Based on the video, Piaget and Chomsky emphasize that cognitive development and language is innate and has strong biological foundation but I believe that environment, especially social interactions, plays a big role too since humans have the capacity to adapt and interpret their environment.

Neuroscience offers valuable insights by showing how understanding the brain's structure and function supports learning. Still, one weakness is that it may reduce complex human experiences by focusing too much on biological structures, while overlooking the social and cultural ways people learn and experience the world

• Claudine Bermido

I think both cognitive development and language are partly “natural,” but also shaped by our environment. For example, children are born with the ability to learn language, but they still need social interaction and practice to actually speak and understand it. Cognitive development works in the same way it has a biological base, but experiences guide how it grows. Neuroscience is useful because it helps us see what happens inside the brain when we learn, like which areas are active in memory or language. A strength of this approach is that it gives scientific evidence for how learning works. But a weakness is that it sometimes focuses too much on the brain itself and not enough on real-life experiences, emotions, or culture, which are also very important for learning.

• Aleck Jean Roi Ortega

Children have extraordinary cognitive capacity from birth, especially when it comes to language and how they interpret the environment, in my experience as a teacher. However, such skills require the proper soil, sunshine, and attention to flourish, just like seeds do. Some kids avoid eye contact or only whisper during the first few days of the school year. However, language blossoms when kids feel emotionally protected, when their identities are acknowledged, their voices are heard, and their ideas are valued. I have observed formerly silent kids facilitate class conversations or assist a classmate in voicing an opinion. It's connection, safety, and trust, not magic.

Understanding the why behind what we observe is made easier by neuroscience. It demonstrates how sleep improves memory, how exercise increases focus, and how emotional safety is a brain-based learning requirement rather than only a soft ability. The idea that long-term stress can trigger the brain's fight or flight response, which shuts down the very areas required for memory and thought, really got my attention. That insight altered my strategy. In order to assist students shift gears, I started treating transitions after lunch or recess as emotional reset points. I did this by employing simple breathing techniques, soothing music, or soft lighting. These minor rituals have developed into pillars of calm and concentration.

Neuroscience is useful, but it doesn't always provide us with the how we require at the time. It can help us understand why a child may be having difficulty reading, but it doesn't always explain how to teach phonics in a way that works for them. It can describe how motivation appears in the brain, but it doesn't explain how to rekindle it in a child who is exhausted, disheartened, or just feeling overburdened. At that point, research meets the messy, magical reality of the classroom, and teaching becomes both an art and a science.

• Rizalaine Mayores

Great point about neuroscience. This was really insightful.

• Aleck Jean Roi Ortega

Children have extraordinary cognitive capacity from birth, especially when it comes to language and how they interpret the environment, in my experience as a teacher. However, such skills require the proper soil, sunshine, and attention to flourish, just like seeds do. Some kids avoid eye contact or only whisper during the first few days of the school year. However, language blossoms when kids feel emotionally protected, when their identities are acknowledged, their voices are heard, and their ideas are valued. I have observed formerly silent kids facilitate class conversations or assist a classmate in voicing an opinion. It's connection, safety, and trust, not magic.

Understanding the why behind what we observe is made easier by neuroscience. It demonstrates how sleep improves memory, how exercise increases focus, and how emotional safety is a brain-based learning requirement rather than only a soft ability. The idea that long-term stress can trigger the brain's fight or flight response, which shuts down the very areas required for memory and thought, really got my attention. That insight altered my strategy. In order to assist students shift gears, I started treating transitions after lunch or recess as emotional reset points. I did this by employing simple breathing techniques, soothing music, or soft lighting. These minor rituals have developed into pillars of calm and concentration.

Neuroscience is useful, but it doesn't always provide us with the how we require at the time. It can help us understand why a child may be having difficulty reading, but it doesn't always explain how to teach phonics in a way that works for them. It can describe how motivation appears in the brain, but it doesn't explain how to rekindle it in a child who is exhausted, disheartened, or just feeling overburdened. At that point, research meets the messy, magical reality of the classroom, and teaching becomes both an art and a science.

• Rizalaine Mayores

This explanation was very nice and interesting.

• Aleck Jean Roi Ortega

In my experience as a teacher, children have remarkable abilities that develop from birth, particularly in language and thought processes. However, I also think that for those skills to develop, the proper environment is necessary. At the start of the year, some of my pupils didn't talk much, but as soon as they felt heard, safe, and supported, their language suddenly blossomed.

