Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A.

Rider
Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Cognition

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Cognition

Cognition: the activity of knowing

Typical of humans throughout lifespan
Changes across the lifespan
Piaget and Vygotsky

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Piaget

Genetic Epistemology
How we come to know reality

Clinical Method
Question and answer technique
Used to discover how children reason

Intelligence: How well we adapt

Schemes/cognitive structures
Represent reality

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Piaget

Assimilation
Using existing schemes to interpret new
experiences
E.g., Birds are things that fly

Accommodation
Modifying schemes to fit new experience
E.g., Butterflies are different than Birds
even though they both fly

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Piaget

Adaptation
Adjusting to the environment
Using assimilation and accommodation

Intelligence = Adaptation
Constructivism
Children construct own reality
use their experiences (schemes)

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Piaget

Four stages/changes in ability to reason

Sensorimotor: birth to 2 years
Preoperational: 2 to 7 years
Concrete operations: 7 to 11 years
Formal operations: 12+ years

Invariant sequence
Rates may vary
Requires maturation and experience

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Piaget

Sensorimotor Stage
Newborn uses reflexes to understand world
Eventually - mental representation

Object Permanence
Symbolic Capacity

Language

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Figure 7.4

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Preoperational Stage

Ages 2 7: preschool

May have imaginary companions

Egocentric thinkers
Problem solving limited
Classification and Seriation problems
Lack conservation
Perceptual salience
Irreversible thinking
Centration

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Concrete Operations

Age 7-11
Can conserve

Decentration
Reversible thinking
Logical thinking (limited to reality)

Seriation and classification

Transitive thinking:

If J is taller than M, and M is taller than

S, who is taller J or S?

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Formal Operations

Adolescence/puberty
Logical thinking about ideas
Hypothetical and abstract thinking
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning

Decontextual thinking
Ability to separate prior knowledge/beliefs
from new evidence to the contrary

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Formal Operations 2

Adolescent egocentrism
Differentiating own thoughts from others

Imaginary audience
Also, learning to present themselves
to a real audience

Personal fable
No one has ever felt like this before!
I drive better when Im drunk!

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Cognition in Adulthood

Formal operations requires

Normal intelligence
Higher education (scientific thinking)

Lower performance on formal operations

Use only in field of expertise

Postformal thought
Relativistic thinking: Labouvie-Vief
No absolute answer in many situations

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Piaget

Contributions
Stimulated much research
Correct about cognitive development

Challenges
Underestimated competencies
Focused on performance not competence
Domain growth rather than stages
Social influences left out

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7

Vygotsky

Emphasized the sociocultural context

Culture effects how and what we think

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Accomplishment with guidance
Where lessons should be aimed

Guided participation learning

Private speech/ guides behavior (3&4 yr olds)

Life-Span Human Development, Fifth Edition, Carol K. Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider
Chapter 7