. Also, cognitive development is very vocal in enhancing the understanding of how behaviors of children can be influenced by other people and the environmental situations around them. However, this approach is somewhat ethnocentric, and thus research from this model may not be appropriate and accurate to other different cultures CITATION Kat10 \l 1033 (Galotti, 2010). For instance, if the ...