Module 3 - Theories of Cognitive Development Flashcards
3 broader advantages of knowing about developmental theories
1) Provide a framework for understanding important phenomena
2) raise crucial questions about human nature
3) lead to better understanding of children
5 theories of cognitive development
1) Paiget; nature/nurture, continuity/discontinuity, active child
2) Info processing; N/N, how change occurs
3) Core knowledge; N+N, continuity/discontinuity
4) Sociocultural; N+N. influence of sociocultural context, how change occurs
5) Dynamic systems; N+N, active child, how change occurs
Sources of continuity (Paiget)
1) Assimilation
2) Accommodation
3) Equilibration
Assimilation (Paiget)
translate incoming info into a form that fits concepts they already understand
Accommodation (Paiget)
Improve their current understanding in response to new experiences
Equilibration (Paiget)
balance assimilation + accommodation to create stable understanding
Sources of discontinuity (Paiget)
1) Qualitative change
2) Broad applicability
3) Brief transitions
4) Invariant sequence
Qualitative change (Paiget)
different ages think in qualitatively different ways
Broad applicability (Paiget)
type of thinking characteristic of each stage influences children’s thinking across diverse topics and contexts
Brief transitions (Paiget)
before entering a new stage, they pass through a transitional period in which they fluctuate between the type of thinking characteristic of the more advanced and the old, less advanced thinking characteristic
Invariant sequence (Paiget)
Everyone progresses through the stages in the same order without skipping any of them
4 stages of cognitive development (Paiget)
1) Sensorimotor -intelligence expressed through perceptual/sensory and motor
2) preoperational - represent experience in language, thought, and imagery
3) concrete operational - reason logically
4) formal operational - think about abstractions and hypothetical
Sensorimotor (Paiget)
Tripling of brain weight between birth and age 3. Weight is an indicator of brain development
Infants born to track objects in front of eyes, suck objects placed in mouth, grasp objects near hands, turn toward noises
deferred imitation - the repetition of other ppl’s behaviour a substantial time after it originally occurred.
Pre operational (Paiget)
development of symbolic representations (the use of one object to stand for another)
egocentrism - tendency to percieve the world solely from one’s own point of view (3 mountain task)
centration - tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or event
conservation concept - idea that merely changing the appearance of objects does not necessarily change the object’s other key properties.
Concrete operational (Paiget)
Child begins to reason logically about concrete features of the world
Thinking systematically remains difficult (pendulum problem)
How they test their beliefs different from older ppl. Ex: older test one variable @ a time same length string, testing two weights. younger (concrete operational children) test heavy weight on short string, light weight on different length.
Information processing theories
Task analysis- the research technique of specifying the goals, obstacles to their realization, and potential solution strategies involved in problem solving.
Computer simulation - type of mathematical model that expresses ideas about mental processes in precise ways
Distinctive feature of into processing theories is emphasis on thinking as a process that occurs over time.
View of children’s nature (Info processing)
Child as a limited-capacity processing system
Child as a problem solver
Central developmental issues (info processing)
Development of memory
-working memory
-long term memory
-executive functioning
-explanation of memory development
Basic processes - the simplest + most frequently used mental activities
- encoding
Strategies
-rehearsal
-selective attention
Development of problem solving (info processing)
Overlapping waves theory
-info processing approach that emphasizes the variability of children’s thinking
Planning
Core knowledge theories
Approaches that view children as having some innate knowledge in domains of special evolutionary importance and domain-specific learning mechanisms for rapidly and effortlessly acquiring additional information in those domains.
View of Children’s nature (Core knowledge)
domain specific: info about a particular content area
Central developmental issue (Core knowledge)
Nativism vs constructivism
-Nativisim: theory that infants have substantial innate knowledge of evolutionary important domains
Constructivism: theory that infants build increasingly advanced understanding by combining rudimentary innate knowledge with subsequent experiences
Hypothesize that children from naive theories of physics (knowledge of objects), psychology (knowledge of ppl), and biology (knowledge of plants and animals). (Core knowledge)
These three theories share three important characteristics with formal scientific theories:
1) They identify fundamental units for dividing relevant objects and events into a few basic categories.
2) They explain many phenomena in terms of a few fundamental principles
3) They explain events in terms of unobservable causes
1st theory of psych emerges at 18 months
biology emerges at about 3 years
Sociocultural theories
Approaches that emphasize that other ppl and the surrounding culture contribute greatly to children’s development
Guided participation
Social scaffolding
cultural tools
private speech
Guided participation (Sociocultural theories)
A process in which more knowledgeable individuals organize activities in ways that allow less knowledgeable people to learn
Social scaffolding (Sociocultural theories)
A process in which more competent ppl provide a temporary framework that supports children’s thinking at a higher level than children could manage on their own
