KEY IDEAS PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT SENSORIMOTOR STAGE

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1 KEY IDEAS COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORIES: PIAGET, VYGOTSKY, KOHLBERG Cognitive development is the product of children s efforts to understand the world In order to adapt to our world, we constantly build schemes(actions or mental representations that organize knowledge) Children constantly assimilate and accommodate as they seek equilibrium PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT 1. Adaptation how one handles new information a) Assimilation using existing schemes in dealing with new experiences b) Accommodation adjusting one s schemes in dealing with new experiences 2. Organization grouping isolated and behaviors into a higher-order system 3. Equilibration striving for balance; shifting from one stage to the next Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years old) -infants understand the world by coordinating one s senses with motor actions Schemes developed: Habits based on a reflex that has become completely separated from its eliciting stimulus Circular reaction repetitive behavior 1

2 Substages of the Sensorimotor Stage 1. Reflexes coordinating senses and actions through inborn reflexes - Example: Sucking reflex 2. Primary circular reactions first signs of intentionality - Example: Sucking one s thumb, 3. Secondary circular reactions interaction with the environment; repeat action that bring interesting results -Example:Shaking a rattle; cooing to get attention Substages of the Sensorimotor Stage 4. Coordination of secondary circular reactions coordination of schemes and intentionality -Example:Using a stick to bring an object nearer; grasping a toy simultaneously 5. Tertiary circular reactions little experimenter -Example:Makinga block fall, spin, and hit another object 6. Internalization of schemes representational ability develops; ability to use primitive symbols -Example: Mimicking matchbox being opened and closed by using one s mouth Preoperational stage (2-7 years old) -children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings (representational ability) -child does not perform operations(reversible mental actions that allow them to do mentally what they can do physically) -children uses more symbols(internalized sensory image or word that represents an event) PIAGET: 1. Symbolic Function Substage -between ages 2 to 4 -child gains the ability to use mental representations (symbols) to which a child has attached meaning -Ex. Pretend play (play involving imaginary people and situations) PIAGET: 1. Symbolic Function Substage Limitations: a. Egocentrism inability to consider another person s point of view Ex. The three-mountain task (Piaget and Inhelder, 1969) 1. Symbolic Function Substage Limitations: b. Animism tendency to attribute life to objects that are not alive - The sun is shy. - The TV is tired. - That tree pushed the leaf off, and it fell down. 2

3 2. Intuitive Thought Substage -around ages 4 to 7 -child begins to use primitive reasoning -child wants to know the answers to all sorts of questions -intuitive child knows something but knows it without the use of rational thinking Centration centering of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others -another limitation of the preoperational stage -clearly demonstrated in the child s lack of conservation Conservation - Awareness that two things that are equal remain equal even if the appearance is altered, as long as nothing is added or taken away - Children in the preoperational stage tend to lack conservation - Example: Piaget s beaker test THEORY OF MIND Theory of mind -awareness of one s own mental processes and those of others 2-3 years old: Children begin to understand the following: a.) perceptions of others b.) differences between positive & negative emotions c.) the concept of desire 4-5 years old:children can understand that the mind can represent objects accurately or inaccurately - They realize that people can have false beliefs CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE Concrete operational stage (7-11 years old) -children can now perform concrete operations (reversiblemental actions that apply to real, concrete objects) -child develops logical thinking, but not abstract thinking - less egocentric thinking CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE Concrete Operations: 1. Conservation in the beaker test, the child is able to re-imagine the water in the original beaker 2. Classification child can divide things into different sets and consider how they are related to one another 3

