child development 4 cog development

concrete operational stage

(ages 7 to 12 years), children can reason logically about concrete objects and events; for example, they understand that pouring water from one glass to a taller, narrower one leaves the amount of water unchanged. However, concrete operational reasoners cannot think in purely abstract terms or generate systematic scientific experiments to test their beliefs.

Piaget theory weaknesses:

1. The stage model depicts children's thinking as being more consistent than it is 2. Infants and young children are more cognitively competent than Piaget recognized. 3. Piaget's theory understates the contribution of the social world to cognitive development. 4. Piaget's theory is vague about the cognitive processes that give rise to children's thinking and about the mechanisms that produce cognitive growth.

Formal operational (12+)

12 years and beyond Adolescents can think systematically and reason about what might be, as well as what is. This allows them to understand politics, ethics, and science fiction, as well as to engage in scientific reasoning

7 year olds can solve:

7-year-olds as solving the same problems by reasoning that if nothing was added or subtracted, the number of objects must remain the same

object permanence

8 months

Piaget's theory review

Among the reasons for the longevity of Piaget's theory are that it vividly conveys the flavor of children's thinking at different ages, extends across a broad range of ages and content areas, and provides many fascinating and surprising observations of children's thinking. Piaget's theory is often labeled "constructivist," because it depicts children as actively constructing knowledge for themselves in response to their experience. The theory posits that children learn through two processes that are present from birth—assimilation and accommodation—and that the contribution of these processes is balanced through a third process, equilibration. These processes produce continuities across development. Piaget's theory divides cognitive development into four broad stages: the sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2), the preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7), the concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 12), and the formal operational stage (age 12 and beyond). These stages reflect discontinuities in development. In the sensorimotor stage, infants' intelligence is expressed primarily through motor interactions with the environment. During this period, infants gain understanding of concepts such as object permanence and become capable of deferred imitation. In the preoperational stage, children become able to represent their experiences in language, mental imagery, and thought, but because of cognitive limitations such as egocentrism and centration, they have difficulty solving many problems, including Piaget's various tests of conservation and tasks related to taking the perspective of others. In the concrete operational stage, children become able to reason logically about concrete objects and events but have difficulty reasoning in purely abstract terms and in succeeding on tasks requiring hypothetical thinking, such as the pendulum problem. In the formal operational stage, children gain the cognitive capabilities of hypothetical thinking. Four weaknesses of Piaget's theory are that it depicts children's thinking as being more consistent than it is, underestimates infants' and young children's cognitive competence, understates the contribution of the social world to cognitive development, and only vaguely describes the mechanisms that give rise to thinking and cognitive growth.

sensorimotor

At first, infants' activities center on their own bodies; later, their activities include the world around them. Early goals are concrete (shaking a rattle and listening to the sound it makes); later goals often are more abstract (varying the heights from which objects are dropped and observing how the effects vary). Infants become increasingly able to form mental representations, moving from "out of sight, out of mind" to remembering a playmate's actions from a full day earlier. Such enduring mental representations make possible the next stage, which Piaget called preoperational thinking.

brief transitions

Before entering a new stage, children pass through a brief transitional period in which they fluctuate between the type of thinking characteristic of the new, more advanced stage and the type of thinking characteristic of the old, less advanced one.

broad applicability

Broad applicability. The type of thinking characteristic of each stage influences children's thinking across diverse topics and contexts.

View of Childrens nature

Dynamic-systems theories are the newest of the four types of theories discussed in this chapter, and their view of children's nature incorporates influences from each of the others. Like Piaget's theory, dynamic-systems theories emphasize children's innate motivation to explore the environment; like information-processing theories, they emphasize precise analyses of problem-solving activity; and like sociocultural theories, they emphasize the formative influence of other people. These similarities to other theories, as well as the differences from them, are evident in dynamic-systems theories' emphasis on motivation and the role of action.

