Chapter 5 - Lecture Flashcards
in the chapter on constructing knowledge, we aim to
transition our understanding of learning from a behaviourist to cognitive perspective
- to understand the relationship between cognitive and educational psychology from the viewpoint of Jean Piaget
What is cognitive psychology?
higher mental functions
name 8 elements of cognitive psychology
- concept formation
- categories and concepts
- systems
- memory
- language
- problem solving
- decision making
- logic
If the simpler behaviours of animals can’t be
adequately explained using behaviouristic
positions, then _
(cognitive psychology)
the presumably more
complex behaviours of humans might be
even less well explained
for a long time, _ and _ were in opposition (now not trying to outcompete eachother)
cognitivism nd behaviourism
Cognitive theories
are concerned
mainly with
explaining _
higher mental processes:
memory, perception,
information processing,
decision making, and knowing
cognitive theories are often based on an
information processing model
Jean Piaget had a _ position
developmental cognitive position
describe piaget’s developmental cognitive position
- Piaget’s research and theories influenced psychology and education
Cognitive: mental representation
Developmental: processes by which children achieve a progressively more advanced understanding of their environment and of themselves
describe piaget’s background
His first interests were primarily in biology, a field
in which he obtained his Ph.D. at the age of 22
After receiving his doctorate, Piaget spent a year wandering through Europe, uncertain about
what to do next
- During this year, he worked in a psychoanalytic
clinic, in a psychological laboratory, and eventually in Alfred Binet’s laboratory
- While in the Binet laboratory he was to administer an early intelligence test to young
children to standardize the items
- He held a lifelong interest in the thought
processes of children
piaget’s interest was _
epistemology
describe epistemology
the branch of philosophy concerned with the acquisition of knowledge
- Cognitive development for Piaget involved the
modification of intellectual schemas as the child
seeks to understand its world
define the Methode Clinique
a semi-structured interview technique in which participants’ answers to questions often determine what the next question will be
describe the Methode Clinique
- Borrowed from clinical psychology and especially
from psychoanalysis - Requires that the interviewer listen while letting the child talk
- Requires the interviewer go where the child’s
explanations and questions lead. - One of the advantages of the méthode clinique lies in the considerble flexibility it permits
Human development is a process of _ (theoretical orientation)
adaptation,
The highest form of human adaptation is _ (theoretical orientation)
cognition
Describe theoretical orientation
Two big questions:
What characteristics of children enable them to adapt to their environment?
- What is the simplest, most accurate, and most useful way of classifying child development?
- Piaget’s theoretical orientation is clearly biological and evolutionary, as well as cognitive
What did Piaged recognize about the element of time travel
it is unique to us
(thinking back to what happened before)
to assimilate is to
respond using previous learning
to accomodate is to
change behaviour in response to environmental demands
the interplay of assimilation and accomodation leads to _
adaptation
according to Piaget, there should be a balance between assimilation and accomodation - called _
an equilibrium
The cognitive schemas developed by children
must be able to _
handle new information and situations
Piaget proposed 2 intellectual processes:
assimilation and accomodation
describe assimilation
- Assimilation: Involves interpreting new
information in light of an old schema
All 4-legged animals are viewed as a “dog”
*brain tries to organize info in a way that provides structure
describe accommodation
- Accommodation: Process by which old
schemas are modified to fit new situations
A horse is not a “dog”
**adding specific examples in connection with a specific category
imitation is primarily _
accomodation
When imitating, children
constantly modify their
behaviour in accordance
with _
the demands imposed
on them by their desire to
be something they aren’t or to be like someone else.
- Through the imitation of
activity, children’s repertoires of behaviours
expand and gradually begin to be internalized (forming mental concepts)
do infants immitate people when they are not in their presence?
no, many of the infant’s imitative behaviours occur only in the presence of the model being imitated
how does piaget describe intelligence?
Instead of describing intelligence as a relatively fixed quality or quantity, Piaget describes it as mobile—something that
changes
define intelligence
the property of activity that is reflected in
maximally adaptive behaviour, and it can therefore be understood as the entire process of adapting
intelligence is defined by _
the interactions of an individual with the environment
(intelligence) interaction involves a balance of _ and _ which results in _
assimilation (incorporating
aspects of the environment to
previous learning) and
accommodation (changing
behaviour in the face of
environmental demands)
- The result of this interaction (of this functioning) is the development of cognitive
structures (schemas and
operations), which in turn are reflected in behaviour
describe what interactions happen between an environment and behaviour
environment > assimilation + accomodation = functioning > cognitive structure>behaviour
name the 4 stages in the stage theory
- sensorimotor
-properational (preconceptual and intuitive) - concrete operations
- formal operations
what age aligns with the sensorimotor stage?
birth to 2 years
what age aligns with the preoperational stage, and within it the preconceptual and intuitive
preoperational:2-7 yrs
preconceptual:2-4
intuitive:4-7
what age aligns with the concrete operations stage?
