Piaget discussed four stages of cognitive development: preoperational, concrete, formal, and sensorimotor (Scott HK; Cogburn M, 2023). The pre-operation period is between two and seven years old, where the child uses symbolic thoughts and language to develop memory and imagination, imitate, and have little awareness. The concrete operation stage, lasting from ages 7 to 11, is characterized by general thinking, mastery of concepts, and constant brain development. The formal operational stage of cognitive development starts at age 11 and continues through puberty. It is characterized by logical and moral reasoning with the ability to make hypotheses and understand theories easily.
Concepts relevant to Piaget include Egocentrism, which is in the pre-operation stage. Children at these ages cannot perceive other people’s thoughts and find everything, good or bad, affecting them(Malik & Marwaha, 2023). Animation is also another concept of the pre-operation stage since kids are at the stage of imagining ideas. The concrete stage is a more operational stage of constant brain development and includes the concept of conservation. Since children better understand what seems impossible, they develop logical and systematic thinking abilities. This conservation and preservation of knowledge helps children in the subsequent stages of cognitive development. Another concept is decentralization, evident in the last two stages of development since kids can consider multiple aspects of the problem, think logically, and make irrational decisions. This allows for flexible and comprehensive thinking among children. The advantages of these concepts are conflict-resolution techniques, mutually beneficial decisions, diverse mindsets, creative thinking, critical and mathematical thinking, logical thinking, and the ability to apply both learned and practical skills in their daily lives.
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Virtual children are digital representations of children used in education and psychology to imitate the children’s behavior and development. VCs can be programmed to exhibit symbolic thinking through interactions with language gestures, images, and objects in a virtual environment for the mental representation of the children. An example is a virtual animated character imitating a child’s behavior through imaginative play, language development, and voice. The concrete operational stage, characterized by conservation and decentration of knowledge, might have virtual children tackling solutions related to Maths or science. In conservation, a virtual child could represent an elementary school child tackling average calculations and learning new things that can be easily recalled when asked.
Virtual children can exhibit decentration through multifaceted perspectives, beliefs, and hypotheses. This could portray an adolescent learner in a science laboratory performing experiments, learning new science concepts, and developing new ideas. Generating new hypotheses and beliefs would involve a student engaging in scholarly questions with the virtual tutor concerning historical developments and how they impact nature and the future. Another way VCs can be relevant to the concepts is through problem-solving abilities, where they can handle complex puzzles, complete difficult tasks, and interact with virtual environments. These examples of virtual children engaging with nature affect the development of children at all stages since they portray the reality of what is happening, provide solutions and alternatives, and challenge the children to be involved in complex tasks to test their abilities. This enhances a unique brain development in children, which helps progressively in knowledge advancement. Through implementing such concepts, virtual children help in parenting, counseling, childhood development, discipline, problem-solving skills, and communication with peers and adults.
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development is built upon Freud’s theory of psychosexual development by expanding the influence of social dynamics and psychosocial development into adulthood (Orenstein & Lewis, 2022). Human development involves stages influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. The psychosocial principle explains the genetically inevitable human development. Different factors like ego, motivation, and capability influence people’s choices. Each stage of psychosocial development from infancy to adulthood has psychological limits that might impair healthy development. It highlights the infusion of psychosocial and social factors that shape personality and identity. Environment and surrounding culture influence how humans progress and determine their success.