CHAPTER 2
Cognitive and Language
Development
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Piaget’s Theory
Schemes

Assimilation

Accommodation

Organization

Equilibration

Actions or mental representations
that organize knowledge
Incorporating new knowledge into
existing schemes
Adjusting existing schemes to fit
new information and experiences
Grouping isolated behaviors into a
higher-order system
A shift, a resolution of conflict to
reach a balance
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Piaget’s Four Stages
Cognition unfolds in a
sequence of four stages.
• Each is age-related and
distinctive
• Each stage is
discontinuous from and
more advanced than
the previous
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Piaget’s Four Stages
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Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage
Coordination of sensory experiences
with motor actions
Object permanence involves the
realization that objects continue to exist
over time
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Piaget’s Preoperational Stage
Symbolic Function Substage
Symbolic Thought: ability to represent mentally
an object that is not present.
Limitations:

Egocentrism: The inability to distinguish between
one’s own perspective and someone else’s perspective.

Animism
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The Three Mountain Tasks
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Piaget’s Preoperational Stage
Symbolic Function Substage
Limitations:

Egocentrism

Animism: The belief that inanimate objects have
“lifelike” qualities and are capable of action.
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Stages of Animism




Almost everything is alive and
conscious
Only those things that move are alive
Only those things that manifest
spontaneous movements are alive
Consciousness is limited to the animal
world
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Piaget’s Preoperational Stage
Intuitive Thought Substage
Intuitive Thought rather than logical thinking
Centration: focuses on one characteristic to the
exclusion of others
Irreversibility: inability to mentally reverse operations
Lack of Conservation
Classification: ability to classify objects according to only
one characteristic at a time
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Conservation of Liquid
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Conservation Tasks
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Conservation Tasks (con’t)
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Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage
Logical reasoning replaces intuitive reasoning,
but only in concrete situations.
Conservation:
Classification:
Seriation:
Transitivity:
The idea that some characteristics
of an object stay the same even
though the object might change in
appearance.
Coordinate several characteristics
rather than focus on a single
property of an object.
Order stimuli along some
quantitative dimension.
Combine relations to understand
certain conclusions.
If A>B, and B>C, then A>C.
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Hierarchical Classification
When shown a
family tree of four
generations, the
concrete operational
child can classify
the members
vertically,
horizontally,
and obliquely.
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Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage
Abstract reasoning: think in abstract, idealistic,
and logical ways
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning: ability to
develop hypotheses about ways to solve
problems and systematically reach a conclusion
Adolescent egocentrism: heightened selfconsciousness and a sense of personal
uniqueness
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Piaget’s Theory
Teaching Strategies
Preoperational
Thinkers
Manipulate groups of objects
Reduce egocentrism
Draw conclusions and explain why
Concrete
Operations
Encourage children to discover
concepts and principles
Assign operational tasks
Formal
Operations
Propose problems and encourage
hypothesis formation
Suggest alternative approaches to
problems
Develop projects and investigations
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Enter the Debate
Should teachers allow preschool,
kindergarten, and first-grade students to
play for the bulk of their day?
YES
NO
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Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism
Theory into Practice
Jennifer, James, and several of their classmates are
playing hide-and-go-seek during indoor recess one
rainy day. Jennifer carefully conceals her entire body
behind Mrs. Johnson’s long smock. In contrast, James
hides only his upper body behind a jacket hanging on a
hook. He giggles, sure that his classmates will never
see him.
Q: Based on the information given above, at which of
Piaget’s stages of cognitive development is James most
likely operating? Explain.
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Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism
Theory into Practice
Mr. Jackson has a sand table in his kindergarten
classroom. He provides his students with many
containers of different sizes and shapes to play with
in the sand. He watches as his students carefully
pour sand from one container to another. One little
girl, Michelle, seems amazed when she pours sand
back and forth between two containers. The sand
always fills up one container and only half-fills the
other, yet the containers are the same height.
Q: Based on the information given above, what skill is
Michelle most likely developing? Explain.
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Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism
Theory into Practice
Mr. Welby teaches high school English. He always
asks his students to find the symbolism in the great
works of literature he assigns. Some students do this
with relative ease. For others it is a real struggle.
Many are only able to parrot back what he has told
them in class.
Q.1: At which of Piaget’s stages are those who
understand the symbolism in literature likely operating?
Q.2: At which of Piaget’s stages are those who cannot
understand the symbolism in literature likely operating?
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Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism
Theory into Practice
Marsha refuses to go to school one morning because
she is having a “bad hair day” and is certain that
everyone will stare at her all day. Her mother assures
her that she looks just fine. However, Marsha races
back to the bathroom to attempt to fix her “awful
hair.”
Q: What would Elkind say is happening here?
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Piaget and Language
Development

Which comes first? Language or
cognition?

