SUMMARY

AQA A-Level Psychology – Cognitive Development (Slightly Summarised Notes)Piaget: Cognitive DevelopmentKey Terms

• Schema – mental framework used to organise knowledge.

• Assimilation – adding new information to an existing schema.

• Accommodation – changing existing schemas or creating new ones.

• Equilibration – restoring balance after learning something new.

• Disequilibrium – mental discomfort when existing schemas cannot explain new information.

Main Ideas

• Children think differently from adults, not simply less effectively.

• Cognitive development occurs through interaction with the environment.

• Children actively construct knowledge through schemas.

• Learning occurs through assimilation and accommodation.

Evaluation

Strengths

• Howe: children developed different understandings after discussing a task, supporting individual mental representations.

• Influenced modern activity-based learning.

Limitations

• Vygotsky argued learning is social rather than purely individual.

• Piaget may have overestimated children's motivation because his sample was unusually intelligent.

• Teacher guidance is often more effective than discovery learning (Lazonder & Ruthven).

Piaget's Stages of Intellectual Development1. Sensorimotor Stage (0–2 years)

• Learning through senses and movement.

• Develops object permanence (~8 months).

• Begins understanding others are separate people.

2. Pre-operational Stage (2–7 years)

• Language develops rapidly.

• Shows:

  • Egocentrism

  • Lack of conservation

  • Difficulty with class inclusion

Examples

• Three Mountains Task → egocentrism.

• Counter/Liquid Tasks → lack of conservation.

3. Concrete Operational Stage (7–11 years)

• Understands conservation and class inclusion.

• Logical thinking develops.

• Reasoning limited to concrete situations.

4. Formal Operational Stage (11+ years)

• Can think abstractly and hypothetically.

• Understands logic regardless of content.

• Demonstrated in the Pendulum Task and syllogisms.

Evaluation

Strengths

• Evidence supports developmental changes with age.

Limitations

• McGarrigle & Donaldson ("naughty teddy") showed younger children can conserve when tasks are more realistic.

• Hughes' "Policeman Doll Study" challenged Piaget's claims about egocentrism.

• Autistic children often develop cognitive abilities unevenly, challenging Piaget's domain-general approach.

VygotskyKey Terms

• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) – gap between what a child can do alone and with help.

• Scaffolding – support given by a more knowledgeable other.

Main Ideas

• Cognitive development is fundamentally social.

• Knowledge is first intermental (between people) then intramental (internalised).

• Language is crucial for development.

• Culture influences cognitive growth.

Scaffolding

Support gradually decreases as competence increases:

1. Demonstration

2. Preparation

3. Indication of materials

4. Specific instructions

5. General prompts

Evaluation

Strengths

• Roazzi & Bryant: children performed better with help from older children.

• Conner & Cross: parental support decreases as children become more skilled.

• Supported by peer tutoring research (Van Keer).

Limitations

• Lecture-style teaching can also be effective (Matthews & Liu).

• Piaget's research suggests children often form unique understandings despite social learning.

Baillargeon: Infant Physical ReasoningKey Terms

• Violation of Expectation (VOE) – infants look longer at impossible events.

• Object Persistence – objects continue to exist and remain stable.

Main Ideas

• Infants understand more about the physical world than Piaget suggested.

• Failure on Piaget's tasks may reflect poor motor skills rather than lack of understanding.

Rabbit Study

• Babies (5–6 months) watched rabbits move behind a screen.

• Looked longer at impossible events.

• Suggests understanding of object permanence before 8 months.

Theory of Physical Reasoning System (PRS)

• Infants are born with basic physical knowledge.

• Experience refines this knowledge over time.

Evaluation

Strengths

• VOE avoids motor skill confounds present in Piaget's research.

• Findings are highly consistent.

Limitations

• Longer looking times may reflect interest rather than understanding.

• Difficult to know exactly what infants are thinking.

Selman: Perspective-TakingKey Terms

• Social Cognition – mental processes involved in social interaction.

• Perspective-Taking – understanding another person's viewpoint.

Stages of Perspective-Taking

Evaluation

Strengths

• Strong positive correlation between age and perspective-taking.

• Longitudinal studies support developmental progression.

Limitations

• Bullies often show good perspective-taking (Keller).

• Ignores emotional factors such as empathy.

• Chinese children develop perspective-taking earlier than American children, suggesting cultural influences.

Theory of Mind (ToM)Key Term

• Theory of Mind – understanding that others have their own thoughts, feelings and beliefs.

DevelopmentToddlers (18 months)

• Meltzoff: imitate intended actions rather than actual actions.

False Belief Tasks (3–4 years)

• Wimmer & Perner (Maxi Task)

  • 4-year-olds understand false beliefs.

  • 3-year-olds struggle.

Sally-Anne Study

• Compared autistic children, non-autistic children and children with Down syndrome.

• Most control children passed.

• Most autistic children failed.

• Suggested a ToM deficit in autism.

Evaluation

Strengths

• Useful for understanding social difficulties in autism.

Limitations

• False belief tasks may measure memory and language skills.

• May assess perspective-taking rather than ToM.

• Not all autistic individuals show ToM deficits.

Mirror Neuron SystemKey Term

• Mirror Neurons – neurons that fire when performing an action and when observing someone else perform it.

Main Ideas

• Help us understand:

  • Intentions

  • Emotions

  • Perspectives

  • Empathy

Autism

• Broken Mirror Theory suggests autism may involve mirror neuron dysfunction.

Evaluation

Strengths

• Iacoboni: mirror neuron areas activated when understanding intentions.

• Haker: contagious yawning linked to mirror neuron activity and empathy.

Limitations

• Difficult to study individual mirror neurons in humans.

• Evidence linking autism and mirror neurons is inconsistent.

• Weak evidence that mirror neurons directly explain perspective-taking.

16-Marker Comparison: Piaget vs Vygotsky

AO3: Research supports both views. Piaget explains individual mental representations, while Vygotsky better explains the benefits of social interaction and classroom learning.