WHS AP Psychology

Unit 9: Developmental Psychology

Essential Task 9-4:Explain the maturation of cognitive abilities according to Vygotsky with specific attention to zones of proximal development and compare this viewpoint to Piaget.

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Unit 9Developmental

Psych

PrenatalDevelopment

PrenatalDevelopment

CognitiveDevelopme

nt

SocialDevelopme

nt

MoralDevelopme

nt

Types of StudiesTypes of Studies

Piaget’s

Stages

Vygotsky’s

Theory

Erikson ParentingStyles

ParentingStyles

GilliganKohlberg

AdolescenceAdolescence

AdulthoodAdulthood

GenderGender

AdulthoodAdulthood

Aging

Essential Task 9-4:

• Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

• Zones of proximal • Compared to Piaget

Outline

Vygotsky ContinuedVygotsky Continued• Different than Piaget’s image of the

individual constructing understanding alone– Everything is social

• Vygotsky saw cognitive development as depending more on interactions with people & tools in the child’s world.– Tools are real: pens, paper, computers; – or Tools are symbols: language, math

systems, signs

The Big Ideas…The Big Ideas…

• Explained complex learning through Guided Participation.– Explained things that are taught rather than

discovered (reading, writing etc.)– a way to “share the thinking load”– Helping a novice accomplish a complex task– Assistance can be physical or mental & come

from adults or peers– Scaffolding: where the more knowledgeable

other provides some type of structure.

The Big Ideas…The Big Ideas…

• Vygotsky developed the theory of the Zone of proximal development (ZPD)– The distance between where a learner is at

developmentally on their own & where a learner could be with the help of a more knowledgeable other.

– A more knowledgeable other can be an adult or a peer, helping a learner in this way is to scaffold their learning. Scaffolding occurs through the process of internalization… mediated by language and though (see youtube).

Examples of Guided ParticipationExamples of Guided Participation

• A mother sitting with her toddler singing, “Baa, baa black sheep have you any wool, yes sir, yes sir ….” at this point the mother pauses and the child sings loudly, “THREE BAGS FULL!”.

– How is this guided participation?

Examples of Guided Examples of Guided ParticipationParticipation• A 6-year old lost a toy & asks her father for

help. The father asks her where she last saw the toy; the child says , “I can’t remember.” He asks a series of questions – “Did you have it in your room? Outside?” To each question the child answers “No”. When he asks, “In the car?”, she says “I think so” and finds the toy in the car.– In this story, who found the toy?

Examples of Guided Examples of Guided ParticipationParticipation

• Think back to your days of driver’s ed. and driving around with your parents and your temporary driver’s license.

– In what ways did your parent or driving instructor provide guided participation for you?

Vygotsky and SchoolsVygotsky and Schools

• Emphasized social learning – We can often complete harder tasks with

someone else than we could alone.• Collaborative learning, group presentations, group work

• Zone of Proximal Development– The teacher considers how much scaffolding

to give a student to help them learn. • A push for “authentic learning”.

– Learning is tied to the context it is in.

Motivation & VygotskyMotivation & Vygotsky

• This view emphasizes how people’s identities are formed by their participation in a group– Students can be motivated to learn by

participating in communities where learning is valued

– Ex: Children want to learn to read & write to become members of the “literary club”, to be able to participate and interact with the written world

Vygotsky’s Words…

• “It is through others that we become ourselves”– All learning is social

• “What a child can do in co-operation today he can do alone tomorrow”– Guided participation, ZPD, scaffolding