cognition + development Flashcards
cognitive development definition
development of all metal processes
schema definition
mental framework of beliefs + expectations that influence cognitive processing (developed from experience)
assimilation definition
form or learning when we acquire new info or a more advanced understanding of an object, person or idea that fits into existing schemas
accommodation definition
form of learning when we acquire new info that changes understanding of topic and need to form a new scheme or change existing schemes
equilibration definition
a balance between existing schemes and new experiences
what did piagets theory do?
changed understanding of how thinking develops in a child
what were the 2 influences that posted believed was a result of cognitive development?
maturation-biological processes of ageing
environment-understanding of world becomes more complex
strengths of piagets theory evidence
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
strengths of piagets theory
-education
-applied to education (activity-orientated classrooms supports enviromental learning) w.g sand and water in early classroom years - practical application
limitation of piagets theory
-piaget underplayed role of other peopel in learning
-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
piaget’s stages of intellectual development definition
4 stages, each characterised by a different level of reasoning ability
piagets 4 aspects of intellectual development
- object permanence
- conservation
- egocentrism
- class inclusion
object permanence definition
ability to realise object still exists when it is out of visual field
conservation definition
ability to realise quantity remains same even when appearance of an object changes
egocentrism definition
child’s tendency to only be able to see the world from their own point of view
class inclusion definition
advanced classification skill when we recognise that classes of objects have subsets and are themselves subsets of larger classes
piagets 4 stages of intellectual development and ages
-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
piagets intellectual development weakness
- contradicting evidence for conservation
- for class inclusion
- for decentre
- 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
2 parts of vygotskys theory
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
5 stages of scaffolding from Bruner + Ross
- recruitment
- reduction of degrees of freedom
- direction maintenance
- marking critical features
- demonstration
strengths of vygotskys theory of cog development
- evidence for ZPD
- evidence for scaffolding
- education application
- 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
