Routines
• Get handouts two pages
• Sit with partners
• Get piece of paper and write your names
on it,
Cognitive Development and
Language
Woolfolk, Chapter 2
Maturation (programmed by genes)
Physical
Cognitive
Source of developmentnature vs.
nurture
Shape of developmentcontinuous
vs. discontinuous
Timingcritical periods
Development:
1. Different rates
2. Orderly
3. Gradually
4. changes
Personal
Social
Using a person next to
you, discuss and be ready
to present in class an
example of:
Physical
Cognitive development
Social
Personal
Our brain is unique = genetic and environmental influences
Brain size and weight differ among humans as well
Separate realities concept
Senses
Perception/Interpretation
Feeling
Behavior
Brains have different developmental timetable
We know this because of our access to the fMRI:
Methods on what part of the brain are most active when we are doing
different things
It shows the communication between the different regions of the brain
and that this is communication is two-wayssignals can bounce back
and forth
Lobby against rigid age-based assessment and give students more variety,
choice, and complexity
Brain Lateralization
Information processing:
Spatial informationleft to right
» Timeback to front
» No such thing as right or left brain learningonly preferences
» The left hemisphere process parts (sequentially)
» The right hemisphere process wholes (randomly)
» Both sides of the brain are involved in every human activity
» The left and right brain are divided by the corpus collosum
» Important to note that our brains are asymmetrical
Brain dominance
• Left Brain Dominant
Learners
– Prefer things in a sequence
– Learn best from parts to
wholes
– Prefer phonetic reading
systems
– Like words, symbols and
letters
– Rather read about a subject
first
– Prefer detailed orderly
instructions
– Experience more internal
focus
– Want structure and
predictability
• Right Brain Dominant Learners
– Are more comfortable with
randomness
– Learn best from wholes to parts
– Prefer whole language reading
system
– Like picture, graphs and charts
– Rather see or experience the
subject first
– Want to gather more information
about relationships among
things
– Prefer spontaneous, go with
flow, learning environments
– Experience more external focus
– Want open-ended approaches
Logic and Creativity belongs to Both Sides of the Brain
Basic Brain Anatomy
• Weights @ 3 lbs.size = large
grapefruit
–
–
–
–
–
–
78% water
10 % fat
8% protein
Flesh colored
Can be cut with a knife
Largest portion = cerebrum
•
•
•
•
•
Made up of million of brain cells
Divided into two hemispheres
Right side controls the left side
Left side controls the right side
Responsible for higher order
thinking and decision making
functions
– Outer surface of our brain =
cortex
• Thickness of an orange peel
• When opened = size of a sheet of
paper
Lobes of the Human Brain
Occipital Lobes
• Visual and visual interpretation
• Initial phase of reading
• Images from the retina to the optic
nerve
• Then to the visual cortex
• Each neuron process one
aspect of vision
Temporal Lobes
• Divided into clusters
• Give us abilities to:
– produce and understand
speech
– Recognize objects
and faces
– Recall long term cognitive
memories
– Modulate emotions
– Parietal Lobes
• Area of the brain in which we live
• Allow us to experience our surroundings
• Process higher sensory information (touch, judgment of
texture, shapes and our body orientation in space)
– Frontal Lobes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Allows you to be who you are
Judgment is processed
Goal setting
Creativity
Working memory
Produces motion of speech
Ideas and emotions
Mid-Brain Area (limbic system)
Thalamus
• Complex structure
that performs vital
functions
• Gateway to the
cerebral
cortexprocess all
sensations except
olfatory one
• As sensory
information comes in.
thalamus attempts to
organize, categorize
and transfer to the
appropriate areas of
the cerebral cortex
– Amygdala
• Buried deep in the temporal lobe
• Highly involved in responding to stress and novel
situations
• Mediates all emotionally charged experiences
• Brain CellsNeurons a) axons = receives informations
b) dendrites = sends information
c) via synapses (electrical inputs)
Glial cells = interneurons
Outnumber neurons
Serve as supportive role
Maintain the ideal environment for
neurons to flourish
Producers of myelin (coating) for axons
Transport nutrients
Help in immune system
• Learning Insights
– Learning physically changes the brain
– By altering the wiring and our chemistry
– New stimuli activates new pathways
– If stimulus not meaningful, information is given
less priority and eventually forgotten (in sleep)
– If considered importantlong term potentiation
(LTP)
– “Window of opportunities”
– Cognitive maps = connections
– Genes are not templates for learning, but they
represent enhanced risk or opportunities
Again, using your partner, please answer
the following questions regarding the
presentation you just saw:
1. In a paragraph, describe any information
that is new to you.
