Chapter 6: Theories of Cognitive Development

Chapter 6: Theories of Cognitive Development Chapter 6 has three modules: Module 6.1 Setting the Stage: Piaget’s Theory Module 6.2 Modern Theories of Cognitive Development Module 6.3 Understanding in Core Domains

Setting the Stage: Piaget’s Theory Basic Principles of Piaget’s Theory Stages of Cognitive Development Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development

Module 6.1 Setting the Stage: Piaget’s Theory What are the basic principles of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development? How does thinking change as children move through Piaget’s four stages of development? What are the lasting contributions of Piaget’s theory? What are some of its shortcomings? Module 6.2 Modern Theories of Cognitive Development Module 6.3 Understanding in Core Domains

Basic Principles of Piaget’s Theory Metaphor of child as scientist Children naturally curious and create theories about how world works Theories are managed through assimilation and accommodation

Basic Principles of Piaget’s Theory Assimilation Accommodation Equilibrium: balance between assimilation and accommodation achieved Assimilation Accommodation Equilibration: balance between assimilation and accommodation upset and theories reorganized

Basic Principles of Piaget’s Theory When children’s theories are wrong most of the time, reorganization occurs Reorganization identified as stages of cognitive development All children pass through stages in same order

Stages of Cognitive Development: Sensorimotor Birth to approximately 2 years of age Begins with reflexive responding and ends with using symbolic processing Object permanence emerges

Stages of Cognitive Development: Preoperational 2 to 7 years Children use symbols to represent objects and events but there are many errors in thinking Do you know what these errors are?

Three Mountains Problem According to Piaget, egocentrism makes it difficult for this child to see the mountains from another’s viewpoint.

Stages of Cognitive Development: Concrete Operational 7 to 11 years Thinking and problem-solving based on reversible mental operations Focus on the real and concrete, not the abstract

Stages of Cognitive Development: Formal Operations 11 to adulthood Hypothetical thinking Deductive reasoning to draw appropriate conclusions from facts

Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development Teaching Practices Influenced by Piagetian Theory Facilitate rather than teach directly Recognize individual differences when teaching Provide sensitivity to children’s readiness to learn Emphasize exploration and interaction

Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development Piaget’s contributions: Study of cognitive development New, constructivist view of children Fascinating, often counterintuitive, discoveries

Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development Weaknesses of theory: Underestimates cognitive competence in infants; overestimates in adolescence Components too vague to test Stage model doesn’t account for variability Undervalues influence of sociocultural forces

Modern Theories of Cognitive Development The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory Information Processing Core-Knowledge Theories

Module 6.1 Setting the Stage: Piaget’s Theory Module 6.2 Modern Theories of Cognitive Development In Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, how do adults and other people contribute to children’s cognitive development? According to information- processing psychologists, how does thinking change with development? What naïve theories do children hold about physics, psychology, and biology? Module 6.3 Understanding in Core Domains

The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory Cognitive development is inseparable from social and cultural contexts Intersubjectivity Guided participation through peer tutoring and group learning

The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory Other key concepts: Zone of proximal development Scaffolding Private speech Inner speech

Cultural Differences in Parental Scaffolding Scaffolding: teaching style that matches amount of assistance to learner’s needs Can you see the cultural differences in the above figure?

Information Processing Information-processing theory: people and computers are both symbol processors Sensory, working, and long-term memory Distinction between hardware and software Central executive coordinates activities Let’s walk through illustrations of this theory on the following slides!

Mental Hardware (a)

Mental Hardware (b)

How Information-Processing Changes with Development

Core-Knowledge Theories Key Concepts: Early acquired, distinctive domains of knowledge Learning-simplified forms of knowledge related to survival Rapid acquisition of language and knowledge of objects, people, and living things

Core-Knowledge Theories Theoretical Roots Builds on Piaget’s metaphor of child as scientist Research traces children’s knowledge of naïve physics, naïve psychology, and naïve biology

Understanding in Core Domains Understanding Objects and Their Properties Understanding Living Things Understanding People

Module 6.1 Setting the Stage: Piaget’s Theory Module 6.2 Modern Theories of Cognitive Development Module 6.3 Understanding in Core Domains What do infants understand about the nature of objects? When and how do young children distinguish between living and nonliving things? How do young children acquire a theory of mind?

True or False? By 6 months, infants are accomplished naïve physicists.

Understanding Living Things Key Concepts: Infants and toddlers use motion to identify animate objects Preschoolers hold naïve theories of biology

Understanding Theories of Biology Children’s naïve theories of biology include understanding of: movement growth internal parts inheritance illness healing

What can infants learn about movement from the above? Movement in Animate and Inanimate Objects

Understanding Living Things Teleological explanations: children believe that livings things and parts of living things exist for a purpose Essentialism: children believe all living things have essence that cannot be seen but provides identity

Understanding People: Naïve Psychology Children use naïve psychology to predict how people will act 1-year-olds: understanding of intentionality Between ages 2 and 5: development of theory of mind 3-year-olds: mental and physical world clearly distinguished

Theory of Mind Theory of Mind (TOM) naïve understanding of relations between mind and behavior and mental versus physical world

Understanding People: False Belief Tasks 31/2-year-olds: make false belief error 4-year-olds: fundamental change in understanding of centrality of beliefs 8-year-olds: understand mental states cause moods with external, observable causes

Understanding People: Children with Autism and False Belief Tasks False belief understanding develops slowly Theories Mindblindness Impaired social interaction skills Focused processing skills Treatment Therapy, medication, supportive environment