Theories of Piaget, Bandura, and Vygotsky

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Albert Bandura was a well-known theorist that used the concept of social-cognitive theory accentuating those social origins of a child's behavior as well as the cognitive thought processes affects a child's behavior and functioning. He suggested that cognitive factors are fundamental to a person's performance and that learning can even happen when there is an absence of direct reinforcement, which means that learning can happen through observing models or modeling someone else (1). This was shown by his experiment of the Bobo doll, in which children were shown a video showing a model aggressively hitting the plastic Bobo (clown) doll, and then were placed in a room with the identical toy. The research showed that 88% of the children imitated or modeled the aggressive behavior they witnessed in the video (2). This concept is called observational learning. This concept can be utilized in the classroom by having positive things around the children for them to observe and model instead of aggressive images.

Because children model the actions of those around them, it is important to show a child how they should act. It is good for a child who is in therapy for the parents to be involved in treatment so they can learn how they should act in order for the child to act accordingly. The parents should also learn what appropriate actions and reactions are to different situations so the child can model good behaviors. It is important to be consistent when using the reward and punishment theory in order for the child to learn that good behavior will be rewarded and reinforced, or that negative behavior will be reinforced. For example, if a child cleans their room without being asked, or if they follow through with something in therapy, they can get a reward (positive reinforcement) such as a star next to their name or something special. If a child makes a mess when they are told not to, or doesn't complete a task assigned in therapy, the child may get something taken away (negative reinforcement). This is a way to teach a child what is appropriate behavior and what is not appropriate behavior. It is important for those that work with children to be a positive role model and work toward mentoring the children around them (3).

Piaget hypothesized that infants use the schemes called "reflexes" to adapt to the environment. He described two processes that a person uses to adapt to the ...