cognitive development

Question 1

development

Answer 1

• lasting change that occurs in an orderly manner
• not transient/short lived eg mood
• individuals share commonalities at different phases

Question 2

maturation

Answer 2

• changes that occur naturally, largely under genetic control
• physical constrains cognitive and social
• brains don’t fully mature to early 20s, full capabilities capped

Question 3

learning

Answer 3

• occurs via interactions with the environment/ experience
• ACTIVE exploration within the environment

Question 4

social transmission of learning

Answer 4

• learning via interaction and observation of others

Question 5

piaget vs vygotsky

Answer 5

piaget view children as scientist
vygotsky focus on social transmission

Question 6

principles of development

Answer 6

• people develop at different rates
• ages = general guideline/ average
• orderly gradual progression of abilities
• can’t skip developmental points
• may be apparent back tracking, making mistakes they previously didn’t

Question 7

piaget theory of cognitive development

Answer 7

• children think differently than adults
• discrete stages to cognitive development
• children as little scientists actively interacting

Question 8

2 basic tendencies of learning

Answer 8

• organization, organize thoughts and behaviours into schemas
• experience leads to increased complexity, detail and efficiency

Question 9

adaptation

Answer 9

• once we understand our environment we can change our behaviour to adjust

Question 10

assimilation

Answer 10

• assimilate information into existing schemas

Question 11

accomodation

Answer 11

• modify or create new schemas

Question 12

equilibration

Answer 12

• schema accurate, expectancy and experience match

Question 13

disequlibirum

Answer 13

• mismatch between expectation and experience, discomfort
• leads to assimilation, accommodation, equilibrium

Question 14

piaget theory of cognitive development
preoperational

Answer 14

• 1st stage sensorimotor however when going into educational settings they are at pre-operational
• age 2-6/7
• semiotic function emerges , abiliy to think in symbols eg language, imaginary play
• egocentric thought, difficulty in understanding anothers perspective
• one way logic

Question 15

piaget theory of cognitive development
concrete operational

Answer 15

• age 7-11
• change in logic, understand rules of conservation and measurement number and volume
• solve concrete problems in a logical manner

Question 16

piaget theory of cognitive development
formal operational

Answer 16

• 11+ years
• development of abstract thought, non literal language (metaphor and satire)
• social issues, identity
• adolescent egocentrism, focus on own thoughts feelings and concerns
• imaginary audience

Question 17

piaget theory of cognitive development
implications for education

Answer 17

• orderly sequential development, solve problems in specific order, different reasoning at different stages
• instructions must match developmental stages
• students develop at different rates, differences within the same class

Question 18

semiotic function

Answer 18

• preoperational stage
  = ability to think in symbols eg language, thought, numbers

Question 19

piaget theory of cognitive development
critiques

Answer 19

• issues with stages, abilities emerge at different times
• continuous vs discrete
• underestimates the ability of children, tasks too difficult, instructions unclear
• excludes cultural and social factors

Question 20

neo-piagetian and information processing theory

Answer 20

• agree with Piaget stages but focus on information processing skills
• development of executive function (attention, working memory, planning, problem solving)
• mediated by prefrontal cortex, last areas to mature

cognitive development is a result of improvements in specific skills like working memory and processing speed, which are influenced by both biological maturation and experience

Question 21

vygotsky
sociocultural perspective

Answer 21

• learning is a social activity, all human behaviour takes place in a social and cultural context, inseparable
• social interaction is the source of cognitive development
• cognitive skills mediated by language, language is the critical skill that allows for learning

Question 22

vygotsky
co-construction

Answer 22

• participants interact, jointly construct solution/knowledge, problem solve together
• after socially constructed strategy, we then internalize, ability to solve individually in the future
• learning involves acquisition and internalization of cultural tools for problem solving (different between cultures and time)

Question 23

vygotsky
language is the most important cultural tool

Answer 23

• use language to communicate with others
• much of our thought is language based
• learn via other people, internalization of language

Question 24

vygotsky
private speech

Answer 24

• self talk
• guides thought and action

Question 25

emergence of private speech

Answer 25

1. child's behaviour guided by others, what we are told by parents/guardians 2. child guides behaviour of others child tells others what they have been told 3. child guides own behaviour child to self 4. social communication with self aloud, then become whispers, silent with lip movements, internalized from private speech to inner speech (lip movements disappear) - private speech (audible) --> inner speech (silent), fundamental to cognitive development. can revert to speaking aloud/ mouth movements if task is difficult - vygotsky encouraged the use of private speech, interference of learning ability otherwise

Question 26

vygotsky social scaffolding

Answer 26

- older others provide scaffolding - support, guidance for problem solving - can be language based, observational, guided modeling

Question 27

vygotsky assisted learning

Answer 27

- decreased guidance/scaffolding as ability develops - scaffolding helps, student should become increasingly independent

Question 28

vygotsky process of learning

Answer 28

1. social activity depends on support from others 2. expansion of zone of proximal development knowledge near to us but not quite there yet problems learner can solve with guidance/scaffolding, zone grows 3. language cognitive development, social interaction, learning happens via language