HD 101 1nd Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Unit 2 Piaget the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development His contributions include a theory of cognitive child development detailed observational studies of cognition in children and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities Piaget believed that children are natural curious they constantly want to make sense of their experience and they create theories about how things work however most of the time these theories are incomplete Describes these theories as schemes psychological structures that organize experience Mental categories of related events objects and knowledge 3 parts of cognitive theory schemas processes that enable the transition of one stage to another assimilation accommodation equilibrium stages of development Piaget s Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways It is concerned with children rather than all learners It focuses on development rather than learning per se so it does not address learning of information or specific behaviors It proposes discrete stages of development marked by qualitative differences rather than a gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors concepts ideas etc His most famous theory is Theory of Genetic Epistemology Schemes change constantly adapting to children s experiences Intellectual adaptation involves 2 processes working together Assimilation occurs when new experiences are readily incorporated into existing schemes we understand things based on the knowledge we already have Examples baby has a familiar gasping scheme she will soon learn that the grasping scheme also works well on blocks toy cars and other small objects Riding a big wheel to riding a trike Calling a zebra a horse with stripes Extending grasping theme to new objects illustrates Accommodation occurs when schemes are modified based on experience need to learn new ways in order to learn new things soon infant learns some objects need to be lifted with 2 hands on some cant be lifted at all The infant whose theory is that objects can be lifted with one hand finds that her theory is confirmed when she tries to pick up small objects but is in for a surprise when she tries to pick up something heavy Examples calling a zebra a zebra riding a trike to riding a bike 4 stages of cognitive development 1 Sensorimotor thinking 0 2 yrs learning through senses and motor skills Object Permanence Piaget s term that objects exist independently An infant s understanding of objects could be summarized as Out of sight out of mind Infants have little understanding of objects if an object is covered by a cloth they think it s gone 2 Preoperational 2 6 yrs acquires multiple perspectives Egocentrism believe others see the world just like they do the difficulty in seeing the world from another s outlook Do not comprehend that other people differ in their ideas convictions and emotions Mountain example in class Centration narrowly focused type of thought characteristic of preoperational children different cups and liquid example pennies example 3 Concrete Operations 6 12 yrs loss of egocentrism acquires logic thought about concrete problems Conservation The understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes the ability to understand that redistributing material does not affect its mass number or volume For example if you take two pieces of string that are the same length and scrunch one up a child will reply that the scrunched one is shorter if conservation hasn t yet been reached Liquid example in the 2 different cups 4 Formal Operations 12 yrs thinks systematically acquires abstract thought and logic Vygotsky made the social development theory stresses the fundamental role of social development The idea that child development is the result of interactions between children and their social environment These interactions involve people parents and teachers playmates and schoolmates brothers and sisters They also involve cultural artifacts such as books or toys as well as culturally specific practices in which a child engages in the classroom at home or on the playground Vygotsky s theory differs from that of Piaget in a number of important ways 1 Vygotsky places more emphasis on culture affecting shaping cognitive development this contradicts Piaget s view of universal stages and content of development Vygotsky does not refer to stages in the way that Piaget does 2 Vygotsky places considerably more emphasis on social factors contributing to cognitive development Piaget is criticized for underestimating this 3 Vygotsky places more and different emphasis on the role of language in cognitive development again Piaget is criticized for lack of emphasis on this Scaffolding a style in which teachers gauge the amount of assistance they offer to match the learner s needs Early in learning a new task children know little so teachers give much direct instruction As they learn they give less and less instruction Defining characteristic of scaffolding giving help but not more than what is needed clearly promotes learning Zone of proximal development difference between what children can do with assistance and what they can do alone Example 4 yrs old Ian and his father do puzzles together Ian does most of the work but his father sometimes helps but when Ian does the puzzles himself he cant complete them The difference between what Ian can do w assistance and what he does alone defines his zone of proximal development Private Speech a child s comments aren t intended for others but are designed to regulate the child s own behavior a way of guiding themselves Example Children talking to themselves Information Processing ability to process new information Computer is used as an analogy for the mind hardware brain software mental processes development is a function of processing speed efficiency and capacity Memory retaining and recalling past experience Basic processes Encoding transferring info into memory Storage retaining info over time Retrieval recovering info from memory 1 Recognition assisted recovery of past info 2 Recall unassisted recovery of past info Example Recall picking classmates in your yearbook list people in your senior class Recognition would be seeing a picture a remembering them Modal Model of Memory 1 Sensory memory unlimited capacity brief duration 2 Short term memory limited capacity limited duration 3 Long term memory unlimited