LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT 6 A Topical Approach to LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT Cognitive Developmental Approaches John W. Santrock

Piagetian Processes: Schemes Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piagetian Processes: Schemes Actions or mental representations that organize knowledge

Piaget: Assimilation and Accommodation Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget: Assimilation and Accommodation Assimilation—Incorporating new information into existing knowledge schemes Accommodation—Adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences

Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage First of Piaget’s stages Lasts from birth to about 2 years Infants construct understanding of world by coordinating sensory experiences with motoric actions

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Object Permanence Understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot directly be seen, heard, or touched One of infant’s most important accomplishments

Evaluating Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Evaluating Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage New research techniques suggest Piaget’s theory need to be modified: Some abilities develop earlier Transitions not as clear-cut as Piaget suggested AB error Can be more specific now than Piaget could

Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Second Piagetian developmental stage Lasts from about 2 to 7 years of age Children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings. Operations—internalized sets of actions that allow children to do mentally what before they had done physically

The Three Mountains Task Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development The Three Mountains Task

The Symbolic Function Substage Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development The Symbolic Function Substage Symbolic function First substage of preoperational thought; young child gains ability to represent mentally an object that is not present (2-4 years) Egocentrism Inability to distinguish between one’s own and someone else’s perspective Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action Animism

The Intuitive Thought Substage Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development The Intuitive Thought Substage Children begin to use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to all sorts of questions (4-7 years) Centration—focusing attention on one characteristic to exclusion of others Conservation—idea that an amount stays the same regardless of changes in its appearance. Lacking in preoperational stage

Piaget’s Conservation Task Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget’s Conservation Task

Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage Piaget’s third stage (7-11 years) Children can perform operations Logical reasoning replaces intuitive reasoning as long as the reasoning can be applied to specific, concrete examples

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Horizontal Décalage Piaget’s concept that similar abilities do not appear at the same time within a stage of development Example: not all conservation abilities emerge at the same time

Classification Skills Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Classification Skills Seriation—ordering stimuli along quantitative dimension Transitivity—if relation holds between a first object and a second object, and holds between the second object and a third object, then it holds between first object and third object

Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage Individuals move beyond concrete experiences and think in more abstract and logical ways (11-15 years) Abstract, Idealistic, and Logical Thinking Hypothetical-deductive reasoning—adolescents have cognitive ability to develop hypotheses about ways to solve problems and can systematically deduce best path to follow in solving problem

Adolescent Egocentrism Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Adolescent Egocentrism Heightened self-consciousness of adolescents Imaginary audience—belief that others are as interested in them as they are. Involves attention-getting behavior motivated by desire to be noticed, visible, and “on stage” Personal fable—adolescent’s sense of uniqueness and invincibility

Piaget and Education Take a constructivist approach Applying and Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Piaget and Education Take a constructivist approach Facilitate, rather than direct, learning Consider the child’s knowledge and level of thinking Use ongoing assessment Promote the student’s intellectual health Turn the classroom into a setting of exploration and discovery

Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Applying and Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Criticisms Some estimates of timing of children’s abilities inaccurate Development not uniformly stagelike Effects of training Culture and education influence development Contributions New way of looking at children

Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development Social constructivist approach—emphasis on social contexts of learning and construction of knowledge through social interaction

The ZPD and Scaffolding Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development The ZPD and Scaffolding Zone of Proximal Development Tasks too difficult for children to master alone but that can be mastered with assistance Scaffolding Changing support over course of a teaching session to fit child’s current performance level

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development

Vygotsky’s Theory: Language and Thought Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development Vygotsky’s Theory: Language and Thought Believed young children use language to plan, guide, and monitor behavior Language & thought initially develop independently, then merge Private speech Self talk

Teaching Strategies based on Vygotsky’s Theory Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development Teaching Strategies based on Vygotsky’s Theory Assess and use child’s ZPD Use more-skilled peers as teachers Monitor and encourage private speech Instruction in meaningful context Transform classroom

Piaget’s View of Adult Cognition Cognitive Changes in Adulthood Piaget’s View of Adult Cognition Thinking qualitatively same as adolescent’s - formal operational Adults have more knowledge Research shows: Many don’t reach formal operations until adulthood Many adults don’t use formal operational thinking

Cognitive Changes in Adulthood Compared to adolescents, thinking of young adults is more: Realistic - Idealism decreases in face of real world constraints Pragmatic - Switch from acquiring knowledge to applying it Reflective and Relativistic - Move away from absolutist thinking of adolescence

Post-Formal Thought Reflective, relativistic, and contextual Cognitive Changes in Adulthood Post-Formal Thought Reflective, relativistic, and contextual Provisional Realistic Open to emotions and subjective