Cognition and Development

Question 1

Explain Piagets pre-operational stage of cognitive development

Answer 1

2-7 years
-infants schemata becomes more complex
-language acquisition is a large part
Three key points:
-egocentrism
-lack of conservation
-lack of class inclusion

Question 2

explain a lack of class inclusion

Answer 2

Class=what it is
Inclusion= what classes/groups it is part of
the lack of understanding that an object can simultaneously be a part of a larger stand several subsets
For example, a pig is a part of both the pig class and the animal class
-piaget suggested children have not developed this ability

Question 3

explain a lack of conservation

Answer 3

a lack of the ability to understand that although an object may look different overtime or in different forms, it is still the same object
For example if a child was shown a tall slim glass of water that was the poured into a shorter wider glass they would not understand that both glasses contained the same amount of water

Question 4

what does Vygotsky mean by scaffolding in relation to his theory of cognitive development

Answer 4

-a form of social support that an expert uses to help a child cross there ZPD.
-involves processes such as encouragement, prompting, demonstrating, motivation etc
-temporary structures to aid the child untill they are able to act independly

Question 5

What does Vygotsky mean by Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 5

The ZPD refers to the gap between a child current independent abilities and the potential capabilities if assisted by an ‘expert’
-suggested that cognitive development would occur faster if infants were frequently around those more knowledgable

Question 6

what are they key points of Vygotskys theory of cognitive development

Answer 6

-viwed children as young apprentices
-development is dependent on social and cultural processes
-interaction with others is vital to make sence of environment
-language is a key signifyer of knowledge

Question 7

what was meant by the interpsychological process

vygotsky

Answer 7

communication between a child and expert is crucial to initiate intellectual development

Question 8

what is meant by knowledge being intraphsycholigical

vygostsky

Answer 8

when a child internalises what thye have learnt and the ability to use these skills to enhance development

Question 9

what is meant by private speech

vygostsky

Answer 9

when a child talks to themsekves whilst carrying out a task such as repeating instructions/guidance given by experts

Question 10

what is meant by inner speech

vygostsky

Answer 10

when children have mastered the ability to talk to themselves through tasks and now think themselves through the task instead

Question 11

evluate evidence for the ZPD as supporting evidence for Vygostsky

Answer 11

-children aged 4-5
-cond 1: estimated the number of sweets alone
-cond 2: estimated number with guuidance from an older peer
-cond 2 performed predominantly better as they developed more advanced skills/ communication with an expert
-evidence for ZPD

Question 12

evaluate supporting evidence for scaffolding

vygostsky

Answer 12

-longitudinal study observing 45 kids in intervals between 16-54 months
-found as children got older they needed less help from parents e.g using cultery
-use of scaffolding such as encouragment and demonstration helped children become more independent

Question 13

evaluate vygotskys theory of cognitive development

real life apps, social interactions not identified

Answer 13

real life: significantly developed learning/teaching techniques
-peer tutoring, 1-2-1s with teachers, reading buddies
-supporting evidence of effectiveness of reading buddies: 7 year olds being tutored by 10 year olds alongside lessons progressed further in reading

not all social interactions will be beneficial to children
-may confuse/ frustrate
-people may abuse superior knowledge for control or manipulation e.g bullying, speaking rudely, conflicting views

limit: does not consider individual differnces
-independent learners suggested by piagets theory

Question 14

baillargeons explanation of early infant abilities

Answer 14

-opposed piagets idea of object permamnce only at 8 months
-beileived infants had understanding but maybe just didnt have the required motor skills, lost interest

Question 15

what is violation of expectation research

Answer 15

a research technique developed to study the cognitive capabilities of infants
this method was used to compare reactions to an expected (possible) event and an unexpected (phsyically impossible) event

Question 16

breifly describe baillargeons VOE research

Answer 16

aim: investigate object permamnce by seeing if infants pay more to an impossible or possible event
method:
-infants aged 4-6 months
-familarisation event: showed a short and tall rabbit passing behind a screen, fits expectations of object permamnce
-possible condition: either short rabbit passed behind screen with window and couldnt be seen untill it reappeared at the other side/ tall rabbit passed behind and its ears could be seen through the window (expected events)
-impossible condition: tall rabbit behind and couldnt be seen throigh window (unexpected as goes against expectations of object permenance)

findings: on average infants looked at the:
-impossible event for 33 seconds
-possible event for 25 seconds
suggests that they did have object permemnace as the rabbit dissapering violated there expectations

Question 17

what are the key points of baillargeons theory of infants physical reasonig

PRS, object persistance, event categories

Answer 17

-suggested we are born with physical reasoning system (brain structures) that provides a simple understanding of physical world
-ability to quickly learn more details and dvelops through experience
-we have onject persistance from birth
-within the first few weeks infants identify ‘event categories’ about how physical objects move and interact
-prs predisposes infants to want to find out more through new situations/experience
-why VOE research works

Question 18

evaluate baillargeons theory

Answer 18

strength: has improved understanding of infsnts
-better control/less distractions for infants in research
-consistency within VOE research
-provides more valid suggestion than piaget

limit: researcher bias
-created theories based off of own research
-could interpret findings to fit own opinions
-overinflation of results dcreases validity

limitation: assumptions of infant behaviour
-infants cant articulate
-VOE only shows that infnats see a difference
-could be other reasons for attention payed such as familarity with the event

Strength: PRS explains universality ofphysical understaning
-no matter where in the world you re born with the same simpleknowledge of the psycial world (no culteral differences)
-supports PRS being innate

