Theories of cognitive development

FOCUS OF PIAGETIAN THEORY

FOCUSES ON NATURE/NURTURE, CONTINUITY VS DISCONTINUITY, AND THE ACTIVE CHILD

PIAGETS BELIEFS

• CHILDREN MENTALLY ACTIVE SINCE BIRTH, MENTAL + PHYSICAL ACTIVITY CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPMENT

• A CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH, CHILDREN BUILD KNOWLEDGE THROUGH EXPERIENCE + INTERACTION WITH THE ENVIRONMENT. SHAPE THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT

• THE CHILD IS A SCIENTIST, THEY GENERATE HYPOTHESES, EXPERIMENT, AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS VIA THEIR OBSERVATIONS

PIAGETIAN ASSUMPTIONS

• CHILDREN LEARN IMPORTANT LESSONS ON THEIR OWN RATHER THAN BY DEPENDING ON INSTRUCTION

• CHILDREN ARE INTRINSICALLY MOTIVATED TO LEARN AND DON’T NEED TO BE REWARDED TO DO SO

NATURE AND NURTURE

• NATURE + NURTURE INTERACT TO PRODUCE COGNITIVE DEV

• NURTURE = IS PROVIDED BY CAREGIVERS AND INCLUDES EXPERIENCES CHILDREN ENCOUNTER

• NATURE = INVOLVES CHILDS MATURING BRAIN AND BODY, THE ABILITY TO PERCEIVE, ACT, AND LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE (TENDENCY TO INTEGRATE OBSERVATIONS INTO COHERENT KNOWLEDGE)

CONTINUITY; ASSIMILATION, ACCOMODATION, EQUILIBRATION

1. ASSIMILATION: NEW INFORMATION IS INCORPORATED INTO CONCEPTS A CHILD ALREADY UNDERSTANDS

2. ACCOMODATION: THE PROCESS BY WHICH CHILDREN IMPROVE THEIR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING IN RESPONSE TO NEW EXPERIENCES

3. EQUILIBRATION: THE PROCESS BY WHICH CHILDREN BALANCE ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMMODATION TO CREATE A STABLE UNDERSTANDING. EQUILIBRIUM = SATISFACTION W/ CURRENT UNDERSTANDING. DISEQUILIBRIUM = WHEN NEW INFORMATION LEAD A PERSON TO PERCEIVE THAT THEIR UNDERSTANDING IS INADEQUATE, THEY RECOGNIZE THEIR CONFUSION AND DEVELOP A SOPHISTICATED UNDERSTANDING THAT ELIMINATES CONFUSION OF THE OLD ONE.

DISCONTINUITY; DISTINCT STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (PIAGET’S STAGE THEORY)

EACH STAGE IS A LEAP FROM ONE WAY OF UNDERSTANDING TO THE NEXT, HIGHER ONE

1. QUALITATIVE CHANGE: DIFFERENT AGED CHILDREN THINK IN DIFFERENT WAYS. CHILDREN IN EARLY STAGES OF DEV THINK OF MORALITY IN TERMS OF CONSEQUENCES. CHILDREN IN LATER STAGES THINK OF IT IN TERMS OF INTENT

2. BROAD APPLICABILITY: THE TYPE OF THINKING CHARACTERISTIC OF EACH STAGE INFLUENCES THE THINKING OF CHILDREN ACROSS DIVERSE TOPICS AND CONTEXTS

3. BRIEF TRANSITIONS: BEFORE ENTERING A NEW STAGE THEY HAVE TO PASS THROUGH A BRIEF TRANSITIONAL PERIOD WHERE THEY FLUCTUATE BETWEEN THE THINKING CHARACTERITSTIC OF THE NEW ADVANCED STAGE AND THE OLD LESS ADVANCED ONE

4. INVARIANT SEQUENCE: EVERYONE PROGRESSES THROUGH THE STAGES IN THE SAME ORDER WITH NONE SKIPPED

PIAGET’S 4 STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

1. SENSORIMOTOR (BIRTH - 2 YRS)

2. PREOPERATIONAL (2 - 7 YRS)

3. CONRETE OPERATIONAL (7 -12 YRS)

4. FORMAL OPERATIONAL (12YRS+)

SENSORIMOTOR PERIOD

• BIRTH - 2 YRS

• INTELLIGENCE EXPRESSED VIA SENSORY (PERCEPTUAL) AND MOTOR (PHYSICAL) ABILITIES LIKE FLAILING, GRASPING, SUCKING

• THESE ABILITIES HELP INFANTS LEARN ABOUT OBJECTS, PEOPLE, RUDIMENTARY CONCEPTS LIKE TIME, SPACE, CAUSALITY.

