Theories of children's cognitive development

Question 1

What is cognitive development?

Answer 1

Branch of educational psychology that addresses learning through:
attention, perception, problem solving, language, memory, reasoning, intelligence

Question 2

What is meant by ‘Continuity’ in terms of children’s development?

Answer 2

In processes of continuity, change is gradual. Children become more skilful in thinking, talking or acting much the same as they get older.
It’s gradual development at a steady rate

Question 3

What is meant by ‘Discontinuity’ in terms of children’s development?

Answer 3

Change is abrupt. It is a set of changes that produce different behaviours in different age-specific life periods called stages.
Development occurs in steps

Question 4

What are the three sources of continuity?

Answer 4

Assimilation
- incorporating new information into concepts already understood
Accommodation
- improving current understanding in response to new experiences
Equilibrium
- process of balancing accommodation and assimilation to create a stable understanding

Question 5

Outline Lee Vygotsky’s views on the development of children

Answer 5

• Focused on the importance of culture and social organisation
• Children are not perceived as little scientists but social learners
• Children want to be the same as other people
• Human behaviour renders human nature unique (use of symbols e.g. language, creation of artefacts e.g. tools)

Question 6

What is the Zone of Proximal Development? (Vygotsky)

Answer 6

• Stage of learning to do something, in between not being able to do it at all and being able to do it alone
• SO the learner can do this thing but needs help
• Distance between actual developmental level (independent capabilities) and potential development (capabilities under guidance)

Question 7

What is the MKO in a child’s development?

Answer 7

More Knowledgable Other
- e.g. teacher, siblings, parents
People who help us learn
Cognitive development takes place through the interaction between the child and other people

Question 8

What is Centration? (Piaget’s theory of development)

Answer 8

Focussing on a single perceptually striking feature of an object or event, to the exclusion of other features
e.g. in conservation task video boy focused on the length of row of coins not the number of coins in each row

Question 9

What is Assimilation?

Answer 9

Incorporating new information into concepts already understood

Question 10

What is Accommodation?

Answer 10

Improve current understandings as a response to new experiences

Question 11

What is Equilibrium?

Answer 11

Process of balancing accommodation and assimilation to create a stable understanding