The Centrality of Action

Dynamic-systems theories are unique in their pervasive emphasis on how children's specific actions shape their development. Piaget's theory asserts the role of actions during infancy, but dynamic-systems theories emphasize that actions contribute to development throughout life. This focus on the developmental role of action has led to a number of interesting discoveries. For example, infants' own reaching for objects helps them infer the goals of other people's reaches; infants who can skillfully reach are more likely to look at the probable target of another person's reaching just after the other person's reach begins (von Hofsten, 2007). Another example of infants' learning from actions comes from research in which infants were outfitted with Velcro mittens that enabled them to "grab" and explore Velcro-covered objects that they otherwise could not have picked up. After 2 weeks of grabbing the Velcro-covered objects with the Velcro-covered mittens, infants showed greater ability to grab and explore ordinary objects without the mittens than did other infants of the same ages (Needham, Barrett, & Peterman, 2002). The ways in which children's actions shape their development extend well beyond reaching and grasping in infancy. Actions influence categorization: in one study, encouraging children to move an object up and down led to their categorizing it as one of a group of objects that were easiest to move in that way, whereas encouraging children to move the same object from side to side led them to categorize it as one of a group of objects that were easiest to move in that way (Smith, 2005). Actions also affect vocabulary acquisition and generalization (Gershkoff-Stowe, Connell, & Smith, 2006; Samuelson & Horst, 2008): for example, experimental manipulations that lead children to state an incorrect name for an object impair the child's future attempts to learn the object's correct name. In addition, actions shape memory, as demonstrated by research in which children's past attempts to locate and dig up objects they had earlier seen being hidden in a sandbox altered their recall of the objects' new location after they had seen them being re-hidden. That is, the child's new searches tend to be in-between the past and present locations, as if the new searches involved a compromise between memories of the new hiding place and of the location where he or she had originally looked (Schutte, Spencer, & Schöner, 2003; Zelazo, Reznick, & Spinazzola, 1998). Thus, just as thinking shapes actions, actions shape thinking.

dynamic systems theories

Dynamic-systems theories view change as the one constant in development. Rather than depicting development as being organized into long periods of stability and brief periods of dramatic change, these theories propose that there is no period in which substantial change is not occurring. These theories also view each person as a unified system that, in order to meet goals, integrates perception, action, categorization, motivation, memory, language, conceptual understanding, and knowledge of the physical and social worlds. Dynamic-systems theories view development as a self-organizing process that brings together components as needed to adapt to a continuously changing environment. Attaining goals requires action as well as thought. Thought shapes action, but action also shapes thought. Just as variation and selection produce biological evolution, they also produce cognitive development.

review

Dynamic-systems theories view children as ever-changing, well-integrated organisms that combine perception, action, attention, memory, language, and social influences to produce actions that satisfy goals. From this perspective, children's actions are shaped by both their remote and recent history, their current physical capabilities, and their immediate physical and social environment. The actions, in turn, are viewed as shaping the development of categorization, conceptual understanding, memory, language, and other capabilities. Dynamic-systems theories are unique in their emphasis on how children's actions shape their development, as well as in the range of developmental influences they consider with regard to particular capabilities.

Invariant sequence

Everyone progresses through the stages in the same order without skipping any of them.

executive functioning

Executive functions involve the control of cognition. The prefrontal cortex (Figure 4.8) plays a particularly important role in this cognitive control. Three major types of executive functions are inhibiting tempting actions that would be counterproductive; enhancing working memory through use of strategies, such as repeating a phone number that would otherwise be forgotten; and being cognitively flexible, for example, taking someone else's perspective in an argument despite its differing from one's own. As these examples suggest, executive functioning integrates information from working memory and long-term memory to accomplish goals (e.g., Diamond, 2013; Miyake & Friedman, 2012; Rose, Feldman, & Jankowski, 2011).

cultural tools

In the example in the text, the language Sadie and her mother use, the diagram and components of the toy, the procedures they use to assemble the toy, as well as the technology needed to make such toys and assembly instructions are all referred to by sociocultural theorists as _____.

