HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 1 PSYCHOLOGY 3050: Piagets Theory Ch'4 3

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HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 1PSYCHOLOGY 3050Piagets
Theory Ch.4 (3)
Dr. Jamie Drover SN-3094, 737-8383 e-mail
jrdrover_at_mun.ca Winter Semester, 2009
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The Development of Class Inclusion

• Knowledge that a subordinate class must always be
  smaller than the superordinate class in which it
  is contained.
• Preschoolers can not do this.
• e.g., show 9 pieces of fruit 5 apples, 4
  oranges
• Are there more apples or more oranges? -- apples
• More apples or more fruit? -- apples
• cant see that apples are a subclass and part of
  the superordinate class

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The Development of Class Inclusion

• But, the question is very unusual and open to
  misinterpretation.
• This doesnt seem to be the case.
• There is evidence that preschoolers can solve
  class inclusion problems.
• Learn through training (Siegel et al. 1978
  Waxman Gelman, 1986).
• When category-typical members are chosen.
• When the categories are more distinctive
  (Wilkinson, 1976).

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The Development of Class Inclusion

• Are there more houses with doors or windows?

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Transition from Concrete to Formal Operational
Thought

• In early adolescence, childrens thoughts are no
  longer applied to the concrete.
• Not limited to tangible facts or object
• Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning
• The benchmark of formal operations.
• They can generate hypotheses.
• Can think solely on the basis of symbols.

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Transition from Concrete to Formal Operational
Thought

• Can generate ideas not yet experienced.
• Thinking like a scientist
• Can think inductively.
• Go from specific observations to broad
  generalization.
• Hypotheses are generated then systematically
  tested.

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Transition from Concrete to Formal Operational
Thought

• Pendulum problem
• Given four factors that can affect pendulum speed
• String length, weight of object, height of
  release, force of push.
• Must formulate a hypothesis
• Vary a single factor while holding the others
  constant.

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Transition from Concrete to Formal Operational
Thought

• Preoperational children can carry out the first
  step.
• Concrete operational children cant get the right
  answer.
• Cant isolate a variable.
• Thinking About Thinking
• Can examine the content of their own thought.

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Transition from Concrete to Formal Operational
Thought

• Can acquire new information from internal
  reflection.
• Reflective abstraction a rearrangement, by means
  of thought, of some matter previously presented
  to the subject in a rough or immediate form.
• Egocentricity
• Adolescents demonstrate centration.

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Transition from Concrete to Formal Operational
Thought

• Believe that their abstract ideas are unique to
  them.
• Adolescents are extremely self-conscious.
• Playing to an imaginary audience.
• Leads to the personal fable
• Belief in uniqueness and invulnerability.
• May explain reckless behavior
• May be adaptive by ensuring experimentation and
  independence.

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The State of Piagets Theory Today

• Piagets theory continues to influence us today.
• But is it accurate?
• Contributions
• Founded cognitive development as we know it.
• Became task focused
• Emphasized the active role of the child.
• Constructivism

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The State of Piagets Theory Today

• Equilibration as an explanation.
• Introduced critical concepts.
• Scheme, object permanence, egocentrism
• Provided an accurate description of development.
• Influence went beyond cognitive development.

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Competence vs. Performance

• Piagets intent was to measure competence.
• May have underestimated the competence of
  children.
• Perspective taking
• Children can be trained to think at a higher
  level.
• Conservation
• May be context specific
• Young children may show formal operational
  reasoning under certain conditions.

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Competence vs. Performance

• In cases, Piaget may have overestimated how
  adults think.
• See garlic powder example (p 105).
• Members of culture without schooling often do not
  reach formal operations.
• Lack exposure to logic, mathematics, and science.

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Questioning the Mechanisms of Development

• Non-Piagetian mechanisms may be responsible for
  development.
• Gelman (1969) trained preschoolers to ignore
  irrelevant dimensions on conservation problems.
• Children could solve the problems and generalize
  to other materials.
• Children have the necessary competence, but are
  limited by cognitive or perceptual abilities in
  certain circumstances.

