Vygotky's theory of cognitive development : Cognitive and Development

What was Vygotsky's theory based on

The importance of social context and culture in child development. And that cognitive maturation is driven by biological maturation to some extend BUT a child's interactions with others is the most important factor

What did Vygotsky believe we were born with

Four elementary functions, Attention, sensation, perception and memory

What did he say would develop these

Our social and cultural enviroment allows these to develop into higher cognitive abilities. This happens through MKO’s, language, and ZPD

What is an MKO

a more knowledgable other that helps a child to learn, this can be a teacher or even a more knowledgable peer

What does an MKO do

They help the person learn how to problem solve by gradually moving responsability to them.

What did vygotsky say was the role of language

he believed culture is transmitted from experts to child through a three stage process

What is the first step in language development

Shared dialougue between adult and child

What is the 2nd step in language development

Child starts developing mental representation skills abd begin to communicate with themselves (egocentric speech)

What is the 3rd step in language development

leads to development of inner speech or thought

What did Vygotsky say would also happen during this

Reasoning abilities would develop through the initial language shared with adullt. this means that the enviroment we are surrounded by will effect our own inner dialougue

Why is there cultrual differences in development

Because children pick up their mental 'tools' through their physical and social environment

What is the ZPD

Zone of Proximal Development. The difference between what a child can do on their own and what the child can do with help, and what is out of reach

How does a child cross the ZPD

Through the help of a MKO who can teach and develop the childs skill, Vygotsky believed higher cognitive abilities could only come from the help of more advanced others

Who created the idea of scaffolding

Bruner and his colleagues

What is scaffolding?

Adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child's current level of performance, otherwise they may lose interest if they have already mastered the skill or do not understand

How many stages of scaffolding are there

5

What is the first (lowest ability) stage

Recruitment which includes engaging childs attention in a task

What is the 2nd stage

Reduction of degrees of freedom, focussing the child and where to start with solving it

What is the 3rd stage

Direction maintenance, encouragement of the child so they continue

What is the 4th stage

Marking critical features, highlighting the most important parts of the task

What is the 5th stage

Demonstration, showing the child how to peform the task

What is a strength of Vyogtsky's theory

supporting research that shows there is a gap in what children can achieve on their own and what they can do with the help from others

What is this supporting research

Roazzi and Bryan found that when asking 4-5 yr olds how many sweets in the jar, the children in the condition on their own failed to give a good estimate whereas those working with an older child that helped them through prompts all gave a close estimate.

What does Vygotsky's theory help explain

The cultural differences in development

Research that backs the cultural differences in development

Gredler, found that in papau new guinea children would learn how to count using body parts, he found that this made it very difficult for children to subtract and add numbers, limiting their cognitive development

How has Vygotsky's theory been applied

It has been applied to education , scaffolding is still being used today succesfully and enhancing childrens cognitive development

What is a issue of Vygotsky's theory

Piajet's theory offers a different explanation which weakens Vygotsky's ever so slightly