Jerome Bruner

1. NAME INDEX NUMBER
ADU GYAMFI BRIGHT 2021140002
ANNING CATHERINE 2021140006
OMANE BRIGHT 2021140020
ADU BOAKYE DANIEL 2021140003

2. Cognitive development is the growth demonstrated by human
being as they progress from one stage of not knowing to knowing.
Jerome Bruner, an American psychologist contributed to our ideas
on intellectual development which links many of the ideas of Jean
Piaget. When Piaget emphasize changes in cognitive structure as
children move from stage to stage, Bruner emphasizes addition to
cognitive structure which children acquire as they move from
enactive mode to iconic mode to the symbolic mode. Bruner
argues that children pass through three ways of presenting their
world as they develop. These main levels are Enactive, Iconic
and Symbolic and they are almost the stage that Piaget puts up.
The proposals were made in 1946.

3. The enactive stage appears first.This stage involves the encoding and
storage of information.There is a direct manipulation of objects without
any internal representation of the objects.The enactive stage is period
when the child cannot represents his words in any concrete form. He does
not have mental picture(imagery) neither does he have the ability to
organize experiences in any meaningful way. For example, a baby shakes a
rattle and hears a noise.The baby has directly manipulated the rattle and
the outcome was a pleasurable sound. In the future, the baby may shake
his hand even if there is no rattle, expecting his hand to produce the
rattling sounds.The baby does not have an internal representation of the
rattle and therefore, does not understand that it needs the rattle in order
to produce the sound. It is similar to Piaget`s sensory-motor stage where
the child interacts with his environment through his actions and
movements.

4. The iconic stage appears from one to six years old.
This stage involves an external representation of
external objects visually in the form of a mental
image or icon. For example, a child drawing an
image of a tree or thinking of an image of a tree
would be representative of this stage. Here, the child
can now produce an experience through the use of
images but these are not related. Memories of visual
experience are restricted to the concrete and
specific. Language has not developed yet.

5. The symbolic, from 7 years and up, is when information is stored in a form of a code or symbol
such as language. Each symbol has a fixed relation to something it represents. For example, the
word ‘dog’ is a symbolic representation of a single class of animal. Symbols, unlike mental
images or memorized actions, can be classified and organized. In this stage, most information is
stored as words, mathematical symbols, or in other symbol systems. Language is the most
symbolic activity at this stage. Through language, the child is able to reason in logical fashion,
solve complex problems and analyze possible alternatives in various situations. They now think
abstract issues. The most symbolic activity is language acquisition . Bruner believed that all
learning occurs through these three stages. Bruner believed that learning should begin with
direct manipulation of objects. For example, in math education, Bruner promoted the use of
algebra tiles, coins, and other items that could be manipulated. After a learner has the
opportunity to manipulate the objects, they should be encouraged to construct visual
representations, such as drawing a shape or diagram.
Finally, a leaner understands the symbols associated with what they represent. For example, a
student in math understands that the plus sign(+) means to add two numbers together and the
minus sign(-) means to subtract.

6. 1. Bruner(1961), the purpose of education is not to impact knowledge, but instead to facilitate a child`s
thinking and problem solving skills which can then be transferred to a range of situations. Specifically,
education should also develop symbolic thinking of children.
2. Children are active learners who construct their own knowledge by organizing and categorizing
information using a code system. Teachers therefore need to help children acquire knowledge by
producing a conducive environment.
3. Teachers must use problem solving, problem centered and reflexive approach to teaching. This is
because what is important in learning is the retrieval of knowledge and storage of knowledge.
4. Emphasis must be laid on individual differences in cognitive development and cognitive styles of
students.
5. Teachers should guide all educational processes and direct instructions to all the three cognitive
developments.
6. The role of teacher should not be to teach information by rote learning, but instead to facilitate the
learning process. This means that a good teacher will design lessons that helps students discover the
relationship between bits of information. To do this a teacher must give students the information they
need, but without organizing for them.