review

Information-processing theories envision children as active learners and problem solvers who continuously devise means for overcoming their processing limits and reaching their goals. The capacity and processing speed of working memory and long-term memory influence all information processing. Executive functioning uses information in working memory and long-term memory to flexibly shift goals and inhibit impulses to behave in ways that are inappropriate in the situation; it also updates the contents of working memory so that new goals can be pursued effectively. Cognitive growth in general, and development of memory and learning in particular, are seen as involving increasingly efficient execution of basic processes, construction of more effective strategies, and acquisition of new content knowledge. Overlapping waves theory indicates that individual children use multiple strategies to solve the same type of problem, that children choose adaptively among these strategies, and that problem solving improves through the discovery of more effective strategies, more efficient execution of the strategies, better choices of when to use the strategies, and improved planning.

information processing theories

Information-processing theories focus on the specific mental processes that underlie children's thinking. Even in infancy, children are seen as actively pursuing goals, encountering processing limits, and devising strategies that allow them to surmount the processing limits and attain the goals. The memory system includes working memory, long-term memory, and executive functioning. Working memory is a system for actively attending to, gathering, maintaining, storing, and processing information. Long-term memory is the enduring knowledge accumulated over a lifetime. Executive functioning is crucial for controlling thought and action, develops greatly during the preschool and early elementary school years, and is related to later academic achievement and occupational success. The development of memory and learning in large part reflects improvements in basic processes, strategies, and content knowledge. Basic cognitive processes allow infants to learn and remember from birth onward. Among the most important basic processes are association, recognition, generalization, and encoding. The use of strategies enhances learning and memory beyond the level that basic processes alone could provide. Rehearsal and selective attention are two important strategies. Increasing content knowledge enhances memory and learning of all types of information. One important contributor to the growth of problem solving is the development of planning.

Explanations of memory development

Information-processing theorists try to explain both the processes that make memory as good as it is at each age and the limitations that prevent it from being better. These efforts have focused on three types of capabilities: basic processes, strategies, and content knowledge.

two biological processes that contribute to faster processing are myelination and increased connectivity among brain regions

Myelination enhances executive function, contributing to the ability to resist distractions (Dempster & Corkill, 1999; Wilson & Kipp, 1998). Greater connectivity among brain regions also increases processing capacity and speed by increasing the efficiency of communication among brain areas (Thatcher, 1998). This growth of long-distance connectivity among brain regions is especially prominent in later childhood and adolescence.

qualitative change

Piaget believed that children of different ages think in qualitatively different ways. For example, he proposed that children in the early stages of cognitive development conceive of morality in terms of the consequences of a person's behavior, whereas children in later stages conceive of it in terms of the person's intent. Thus, a 5-year-old would judge someone who accidentally broke a whole jar of cookies as having been naughtier than someone who deliberately stole a single cookie; an 8-year-old would reach the opposite conclusion. This difference represents a qualitative change, because the two children are basing their moral judgments on entirely different criteria.

Vygotsky

Piaget depicted children as little scientists, trying to understand the world on their own. Vygotsky, in contrast, portrayed them as social learners, intertwined with other people who are eager to help them gain skills and understanding. Piaget viewed children as intent on mastering physical, mathematical, and logical concepts that are the same in all times and places, Vygotsky viewed them as intent on participating in activities that happen to be prevalent in their local setting Whereas Piaget emphasized qualitative changes in thinking, Vygotsky emphasized continuous, quantitative changes.

counting on

Six-year-old Foster can solve 3 + 7 by thinking "7, 8, 9, 10." This is known as the _____ strategy.

review

Sociocultural approaches view children as social learners, shaped by, and shaping, their cultural contexts. These approaches emphasize that children develop in a cultural context of other people and human inventions, such as symbol systems, artifacts, skills, and values. Through guided participation, more knowledgeable people help children gain skills in using these cultural tools; children's use of the tools, in turn, further transforms their thinking. Culture is made possible by the human propensity to teach and learn and to establish intersubjectivity with other people. Through processes such as social scaffolding and the creation of communities of learners, older and more skilled individuals help children acquire the skills, knowledge, and values of their culture.

