Cognitive Development Flashcards
What is cognitive development
A general term describing the development of all mental processes in particular thinking reasoning and our understanding of the world . Cognitivedevelopment continues through t thr lifespan but psychologists have been particularly concerned with how thinking reasoning develops through childhood .
What is schema
A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing . They are developed from experience .
What is schema
A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing . They are developed from experience .
Assimilation
A form of learning that takes place when we acquire new information a more advanced understanding of an object person or idea . When new information does not radically change our understanding of thr topic we can asmikiage it into an existing scheme .
Accommodation
A form of learning that takes place when we acquire new information that changes our understanding of a topic to the extent that we need to form one or more new schema and or radically change existing schema in order to deal with the new understanding.
Equilibiration
Takes place when we have encounteeed new information and built it into our understanding of atopic , either by assimilating into an understanding of a topic , either by assimilating it into an existing schema of accommodation in. Order to form a new one . Once assimilation or accommodation has taken place everything is again balamcrdf and we have scaled the unpleasant experience of a black balnxenwquilineoum .
What is Jean Piaget theory about
He produced an influential theory about cognitive development Piaget great contribution to child psychology was to realise that children do not simply know less than adults but they just think differently.
Based on the understanding children think differently what did Piaget do
Piaget divided childhood into stages each of which represents the development of new ways of eeasoning . Piaget also looked at children’s learning especially two aspects .
What are the two aspects Piaget looked at
The role of motivation in development
And the question or how knowledge develops .
According to Piaget how are children born with
Fhildren are born with a small number of schema just enough rfor them to interact with the world and other people . They construct a schema right for, infancy we construct new wsdhemanl one of these is the me schema in whuch all thr chi,did kneoe,due about third,eve jd store ,
What happens to schema
Cognitive development involved the construction of progressively more detailed schema for people and also for objects phyigsical actions and later more abstract ideas like justice snd morality.
Motivation to learn in Piaget theory
According to Piaget we are pushed to learn when our existing schema do not allow us to make sense of something new . This leads to the unpleasant sensation of disequilibrium , to escape disequilibrium we have to adapt to the new situation by exploring , and developing our understanding . By doing this ednacjeige equilibrium the preferred mental status .
One way learning can take place
Are according to ASSIMILIATION
Takes place when we understand a new experience and equilibratw by adding new information to out
R existing schema . For example ,a child in a family with dogs can adapt to thr existence kf different dig veeeds by assimilating thr m into their dig schema .
Accommodation
Takes place in response to dramatically new experiences . Thr child has to adjust to these by either radically Gina current schemes or forming new ones . So a child with a a pet dog l at first may think of cats as food because they have four legs fur and a tail . But then recognise the existence of a separate category called cats . This accommodation will involve forming a cat schema .
Evaluation RESEARCH SUPPORT
One strength of Piaget’s theory is fhe existence of evidence for the idnicdual formation of mental representations . Of the world , even when they have similar learning experiences . Christine Howe demonstrated in thus study in which children aged 9x12 years were places in groups of four to investigate and discuss the movement of objects down a slope .
Evaluation Reswaexh support (2)
Following this activity m all the children were found to have increased their understanding . Crucially through , their understanding has nit become more similar , instead each child had picked up different facts and reached slightly different conclusions . This means that each child has formed an idnicdual mental representation of how 9bjecys move on slopes as Piaget would have expected .
Strength of piagets theory is the real world application
Piagets idea is that children learn by actively exploring their environment and forming their own ,Engel representation kf the wold has changed classroom teaching . Piagets ideas became popular in the 1960s , the old fashioned classroom in which children sat silently in toes copying from thr board has been replaced by activity - orientsyedc clsssroms in which children actively engage in tasks that allow them to construct their own understandings or thr curriculum .
Real world application piagets theory part two
Such discovery learning can take different forms . In the early years classroom children may for example get taught but then flip learning ecosystem snd students can read upon thr content forming their own basic mental representations of thr topic prior to the lesson .
Showing how
Isget imepired approaches may facilitator the development of idnicdual mental representations of thr world .
