• Cognitive and Language Development
  • Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development

1. The Rise of Concrete Operational Thought

  1. a) The school­age child enters the concrete operational stage, the period of cognitive development between 7 and 12 years of age, which is characterized by the active and appropriate use of logic.

Can solve conservative problems

Decentering= less egocentric, so can take multiple aspects of situation into account

Grasping Reversibility= realizing a stimulus can be reversed­ returning to original form

** Still tied to concrete, physical reality cannot understand abstract or hypothetical reasoning

  • Information Processing in Middle Childhood
  • Intellectual development increases in memory capacity. According to information­processing approaches, children’s intellectual development in the school years can be attributed to substantial increases in memory capacity and the sophistication of the “programs” children can handle.

Increasing sophistication of mental operations

  • Memory= process by which information is initially encoded, stored, and retrieved increases in short turn memory “working memory” Able to hold on to several concepts Making improvements in Metamemory= understanding of processes that underlie memory
  • Improving Memory
  • Control Strategies= conscious, intentionally used tactics to improve cognitive functioning

Most common strategy they will use is rehearsal= responding info

Organization of information

Mnemonics= formal techniques for organizing info

  • Vygotsky’s Approach to Cognitive Development and Classroom Instruction
  • Focus on active Learning

cooperative learning= kids working together in groups

best if some children are more advanced; can act as experts for less advanced kids Reciprocal teaching= kids work with teachers, other students to develop reading skills

The idea is that as kids become more skilled, they take on more of a teaching role

  1. Language Development: What Words Mean
  2. Mastering the Mechanics of language substantial gains, some problems a) Huge increase in vocabulary
  3. Better understanding of grammar= passive voice, conditional sentences (if, then)
  4. Better understanding of syntax
  5. Some have troublesome phonemes= j, v, th
  6. Difficulty understanding intonation= may misunderstand others
  7. Better at pragamatics (the niceties of conversation) = more actual conversation with peers 2. Metalinguistic awareness= understanding of one’s own use of language younger children= don’t ask for clarification of ambiguous instructions the child blames themselves for not understanding

Middle childhood kids now know that speaker may be at fault for being unclear

More likely now to ask for clarification 3. How language Promotes self­ control

growing sophistication of speech allows them to be better understood by others

More likely to talk through problems, rather than resorting to aggression

  1. Bilingualism: Speaking in Many Tongues
  2. Bilingualism= ability to speak 2 languages
  3. 1 in 5 kids speak something other than English at home; more increases annually
  4. Advantages to being linguistic1) greater flexibility
  • greater metalinguistic awareness
  • Tend to have higher IQ scores

 

  • Billingual education= kid is taught in native language, while learning English immersion approach= teach all subjects in English only

Problem= skills in other subjects tend to suffer

  • Schooling: The Three Rs (and More) of Middle Childhood
  • Schooling around the world= School marks the time when society formally attempts to transfer its body of knowledge, beliefs, values, and accumulated wisdom to new generations.

100 million will not progress beyond elementary school

In the U.S., a primary school education is both a universal right and a legal requirement.

More than 160 million of the world’s children will not have access to education.

Schooling, which is available to nearly all children in most developed countries, is not as accessible to children, especially girls, in many less developed countries. B. What makes kids ready for school?

  • Delaying school entry by a year for kids who dont make age cutoff not advantageous.
  • School readiness more tied to developmental readiness, not age
  • Reading: Learning to Decode the Meaning Behind Words
  • Reading Stages

Stage 0= birth­ 1st grade= identify alphabet, write name, read a few familiar words

Stage 1= 1st and 2nd grade= phonological recoding skills= learning sounds of letters

Sounding out words by blending letters together

Stage 2= 2nd and 3rd grades= reading aloud with fluency

Most cognitive capacity taken up by reading; comprehension abilities lag behind

Stage 3= 4th­8th grades= reading as way to learn

Cant really comprehend info from different perspectives

Stage 4= entering high school= reading/ processing info from multiple points of view 2. How should we teach reading

  • 1) code­based approaches= reading should be taught by presenting basic skills underlying reading

phonics= sounds of letter, combinations of letters, how letters, sounds combine to make words 2) Whole Language approach approaches= kids learn to read through exposure to complete writing­ whole sentences, stories, etc. suppose to guess words using context D. Pushing too hard in the race to the top

  • Legislation aimed at educational reform
  • a) No Child Left Behind (2002) all students reading by 3rd grade, ect. schools missing goals lose jobs, funding pressure of testing at cost of learning programs like music and PE get sacrificed b) Race to the Top rigorous standards, assessments increased accountability More hw than in the past

Not associated with better performance in grades below 5

  • Multicultural Education
  • Cultural Assimilation or Pluralistic Society?

