PSYC1001: Developmental Psychology Lecture 3 2024 PDF

PSYC1001: Developmental Psychology Lecture 3 Constructivist Theories of Cognitive Development Grace Sanders Consultation: By appointment [email protected]...

PSYC1001: Developmental Psychology Lecture 3 Constructivist Theories of Cognitive Development Grace Sanders Consultation: By appointment [email protected] 1 Lecture Outline 1. Introduce Piaget’s general question and approach 2. Piaget’s stage theory of development: describing the stages 3. Contemporary updates to Piaget 2 Background 3 Cognitive development (a) What is cognition? All mental activities such as: thinking, problem solving, learning, remembering, paying attention (b) What is cognitive development? The processes by which humans come to think and understand The two cognitive development theories that have had greatest impact on developmental research and educational practices are Piaget’s stage theory & Vygotsky’s sociocultural (contextual) theory (we will discuss next lecture with social development) Background Theoretical approaches Piaget’s and the field of cognitive development’s most fundamental questions: What is the origin of knowledge? How is knowledge acquired, how is it used to reason, and how does this change with development? 5 Background Theoretical approaches How we explain development and advice we give depends on ‘theory of development’ Two major cross-cutting distinctions: 1. Nature (biological factors) or Nurture (environment) 2. Continuous or Discontinuous development 6 Background Theoretical approaches 1. Nature (biological factors) or Nurture (environment) Predeterminists - environment plays a minor role; maturation has the major role. Environmentalists (behaviourists) - environment has pre-eminent role. Interactionists - both nature and nurture play a part. 7 Background Theoretical approaches Piaget’s theory is a particular form of interactionism called “Constructivism” Children are born with no knowledge, but construct it from their perception of the world and their actions on the world He argued that both pure-nurture based theories where children just learn from taking in the environment, and pure- nature based theories where genes direct development suggest the child is passive in its own development Piaget argues just the opposite. The child is a self-driven learner and constructs its own mental life. 8 Background Theoretical approaches 2. Piaget’s was a stage theory that relied on both learning and maturation to advance the child to the next stage Stage Theories – discontinuity in development. Stages represent periods when there is qualitative change Children advanced to the next stage only when both mature enough and when learned enough. 9 Stage theory Views Individuals pass through a series of qualitatively different levels/stages of structural organisation; Development involves changing underlying structures; The sequence of stage progression is invariant; The stages are universal; Both nature and nurture contribute: interactionist 10 Cognitive development Piaget (1896-1980) Main Features: Stage theory and Constructivist Children's thought qualitatively different from adults Children as active constructors of knowledge, not passive recipients: “knowledge lies in action” Schemes/Schemata: are “mental structures” that capture the common properties of behaviours (e.g., grasping), objects (e.g., “chair”), experiences (e.g., “bathtime”). Knowledge, thoughts and ideas develop through ADAPTION: the modification of schema 11 Cognitive development Piaget (1896-1980) Adaption involves two complementary processes (I) Assimilation (II) Accommodation Making sense of Modifying our experiences in schemes to take into terms of our account our new existing schema; experiences; i.e., i.e., taking in altering the information and cognitive structure changing it to fit to fit the new existing schema or information structure 12 Cognitive development Assimilation and Accomodation Both happen throughout the life span they are stage independent processes For example, what do you do if you are: driving a car with different controls? encountering a new perspective on politics or religion? encountering a mysterious object or sound? 13 Piaget’s stages 14 Sensorimotor stage Piaget Bowlby: Attachment theory Sensorimotor stage (approx 0 – 2 year) (I) From reflexes to symbolic thought (II) Understanding the world via hands on, direct experience (III) Understanding the nature of objects, including object permanence 15 Sensorimotor stage Piaget Bowlby: Attachment theory Development of object permanence: The understanding that objects have a separate and permanent existence independent of our actions on them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVqJacvywAQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwgo2O5Vk_g 16 Development of object permanence: 17 Development of object permanence: 18 Sensorimotor stage Piaget Bowlby: Attachment theory Development of object permanence: The understanding that objects have a separate and permanent existence independent of our actions on them Why do babies fail object permanence tests? Lack of appreciation of object permanence? See Meltzoff & Moore (1998) -Maybe they appreciate more than Piaget claimed Memory limitation? Limited motor skills? Inability to translate understanding into action 19 Preoperational Cognitive stage in development Piaget Piaget Preoperational stage (approx 2 - 7 years) Development of symbolic thought - mental action Thought is unsystematic, inconsistent