4. Cognitive Skills & Development Flashcards
Vygotsky - Sociocultural Theory
Collaborative dialogue with more knowledgable members of society leads children to develop their culture’s beliefs, problem-solving strategies and values
Children’s most noteworthy cognitive skills can be traced back to social interactions (parents, teachers etc.)
Sociocultural context influences what form cognitive growth takes
Vygotsky - role of culture
- Demands and values of culture impact how a child thinks and solves problems
- Non-universal
Varies culture to culture
4 Interrelated Levels of Interaction with Children’s Environments
Ontogenetic development
Microgenetic development
Phylogenetic development
Sociohistorical development
V - Ontogenetic development
- The development of an individual over their lifetime
- This is used as the level of analysis for nearly all developmental psychologists
V - Microgenetic development
- Changes that occur over small periods of time
- e.g. changes in ability over a period of weeks or even over 20 minute sessions
V - Phylogenetic development
- Changes occurring over evolutionary time
- Over thousands to millions of years
- Idea that understanding the history of a species gives insight
V - Sociohistorical development
- Cultural changes and how this impacts its values, norms and technologies
- Most emphasized perspective by modern day psychologists
V - Tools of intellectual adaption
Methods of thinking & problem solving strategies internalized by children from their interactions with more competent members of society
V - Zone of proximal development
the range of tasks which require guidance and encouragement from a more skilled parter as they are too complex to be mastered alone
V - Scaffolding
The way an expert notices and responds to the behaviour of the person they’re teaching, gradually increasing their understanding
V - Guided participation
Children’s cognitions and modes of thinking are shaped by adult-child interactions as they observe and engage in activities relevant to their culture
V - Context-dependent learning
Learning for learning’s sake, the subject area is not relevant to the present context/situation
V - Criticism
- Guided participation relies heavily on verbal instruction
- Vygotsky described how this is ‘less adaptive’ in certain cultures
- Collaborative problem solving isn’t always helpful or effective
- Instructor may not be very good/may not adapt to the needs of the learner
V - Elementary Mental Techniques
- Sensation
- Attention
- Perception
- Memory
From birth, later developed into higher mental functions
Vygostky Criticism
- Nurture, no nature
- Too much emphasis on language
- Collaborative problem solving isn’t always good or helpful
Vygotsky Education
Small learning groups (grouped by ability) are more efficient
Social context & collaboration
Teachers tailor learning to child
Piaget - Genetic Epistemology
Piaget’s experimental study of the development of knowledge
Genetic meaning developmental
Piaget Intelligence
A basic life function enabling an organism to adapt to its environment
Goal of intellectual activity: to achieve cognitive equilibrium
Piaget - Cognitive Equilibrium
A balanced/harmonious relationship between our thought processes and the environment
Accommodation over assimilation
Piaget - Cognitive Disequilibria
- Children are continuously challenged by new stimuli and events
- This leads them to make mental adjustments, enabling them to restore equilibrium by coping with these new, confusing experiences
Assimilation over accommodation
Piaget - Constructivists
A person who gains knowledge through action towards objects/events, allowing them to discover more about them
Constructing knowledge yourself
Children are constructivists (Piaget)
Piaget - Schemes/Schemas
Patterns of thought or action seen as base knowledge which we use to interpret the world
- Mental systems underlying intelligence
- Representations of reality
Two Types:
Behavioural - physical activities
Mental - cognitive activities
Enable you to get used to new situations quicker (e.g. new teacher but knowing classroom etiquette remains the same)
Piaget - Construction & Modification of Schemas
- Organisation
- Adaption
2.a. Assimilation
2.b. Accommodation
Piaget - Organisation
- Combining existing schemas to form new and more complex schemas
- e.g. gazing, reaching & grasping reflexes are combined to form visually directed reaching (a more complex structure)
Isolated behaviours grouped into a higher order
Goal: to promote adaptation
Piaget - *Adaption/Adaptation?
- The process of adjusting based on what the environment demands
- Adaptation occurs through two activities (complimentary)
Piaget - Assimilation
- Children use their existing schemas to interpret new experiences
- e.g. connecting a horse is a dog because they both have 4 legs, thinking they are the same animal
Piaget - Accomodation
- We modify existing schemas based on new experiences
- e.g. recognizing that there are key differences between a horse and a dog and asking what the horse is
Cognitive dissonance
Used when assimilation doesn’t help us understand
Piaget’s Stages of Development
- Sensorimotor (0-2)
- Pre-operational stage (2-7)
- Concrete operational stage (7-11)
- Formal operational stage (11+)
Piaget - Sensorimotor stage breakdown
- Reflex activity/simple reflexes
- First habits & primary circular reactions
- Secondary circular reactions
- Coordination of secondary circular reactions
- Tertiary circular reactions
- Symbolic problem solving/internalization of schemes
