Cognitive childhood development

Piaget's stage theory:

• SENSORI-MOTOR (0-2)                          PRE-OPERATIONAL (2-6)  
• CONCRETE-OPERATIONAL (6-12)                          FORMAL-OPERATIONAL (12+)

Stage theories: Children show different reasoning at different developmental stages

• Characteristics of reasoning are shown across several different areas
• Stages and order are universal

Piaget's core points: 1. Children = active receivers   2. Progressive adaptation to environment

• Assimilation -> Relating new info to pre-existing structures    
• Accommodation -> Developing old structures into new ones, because of contradictions

Piaget's tasks: Solved in concrete-operational = operations involving logical nexessities and reversibility e.g. conservation, classification, tasks involving perspectives. Solved in formal operations = balance beam, pendulm, scientific reasoning

• Pre-operational stage: 2-6.5 years - reorganisation of thinking into mental operations. Can consider amounts and perceptual size. But, egocentric, lack of logical reasoning+centration
• Concrete-operations: 6-12 years - Beginning of verbal reasoning, can consider two different views simultaneously, able to recognise logical necessity and consider alternative views
• Formal operations: 12-16 years - Not universal, beginning of scientific thought, hypothetical reasoning, think abstractly, understand justice and morality

Classification tasks: Shown wooden beads, some brown, some white. 1. Are there more brown or white beads? 2. Are there more brown or white WOODEN beads?

Language difficulties -> Same question asked twice, children look for what experimenter wants

Weaknesses: a) We have inconsistencies and incompatibilities in our beliefs   b) Overestimates consistency of child's responses    c) Children vary randomly in level of reasoning used    d) Level of reasoning highly dependent on task and context    e) Underestimated pre-schoolers/overestimated adolescents

Siegler, 1995: conservation tasks (5yr olds):

• 1. Given feedback   2. Explain reasoning + feedback   3. Feedback + experimenter's reasoning
• Results: Grp3 most success

Siegler's balance beam task interpretation:

• Side with more weights will go down,        Same weights - greater distance goes down
• Add weight + distance      No rule if weight/distance vary,           Multiply weight + distance

Information processing Siegler: Children have many ways of thinking about many topics at once. Processing limitations causes changes in behaviour not representations.

Vygotsky: Child's reasoning is dependent on support they receive from tutors. Learning progresses as a social experience

Symbolic representation: Pretend play, drawing of people/things, language used for different things

Alternative views to progression: 1. Not a true change in reasoning, change in understanding task demands.  2. Stage transition, but mediated by verbal support from adults/teachers

Representational re-description: Karmiloff-Smith, 1992:

• Learn procedure by rote, then later understand in principled manner
• Represent an inflexibilities fixed procedure
• Info is re-described, several themes and is specific to a particular area

Egocentrism - 3 mountains task: Pre-operational stage shows difficulty. Complocated tasks that make sense are easier. Formal operations - hypothetical reasoning, formulate rules beyond specific instances

Balance beam task: Siegler, 1995:

• Few children between 13 & 17 reach full rule behind task
• Use formal operations rarely + do better on familiar problems