Cognition and Development

• What does Piaget's theory of cognitive development propose?


  Piaget's theory states that humans are born with innate (biological) abilities, and cognitive development occurs through a combination of these abilities and environmental interactions, particularly with physical objects.
• What is assimilation?


  Incorporating new information into an existing schema.
• What is accommodation?


  Altering existing schemas or forming new ones entirely
• What is equilibration according to Piaget?


  The process of learning to achieve a state of balance when existing schemas do not make sense of new information, causing disequilibrium.
• What are the stages of intellectual development in Piaget's theory?


  Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational stages.
• What are key characteristics of these stages?

  Object permanence, conservation, egocentrism, and class inclusion.
• What is learned in the Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)?


  Object permanence: That physical things still exist even when the child isn’t looking.
• What is characteristic of the Pre-operational stage (2-7 years)?


  Egocentric thinking: The child can only see things from their own perspective.
• What is learned in the Concrete Operational stage (7-11 years)?


  Conservation: An object can maintain its mass/volume/quantity even if its appearance changes.
• What is class inclusion in the Concrete Operational stage?


  Understanding that things (e.g., dogs) can be subcategories of other things (e.g., animals).
• What is learned in the Formal Operational stage (11+ years)?


  Abstract reasoning: The ability to reason abstractly rather than focusing on concrete examples.
• What evidence supports the existence of innate schemas, such as face schemas?


  Fantz showed infants as young as four days old prefer schematic faces over jumbled features, indicating a preference for the unique configuration of a face.
• What is a major criticism of Piaget's theory related to equilibration?


  The inability to demonstrate equilibration and lack of research support for the concept.
• What did Inhelder et al find about children's learning?


  Learning was aided when there was a slight conflict between expectation and reality, but this may not represent Piaget's concept of conflict.
• What research supports Piaget's idea of individual mental representations?


  Howe et al found children formed unique understandings of object movement after group discussions, even without reaching the same conclusions.
• What is a main issue with Piaget's theory in experimental settings?


  Key aspects like assimilation are difficult to operationalise and test in experiments, making some concepts untestable.
• What criticism exists regarding Piaget's methodology?


  Tasks may have confused younger children. McGarrigle and Donaldson showed that using a 'naughty teddy' improved performance by removing demand characteristics.
• How did Hughes challenge Piaget's methodology in the three mountains task?


  By using a realistic scenario with a naughty boy doll hiding from a toy policeman, demonstrating that young children could better take another perspective.
• How is Piaget's theory potentially culturally biased?


  Piaget's emphasis on logical operations reflects his middle-class European background and may not be universally applicable across different cultures and social classes.
• How has Piaget's theory influenced education?

  Suggests children are not biologically ready to learn certain concepts until a specific age and stage of development, impacting the design of age-appropriate learning activities.
• What did Piaget and Inhelder’s 3 mountains task demonstrate?

  The task showed that 4-year-olds consistently selected pictures of what they saw instead of what the doll could see, suggesting they were unable to visualise things from another person’s perspective.
• What supports Piaget's claim about conservation in the pre-operational stage?


  Piaget's experiment where young children couldn't recognize that liquid volume remains the same in a different-shaped beaker.
• What are some methodological concerns about Piaget’s theory?


  Based on unstructured observations and clinical interviews, possibly biased towards Piaget’s subjective interpretations.
• Why might children have failed Piaget's 3 mountains task?


  They may not have understood the task rather than being egocentric.
• How does Vygotsky's view of cognitive development differ from Piaget's?


  Vygotsky argues that language development comes before cognitive development, not the other way around.
• Vygotsky's Theory


  Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky's belief that children learn best through social interactions with more experienced peers or adults.
• Scaffolding


  Temporary support provided by a more experienced individual to help a learner access more complex information and skills.
• Zone of Proximal Development


  The range of knowledge and understanding that a learner can acquire with the guidance and support of a more experienced individual.
• Inner Speech


  The inner dialogue or thinking that occurs within an individual's mind, helping them to process and consolidate information, and make connections between new and existing knowledge.
• Zone of Proximal Development


  The range of understanding and skills that a child can gain with the guidance of a more knowledgeable other, helping to fill gaps in their knowledge and abilities.
• Strengths of Vygotsky's Theory


  far-reaching influence on how children learn in schools, good external validity due to focus on social and cultural contexts
• Weaknesses of Vygotsky's Theory


  difficulty in operationalizing and measuring scaffolding, subjective nature, lack of reliability, and cultural limitations (e.g., emphasis on verbal instruction may not apply to all cultures)
• Link to Social Learning Approach


  Vygotsky's theory emphasizes observation of role models, imitation, and guidance by a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), aligning with Social Learning Approach principles
• Link to Humanistic Approach


  Vygotsky's theory emphasizes self-actualization by reaching the full potential of a child's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), aligning with Humanistic Approach goals
• Wood et al 


  A study that observed children aged 3-5 years old building a model pyramid with the help of a teacher to demonstrate Vygotsky's theory of scaffolding.
• Scaffolding (Teacher's Role)


  Assistance provided by a teacher to help children complete a task by demonstrating solutions and guiding them without telling them exactly what to do.
• Vygotsky's Theory being Reductionist


  Vygotsky's theory focusing only on cultural and social factors may be too narrow and ignore the unique individual differences that affect intellectual development.
• Cultural and Social Factors Limiting Vygotsky's Theory


  Vygotsky's theory emphasizing the role of culture and society in learning may be too simplistic and overlook the different rates at which individuals learn within the same environment.
• Violation of Expectation Research


  A research method used to study infant cognition, where infants are presented with unexpected events to test their understanding of object permanence and other concept.
• Baillargeon's Theory on Object Permanence


  Baillargeon's theory suggests that infants are born with an innate understanding of object permanence, contradicting Piaget's stages of development which proposes a later acquisition of this concept.