Information Processing and Language Development Flashcards
Who is Robbie Case and how did he address the criticism of the Piagetian theory? (3)
Neo-Piagetian psychologist
Used the image of the child as a problem solver:
- children’s activities are goal directed - child is actively seeking to master their environment
- the child builds higher order thinking and skills through trying to deal with more complex challenges
What did Case take from the Piagetian theory? (3)
The focus on active participation of the child in their own development of thinking
The hierarchal integration of schemata
The structure of 4 invariant stages of development from birth to adulthood (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational)
How did Case explain children’s development through the stages?
Working memory capacity - a model linked to the problem solving perspective
e.g., to work out the sum of 3 numbers mentally, you have to keep in mind the 3rd number as you work out the sum of the first 2
What is our working memory?
the small amount of information that can be held in mind and used in the execution of cognitive tasks
Give 2 examples of how we use our working memory in daily life
- retaining the early part of a sentence while putting the whole thing together
- allows us to consider characteristics of a new situation so that an effective response can be found
How can working memory capacity be increased?
Through automaticity and chunking
What is chunking? Give an example
the recoding of smaller units of information into larger, familiar units
e.g., putting a seven-digit phone number into two groups, one group of three numbers and the second group of four numbers
What are the 4 learning processes?
- Problem solving
- Exploration
- Imitation
- Mutual regulation
What is the neo-Piagetian theory?
a theory of cognitive development that assumes that Piaget’s basic ideas are correct but that uses concepts from information processing theory to explain children’s movement from one stage to the next
What is automaticity? Give examples
something becomes automatic so it doesn’t take resources from our working memory, thus we can do more things at the same time
e.g., walking, speaking, bicycle-riding, assembly-line work, and driving a car
What are 5 steps suggested by Case in designing curricula?
- Specify goals
- Analyze how experts reach goals
- Analyze how children acquire strategies
- Design relevant educational activities
- Implement them in interaction with student needs and progress
What is attention span? (4)
The ability to maintain focus and alertness over a period of time
It requires persistence and motivation
It increases with age
It is related to other aspects of functioning, including learning memory, academic performance, and processing large quantities of information
What is metacognition and its benefits? (2)
awareness and understanding of one’s own cognitive processes - knowing what one knows and how one learns
improves self regulation and leads to more adaptive strategies which can be applied in a wider range of situations
Give the definition of language
Language is a socially shared system that relates sound or gestures to meaning and enables communication
Name the 8 language subsystems and meanings (SPPM-SPPD)
- Semantics - the study of words and their meaning
- Phenology - the rules governing the structure and sequence of speech sounds
- Prosody - the study of the tune and rhythm of speech and how they contribute to meaning
- Morphology - use of grammatical markers indicating number, tense, case, person, gender, active or passive voice, etc.
- Syntax - rules that specify how words are combined to form sentences
- Pragmatics - study of how people use language to communicate effectively (e.g., excuse me vs get out of my way)
- Paralanguage - prosody and other non-verbal cues that express the meaning of what you’re trying to convey
- Discourse structures - how language is connected to situation models, how to communicate a status of superiority, etc.
