Psychology 30
The Cognitive Perspective of Psychology Webquest
For the next two days you will be doing independent internet research on the
Cognitive Psychology.
Some important advice:
1. Use the websites I have given you!
2. Everything you will be looking for is NEED TO KNOW! This information is
essential for the course as the three important people are brought up
constantly, especially in the infancy, childhood, and adolescence units.
3. Good luck!
Cognitive Psychology focuses on the brain and behaviour. In particular, they focus
on how we take in, mentally represent, and store information. They study such
areas as decision making, problem-solving, interpersonal attraction, aggression, and
intelligence. It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak and
solve problems.
There are three key people we study: Albert Bandura, Jean Piaget, and Lev
Vygotsky.
Albert Bandura
He’s Canadian! Born and raised in Mundare, Alberta. Mundare has an interesting
town landmark:
Bandura is famous for his studies on aggression and the influence of role models on
children. It goes a little something like this…
In 1961 Bandura carried out a series of experiments looking at the effects on
children watching an adult behave aggressively. In one experiment, Bandura and
colleagues arranged for an adult to hit/kick a large inflatable doll (Bobo doll) while
a child was in the room; afterwards, the child had an opportunity to play with a
range of toys while the adult was present.
Bandura carried out a similar experiment; in one group he showed a group of
children a film of someone being aggressive to the doll. A control group (one that
is not being tested, but instead provides a norm) watched a non-violent film.
In another experiment, children were shown videos of an adult being rewarded for
being aggressive towards the Bobo doll. Another group was shown a video of adults
being punished for being aggressive toward the Bobo doll.
Go to http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html.
- Under Results, watch the four minute video about the experiment. It has
actual footage from the experiments.
1. In your own words, summarize the five results of the study.
Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiments provided proof to his Social Learning Theory.
Social Learning Theory states that models are an important source for learning
new behaviours and for achieving behavioural change in institutionalized settings.
Essentially, people through observation.
Go to http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm.
2. Under the section “Observational Learning” list and describe the three types
of models.
3. Read the section “Intrinsic Reinforcement.” What are examples of external
reinforcement? What are examples of intrinsic reinforcement?
4. Read the section “The Modelling Process.” What is modelling? What four
things are required for successful learning through a model?
So why does this matter?
The news media often claims that violence in people is the result of observing
violent behaviour through music, tv, movies, and video games. The Bandura study is
often used as “proof” of this theory. HOWEVER, if a strong role model
discourages aggression in children, then the violent media has little lasting effect.
Likewise, the behaviour will not be reproduced unless there is a motivation or
incentive, so if a strong role model does not provide motivation or incentive to the
child, the behaviour will not be replicated.
Therefore, parenting trumps media.
You will probably notice examples of social learning theory throughout your daily
experiences, whether they are direct experiences or observation of others’
behaviour. For instance, think about how you are trained for a job, you may watch
an instructional video, shadow another employee, or your supervisor may
demonstrate what your roles and responsibilities. All of these are examples of
observational learning.
Jean Piaget (PEE-ah-Jay)
Hate school? Blame Piaget!
Piaget focused most of his studies on the development of children’s minds. Before
Piaget’s work the common belief was that children were simply not as smart as
adults. Piaget showed that children think differently from adults. According to
Piaget all children have a basic mental structure that grows and develops with age.
His work has heavily influenced early child education and school based education.
In fact, much of the education system you know is based on Piaget’s theories.
Piaget developed the Sociological Model of Development. His theory claims that
just as we grow physically, we grow cognitively by going through concrete
developmental stages. Cognitive development is an ongoing reorganization of
mental processes as a result of biological maturation (nature) and environmental
experience (nurture).
Go to http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html to learn about Piaget’s theory. Scroll
down to STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT! In the chart click on the link to get the
definition of each stage, but for your chart you only need the basic information.
Once you have completed the chart check out these videos:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRF27F2bn-A
5. Piaget’s theory suggests that children go through four stages of cognitive
development. Briefly summarize the four stages in the chart below. I’ve
done the first one for you.
Stage
Age
Key Feature
Test
Sensorimotor 0-2 yrs
Object permanence
Ball and blanket test
Preoperational
Concrete
Operational
Formal
Operational
So why is Piaget important?
His theory influenced modern education, especially policy and teaching style.
Curricula is levelled so more concrete concepts are taught in earlier years and
more abstract concepts are taught in later years. Curricula became based on the
concept of readiness. Readiness concerns when certain information or concepts
should be taught. Piaget showed that children are not capable of learning certain
concepts until a certain age range so the concepts should not be introduced until
children are ready.
For example, in Math, problem solving begins with problems that have pictures or
manipulatives. As you get older the Math becomes more language based.
Teaching styles changed from mostly lecture and textbook work at young ages to
more concrete learning like discovery learning, demonstrations, collaboration with
peers, and learning through play. More flexibility was encouraged from teachers
and assessment of children’s ability was also encouraged.
Problems of Piaget
His age ranges are probably too advanced. For instance, most 11 year olds cannot
complete the pendulum test without high levels of frustration; modern experiments
suggest that the pendulum task can be completed around ages 15 to 17.
Many cognitive psychologists find Piaget’s stages of development too rigid and
questioned if the stages were even real. For instance, some psychologists have
found that college age students are not at the formal operational stage.
Although Piaget made reference to the influence of environment on development, it
had little effect on his theories.
Lev Vygotsky (Vie-GOT-ski)
Vygotsky also focused on child development and influenced education. His main
theory was the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
ZPD is the difference between what a learner (note: it’s not child – this theory
applies to adults as well) can do without help and what he or she can do with help.
In order to move through the ZPD the learner must observe a model. In the case
of children, the child follows an adult’s example and gradually develops the ability
to do certain tasks without help. The model uses scaffolding to help the learner
observe. Scaffolding is when the model first demonstrates the task to be learned,
then the model and the learner complete the task together with the model giving
less and less assistance, and finally the learner completes the task on his/her own.
How does this impact education?
Many teachers are taught to use scaffolding when introducing new activities and
concepts. In fact, you will probably see examples scaffolding every day for the
rest of your school career. If you ask your teachers about it, they may not call the
process scaffolding, but “I do, We do, You do”.
6. Watch the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BX2ynEqLL4. Once you have
finished, write down a personal experience where you learnt something with
the help of a teacher (not necessarily a school teacher) and therefore
moved from out of your Zone of Proximal Development.