Piagets theory real world application counter point
Piagets theory has certainly influenced modern practice in teaching snd learning. . However there is no firm evidence showing that children learn better using discovery learning . In a recent review Ard Lazoneer snd Ruth Harmsen (2016) concluded that discovery learning with cosndiersble input from trsbjes is the most effective esy to learn , but it seems that inout from Torsten is not discovery per se , I’d thr crucial element of this efffrcitbrmrdd means check page .
Evaluation role of others in learning
One limitation of piagets theory is thst he underestimated the role of others in learning . Piaget saw other people as useful to learning in thr sense they are potential sources of information and learning experiences . However , he saw learning itself as individual process .
Role of others in learning (2)
This contrasts with other theories in which learning is seen as a more social process , supported by more knowledgable others . In particular Lev Vygorsih saw kneodlge as existing first between learner and thr more experienced other snomyl turn in thr mind of the Ladner . This idea is explore ,Orr layer strong evidence to support thr sides that learning enhanced by interaction with othrrdsnd this is perhsbys explained by alternative theories .
This means that piagets theory may be an incomplete explanation for learning
Bea she it doesn’t put enough emphasis on the role of other people in learning .
evaluation extra - rol of motivation
piaget suggested that children ( and people of all ages) , acquire new knowledge to escape the unpleasant sensation disequilibrium . Thus the desired to learn is innatelly motivated - we are born with a desire to learn about the world .
-However it has been suggested that piaget overstated of the role motivation in learning .
-ONE POSSIBLE REASON , for this is the fct that piaget sudied an unrepresentative , and highly intelligent sample of children - intiall his own then those ina unvieristy nursery , pherahs these children were more motivated to learn than mso .
stages of intellectual development
piaget identified , four stages , of intellectual development . Each stage is characterised , by a different level of reasoning ability . Although the exact ages vary from child to child , the key point is all children develop through the same sequence stages .
what is object ermenance
the ability to realise that an object still exists ehrn it passes out of the visual field .
-Piaget , believed that this bility , appears at around eight months of age . Prior to this children lose interest in an object , once they cant se it nd presumalya re no longer aware of it exitent .
what is conservation
the ability to release , the quantity remains , the same even when the appearance , of an object or group of objects changes . For example , the volume of liquid stays the sme shae when poured between vessels of different shapes .
what is egocentrisism
the child tendencey to onl e able to see the world frim their own point of viw . This applies to both phsyical objects - demonstrated in the three mountain taks tasks - and argument sinw hicha child can onlya ppreictate their own perepsceiv .
What is class inclusion
An advanced classification skill in which we recognise that classes of objects have subsets and are themselves subsets of larger classes . Preopedational children usually struggle to nad in more than one class .
Piaget’s stages of intellectual development - sensorimotor stage approximately 0-2 years
According to jean Piaget , a baby early focus is on physical sensations and on developing some basic physician coordination .
Babies learn by trial and error that they can deliberately move their bodies in particular ways snd eventually that they can deliberately,over other objects . The baby also develops an understanding during the first two years that other people are separated objects and acquire some basic language .
Sensorimotor stage - what happens to a baby at eig months ht
By around eight months , the baby is capable of understanding object permanence . This is the understanding object permanence . This is the understanding that objects still exist when they are out of sight . Piaget observed babies looking at injected and watched as the objects were removed out of sight .
-Piagetl observed babies looking at onejedts it was out of sight . However , from around eight months m they would continue to look at it . This led Piaget to believe that it was from this age that babies understood that objects continue to exist when they removed from view .
What is the prepperagiojal stage (approximately 2-7 years )
By the age of a two a toddler is mobile and can use language but stilll lacks adult reasoning ability . This means that they display some characteristics error in reasoning .
Preoperational stage.
How did Piaget demonstrate this
Piaget demonstrates this in a number of situation in his number conservation experiments . Piaget placed two rows , of eight idneircs, counters die by side . Even Karen reasoned that each row of counters has fhe same number ,
How did Piaget demonstrate the preoperational stage (2)
However when the counters in one of the rows were pushed closer together , preoperational children struggle to conserve and usually said there were fewer counters in that row .
In his liquid conservation procedure.
Piaget found that when two identical containers (A and B) weee placed side by side with the contents at the same height . Most children spotted thst they contained the same volume of liquid . However m if the liquid was poured into a taller thinner vessel younger children typically believed there was more liquid in the taller vessel .
