1. Cognitive and Language Development
C H A P T E R 2
Cognitive and Language Development

2. Piaget’s Theory
Schemes
Assimilation
Accommodation
Organization
Equilibration
Actions or mental representations that organize knowledge
Incorporating new knowledge into existing schemes
Adjusting existing schemes to fit new information and experiences
Grouping isolated behaviors into a higher-order system
A shift, a resolution of conflict to reach a balance

3. Piaget’s Four Stages Cognition unfolds in a sequence of four stages.
Each is age-related and distinctive
Each stage is discontinuous from and more advanced than the previous

4. Piaget’s Four Stages

5. Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage
Coordination of sensory experiences with motor actions
Object permanence involves the realization that objects continue to exist over time

6. Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Symbolic Function Substage
Symbolic Thought: ability to represent mentally an object that is not present.
Limitations:
Egocentrism: The inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s perspective.
Animism

7. The Three Mountain Tasks

8. Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Symbolic Function Substage
Limitations:
Egocentrism
Animism: The belief that inanimate objects have “lifelike” qualities and are capable of action.

9. Stages of Animism Almost everything is alive and conscious
Only those things that move are alive
Only those things that manifest spontaneous movements are alive
Consciousness is limited to the animal world

10. Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Intuitive Thought Substage
Intuitive Thought rather than logical thinking
Centration: focuses on one characteristic to the exclusion of others
Irreversibility: inability to mentally reverse operations
Lack of Conservation
Classification: ability to classify objects according to only one characteristic at a time

11. Conservation of Liquid

12. Conservation Tasks

13. Conservation Tasks (con’t)

14. Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage
Logical reasoning replaces intuitive reasoning, but only in concrete situations.
Conservation: The idea that some characteristics of an object stay the same even though the object might change in appearance.
Classification: Coordinate several characteristics rather than focus on a single property of an object.
Seriation: Order stimuli along some quantitative dimension.
Transitivity: Combine relations to understand certain conclusions.
If A>B, and B>C, then A>C.

15. Hierarchical Classification
When shown a
family tree of four
generations, the
concrete operational
child can classify
the members
vertically,
horizontally,
and obliquely.

16. Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage
Abstract reasoning: think in abstract, idealistic, and logical ways
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning: ability to develop hypotheses about ways to solve problems and systematically reach a conclusion
Adolescent egocentrism: heightened self-consciousness and a sense of personal uniqueness

17. Piaget’s Theory Teaching Strategies
Preoperational
Thinkers
Manipulate groups of objects
Reduce egocentrism
Draw conclusions and explain why
Concrete
Operations
Encourage children to discover concepts and principles
Assign operational tasks
Propose problems and encourage hypothesis formation
Suggest alternative approaches to problems
Develop projects and investigations
Formal
Operations

18. Enter the Debate
Should teachers allow preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade students to play for the bulk of their day?
YES NO
During a slideshow, text may be written on the slides in the yes/no boxes, and then saved for later reference.

19. Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism Theory into Practice
Jennifer, James, and several of their classmates are playing hide-and-go-seek during indoor recess one rainy day. Jennifer carefully conceals her entire body behind Mrs. Johnson’s long smock. In contrast, James hides only his upper body behind a jacket hanging on a hook. He giggles, sure that his classmates will never see him.
A: Pre-operational. He is suffering from pre-operational egocentrism. He believes that if he cannot see his classmates, they cannot see him either.
Q: Based on the information given above, at which of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development is James most likely operating? Explain.

20. Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism Theory into Practice
Mr. Jackson has a sand table in his kindergarten classroom. He provides his students with many containers of different sizes and shapes to play with in the sand. He watches as his students carefully pour sand from one container to another. One little girl, Michelle, seems amazed when she pours sand back and forth between two containers. The sand always fills up one container and only half-fills the other, yet the containers are the same height.
A: Conservation. She is learning that height and width of the container both contribute to how full the container becomes with the same amount of sand.
Q: Based on the information given above, what skill is Michelle most likely developing? Explain.

21. Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism Theory into Practice
Mr. Welby teaches high school English. He always asks his students to find the symbolism in the great works of literature he assigns. Some students do this with relative ease. For others it is a real struggle. Many are only able to parrot back what he has told them in class.
A1: Formal operational. They can understand the symbolism in literature due to their ability to think abstractly.
A2: Concrete operational. They are able to remember what Mr. Welby tells them, but cannot think abstractly enough to understand the symbolism.
Q.1: At which of Piaget’s stages are those who understand the symbolism in literature likely operating?
Q.2: At which of Piaget’s stages are those who cannot understand the symbolism in literature likely operating?

22. Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism Theory into Practice
Marsha refuses to go to school one morning because she is having a “bad hair day” and is certain that everyone will stare at her all day. Her mother assures her that she looks just fine. However, Marsha races back to the bathroom to attempt to fix her “awful hair.”
A: Marsha is suffering from adolescent egocentrism. She is very self-conscious and believes that others will be just as interested in, and hence as critical of, her hair as she is.
Q: What would Elkind say is happening here?

23. Piaget and Language Development
Which comes first? Language or cognition?
Emerges from existing cognitive structures

24. Speech Categories of the Preoperational Child
Egocentric Speech
Repetition
Monologue
Collective Monologue
Socialized Speech

25. Overview of Piaget Criticisms Contributions Underestimated abilities
May not be stagelike
Underestimated experience
Ages influenced by culture
Contributions

26. Vygotsky’s Theory Cognitive skills
Can be understood when they are developmentally analyzed
Are mediated by words, language, and forms of discourse
Have their origins embedded in a sociocultural backdrop

27. Vygotsky’s Theory Internalization Language Development
Interpsychological  Intrapsychological
Language Development
Preintellectual speech
Naïve psychology
Private speech
Inner speech

28. Vygotsky’s Theory
Zone of Proximal Development

29. Vygotsky’s Theory
Scaffolding - Teacher adjusts the level of support as performance rises
Cognitive Apprenticeship - expert supports novice
Tutoring
Cooperative Learning – work in small groups, facilitate one another

30. Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning
Generation of group rewards
Individual accountability

31. Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism Theory into Practice
Peter is having difficulty with his math assignment. His teacher, Ms. Jacobs helps him work through the first problem step-by-step. Peter begins to understand the concepts and begins the other problems. Suzanne also struggles with the assignment. However, even when Ms. Jacobs works through the first problem with her, she still cannot grasp how to do the remaining problems. Meanwhile, Clarice has breezed through the assignment with no difficulty at all.
A1: The assignment is within Peter’s ZPD. He can do it with Ms. Jacob’s assistance.
A2: The assignment is beyond Suzanne’s ZPD. Even with assistance she cannot complete the assignment.
Q.1: What would Vygotsky say about the assignment for Peter?
Q.2: What would Vygotsky say about the assignment for Suzanne?

32. Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism Theory into Practice
Peter is having difficulty with his math assignment. His teacher, Ms. Jacobs helps him work through the first problem step-by-step. Peter begins to understand the concepts and begins the other problems. Suzanne also struggles with the assignment. However, even when Ms. Jacobs works through the first problem with her, she still cannot grasp how to do the remaining problems. Meanwhile, Clarice has breezed through the assignment with no difficulty at all.
A3: The assignment is below Clarice’s ZPD. She can easily complete the assignment with no assistance because she has already mastered the concepts.
Q4: Vygotsky’s term for this assistance is scaffolding.
Q.3: What would Vygotsky say about the assignment for Clarice?
Q.4: What would Vygotsky call the assistance Ms. Jacobs gives Peter and Suzanne? Explain.

33. Cognitive and Language Development
What Is
Language Development?
How Language
Develops
Biological and
Environmental
Influences

34. Biological and Environmental Influences on Language Development
Children are neither exclusively
biological linguists
nor
social architects of language.
Interactionists emphasize the contribution of both.

35. Language is … Phonology Sound system of a language
…a form of communication, spoken, written, or signed, that is based on a system of symbols.
Phonology Sound system of a language
Morphology Units of meaning involved in word formation
Syntax Rules for combining words into phrases/sentences
Semantics Meaning of words and sentences
Pragmatics Appropriate use of language in different contexts

36. How Language Develops Infancy
Prelinguistic Period
Cooing
Babbling
Holophrastic Period
Telegraphic Period
One  two words
Simple Sentences

37. How Language Develops Early Childhood
Phonology
Sensitive to sounds, rhymes
Morphology
Overgeneralize rules
Syntax
Complex rules for ordering words
Semantics
6-year-old: 8,000- to 14,000-word vocabulary
Pragmatics
Talk in different ways to different people

38. How Language Develops Middle & Late Childhood
Phonology
Alphabetic principle: letter-sound correspondence
Morphology
Appropriate application of rules
Syntax
Complex grammar; linguistic awareness
Semantics
12-year-old: 50,000-word vocabulary
Pragmatics
Culturally appropriate language use

39. How Language Develops Adolescence
Increased sophistication in use of words
Greater understanding of metaphors, satire, and complex literary works
Better writers
Dialect includes jargon and slang

40. Supporting Vocabulary Development Through Technology
Computers
Relate the new to the known
Promote active, in-depth processing
Encourage reading
Audio Books
Educational Television
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