infant education
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W5L1CognitiveDevelopment_2021.pptxCOGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT I
ECHE2180 | Penny Van Bergen
Lecture Outline
What is cognitive development?
Theoretical approaches
Piaget’s stage theory
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
Information processing theories
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Lecture Outline
What is cognitive development?
Theoretical approaches
Piaget’s stage theory
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
Information processing theories
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Any mental activity or processing
“Conscious intellectual activity” (Merriam-Webster)
Receiving and processing information
Happens within the memory system
Requires attention and perception
Includes thinking, reasoning, knowing
Develops across childhood
Cognition
The various areas of cognition are often considered separately, and researchers will often specialise in specific areas of cognition
With older children, researchers can use direct questioning and the child’s self-report, and/or specific tasks that will allow children to tell us what they know.
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Cognitive Activities
PROBLEM
SOLVING
ANALYSING
REMEMBERING
THINKING
Receiving and Processing…
From ‘BrainGymer’ (check out their other explanations too!)
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Key Developmental Concepts
Developmental Questions
What develops?
Researchers can observe changes in cognitive abilities over time
Why does it develop this way?
Researchers must provide causal explanations for the observed changes
Explanations of Development
Domain-general
Explanations that apply across all cognitive domains. Often maturational.
Domain-specific
Development occurs at different time points in different domains. Emphasises the child’s knowledge base and experience
Why it develops – much more interesting
Cognitive development has a strong Focus on change
Applied across all domains – they either cannot, or can, do something.
Domain specificity – execute something across some domains but not others
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Research Challenges
Self report:
Must ensure child is capable of expressing abilities!
False Negative – child understands more than is detected by measures
False Positive – child understands less and response is over-interpreted
True/False Questions:
Must account statistically for chance selection
Developing verbal and cognitive skills:
Must ensure task is age- and skill-appropriate
Must assume child understands what is sought
Must account for attention and working memory limitations
It is difficult to ask children what is happening because they cannot always tell us – this sometimes happens with adults when we ask them a question, but then measure in another way and find out that behaviourally it is not true
There are limits generally with self report.
Greater limit with children than with adults – greater linguistically constrained, even if they do have the language they couldn’t articulate or explain why because of limited memory function
Can lead to errors – false negative – often occurs more than false positive
Stories are influenced by other things such as
Sometimes children are not aware they can do things both ways
Quite difficult to measure and measure accurately so we can give a proper explanation
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Research Considerations
Individual Differences
Group averages may not reflect every child
E.g. in case of giftedness, or strong interest
Cultural Differences
Adaption and socialization effects
Ensure interpretation is appropriate!
Demographic Differences
SES differences in health, education
Rural and urban differences in resources
Together can predict developmental differences
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Lecture Outline
What is cognitive development?
Theoretical approaches
Piaget’s stage theory
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
Information processing theories
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Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980)
The grandfather of cognitive development
Pre-Piaget, children were ‘incomplete adults’
Piaget proposed qualitative differences too
Piaget’s Stages
| Stage | Age | Characteristic |
| Sensorimotor | 0-2 | Exploration |
| Pre-operational | 2-7 | Representation |
| Concrete operational | 7-12 | Logical thinking |
| Formal operational | 12+ | Abstract thinking |
Sensorimotor Stage (0-2)
According to Piaget, the mental life of the infant is:
“unhappily, a mysterious abyss for the psychologist”
Characterised by sensory & motor exploration
Cognitive milestones:
Object permanence
Goal directed action
Deferred imitation
Object permanence @ 6mths
Deferred imiation from 6 to 18 months
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Preoperational Stage (2-7)
Representational ability
Make-believe play
Symbolism (e.g. in drawings)
Rapid language development
Illogical or ‘childish’ reasoning
Egocentrism
Animism and magic
Perception-bound
Egocentrism: consider a kid giving mum his teddy to hold when she is sad; preschoolers who block your view of the TV with no concept that you can’t see
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Conservation Tasks
“Do these glasses have the same amount of cordial, or does one have more?”
“I’m going to pour this one into here. Now, do these glasses have the same amount of cordial or does one have more?”
On YouTube: ‘object permanence 2’
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YouTube Demonstration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLj0IZFLKvg
Centration
Are there more dogs or animals in this picture?
If they can only focus on one aspect at a time – what is the most salient object
To answer that there are more animals they need to think about two things at once – there are animals and dogs can be animals as well
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e.g. Siegler (2016)
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(with thanks to Carol Newall for this slide!)
Concrete Operational Stage (7-11)
Logical reasoning ability emerges
Mental manipulation of information
Can pass conservation tasks
Identity
Reversibility
Compensation
Can classify, use ‘seriation’
On YouTube: ‘Piaget-stage 2-preop’ from Jenningh
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Concrete Operational Stage (7-11)
BUT object must be present/concrete
Cannot think abstractly
On YouTube: ‘Piaget-stage 2-preop’ from Jenningh
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Formal Operational Stage (12+)
Abstract thought emerges
Can understand hypothetical situations and generate new hypotheses
Implications for
Scientific reasoning
Mathematical reasoning
Problem solving and critical thinking
X = 2
Y = 5
YouTube Demonstration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjJdcXA1KH8&NR=1
Formal Operations…
Cow is to hoof as dog is to…?
If A = 5, B = 3, and (A + B) x C = 48, what is C?
In the north, where there is snow, all bears are white. Novaya Zemlya is in the far north, and it always has snow. What colour are the bears there?
How might this apply across KLAs?
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How Does Development Occur?
Via maturation and activity
Internal adaption to external world
Assimilation
Accommodation
How Does Development Occur?
Assimilation:
Accommodation:
Using current schemes to interpret a new event
Adjusting or making new schemes to fit a new event
Assimilation and Accommodation
Jake encounters a puppy. His scheme for dog tells him dogs are four-legged animals. The puppy is assimilated into his dog scheme.
Assimilation and Accommodation
Jake next encounters a cow. It is also a four-legged animal. The cow is (incorrectly) assimilated into his dog scheme.
Assimilation and Accommodation
Later his mother corrects him and says ‘cow’. The cow is accommodated into a new cow scheme, distinct from the dog scheme.
Neo-Piagetian Research
More complex findings for individuals
Stages often underestimate ability
Interactions with working memory
Not just maturation
Domain-specific development
Adults may not reach formal operations
Cultural differences! (see next slide)
Adolescent egocentrism
In the north, where there is snow, all bears are white. Novaya Zemlya is in the far north, and it always has snow. What colour are the bears there?
Peasant wants firsthand knowledge and must see the event to determine the answer
Eventually:
“If a man had seen a white bear and told about it, he could be believed, but I’ve never seen one and hence I can’t say
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Cultural Differences…
Researcher: In the north, where there is snow, all bears are white. Novaya Zemlya is in the far north, and it always has snow. What colour are the bears there?
Interviewee: If a man had seen a white bear and told about it, he could be believed, but I’ve never seen one and hence I can’t say
Piaget: Classroom Implications
Environment supports development
Consider differences in individual trajectories
Give free time to play, experiment
Consider age-based differences in cognition
Qualitative not just quantitative
Prompt disequilibrium!
Challenge learners’ views
Plan group work in which learners share perspectives
From McDevitt & Ormrod, 2007
Discovery learning? Advocated by Piagetians
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