Topic 4 - Cognitive development and education

Question 1

mnemonic/memory prompt for topic 4 - cognitive development and education…

Answer 1

Penguins
Visit
Beautiful
Cold
Waters

Question 2

what are the 4 pieces of additional research in topic 4 - cognitive development and education?

Answer 2

piaget - four stages of cognitive development
vygotsky - zone of proximal development
bruner - presenting of information
craik and tulving - levels of processing

Question 3

what did piaget suggest?

Answer 3

children move through stages of cognitive development that allows them to think in a more complex way as they grow up
all children go through these stages in the same way, and in the same order

DISCOVERY LEARNING - teacher provides environment, child explores independently

Question 4

piaget - four stages of cognitive development

Answer 4

sensorimotor stage age 0-2
-focus on physical sensations and on developing some basic physical coordination
-object permanence begins to develop

pre-operational stage age 2-7
-lack of conservation
-child engages in imaginary/role play

concrete operational stage 7-11
-can conserve, no longer egocentric
-developed reasoning abilities but only with physical objects that are in the child’s presence

formal operational stage 11+
-capable of formal reasoning, and can focus on the form of an argument and not be distracted by its content
-can engage in abstract thinking

Question 5

how does piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development support the nature side of the nature-
nurture debate?

Answer 5

he believed that the stages were invariant, in that we would have to progress through each stage,
and he held firm beliefs about the ages at which these stages would be entered regardless of our culture/ upbringing

Question 6

what did vygotsky believe?

Answer 6

‘language is the precursor to learning’
culture and language are key to learning - cognitive development arises out of social interactions

Question 7

vygotsky & zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Answer 7

suggests that children learn through interaction with a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) such as a teacher, carer, peer etc; someone who guides the individual to develop a particular skill
(through prompting, demonstrating, correcting etc).

Question 8

what did vygotsky suggest and believe?

Answer 8

suggested that children will develop differently depending upon their ‘more knowledgeable other’

also believed it’s important to provide a varied and simulating environment to aid a child’s cognitive development

Question 9

how does vygotsky’s theory support the nurture side of the nature-nature debate?

Answer 9

shows how experiences in our childhood (e.g. the quality of teaching we receive / how much our carers engage with us) will affect the pace at which we develop cognitively

Question 10

what were bruner’s ideas based on?

Answer 10

the child’s ability to be creative and think for themselves; he also believed language was an important part of learning

-he thought that when teaching children about new concepts you should guide children through the 3 stages in order to help them understand it

Question 11

explain bruner’s 3 stages of development

Answer 11

1. enactive stage 0-1 year
   the child needs to physically touch and see objects in order to understand them
2. iconic stage 1-6 years
   objects no longer need to be actually there but can be represented by a
   picture or icon
3. symbolic stage 7+
   words and numbers can represent the object

(can go back to enactive and iconic stages even when you have reached the symbolic stage – especially when learning something completely new)

Question 12

what did bruner’s theory emphasise?

Answer 12

the importance of a stimulating environment to help children be more motivated to learn

Question 13

craik and tulving - levels of processing aim and method

Answer 13

investigate how deep and shallow processing affects memory recall

ppts were presented with a series of 60 words about which they had to answer one of three questions. some questions required the participants to process the word in a deep way (e.g. semantic) and others in a shallow way (e.g. structural and phonemic). then given a long list of 180 words into which the original words had been mixed - asked to pick out the original words

Question 14

craik and tulving - levels of processing results

Answer 14

ppts recalled more words that were semantically processed compared to phonemically and visually processed words.

Question 15

craik and tulving - levels of processing conclusion

Answer 15

semantically processed words involve elaboration rehearsal and deep processing which results in more accurate recall. phonemic and visually processed words involve shallow processing and less accurate recall.

Question 16

Outline the aim of Wood et al’s study into the role of tutoring in problem-solving

Answer 16

To see how children respond to natural tutoring sessions when they had a problem to solve, and to look at how this changed with age

Question 17

Outline the sample of Wood et al’s study into the role of tutoring in problem-solving

Answer 17

30 children from Massachusetts, USA whose predominantly middle or lower-middle class parents had responded to adverts asking for volunteers.
-Equal numbers of boys and girls split into three age groups: 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, and 5-year-olds

Question 18

Outline the procedure of Wood et al’s study into the role of tutoring in problem-solving

Answer 18

Each child entered a room with 21 wooden blocks that could be assembled into a pyramid.
The task was within the child’s ability but required assistance.
Children played with the blocks alone for 5 minutes, after which the tutor would then, using as many standardised instructions as she could, show the child how to put a pair of blocks together. She would then ask the child to do the same.
The child was then observed assembling blocks, noting whether they were assisted or unassisted, and if the pairs were correctly or incorrectly matched.
The tutor’s behaviour was also recorded, with sessions lasting 20 minutes to one hour.

Question 19

How did the tutor roles vary by age in Wood et al’s study into the role of tutoring in problem-solving?

Answer 19

3 year olds the tutor focused on attracting attention and demonstrating
4 year olds the tutor used verbal reminders and corrections
5 year olds the tutor mostly confirmed or checked constructions, becoming less necessary as the child understood the task

Question 20

Outline the results of Wood et al’s study into the role of tutoring in problem-solving

Answer 20

Older children were more independent with 3 year olds having 10% unassisted acts in comparison to 5 year olds having 75% unassisted acts.

Children in all age groups would take apart and reassemble correctly constructed pyramids, but would take apart and not reconstruct incorrectly constructed pyramids.
-Implies that younger children have an understanding of a correctly constructed pyramid before they are capable of actually producing one

Question 21

Wood et al’s study into the role of tutoring in problem-solving conclusion

Answer 21

The study identified several tutoring or “scaffolding” functions:

Recruitment, the tutor’s first task is to engage learners with the task and keep them interested

Direction maintenance, learners need to be kept motivated, maybe by providing feedback on successful attempts. It is also necessary to move learners on to the next part of the task once the stage has been accomplished.