Emerges from existing cognitive
structures
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Speech Categories of the
Preoperational Child

Egocentric Speech




Repetition
Monologue
Collective Monologue
Socialized Speech
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Overview of Piaget

Criticisms





Underestimated abilities
May not be stagelike
Underestimated experience
Ages influenced by culture
Contributions
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Vygotsky’s Theory
Cognitive skills
 Can be understood
when they are
developmentally
analyzed
 Are mediated by
words, language, and
forms of discourse
 Have their origins
embedded in a
sociocultural
backdrop
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Vygotsky’s Theory

Internalization


Interpsychological  Intrapsychological
Language Development




Preintellectual speech
Naïve psychology
Private speech
Inner speech
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Vygotsky’s Theory
Zone of Proximal Development
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Vygotsky’s Theory




Scaffolding - Teacher adjusts the
level of support as performance rises
Cognitive Apprenticeship - expert
supports novice
Tutoring
Cooperative Learning – work in small
groups, facilitate one another
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Effectiveness of Cooperative
Learning


Generation of group rewards
Individual accountability
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Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism
Theory into Practice
Peter is having difficulty with his math assignment. His teacher,
Ms. Jacobs helps him work through the first problem step-bystep. Peter begins to understand the concepts and begins the
other problems. Suzanne also struggles with the assignment.
However, even when Ms. Jacobs works through the first
problem with her, she still cannot grasp how to do the remaining
problems. Meanwhile, Clarice has breezed through the
assignment with no difficulty at all.
Q.1: What would Vygotsky say about the
assignment for Peter?
Q.2: What would Vygotsky say about the
assignment for Suzanne?
© 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism
Theory into Practice
Peter is having difficulty with his math assignment. His teacher,
Ms. Jacobs helps him work through the first problem step-bystep. Peter begins to understand the concepts and begins the
other problems. Suzanne also struggles with the assignment.
However, even when Ms. Jacobs works through the first
problem with her, she still cannot grasp how to do the remaining
problems. Meanwhile, Clarice has breezed through the
assignment with no difficulty at all.
Q.3: What would Vygotsky say about the
assignment for Clarice?
Q.4: What would Vygotsky call the assistance Ms.
Jacobs gives Peter and Suzanne? Explain.
© 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.
Cognitive and Language
Development
Language
Development
What Is
Language
Development?
How Language
Develops
Biological and
Environmental
Influences
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Biological and Environmental Influences
on Language Development
Children are neither exclusively
biological linguists
nor
social architects of language.
Interactionists emphasize the contribution
of both.
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Language is …
…a form of communication, spoken, written, or
signed, that is based on a system of symbols.
Phonology
Sound system of a language
Morphology
Units of meaning involved in word
formation
Syntax
Rules for combining words into
phrases/sentences
Semantics
Meaning of words and sentences
Pragmatics
Appropriate use of language in
different contexts
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How Language Develops
Infancy

Prelinguistic Period




Holophrastic Period
Telegraphic Period


Cooing
Babbling
One  two words
Simple Sentences
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How Language Develops
Early Childhood
Phonology
Sensitive to sounds, rhymes
Morphology
Overgeneralize rules
Syntax
Complex rules for ordering words
Semantics
6-year-old: 8,000- to 14,000-word
vocabulary
Pragmatics
Talk in different ways to different
people
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How Language Develops
Middle & Late Childhood
Phonology
Alphabetic principle: letter-sound
correspondence
Morphology
Appropriate application of rules
Syntax
Complex grammar; linguistic
awareness
Semantics
12-year-old: 50,000-word
vocabulary
Pragmatics
Culturally appropriate language
use
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How Language Develops
Adolescence




Increased sophistication in
use of words
Greater understanding of
metaphors, satire, and
complex literary works
Better writers
Dialect includes jargon and
slang
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Supporting Vocabulary Development
Through Technology
Computers



Relate the new to the known
Promote active, in-depth
processing
Encourage reading
Audio Books
Educational Television
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