Jerome Bruner's Theory:
Effects of Social Interaction and
Culture on Cognitive Development
"Learners are encouraged to discover facts
and relationships for themselves."
Jerome Bruner
Cognitive Development
The term cognitive development can be
defined as continual learning and
development through engaging in activities
that prevent deterioration of existing skills
and nurture new ones.
For Bruner, the outcome of Cognitive
Development is THINKING.
Three Modes of Representation
Bruner proposed three systems by which he believed
people represent their understanding of the world:
"We always have to construct
what we think the world is" - Bruner
1.Enactive Representation
2.Iconic Representation
3.Symbolic Representation
Enactive Representation
• Enactive Representation: Representing past events through
action or patterned motor acts.
• For example:
o Keyboarding
o
o
o
Kickline or cheerleading squad
Telephone number or password
Iconic Representation
• Iconic Representation: the child summarizes events by
organizing perceptions and images.
• For example:
o Illustrating a poem visually
o Interpret a dream, memory or feeling visually
Symbolic Representation
• Symbolic Representation: the child is able to use abstract
ideas, symbols, language, and logic to understand and
represent the world.
• For example:
o Sign Language Alphabet
Curriculum Goals
• Stem from a desire to develop self-propelled thinking in
learners.
• Adequate theory of instruction must bring together the
nature of knowledge, the nature of the knower, and the
nature of the knowledge getting process.
• Bruner recommended strategies that promote discovery in
the exercise of problem solving.
• Activity of problem solving is influenced by the culture in
which it is embedded.
Effective Instruction
There is a fine line between economy of representation
and power of representation to convey important
meanings.
• Economy relates to how much information must be kept
in the mind at one time in order to achieve
comprehension (Bruner, 1966).
• Instructional issues of reinforcement and motivation
o Feedback
o Extrinsic reinforcement
o Discovery learning
Discovery Learning
"all forms of obtaining knowledge for oneself by the use of
one's own mind" —Bruner, 1961.
What conditions promote true discovery?
• Prior Knowledge
• Guided Practice
• Reflection & Contrast
o
Reflecting back on a problem and how it occurred may
help students better understand how they solved it,
making the knowledge their own.
o
Contrasts—a surprising event may provide an avenue for
discovery. (learning from your mistakes)
Culture & Cognitive Growth
"Intelligence is to a great extent the internalization of
'tools' provided by a given culture" —Bruner
How does Culture interact with human development?
• Members of different cultures, because of the unique
demands of their environments, make sense of their
experiences in different ways.
• For example, let's look at the culture of students versus
student athletes.
Illustrative examples from group
member's experiences
Outside in — mastering of techniques and cognitive tools
passed on by the agents of the learner's culture (facilitated
and even accelerated through effective instruction)
Applications to Educational Technology
Jerome Bruner's theory on learning was that it is an active, social process in
which students construct new ideas or concepts based on their current
knowledge.
The goals of education, according to Bruner, are to free society and assist
students in developing their full potential.
Applications to Educational Technology:
• Communication and Collaboration
o Skype and Google Documents
• Problem Solving - "By turning learning into problem solving.., teachers
challenge the students more than by any other teaching method." - Collins &
Stevens, 1983.
o Creating and editing a program,
Constructivist Theory
Bruner (1966) states that a theory of instruction should
address four major aspects:
1.Predisposition towards learning
2.The ways in which a body of knowledge can be
structured so that it can be most readily grasped by
the learner
3.The most effective sequences in which to present
material
4.The nature and pacing of rewards and punishments.
Group 2 Members (4:40 pm Section)
Steven Wowk
Wendy Binger
Kelley Springer
Velisha Simms
Geri Zorskas