Cognitive Development

2 CONSTRUCTIVISM A view of learning + development that emphasizes active role of learner in “building” understanding + making sense of the world. Piaget + Vygotsky are both constructivists.

3 PIAGETIAN CONCEPTS SCHEMA (or SCHEME) – the “blueprints” or “scripts” of knowledge about the world

4 PIAGETIAN CONCEPTS EQUILIBRIUM – innate tendency to try to achieve “balance” between what you think you know about the world and what the world is really all about

5 PIAGETIAN CONCEPTS ASSIMILATION – adding new information to already existing schemes ACCOMMODATION – changing old schemes to new ones based on acquisition of new knowledge

6 WHAT DRIVES DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO PIAGET? Innate, biologically driven tendency to seek out information about the world Development progression is limited by maturation Says you cannot learn something until you are ready no matter how good the teacher

7 PIAGETIAN STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEV. SENSORIMOTOR (0-2 years) What do schemas consist of? - only what the baby can see, feel, hear, do in the present - baby cannot really represent information symbolically and….

8 BABY HAS NO OBJECT PERMANENCE

9 PIAGETIAN STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEV. PRE-OPERATIONAL (2-6 years) What do schemas consist of? - child now has symbolic thought - has learned many cause/effect relationships - BUT child lacks much in way of logical reasoning (lacks “operations”)

10 CONSERVATION: One Type of Operation

11 PIAGETIAN STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEV. CONCRETE OPERATIONAL (6-11 years) What do schemas consist of? - child now has learned much more in way of logical reasoning (now has “operations”) - child can “test” hypotheses (predictions) - child is poor in ABSTRACT LOGIC (“what if” situations that are not based in real events)

12 PIAGETIAN STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEV. FORMAL OPERATIONAL (11+ years) What do schemas consist of? - child can now “test” hypotheses (predictions) in ABSTRACT LOGIC (“what if” situations that are not based in real events) - child can plan and achieve long-term goals more realistically

Vygotsky Russian psychologist Cognitive development progresses by social interactions with others Learning results from interaction of biological processes (such as brain development) + sociocultural interactions.

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT range of skills that child cannot yet do alone but can accomplish when assisted Assumes there is a zone of proximal development for each skill to be learned Assumes learners develop at different rates so they may differ in their ability to benefit from instructions.

SCAFFOLDING Assistance that “props up” student to complete skills they are not able to complete independently. Effective scaffolding is responsive to students’ needs. In classroom, teachers’ provide scaffolding by: –Breaking content into manageable pieces – Modelling skills – Provide practice and examples – “Letting go” when students are ready

Behavioral Approaches to Cognitive Development Knowledge and Ability Natural & Contrived Consequences What Reinforces Cognitive Behavior? Problem Solving Exploratory Behavior Creative Behavior

Knowledge: Class of behaviors specified by a stimulus Simple discriminative behavior conceptual (abstract) behavior describing past events describing how things work

Ability - Do things in a certain order Do things with a certain topography

Problem Solving Operant chain Precurrent behavior - makes “correct” response more likely

Exploratory Behavior Reinforced by “ecological stimuli” Needs environment which affords exploration Automatic (natural) reinforcement

Creative Behavior Large repertoire of knowledge & ability History of reinforcement for “creative” combinations of behavior

Stimulus Equivalence Identity (Reflexivity) [A =A Symmetry [A=B then B=A Transitivity [A=B and B=C then emerges A=C

Equivalencing: How? Basic Process (M. Sidman) Learned Skill (S. Hayes) Can Equivalencing be taught? –Charlie Studies (Lipkens, Hayes & Hayes) Is Equivalencing taught? –Novak, et al.

Relational Frame Theory Approach to identify how we learn arbitrarily applicable relational responding (abstract relational concepts) Eg., bigger than, smaller than, analogies Says the “appropriate” way of relating to stimuli is controlled by the “frame” in effect