Chapter 6:

1. Chapter 6: Theories of Cognitive Development

2. Chapter 6: Theories of Cognitive Development Chapter 6 has three modules: Module 6.1 Setting the Stage: Piaget’s Theory Module 6.2 Modern Theories of Cognitive Development Module 6.3 Understanding in Core Domains

3. Setting the Stage: Piaget’s Theory

5. Metaphor of child as scientist Children naturally curious and create theories about how world works Theories are managed through assimilation and accommodation Basic Principles of Piaget’s Theory

6. Basic Principles of Piaget’s Theory Equilibrium: balance between assimilation and accommodation achieved Equilibration: balance between assimilation and accommodation upset and theories reorganized

7. When children’s theories are wrong most of the time, reorganization occurs Reorganization identified as stages of cognitive development All children pass through stages in same order Basic Principles of Piaget’s Theory

8. Birth to approximately 2 years of age Begins with reflexive responding and ends with using symbolic processing Object permanence emerges Stages of Cognitive Development: Sensorimotor

9. 2 to 7 years Children use symbols to represent objects and events but there are many errors in thinking Do you know what these errors are? Stages of Cognitive Development: Preoperational

10. Three Mountains Problem According to Piaget, egocentrism makes it difficult for this child to see the mountains from another’s viewpoint.

11. 7 to 11 years Thinking and problem-solving based on reversible mental operations Focus on the real and concrete, not the abstract Stages of Cognitive Development: Concrete Operational

12. 11 to adulthood Hypothetical thinking Deductive reasoning to draw appropriate conclusions from facts Stages of Cognitive Development: Formal Operations

13. Teaching Practices Influenced by Piagetian Theory Facilitate rather than teach directly Recognize individual differences when teaching Provide sensitivity to children’s readiness to learn Emphasize exploration and interaction Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development

14. Piaget’s contributions: Study of cognitive development New, constructivist view of children Fascinating, often counterintuitive, discoveries Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development

15. Weaknesses of theory: Underestimates cognitive competence in infants; overestimates in adolescence Components too vague to test Stage model doesn’t account for variability Undervalues influence of sociocultural forces Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development

16. Modern Theories of Cognitive Development

18. Cognitive development is inseparable from social and cultural contexts Intersubjectivity Guided participation through peer tutoring and group learning The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory

19. Other key concepts: Zone of proximal development Scaffolding Private speech Inner speech The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory

20. Cultural Differences in Parental Scaffolding Scaffolding: teaching style that matches amount of assistance to learner’s needs Can you see the cultural differences in the above figure?

21. Information-processing theory: people and computers are both symbol processors Sensory, working, and long-term memory Distinction between hardware and software Central executive coordinates activities Let’s walk through illustrations of this theory on the following slides! Information Processing

22. Mental Hardware (a)

23. Mental Hardware (b)

24. How Information-Processing Changes with Development

25. Key Concepts: Early acquired, distinctive domains of knowledge Learning-simplified forms of knowledge related to survival Rapid acquisition of language and knowledge of objects, people, and living things Core-Knowledge Theories

26. Theoretical Roots Builds on Piaget’s metaphor of child as scientist Research traces children’s knowledge of naïve physics, naïve psychology, and naïve biology Core-Knowledge Theories

27. Understanding in Core Domains

29. By 6 months, infants are accomplished naïve physicists. True or False?

30. Key Concepts: Infants and toddlers use motion to identify animate objects Preschoolers hold naïve theories of biology Understanding Living Things

31. Children’s naïve theories of biology include understanding of: movement growth internal parts inheritance illness healing Understanding Theories of Biology

32. Movement in Animate and Inanimate Objects What can infants learn about movement from the above?

33. Teleological explanations: children believe that livings things and parts of living things exist for a purpose Essentialism: children believe all living things have essence that cannot be seen but provides identity Understanding Living Things

34. Children use naïve psychology to predict how people will act 1-year-olds: understanding of intentionality Between ages 2 and 5: development of theory of mind 3-year-olds: mental and physical world clearly distinguished Understanding People: Naïve Psychology

35. Theory of Mind • Theory of Mind (TOM) • naïve understanding of relations between mind and behavior and mental versus physical world

36. 31/2-year-olds: make false belief error 4-year-olds: fundamental change in understanding of centrality of beliefs 8-year-olds: understand mental states cause moods with external, observable causes Understanding People: False Belief Tasks

37. False belief understanding develops slowly Theories Mindblindness Impaired social interaction skills Focused processing skills Treatment Therapy, medication, supportive environment Understanding People: Children with Autism and False Belief Tasks