Developmental Psychology and Learning

ESCUELA:

NOMBRE:

Inglés

Mgs. Eliana Pinza Tapia

BIMESTRE: Primer

DEVELOPMENT:

• Certain changes that occur in human beings between conception and death. (A temporary change caused by a brief illness, is not considered a part of development)

Human development can be divided into:

• ) Physical development (changes in the body)

• Personal development (changes in an individual’s personality)

• Social development (changes in the way an individual relates to others)

• Cognitive development (changes in thinking

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT

– People develop at different rates (some students may be larger, better coordinated, or more mature in their thinking and social relationships)

– Development is relatively orderly (people develop abilities in a logical order, infancy children sit before they walk)

- Development takes place gradually (a student who can not manipulate a pencil may well develop this ability, but the change is likely to take time)

THE BRAIN AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Different areas of the brain are involved in particular functions

• Cerebellum:– Coordinates and orchestrates balance

and smooth, skilled movements – Plays a role in higher cognitive

functions such as learning

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Structure1.html

• Hippocampus: recalls new information and recent experiences

• Amygdala: directs emotions (It is essential to the ability to feel certain emotions and to perceive them in other people. This includes fear and the many changes that it causes in the body)

Taken from: http: //thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_04/i_04_cr/i_04_cr_peu/i_04_cr_peu.html

• Thalamus: is involved in the ability to learn new information particularly if it is verbal.

• Reticular formation: blocks some messages and sends others on to higher brain centers for processing .

• Corpus callosum: moves information from one side of the brain to the other.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/Structure1.html

• The cerebral cortex is the largest area of the brain which allows the greatest human accomplishments (complex problem solving and language).

– It is the last part to develop– It contains the greatest number of

neurons (tiny structures that store and transmit information)

– It develops more slowly than other parts of the brain.

Parts of the cortex:• The part that controls physical motor

movement• The areas that control complex

senses such us vision and hearing• The frontal lobe that controls higher-

order thinking processes (associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving)

• The temporal lobes that play major roles in emotions and language (until the high school years and maybe later)

www.drross.org/clientImages/27439/lobes.jpg

Lateralization: aspect of brain functioning that has implication for cognitive development (specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain).

Each half of the brain controls the opposite side of the body (damage to the right side of the brain will affect movement of the left side of the body and vice versa)

Different areas of the cortex seem to have different functions to accomplish more complex functions such as speaking or reading

– The left hemisphere (major factor in language processing)

– The right hemisphere (handles much of the spatial-visual information and emotions)

Source: Encarta

PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Certain ways of thinking that are quite simple for an adult are not so simple for a child

• Our thinking processes change radically, though slowly, from birth to maturity because we constantly strive to make sense of the world

FOUR FACTORS (interact to influence changes in thinking)

• Biological maturation

• Activity

• Social experiences

• Equilibration

FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• SENSORIMOTOR• PREOPERATIONAL• CONCRETE OPERATIONAL• FORMAL OPERATIONAL

According to Piaget, “a person may show characteristics of one stage in one situation, but characteristics of a higher or lower stage in other situations.”

• THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE:– 0 – 2 years– Begins to make use of imitation, memory, and

thought– The child thinking involves seeing, hearing,

moving, touching, and tasting– During this stage infants develop objects

permanence, the understanding that objects exist in the environment whether they perceive them or not (begin to recognize that objects do not cease to exist when they are hidden)

– The beginning of logical goal-directed actions

• THE PREOPERATIONAL STAGE

– 2-7 years

– Semiotic function (The ability to use symbols to represent actions or objects mentally)

– Reversible thinking (Thinking backwards, from the end to the beginning)

– Conservation (Some characteristics of an object remain the same despite changes in appearance)

– Decentering (To focus on more than one aspect at a time).

– Egocentric (To assume that others experience the world the way you do). It does not mean selfish, it means just that children assume that everyone else shares their feelings, reactions, and perspectives.

– Collective monologue (Form of speech in which children in a group talk but do not really interact or communicate).

• THE CONCRETE-OPERATIONAL STAGE

– 7-11 years– Identity (if nothing is added or taken away,

the material remains the same)– Compensation (an apparent change in one

direction can be compensated for by a change in another direction)

– Classification (grouping objects into categories)

– Reversibility (ability to think through a series of steps and return to the starting point)

– Seriation (arranging objects in sequential order according to one aspect such as weight or volume)

• FORMAL OPERATIONS STAGE

– 11-adult– Able to solve abstract problems in logical

fashion– Becomes more scientific in thinking– Develops concerns about social issues,

identity

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

According to Vygotsky, “human activities take place in cultural settings and can not be apart from these settings.”

• Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition

• Every function in a child’s cultural development appears twice:

» Between people» Inside the child

Cultural tools (material tools)

The Internet computers

Psychological tools

Signs and symbol systems

Cultural tools allow people to communicate, think, solve problems, and create knowledge

Psychological tools can help students advance their own development

Play very important roles in cognitive development

At any given point in development, there are certain problems that a child is on the verge of being able to solve. Some problems are beyond the child’s capabilities even if the every step is explained clearly.The zone of proximal development (what learner could understand with guidance) is the area where instruction can succeed, because real learning is possible

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE

At least, sounds, meanings, words, and sequences of words; volume, voice tone, inflection, and turn taking rules must all be coordinated before a child can communicate effectively in conversations.

All children in every culture master the system of their native language.

Children develop language as they build on other cognitive abilities by actively trying to make sense of what they hear, looking for partners, and making up rules

According to Woolfolk (1980)“It is a misconception that young children learn a second language faster than adolescentes or adults.”

– Older students go through the stages of language learning faster than young students

– Adults have more learning strategies– There is critical period for learning

accurate language pronunciation

The earlier someone learns a second language, the more his/her pronunciation is near-native.

“After adolescence, it is difficult to learn a new language without speaking with an accent” (Anderson&Graham, 1994).

“The best time to learn on your own through exposure (and to learn native pronunciation) is early childhood” Berger (2006)

Learning an L2 does not interfer with understanding in the L1.

“The more proficient the speaker is in the first language, the more quickly she or he will master a second language” (Cummins, 1984, 1994).

For most children who learn two languages at the same time, there is a period between ages 2 and 3 when they progress more slowly since they have not yet realized that they are learning two different languages.

– Mix up the grammar of the two languages

PERSONAL, SOCIAL, AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT• The preschool years• The elementary school years• Adolescence

• The preschool children– are very active– are able to run, jump, climb, and

hop. These movements develop naturally if children have normal physical abilities and the opportunity to play (their muscles grow stronger, their balance improves, and their center of gravity mover lower).

• During the elementary-school years– They become taller, leaner, and

stronger– They are able to master sports

• Adolescence– Puberty marks the beginning of sexual

maturity– Series of changes involve almost every

part of the body– The physical changes have significant

effects on the individual’s identity. (Bulimia and Anorexia nervosa which are more common in females)

ERIKSON: Stages of psychosocial development

He offered a basic framework for understanding the needs of young people in relation to the society in which they grow, learn, and later make their contributions.His psychosocial theory emphasizes the emergence of the self, the search for identity, the individual’s relationship with others, and the role of culture throughout life.

Stages of psychosocial development

– Basic trust versus basic mistrust (birth to 12-18 months)

• The infant must form a first loving, trusting relationship with the caregiver or develop a sense of mistrust.

– Autonomy versus shame/doubt (18 months to 3 years)

• The child’s energies are directed toward the development of physical skills, including walking. The child learns control but may develop shame if not handle well.

– Initiative versus guilt (3 to 6 years)• The child continues to take more initiative but

may be too forceful, which can lead to guilt feelings.

– Industry versus inferiority (6 to 12 years)• The child must deal with demands to learn

new skills or risk a sense of inferiority, failure, and incompetence.

– Identity versus role confusion (adolescence)• The teenager must achieve identity in

occupation. Gender roles, politics, and religión.

– Intimacy versus isolation (young adulthood)• The young adult must develop intimate

relationships or suffer feelings of isolation.– Generativity versus stagnation (Middle

adulthood)• Each adult must find some way to satisfy and

support the next generation.– Ego integrity versus despair (Late adulthood)

• The culmination is a sense of acceptance of oneself and a sense of fulfillment

According to Freud’s Theory different driving forces develop during three stages which play an important role in how we interact with the world.

• Id (it wants whatever feels good at the time with no consideration for the reality of the situation) When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries. We are born with our Id.

FREUD’S THEORY The Structure of Personality

• Ego (within the next three years as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop) It understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us.

• Superego (by the age of five) It is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restrains placed on us by our caregivers.

Emotional and Moral Development

• It is important to interpret what others are thinking and feeling

– Emotional Competence: Understanding intentions and taking the perspective of others are elements in the development of emotional competence

– Social and emotional competences are critical for both academic and personal development.

• Children need a theory of mind to make sense of other people’s behavior.

Theory of mind: an understanding that other people are people too,

with their own minds, thought, feelings, beliefs, desires, and perceptions

• By 2 or 3 years old, children begin to develop a theory of mind.

Along with a more advanced theory of mind and an understanding of intention (understand that other people have intention of their own) children also are developing a sense of right or wrong.

MORAL REASONING = thinking about right and wrong and

their active construction of moral judgments

(ages 5 to 6) Fair distribution is based on equality “That is not fair!”

In the next few years They recognize that some people should get more based on merit

(around age 8)They can understand that some students get more time or resources from the teacher because those Ss have special needs

• Kohlberg proposed a sequence of stages of moral reasoning or judgments about right or wrong3

levels Postconventional

Conventional

PreconventionalJudgment is based solely on a person’s own needs and perceptions (up to age 9)

Expectations of society and law are taken into account (9 to adolescence)

Judgments are based on abstract, more personal principles of justice that are not necessarily defined by society’s law (adulthood)