cognition + development

Question 1

cognitive development definition

Answer 1

development of all metal processes

Question 2

schema definition

Answer 2

mental framework of beliefs + expectations that influence cognitive processing (developed from experience)

Question 3

assimilation definition

Answer 3

form or learning when we acquire new info or a more advanced understanding of an object, person or idea that fits into existing schemas

Question 4

accommodation definition

Answer 4

form of learning when we acquire new info that changes understanding of topic and need to form a new scheme or change existing schemes

Question 5

equilibration definition

Answer 5

a balance between existing schemes and new experiences

Question 6

what did piagets theory do?

Answer 6

changed understanding of how thinking develops in a child

Question 7

what were the 2 influences that posted believed was a result of cognitive development?

Answer 7

maturation-biological processes of ageing

environment-understanding of world becomes more complex

Question 8

strengths of piagets theory evidence

Answer 8

Howe et al (2012)

• aged 9-12 children in 4 groups
• discuss movement of object down slope
• assess understanding before and after discussion
• increase knowledge but not same conclusion
• children with similar learning experiences will form individual mental representations

Question 9

strengths of piagets theory

-education

Answer 9

-applied to education (activity-orientated classrooms supports enviromental learning) w.g sand and water in early classroom years - practical application

Question 10

limitation of piagets theory

-piaget underplayed role of other peopel in learning

Answer 10

-piaget saw peers as an important factor in learning but they weren’t the main focus of the theory - however other research suggests other people are absolutely central e.g vygotsky - vygotsky is better than piaget

Question 11

piaget’s stages of intellectual development definition

Answer 11

4 stages, each characterised by a different level of reasoning ability

Question 12

piagets 4 aspects of intellectual development

Answer 12

• object permanence
• conservation
• egocentrism
• class inclusion

Question 13

object permanence definition

Answer 13

ability to realise object still exists when it is out of visual field

Question 14

conservation definition

Answer 14

ability to realise quantity remains same even when appearance of an object changes

Question 15

egocentrism definition

Answer 15

child’s tendency to only be able to see the world from their own point of view

Question 16

class inclusion definition

Answer 16

advanced classification skill when we recognise that classes of objects have subsets and are themselves subsets of larger classes

Question 17

piagets 4 stages of intellectual development and ages

Answer 17

-sensorimotor (0-2) object permanence
-pre operational (2-7) conservation( can’t do ) , egocentrism (can’t do) and class inclusion (begin to understand)
-concrete operations (7-11)
better on tasks of egocentrism and class inclusion
-formal operations (11+) formal reasoning can be tested using syllogisms

Question 18

piagets intellectual development weakness

• contradicting evidence for conservation
• for class inclusion
• for decentre

Answer 18

• mcgarrigle + donaldson did conservation experiment where counters were moved by accident - control used piaget task with 4-6 year olds + most answered correctly - when naughty teddy appeared + knocked counters 72% said there were same number as before suggesting they could conserve as long as they weren’t out off by way they were questioned - piaget was wrong in pre-operational stage
• siegler + svetina replicated class inclusion study - 100 5 year olds from slovenia did 3 sessions of 10 class inclusion tasks then received different feedback - the scores approved more between rhe 3 forums suffering trust had acquired class inclusion - contradicts piaget
• Hughes tested ability for children to see from different view points using a model structure - children as young as 3 and a half years were able to position the boy doll where the police officer couldn’t see him 90% of the time - this contradicts piaget as it suggests he underestimates younger childrens ability to decentre

Question 19

2 parts of vygotskys theory

Answer 19

ZPD - gap between current development level defined by cog take and what they can potentially do

scaffolding - process of a helping a learner cross the ZPD using a more advanced peer

Question 20

5 stages of scaffolding from Bruner + Ross

Answer 20

• recruitment
• reduction of degrees of freedom
• direction maintenance
• marking critical features
• demonstration

Question 21

strengths of vygotskys theory of cog development

• evidence for ZPD
• evidence for scaffolding
• education application

Answer 21

• Roazzi + Bryant - 4-5 year old children task of estimating numbers in sweet box -1 condition = alone 2 condition = with older child - 1 condition = bad estimate - this supports vygotsky
• Conner + Cross - observed 45 children doing problem solving tasks with mothers at 16, 26, 44 + 54 months - overtime mothers helped less - suggesting having expert helps close ZPD gap
• influential for things like peer tutoring - Van Keen + Verhaeghe found 7 year olds tutoued by 10 year olds progressed further than this just in whole class teaching - support for scaffolding with practical application