1. Child Development Laura E. Berk 8th edition
Chapter 6
Cognitive Development:
Piagetian, Core Knowledge, and Vygotskian Perspectives
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2. Goals of Cognitive Development Research
Chart typical course of development
Examine individual differences
Uncover mechanisms of cognitive development
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3. Basics of Piaget’s Theory
General theory
Considers all aspects of cognition
Constructivist approach
Stages are invariant
Stages are universal
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4. Schemes Are psychological structures
Organized ways of making sense of experience
Change with age
Action-based
(motor patterns) at first
Later move to a
mental (thinking) level
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5. Adaptation Assimilation Accommodation
Using current schemes to interpret external world
Used during equilibrium
Accommodation
Adjusting old schemes, creating new ones to better fit environment
Prompted by disequilibrium
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6. Organization Internal rearranging and linking of schemes
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7. Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage
Birth to 2 years
Building schemes through sensory and motor exploration
Circular reactions
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8. Sensorimotor Substages
Reflexive Schemes
Birth –1 month
Newborn reflexes
Primary Circular Reactions
1 – 4 months
Simple motor habits centered around own body
Secondary Circular Reactions
4 – 8 months
Repeat interesting effects in soundings
Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions
8 – 12 months
Intentional, goal-directed behavior; object permanence
Tertiary Circular Reactions
12 – 18 months
Explore properties of objects through novel actions
Mental Representations
18 months – 2 years
Internal depictions of objects or events; deferred imitation
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9. Intentional Behavior
Object Permanence: understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight
According to Piaget, develops in Substage 4
Incomplete at first: A-not-B search error
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10. Testing Understanding of Object Permanence Using the Violation-of-Expectation Method
Figure 6.1 Testing young infants for understanding of object permanence using the violation-of-expectation method.
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11. Testing Infant Understanding of Object Permanence Using Predictive Eye Tracking
Figure 6.2 Testing 5- to 9- month olds for understanding of object permanence using predictive eye tracking.
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12. Progress in Finding Objects Hidden in Two Ways
Figure Performance of 10- to 14-month-olds on two types of object-hiding tasks
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13. Mental Representation
Internal, mental depictions of information
Images: objects, people, places
Concepts: categories
Can manipulate with mind
Allow:
Deferred imitation
Make-believe play
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14. Deferred Imitation Piaget: Develops at about 18 months Newer research:
6 weeks – facial imitation
6 – 9 months – copy
actions with objects
12 – 18 months – imitate
skillfully
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15. Development of Categorization
Perceptual
Based on similar overall appearance or prominent part
Conceptual
Based on common function or behavior
Later add event categories
Figure Categorical distinction made by 9- to 11-month-olds.
Adapted from Mandler & McDonough, 1993.
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16. Infant Categorization Using Operant Conditioning
Figure 6.4 Investigating infant categorization using operant conditioning.
Bhatt, Rove-collier & Weiner, 1994; Hayne, Rove-Collier & Perris, 1987.
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17. Analogical Problem Solving
Figure 6.6 Analogical problem solving by 10- to 12- month olds.
Adapted with permission of the American Psychological Association.
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18. Evaluation of the Sensorimotor Stage
How Piaget was right
Timing of:
Object search
A-not-B
Make-believe play
How Piaget might have been wrong
Timing of object permanence, deferred imitation, categorization, problem-solving by analogy
All occur sooner than Piaget thought
Some suggest infants are born with core knowledge in several domains of thought
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19. The Preoperational Stage Mental Representation
2 to 7 years
Language
Piaget believed it developed from sensorimotor experiences
Make-believe play
Dual representation
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20. Development of Make-Believe Play
With age, make-believe gradually becomes:
More detached from real-life conditions
Less self-centered
More complex
Sociodramatic play
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21. Benefits of Make-Believe Play
Practice representational schemes
Emotional integration
Social, language skills
Attention, memory, logical reasoning
Imagination, creativity
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22. Progression of Drawing Skills
Scribbles: during 2nd year
First Representational Forms
Label already-made drawings: around age 3
Draw boundaries and people: 3–4 years
More Realistic Drawings: preschool to school age
Figure Examples of young children’s drawings
Used by permission of the author.
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23. Dual Representation Viewing a symbolic object as both
an object and a symbol
Mastered around age 3
Adult teaching can help
Provide lots of maps, photos, drawings, make-believe playthings, etc.
Point out similarities to real world
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24. Limitations of Preoperational Thought
Cannot perform mental operations
Egocentrism and animistic thinking
Cannot conserve
Lack hierarchical classification
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25. Failure to distinguish others’ views from one’s own
Egocentrism
Failure to distinguish others’ views from one’s own
Figure Piaget’s three-mountains problem.
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26. Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities
Animistic Thinking
Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities
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27. Limits on Conservation
Centration Focus on one aspect and neglect others
Irreversibility Cannot mentally reverse a set of steps
Figure Some Piagetian conservation tasks.
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28. Hierarchical Classification
Figure A Piagetian class inclusion problem.
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29. Follow-Up Research on Preoperational Thought
Egocentric Thought
Can adjust language to others and take others’ perspectives in simple situations
Animistic and Magical Thinking
Animistic thinking comes from incomplete knowledge of objects
Illogical Thought
Can do simplified conservation
Can reason by analogy
Use causal expressions
Categorization
Everyday knowledge is categorized
Appearance versus Reality
Can solve appearance-reality tasks in nonverbal ways
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30. Example of Categorization
© The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Figure 6.12 Categories of imaginary animals shown to preschoolers.
