Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

define the zone of proximal development

The gap between a child’s current level of development and what they can potentially do with the right help from a more expert other.

how is a child’s current level of development defined?

by the cognitive tasks they can perform unaided

define scaffolding

The process of helping a learner cross the ZPD & advance as much as they can, given their stage of development. Typically the level of help given in scaffolding declines as a learner crosses the ZPD

Piaget & Vygotsky…

agreed on many of the basics of cognitive development

what did Piaget & Vygotsky agree on?

that children’s reasoning abilities develop in a particular sequence & that abilities are qualitatively different at different ages, with a child capable of particular logic at particular ages

what is the key difference between Piaget’s theory & Vygotsky’s?

Vygotsky placed more emphasis on the role of other people in learning and cognitive development

Vygotsky saw cognitive development as a…

social process of learning from more experienced others

Knowledge is first … then…

intermetal

intramental

Knowledge is first intermetal, between…

the more and less expert individual

Knowledge is then intramental within…

the mind of the less expert individual

Vygotsky saw …. as a much more important part of cognitive development than Piaget.

language

reasoning abilities are acquired from…

the more experienced individuals with whom a child has contact with

If reasoning abilities are acquired from the more experienced individuals with whom a child has contact with…

the child will acquire the reasoning abilities of those particular people

why might there be cultural differences in cognitive development?

children pick up the mental ‘tools’ that are most important for life within their physical, social and work environments of their culture from the more experienced individuals they have contact with in their culture

Vygotsky put tremendous emphasis on the…

role of learning through interaction with others

what is the zone of proximal development

the gap between a child’s current level of development (what they can understand and do alone) and what they can potentially understand with more expert others

…allows a child to cross the ZPD

Expert assistance

Children can with help understand as much of a subject/situation as they are capable of as they are still to some extent….

limited by their developmental stage

Vygotsky believed that children developed a….by learning from others, as opposed to through individual exploration of the world.

more advanced understanding of a situation & more advanced reasoning abilities needed to deal with situations

Vygotsky believed that children developed a more advanced understanding of a situation & more advanced reasoning abilities needed to deal with situations by…

learning from others, as opposed to through individual exploration of the world

Vygotsky believed that higher mental functions, such as formal reasoning, could only be acquired through…

interaction with more advanced others

what is an example of a higher mental function

formal reasoningq

The term ‘scaffolding’ refers to…

the kinds of help adults & more advanced peers give to a child to help them to cross the zone of proximal development

when was scaffolding introduced to Vygotsky’s theory

Vygotsky never used this term in his writing - it was introduced by later psychologists in the 1970s influenced by the theory

what strategies were identified to be used when scaffolding

1. Recruitment: engaging the child’s interest in the task.

2. Reduction of degrees of freedom: focusing the child on the task and where to start solving it.

3. Direction maintenance: encouraging the child in order to help them stay motivated and continue trying to complete the task.

4. Marking critical features: highlighting the most important parts of the task.

5. Demonstration: showing the child how to do aspects of the task.

As a learner crosses the ZPD…

the level of help given in scaffolding declines

explain the strength research support for the zone of proximal development

there is clear evidence that shows that there is a gap between the level of reasoning a child can achieve on their own and what they can achieve with the help of a more expert other. One researcher gave 4-5 year old children the task of estimating the number of sweets in a box, there were two conditions, the children either worked alone or had the help of an older child. Results showed that most children working alone failed to give a good estimate however children who received prompts from ‘experts’ mostly successfully completed the task

explain the strength research support for scaffolding

many studies have observed that adults & older children provide support for younger children learning to master new tasks. Research also shows that the level of help given by an expert partner declines during the process of learning as predicted by the principle of scaffolding. One psychologist used a longitudinal procedure to follow up on children who they observed in problem solving tasks with the help of their mothers. Distinctive changes were observed over time as the mothers used less direct intervention & more hints/prompts as the children gained experience. Mothers also increasingly offered help when it was needed instead of constantly

explain the strength practical application in education

Vygotsky’s ideas have been highly influential in education, for example, the idea that children can learn more & faster with appropriate scaffolding has raised expectations of what they should be able to achieve. Social interaction in learning, through group work, peer tutoring & individual adult assistance from teachers/teaching assistants has been used to scaffold children through their ZPD. There is evidence to suggest that these strategies are effective; one researcher found that when students were tutored by older children alongside class teaching progressed further in reading than controls who just received class teaching

explain the weakness although Vygotsky’s theories about the role of social interaction have had useful applications these may not be universal/there are individual differences to the way that children learn

 One researchers discovered that in China students learn very effectively in lecture-style classrooms with very few individual interactions with peers or tutors & another researcher found that what children learn actually varies considerably between individuals even in group learning situations