Multicultural education is based on several models.

The cultural assimilation model – melting pot­ learn exclusively English

Pluralistic society model= cultural stew­ cultural groups should retain individual features

Bicultural identity= maintain original cultural identity; integrate into dominant culture

2 cultural identities= don’t have to choose

  1. Should schools teach emotional intelligence?
  2. El­Set of skills underlying assessment, evaluation, expression, regulation of emotions Existing programs to teach empathy, social skills, friendship, etc.

Not universally accepted= have to forgo other instruction, role of family Most people consider EI important

  1. Expectation Effects
  2. Teacher expectancy effect= cycle where teaching transmits expectation to student, brings about expected behavior 2. Self­fulfilling prophecy

“Blooming study” = a experimental test.

III. Intelligence: Determining Individual Strengths

  • Intelligence is the capacity to understand the world, think with rationality, and use resources effectively when faced with challenges.
  • Intelligence Benchmarks: Differentiating the Intelligent From the Unintelligent
  • Binet’s Test = intended to identify kids who would have problems in school
  • Alfred Binet’s legacy= pioneering efforts in intelligence testing left three important legacies.A)He defined intelligence pragmatically as that which his test measured.
  • Intelligence tests should be reasonable indicators of school success.
  • The intelligence quotient (IQ) reflects the ratio of a person’s mental age to his or her chronological age: (MA ÷ CA X 100 = IQ).

Mental age= typical intelligence level found for people of a given chronological age

Problem= assumes knowledge accumulates steadily across lifespan

Chronological age= actual age of the child

Deviation IQ= compares your score to average scores

2/3 of all people fall with in 15 points of average (100)

  • Measuring IQ
  • “g”= single mental ability factor
  • Stanford Binet, 5th edition= questions varying according to age
  • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition= verbal and nonverbal scales
  • Kaufman Assessment of Battery for Children, 2nd edition­ integrate different kinds of stimuli, step­by­step thinking

More flexible

  • IQ scores do a good job of predicting school performance; not overall success in life
  • Alternative Conceptions of Intelligence
  • A) 2 types of Intelligence
  • Fluid Intelligence= ability to deal with new problems, situations 2. Crystalized Intelligence= store info, skills, strategies
  • b) Gardner’s theory of multiple Intelligence
  • Linguistic= language abilities
  • Musical= perceive and create pitch and rhythm
  • Logical mathematical= problem solving, scientific thinking
  • Spatial= spatial manipulation= architects
  • Body Kinesthetic= athletes, surgeons
  • Intrapersonal= insight into self
  • Interpersonal= interactions with others
  • Naturalistic= able to identify patterns in nature
  • Vygotsky= dynamic assessment= asses cooperation between tester and testee

Intelligence includes what kids do with help

  • Sternberg’s Triachic Theory

  • Componential= how we process, analyze info
  • Experiential= compare new info to old, creative thinking “creative”
  • Contextual/Practical= demands of everyday life

 

  • Group Differences in IQ
  • Cultural/Ethnic differences more likely due to SES, environmental, nutritional factors= not genetically­determined ability
  • Bias in favor of White, middle­and upper­ class populations

Google Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity= Dr. Robert Williams, 1972, for an example of bias in another direction

  • Falling below and above the intelligence norms
  • Below the Norm
  • a) Intellectual disability= significantly sub­average level of intellectual functioning

Limitations in 2 or more skill areas

1­3% of school­age­ population

  1. Degrees of Intellectual Disabilities

Mild= 90%­ IQ of 50/55­70

3rd to 6th grade level

can hold jobs, function independently Moderate= 5­10% IQ ranges from 35/40/55

Slow to develop language, motor skills

2nd grade level

Can be trained, but will usually need supervision

Severe= 5% IQ from 20?25­35?40

Profound= IQ below 20/25

No speech

Poor motor control

Need 24 hour care­ usually institutionalized

  • Above the Norm: Gifted and Talented
  • 3­5%. High performance capability in intellectual, creative/artistic areas, leadership, or specific academic fields

popular culture view of gifted in talented kids as socially awkward nerds

actually tens to be outgoing, well­adjusted, and popular

May have some trouble relating to peers

  • Educating GT kids

acceleration= allow GT kids to move ahead at own pace­ could skip grades

Enrichment program= student kept in grade level; enrolled in  specific programs, individual activities