Cognition Flashcards
Describe Piagets theory of cognitive development.
Piaget says we make sense of the world through schemas - mental building blocks of knowledge which we use to make sense of our environment.
We’re motivated to learn when in disequilibrium - cannot understand new info with current schemas - as it is an unpleasant state to be in.
Equilibrium - new schemas provide enough knowledge to understand incoming info.
We reach equilibrium through adaptation of schemas.
Assimilation - adding info to an existing schema e.g. new brand of car
Accomodation - creating a new or changing an exiting schema e.g. to separate socks and shoes
Name 3 evaluations for Piagets theory of cognitive development.
Application to education.
Overestimated the role of equilibrium.
Underestimated role of peers.
Explain one strength of Piagets theory of cognitive development.
Application to education.
Children in early years of school play with containers and sand tables to help development of schemas for conservation.
Theory has had positive impacts for real world.
Why may Piaget have overestimated the role of disequilibrium in his theory of cognitive development?
Limited sample size used - own children and friends, middle class, Swiss, same nursery.
Lacks generalisability as people from other cultures or classes may not be as motivated to learn in a state of equilibrium.
Why may Piaget have underestimated the role of peers in his theory of cognitive development?
Vygotsky proposed children learn through social processes such as peer tutoring in which a more expert child helps another to cross the ZPD.
Piagets may be too simple as it doesn’t account for influence of social interaction.
Describe piagets first two stages of development.
Piagets theory consists of 4 stages:
The sensorimotor stage from ages 0 to 2 years. In this stage children develop object permanence at 8 months old. This is the understanding that an object still exists even if it is hidden.
The next stage occurs from ages 2 to 7, this is the pre operational stage. Here children are egocentric - only understand the world from ones own point of view, cannot conserve - understanding that just because an object has changed shape does not mean its mass has changed, they also lack an understanding of class inclusion - understanding that objects can belong to more than one class at onetime.
Describe piagets third and fourth stages of development.
The third stage is the concrete operational stage. This stage is from ages 7 to 11. In this stage children are able to conserve, are no longer egocentric, and understand the concept of class inclusion.
The final stage from 11 years onwards, is the formal operational stage. In this stage children develop the ability to understand and consider abstract and hypothetical ideas.
Name 3 evaluations for Piagets stages of development.
Critical research - conservation.
Application to education.
Limited sample.
Explain how critical research is a weakness of Piagets stages.
Naughty teddy study.
60% of 6 year olds able to conserve in pre operational stage.
Piaget may have underestimated ability of children.
Explain one strength of Piagets stages.
Application to education.
Readiness - children should not be taught concepts until cognitively ready.
Algebra only taught 11+ in secondary school.
Has had positive impacts on education.
Why is a limited sample a weakness of Piagets stages?
All middle class, Swiss, same nursery.
Stages may not be applicable to other cultures or classes - lack generalisability.
Outline the zone of proximal development and peer tutoring.
The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the gap between what one can do on their own and what they can do with the help of a more knowledgable other. Someone with a small zpd is an expert at the skill and can do almost all of it alone. Whilst someone with a large zpd has a lot to learn about that specific area.
Peer tutoring is when an ‘expert’ - someone with more advanced knowledge - teaches a ‘novice’. The aim of this is to aid them in crossing the zpd.
Outline scaffolding as part of vygotskys theory of development.
Including an example.
Scaffolding is helping a learners to cross the zone of proximal development. It usually involves lessening support as the they cross. For example a teacher may do an example of how to answer a question. For them next question they may walk the student through it, then be there in case they have any questions, and then have the student do it alone.
Name 3 evaluations for Vygotsky’s theory.
Research evidence for peer tutoring.
Research evidence for scaffolding.
Individual differences.
Explain research evidence which supports vygotskys idea of peer tutoring.
Roazzi and Bryant - 4/5 year olds asked to estimate number of sweets in a box.
One group had ‘experts’ pointing them in right direction, this group gave more accurate guesses than control group.
Demonstrates effectiveness at reducing ZPD which provides validity.
Describe research evidence which supports scaffolding.
Wood + Middleton - set of blocks too difficult for children to do alone.
Parents observed demonstrations how to put them together at first, slowly reducing help as child’s ability improved.
Demonstrated they scaffold children’s learning.
Explain a weakness of vygotskys theory of cognitive development.
Doesn’t account for individual differences.
Assumes learning is universal and fails to take into account factors such as personality or learning style which affect how well child learns in a social environment.
Too simple to fully explain cognitive development in all children.
How does Piagets theory compare to Vygotsky?
Piaget says children learn best by themselves through discovery learning which help them to develop schemas.
This challenges the ideas that cognitive development is a social process.
Describe Baillargeon’s explanation.
Believed infants understanding of physical world develops later than Piaget suggested.
Children born with physical reasoning systems - innate capacity to understand the physical world which becomes more advanced and developed with experience.
Violation of expectation studies - infants are presented with a procedure to familiarise themselves with an event, shown the test event which is either possible or impossible.
If infant shows surprise at impossible event , shows it went against their expectations, infer they understand object permanence (object still exists even if hidden)
Research challenges piagets findings on object permanence.
Explain an example of a VOE study.
Short rabbit passes through tall card, tall rabbit through tall card, cannot see rabbit.
Short rabbit short card, cannot see, tall rabbit short card, cannot see - impossible.
Stare at possible events for 25 seconds, impossible 33 seconds - surprise indicates object permanence.
Name the evaluations of Baillargeon’s explanation.
Better than Piaget.
Supporting research.
Use of inference.
Explain how Baillargeon’s research is better than piagets.
P - research is a better way to test infant understanding than piagets
E - Piaget tested if infants looked for a children looked for a toy under a blanket, may have confused them, believed they weren’t allowed the toy
E - baillargeon removed confounding variables, higher validity
Explain the supporting research for Baillargeon’s explanation.
P - supporting research
E - Gibson found 92% of babies refused to cross a visual cliff between 6-14 months, suggests they understood depth perception
E - supports idea that Piaget underestimated infant abilities, infants have a better understanding of the world than he suggested
Why is the use of inference a weakness in Baillargeon’s explanation.
P - use of inference
E - assumed looking longer at impossible meant they were surprised, however may have been looking art something else, cannot prove the reason for longer stare
E - conclusions may be inaccurate