• INTELLIGENCE BOUND TO IMMEDIATE PERCEPTIONS + ACTIONS

• INFANT REFLEXES BEGIN TO BE MORE EFFICIENT AND BECOME PART OF COMPLEX BEHAVIORS CENTERED ON THEIR BODIES, REPETITION OF THESE ACTIONS CAN PRODUCE PLEASURE

• GAIN OBJECT PERMANENCE IN THE FIRST YEAR

• A- NOT - B ERROR BY THEIR 1ST BDAY

• FORM ENDURING MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS, DEFERRED IMITATION = REPETITION OF OTHERS BEHAVIOR MINS, HOURS, OR DAYS AFTER IT OCCURED

STAGES WITHIN THE SENSORIMOTOR PERIOD

1. REFLEXES (BIRTH-1M): BUILDING BLOCK OF INTELLIGENCE, INFANTS REFINE THEIR REFLEXES-BECOMING MORE PROFICIENT, SMOOTH + COORDINATED

2. PRIMARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (1M-4M): BEHAVIORS ARE REPEATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN-BECOMING CIRCULAR. SIMPLE REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS LIKE SUCKING OCCUR BY CHANCE, INFANT FINDS IT PLEASURABLE AND THEY CONTINUE TO DO IT. INITIALLY THAT BEHAVIOR IS POORLY COORDINATED BUT OVER TIME IT BECOMES A WELL ORGANIZED SCHEME

3. SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (4M-8M): INFANTS ATTENTION BECOMES FOCUSED ON THE MANIPULATION OF OBJECTS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT NOT JUST THEIR BODY. BEGINNINGS OF INTENTIONAL BEHAVIOR, HAPPENS BY CHANCE AND INFANTS SEEK TO REPEAT IT STILL NO MEANS OR BEHAVIOR

4. COORDINATION OF SECONDARY REACTIONS (18M-12M): INTEGRATE AND ADAPT SCHEMES TO ATTAIN GOALS, INTENTIONAL PURPOSEFUL SEQUENTIAL BEHAVIOR DESIGNED TO REACH A GOAL

5. TERTIARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (12M-18M): ACTIVELY EXPERIMENT AND INTRODUCE VARIATIONS TO SEE HOW THEY AFFECT THE OUTCOME, FOCUS GETS FURTHER FROM THE SELF

6. NEW MEANS THROUGH MENTAL COMBINATIONS (18M-2YRS): BEGINNIGNS OF SYMBOLIC THOUGHTS AND MENTAL EXPLORATION OF THE WORLD RATHER THAN PHYSICAL. BEGINNING OF DEFERRED IMITATION (REFLECTS MENTAL REPRESENTATION)

OBJECT PERMANENCE:

• MILESTONE OF THE SENSORIMOTOR PERIOD

• UNDERSTANDING THAT PHYSICAL OBJECTS OR PEOPLE CONTINUE TO EXIST EVEN WHEN YOU CANT SEE THEM

• STAGES OF SENSORIMOTOR PERIOD AND OBJECT PERM AGE TIMELINE; STAGES 1 & 2 = OUT OF SIGHT OUT OF MIND, STAGE 3 RUDIMENTARY AWARENESS OF OBJECT, STAGE 4 INFANT WILL SEARCH FOR MISSING OBJECT, STAGE 5 INFANT SEARCHES AS LONG AS DISPLACEMENT IS VISIBLE, STAGE 6 CHILD HAS OBJECT PERM

A - NOT - B ERROR

• 8- 12 MONTHS

• BABIES LIFT BLANKETS OR ITEMS TO SEARCH FOR OBJECTS BUT THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LOCATE THE OBJECT IF IT IS PLACED UNDER A NEW LOCATION THAN WHERE IT WAS HIDDEN PREVIOUSLY

• A= hide object under cloth A the baby picks it up and retrieves it, repeat it. Now you cover it with cloth B (new location) they are not able to find the object.

