Human development (Psychology)

When looking at the development of Abraham Lincoln I first wanted to look at cognitive development . Early cognitive development consists of changes in how children think about the world . The most influential theorist in this area was the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget . Piaget 's early training as a biologist influenced his views . Piaget believed cognitive development is a way of adapting to the environment . Children do not have many built-in responses unlike animals . This gives them more flexibility to adapt their thinking and behavior to fit the world as they experience it

at a particular age . Lincoln 's early years were spent growing up in a log cabin and at that time no electric or running water . His father was a farmer and did carpentry for odd jobs . His mother stayed at home , but was illiterate and did not give Abraham any formal education . He did later go on to primary school where he did learn some reading and writing . It is apparent that during his formal operational stage of Piaget 's theory his ability for abstract thoughts became a very strong trait that followed him into adulthood evident by his career in Law and Politics (MacPhee , Kreutzer Fritz , 1994

This formal operational period is between 11 and 15 years of age Individuals at this stage can think in abstract terms . They can formulate hypotheses , then test them mentally and accept them or reject them by how the outcome unfolds . So they are capable of going beyond the here and now to understand things in terms of cause and effect , to consider possibilities as well as realities , and to develop and use rules , principals or theories . Many think that Piaget 's theory is too formal that one would have to fall between the lines or there would be a problem . I believe it is a format to follow as a general rule , but if someone doesn 't follow through with a stage then I do think problems down the road will happen . Maybe this could help explain Lincoln 's constant battle with depression that he suffered (Kail Cavanaugh 1996

Moral development is very important during childhood and adolescence Lawrence Kohlberg studied this kind of development using stories that would later be studied that would give complex moral issues . The Heinz dilemma ' is the one most often used . Kohlberg theorized that moral reasoning developed in stages a lot like Piaget 's theory of cognitive development . Lincoln gives credit to his mother for his convictions on moral reasoning . She was very religious and gave Lincoln a very strict understanding of right and wrong until her death when he was nine . With Piaget 's theory this would have happened around the concrete operational stage when children became more flexible in their thinking and would have occurred during Kohlberg 's preconventional level of moral reasoning . Younger children at this level base their judgments on right and wrong behavior on whether they will be rewarded or punished . A little older child will make choices on...