7-11/12 yrs
what age aligns with formal operations?
11/12/13/14
describe the stage theory
Piaget believed that development progresses through a series of stages, each characterized by the development of new abilities or, more precisely, each consisting of a more advanced level of adaptation
piaget’s position is primarily a theory of _ but also a theory of _
theory of human development but also a theory of learning
The acquisition of knowledge is a _ process made possible through the _
gradual developmental process made
possible through the interaction of the
child with the environment.
The sophistication of children’s representation of the world is a function of their _
- stage of development.
- that stage is defined by the thought structures they then possess
what are the forces that shape learning?
- Maturation, active experience, equilibration, and social interaction
what else was really important to piaget?
the errors children make
describe the educational implications of Piaget’s theory
Piaget’s theory:
- profoundly and significantly impacts school curricula, instructional procedures, and measurement practices
- suggests a number of very specific instructional
approaches and principles
Implies providing opportunities for both mental and physical
activity
- Suggests that schools should take pains to provide students with tasks and challenges of optimal difficulty
- Gives a very important role to social interaction
how accurate / clear / predicting/ useful or influential is piaget’s position?
- On occasion, the theory underestimates children’s abilities, but at other times, it may be guilty of overestimating abilities
- Is the theory clear and understandable? Yes and no
- Does the theory explain and predict well? Again, yes and no
- How useful and influential is the theory?Very
At the beginning of sensorimotor development stage, the infant has:
- a here-and-now understanding of the world
- lack of the object concept
- absence of language
Through interaction with the world, the infant builds a representation of reality that includes:
- the development of language
- the ability to coordinate activities
- the appearance of intentionality, and
- the recognition of cause-and-effect relationships
define object concept (sensorimotor development)
If you hide a toy behind a
blanket or your hand, the
infant may act as if the
toy no longer exists, showing surprise or
confusion when the
object disappears from
their view
The appearance of intentionality in a child’s
behaviour refers to _
the perception that the child’s actions are purposeful and goal-directed, indicating an
understanding of intention or a desired outcome
- It’s an important developmental milestone, as it demonstrates that the child is capable of recognizing and inferring intentions in others and, in turn, exhibiting intentional actions themselves
give an example of a child showing the appearance of intentionality
cooking with a fake kitchen, mimicking the actions, flipping imaginary pancake, making sizzling sounds
describe cause and effect relationships (sensorimotor development)
How specific actions lead to predictable outcomes
- Imagine a young child learning about cause and effect by using a light switch
- In this example, the cause is flipping the light switch either up or down, and the effect is the corresponding change in the room’s light
- the child quickly learns that flipping the switch up causes the light to turn on, - while flipping it down causes the light to turn off
within preoperational thinking, which concept is present in the preconceptual sub-stage
Errors of logic
- Transductive (from particular to particular) reasoning
- My dog has hair; that thing has hair therefore it is a dog
within preoperational thinking, which concepts are present in the intuitive sub-stage
- Intuitive problem solving
- Egocentrism
- Absence of conservation
define intuitive problem solving
thinking becomes more logical, although still dominated by perception (hence the label intuitive)
define egocentrism
inability to consider the perspective or viewpoint of others
define absence of conservation
the understanding that certain properties of objects remain constant, even when their outward appearance changes (ex. pouring liquid into taller thinner peaker = same volume, non-conserving child doesn’t understand)
define operation
- An operation can be defined as an internalized activity (in other words, a thought) that is subject to certain rules of logic.
- The ability to conserve (reflecting logical rules of
reversibility, identity, and compensation)
operations involves the logico-mathematical scheme which involves:
- reversibility: 2 units combined can be separated (3+5=8 and 8-3=5)
- identity: combining an elements with its inverse
nulls it (+5) + (-5) = 0 - compensation: combining more than one
operation
describe reversibility in the logico-mathematical scheme
Reversibility, emerges when the child realizes that an action could be reversed and certain consequences will follow from doing so
describe identity in the logico-mathematical scheme
Identity is the idea that for every action or operation
there is another operation that leaves it unchanged.
- For example, adding or taking away nothing produces no change
describe concrete operations
- Conservations
- Children can now deal more adequately with classes, series, and number
- Thinking is tied to what is concrete – more rule
regulated thinking, but where the rules of logic are
applied to real (concrete) objects and situations and
not hypothetical situations
what test shown in class helps us realize logically where the child is at
A test of a child’s understanding of seriation - The elements of the series are presented in random order and the child is asked to arrange them in sequence by height
- the top row was arranged by a 3½-year-old, and the bottom, by an 8-year-old
describe formal operations
- Defined by the appearance of propositional thinking
(hypothetical thinking) - Abstract relations
- Hypothetical nature of thought
- The child’s thought processes are freed from the immediate and real and are potentially as logical as they will ever be
