PSY 220 test 3 4c

These informal theories share important characteristics with formal scientific theories:

-Identify fundamental units for dividing up the vast number of objects and events in the world (preschoolers divide all objects into people, other animals, plants, and nonliving things) -Explain many particular phenomena in terms of a few basic principles (preschoolers divide all objects into people, other animals, plants, and nonliving things) -Explain events in terms of unobservable causes (understand that the vital activities of animals, such as reproduction and movement, are caused by something within the animals themselves, as opposed to the external forces that determine the behavior of objects) ie; when you get sick, how did that happen

What did Tomasello propose human species have what unique characteristics that are crucial to the ability to create complex, rapidly changing cultures?

-The inclination to teach others of the species -The inclination to attend to and learn from such teaching

Language according to Vygotsky

in a communicative context, but can also be used to describe thoughts, labels things, labels for context. eventually, used for thought. Non-verbal language also important though.

Tomasello

interested in socio-cultural perspective. we have evolved to learn this way; some teach and some learn, the back and forth promotes cognitive development. apprenticeship is fundamental to all human cultures. Cultural content can vary

Vygotsky viewed thought as?

internalized speech

Most striking piece of evidence in favor of specialized learning emphasizes

language

the degree of success infants have in following other people's gaze predicts what?

later vocab development

number of core-knowledge theorists have proposed that young children actively organize their understanding of the most important domains into what?

naive theories. children form naive theories of physics, psychology, and biology

Recent evidence suggests that infants begin life with a primitive theory of..?

physics. -two objects cannot occupy same space, objects move in a continous manner,

According to Vygotsky, what is the preschool age most critical for?

pre-school age range particularly important for integrating thought and language.

Sociocultural theorists believe that many of the___ are the same in all societies.

processed that produce development

what research supports the view that people possess specialized learning mechanisms for acquiring information important to survivial?

research on infants face perception (from birth onwards, brain structures outside the cortex, in particular the superior colliculus, bias infants to prefer looking at faces over other objects

Vygotsky's theory presents children as?

social beings, intertwined with other people who are eager to help them gain skills and understanding

Difference between social scaffolding and guided participation

social scaffolding has more explicit instruction

what is the central metaphor for core knowledge theories

the child as a well adapted product of evolution

the younger the age at which infants begin to show joint attention,

the faster the subsequent language acquisition

What is the first theory of biology organized around?

the realization that people and other animals are living things, different from nonliving things and plants. ie; 3 and 4 year olds realize that animals, but not manufactures objects, move on the basis of their own power

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 what to do.

What is the first theory of psychology organized around?

the understanding that other people's actions, not just one's own, reflect their goals and desires. for example, 2 year olds realize that another person will want to eat is he or she is hungry, regardless of whether they themselves are

---By time children enter kindergarten, what theory can be built upon to teach more complex concepts.

theory of unobservable causes (in illness, in why parents and children look the same- then you can introduce things like genes, etc)

Goal of social scaffolding

to allow children to learn by doing

When do 3 year olds understand deception much better?

when they are actively involved in perpetrating the deceit than when they merely witness the same deception being perpetrated by others

Key theorist of Sociocultural Theories

Lev Vygotsky is considered to be the originator of the sociocultural approach to cognitive development. Vygotsky's work created a stir because his view of children's nature was so different from Piaget's.

What core knowledge theorist proposed that children have specialized language-learning mechanisms and what evidence (2)?

Noam Chompsky- -universality of language acquisition (understanding other complex rule systems such as geometry, locgic and kinship relations are not universal) -areas in the middle of the left hemisphere of the brain are consistently active in processing grammar

How did Piaget and Vygotsky differ in their views of egocentric speech?

Piaget thought failing to take on point of view of other individual, Vygotsky thought b/c language not fully internalized, say things out loud

How was core knowledge theories different than Piaget's?

Research inspired by core-knowledge theories demonstrate that young children reason in ways considerably more advanced than Piaget suggested

Domain Specificity

The basic understandings proposed by core knowledge theorists are assumed to be domain specific—limited to a particular area, such as living things or inanimate objects (to understand the world, we break it up in a certain way. need to navigate our social world (theory of mind and behavior). domains w/people, w/objects)

Intersubjectivity

The mutual understanding that people share during communication Serves as the foundation of human cognitive development

Quality of Scaffolding

The quality of scaffolding that people provide tends to increase as people become older & gain experience

things in common w/core knowledge and other theories

children are active participants in their environment

View of children from core-knoweledge

children as built to learn and develop, what biases might be built in. constantly striving to solve problems and to organize their understanding into coherent wholes.