and illogical (i.e., not a system of related acts or operations) Characterized by Egocentric thinking: Limited ability to take the perspectives of others Perspective taking involves being able to: - Take the physical or perceptual perspective of others (e.g. 3 mountains task) 20 Preoperational Cognitive stage in development Piaget Piaget Centration: Child centres on most noticeable feature and ignores other features. Perceptually bound: Judge the world the way it looks. Animism: All things that move are alive. Egocentric explanations: Anthropomorphize objects 21 Preoperational stage Piaget Conservation tasks Conservation of: (I) Liquids (II) Mass (III) Number (IV) Volume 22 Preoperational stage Piaget 23 Concrete operations Cognitive stage development in Piaget Piaget Concrete operations stage (approx 7 - 11 years) Child has mastered mental operations such as: - Decentering - Reversible thinking These logic mental operations on concrete objects enable: * Classification *Conservation - Concepts of time, space and causality begin to develop 24  English/Romanian Formal Adoption operations stage Study Piaget the sample Bowlby: Attachment theory Formal operations stage (approx 11 years +) Logical operations on abstract entities are now possible Capacity for abstract thought, concepts Ability to perform mental operations on (think and reason about) hypothetical, abstract things Ability to reason in a systematic way Reflective thinking: ability to reflect on our own thinking processes 25  English/Romanian Formal Adoption operations stage Study Piaget Measures Bowlby: Attachment theory Children’s responses to a hypothetical proposition Q: Suppose you were given a third eye and you could put it anywhere on your body. …. Vicky (9yr): I want an extra eye so I can see you 3 times Tanya (9.5yr): I want a third eye so I can see better Jim (9.5yr): I would like an eye beside my two other eyes, so that if one eye went out I could still see with two Ken (11yr): (Draws the extra eye on top of a tuft of hair) I could revolve the eye to look into all directions John (11.5yr): (Draws the extra eye in the palm of his left hand) I could see around corners and see what kind of cookie I’ll get out of the cookie jar Tony (11.5yr): (Draws a close up of third eye in his mouth) I want a third eye in my mouth because I want to see what I am eating 26 English/Romanian Formal operationsAdoption stageStudy Piaget Results Problems with Piaget’s ideas about adolescent thought: 1. Why do many adults fail formal tests of logical reasoning? 2. Why do abstract thinkers often need concrete examples? 27 Piaget’s theory of English/Romanian cognitive Adoption Studydevelopment Criticisms Follow up Underestimation of young children's abilities and overestimation of adults – Some logical thinking in young children, many failures of logic in adults. Though his later work recognised adult limitations. Does cognitive development really progress in distinct stages? Developmental sequences truly universal? 28 English/Romanian Adoption Study Contemporary constructivist theories Follow up Share with Piaget emphasis on the child as active in their development, and no innate knowledge – This is distinct from contemporary nativist researchers such as Renee Baillargeon, Susan Carey, and Elizabeth Spelke who argue that children are born with innate knowledge of objects, among other things. However, more emphasis on development as continuous and much more room for cross-cultural variation Propose two drivers of cognitive development: acquisition of domain-specific knowledge, and maturation of domain- general “executive function” or self-regulation skills Each are important to regulate one’s own behaviour 29 English/Romanian Adoption Study Contemporary constructivist theories Domain-specific Follow up knowledge A:B::C:D analogies: in Piaget & Inhelder (1964), pre- operational children couldn’t solve them Goswami & Brown (1990): 3 year olds can solve with relations they know Is to As As IsIsto to 30 English/Romanian Adoption Study Contemporary constructivist theories Executive Follow upfunction 31 English/Romanian Contemporary Adoption Study constructivist theories Executive Follow upfunction Recall the trajectory of the “lantern” of consciousness to “spotlight” As children develop, they get better at directing their attention and self-regulating their behaviour to enact complex plans to achieve goals Knowledge of the world helps you make and enact plans The executive abilities to mentally juggle multiple things, and select what’s important and put out of mind what is not, is also critical 32 Constructivist theories of development Take home messages How we explain development depends on our theory of development: nature vs. nurture, continuous vs. discontinuous. Most contemporary theories are interactionist, vary in degree of emphasis on what specifically is innate, how learning proceeds. Piaget was a stage theorist and emphasized children’s construction of knowledge through action. Child only master new tasks when they have the necessary structures (determined by maturation and experience) in place. He specified developmental trajectory in great detail, but ultimately his theories are at best incomplete. – Many argue that he underestimates young children’s abilities due to his insensitive measurements, and perhaps over-estimates adults. Contemporary cognitive theories emphasise continuous development, and the co-development of knowledge and executive function to support goal- directed behaviour. 33