We can learn useful things from neuroscience, such as the significance of sleep, movement, and emotional safety for learning. For instance, I began implementing calming techniques in the classroom, such as breathing techniques or relaxing music after recess, after understanding that stress can shut down areas of the brain that aid in memory and concentration. However, at times, neuroscience seems too far from actual instruction—it doesn't always explain how to engage a difficult reader or inspire a weary child.

• Rizalaine Mayores

I really like how you connected cognitive development with the idea of language being both natural and socially influenced. I agree that certain abilities, like the capacity for language, seem biologically wired, but they only flourish when children are immersed in rich social environments. It reminds me of cases where children who lacked early exposure to language struggled to fully develop it later on, showing how nature and nurture must work together.

I also think your point about neuroscience is important. The strength of this approach is that it provides solid biological evidence of how learning happens in the brain, such as identifying the role of neural plasticity. However, neuroscience can be limited when it tries to explain learning without considering cultural, emotional, and social contexts. That’s why combining brain research with educational and psychological perspectives seems like the most balanced way to understand how people really learn.

• Jairus Alba

I believe that while cognitive theories offer significant insight into how individuals learn and process information, they sometimes fall short in accounting for the full range of individual differences, especially when viewed through a purely theoretical lens. One limitation is the assumption that all learners progress through cognitive stages in a uniform way, when in reality, factors such as socio-cultural background, emotional development, and neurological variation can significantly influence cognitive growth. For instance, some children may demonstrate advanced problem-solving abilities or heightened memory retention despite being in the same developmental stage as their peers. This suggests that intelligence, motivation, and environmental support all play key roles in shaping cognition. According to Kandel et al. (2013), neuroscience bridges this gap by examining how brain structures and functions relate to behavior and thought, offering a biological explanation of mental processes. Its strength lies in providing concrete evidence for how neural mechanisms support memory, attention, and emotion. However, one notable limitation is its often reductionist view—focusing heavily on brain activity while overlooking the impact of social and environmental influences, such as family dynamics, cultural expectations, and educational systems, which are equally essential in shaping cognitive development.

• Shaina Revilla

I appreciate the clear explanation with examples.

• Aleck Jean Roi Ortega

I believe that there are factors that the belief, that cognitive development, especially in terms of language acquisition, fails to enclose to the concept of innate human ability. One of which is the extent to which a child can acquire the language. This is because there are children who acquire the language faster than the normal speed of acquisition compare to the majority of children, which can be due to varying levels and types of intelligence. Another factor to consider is the critical period, where some fail to acquire the language at an expected stage.
According to About neuroscience (2018), neuroscience is defined as the scientific way of studying and understanding human bodily functions, specifically in terms of producing emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. With this, there are underlying strengths and weaknesses to this concept in trying to explain our cognitive processes. I believe that its strength lies in its ability to provide solid explanation on how our cognitive processes work through biological and physical aspects. Meanwhile, one of its weaknesses lies in it being heavily reliant on biological and physical aspects, which somehow fails to cover the external context of the cognitive process, such as the learning environment and students’ differences in terms of their cultures and experiences.

References:
About neuroscience. (2018, October 1).
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/neuro/conditioninfo?hl=en-PH#:~:text=Neuroscience%20aims%20to%20understand%20how,system%20on%20many%20different%20levels

• Jessa Mae Debil

Language and cognitive development are influenced by the environment in addition to being partially natural. Infants have the capacity to learn from birth, and during the first few years of life, their brains develop rapidly. By simply listening to those around them, the majority of kids naturally begin to comprehend and use language. This indicates a significant biological or natural component. However, development may stall in the absence of play, interaction, and dialogue. Thus, nurture—the surroundings and experiences—also has a significant impact.

• Gilbert Las

Our thinking skills and language abilities aren’t just something we’re born with; they develop naturally but also rely heavily on our experiences. For example, babies learn by exploring the world—touching, tasting, and interacting—which helps their brains grow and develop. Language comes about as children try to communicate and connect with others. So, both our biology (nature) and our environment (nurture) work together to shape how we learn and talk.

Neuroscience is exciting because it gives us a look inside the brain to understand how learning happens physically. It shows us how memories form, how motivation influences brain activity, and how certain teaching styles can support brain development. But learning isn’t just about the brain—classrooms are also full of emotions, relationships, and social experiences that brain science can’t fully explain.

Plus, neuroscience is still evolving, and not every discovery from labs can be directly applied to everyday teaching. So while brain research provides valuable clues, teachers also need to consider each student’s unique feelings, backgrounds, and needs.

In short, learning is a natural process shaped by experience, and neuroscience offers important insights—but it’s just one part of the bigger picture when it comes to helping people grow and learn.

• Amylia Nur