COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: PIAGET’S THEORY AND VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL VIEWPOINT

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Cognition: The activity of knowing and the processes through which knowledge is acquired Cognitive Development: Changes that occur in mental abilities over the lifespan Attention and perception Learning, thinking, and remembering

PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Genetic epistemology – experimental study of the origin of knowledge What is intelligence? A basic life function that helps an organism adapt to the environment Cognitive equilibrium – balance between thought processes and the environment Constructivist approach – child constructs knowledge by acting on objects and events

PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT How We Gain Knowledge: Schemes and Processes Schemes: mental pattern of thought or action Organization – combine existing schemes into new/complex schemes Adaptation – adjustment to environment Assimilation – new information into existing schemes Accommodation – modify existing schemes for new information

Table 6.1 A Small Sample of Cognitive Growth from Piaget’s Perspective

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Invariant developmental sequence Sequencing fixed Individual differences entering/emerging stages

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT The Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years) Coordinate sensory inputs and motor skills Transition from being reflexive to reflective Development of: Problem-Solving Abilities Imitation Object concept

Table 6.2 Summary of Piaget’s Account of Sensorimotor Development

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Development of Problem-Solving Abilities Reflex activity (birth – 1 month) Primary circular reactions (1–4 months) first motor habits, repetitive Secondary circular reactions (4–8 months) Repetitive actions with objects beyond the body Coordination of secondary reactions (8–12 months) Coordinate 2 or more actions to achieve an objective (intentional)

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Development of Problem-Solving Abilities Tertiary circular reactions -12–18 months Active experimentation, trial and error Symbolic problem solving -18–24 months Inner (mental) experimentation, trial and error is not necessary

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Development of Imitation Novel responses by 8–12 months of age Deferred imitation – 18–24 months Research now shows 6-month-olds are capable of deferred imitation

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Development of Object Permanence Objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible/detectable Appears by 8–12 months of age A-not-B error: search in the last place found, not where it was last seen Complete by 18–24 months

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Challenges to Piaget’s Account Neo-nativism Infants are born with substantial innate knowledge Require less time/experience to be demonstrated Young children seem to possess some object permanence, memory

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Challenges to Piaget’s Approach Theory theories Combination of neo-nativist and Piagetian perspective Infants are prepared at birth to make sense of some information. Beyond this, Piaget’s constructivist approach is generally accurate.

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT The Preoperational Stage (2–7 years) Symbolic function / representational insight One thing represents another Language Pretend (symbolic) play – developmentally a positive activity New views on symbolism Dual representation – think about an object in two ways at one time (3 years)

Figure 6.1 The number of errorless retrievals (correctly locating the hidden toy) for 2½- (younger) and 3-year-olds (older) on a model task. Retrieval 1 involved locating the real toy in the real room. Retrieval 2 involved locating the miniature toy in the model. From “Rapid Change in the Symbolic Functioning of Very Young Children,” by J. S. DeLoache, 1987. Science, 238, 1556-1557. Copyright © 1987 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Reprinted with permission from AAAS.

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Deficits in preoperational thinking Animism Attribute life/life like qualities to inanimate objects Egocentrism View world from own perspective, trouble recognizing other’s point of view

Figure 6. 2 Piaget’s three-mountain problem Figure 6.2 Piaget’s three-mountain problem. Young preoperational children are egocentric. They cannot easily assume another person’s perspective and often say that another child viewing the mountain from a different vantage point sees exactly what they see from their own location.

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Deficits in preoperational thinking Appearance/reality distinction Cannot distinguish between the two Dual encoding Representing an object in more than one way at a time

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Deficits in preoperational thinking Lack of conservation – do not realize properties of objects do not change just because appearance does Lack of decentration – concentrate on more than one aspect of a problem at the same time Lack of reversibility – mentally undo an action

Figure 6.3 Some tests of a child’s ability to conserve.

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Did Piaget Underestimate the Preoperational Child? New evidence on egocentrism Piaget’s tasks were too complex Another look at children’s reasoning Animism not routine among 3-year-olds Can preoperational children conserve? Can be trained at 4 years (identity training)

APPLYING RESEARCH TO LIFE: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND CHILDREN’S HUMOR Humor also proceeds developmentally Based on ability to perceive incongruity Intermediate incongruity is best Must be able to represent objects and events symbolically Capable between first and second years of life

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT The Development Theory of Mind (TOM) Belief-desire reasoning Understand behavior is based on: What an individual knows or believes What they want or desire Develops after preschool age False-belief task – desire, not belief Based on lack of cognitive inhibition Improves with interaction with siblings

Figure 6. 4 A simplified scheme depicting belief-desire reasoning Figure 6.4 A simplified scheme depicting belief-desire reasoning. From Wellman, Henry J., The Child’s Theory of Mind, 1 figure “Simplified Scheme Depicting Belief-Desire Reasoning”, Copyright © 1990 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by permission of the MIT Press.

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT The Concrete Operational Stage (7–11 years) Cognitive operations Internal mental activity to modify symbols to reach a logical conclusion Conservation – capable of Decentering Reversibility

Table 6.3 A Comparison of Preoperational and Concrete-operational Thought

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Relational logic – capable of Mental seriation Transitivity Horizontal décalage – different levels of understanding that seem to require same mental operations Based on complexity Limited to real or tangible aspects of experience

Figure 6. 5 Children’s performance on a simple seriation task Figure 6.5 Children’s performance on a simple seriation task. If asked to arrange a series of sticks from shortest to longest, preoperational children often line up one end of the sticks and create an incomplete ordering (a) or order them so the top of each successive stick extends higher than the preceding stick (b). Concrete operators, by contrast, can use the inverse cognitive operations greater than (>) and less than (<) to quickly make successive comparisons and create a correct serial ordering (c).

