PSYB 3 Cognitive Development Schemas and Schema development

What is cognitive development? • Most humans are able to make sense of the world around them. We can make plans, solve problems, recall events from the past, and understand the behaviour of other humans. • We tend to take such abilities for granted, but they have to be acquired. • They do not appear to be present in newborn humans (neonates). As far as we can tell babies are not born with knowledge or understanding.

Mental Maps of the world? • A child’s development is not just about acquiring knowledge. The child has to develop or construct a mental model of the world. • What mental models do you need to function in the world? • How Would we function without them?

Jean Piaget (1896 -1980) • Piaget was the first psychologist to carry out systematic study of cognitive development. • He theorised that children aren’t merely less competent thinkers than adults, in fact they think in strikingly different ways.

Cognitive development is the result of 2 inbuilt processes • Specific: According to Piaget, newborns have primitive reflexes (sucking or startle reactions) which are part of their specific biological inheritance and are starting point for interacting with the world. • General: He also believed that humans possess important, general, inherited ways of thinking (cognitive processes) that enable children eventually to develop a sophisticated understanding of their world.

Piaget’s research • Piaget made careful, detailed observations of children. These were mainly his own children and the children of friends. Often the behaviour observed was stimulated by Piaget himself, intervening in the child’s play. • How does this method differ from the usual scientific method used in psychology.

Schemas • Piaget emphasised the importance of schemas in cognitive development, and described how they were developed or acquired. • A schema can be defined as ‘a set of linked representations of the world, which we use both to understand to respond to situations. ’

• The assumption is that we store these mental representations and apply them when needed. • Write out in full the schema below. • Buying a meal in a restaurant • This is an example of a type of schema called a ‘script. ’ Whenever they are in a restaurant, they retrieve this schema from memory and apply it to the situation. • Piaget described much simpler schemas, but he described how as a child gets older his or her schemas get more complex.

Newborn babies • Piaget believed that from birth neonates have some schemas. These are the cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes. • • • Sucking reflex - for feeding Grasping reflex - for grabbing Rooting reflex – for attention • These schemas will be applied to different situations.

Repetition • If you ever have the opportunity to observe the behaviour of infants, you are likely to notice repeating patterns of behaviour. ‘Turn taking’ • Piaget noticed that children often repeat actions many times. The implication is that frequent repetition of an action assists the acquisition of the new schema which underlies it.

Adaptation • In this context adaptation means that the child constructs a set of schemas which fit into his or her world. • The better the child’s schemas are adapted to their environment, the more able the child will be to make sense of events, and respond appropriately. • Since different children grow up in different environments, they will acquire different schemas.

Assimilation • According to Piaget adaptation takes place through two processes: the first is Assimilation. • This means applying a schema to a new situation. • For example when a child uses the power grip when colouring with a crayon, but is then given a colouring pencil. • When the schema doesn’t fit the situation the child reaches disequilibrium. • Equilibrium is the state achieved when assimilation and accommodation are in balance.

Accommodation • According to Piaget the second process is Accommodation. • This means modifying a schema in order to deal more effectively with a new situation. • For example the child may use a different, more precise grip to hold a colouring pencil. • These modifications allow the child to accommodate the new experiences, and as a result they develop more schemas.

The importance of play • Children spend many hours playing and sometimes do so with such determination that to an onlooker they seem to be working hard at it. • Piaget believed that play provided opportunities for developing new schemas and was therefore important in aiding cognitive development.