PREOPERATIONAL PERIOD

• REPRESENT EXPERIENCES IN LANGUAGE + MENTAL IMAGERY

• REMEMBER EXPERIENCES FOR LONGER PERIODS AND FORM MORE SOPHISTICATED CONCEPTS

• CANNOT CONSIDER MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY LIKE LIQUID CONSERVATION

• CAPACITY FOR SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION

• EGOCENTRISM, EX→ 3 MOUNTAIN PROBLEM

• CENTRATION, EX→ SCALE BALANCE PROBLEM

• ANIMISM: ATTRIBUTING LIFE TO INANIMATE OBJECTS

• INTUITIVE REASONING: PROBLEM SOLVE BUT CAN’T EXPLAIN HOW THEY GOT TO THAT ANSWER

• RIGIDITY OF THOUGHT: TENDENCY TO CENTER ON ONE OBJECT/EVENT AND IGNORE OTHERS

• LACK OF REVERSIBILITY: CAN’T REVERSE ACTIONS MENTALLY

EGOCENTRISM; 3 MOUNTAIN PROBLEM

• BELIEVE OTHERS SEE THE WORLD HOWN THEY SEE IT

• DON’T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT OTHERS SPATIAL PERSPECTIVES

• 3 MOUNTAIN PROBLEM; THEY BECOME LESS EGOCENTRIC AT THE END OF THE PREOPERATIONAL PERIOD

• showed children diff perspectives of a mountain and then put a doll behind their perspective and was tasked to explain what they see and then what the doll sees, but they explained that the doll would see what they saw.

CENTRATION; SCALE BALANCE PROBLEM

• FOCUSED ON A SINGLE PERCEPTUALLY STRIKING FEATURE OF AN OBJECT/EVENT

• EXCLUDING OTHER FEATURES

• SCALE BALANCE PROBLEM, OLDER CHILDREN TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WEIGHT AND DISTANCE AND YOUNGER ONLY TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WEIGHT

CONCRETE OPERATIONAL

• CHILDREN CAN REASON LOGICALLY ABOUT CONCRETE OBJECTS/EVENTS (DON’T RELY ON JUST INTUITION)

• CANNOT THINK IN PURELY ABSTRACT TERMS OR GENERATE SYSTEMATIC SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS TO TEST THEIR BELIEFS

• AT 7 THEY CAN NOW UNDERSTAND THE SCALE BALANCE PROBLEM + CONSERVATION BUT THEY CANNOT SOLVE THE PENDULUM PROBLEM

• A CONSERVER MARKS END OF THIS PERIOD → A CHILD WHO CAN GIVE LOGICAL EXPLANATIONS FOR THEIR ANSWERS AND RESIST COUNTERARGUMENTS

FORMAL OPERATIONAL

• THINK DEEPLY ABOUT CONCRETE, ABSTRACT, HYPOTHETICAL SITUATIONS. EX→ EXTRA EYE PROBLEM

• PERFORM SYSTEMATIC SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS, DRAW CONCLUSIONS EVEN IF THEY DIFFER FROM PRIOR BELIEFS

• MOST INFLUENCED BY EDUCATION

• NOT UNIVERSAL, BUT THOSE WHO DO REACH THIS ARE INTELLECTUALLY ENRICHED

• SOLVE PENDULUM PROBLEM

PIAGETS WEAKNESSES

• VAGUE MECHANISMS OF ASSIMILATION, ACCOMMODATION, EQUILIBRATION, NOT EASILY TESTABLE

• INFANTS/ YOUNG CHILDREN ARE MORE COGNITIVELY COMPETENT THAN PIAGET RECOGNIZED. EX→ OBJECT PERM TIMELINE

• NO INCLUSION OF SOCIAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL CONTRIBUTION TO COG DEV

• STAGE MODEL DEPICTS CHILDREN’S THINKING AS MORE CONSISTENT THAN IT IS. EX→ DIFF AGES FOR CONSERVATION OF NUMBERS (6) AND SOLIDS (8)

INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY

• SPECIFICATION OF COMPLEX PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THINKING

• A FRAMEWORK, MEMORY IS THE BASIS OF ALL THOUGHT

• TASK ANALYSIS: DETERMINE STEPS TO SOLVE TASK, BREAK TASK DOWN, OBSERVE CHILD’S PERFORMANCE. REVEALS HOW INFO IS ENCODED + RETRIEVED AND HOW IT VARIES IN YOUNGER VS OLDER CHILDREN

INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY; MEMORY

1. WORKING MEMORY: MINDS MENTAL WORKSPACE, PROBLEM SOLVING, LIMITED INFO AVAILABLE FOR LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME, MAKE MENTAL MANIPULATIONS

2. LONG TERM MEMORY: MINDS ENCYCLOPEDIA, MEMORIES OF PROBLEM SOLVING, RULES, TECHNIQUES, GENERAL KNOWLEDGE, NO LIMITS ON AMOUNT OF INFO THAT CAN BE STORED OR DURATION ITS STORED

3. EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING: COORDINATES ATTENTION, MEMORY, BEHAVIOR. - Inhibitory control = resist impulses, stop a response. Pay attention

   Cognitive flexibility = switch focus as needed.