sociocultural theories

Starting with Vygotsky's theory, sociocultural theories have focused on the way that the social world molds development. These theories emphasize that development is shaped not only by interactions with other people and the skills learned from them, but also by the artifacts with which children interact and the beliefs, values, and traditions of the larger society. Sociocultural theories view humans as differing from other animals in their propensity to teach and their ability to learn from teaching. Establishing intersubjectivity between people through joint attention is essential to learning. Sociocultural theories describe people as learning through guided participation and social scaffolding, in which others who are more knowledgeable support the learner's efforts.

child centered

Taking age-related differences in cognitive level into account before deciding when to teach particular concepts is often called a(n) _____ approach.

accommodate

Three-year-old Jonica is in the grocery story with her mother when she notices an older man with a long, white beard and a protruding abdomen. To her mother's embarrassment, Jonica points to the man and shouts "Santa, Santa!" Jonica's mother then explains to her that the man is not Santa Claus even though he has a long beard and a round belly. Consequently, Jonica can _____ her Santa concept to the standard one.

Motivators of Development

To a greater extent than any of the other theories except Piaget's, dynamic-systems theories emphasize that from infancy onward, children are strongly motivated to learn about the world around them and to explore and expand their own capabilities (von Hofsten, 2007). This motivation to explore and learn is clearly apparent in the fact that children persist in practicing new skills even when they possess well-practiced skills that are more efficient. Thus, toddlers persist in their first unsteady efforts to walk, despite the fact that crawling would get them where they want to go more quickly and without the risk of falling (Adolph & Berger, 2011). Like sociocultural approaches, but unlike Piagetian theory, dynamic-systems theories emphasize infants' interest in the social world as a crucial motivator of development. As noted in our discussion of the active child in Chapter 1, even newborns prefer attending to the sounds, movements, and features of the human face over almost any alternative stimuli. By 10 to 12 months of age, infants' interest in the social world is readily apparent in the emergence of intersubjectivity (page 159), as infants look to where the people interacting with them are looking and direct the attention of others to things they themselves find interesting (Deák, Flom, & Pick, 2000; von Hofsten, Dahlström, & Fredricksson, 2005). Dynamic-systems theorists have emphasized that observing other people, imitating their actions, and attracting their attention are all potent motivators of development (Fischer & Bidell, 2006; von Hofsten, 2007).

dynamic systems theories

a class of theories that focus on how change occurs over time in complex systems

information-processing theories.

a class of theories that focus on the structure of the cognitive system and the mental activities used to deploy attention and memory to solve problems

social scaffolding

a process in which more competent people provide a temporary framework that supports children's thinking at a higher level than children could manage on their own

guided participation

a process in which more knowledgeable individuals organize activities in ways that allow less knowledgeable people to learn

joint attention

a process in which social partners intentionally focus on a common referent in the external environment

overlapping waves theory

an information-processing approach that emphasizes the variability of children's thinking 5+

social cultural theories

approaches that emphasize that other people and the surrounding culture contribute greatly to children's development

relative success

as children gain experience, they increasingly rely on approaches that produce desired outcomes.

centration

centration the tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or event

efficiency

children increasingly choose approaches that meet goals more quickly or with less effort than do other approaches.

conservation concept

conservation concept the idea that merely changing the appearance of objects does not necessarily change other key properties

5 year olds can solve:

conservation-of-number problems by choosing longer row of objects

During their first "play date," 2-year-old Mackenzie stamped her feet and threw a ball at the window when 1-year-old Saul refused to share his blocks with her. The next day, and despite never having had a tantrum before, Saul stamped his feet and threw a ball at the window when his mother tried to get him to eat his lunch. Jean Piaget would refer to this behavior as _____.

deferred imitation

constructivist

depicts children as constructing knowledge for themselves in response to their experiences. generating hypotheses, performing experiments, and drawing conclusions from their observations.

