PSYC 4220 1st Edition Lecture 19 Outline of Last Lecture I II III Cognitive Development in Preschool Errors in Thinking Theory of Mind Outline of Current Lecture I II III Lack of Conservation Vygotsky s Sociocultural Perspective Vygotsky vs Piaget Current Lecture Preoperational 2 7 years More errors Lack of conservation Not understanding that the quantity of something is unrelated to the arrangement physical appearance of objects Why do kids have these problems Can t decenter Decentration ability to focus on two aspects of reality or dimensions of a problem simultaneously Can t multitask or focus on more than one thing at a time o Kids can not focus on the width of the glass and height of the glass at the same time Instead display cenration focus on single aspect of reality problem The ability to undo an action or mentally rewinding in your head Haven t mastered reversibility process of mental undoing or reversing an action Some concentration problems are easier than others and they can do them at an earlier age But even at 4 years children can be trained to conserve Ex they can learn that the amount of water is the same if we really teach them that and they often will take that knowledge and apply it to other tasks Even 5 or 6 months after teaching them conservation you can go back and they will still remember Vygotsky s Sociocultural Perspective How social interactions and culture can influence development Even though his theory is quite old it wasn t talked about till 80s or 90s because originally was banned in Russia and by the time it was found it then first needed to be translated to English for western culture so may appear to be newer theory than it actually is Main idea cognitive development highly influenced by social interaction culture Kids are seen as apprentices Much more social way of looking at our ability to think 3 main things how do culture social interaction and language influence development Culture affects cognitive development Each culture has own set of tool and beliefs that must be passed down between generations Tools of intellectual adaptation methods of thinking problem solving passed on in a culture It involves ways of thinking and problem solving that are unique to that culture i e in our culture we use iphones and technology to plan and remind ourselves But because these ideas tools and values are different and vary cognitive development is not universal It is not just the speed Piaget but also the content Vygotsky stops us from being ethnocentric It doesn t mean that the society is behind or slow if they can t do something that people of that age in our culture can do just means that tool is not important to them and where they live Social interaction affects cognitive development Most skills acquired through social interactions We don t learn to talk by sitting in a corner and talking to ourselves we learn by conversing Vygotsky said that the zone of proximal development was very important in development Zone of proximal development gap between what person can accomplish alone vs with assistance of skilled partner i e Dr Welsh doing a word search with her son Best opportunity for cognitive growth tasks just beyond child s capabilities alone but possible with assistance Not so hard that it is impossible but not so easy that they do it instantly and it s easy Learn from more advanced person who teaches them how to do it and then over time they learn and are able to do it on their own This is known as scaffolding skilled person is carefully tailoring help to level of learner i e martial arts the teacher fights harder as you improve so that you continue to improve Piaget and Vygotsky notices that young children talk to themselves but interpreted it differently o They announce everything they do all the time Piaget said kids are talking to themselves because they are so egocentric that they think talking to themselves is the same as talking to another person o Egocentric speech young children s speech that is not directed at other people o Due to egocentrism o Less egocentric speech at end of preoperational stage which he thought was evidence to support his theory o This idea would imply that as a child gets more cognitively advanced language skills increase o Sign of premature cognitive speech development that immature kids grow out of BUT Vygotsky thought o Private speech speech directed to self that guides thoughts and behaviors o He said private speech didn t go away it just became internalized and they would think it in their heads o Because of this they become quieter and less complex with what they say out loud o Eventually becomes entirely internal o Eventually becomes inner speech verbal thoughts Vygotsky vs Piaget Private speech starts as instructions given by more experienced person More evidence for Vygotsky is that kids are more likely to use it when working on difficult tasks Another sign of evidence is that the kids who do this more tend to be better at difficult tasks Kids who use more private speech more attentive more competent at task Just as Vygotsky assumed Private speech is internalized as kids develop Finally there is some evidence that children with behavioral learning problems use more private speech Saying it out loud is a way to compensate for difficulties in attention i e ADHD