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT The Formal Operational Stage (11–12 +) Hypothetico-deductive reasoning Ability to generate hypotheses and use deductive reasoning (general to specific) Allows for hypothetical thinking Inductive reasoning Going from specific observations to generalizations Thought is rational, systematic, and abstract

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Personal and Social Implications of Formal Thought Thinking about what is possible in life Forming a stable identity Understanding of other’s perspectives Can weigh alternatives Questioning others Thinking of how the world “ought to be”

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Does Everyone Reach Formal Operations? Early Piaget – Yes, at least some signs by 15–18 Other researchers – No; lack of education Later Piaget – Yes, but only on problems that are either interesting or important Today: Performance is likely to be inconsistent across domains Requires interest in and experience with subject matter

Figure 6. 6 Expertise and formal operations Figure 6.6 Expertise and formal operations. College students show the greatest command of formal-operational thought in the subject area most related to their major. Adapted from “Individual Differences in College Students’ Performance on Formal Operations Tasks,” by R. De Lisi & J. Staudt, 1980, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 1, 163-174. Reprinted with permission from Excerpta Medica, Inc.

AN EVALUATION OF PIAGET’S THEORY Piaget’s Contributions Founded cognitive development Stated children construct their knowledge First attempt to explain development Reasonably accurate overview of how children of different ages think Major influence in social and emotional development, and education Influenced future research

AN EVALUATION OF PIAGET’S THEORY Challenges to Piaget Piaget failed to distinguish competence from performance Does cognitive development really occur in stages? Little evidence of broad stages Does Piaget “explain” cognitive development? – more of an description Little attention to social/cultural influences

FOCUS ON RESEARCH: EVALUATING PIAGET THROUGH A CROSS-CULTURAL LENS Cross-cultural research demonstrates No differences in order of attaining the different stages of cognitive development Minor differences in ages of milestones Differences in whether formal operational abilities were achieved by adolescents or adults Domain is vital

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Vygotsky believed that children acquire their culture’s Values Beliefs Problem solving strategies All through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE The Role of Culture in Development Ontogenetic development – development of an individual over his or her lifetime Microgenetic development – change over relatively brief periods of time Phylogenetic development – changes over evolutionary time Sociohistorical development – changes in one’s culture

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Tools of Intellectual Adaptation Born with elementary mental functions (attention, memory) Culture transforms these into higher mental functions Culture specific tools allow the use of the basic functions more adaptively (language, pencils)

Table 6. 4 Chinese and English number words from 1 to 20 Table 6.4 Chinese and English number words from 1 to 20. Note: The more systematic Chinese numbering system follows a base-ten logic (i.e., 11 translating as “ten one” [“shi yee”]) requiring less rote memorization, which may explain why Chinese-speaking children learn to count to 20 earlier than English-speaking children.

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE The Social Origins of Early Cognitive Competencies Many discoveries active learners make occur in collaborative dialogue with a tutor

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE The Zone of Proximal Development Difference between what a learner can do independently and what can be done with guidance Scaffolding – tendency to tailor support to a learner near the limit of capability Guided participation/apprenticeship May be very formal and context dependent May occur in day-to-day activities May be context independent

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Siblings as Creators of the Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding Older siblings are caretakers Provide emotional support Teach new skills through modeling or instruction Also benefits the older sibling – higher academic aptitude

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Working in the Zone of Proximal Development in Different Cultures Cultures where adults and children are segregated, learning is in schools Cultures where adults and children are together most of the day, learning is through real life observation Verbal versus nonverbal emphasis of instruction

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Playing in the Zone of Proximal Development More likely to engage in symbolic play when others are present Cooperative social play of preschoolers is related to later understanding of others’ feeling and beliefs Helps develop a theory of mind

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Implications for Education Active, not passive learning Assess what is known to estimate capabilities Guided participations structured by teachers who would gradually turn over more of activity to students Cooperative learning exercises – help each other; very effective!

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE The Role of Language in Cognitive Development Primary method of passing modes of thinking to children Becomes important tool of intellectual adaptation

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Piaget’s Theory of Language/Thought Egocentric speech Self-directed utterances Reflected ongoing mental activity Shifted to communicative speech with age Little role in cognitive development

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Vygotsky’s Theory of Language/Thought Egocentric is really an illustration of transition from prelinguistic to verbal reasoning Private speech – communicative “speech for self” Serves as a cognitive self-guidance system; does not disappear, becomes inner speech

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Which viewpoint should we endorse? Vygotsky Social speech gives rise to private speech More common with difficult tasks Self-instruction improves performance Does tend to turn into inner speech

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Vygotsky in Perspective: Summary Cognitive development involves Dialogues with skilled partners within the zone of proximal development Incorporation of what tutors say into what they say to themselves Expect wide variations in development across cultures

Table 6.5 Comparing Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s Theories of Cognitive Development

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE Vygotsky in Perspective: Evaluation Not yet received intense scrutiny Verbal guided participation may be less adaptive in some instances than others Collaborative problem solving can undermine performance More a perspective, not a theory with as many testable hypotheses as Piaget