Chapter 11.pdf

Chapter 11 Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood Concrete Operational Thought 6-12 years of age Marked by the development of organized and rational thinking can engage in logical or operational thought, but can only apply to physical objects (not abstract) Serration...

Chapter 11 Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood Concrete Operational Thought 6-12 years of age Marked by the development of organized and rational thinking can engage in logical or operational thought, but can only apply to physical objects (not abstract) Serration The ability to order and arrange things based on one dimension, such as size, weight, or volume Classifications Arrange objects based on class and subclass Identity Understanding that objects have qualities that do not change even if the object is altered in some way Transitivity Understand how objects are related to one another Conservation Understand that changing one quality does not change the overall amount. The hallmark of the concrete operational stage is that children pass the conservation task  ○ Recognize that the amount is conserved even if the appearance changes on one dimension Reversibility Things that have been altered can be returned to their original state To master conservation, children understand that the matter can be put back to its original state ○ For example, the liquid that was poured from A to C and can be put back in A Decentration Perceive the different aspects of situation or problem To master conservation, children must account for all dimensions of size ○ For example the liquid is “taller” but is also “wider” Theories of intelligence Intelligence Is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations General Intelligence ( also known g) Charles Spearman (1869-1945) performed a factor analysis of different skills and found that people who did well in one area also did well in another. Spearman speculated that these people had a high “g” (general intelligence) Triarchic Theory of Intelligence Robert Sternberg (1949) proposed that “success” in life is related to three types of ability 1. Analytical (componential)  a. Sometimes described as academic: includes the ability to solve problems of logic, verbal comprehension, vocabulary, and spatial abilities 2. Creative (experiential) a. The ability to apply newly found skills to novel situations 3. Practical (contextual) a. The ability to use common sense and to know what is called for in a situation Howard Gardner’s Eight Intelligences Naturalist ○ The ability to recognize, identify, and understand animals, plants, and other living things Linguistic ○ The ability to speak and write well Logical-Mathematical ○ The ability to use logic and mathematical skills to solve problems Musical ○ The ability to perform and enjoy music Spatial ○ The ability to think and reason about objects in three dimensions Bodily-kinesthetic ○ The ability to move the body in sport, dance, or other physical activities Intrapersonal ○ The ability to have insights into the self  Interpersonal ○ The ability to understand and interact effectively with others Existential ○ The ability to understand and have concern from life’s larger questions, the meaning of life, and other spiritual matters Carol Dweck: fixed vs. growth mindset People can be placed on a continuum based on their implicit theories of intelligence Fixed mindset: The belief that intelligence is biologically set and unchanging Growth mindset: Belief that intelligence is based on hard work and can be improved Dweck has developed interventions to encourage a growth mindset in students Information Processing: Learning, Memory, and Problem Solving Working Memory Expands during middle and late childhood Improved due to increased processing speed and the ability to inhibit irrelevant information ○ Brain changes supporting this development = increased myelination and synaptic pruning Memory strategy (use increases) Children use Rehearsal to remember new information. They will repeat information that they need to remember repeatedly  Children learn to use mnemonics Attention Improved because children can attend to what is necessary by inhibiting irrelevant information ○ They can switch between tasks The Dimensional change card sort task asks kids to sort cards based on color and then switch to sorting based on shape. Young children cannot switch between the rules, but children in middle childhood can. Young children cannot inhibit the color information/rules that they learned in order to focus on shape. They continue to sort based on color even when the rule has changed to shape Children in middle childhood can inhibit the first set of rules to focus on the second set of rules. They can switch their attention and sort based on shape when that is the rule Bilingualism When is the best time to learn a second language? Majority of bilingual students (75%) are Hispanic Simultaneous bilingualism Learning two languages at the same time from birth Phonology ○ Children retain the ability to hear phonological contrasts for both languages Lexicon  ○ Bilingual children appear to violate the Mutual Exclusivity Assumption, because they accept two words from the same thing if they believe them to be from different languages ○ Bilingual children appear to have smaller vocabularies (than their monolingual peers) in each language but make up for it with both of their languages combined Grammar ○ Bilingual children lag behind monolingual children in grammatical development Sequential Bilingualism Learning a second language after you are proficient in the first Children’s acquisition may take years and be more difficult than first language acquisition Language acquisition may include making many errors ○ The mistakes often resemble the first language Individual factors that affect second language learning ○ Phonological memory ○ Personality ○ Motivation ○ Age Learning to Read Phonics-based approach (bottom-up process) ○ Emphasizes the individual components of reading often independent of meaningful context Sounding out words  Memorizing small, frequent words: the, in, and Whole-language approach (Top-down process) ○ Teaches visual retrieval and focuses on goals, backgrounds, and expectations to determine what is selected from text