Psychology

Interaction between students and the teachers is very important in assisting the students ability to achieve favorable results in class. Scaffolding can be described as a technique used to issue instructions in which case the teacher aspires to model a desirable learning strategy or task with the aim of steadily shifting responsibilities to the students. In general, scaffolding can be defined as the type of assistance accorded by the teacher or peer in support of the learning activity. Proper administration of scaffolding provides a link between what the students already know and what they do not know (Lipscomb, Swanson,  West, 2008). Scaffolding therefore is directly related to cognitive development in human beings. This paper will relate scaffolding and cognitive development in a four year old child and that of a person who is about to graduate from college.

Scaffolding and Cognitive Dev elopement
At four years of age, an individuals cognitive development is exhibited in development of symbolic thought. This refers to the ability of the individual to represent concrete objects, actions, and events based on the mental and symbolic capabilities. At this age, individuals are capable of problem solving, they think about cause and effect relations, and are able to express these ideas to others (Seefeldt, Wasik, 2006). At a time when one is about to graduate from college, the individual is at the formal operational stage of cognitive development. This stage begins at twelve and continues into adulthood.

This stage is characterized by development in abstract thought and therefore individuals can conserve and provide logical thinking in the mind (Huitt,  Hummel, 2003). It is therefore clear that scaffolding will highly be required at four years than when an individual is about to graduate from college. At four years, the teachers have a greater responsibility of molding the child compared to the responsibility of the teachers at college level.

Conclusion
Many pre-school and other educational programs are formulated based on the cognitive development theory of Jean Piaget. Scaffolding is therefore applied based on the principle of cognitive development and parents and teachers in challenging the abilities of the child are not supposed to present materials and information that is not commensurate to the childs level of development.