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31. Evaluation of the Preoperational Stage
How Piaget was right
Preschoolers do develop beginnings of logical thinking.
How Piaget might have been wrong
Logical thinking develops more gradually than Piaget thought.
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32. Achievements of the Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 11 years)
Conservation
Decentration
Reversibility
Classification
Seriation
Transitive inference
Spatial Reasoning
Directions
Maps
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33. Use of Maps
Figure Five-year-olds’ use of a rotated map to find objects hidden in a room.
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34. Cultural Interpretations of Maps
Figure 6.14 Maps drawn by 12-year olds from India and the United States.
Copyright © 2003, with permission from Elsevier.
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35. Limitations of Concrete Operational Thought
Operations work best with objects that are concrete
Problems with abstract ideas
Continuum of Acquisition
Master concrete operational tasks
gradually
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36. Follow-up Research on Concrete Operational Thought
Culture and schooling affect performance on tasks
Going to school gives experience on Piagetian tasks
Relevant non-school experiences of some cultures can help too
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37. Piaget’s Theory: Formal Operational Stage 11 and Older
Hypothetico-deductive reasoning
Deducing hypotheses from a general theory
Pendulum problem
Propositional Thought
Evaluating the logic of verbal propositions
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38. Piaget’s Pendulum Problem
Figure Piaget’s pendulum problem
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39. Consequences of Abstract Thought
Self-Consciousness & Self-Focusing
Imaginary audience
Sensitivity to criticism
Personal fable
Idealism and Criticism
Problems with Decision Making
Inexperience
Overwhelming options
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40. Follow-up Research on Formal Operational Thought
School-age children start developing abstract thinking skills
Problems with propositional thinking
Logical necessity
Careful thinking about major premise
Formal operations may not be universal
Training, context contribute
Often fall back on easier thinking
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41. Educational Principles Derived from Piaget’s Theory
Discovery learning
Sensitivity to children’s readiness to learn
Developmentally appropriate practices
Acceptance of individual differences
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42. Overall Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory
Piaget’s change processes — assimilation, accommodation, and organization — can’t account for patterns of children’s changes observed today
Cognitive development not always self-generating
Cognition not as broadly stagelike as Piaget believed
Piaget’s theory still inspires research
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43. Core Knowledge Perspective
Evolutionary perspective: infants start life with innate, special-purpose knowledge systems
Core domains of thought
Core domains prepare us to rapidly develop key aspects of cognition
Development is domain-specific
Children as naïve theorists
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44. Suggested Domains of Core Knowledge
Physical
Numerical
Linguistic
Psychological
Biological
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45. Violation of Expectation Method
Figure Testing young infants for understanding of object solidity using the violation-of-expectation method.
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46. Development of Infants’ Physical Knowledge
One solid object cannot move through another
2 - 3 months
Size comparisons - notice when objects are:
• Too wide for openings
5-6 months
• Too tall for containers
7-8 months
Gravity, object support
4- 8 months
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47. Infants’ Numerical Knowledge
Findings are mixed and controversial
Infants may be able to:
Discriminate quantities and do simple arithmetic up to 3
Approximate large-number values
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48. Testing Infants for Basic Number Concepts
Figure 6.17 Testing infants for basic number concepts.
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49. Children as Naïve Theorists (Theory Theory)
Observe an event
Explain, or theorize about its cause
Draw on innate concepts
Test theory against experience
Revise theory if needed
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50. Is Biology a Core Domain?
Develops later than other domains
Psychological explanations for biological events
Late development is common around the world
More evidence is needed
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51. Children’s Understanding of Death
Development of the death concept
Cultural influences
Enhancing children’s understanding
Use direct explanations
Teach preschoolers about human biology
Be culturally sensitive
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52. Evaluation of Core Knowledge Perspective
Most serious consideration of beginnings of thinking
Amount and nature of inborn knowledge hotly debated
Suggests environment and experience work together, but does not clarify how
Suggests cognitive development is independent; little attention to learning with others
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53. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Cognition is based on:
Social interactions
Language
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54. Children’s Private Speech
Piaget called this “egocentric speech”
Vygotsky viewed it as foundation for all higher cognitive processes
Helps guide behavior
Used more when tasks are difficult, after errors, or when confused
Gradually becomes more silent
Children with learning and behavior problems use longer
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55. Children’s Use of Private Speech
Figure 6.18 Relationship of private speech to task difficulty among 5- and 6-year olds.
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56. Zone of Proximal Development
Tasks child cannot do alone but can learn to do with help
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57. Social Interactions that Promote Cognitive Development
Intersubjectivity
Scaffolding
Guided
participation
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58. Vygotsky and Make-Believe Play
Provides Zone of Proximal Development
Imaginary substitutions help children separate thinking from objects
Rules strengthen capacity to think before acting
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59. Social Origins of Make-Believe Play
Make-believe play is a major means by which children grow cognitively and learn about important activities in their culture.
Toddlers need encouragement to participate in imaginative make-believe play.
Mothers and siblings play an important role in modeling make-believe play.
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60. Vygotsky and Education
Assisted Discovery
Teacher:
Guides learning
Tailors help to
Zone of Proximal
Development
Peer Collaboration
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61. Reciprocal Teaching Teacher and students take turns leading dialogue
Ask
Summarize
Clarify
Predict
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62. Cooperative Learning
Small groups of classmates work toward common goals
Cultural variations
in ability to learn
cooperatively
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63. Evaluation of Vygotsky’s Theory
Helps explain cultural diversity in cognition
Emphasizes importance of teaching
Focus on language deemphasizes observation, other learning methods
Says little about biological contributions to cognition
Vague in explanation of change
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