Lecture 6 Flashcards
What are the four stages of Piaget’s theory?
Sensorimotor Stage
(0-2 years)
Preoperational Stage
(2-7 years)
Concrete Operations Stage
(7-12 years)
Formal
Operations Stage
(12+ years)
what are the accomplishments of the preoperational stage? What are the gaps?
- Accomplishments:
- Symbolic representations
something can “stand” for something else.
ex.pretend play as shown above
Gaps:
Not yet capable of
“operations” logical
manipulation of information
(children don’t yet
have mental logic.)
Conservation: understanding
that physical properties do
not change despite changes
in form or appearance
(ex. with checkers same amount, but once one *
group is spread out they think
it has more checkers)
(ex. conservation of liquid
initially they think they have the same *
amount, but once they pour it into a
more shallow cup they think the taller
one has more water)
(Centration focus on one
aspect)
( children centrate or focus on the perceptual/physical property instead of using mental logic)
ex
something can “stand” for something else.
ex.pretend play as shown above
*will most famously see these
“gaps” in this stage.
- Egocentrism (also a gap)
ability to go beyond your own viewpoint
* can’t understand that other people have *
viewpoints
ex. hide and seek “I can’t see you so you *
must not be able to see me”
*Ex: three mountain task
asked kids to describe what the doll sees.
kids didn’t describe the doll’s viewpoint as different from *
their own
What are the accomplishmenrs of the concrete operational stage?
Accomplishments:
* Able to use mental logic to
reason about concrete
thing
- Conservation:
- Decentration
- Ability to focus on multiple
dimensions
( can keep track of height, volume, length, number, etc)
Egocentricism
can correctly describe the doll’s *
perspective as diff from their own
What are the accomplishments of the formal operational stage?
Accomplishments:
* Able to use mental logic to
reason about abstract,
hypothetical things
Ex:
“if you hit a glass with a feather it will break”
what happens when you hit a glass with a feather?
child says nothing would happen.
the child is not able to draw out of his own experience and take *
on a hypothetical reasoning
- can explain why teens are drawn towards social advocacy
hypothetically, what do I want the world to be *
like?
able to think about upsides of a hypothetical *
future - Logically examine
evidence and test
hypotheses
( * hypothesis?
how can I do this in an orderly manner?*)
*
figure out what things make the penjelum swing for longer. the
weight? the string? etc
teenagers able to approach this *
logically and isolate a variable
such as weight to see if it makes
a difference, or vice verca
What did Piaget think about how people go through the 4 stages?
Should be a universal progression.
*everyone will go through the stages in the same order
*
What was Piaget’s legacy?
- The study of cognitive
development - Inspired others to investigate
children’s cognition, to explore the
mechanisms of cognitive change…
(a child who’s in the concrete operational stage, that’s just
how they are. not based on outward influences, can’t train
kids beyond their natural limits)
- Idea of “natural limits” at a given
age - Children as contributing actively
to their own development
(nobody is pouring knowledge into you, or training you
children are actively seeking to understand the world )
What are the criticims of Piaget’s theory?
Criticisms
* Underestimates the influence of
others, of culture
In Mexico, children of pottery makers
achieve conservation of mass at an
earlier age
ex: of a cultural experience that
seems to have an influence
object permanence:
*
hard. require a lot of language/
motor skills for children. if these
factors are not as difficult, kids are
able to actually undertand the
concepts earlier
Piaget:
develops by 6-10
months
Current research:
present by 3-5
months ( *
“looking time” instead of needing
language.)
Who is Lev Vygotsky?
- *
1896-1934 - Gradual, continual shifts in
knowledge - Children as social learners
- Learning from capable
members of your culture
*drive of their cog development is other people or
“capable members” of your culture. could be
parents, teachers, peers, etc
What does vygotsky’s theory say?
LEARNING THROUGH
SOCIAL COLLABORATION
- Zone of Proximal
Development - The range of tasks too
difficult to do on your
own, but which are
possible with the help of a
skilled other
middle ring: What i can do
next ring: What i can do with help
outer ring: what I can’t do
- her kid can read a word
when she has help, but
can’t read it on her own. its
in her zone of proximal
development
what is scaffolding in Vygotsky’s theory?
- Scaffolding: in which
“teachers” adjust the level of
support they offer to fit the
learner’s needs - Giving help, but not more than is
needed
Different scaffolding approaches
across cultures!
*term that comes from construction in relation to “support”
for the building. they’ll start to take away the scaffolding
so the building can stand on its own
( *as a person gets better at a task, you decrease
the amount of support you’re giving so they
can eventually do it on their own)
*looked at parents and kids accross 4 diff. cultures
kids had to figure out how to operate a toy, and the parents had to figure out *
how much to help them
how parents approached this whether verbally, gesturally, or tactile support *
differed between cultures
how does vygotsky feel about language?
Language
* The most important tool for cognitive
development
* Gives learners access to others’
knowledge
* Allows learners to think about the
world
* Role of private speech
(talking to yourself allows you to work through your own learning)
what is the legacy of vygotsky’s theory? What are the criticisms?
Legacy:
* Emphasis on culture
* Role of teaching
* Impact in educational settings
(in a school setting:
*
maybe Vgotsky would have mixed age groups guiding *
eachother (collaborative learning)
whereas Piaget would maybe split up children based on *
stages instead of grades/age
Maybe Piaget would be more hands on with learning (child-*
led learning)
criticism:
- Overemphasis on language
- Undervalues role of biology
(how nature/individual differences may play a role in development)
there are individuals who *
don’t use language who
still have cog.
development
