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Week 5 Cognitive Development
- 1. PSY 375: LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT CognitiveDevelopment Week 5
- 2. Children actively constructknowledge Learning through manipulation and exploration Developed through observation of his own children Cognitive-Developmental Theory Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
- 3. Piaget’s Theory ofCognitive Development Children actively construct their knowledge of the world • Children build mental structures that help them adapt to the world Schemes: actions or mental representations that organize knowledge • Babies’ schemes are structured by simple actions • Older children’s schemes include strategies and plans for solving problems
- 5. Piaget’s Theory ofCognitive Development Sensorimotor Stage Preoperational Reasoning Concrete Operational Formal Operational Birth to 2 Years 2 to 6 or 7 Years 6 or 7 to 11 or 12 Years 11 or 12 - Lifetime Intelligence in action: child interacts with environment by manipulating objects; object permanence Thinking dominated by perception, but child becomes more capable of symbolic functioning; conservation problem; language development occurs Logical reasoning only applied to objects that are real or can be seen Individual can think logically about potential events or abstract ideas; advanced reasoning
- 6. Piaget’s Theory ofCognitive Development: Sensorimotor Stage Sensorimotor stage lasts from birth to about 2 years
- 7. Piaget’s Six Substagesof Sensorimotor Development Substage Age Example 1 Simple reflexes Birth to 1 month Rooting, sucking, and grasping reflexes; newborns such reflexively when their lips are touched. 2 First habits and primary circular reactions 1 to 4 months Repeating a body sensation first experienced by chance (sucking thumb, for example); then infants might accommodate actions by sucking their thumb differently from how they suck on a nipple. 3 Secondary circular reactions 4 to 8 months An infant coos to make a person stay near; as the person starts to leave, the infant coos again. 4 Coordination of secondary circular reactions 8 to 12 months Infant manipulates a stick in order to bring an attractive toy within reach. 5 Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity 12 to 18 months A block can be made to fall, spin, hit another object, and slide across the ground. 6 Internalization of schemes 18 to 24 months An infant who has never thrown a temper tantrum before sees a playmate throw a tantrum; the infant retains a memory of the event, then throws one himself the next day.
- 8. Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage: ObjectPermanence Object permanence: the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched • Important accomplishment made during the first year To Piaget, children are like little scientists, examining the world to see how it works
- 9. Evaluating Piaget’s SensorimotorStage: The A-Not-B Error Data do not always support Piaget’s claim that certain processes are crucial in transitions from one stage to the next A-not-B error: occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting a familiar hiding place (A) rather than a new hiding place (B) as they progress into substage 4 of the sensorimotor stage
- 10. Evaluating Piaget’s SensorimotorStage: Perceptual Development and Expectation Several theorists argue that infants’ perceptual abilities are highly developed very early in life • Certain cognitive abilities appear to be present much earlier than Piaget’s theory predicts
- 11. Evaluating Piaget’s SensorimotorStage: The Nature-Nurture Issue Core knowledge approach: infants are born with domain- specific innate knowledge systems • Space, number sense, object permanence, language • Critics argue nativists neglect the infant’s social immersion to focus on what happens in the infant’s head apart from the environment; and morality may emerge through infants’ early interactions
- 12. Preoperational Stage: The SymbolicFunction Substage Symbolic function substage: the child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present • Between ages 2 and 4, the child scribbles designs representing people, houses, cars, etc.; and begins to use language and pretend play • Egocentrism: inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s perspective Preschool children often show the ability to take another’s perspective on some tasks but not others • Animism: belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action
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- 14. Keleman (1999) Why arerocks pointy?