According to _____ theorists, cognitive development occurs when children overcome their processing limitations by expanding their processing capacity and speed and acquiring new strategies and knowledge.

information processing

david

information processing

how change occurs through social interaction

intersubjectivity and social scaffolding.

self organization and soft development

involves bringing together and integrating attention, memory, emotions, and actions as needed to adapt to a continuously changing environment (Spencer et al., 2006). The organizational process is sometimes called soft assembly, because the components and their organization change from moment to moment and situation to situation, rather than being governed by rigid stages that are consistently applied across time and situations.

pendulum problem (concrete operational)

is to compare the motions of longer and shorter strings, with lighter and heavier weights attached, in order to determine the influence of weight, string length, and dropping point on the time it takes for the pendulum to swing back and forth. Children younger than 12 usually perform unsystematic experiments and draw incorrect conclusions.

autobiographical memories

memories of one's own experiences, including one's thoughts and emotions

working memory

memory system that involves actively attending to, gathering, maintaining, storing, and processing information

long term memory

nformation retained on an enduring basis

Thelen and Smith

noted that the development of reaching included regressions as well as improvements, and Thelen (2001) described how differences in Hannah's and Gabriel's early reaches influenced their later paths to skilled reaching.

pre operational stage

preoperational stage the period (2 to 7 years) within Piaget's theory in which children become able to represent their experiences in language, mental imagery, and symbolic thought

planning

problem solving is more successful if planned out

sources of discontinuity

qualitative change, broad applicability, brief transitions, invariant sequence

Central Development Issues

self organization

sensorimotor stage

sensorimotor stage the period (birth to 2 years) within Piaget's theory in which intelligence is expressed through sensory and motor abilities

symbolic representation

symbolic representation the use of one object to stand for another

(Inagaki & Hatano, 2008)

that animals are the only living things. This belief seems to stem from the assumption that only animals can move in ways that help them survive. Sooner or later, children realize that plants also move in ways that promote their survival (e.g., toward sunlight). This new information is difficult for them to assimilate to their prior thinking. The resulting disparity between their previous understanding of living things and their new knowledge about plants creates a state of disequilibrium, in which they are unsure of what it means to be alive.

cultural tools

the innumerable products of human ingenuity that enhance thinking

novelty

the lure and challenge of trying something new. Children sometimes choose new approaches that are no more efficient, or even less efficient, than an established alternative but that have the potential to become more efficient

intersubjectivity

the mutual understanding that people share during communication

formal operational stage

the period (12 years and beyond) within Piaget's theory in which people become able to think about abstractions and hypothetical situations

equilibration

the process by which children (or other people) balance assimilation and accommodation to create stable understanding

accommodation

the process by which people adapt current knowledge structures in response to new experiences

assimilation

the process by which people translate incoming information into a form that fits concepts they already understand

problem solving

the process of attaining a goal by using a strategy to overcome an obstacle

selective attention

the process of intentionally focusing on the information that is most relevant to the current goal

rehearsal

the process of repeating information multiple times to aid memory of it

encoding

the process of representing in memory information that draws attention or is considered important

deferred imitation

the repetition of other people's behavior a substantial time after it originally occurred

task analysis

the research technique of identifying goals, relevant information in the environment, and potential processing strategies for a problem

private speech

the second phase of Vygotsky's internalization-of-thought process, in which children develop their self-regulation and problem-solving abilities by telling themselves aloud what to do, much as their parents did in the first stage

basic processing

the simplest and most frequently used mental activities

egocentrism

the tendency to perceive the world solely from one's own point of view

a not b error

the tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was last found rather than in the new location where it was last hidden, 8-12 months

disequilibration

they recognize shortcomings in their understanding of the phenomenon, but they cannot generate a superior alternative.