COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (PSYCH 14 +15)

Blank Slate Hypothesis

 humans are born without innate traits or behaviors, and everything is learned through experience (Jean Piaget)

THIS IS WRONG.

Core Knowledge

(small set of innate, specific information systems that influence how babies understand the physical and social world).

Violation of Expectations- infants look longer at impossible events, suggesting they can tell when things defy the rules of nature

Core Knowledge- infants are born with basic expectations about physics and even early math.

 

Theory of Cognitive Development (piaget)

 Children build an understanding of the world through schemas, assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium (ex. Parts that make up a dog)

assimilation vs accommodation

Assimilation= fitting new information or experiences into an existing schema WITHOUT changing the schema itself (believing a horse is a dog due to similar physical traits)

 

Vs.

 

Accommodation= new information does not fit into our current ways of thinking, so we MODIFY an existing schema

Equilibration

the driving force that pushes cognitive development forward.

Four Stages of Development (piaget)

Sensorimotor (0-2)	Preoperational (2-7)	Concrete Operational (7-12)	Formal Operational (12+)
Infants learn about the world through their senses and basic motor actions Sucking, grasping, looking Developing object permanence (understanding things exist when out of sight)	Symbolic thought emerges (language, pretend play) The child is limited by perception and highly egocentric Lack of understanding conservation (appearance overrides logical volume)	Logical reasoning emerges, but only applied to physical, concrete reality Math and classifying objects comes easily Struggle with abstract hypotheticals	Abstract, scientific reasoning. Able to test hypotheses Thoughts about "justice" or "infinity" Use of deductive logic

discrete development vs continous development

Discrete Development

• Piagetian view

• Human growth is like the lifecycle of a butterfly

• Each stage has a specific starting and ending point

• Everyone goes through the SAME stages in the SAME order

 

Continuous Development

• Counter view

• Human growth is like a tree that only grows taller (gradual and ongoing)

• Development is a steady, incremental accumulation of skills and information

• Growth varies based on our UNIQUE experience

Sociocultural Theory (vygotsky)

 a child's cognitive development is a social process driven by interaction, language, and culture, rather than an isolated journey of discovery

three parts of sociocultural theory

1. The Zone of Proximal Development- tasks a child can do ONLY with the help of someone else

2. Scaffolding- the temporary support given to a learner

3. More Knowledgeable Others- we learn through interactions with more knowledgeable others, like parents, older siblings, and teachers.