Educational PsychologyChapter 2

By: Angela Vaughan, Katrinka Newman,

Heide Alston, & Diariece Jones

Outline

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Four Stages of Cognitive Development

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective

The Social Sources of IndividualThinking

The Development of Language

Summary of Chapter 2This chapter examines the ideas of two cognitivedevelopmental theorists: Jean Piaget and LevVygotsky. Both of these philosophies are basedon what students can learn and when they areready to learn. Jean Piaget states that childrenhave to pass through four stages of developmentto learn in life. Vygotsky feels that socializationis a direct influence of learning. He felt thatcommunity and parental influence greatly impactsthe way, and when children learn. The chapteralso discusses what role learning plays inlanguage development.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Stage Approximate Age Characteristics

Sensorimotor 0-2 yearsBegins to make use of imitation, memory, and thought.

Preoperational 2-7 yearsGradually develops use of language and ability to think in symbolic form.

Concrete operational 7-11 yearsAble to solve concrete (hands-on) problems in logical fashion.

Formal operational 11-adultAble to solve abstract problems in logical fashion.

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective

• Three main influences:

1. Human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be understood apart from these settings.

2. The child’s cultural development appears later on

the individual level between people and then inside the child.

3. The Zone of proximal development is the area where learning and development are possible.

Differences between Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s Theories of Egocentric or Private Speech

Piaget Vygotsky

Developmental Significance

Represents an inability to take the perspective of another & engage in reciprocal communication.

Represents externalized thought; its function is to communicate with the self for the purpose of self-guidance & self-direction.

Course of Development

Declines with age. Increases at younger ages & then gradually loses its audible quality to become internal verbal thought.

Relationship to Social Speech

Negative; least socially & cognitively mature children use more egocentric speech.

Positive; private speech develops out of social interaction with others.

Relationship to Environmental Contexts

Increases with task difficulty. Private speech serves as self-guiding function in situations.

Students should act, manipulate, observe and then talk and/or write about what they have experienced. Concrete experiences provide the raw materials for thinking. Communicating with others makes students use, test, and sometimes change their thinking abilities.

Assisted learning, or guided participation in the classroom, requires scaffolding. Teachers can assist learning by adapting materials or problems to students’ current levels, demonstrating skills or thought processes, walking students through the steps of a complicated problem, modeling part of the problem, giving detailed feedback and allowing revisions, or asking questions to refocus students’ attention.

The Development of LanguageAs children’s cognitive abilities develop,

so does their language.

Age Range Milestones

By age 1 Says one to two words; recognizes name and imitates simple sounds, understands simple instructions

Between 1 and 2 Uses 5-20 words; two word sentences; vocabulary is growing

Between 2 and 3 Identify body parts; calls self me instead of by name; 450 word vocabulary; uses short sentences

Between 3 and 4 Tells a story; 4-5 word sentences; vocabulary about 1000 words

Between 4 and 5 4-5 words sentences, uses past tense, vocabulary of 1500 words; ask why and who questions

Between 5 and 6 5-6 word sentences, vocabulary of 10,000 words, knows spatial relations and opposites

Use of LanguageHeritage Language is the language spoken in the

student’s home or by members of their family.Syntax is the order of words in phrases and

sentences.Pragmatics are the rules of when and how to use

language to be an effective communicator in a particular culture.

Metalinguistic Awareness is the understanding of ones on use of language.

Before children come to school, children know heritage language and syntax. It is the school’s responsibility to teach pragmatics and metalinguistic awareness.