Cognitive Devlopment Flashcards
Cognitive development Invarient stages Univsersal stages Schemas Assimilation Accomodation
- Age related changes
- Invarient are fixed staged, wont vary
- Universal stages are the same globally
- Schemas are thought processes
- Assimilation is learning new info
- Accomodation is blending new info with old info
Core Theory, Piagets Theory
Studies his kids and their friends and conducted experiments which suggests that children move through 4 different stages of mental development which were
- Sensory motor stage
- Pre-operational stage
- Concrete operational stage
- Formal operational stage
Stage 1: Sensory Motor Stage (0-2 years old)
Learns interaction with environment. Infant will show:
- Body schema; recognising themself in a mirror
- Motor co-ordinance;Learns not co-ordinate body parts eg hand to mouth for food
- Object Permanence;Knows an object still exists when it cannot be seen
- Cause+effect; eg to squeeze a rubber duck, a sound will be made, causes=effects
Stage 2: Pre Operational Stage (2-7 years old)
Child begins to use more symbols still making mistakes
- Animism:Treats inanimate objects like they are real eg a bear
- Ego Centrism:Only can see the world from their perspective
- Reversibility: Cannot work backwards from one idea
Stage 3: Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years old)
Children overcome animism, ego centrism and inability to reverse thinking. They develop:
- Conservation skills:Understands properties stay the same even if the appearance changes
- Linguistic humour: Understands double meanings
- Seriation: Can rank things in order
Stage 4: Formal Operational Stage (11+ years)
Develops:
- Hypothetical thinking; can solve abstract problems and think in their mind
- Decentring: Are able to identify more than one property of an object at the same time
Criticisms of core theory
- Cognitive stages are not invarient for everyone, some reach certain stages faster or slower
- Disregards that not everyone goes through all of these stages
- Ignores the role of nurture eg some kids could be taught badly making them develop slower
Alternative Theory, Vygotskys Theory
Argues that we are born with a natural thinking ability but cognitive development takes place within culture and is a result of nurture.
- States children develop at their own pace
- Vygotsky considered children as apprentices, they learn skills off other people who already have developed thinking.
- Zone of proximinal devleopment for Vygotsky
- Scaffolding
- Gap between where a child is in their learning and where they could potentially be with the help of others
- Support network from others to help the child to develop.
Core study, Piaget
Aim: To see what age children can conserve at
Procedure: Cross sectional study comparing ages of children between age 2-11 as a lab experiment
Were shown 2 rows of counters, counters facing each other , the research then moved counters on one row- stretching them out. Children were asked which row had more counters
Results:
Children 2-7 ( pre operational) said the stretched row had more because it was longer ( they could not conserve)
Children 7-11 ( concrete operational) got it right, know same number of counters in each row ( they can conserve)
Conclusion: Children learn to conserve as they develop into the concrete operational stage
Criticisms of Core study
- The children were asked the same questions twice and may have got confused
- Lacked ecological validity because it was a lab experiment
- Small sample of similar children so it cannot be generalised for all types of children
Applications to real life
Vygotsky’s influence on education:
-Role of teacher is important to ensure zone of proximinal development is increased
-Scaffolding to help children climb and reach goals
Piagets influence on education:
-Children should be able to learn by taking action and doing things
-Peer support to help defeat ego centrism