In his liquid conservation procedure what did Piaget find
Piaget found his conservation procedure , Piaget found that when two identical containers A and B , were placed side by side with thr contents at the same height , most children spotted that they contained the same volume of liquid . However , if the liquid was. Poured into a falller thinner vessel younger children thought there was in thr taller vessel .
Piagets procedure egocentrism
Means to see fhe world only from one okitn of bile was seen in the mountain task in whuch children were shown three mountains , and a doll was placed at the side ornate mountains so it was a different angle from the child .
The child was asked or choose what fhe doll would see from a range of pictures .
PREOPERAITONAL CHILDREN FOUND IT DIFFICULTTO CJOOSE FHE PICTURR RHAY. AGXHED RHE SVENE FROM THEIR IWN POITN OF VIEW
Class inclusion in the preoperational, stage
Early in the preoperational stage children , begin to understand classification the idea , that objects fall into categories . So most preoperational children can classify pugs bull terriers and retrievers as dogs . However , Piaget and in helper (1963) found that children under age of seven struggle with they more advanced skill of class including the idea of classification have subsets .
Class inclusion (2)
So when they showed 7-8 year old children pictures of five dogs , and two cars m snd asked are there more dogs or animals , cjkdkrne fended kf relekdn rhay rhere were make digs , he jnrelrhffed thus as meaning thst younger chikdren cannot simultaneous see a dog as a member kf the dog class and rhe animal class .
Stage or concrete operations (7-11years )
Piaget found that from the age of around seven most children can conserve and perform much better on tasks of egocentrism and class inclusion . However , although children now have better externally verifiable reasoning abilities What l Piaget called operations - these are strictly still struggle to reason about attract ideas and to imagine objects or situations . They cannot see more advanced edabilties in the final stages of lersfikn .
Stages of formal operation (11+)
Piaget believed that from about 11 years of age , children become capable of formal reasoning , this means that children become able to focus , and on thr form , of an argument and not be distracted it’d content . Formal reasoning , can be tested by using the pendulum task and also means syllogisms . For example , all yellow cats have two heads . I have a yellow cat challednchwrikie , how many headmaster, it has two , how many head does Charlie have corrects nee Jeff two .
- Piaget found that younger children become distracted by the concern and answered that dates do not relalky she fwk heads , Piaget believed that identify duidken csnnresnsinfirmskku they are capable of reasoning snd appreciate abstract ideas .
Evaluation of piagets intellectual development - conservation researchLIMITAFION
One limitation , of piagets conclusions about conservation is that the research was flawed . Children taking part in piagets coxneveation studies may have been influenced by seeing the experimenter, change in the appearance of many counters or liquid .
Why would the deal hsed change the appearanc ends ask them if it was fhe same
James to be moved with accident . In one condition they replicated the standard Piaget task . However m in another condition a naughty teddy appeared snd knocked rhe counters closer .
THIS means that children aged 4-6 years could conserve as long as they were not out of but he esy they were questioned . This in turns suggests yhsy Piaget was Seinfeld about the age at whuch conservation alleads .
Class inclusion - Another limitation
Is that findings on class inclusion are contradicted by newer research . Robert Siegler and Matija Sverina (2006) show that children weee in fact capable of understanding class inclusion . Siegler and Sverina (2006) showed that children weee in fact capable of understanding class inclusion ,
What Siegler and Sverina gave 100 five year olds
From Slovenia ten class inclusion task receiving an explanation of the task after each session . In onendoneiroj they received feedback that there must be more animals than dogs because rhe was nine animals because dogs m bevaysebrgeew weee nine animals but only six old .
A different group received feedback that rhere muse be more animals because gives were a subset of animals than dogs because there were nine animals and only six dogs .
A different group received feedback that there be more animals bevayse dogs see s subset of animal ( a rhere explanation kf class inclusion ). The scores across fhe session j,proved more for the latter group suggesting thst the children had acquired a real understanding of clsss inclusion. This mean that chikdren under Sven can in fundedtsjding classmimclsuims - contrsdyntk what Piaget beleuevd so Piaget underestimated what t younger chikdren could do .
Egocentrism a further limitation is lack of support for piagets view of egocentrism’s .