- 15. Preoperational Stage: The IntuitiveThought Substage Intuitive thought substage: the child uses primitive reasoning and wants to know the answers to all sorts of questions • Second substage of preoperational thought • Between ages 4 and 7 years old • “Why?” questions signal the emergence of interest in figuring out why things are the way they are • Substage called intuitive because young children seem unaware of how they know what they know
- 16. Centration and theLimits of Preoperational Thought Centration: focusing of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others Conservation: awareness that altering the appearance of an object or substance does not change its basic properties • Conservation may appear earlier than Piaget thought • Attention is especially important in explaining conservation
- 17. Piaget’s Theory ofCognitive Development: Concrete Operational Stage
- 18. Piaget’s Theory ofCognitive Development: Formal Operational Stage
- 19. Formal Operational Stage: AdolescentEgocentrism Adolescent egocentrism: heightened self-consciousness of adolescents • Reflected in beliefs that others are as interested in them as they themselves are Involves two types of social thinking: • Imaginary audience: feeling one is the center of attention and sensing one is on stage • Personal fable: sense of personal uniqueness and invincibility Danger invulnerability Psychological invulnerability
- 20. Applying Piaget’s Theory: Piagetand Education Take a constructivist approach • Children learn best when they are active and seek solutions for themselves Facilitate rather than direct learning • Pedagogies like guided play • Consider the child’s knowledge and level of thinking • Teachers need to interpret what a student is saying and respond in a way not too far from the student’s level • Examine children’s mistakes in thinking to help guide them to a higher level of understanding
- 21. Applying Piaget’s Theory: Piagetand Education 2 Turn the classroom into a setting of exploration and discovery • Teachers observe students’ interests and natural participation to determine the course of learning • Peer interaction is encouraged so different viewpoints can contribute to advances in thinking
- 22. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory ContributionsLimitations Shows how thoughts and beliefs affect behavior Provides guidelines for appropriate behavior at different ages Emphasis that young children learn through play and exploration of environment Focus away from formal instruction and towards discovery learning May have underestimated ages that children are capable of certain tasks Changes maybe more gradual that proposed Ignores cultural differences
- 23. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Piagetmade important contributions to developmental psychology • Enduring concepts: assimilation, accommodation, object permanence, egocentrism, conservation, and more • Current vision of children as active, constructive thinkers • Huge volume of research generated • Careful observations and inventive ways to discover how children act on and adapt to their world Piaget revealed that cognitive change is more likely if the context allows for gradual movement
- 24. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Somecognitive abilities emerge earlier than Piaget estimated; others, later • Many adolescents still think in concrete operational ways or are just beginning to master formal operations • Many adults are not formal operational thinkers • Children can be trained to reason at a higher cognitive stage; and culture and education exert a strong influence Neo-Piagetians argue for more emphasis on how children use attention, memory, and strategies to process information
- 25. Vygotsky’s Theory ofCognitive Development Vygotsky also emphasized that children actively construct their knowledge and understanding • Emphasized the role of the social environment in stimulating cognitive development Society provides tools to support cognitive development Cognitive development is shaped by the cultures in which we live
- 26. Zone of proximaldevelopment
- 27. Vygotsky: Scaffolding Scaffolding meanschanging the level of support over the course of a teaching session
- 28. Vygotsky: Language andThought According to Vygotsky, children use speech both for social communication and to help them solve tasks • Private speech is used for self-regulation—to plan, guide, and monitor their behavior Later becomes inner speech • Children use private speech more often when tasks are difficult, etc. • Children who use private speech are more socially competent than those who don’t
- 29. Vygotsky’s Theory ofCognitive Development: Teaching Strategies Place instruction in a meaningful context • Provide opportunities to learn in real-world settings Transform the classroom with Vygotskian ideas • Tools of the Mind curriculum
- 30. Evaluating Vygotsky’s Theory Socialconstructivist approach: emphasis on the social contexts of learning and the construction of knowledge through social interaction Critics point out Vygotsky was not specific enough about age-related changes • Does not adequately describe how changes in socioemotional capabilities contribute to development • May have also overemphasized the role of language • Emphasis on collaboration and guidance may have pitfalls
- 31. Comparing Piaget andVygotsky’s Theories
- 32. Cognitive Changes inAdulthood: Is There a Fifth, Postformal Stage? Some theorists suggest young adults move into a new qualitative stage Postformal thought is described as: • Reflective, relativistic, and contextual • Provisional • Realistic • Recognized as being influenced by emotion Critics argue research has yet to show that postformal thought is qualitatively different than formal operational thought
- 33. Are There CognitiveStages in Middle and Late Adulthood? Some gradual, quantitative cognitive changes have been proposed and studied • Fluid and crystallized intelligence Ability to reason abstractly; and accumulated information and verbal skills • Cognitive mechanics and cognitive pragmatics Declining mechanics; increasing pragmatics Current theory and research focuses on specific aspects of information processing • Attention, memory, and thinking
- 34. Comparison of Vygotsky’sand Piaget’s Theories Theoretical Focus Vygotsky Piaget Sociocultural Context Strong emphasis Little emphasis Constructivism Social constructivist Cognitive constructivist Stages No general stages of development proposed Strong emphasis on stages (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational) Key Processes Zone of proximal development, language, dialogue, tools of the culture Schema, assimilation, accommodation, operations, conservation, classification Role of Language A major role; language plays a powerful role in shaping thought Language has a minimal role; cognition primarily directs language View on Education Education plays a central role, helping children learn the tools of the culture Educational merely refines the child’s cognitive skills that have already emerged Teaching Implications Teacher is a facilitator and guide, not a director; establish many opportunities for children to learn with the teacher and more-skilled peers Also views teacher as a facilitator and guide, not a director; provide support for children to explore their world and discover knowledge
Editor's Notes
- #3 The cognitive perspective on child development was advanced by Jean Piaget, who is arguably the single most influential force in the field. He was a Swiss cognitive theorist and he developed his theory through extensive observation and testing of his own children. According to his theory, children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. Piaget maintained that in infancy and early childhood, children’s understanding is different from adults’. He believed preschoolers’ thinking is full of faulty logic. (e.g. babies don’t realize objects hidden from view continue to exist; children under 7 often say the amount of a liquid changes when poured into a different-shaped container). Over time, children eventually revise their incorrect ideas as they attempt to achieve balance between their internal structures of knowledge and information they encounter in their everyday worlds.