2. Also, describe information that was
exciting.
Piaget
Influences on
Development:
Maturaltion
Activity
Tendencies in Thinking:
1) Schemes—mental categories
2) Organization—arranging
information
3) Adaptation (adjustment to
the environment)
• Assimilation—new info into
existing schemes
• Accommodation—altering
existing schemes
Disequilibrium
“out of balance”
• Using that same partner, give one
example of:
– A scheme
– Organization
– Adaptation’s two phases
• Assimilation
• Accommodation
Sensorymotor: 0-2
Begin using imitation/
memory/ thought
Object permanence
Goal directed activity
Preoperational: 2-7
Use of language = think in
symbolisms
Operations
Collective Monologue
Semiotic functioning (ideas)
Egocentric behavior one
direction cannot
see others’ point of view
Four Stages
Cognitive Development
Concrete Operational: 7-11
Hands-on problems
Formal operations: 11-adult
Conservationremain the
Solve abstract
same despite changes in
problems
appearance
More scientific
Decenteringfocusing in
thinking
more than one aspect
Social issues and
Classify and seriate
identity
Reversibility/identity
Adolescent egocentrism
Compensation
Please
P answer 2 of these questions:
l
• e Give examples of:
–aObject permanence
–sGoal directed actions
–eOperations
c
• What is the difference between egocentric behavior
has demonstrated by a two year old and a teenager?
o
o
• sWhy some people do not reach the formal operations
stage?
e
• oWhy should we teach in a broad manner using the
nstudents’ life?
Implications of Piaget’s TheoryS
• The problem of the
match…are students
being taught at their
level?
• Individuals construct
their own
understanding
– This is done through
interactions where
students are challenged,
and receive feedback =
disequillibration
• The value of play
• The trouble with
stages
– Thinking changes
• Underestimating
children’s abilities…
• The language
used…
• Cognitive
development and
cultureEast vs.
West
Vigotsky
Sociocultural
Theory:
Human activities
cultural setting
Co-constructed with
Socio Cultural Perspective
peers and teachers
Role of language
in a cultural setting
Private speech
Self talk and
learning
Cultural Tools =
Symbols such as
language, graphs,
numbers for society
to communicate
The role of learning
and development
Learning = passive
formation
Development = active
construction
Implications of Vygotsky for
Teachers:
a) Assisted learning—>scaffolding
b) Zone of proximal development
help students reach their potential
c) Private speech and the zone
students reach their potential
Limitations:
Did not explain
Cognitive processes
underlying development
• Use your partner again, choose one
of the following questions:
• Give one example of how children learn
the culture of their community in the classroom
• In this example, mention one cultural tool that should
be used
• In this same problem, of what the teacher should do to
reach the zone of proximal development
• Is private speech good for children? Give an example
to support your answer.
Implications for Teachers
• Piaget
– Understanding and
building students’
thinking
– Activity and
constructing
knowledge
– The value of play
• Vygotsky
– The role of adults and
peers
– Assisted learning
– Teaching at the magic
middle and zone of
proximal development
Funds of knowledge…bases for teaching
Use students’ background
Development of Language
• Dual language learning
– 6 mil kids in the USA (2000)
– Learning a second language does not interfere with
understanding in the first language (in fact, the more the better)
– Critical period for pronunciation = childhood
– Two languages = bicognitive development
• Language development in the school years
–
–
–
–
–
–
Pronunciation
Syntax (word order)
Vocabulary and meaning
Pragmantics (when and how)
Metalinguistic awareness
Partnerships with families
• Involve family
• Provide home activities
Expressive vs. Receptive Language
Give one way of involving parents to refine their children
language learning