Cognitive Development Theories Module 47

Cognition All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering & communicating Children think differently than adults do Play “The Magic Years” (12:00)The Magic Years –Segment #25 from Scientific American Frontiers DVD

Jean Piaget (pee-ah-ZHAY) (1896–1980) Swiss psychologist who became leading cognitive theorist in 1930’s Developmental psychologist who introduced a 4 stage theory of cognitive development Believed these stages were BIOLOGICAL and occurred in same order but environment & culture could change how fast we progress through them. Believed that children create their understanding of the world by interacting with it. Minds show a quick spurt of change followed by stability until they are biologically ready for the next stage.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget believed that “children are active thinkers, constantly trying to construct more advanced understandings of the world” These “understandings” are in the form of structures he called schemas

Schemas Concepts or mental frameworks that people use to organize and interpret information Sometimes called schemes A person’s “picture of the world”

Assimilation Taking new information or a new experience and fitting it into an already existing schema The new experience is similar to other previous experiences

Accommodation Changing existing schemas or creating new schemas in order to fit new information The new experience is so new the person’s schema must be changed to accommodate it

Assimilation/Accommodation

As children assimilate new information and experiences, they eventually change their way of thinking to accommodate new knowledge

Piaget’s Studies Primary method was to ask children to solve problems and to question them about the reasoning behind their solutions Discovered that children think in radically different ways than adults Proposed that development occurs as a series of ‘stages’ differing in how the world is understood

Piaget’s 4 Cognitive Developmental Stages Each new stage represents a fundamental shift in how the child thinks and understands the world

Sensorimotor Stage (birth – 2) Information is gained directly through the senses and motor actions In this stage child perceives and manipulates but does not reason Symbols become internalized through language development Object permanence is acquired gradually - the understanding that an object continues to exist even if it can’t be seen

Object Permanence The awareness that things continue to exist even when they cannot be sensed Occurs gradually as babies gain experience with objects, as their memory abilities improve, and as they develop mental representations of the world, which Piaget called schemas Before 6 months infants act as if objects removed from sight cease to exist –Can be surprised by disappearance/reappearance of a face (peek-a-boo) –“Out of sight, out of mind”

Object Permanence

Play “Object Permanence”Object Permanence –Video #15 from Worth’s Digital Media DVD (2 min) Click Here to view in a separate window

Piaget Underestimated What Young Children Know Baby Physics – Infants look longer at unexpected events like a car passing through a solid object.Baby Physics –(start video at 1 min) –Also seen in The Baby Human DVD (16:40-21:20) Baby Math – When a baby is shown 2 figures and a figure is visibly removed but there remains 2 figures, the baby stares longer as if “knowing” something is wrong. (1 min)Baby Math –Also seen in The Baby Human DVD (21:20-25:00)

Preoperational Stage (2–7 years) The word operations refers to logical, mental activities; thus, the preoperational stage is a prelogical stage Children can understand language but not logic Emergence of symbolic thought - ability to use words, images, and symbols to represent the world. Centration - tendency to focus, or center, on only one aspect of a situation, usually a perceptual aspect, and ignore other relevant aspects of the situation Lack the concept of conservation - which holds that two equal quantities remain equal even if the appearance of one is changed, as long as nothing is added or subtracted Irreversibility - child cannot mentally reverse a sequence of events or logical operations back to the starting point Egocentrism - inability to take another person’s perspective or point of view

Conservation An understanding that quantity remains constant despite changes in shape Can include mass, volume, and numbers. Children in the Preoperational Stage lack this

Conservation Number In conservation of number tests, two equivalent rows of coins are placed side by side and the child says that there is the same number in each row. Then one row is spread apart and the child is again asked if there is the same number in each.

Conservation Length In conservation of length tests, two same-length sticks are placed side by side and the child says that they are the same length. Then one is moved and the child is again asked if they are the same length.

Conservation Substance In conservation of substance tests, two identical amounts of clay are rolled into similar-appearing balls and the child says that they both have the same amount of clay. Then one ball is rolled out and the child is again asked if they have the same amount.

Piaget’s Conservation Task Play “Piaget’s Conservation Task” Video #18 from Worth’s Digital Media Archive for Psychology To view in a separate window click here

Conservation

Types of Conservation Tasks Want to try it with someone? Here are instructionsinstructions

Egocentrism The child’s inability to take another person’s point of view –Child on the phone says, “See the picture I drew for you Grandpa!” and shows the picture to the phone. Curse of Knowledge – when we as adults assume something that is clear to us will be clear to others Example: Joking sarcasm in a text message

Theory of Mind Ability to infer someone else’s mental state Begins to develop in preschoolers People with Autism Spectrum Disorder can struggle with this Play “A Change of Mind” (12:00)A Change of Mind –Segment #26 from Scientific American Frontiers DVD

Concrete Operational Stage (7–12 years) Ability to think logically about concrete (actual) objects and situations they’ve experienced before Child can now understand conservation & are able to reverse operations easily Classification and categorization Less egocentric Inability to reason abstractly or hypothetically

Formal Operational Stage (age 12 – adulthood) Ability to think logically about abstract principles and hypothetical situations Hypothetico-deductive reasoning –What if….? problems Adolescent egocentrism illustrated by the phenomenon of personal fable and imaginary audience

Assessing Piaget’s Theory Scientific research has supported Piaget’s most fundamental idea: that infants, young children, and older children use distinct cognitive abilities to construct their understanding of the world BUT… Piaget underestimated the child’s ability at various ages. Piaget confused motor skill limitations with cognitive limitations in assessing object permanence during infancy. Piaget’s theory doesn’t take into account culture and social differences. Evidence shows development is more continuous

Piaget’s Theory Challenged New studies indicate infants do more than sense and react One study had 1-month-old babies suck one of two pacifiers without ever seeing them When shown both pacifiers, infants stared more at the one they had felt in their mouth This requires a sort of reasoning Renée Baillargeon used visual tasks, rather than manual tasks, and found that three-and-a-half-month- old infants could mentally represent objects that had disappeared from view

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective Noted that children think in words by age 7 Children learn best when interacting with others –Piaget said they learn through interacting with their environment Vygotsky believed language to be the foundation for social interaction and thought –Piaget believed language was a byproduct of thought Peer/Role Model helps a child move through one development zone to the next

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective Believed that cognitive development is strongly influenced by social and cultural factors, such as the support and guidance that children receive from parents, other adults, and older children Children learn from interactions with other people –Language is the building block of thinking –Zone of proximal development—what a child can do with the help of another person, but can’t do alone. –Critical thinking based on dialogue with others who challenge ideas