Piaget Flashcards
How might cognitive development influence sequence and schedule of language development?
If we don’t reach a cognitive stage in time will this have an effect on language development?
When do cognitive representations emerge?
Cognitive representations are constructed during development
What is the sensorimotor stage?
Develops from birth to 2
Concrete operations to abstract symbolic thought
What is symbolic functioning?
Language is symbolic:
May refer to things remote in time space from the sit of communication
Arbitrariness: no logical connection between the form of the signal and its meaning
How can we determine whether a child has attained symbolic functioning?
Play - symbolic can recognise what a toy is representing e.g. cup will pretend to drink
A toy car is even more arbitrary nowhere near same size to perform actual function
Even more sophisticated is picking up a brick and using to pretend it is something else
Even more sophisticated is playing with 2 dolls and putting voices to them
Even more sophisticated is a picture book can recognise 2D objects as what they are in real life
What is object permanence?
Understanding that an object exists even though he/she cannot see it
What is the cognition hypothesis?
Child must obtain object permanence to acquire the concepts of objects and names
To need to talk about things which are not there
How might we test object permanence?
Doll: get child interested in doll then remove it then see where they look for it
What are the stages of object permanence?
6 months: infant will return to first location to find it
12 months: will locate it in different positions if they see where it was hidden
18 months: persist and check in several places if don’t see where it was hidden
How is symbolic functioning related to language development?
Use of words as labels strongly related to ability to demonstrate functional play
Ability to combine words strongly related to ability to produce sequences in play
Efficient vocabulary learning related to attainment of OP at 18 months
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THIS DOES NOT NECESSARILY IMPLY THAT IF A CHILD DOSES NOT ACQUIRE OP THEY WILL NOT DEVELOP LANGUAGE
What else could OP tests be measuring?
Memory: need to remember where something is
Means-end search sequence: may be that child does not understand that pulling blanket reveal object not that they don’t have OP
Why are piagets cognitive prerequisites important for SLT?
Current cognitive abilities might suggest methods of intervention
Zone of proximal development: finding out child’s current stage so we can decide what to work on next
Elicit play and language skills together as they benefit each other
What is a cognitive representation?
Mental images of something not concretely in front of us
Underpin functioning in a number of domains (including language)