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Questioning the Mechanisms of Development

• Challenges Piagets notion of structures, stages,
  and operations.
• Cognitive development is not as homogeneous as
  Piaget thought.
• But, some homogeneity does exist.
• New theories are needed to address the
  discrepancies found in Piagets theory.

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Neo-Piagetian Theories Fischers Skill Theory

• Addressed heterogeneity and variation.
• Placed more emphasis on the role of the
  environment.
• The basic structural unit of development is the
  skill.
• We develop skills
• The capacity to act in organized ways in a
  specific context.

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Neo-Piagetian Theories Fischers Skill Theory

• Levels of competence or abilities.
• Mathematical skills, hockey skills, statistical
  skills, language skills, social skills.
• But context and task specific.
• Skills are defined by the organism and the
  environment.
• Skills are culturally defined.
• Only skills that are exercised in the most
  appropriate environment will develop to the
  highest level.

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Neo-Piagetian Theories Fischers Skill Theory

• This explains the heterogeneity of skills.
• Heterogeneity is the general rule.
• We dont possess a single skill level.
• Skills are dynamic and can change as we adjust
  our skills in response to situations in the
  environment.
• For each skill, we have an optimal level.
• Only skills that are exercised in the most
  supportive environments will be developed to
  their highest level.

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Neo-Piagetian Theories Fischers Skill Theory

• Can become coordinated with other skills and
  produce new systems.
• Skills develop in a step-by-step sequence of 10
  heirarchical levels.
• Grouped in three tiers.
• Sensorimotor (3 24 months), representational (2
  12 years), abstract 12 26 years).
• Each tier has four levels.

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Comparison to Piaget

• Fischer emphasizes the role of the environment.
• Fischer and Piaget use different structures.
• Skills vs. Schemes
• Like schemes, skills are structures by which the
  child comes to know the world.
• There can be more heterogeneity with skills

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Comparison to Piaget

• Skills and schemes become more complex as we
  develop.
• Piaget proposes stages whereas Fischer proposes
  levels.
• Stages are general levels are specific to
  particular objects and tasks.
• Fischer assumes there are several different paths
  to any developmental outcome.
• Children do not progress through the same
  sequence of skills in exactly the same order.

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Changes in Brain and Cognitive Development

• Brain development underlies changes in cognitive
  development.
• Fischer believe brain growth spurts and
  developmental changes in EEG functioning
  corresponded with his levels.
• See Figure 4-4.
• The frontal lobes show changes in EEG power.

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Theory Theories

• We have innate theories that we modify during
  childhood.
• A theory is tested and then revised when it no
  longer explains new data.
• We have innate knowledge, or processing
  constraints in certain domains.
• Neonativism

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Last Class

• Piaget may have underestimated childrens
  competence.
• Conservation, Perspective-taking
• Piagetian mechanisms may not underlie development
• Structures, schemes, disequilibrium
• There is heterogeneity
• Neo-Piagetian Theories
• Fischers Skill Theory
• Skills context specific abilities
• Depends on the environment
• Environment is uneven

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Last Class

• Theory theories
• Neonativism
• Born with theories that we test.
• Flies in the face of constructivism.

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Theory Theories

• They integrate innate knowledge with
  constructivism.
• The cognitive processes that undergo gradual
  constructivist development are actually innate.
• They require specific motor and/or sensory
  skills.
• Object permanence and imitation
• Very young infants can show these abilities when
  tasks are modified.

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Theory Theories
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Theory Theories

• Gopnik and Meltzoff propose that children are
  born with sets of rules for operating on
  particular representations.
• These rules are altered by experience.
• Development is still constructive.
• The child has a particular theory.
• There is disorganization.
• A new coherent theory emerges.