cognitive development Piaget and Vygotsky Flashcards
Piaget
what did Piaget’s theories focus on?
how children understand the physical and social world
Piaget
what is a constructivist?
a child constructs knowlege by engaging the world, generates and tests theories
Piaget
what is behaviourism?
when a child passively soaks up information from the environment
piaget: key principles
what are the Influences on development
6 influences
- maturation
- activity
- social transmission
- equilibration
- assimilation
- accommodation
influences on development: maturation
unfolding of biological changes that are genetically programmed
influences on development: activity
child as an active learner, exploring the environment
influences on development: social transmission
learn from others
influences on development: equilibration
when pre-existing schemes or ways of thinking about an object do not fit with our experiences, we adjust to re-establish balance
influences on development: assimilation
“adding” of information to existing structure
Piaget: stages of development
are the stages qualitative or quantitative?
qualitative
Piaget: stages of developmet
NEW STAGE =
major shift in underlying structure
Piaget: stages of development
UNIVERSAL
all children go through all stages
Piaget: stages of development
INVARIANT order of stages
all children go through the same stages, in the same order
what is the rate of development
it varies
what is the 1st stage of development?
Birth-2yrs
Sensorimotor
* building schemes through sensory and motor exploration
* child builds on basic reflexes
* develops object permanence
* 6 substages -> simple to complex reflexes
what is the 2nd stage of development?
2-7 yrs
Peroperational
* preparing for concrete operations
* symbolic: symbols e.g. language used to represent the world
* egocentric: limited appreciation of others’ perspectives
what is the third stage of development
7-11 yrs
concrete operational
* operation
emergence of ability to transform objects in mind
* logic
first signs of logical thinking
* reversibility
ability to mentally reverse an operation
* decentration
understanding that change on one dimension can be compensated for by change in another
what is the last stage of development?
11 yrs+
Formal operational
* characterised by hypothetico-deductive reasoning
-> deducing hypotheses from general theory
-> generate predictions
-> systematically test predictions, holding one factor constant, vary another factor
Piaget’s pendulum problem
what deterimines the speed of the pendulum?
concrete & formal
- concrete operational child will vary factors (length of string, weight of pendulum force) randomly
- formal operational child will systematically vary one factor at a time
piaget’s pendulum problem
what can a concrete operational child do?
concrete operational child can manipulate objects in mind
what can an operational child do?
operational children can manipulate ideas in mind
Piaget: critical evaluation
state 3 critiques about Piaget’s theory
positive or negative
- very influential, many important contributions
- general consensus that thought is structured
constructivist view on Piaget’s theory
3 points
- cognitive development not just learning (nurture)
- cognitive development not just unfolding of innate structure (nature)
- cognitive develoment not passive (behavioursim), but the result of children’s active construction of knowledge
piaget: critical evaluation
is Piaget’s theory replicable?
they can be well replicated but does it mean that the theory holds?
Does Piaget’s theory hold?
- do all children pass through the same stages at the same age?
- style of thinking might be applied to different problems at different stages (i.e. not universal)
- development doesn’t end at 11 years
what did Cohen & Cashon, 2006 say about Piaget’s theory?
- it underestimates competence
i.e. social and cultural influences/differences
Piaget’s theory critical evaluation: contributions to pedagogy
Berk 2008
- Education should help children learn how to learn, discovery learning
- Listen to children, pay attention to their thinking processes
- Set up situations with unexpected consequences, hypothesis testing e.g., what do we think will happen?
- Concept of differentiation, materials can be taught at different levels, adjust to match child’s capacities
- Individual differences, children develop at different rates
what did Vygotsky’s theories focus on?
socio-cultural theory of cognitive development
what were Vygotsky’s influences on development?
3 influences
- social interactions with more experienced others (parents, older children)
- learning
- language
Vygotsky: some key principles
What are some key principles?
3
- mediators
- elementary mental functions
- higher mental functions
mediators
psychological tools generated by the social and cultural development context
* language
* counting
* art
* writing
elementary mental functions
biological and emerge spontaneously
* basic attention, perception, memory
higher mental functions
coordinate cognitive processes, use mediators
* volutary attention, intentional remembering, abstract thinking, problem solving
Piaget vs. Vygotsky (stages of development)
- sensorimotor = affiliation
- preoperational = play
- concrete operational = play
- formal operational = peers, work, theorising
what is private speech?
when a young child provides a running commentary to their own actions and thoughts
vygotsky: private speech
what did Vygotsky view private speech as?
a foundation for all higher cognitive processes e.g
* sustained attention, memory rehearsal and recall, categorisation, planning and problem-solving & reflection
vygotsky: private speech
what does private speech allow children to do?
- reflect on thinking and behaviour
- plan appropriate action
when is private speech mainly used?
used more when tasks are difficult, after errors, or when confused - it helps guide behaviour
what was Piaget’s view on private speech?
Piaget called it ‘egocentric speech’ and did not think it served as a useful cognitive function
when does privatt speech become inner speech?
becomes inner speech as thought processes are internalised (7+ years)
More private speech =
better performance on complex tasks
what is the zone of proximal development?
ZPD explains mechanism by which children can perform tasks they cannot do alone when they have suppport expert
what does ZPD describe?
it describes how social interactions influences cognitive development
Vygotsky
importance of social interactions
3 factors
- intersubjectivity
- scaffolding
- guided participation
importance of social interactions
intersubjectivity
process by which two participants start task with different levels of understanding, but finish task with same level
scaffolding
process by which teachers adjust level of instruction to suit child’s current level of understanding e.g. by breaking a task down into simpler components
guided participation
- in less formal teaching situations than those where scaffolding occur - the cultural community
- more knowledgeable other can guide bheaviour through joint participation in a task, or in play
Zone of proximal development in research: Rogoff et al. 2003
- intent community participation
- child initiates participation in culturally relevant activity and is supported to make a genuine contribution
Zone of proximal development in research: Rogoff et al. 1984
- mothers pay more attention to structuring conceptually “difficult” tasks as opposed to conceptually easy ones
Zone of proximal development in research: Cho & Compton 2015
- dynamic assessment draws on the principles of the ZPD to look at potential to learn/capacity to learn rather than existing knowledge or skills
make-believe play
- crucial to cognitive and social development
- experience of responding to internal ideas, not external stimuli -> self regulation
Vygotsky: critical evaluation
3 main critiques
- focus on language - de-emphasizes other factors, such as observation and other learning methods
- underestimates role of nature
Vygotsky: critical evaluation
Contributions to pedagogy
5 points
- need to do more than arrange an environment conducive to learning
- instruction -> internalisation -> learning
- imitation -> learning
- collaborative learning between peers
- use language to organise thinking, dialogue and discussion
