Cognitive Development Flashcards
Adaption of Schemas
- Assimilation
- Disequilibrium
- Accommodation
- Equilibrium
Assimilation
When we acquire and incorporate new information about an object or idea into existing schemas
Disequilibrium
When our existing schema does not allow us to make sense of something new, leading to a unpleasant sensation of unbalance
Accommodation
When we acquire a more advanced understanding of an object or idea, modifying existing schemas
Equilibrium
When we have built new information into our understanding of a topic. Everything is again balanced and we have escaped the unpleasant experience of a lack of balance
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
- Sensorimotor Stage
- Pre-operational Stage
- Concrete Operations
- Formal Operations
Sensorimotor Stage
- 0-2 years
- Key concept = Object permanence which develops around 8 months
- Infants learn through sensory experiences and motor actions
Pre-operational Stage
- 2-7 years
- Key concepts = conservation/egocentricism/ class inclusion
Conservation
Find it hard to see the relationship between properties of an object, despite changes in appearance
e.g. they find it hard to recognise that the same balled up string is the same length as when it is unravelled
Egocentricism
The can’t think outside of themselves
Class Inclusion
They cannot grasp that an object can belong to more than one subcategory
Concrete Operations
- 7-11 years
- Key concepts = egocentricism/class inclusion
Formal Operation
- 11+ years
- Children can now manipulate hypothetical ideas with no need for concrete objects
- They can also cope with inferential reasoning
- They tested this using Smith’s yellow cat study. e.g. All cats are yellow. Tom is a cat. What colour is Tom?
What was Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development?
- He suggested that children learn how to think through their interactions with others
- He saw the child as an apprentice
- He said that Piaget ignored the role of culture on cognitive development
- There are different parts to his theory that are vital for how children learn about the world = culture, language and speech
Culture
- A child develops within a culture and the culture influences the child
- A child develops through symbolic representation of the child’s culture
- Culture is passed down from families
Language
- We encode and represent our world through language development
Social Speech
- Up to 3 years
- Used to control the behaviour of other
Egocentric Speech
- 3-7 years
- Children speak without anyone listening
- It is used to guide thought
Inner Speech
- 7+ years
- Speech becomes internal and used to direct and rehearse actions to prepare for actual behaviours
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
- At any point a child is working at a certain level independently, however, there is a certain level of development that the child could reach with the help of others. This difference is the ZPD
How to get to the ZPD?
- A child needs to be guided by experienced others who make suggestions but don’t take over
- The expert needs to scaffold the child
What is Scaffolding?
The expert starts by giving a lot of help which is gradually lessened as the child becomes competent
Outside the ZPD?
If the activity is outside the ZPD, they will fail the task and learn nothing
What Makes Scaffolding Effective?
- Ensuring a task is easy
- Gaining and maintaining a child’s interest
- Demonstrating
- Keeping a child’s level of frustration under control
- Stressing elements that will help create a solution