What do deception studies indicate?

children as young as 3 can not only understand that other people can be fooled but also act on that understanding

However, the However, the ___vary greatly from culture to culture.

content that children learn

Vygotsky sees development as ?

continuous, with change as quantitative rather than qualitative. No stage like-quality like Piaget (information processing doesn't have stage like quality either)

3 Phases of evidence supporting Vygotsky's view of language becoming integrated with thought

1. first phase is to describe, pointing and labeling. mom and dad guiding behavior 2. child starts to use language to describe experience. proposed you will see evidence of this primarily used for thought. b/c transition period, (2-4 1/2) evidence for language to describe thought in egocentric speech. (puzzle example; will talk to themselves while faced with a challenging task. but when puzzle became familiar, spent less time talking outloud. ) Even adults might talk to ourselves to talk outloud 3. eventually becomes internalized, and becomes 'inner-speech'

2 things Ygotsky noticed that Piaget didn't

1. the fact that social context is important for cognitive development. children will perform at a higher level when someone is guiding or directing behavior 2. Cultural tools- all sorts of symbolic systems we use (mathematics, art, etc) but the most powerful tool is language. thought language incredibly important for thought. guide, direct, and enhance problem solving.

not until what age are children convinced that the category of living things includes plants as well as animals?

7

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

Core Knowledge Theories

Emphasize the sophistication of infants' & young children's thinking in areas that have been important throughout human evolutionary history. ie; two objects occupy enter same space

Educational applications of core-knowledge theories

Findings regarding children's naïve theories of biology can be used to help children gain a more advanced understanding of the subject. (after preschool, more tied to learning) More broadly, important to realize people are not a blank slate

What is dif in core-knowledge theories than in information processing and piaget views?

However, core-knowledge theorists view children as entering the world with specialized learning abilities that allow them to quickly and effortlessly acquire information of evolutionary importance. Also whether biases are particularly dominant early on? we see there's a lot of back and forth (ie; children and adults guiding and directing their development)

Studies on college students

Investigated how they understand Newton's laws and motion, how easily how they can compartmentalize things they learn in classroom and integrate it into what they learn in the real world. only 1/3 kids who are taking physics, come up with right choice shockingly, students come in and pass their test, but when given real world assessment, it's if they'd never learned physics. understanding of all knowledge is colored by naive theories. (as far as you could take the education link)

What has been the recognition in the last 2 decades or so in regards to core knowledge theories and socio-cultural development

We have evolved to think about our world. biases evolved through time, human social animal

---What misconceptions can be corrected early?

Young children's misconceptions in their biological understanding about people versus animals can be addressed and corrected early. Takes a long time to realize plants are alive, so maybe we should introduce evidence for them early on.

Joint Attention

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

When do the first theories of psychology and biology seem to appear?

about 18 months (child's sense of self) and three years of age, respectively. mirror test- if they have a sense of self, 18 mos

When is private speech most prevalent?

around 4 and 6 years old

How do core knowledge theories depict intelligence?

as a mixture of general learning abilities and powerful specialized abilities that help children learn to solve evolutionary important problems

Why are humans seen as unique?

because of their inclination to teach each other and to learn from each other

What are some examples of how change occurs with intersubjectivity?

by age 2 to 3 mos, infants show greater animation and interest when their mothers respond to their actions than when their mothers behave in ways that are independent of those actions. by age 6 mos, infants can learn novel behaviors by observing other people's behavior

Social Scaffolding ideal

explaining goal of the task, demonstrating how the task should be done, and helping the child execute the most difficult parts.

Autobiographical memories

explicit memories of events that took place at specific times and places in the individual's past. When discussing past experiences with their young children, some parents encourage them to provide many details about past events and often expand on the children's statements- another example of social scaffolding tend to use more open ended questions children who have more elaborative moms are better at remembering things later on

What is some evidence for specialized learning mechanisms?

face perception- from birth onward, infant prefer looking at faces over other objects. helpful to look at human faces, bc they indicate people which take care of you language-the universality of language acquisition and the role that the left hemisphere plays in processing grammar provide evidence for specialized mechanisms for learning language. learn without being taught. (not possible to describe, without thinking their is a specialized learning mechanism)

Sociocultural approaches emphasize what?

guided participation, a process in which more knowledgeable individuals organize activities in ways that allow less knowledgeable people to engage in them at a higher level than they could manage on their own.

What 3 specific ideas have Vygotsky and contemporary sociocultural theorists proposed about how change occurs through social interaction?

guided participation, intersubjectivity and social scaffolding