Question 19

what is social cognition

Answer 19

-the metal proccesses we use when interacting with others
-social skills and how we interact with others
-developing an awareness of social situations and an appropriate way to act

Question 20

what is meant by perspective taking

selman

Answer 20

the ability to appreciate a social situation from others point of view
selman believed development of social cognition occurs through ones abilitytoperspective take which changes as they get older

Question 21

describe the research used to construct selmans level of perspetive taking

holly scenario

Answer 21

scenorio:
-holly had promised her dad to not climb trees
-holly came across her friend whose cate was stuck in a tree
-participants were asked whether holly would climb the tree and about the feelings of characters involved (holly,dad,passerbys)

Question 22

what are selmans levels are perspective taking

Answer 22

-egocentric (3-6yrs)
-social informational (6-8yrs)
-self reflective (8-10yrs)
-3rd party (10-12yrs)
-societal (12+yrs)

Question 23

decribe the egocentric level of perspective taking

Answer 23

infants are socially egocentric, unaware of others POV, there own feelings are reflected in how they say others feel
-they beileve holly will climb the tree and her dad will feel the same as her about it

Question 24

describe the socially informative level of perspective taking

Answer 24

begin to have an understanding that others have there own POV but only becuase of the information available about the situation, completely informational not emotional
-believed dad would be angry if he didnt know about the cat but would understand if he did know about the cat

Question 25

describe the self reflective level of perspective taking

Answer 25

understand that morals can impact someones perspective, able to step into others shoes, a more personal level that is not just dependent of information
-believes holly will climb the tree and her dad will understand why but may still be worried

Question 26

describe the 3rd party level of perspective taking

Answer 26

able to view different POV at the same time e.g sees both holly and the dads POV simultaneously
also able to appreciate that an uninvolved 3rd party member may have a POV that may also be different

Question 27

describe the societal level of perspective taking

Answer 27

understands and appreciates that societal presences such as morals/values/norms/ pressures and different social situations can influence POV
-believe that the dad shouldnt punish holly bc society says we should be kind to animals

Question 28

evaluate the strengths of selmans levels/theory

Answer 28

supporting evidence: many studies including holly scenario support
-found a positive correlation between age and ability to view diff perspectives
-one longitudiclstudy followed 41 american boys and found there perspective taking imporved over a 5 year span, followed selmans levels exactly - improves vlaidity

real life apps to educational settings
-found when kids encourged to bear in mind peers POV, bullying behaviour decreased
-when teachers conciously takeinto account emotional perspective were more accomadating to needs
-increases eco validity and credibilty of selmans work

Question 29

evaluate the limitations of selmans work

Answer 29

flawed methodology of supporting evidence
-researcher bias as levels were created from own research (could have manipulated/interpreted finding tomatch own views)
-lack of control and neutrality decreases validity
-correlation does not mean causation

contradictory evidence: Keysar
-compared perspective of chinese and american children
-chinese kids were better at perspetive taking and there was variation within levels of development
-shows cultural influence

lacks comprehensiveness
-doesnt consider individual defferences such as upbringing, mental health issues, autism
-only considers neurotypical devlopment
-doesnt explain how some people have good perspective taking but struggle in social situations (anxiety)

Question 30

what is meant by theory of mind

Answer 30

ability to understand that people ahve there own thoughts,feelings,knowledge and to be able to predict what someone may be thinking/feeling in certain social situations
-a lack of egocentrism

Question 31

describe meltzoffs research into theory of mind

Answer 31

-allowed todlers to watch adults putting beads into a jar and were then asked toplacethe beads in a jar
-cond 1: adults successfully put beads into a jar
-cond 2: adults ‘accidentally’ dropped beads on floor
-when toddlers repeated they did not purposfully spill them suggesting that they have ToM

Question 32

what is a false belief task

Answer 32

used to asses if someone has ToM
-to understand the story and answer correctly to scenarios they must be able to put themselves into others POV
-based on the understanding that an indiciduals belief or perception may contrast the reality

Question 33

describe perners false belife task

Answer 33

3-9yrs were told this scenario
-maxi puts his chocolate in the BLUE cupboard and goes to play
-his mum takes the chocolate put to bake and puts it back in the GREEN cupboard
-ps then asked where maxi would look for his chocolate after he returns
-3 years olds said the green cupboard demonstratung a lack of ToM as they do not understand maxis belief as to where the chocolate is is diufferent to theres
-4 and above said the blue cupboard suggestingthey dohave theory of mind (understood maxi woukdnt have known it was moved)

Question 34

evaluate the strengths of the coneceptof theory of mind

Answer 34

supporting evidence from meltzoff and perner support existance of ToM as a probable concept

real life application
-has been instrumentalin understanding autistic spectrum disorders
-those high on the spectrum seem to lack ToM
-supported by the sally anne research

Question 35

evaluate the limitations of the concept of theory of mind

Answer 35

low validity of false belief tasks
-requires other cog capabilities such as memory (ps may forget colour of cupboard) which can not be standardised
-are evs skewing findings

ToM vs perspective taking
-could be argued that ToM is just anotehr way of saying perspective taking
-based on similar prinsiples e.g lackof egocentrism
-the idea of ToM lacks value to understanding og cog development

Lacks clarity
-how does is develop
-why and when does is develop
-is is age based like piaget or does it develop with social interactions like vygotsky
-it is not a well rounded concept which decreases validity