DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY - SOCIOCULUTRAL THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT Flashcards
(29 cards)
Who is lev Vygotsky?
Russian psychologist working in Marxist era
- sceptical of reductionist approaches
- saw society like the culture and organisation as important factors in sharpening children’s psychological development
What did Vygotsky propose?
A sociocultural theory of congivitve development
Whats the major contributions of Vygotsky?
Social factors, given little consideration in Piaget theory
What did Piaget emphasis in the unit of study about cognition ?
Emphasis the child as active constructor of their own cognition
Views children as little scientists
Limited emphasis on social factors
How did Piaget see the social environment as?
External, distinct from the child
- serves only to motivate change in equilibration
What did Vygotsky say about unit of study?
Agrees that children actively construct their own cognition
- agrees social factors cause cognitive change
But goes beyond thi
- cognition is inherently social
- cognition incorporates socially evolved tools like language, art.
- children construct their own knowledge from the tools and ko shared by the culture
Whats the principles of Vygotskys theory?
Sociocultural origins
- developmental through social interactions
Cultural tools
- developmental through psychological tools
Less explicit than Piaget
Whats the sociocultural origins of cognition?
Mental functioning is based on social processes.
Development occurs through social interaction, which shapes cognition.
Children internalise shared social activities, building their own thinking.
Whats examples of internalisation?
- learning to point explain
Learning to point
- Vygotsky suggest pointing evolves from unsuccessful reaching
Adults interpret act as directing shared attention to the object
Child comes to link the act with its social function
Explain the example of internalisation tying shoelaces?
Adults assists child with verbal guidance
Child follows instructions, eventually internalising them
And no longer needs to hear instructions
Whats the zone of proximal developmental?
The ZPD is the gap between what a child can do independently and what they can do with help from a more skilled person.
Learning is most effective within this zone, with support (scaffolding
Whats the importance of zone of proximal developmental?
Gives a fuller picture of child’s abilities - potential competence need to gauge level of task complexity for successful learning
What does wood, Bruner and Ross argue about ZPD?
- mothers asked to teach 4-5 year olds how t build a toy.
E xamined interactions
Children learn little when mother demonstrates/talks the task through
Children learn most when mother determines childs understanding
and offers instructions accordingly
What does cultural tools include?
Technical tools for acting on environmental like hammer
Psychological tools for thought like language, number systems, diagrams, maps and algebra
What does Vygotsky believe is the most importantly to central?
Psychological tools
Whats the difference between Piaget and Vygotsky for language?
Piaget: Cognition develops through action.
Did not see language as an important factor
Vygotsky: Cognition develops through language
What’s private speech?
Children talk aloud to themselves while playing
What does Piaget called it when children talk to themselves whilst playing?
Egocentric speech - self-centered thinking; not intended for communication; seen as a sign of immature thought.
Explain what Piaget believes about egocentric speech ?
Utterances not directed at others and not meant to be understood.
Seen as non-social and a sign the child can’t take others’ perspectives.
These monologues decline as the child becomes less egocentric with age.
What did Vygotsky argue about language and monologue/
• Believed monologues are important in organising thought:
• Facilitate complex problem solving
• Provide a foundation for cognition
• Monologues decline as they become internalised as ‘inner
speech’ around 7yrs
Whats some theories supporting vygotsky of language?
Some evidence in favour of Vygotsky’s idea – language facilitates
cognition
• Berk (1992): Children use more private speech when task is
more difficult
• Behrend et al (1990): Children who use private speech perform
better than those who do no
What did Bruner, wood and Ross do?
Furthered Vygotsky’s theory
Vygostsky proposed ZPD, but was vague on how a child develops
cognitive ability through social interaction
Bruner sought to identify the important aspects of social interaction
Proposed the concept of ‘scaffolding’ : the ways in which an expert
assists a learner
Explain key features in scaffolding?
Recruitment – captures attention and motivates.
Reduction of degrees of freedom – simplifies the task.
Direction maintenance – keeps child focused and motivated.
Marking critical features – highlights important parts, helps spot errors.
Demonstration – models how to complete the task.
Whats the evaluation of the construction of sociocultural theories?
Highlighted importance of cultural & social factors in cognitive
development; previously given little consideration
•Emphasises that development is variable across cultures
e.g. children in literate societies develop cognitive abilities different
from children in preliterate societies
Piaget ignored culture -considered universal aspects of development
•Not constrained to developmental stages; is more continuous
•Implications for educational practice: ZPD, scaffolding