   Strategy use =  selecting, monitoring the use of strategies

WHY DOES MEMORY IMPROVE W/DEVELOPMENT?

1. CHANGES IN BASIC PROCESSES LIKE ENCODING INCREASES WITH AGE + SPEED OF PROCESSING IMPROVES DUE TO BRIAN MATURATION + INCREASED MYELINATION & NEURAL CONNECTIONS

2. DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN STRATEGIES (METHODS) HELP US KEEP INFO ACTIVE AND STORED INTO LONG TERM MEMORY

3. REHEARSAL BENEFITS OLDER KIDS + ADULTS, A YOUNG CHILD CAN BE TAUGHT THIS AS THEIR FIRST METHOD TO REMEMBER SOMETHING WOULDN’T BE THIS BUT IT DOESN’T BENEFIT THEM AS IT DOES AN OLDER CHILD. SPEED OF REHEARSAL IS RELATED TO # OF WORDS REMEMBERED NOT AGE

4. SEMANTIC ORGANIZATION: MEMORIES BY CATEGORIZING. BETTER FOR OLDER KIDS, DOESN’T BENEFIT YOUNGER KIDS

5. ELABORATIVE REASONING: CREATING MEMORIES FOR MEMORIZATION, AFTER 11-12 CHILDREN GOOD AT PICKING STRATEGIES THAT FIT THE TASK THEY WANT TO COMPLETE ON THEIR OWN SPONTANEOUSLY AND EFFICIENTLY

KNOWLEDGE BASE

AS CHILDREN GAIN THIS THEY HAVE BETTER MEMORY. EX→ Game of chess between novice adult chess players vs expert child chess players. Adults retained more numbers, children retained more meaningful chess positions than the adults. When the chess positions are random both the adults and children had the same outcome.

SEIGLER’S OVERLAPPING WAVES APPROACH

• CHILDREN USE DIFF STRATEGIES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS

• AT ANY GIVEN TIME THERE ARE MULTIPLE STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE USED TO SOLVE A PROBLEM

• SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES ARE RETAINED AND UNSUCCESSFUL ONES AREN’T

• MORAL REASONING: ANY POINT ITS REASONABLE TO USE MULTIPLE STRATEGIES

CORE KNOWLEDGE THEORY

• CHILDREN COME INTO THE WORLD WITH INNATE CAPACITY TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE, KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE, NUMBERS, AND SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Proposed to counter the fact that most children acquire knowledge easily and early in life without instruction.

NATAVISM VS CONSTUCTIVISM

• Natavism: Infants are born with substantial knowledge in the domains. Maturation allows them to become evident,

• Constructivism: Born with innate knowledge but it's very basic but we also have a tendency to explore theories, form, and revise them in response to counter evidence. Revision helps us gain a better understanding of the world. Incorporates learning from experience

VYGOTSKY

• VIEWED CHILDREN AS ACTIVE SEEKERS OF KNOWLEDGE

• THERE ARE KEY FEATURES TO PROMOTE COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:

• Intersubjectivity: the mutual shared understanding among participants in an activity. Shown in infancy via shared eye direction between parents and infants.

• Scaffolding: teaching style that matches the amount of systems to the learners needs. Children need more direct instruction. As they begin to catch onto the task the instructor gives less and less help/tips. Support the child's learning but don’t do the task for them. 

• Guided participation: cognitive growth results in the child's involvement in structured activity with a more knowledgeable person like a teacher, parent, more knowledgeable child. Connect new experiences with some they already know 

• Zone of proximal development: tasks are too difficult for children to do on their own but are possible with the help of more skilled adults/peers.

• Private speech: language is vital since it helps children think of mental activities, language is the foundation for all higher mental activities. Language helps a child regulate their behavior. 

• Inner speech: thought & language are related, thought is internalized speech. Language shapes thought.