- #5 Assimilation: using existing schemes to incorporate new information Accommodation: adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences Organization: grouping isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher-order, smoothly functioning cognitive system Continual refinement is a part of development Equilibration: shifting from one stage of thought to the next
- #6 This slide illustrates Piaget’s theory of cognitive development through stages. Instructor’s note: The slide provides a brief overview of each stage as you cycle through, with demonstration opportunities for stage-associated tasks/problems and video examples at each click (For detailed instructions of the “Demonstration of Piaget’s Classic Tasks” see IM > Unit Development > Module 1: Cognitive Development in Childhood > Activities/Demonstrations.) (Click) Sensorimotor Stage Demonstrate the concept of object permanence by showing and then hiding a book. Then ask students if the book still exists. (This exercise will be obvious to them.) Please note that the next slide in this presentation contains a video on object permanence. Click the “Sensorimotor Stage” link to play the video demonstrating the object permanence task. Discussion question: How are your expectations of the book different from that of the children in the video, and why? (Click) Preoperational Reasoning Demonstrate the concept of conservation using coins first in two stacks and then spread out on a table. Ask students if the spread out coins are the same in number as the stacked coins. (This exercise will be obvious to them.) Click the “Preoperational Reasoning” link to play the first video demonstrating the conservation task. Discussion question: Why aren’t the children in the video able to successfully answer the conservation questions but you are? (Click) Concrete Operational Explain that by this stage of development, children’s thinking is complex enough to master the conservation task. Click the “Concrete Operational” link to play the second video demonstrating the conservation task. Discussion question: What has changed about the children who can now successfully complete the conservation tasks? (Click) Formal Operational Demonstrate the concept of formal operational by asking the class to consider this hypothetical scenario: Suppose that from this moment on every human baby is born with only one leg; how would society have to change? Students should be able to formulate a variety of real-world adjustments such as new modes of transportation, fashion, etc. Click the “Formal Operational” link to play the video demonstrating the distinction between the concrete and formal operational stages. Discussion questions: How does the one-leg scenario relate to the example of formal operational shown in the video? How are both of these examples of formal operational cognitive development? What is the distinction between the concrete and formal operational stages? Further explanation: Keep in mind that Piaget’s theories are still debated and researchers have had divergent outcomes, particularly between various cultures, that seem to suggest a more continuous development that Piaget imagined. Cultural diversity also appears to affect the full realization of complex reasoning described by the formal operational stage.
- #14 Photo 1 shows the child’s perspective from where he or she is sitting. Photos 2, 3, and 4 were taken from different perspectives. For example, Photo 2 shows what the mountains look like to a person sitting at spot B. When asked what a view of the mountains looks like from spot B, the child selects Photo 1, taken from spot A (the child’s own view at the time) instead of Photo 2, the correct view.
- #15 We tend to have explanations for why things are the way they are, based not on nature or randomness, but on agency and reason first. second and fourth graders say things like “it’s pointy so bears can scratch their backs” or “It’s wet so we can take a bath”
- #18 Concrete operational stage: children can perform concrete operations and they can reason logically as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples Lasts from about 7 to 11 years of age Classify or divide into sets and subsets and consider interrelationships Seriation: ability to order stimuli along a quantitative dimension Transitivity: ability to logically combine relations to reach certain conclusions
- #23 Pros Cognitive theory shows how thoughts and beliefs affect behavior and other domains of development Provided guidelines for what is appropriate for children at different ages i.e. emphasized that young children learn through play and direct sensory contact with the environment – discouraged use of formal instruction at this age Active view of children encouraged parents and educators to allow children to engage directly in solving problems (aka discovery learning) Cons He may have underestimated the ages when children are capable of doing certain things – when his tasks are scaled down in difficulty and made more relevant to their experience, their understanding appears closer to that of an older child. These changes may not occur in such distinct stages but more likely occur more gradually Ignored cultural differences that might affect the way children think additionally, showed that children’s performance improves on these tasks with training, which calls into question Piaget’s stance on education/teaching practices
- #27 Vygotsky’s theory has been especially influential in the study of children’s cognition Vygotsky agreed with Piaget that kids are active, constructive beings BUT he viewed cognitive development as a socially mediated process Vygotsky is best known for his concept of zone of proximal development—**can anyone explain what this is?? range of skills learner can perform with assistance but not independently Child follows an adult's example adult guidance and gradually develops the ability to do certain tasks without help or assistance. The zone can be measured as: The distance between a child’s actual developmental level in problem-solving on his own and the potential development level under guidance