Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development Flashcards
zone of proximal development definition
gap between a child’s current level of development (defined by cognitive tasks they can perform unaided) and what they can potentially so with the right help form a more expert other (adult or more advanced child)
scaffolding definition
process of helping a learner cross the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and advance as much as they can, given their stage of development. typically the level of help given in scaffolding declines as a learner crosses the zone of proximal development
what did Piaget and Vygotsky agree on
many basics of cognitive development. most importantly, agreed that children’s reasoning abilities develop in a particular sequence, and that such abilities are qualitatively different at different ages, with a child typically capable of particular logic at particular ages
differences between Piaget and Vygotsky
Vygotsky saw social development as a social process of learning from more experienced others. knowledge is first intermental, between the more and less expert individual, then interamnetal, within the mind of the less expert individual. Vygotsky saw language as much more important part of cognitive development than Piaget did
how does Vygotsky’s theory explain cultural differences in cognitive abilities
-if reasoning abilities are acquired from the more experienced individual with whom a child has contact, it follows that the child will acquire reasoning abilities of those particular people.
-this means there may be cultural different in cognitive development, with children picking up the mental ‘tools’ that will be most important for life within the physical, social and work environments of their culture. these mental tools include the hand-eye coordination needed to hunt with a bow
Vygotsky’s opinion on role of others in learning
emphasised importance
what is zone of proximal development
gap between child’s current level of development (what they can understand alone) and what they can potentially understand after interaction with more expert others
how does child cross ZPD
expert assistance as allows child to understand as much of a subject or situation as they are capable - children are to some extent limited by developmental stage
how did Vygotsky believe that children develop a more advanced understanding of the situation
develop a more advanced understanding of a situation and hence the more advanced reasoning abilities needed to deal with it by learning from others, as opposed to through individual exploration of the world
what did Vygotsky suggest about children learning from social interaction
not just saying children learn more facts during social interaction, but also that they acquire more advanced reasoning abilities. in fact he believed that higher mental functions, cuh as formal reasoning, could only be acquired through interaction with more advanced others
what is scaffolding
all the kinds of help adults and more advanced peers give a child to help them cross the zone of proximal development
which psychologists suggested scaffoldings
psychologists that influenced Vygotsky’s theory such as bruner and colleagues. lead to it sometimes being called Vygotsky-Bruner model
what did Wood, Bruner and Ross note about scaffolding
particular strategies used when experts use when scaffolding
how does scaffolding happen as the learner crosses ZPD
in general, as learner crosses ZPD the level of help given declined from level 5 which has the most help to level 1 which has the least
how does an adult help in scaffolding
more likely to use a high level of help strategies when fist helping, then to gradually withdraw the level of help as the child grasps the task
scaffolding level - 5 and example for drawing
demonstration - adult draws an object with crayons
scaffolding level - 4 and example for drawing
preparation form child- adult helps child grasp a crayon
scaffolding level - 3 and example for drawing
indication of materials - adult points to crayons
scaffolding level - 2 and example for drawing
specific verbal instructions - adult says how about the green crayon
scaffolding level -1 and example for drawing
general prompts - adult says now draw something else
strength of Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development - support for ZPD
-clear evidence to show that this is a gap between the level of reasoning a child can achieve on their own and what they can achieve with the help from a more expert other,. Roazzi and Bryant gave children ages 4-5 years the task of estimating the number of sweets in a box. in one condition the children worked alone and in another they worked with the help of an older child. most children working alone in another they worked with the help of an older child. most children working alone failed to give a good estimate. in expert condition the older children were observed to offer prompts, pointing the younger children in the right direction to work out how to arrive at estimates. most 4-5 year olds receiving this kind of help successfully mastered the task –> shows children can develop additional reasoning abilities when working with a more expert individual. this in turn suggest the zone of proximal development is a valid concept
strength- of Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development - support for scaffolding
-Roazii and Bryant study showed that adults and older children provide support from younger children learning to master new tasks. but research also shows that the level of help given by an expert partner declines during the process of learning, as predicted by scaffolding. Conner and Cross used a longitudinal procedure to follow 45 children, observing them engaged in problem-solving tasks with the help of mothers at 16,26,44 and 54 months. distinctive changes in help were observed over time - the mothers used less and less direct intervention and more hints and prompts as children gained experience. mothers also increasingly offered help when it was needed rather than constantly –> means adult assistance with children’s learning is well described by the concept of scaffolding
strength of Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development - real-world application
-Vygotsky’s ideas have been highly influential in education in the 21st century. idea that children can learn more and faster with appropriate scaffolding has raised expectations of what they should be able to achieve. social interaction in learning, through group work, peer tutoring and individual adult assistance from teachers and teaching assistants, has been used to scaffold children through their ZPD. there is evidence to suggest that these strategies are effective. for example, Van Keer and Pierre Verhaeghe found that 7-year olds tutored by 10 year olds, in addition to their whole class teaching, progressed further in reading than controls who just has standard whole-class teaching. a review of teaching assistants by Alborz et al concluded that teaching assistants are very effective at improving rate of learning in children –> means Vygotsky’s ideas have value in real-world settings
limitation of Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development - counterpoint to real-world application
-although Vygotsky’s ideas about role of social interaction have has useful applications, there may not be universal. Liu and Matthews point out that in China classes of up to 50 children learn very effectively in lecture-style classrooms with very few interactions with peers or tutors. this should not be possible if Vygotsky’s theory was entirely correct –> means vygotsky may have overestimated the importance of scaffolding in learning
evaluation of Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development - Vygotsky vs Piaget
-evidence to support idea that, as Vygotsky said, interaction with a more experienced other can enhance learning. we have seen this in studies by Conner and cross and Van Keer and Verhaeghe
-however, if Vygotsky was right about the process of interactive learning, we would expect all children learning together to pick up very similar skills and a very similar mental representation of material. Howe et al found that what children actually learn varies considerably between individuals, even in group learning situations
