Vygotsky's theory of cognitive develpment Flashcards
In contrast to Piaget, what did Vygotsky emphasise?
- Vygotsky did not suggest children develop te ability to think in specific, age-related stages
- Instead Vygotsky emphaises the importance of social interaction, context and culture, language and ZPD and scaffolding to cognitive development
The theory stresses the role of social processes
Vygotsky agreed with Piaget that children develop reasoning skills sequentically but believed this procress were mainly dependent on social processes
- First intermental (between someone expert and someone less expert)
- Then intermental (within the individual)
Cultural differences in learning are explained through differing experiences
Reasoning abilities are acquired via contact with those around us
As a result there will be cultural differences in cognitive development because we all grow up and learn about the world surrounded by cultural values and beliefs
Children pick up ‘mental tools’ that are most important for life from the world they live in
ZDP is the gap between current and potential capbilities
- Zone of proximal development (ZDP) is the gap between
- What a child knows or can do alone and
- What the child is capable of, following interaction with someone more expert
Vygotsky claimed that the role of a teacher was to guide the child through this gap to as full a level of understanding as the child’s developmental ability would allow
(doesn’t matter of age)
What are children born with?
elementary mental functions
e.g memory,perception
(role of culture allows to transform these basic biological functions into higher mental functions e.g use of mathematical system)
What are the role of others - experts
Experts are individuals who psess greater knowledge than the child
The child learns through sharing problem-solving experiences with the expert
Initally the expert guides the activity but gradually transfers responsibility to the child
What is the role of language?
Experts transmit cultures to the child using semiotics
Initially language takes the form of shared dialogues between the adult and child (pre-intellectual speech)
But as the child develops mental representation
he/she is able toc ommunciate with themselves to enable intellectual development
What is the role of social and individual level?
Every function in child’s cognitive development appears first on social level (between expert and child) then on individual level(inside child)
The social experience enables the development of higher mental functions
Both social and indvidual experiences depend on the use of semiotics
What is scaffolding?
An approach to instruction that aims to support a learner only when absolutely necessary i.e to provide a supportive framework (scaffold) to assist the learning process
Scaffolding describes the process whereby a learner is assisted through their ZPD
Increased skills and reasoning ability from experts
From Vgotsky , cognitive development was not just about acquiring moe facts but becoming more skilled at reasoning
The most advanced (formal) reasoning can only be achieved with the help of experts, not simply through exploration
Experts use scaffolding to help the learner cross the ZPD
Wood et al (1976) suggest a umber of features of scaffolding including:
- Recuitment - engaging a learner’s interest
- Reduction in degrees of freedom - focusing learner and getting started
- Direction maintenace - motivation learner to perserver
Progressive scaffolding stratergies
Wood et al identified progressive stratergies that can be used to scaffold learning. e,g prompts might be (from most to least)
- Demonstration (e.g mother draws object with crayons)
- Preparation for child (e.g mother helps child hold crayon)
- Indication of materials (e.g mother points out crayons)
- Specific verbal instruction(e.g mother says - green crayon)
- General prompt (e.g mother says ‘ draw something else’)
Strength
ZPD
- Roazzi and Bryant found that 4-5 year old performed better on a ‘number of sweets’ challenge when working with peers (who offered support on estimating rather than alone)
- This demonstrated that children can develop more advanced reasoning skills when working with expert peoople.
- This therefore supports validity of ZDP as developmental concept
Limitation
all individual differences are not acknowledged
- Both Piaget and Vygotsky assumed that the process of learning are essentially universal. However, not all children may learn effectively in a social situation
- The personality of the learner and style processing may differ and need to be taken into account in explaining their cognitive develpment
- Practically, Vgotsky’s theory may not be helpful in understanding the learning process of every child and the idea may not be appicable to all
Limitation
Not all children respond identically to learning opportunities
- Howe et al (1992) found that 9-12 year olds who had group discussions about the movement of objects down a slope showed a better understanding after the discussion but did not all pick up the same facts
- So even when children experience the same interaction or experience they do not necessarily have the same level of nature of cognitive development
- Vygotsky’s theory can be critised for not fully explaining the differental rate of development f different children whereas Piaget’s concept of maturation can
Another strength is support for the idea of scaffolding
- Conner and Cross (2003) observed 45 children at intervals between the ages of 16 and 54 months, findings that mothers use less direct intervention as children develop
- This shows how the level fo help given by an expert partner declines over time as suggested by the process of scaffolding
- This supports Vygotsky’s claim that scaffolding is a good description of the process by which children move through their ZPD
