Classic Theories: Piaget, Vygotsky, & Learning Theory

Question 1

Piaget

Answer 1

child as scientist
o Construct their own knowledge from experimenting with the world
o Learn things on their own without the intervention of older children or adults
o Kids are intrinsically motivated to learn and do not need rewards from adults to motivate learning
o Discontinuous (because of stages)
o Maturational sequence of qualitatively different stages

Question 2

Maturational sequence of qualitatively different stages

Answer 2

• Broad applicability- type of thinking at each stage pervades across content and tasks
• Invariant order (order is genetic, timing depends on individual experience
• NO skipping
• Abrupt transitions

Question 3

Order of Piaget’s stages

Answer 3

Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete Operational
Formal operational

Question 4

Sensorimotor (piaget)

Answer 4

(infancy and toddlerhood, birth-3 years)
• Knowledge tied to sensory and motor abilities (accomplishment)
• Imitate actions and behaviors (accomplishment)
• Fails test of object permanence until about 12 months

Question 5

Preoperational (piaget)

Answer 5

(early childhood, 3-5 years)
• + Objects and events are represented by mental symbols
• + Make believe play, deferred imitation
• - Egocentric
• - Centration (focus on single feature to exclusion of others; therefore fails test of operation

Question 6

Concrete Operational (piaget)

Answer 6

(middle childhood, 5-11 years)
• Children can reason logically about concrete objects and events
• Use logic; pass conservation test
• Fails to engage in systematic hypothesis testing

Question 7

Formal Operational (piaget)

Answer 7

(adolescence, 11-18 years)

• Children can reason abstractly and hypothetically

Question 8

Developmentally appropriate (piaget)

Answer 8

• Says that at certain ages kids can only think in certain ways
• This helps with the framework of what to do with kids and targeting curricula
• Bad because you’re not individualizing instruction
• Holding back good kids, being insensitive to slow kids

Question 9

Applications to education (piaget

Answer 9

Pros
•Constructive approach- classroom designed for discovery and exploration
•Teacher as facilitator (rather than giver of information)
•Base curriculum on child’s knowledge and level of thinking
•Kids need to generate their own ideas
Cons
•Overemphasis on “developmentally appropriate”
•Undervalue the importance of direction and feedback
•Young kids are more competent than Piaget thought

Question 10

Vygotsky

Answer 10

Same time as piaget but behind the iron curtain so his stuff came out later
Child as social butterfly
•Humans are unique in ability to teach and learn from each other
•Social interactions are crucial for development
•Views development as constrained by the culture in which you live
•The kids makes sense of the world through social interactions
•Culture (that values education) constrains

Question 11

What changes (Vygotsky)

Answer 11

Internalization

Zone of proximal development

Question 12

Internalization (Vygotsky)

Answer 12

• Imitation → self guiding → interalization
• Cycle repeats itself as the child acquires increasingly sophisticated ways of thinking
• You internalize what you do in certain situations
• Tied to how much experience/ knowledge you have

Question 13

Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 13

• The range between what children can do unsupported and what they can do with optimal social support
• Continuously increases with development
• May be different for tasks, concepts, or domains (e.g. better at math than art)
• It is important to give tasks below the zone for confidence
• Important to give above to challenge kids

Question 14

Key Mechanisms (Vogotsky)

Answer 14

• Sharing our thoughts
• Joint attention
• Social referencing
• Interaction with more competent people
• Guided participation
• Social scaffolding

Question 15

Joint attention (vygotsky)

Answer 15

mutual gaze or attention to the same object, event or problem

Question 16

Social Referencing (vygotsky)

Answer 16

looking to social partners for guidance about how to respond to unfamiliar events

Question 17

Guided participation (vygotsky)

Answer 17

participate in activity with more competent person

Question 18

Social Scaffolding

Answer 18

more competent person provides temporary framework that lead children to higher order thinking; adjust support to child’s current level of performance (ZPD) and gradually withdraw
o Helps kid do something he/she couldn’t do alone
o Happens during guided participation

Question 19

Vygotsky pros

Answer 19

• Focuses on social aspects of development

* Explains individual differences (as product of culture and socialization)

Question 20

Vygotsky cons

Answer 20

• Little focus on children’s cognition

* Complexity of social context makes it difficult to be specific about cause and effects

Question 21

Vygotsky applications to education

Answer 21

• Cooperative learning- Encouragement of learning from each other
• Scaffold learning- stronger role for teacher/ more advanced peer than Piaget (teacher hands on)
• Base curriculum on child’s ZPD
• Clearer goals on extending range than Piaget
• Individualized education good but difficult

Question 22

Learning Theory

Answer 22

o John Watson and BF Skinner

o Child as blank slate, children’s personality and behavior are shaped entirely by there experiences

Question 23

Key Mechanisms (Learning Theory)

Answer 23

Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Observational learning

Question 24

Classical conditioning (LT)

Answer 24

• We associate two stimuli (e.g. loud noise and white rabbit) that occur before the behavior (e.g. cringing in fear)
• Getting kids to like books

Question 25

Operant conditioning (LT)

Answer 25

• We repeat behaviors that lead to favorable outcomes (rewards) and suppress behaviors that lead to negative outcomes (punishment)
o Crying when mother’s return
o Whining w/ treat or no whining w/ treat
o Doing homework with praise
o Basis for reward charts etc

Question 26

Observational learning (LT)

Answer 26

• Children learn by observing a model and the consequences of the model’s actions
• Modeling works because child is watching
• Know you will get in trouble because seen older sibling
• Aggressive modeling leads to aggressive children
• Kids who saw adult hit doll were more likely to imitate and create new aggressive acts
• Boys are more aggressive
• Girls are more likely to imitate

Question 27

Learning Theory pros

Answer 27

• Focuses on observable behaviors, so easily tested
• Explains individual differences (as product of experiences)
• Highlighted the importance of modeling

Question 28

Learning Theory cons

Answer 28

• Little focus on children’s cognition

* Unable to explain creative thought

Question 29

LT Applications to education

Answer 29

• Use of positive and negative reinforcement for classroom management
• Importance of feedback for learning
• Interventions/ remediation for atypical learners