4 CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE Concrete Operations: 3. Seriation arranging stimuli according to a certain dimension (e.g. color, length) 4. Transitivity ability to logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions PIAGET: FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE Formal operational stage (11 years old and onwards) -individual is now capable of doing abstract thought -individuals are now able to think of make-believe situations and develop hypothetical scenarios -adolescents become more idealistic PIAGET: FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE Key Abilities: 1. Abstract thinking 2. Idealistic thinking extended speculation about ideal characteristics 3. Logical thinking a. Hypothetical-deductive reasoning ability to develop, consider, and test a hypothesis (Example: Pinoy Henyo ) BEYOND PIAGET: ADOLESCENT EGOCENTRISM Adolescent egocentrism -David Elkind sconcept of the heightened selfconsciousness of adolescents -for Elkind, this is partly because the adolescent is still starting to explore his/her formal operational thought BEYOND PIAGET: ADOLESCENT EGOCENTRISM Key Components (1)Imaginary audience adolescent s belief that others are as interested in them as they themselves (2)Personal fable adolescent s belief of adolescents that they are special BEYOND PIAGET: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADULTHOOD Reflective thinking continuous, active evaluation of information in light of new evidence and implications; may develop at around ages Postformal thought mature thinking that relies on emotion, intuition, and logic to deal with a chaotic and uncertain world 4

5 CRITICISM OF PIAGET S THEORY 1. Some cognitive abilities emerge earlier than Piaget thought. 2. Some abilities appear in earlier stages. 3. Some children can be trained to reason at a higher cognitive stage. 4. Culture may play a role in how their skills develop. -For Vygotsky, children learn through social contexts and social interaction Zone of proximal development (ZPD) -gap between what they are able to do by themselves and what they are not ready to accomplish by themselves -the buds of development, as opposed to the fruits Scaffolding -temporary support given to a child to do the task until he/she can do it alone -a more skilled person (teacher or adult) adjusts the amount of guidance to fit the child s current performance Private speech -talking to oneself with no intent to communicate with others Piaget:Private speech is egocentric and immature -Children tend to vocalize what is on their minds -They could not distinguish the words and the actions they symbolize EGOCENTRIC SPEECH Awareness of others SOCIAL SPEECH Awareness of others INNER SPEECH CRITICISM OF VYGOTSKY S THEORY Private speech Vygotsky:Private speech is an important tool of thought -It is important in the transition from social speech to inner speech -It serves as a transition towards internal control of behavior EXTERNAL SOCIAL SPEECH Internalization PRIVATE SPEECH Internalization INNER SPEECH 1. Overemphasis of the role of language on thinking 2. Facilitators might become too helpful in some cases 3. Children might become lazy and expect help when they could do it on their own 5

6 KOHLBERG: MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY Moral development development of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about what people should do Piaget: Children undergo two stages of morality: 1. Heteronomous morality (4-7 years old) rules are fixed and people can t control it -believes in immanent justice (if a rule is broken, punishment will be given right away) 2. Transition(7-10 years old) 3. Autonomous morality (10 years old and beyond) rules are created by people; in judging an action, the intentions and the consequences must be considered KOHLBERG: MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY LEVEL I: Preconventional Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange Moral decisions are based on consequences. (Ages 4-10) Moral decisions are based on fear of punishment. Moral decisions are based on self-interest and what others can do for them. LEVEL II: Conventional Moral decisions are based on standards of authority figures. (Ages or beyond) Stage 3: Good interpersonal relationships Stage 4: Maintaining social order Moral decisions are based on desire to please others. Moral decisions are based on one s sense of duty to maintain law and order. KOHLBERG: MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY LEVEL III: Postconventional Stage 5: Social contract and individual rights Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles Moral decisions are based on one s own principles and convictions. (Adolescence, adulthood, or never) Moral decisions are based on respect for one s values, rights, and dignity, even if contrary to the law. Moral decisions are based on one s personalized conscience, even if contrary to the law. KOHLBERG: MORAL DEVELOPMENT Criticisms 1. Moral thoughts: Too focused on moral thoughts and little focus on moral behavior. 2. Culture: May not apply to nonwestern cultures, especially if it emphasizes communal equity and collective happiness 3. Parents: Never considered parents as important to moral development; for him, it limits the child s perspective KOHLBERG: MORAL DEVELOPMENT 4. Gender: -Carol Gilligan says that Kohlberg s theory is more focused on men and puts more focus on abstract thoughts over relationships with others - Rather than a justice perspective (focused on the rights of the individual), Gilligan says that women make moral decisions based on a care perspective (focused on connectedness with others) -Research shows no evidence of male bias in Kohlberg s theory 6