Martin Hughes (1975) tested the ability of chikdren to see a situation from two people’s viewpoints using a model with two intersecting walks and three dolls m a busy and two police officers , . Once familaieisss with the task chikdren m as young as 3.5 years weee able to position position the big doll , where once police officer could not see him 90 percentage of the time where rhe who police officers to hide form ,
Egocentrism research
Once familiarised with the tasks chikdren as young as 3.5 years weee able to position thr body doll we here once police officer could not see him 90 percentage of the time , when they were row police officers to hide them , thi
Egocentrism this means that
When tested with a scenario that makes more sense chikdren see able to devenerer and imagine other perspectives much earlier than Piaget proposed . This again , suggests that Piaget underestimated the abilities of young chikdren and that bus stages are incorrect .
Egocentrism research counter point
One issue with all of the limitations explained on thus page , is that they are crutisxm kf the age at whuch a particular cognitive stage is reached , nit a criticism of fhe characteristics of the stage itself . For example Hughes point is that chikdren weee able to defender at a younger age that Piaget had claimed . However , it is still the case that thus abi,tiny is nit present in beer young child,fen and we can see from Hughes reasesdch thst this ability I rocked with age . Therefore thr core principles of piagets stages remain ucmshkknegd but the methods he hsed meant the the timing kf his stages was wrong .
Evaluation research - domain general and domain - specific
Piaget believed that intellectual development is a single process , and that all aspects of cognition develop together . So lnagauge , reasjoning , and egocentrism’s all develop pretty much in tandem . Large fork sod cuidlrej , this is indeed fhe case , if there nit when we could not have a school system that teaches a common curriculum to chikdren according to their age .
However m research with autistic chikdren also experience co -occurring learning dusbufkies snd they often face challenges with reasoning , lamayyges and egocentrism . But in other aheusix chikdren who’d I have lesnejf. Duabkrues these skills decleoo as they do in non autistic chickren .
Zone kf proximal development
This is the gal between a child’s current level of defleoooment and what they can potentially do with the right help from a ,ore exper other (an adult or more advanced child ).
Scaffolding
The rockets kf helping amleejee cross rhe zone kf proximal develop,ent and advance as much as they
Can given their stage of development . Typically the level of help given. In scaffolding declines as a lavender crosses the zone of rpoximal decompose,ment l
Lee Vygotsjy
Was a Russian psychologists who was kndoeuxsd by Piaget’s work , they ageeed on many of the basics m of cognitive development . Most importantly they agreed that chikdrenks reasoning abilities develop in a particular sequence and that such abilities are aualaifcaley different at different ages , with a child typically coaoable of particular logic at particular ages .
Lee Vygotsjy
Was a Russian psychologists who was kndoeuxsd by Piaget’s work , they ageeed on many of the basics m of cognitive development . Most importantly they agreed that chikdrenks reasoning abilities develop in a particular sequence and that such abilities are aualaifcaley different at different ages , with a child typically coaoable of particular logic at particular ages .
Major difference in Vgotsky cognitive development
As a social process , of learning from more edpeeidmed others referred to as experts . Knowledge is first inter neural between rhe more and less expert individual then intramenfal within the mind kf the less expert idnicdual . Vgitsjy also saw language as much more important part of rhe cognitive defelopemnt than Piaget did l
Cultural differences in cognitive abiktiesn
If reasoning about kids are acquired from the more experienced individuals , with whom a child has contact , it folows that the child will acquire the reasjionign abilities kf those particular people . This means that they’re may be mcukrurak differences in cognitive devekooent .
With chikdren picking up the mental tools that will be ,our i,protactinium for life within the physical social snd work environments of their culture ., with chikdren picking up yhe mental tools that will be ,our i,portent for life within physical social and work environments of their culture . These mental tools include the hand eye coordination needed to hunt with a bow and arrow and fhe evaualrion skills needed for label sochilgy .
The zone of proximal development
Vygotsky put tremendous emphasis on the role of learning thrkgjn interaction wirh others . He identified a gap between a child’s current level kf defelooemt ie. What h they can understand and do alone snd what they can potentially udnerstans after thr interaction with more expert others . Yhe hap osmlmeoms s the some of proximal,so devleope,my .
