cognition and development -vygotskys theory

Question 1

what does vygotsky believe about children’s cognitive abilities?

Answer 1

.vygotsky believes that children’s cognitive abilities develop as they age and he sees cognitive development as a social process of learning from experts/more knowledgeable others

Question 2

whose theory does part of vygotskys belief match with?

Answer 2

.piaget, he believed that children’s cognitive abilities develop as they age

Question 3

are there cultural differences in cognitive abilities?

Answer 3

.yes

Question 4

why are there cultural differences in cognitive abilities?

Answer 4

.because cognitive abilities are acquired in social interactions they reflect the abilities of local adults so ‘mental tools’ may vary according to culture, e.g. maths skills

Question 5

what is the zone of proximal development?

Answer 5

.gap between current and potential abilities, i.e. what they can do with interaction with an expert helper/MKO

Question 6

what is the process used to help cross the zone of proximal development?

Answer 6

.scaffolding

Question 7

what is meant by scaffolding?

Answer 7

.refers to all the help given by an expert to guide children to cross the ZPD

Question 8

what type of process is the learning?

Answer 8

.it’s progressive -MKO provides lots of help at the start then reduces the amount of support they offer as the child becomes more competent -leads to interdependence

Question 9

who conducted the evidence to support the idea of learning being progressive?

Answer 9

.bruner et al

Question 10

what did bruner et al suggest?

Answer 10

.it includes progressive strategies, i.e. higher level of help at the start e.g. demonstration first, then specific verbal instructions and finally general prompts

Question 11

what is a strength to vygotskys theory?

Answer 11

.application to education -more interaction needed, peer- tutoring, group discussion and teaching assistants are effective
.eg -Van Keer and Verhage, found 7-year-olds tutored by 10- year-olds in reading do better than controls therefore the theory is useful

Question 12

what are the negative to vygotskys theory?

Answer 12

.research against -howe et al: groups of four (age 9-12) discussed and studied objects moving down a slope.
.afterwards they came to different conclusions
.erefore children who experience the same interaction don’t develop the same understanding -vygotsky fails to explain this developmental difference, but Piaget’s concept of maturation can
.incomplete theory: Vygotsky assumes we all learn the same, however personality may have an impact he also underplays role of exploration in learning therefore his theory is incomplete