1 / 11

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development. Q1: Evaluate theories of cognitive development. Approach. Intro Background- cognitive development Thesis- evaluate command term Body- strengths and limitations of each theory Piaget- stages Vygotsky - social and cultural factors

galvin
Download Presentation

Cognitive Development

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Cognitive Development Q1: Evaluate theories of cognitive development

  2. Approach Intro • Background- cognitive development • Thesis- evaluate command term Body- strengths and limitations of each theory • Piaget- stages • Vygotsky- social and cultural factors • Neuroscience- biological factors Conclusion- summarize key points

  3. Introduction • Cognitive development-social, environmental and genetic influence • Maturation- the unfolding of behaviors that are genetically programmed • Learning-changes in behavior, thoughts, and feelings as a result of experience • Main debate- how these changes occur over time • Nature- effects of maturation • The unfolding of behaviors under the influence of genetic predisposition • Nurture- effects of the environment • Diet, parenting styles, culture, education • Thesis: Constructivist, social constructivist, and neuroscientific theories all contribute to the understanding of cognitive development

  4. Jean Piaget’s theory (Constructivist) • Knowledge develops through schemas • Assimilation- new events fit existing schemas (doggie- poodle to doggie- terrier) • Accommodation-new events do not fit existing schemas and new knowledge is created (doggie to horse) • Born with innate schemas which are modifies through adaptation • Stages of development (universal) • Sensorimotor stage (0-2) • Pre-operational stage (2-7) • Concrete operational stage (7-11) • Formal operational stage (11+)

  5. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years) • Lack of object permanence • Object permanence develops around 8 months, but incomplete • 4 months- child will not look for object • 8 months-child will look for object in the last place found even if hidden somewhere else • Development of full object permanence at around ages 18-24 months

  6. Pre-operational Stage (age 2-7) • Operations- logical mental rules but this stage, children can’t internalize these rules and still rely on appearances • Egocentrism– child can only see the world from own point of view (Mountain task) • Children lack conservation- the realization that objects can remain the same despite a change in appearance (demonstrated through conservation tasks of reversibility) • Classification limitation- inability to classify objects into the same groups (begins around age 4)

  7. Elementary (gr. 2)- High School • Concrete operational stage (7-11) • Development of rules and schemas (operations) for how the (concrete) world is ordered • Development of conservation • Formal operational stages (11+) • Ideas and problems can be manipulated without concrete objects (abstract reasoning) • Imagination and role play • Reasoning • If A > B > C; A > C

  8. Evaluation of Piaget • Strengths • 1st comprehensive theory of cognitive development • Evidence • Egocentrism: Mountain task and Policeman view experiment • Lack of Conservation : Conservation tasks • Application: Education and constructivism- children as actively engaged in understanding their world • Limitations • Criticism of ‘ages and stages’- findings based on interviews and observations • Less focus on social and cultural factors • Object permanence is more flexible than Piaget argued (Bower, 1982) and criticism of some conservation tasks (McGarrigle& Donaldson (1974)- may be demand characteristics)

  9. Lev Vygotsky - Social Constructivist • Importance of social interaction, culture, language, instruction, and play in cognitive development • Children make sense of the world through shared meaning and language contributes to thought & understanding • Zone of proximal development- instruction from one more skilled in the task provided by scaffolding to bridge the gap between what one can do alone and what one can do with assitance • Strengths • Some evidence for the role of language in thought • Application in education (ZPD) • Limitations • Not all aspects of the theory are supported

  10. Piaget- Innate maturation processes that drive cognitive developmentVygotsky-Shared meaning with others communicated through language and interaction

  11. Neuroscience and neuroplasticity • Synaptic growth most significant in the first year and growth continues throughout adolescence • Changes in brain structure • Chugani, 1999)- PET scans of newborns showed increased glucose metabolism in different regions over time-from brain stem and thalamus (reflexes) to higher level functioning such as frontal lobe development • Doubles in size from birth to young adulthood • Strengths • Similar to animal research (Rosensweig, 1972) • Application- importance of a healthy environment • Limitations • Correlational research- no cause and effect • Still many unanswered questions about cognition

More Related