Module 2 - Theories of communication & cognitive development Flashcards
What is a theory?
Set of ideas that
Describe, explain and predict behaviours
Why are theories important? What do they do? (5)
Describe
Explain
Guide research & optimise development
Inform practice
Provide understanding of typical or atypical processes
4 major developmental issues:
Nature & Nurture
Activity & Passivity
Continuity & discontinuity
Universality vs Context Specificity
Nature & Nurture
(Developmental Issues)
nature (genetics) or
nurture (environmental factors)
causes individual developmental differences
Activity & Passivity
(Developmental Issues)
Activity: whether children are active contributor to their own development
Vs
Passivity: passive recipients of environmental influence
Continuity & Discontinuity
(Developmental Issues)
Continuity: Development is gradual, continuous process
Discontinuity: development occurs in a series of distinct stages
Universality & Context Specificity
(Developmental Issues)
Universality: human development influenced by universal, biologically determined factors
Context specificity: development influenced by cultural & environmental factors
Cognition:
Psychological processes that allows individuals to
Transform
Manipulate
Store
Recover
Use information
Communication
Process that involves
Perceive & understand what someone is saying
Planning and express your own message
3 theories of cognitive development:
Traditional: (2)
Newer Approach: (1)
Traditional:
Piaget
Vygotsky
Newer:
Information processing Models
3 basic components of Piaget’s cognitive development theory:
Schemas
Adaptations
Stages
Piaget’s Theory: Cognition is an active process that occurs with (2)
Physical maturation
Interaction with the environment (experiences)
Piaget’s Theory: how do children construct knowledge? (2)
Interaction
reflection
Schemas:
(3 components of Piaget’s Cognitive Theory)
Construction of knowledge
Organised patterns of reaction to stimuli
Schema for ‘dog’
Four legs, furry, barks, tail, pet etc.
Adaptation
(3 components of Piaget’s Cognitive Theory)
Change in response to environment
Adaptation: 3 processes
Something unfamiliar happens (understanding is disturbed) - >
Child needs to re-establish equilibrium ->
Leads to cognitive development (new schema)
Stages: 4 broad stages of cognitive development
(3 components of Piaget’s Cognitive Theory)
1 - Sensorimotor
2 - Preoperational
3 - Concrete operational
4 - Formal operational
Sensorimotor stage:
Age / Description
0-2 years / Child’s knowledge limited to motor & sensory perceptions, abilities & activities
Sensorimotor stage:
Key foundational skills for language (4)
Imitation (imitation for learning. Eg. Clap hands when you clap)
Means-end behaviour (action to achieve goal. Eg. Using stick to reach a toy)
Object permanence (know an object still exists when they are out of view -> you can refer to it. Eg. Look for toy they have lost
Symbolic play (use objects to represent something eg. Block to represent a mobile)
Preoperational stage:
Age / Description
2-7 years / Children begin to represent knowledge symbolically, egocentric view
Preoperational stage:
Key features (4)
Symbolic behaviour (eg. Pretend play)
Major language development
Problem solving skills: one dimension conservation tasks
Egocentric viewpoint: their perspective only (eg if they cover their eyes, they think that others can’t see them)
Concrete operational stage:
Age /Description
7-11 years / logical thought processes with concrete and specific things and classification of similarities & differences in objects
Formal Operational stage:
Age / Description
11 years up / capable of abstract thinking and problem solving
4 issues with Piaget’s cognitive theory
Evidence against broad stages
(inconsistency with performance)
Development of earlier stages
(some experiments criticised for children making errors because they didn’t understand rather than didn’t have the capacity)
Evidence that concepts can be trained
Mechanisms of developmental change
(imprecise)
Vigotsky social-cultural theory: Key Features
(3 cognitive development theories)
Social & cultural factors influence development
Vigotsky: Difference to Piaget’s cognitive theory (2)
No single principle for development (Piaget’s equilibrium)
Less focus on stages and ages
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): description
Difference between what they can do without help vs what they can do with help
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): development is dependent on __ (2)
(Vigotsky’s social cultural theory)
Guided participation (learn by participating with parent aid)
Scaffolding (process where more skilled learner provides help to less skilled learner
Scaffolding: in SLP
(Zone of Proximal Development)
Staged process that progresses from SLP led activity to independent task achievement. (verbal prompts -> reduced level of support -> perform task independently)
IP (information-processing) model: Cognitive Development is due to
Development is due to mental processes
Maturation of the brain to receive and process information
IP Model: 5 mental processes -> cognitive development
Attention
Sensory - perception
Memory
Processing speed
Decision making (executive functioning)
IP model vs Piaget’s model: differences
Focus on gradual and continuous changes vs stages
Focus on across lifespan instead of just childhood (Piaget & Vigotsky)
IP model: Hardware (3) + Software (3)
Hardware:
Nervous system: brain
Sensory receptors
Neural pathways
Software:
Rules
Strategies
Mental processes
3 theories for Language Development:
Learning (behavioural) theory (language development is taught)
Nativist Theory (language development is due to born skills)
Interactionist Theory (language development due to biological and social influences)
Learning Behavioural theories:
Parents model -> children___ -> Parents ____ -> children learn
Parents model -> children copy ->
Parents reinforce -> children learn
Learning theories: 2 conditioning theories
Classical Conditioning (involuntary, involves unconditioned stimulus + conditioned stimulus -> Conditioned response)
Operant conditioning: learning through punishment and reinforcement of behaviour
Learning theories: Limitations (3)
Children say things they have not heard before
Children don’t say some things they hear regularly
Parents reinforce only a small amount of what children say
How do SPs use learning theories?
Operant conditioning (reinforcements: praises, stickers, games)
Nativist Theory (generative grammar): Key Features (4)
Innate ability to learn language
Universal Grammar
Critical Time period
Language acquisition device (LAD) (triggered when children hear speech, allows them to learn language)
Nativist Theory: model
Linguistic input -> triggers LAD + linguistic processing skills + existing knowledge -> Language theory (phonology, semantics, morphology, syntax) -> Child’s grammatical competence
Interactional Theory
(Language development Theories)
Language development => interaction between nature + nurture
Interactionalist: Usage Theory
Children are biologically prepared for language aquisition
Language use -> language structure acquisition
Usage theory: Language acquisition 2 skills
1 - Intention Reading skills (share attention with adults over subject, adult pointing to a duck)
2 - Pattern finding skills (categorising)
Ecological Systems Theory (Development): Key features (3)
Development = Complex system
Environment + biology
Child influences the environment
Bronfenbrenner’s bio ecological Model: 5 Systems
Microsystem
Mesosystem
Exosystem
Macrosystem
Chrono System
Microsystem:
(Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model)
Immediate environment an individual lives (school, peers, family, church)
Mesosystem:
(Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model)
Interactions between different elements in the microsystem (parents & teachers)
Exosystem:
(Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model)
Social settings that indirectly impact the individual’s development (social institutions, parent’s jobs, politics, community resources)
Macrosystem
(Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model)
Cultural context an individual lives
Chronosystem
(Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model)
Changes that occur over time in an individual’s life & environment (divorce, motherhood, role of time)
