Unit 9: Developmental Psychology

1. 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.

2. Adulthood Types of Studies Adolescence Adulthood Unit 9 Developmental Psych Prenatal Development Aging Cognitive Development Moral Development Piaget’s Stages Gilligan Vygotsky’s Theory Kohlberg Social Development We are here Erikson Gender Parenting Styles

3. Essential Task 9-4: Outline • Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development • Zones of proximal • Compared to Piaget

4. Vygotsky 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 & toolsin the child’s world. • Tools are real: pens, paper, computers; • or Tools are symbols: language, math systems, signs

5. 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.

6. 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 othercan 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).

7. Examples 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?

8. Examples of Guided Participation • 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?

9. Examples of Guided Participation • 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?

10. Vygotsky 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.

11. Motivation & 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

12. 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