Bruner’s theory of Cognitive Development

1. Bruner’s theory of Cognitive Development Outline, evaluate, apply to Education

2. Outline of Bruner’s theory • Built on work of Vygotsky & Piaget • Thinking based on categorisation – organising knowledge into hierarchies • 3 modes of thinking Enactive–action based skills (dominant early childhood) Iconic – image based skills (dominant middle childhood) Symbolic – word/language based (adolescence) Research: Bruner & Kenny – transposition task These are recurrent themes throughout life • Scaffolding

3. Evaluation • Cultural relevance – people in different cultures make sense of experiences based on the way in which they live: Gredler (1992) – PNG – counting • Doesn’t look at infant development – important stage of learning!! • Support for scaffolding as Vygotsky – Wood et al • As with Piaget & Vygotsky – impact upon education e.g scaffolding & ZPD

4. Applications to Education • Use of Piaget’s approach of discovery learning • Can teach children difficult concepts at early stage but need to practice & revisit (spiral curriculum) • Difficult to measure & test for effectiveness • Scaffolding – as Vygotsky • Other criticisms as Vygotsky – e.g motivation