Cognition Flashcards
Piaget
Child shown a toy which was then covered; 9 months removed cloth. Object permanence.
Goswami (88)
Key questions of cognitive development:
What develops and why does development take place?
Bower & Wishart (72)
4 month year old baby held arms out for teddy, did the same when the lights were turned off. Piaget may have overestimated age of object permanence.
Piaget & Inhelder (67)
Children shown model of 3 mountains, doll placed on the model and children asked to describe its view. Given pictures and asked to pick doll’s POV.
Under 7 couldn’t do it - egocentric.
Doesn’t meet criteria of experiment - no manipulation of IV.
Donaldson (78) - failed because they didn’t understand the task/
Piaget
Liquids into different containers, pre-operational thought was different amount - inability to conserve.
Learn conservation of number before mass - horizontal décalage.
Piaget
A>B, B>C, pre-operational can’t understand A>C. Seriation.
Piaget
Picture cards - 5 horses, 3 pigs. Until age 7 couldn’t answer “are there more animals or more horses?” - Class inclusion tasks.
Piaget
Speed of pendulum; 11/12 systematically tested on factor at a time. Formal operational.
Donaldson
Young children capable of more than Piaget suggests, but there understanding is ‘embedded’ in everyday situations in which they use context for help.
Hughes (75)
Children shown a model room with 4 sections, doll looking into 2 of them. 90% could put dolls where the other couldn’t see - hide & seek. Piaget’s tasks lacked human sense.
Paul Light
95% of 6 y.o. failed to conserve, but 70% could when told the beaker had a sharp chip so needed to be changed - context.
Siegler (95)
Used ‘microgenetic’ method to study 5 y.o. who failed button experiment.
3 groups: Feedback group were told if they were right or wrong, Explanation group were asked to justify actions and told if right or wrong, Discussion group told the right answer and asked “Why do you think I know that?”
Retested of Piagetian task after training sessions. More of discussion group conserved, understood length did not predict number.
Combines quantitive (control of IV) and qualitative (observation) methods.
Goswami (98)
Accepted that children can understand and reason at the level of action before the level of representation.
Keating (79)
40-60% of college students fail at formal operational tasks.
Dasen (94)
A third of adults reach formal operational.
Plowden Report (HMSO, 67)
Children seen as individuals, teachers were facilitators who identified child’s stage and decided when they could move to next. Piaget in education.
Nunes (92)
Brazilian street children on stalls have no formal education but are good at maths due to working with adults.
Wood et al. (75)
Idea of scaffolding - help given to child by a more knowledgable other.
Wood & Middleton (76)
Mother asked to teach 4 y.o. to do jigsaw.
5 types of scaffolding: general suggestions, specific verbal instructions, indicating materials, preparing for assembly, physical demonstrations.
Most effective changed up or down levels depending on actions.
Qualitative data, small sample size.
Moss (92)
3 strategies for scaffolding with mothers:
Staying one step ahead of child
Discouraging wrong strategies
Reinforcing new useful strategies.
Pratt et al. (92)
Discovered scaffolding with older children. Variation in performances of long division.
Durkin (95)
Criticised all experiments as parents knew they were being observed.
However, Greenfield & Lave (82) saw Mexican girls learning weaving from older women who gave them tasks to do.
Tzuriel & Shamir (2007)
Tested peer mentoring (scaffolding). Year 1 children who couldn’t do seriation task paired with a year 3.
Experimental group mediators taught to sue a mediation teaching style.
Helped year 1 who were retested. Experimental group showed better improvement.
Biggest gains where mismatch between cognitive abilities.
Control group took part in a training programme to avoid Hawthorn type effects.
Bruner & Kenney (65)
8 y.o. given different sized blocks, encouraged to play (enactive).
Helped to construct diagrams of different sized squares (iconic)
Shapes given name label, taught to solve equations x+y=z (symbolic)
Young children can work within symbolic mode and generalise experience to new situations.
Uses range of analysis and observation. Important they are not overwhelmed, in school to reduce stress.
