VYGOTSKY'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Whereas Piaget had a background in biology, Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) had early training in law, history, philosophy, literature, and education. Vygotsky was deeply influenced by Karl Marx's proposal that historical changes in soci­ety have a significant impact on how people think and behave. And like Marx's colleague Friedrich Engels, Vygotsky saw much value in the use of tools for moving a society forward (M. Cole & Scribner, 1978; Gredler & Shields, 2008; Vygotsky, 1997e). A variety of tools influ­ence thinking, many of which are tangible, including paper, the alphabet, writing utensils, books, and in today's industrialized societies, computers, calculators, cell phones, and an increasing array of other educational and recreational technologies. In Vygotsky's mind, however, cognitive entities-concepts, theories, problem-solving strategies, and so on-are also influential tools.

Vygotsky believed that the adults in any society foster children's learning in an intentional and somewhat systematic manner. In particular, adults engage children in meaningful and challenging activities, show them how to use various physical and cognitive tools to facilitate their performance, and help them make sense of their experiences. Because Vygotsky emphasized the importance of adult guidance in promoting cognitive advancements­and more generally because he emphasized the influence of social and cultural factors in children's cognitive development-his perspective is known as a sociocultural theory.

With the assistance of his students, Vygotsky conducted numerous studies of children's thinking from the 1920s until his early death f'ro111 tqh~·n.'u losis In 19:$4. In hi:-, mr~j ir wri t­

ings, he typically described his findings only in genc:r~1l l.enns. s:iving lilt: dew lb lbr rcd111 int l reports that he shared with the small number ur .rescard1 psyciio.logists rking in Hussla_ at the time (Kozulin, 1986). However, Vygotsky , rote pcrsu:tsivdy about the qua ll1i '" ol research that should be included in order for scienLific pru~ress in cogniLivc c.levelopn1l'll1 1'.

1

take place. _Acc~rding to Vy~otsky, res~arch wi1J.1 ··l1i ld rt: n :"!mu! I _hav ;1 • ohCTcnt 1 l1~~1r ' .~:~

cal foundation instead of bemg based m a hodgep() lg~ n l ideas, 11 111t1s t f·o ·us on cssc 1111_ 1

mental processes rather than on isolated responses, and i1 i I Hlly xa111 in ''> c.level iplll l:!111 '1

VYGOTSI\Y'S rHEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 217

And it provides a lens through which children come to construct culturally appropriate interpretations of their experiences.

Every culture passes along physical and cognitive tools that make daily living more efficient. Not only do adults teach children specific ways of interpreting experience, but they also pass along specific tools that can help children tackle the various tasks and problems they are apt to face. Some tools, such as shovels, sewing machines , and computers, are phys­ical objects. Others, such as writing systems, maps, and spreadsheets, are partly physical and partly symbolic. Still others, such as using rounding rules and mental arithmetic to estimate the cost of one's purchases at a store, may have little physical basis at all. In Vygotsky's view, acquiring tools that are partly or entirely sym~olic or mental-cognitive tools-greatly enhances children's cognitive abilities. , ·i." .

Different cultures pass along difi:erent cognitive tools. Thus Vygotsky's theory leads us to expect greater diversity among children than Piaget's theory does. For instance, recall a point made earlier in the chapter: Children acquire conservation skills at a younger age if conservation of clay and water is important for their family's potte1y business. Similarly, children are more likely to acquire map-reading skills if maps (perhaps of roads, subway sys­tems, and shopping malls) are a prominent part of th~r community and family life (Liben & Myers, 2007). Children are more apt to have a keen sense of time if clocks and calendars regulate cultural activities (Graesch, 2009; K. Nelson, 1996a). In the opening case study, Billy can relate museum exhibits to certain time periods-cognitive tools from the field of geology-only because aspects of his culture (children's books, museums, etc.) have enabled him to acquire those organizational tools.

17JOught and language become increasingly interdependent in the first Jew years of life. One very important cognitive tool is language. For us as adults, thought and language are closely interconnected. We often think by using the specific words that our language pro­vides. For example, when we think about household pets, our thoughts contain such words as dog and cat. In addition, we usually express our thoughts when we converse with others. In other words, we "speak our minds."

But Vygotsky proposed that thought and language are separate functions for infants and young toddlers. In these early years, thinking occurs independently of language, and when language appears, it is first used primarily as a means of communication rather than as a mechanism of thought. Sometime around age 2, thought and language become inter­twined: Children begin to express their thoughts when they speak, and they begin to think in words (see Figure 6-6).

When thought and language first merge, children often talk to themselves, a phenom­enon known as self-talk (you may also see the tennprivatespeech). Vygotsky suggested that self-talk serves an important function in cognitive development. By talking to themselves, children learn to guide their own behaviors through complex maneuvers in much the same way that adults have previously guided them. Self-talk eventually evolves into inner speech, in which children "talk" to themselves mentally rather than aloud. They continue to direct themselves verbally through tasks and activities, but others can no longer see and hear them do it (Vygotsky, 1934/1986).

Recent research has supported Vygotsky's views regarding the progression and role of self-talk and inner speech. The frequency of children's audible self-talk decreases during the preschool and early elementary years, but this decrease is at first accompanied by an increase in whispered mumbling and silent lip movements, presumably reflecting a transition to inner speech (Bivens & Berk, 1990; Ostad & Askelancl, 2008; Winsler & Naglieri, 2003). Further­more, self-talk increases when children are performing more challenging tasks, at which they must exert considerable effort to be successful (Berk, 1994; Corkum, Humphries, Mullane, & Theriault, 2008; Schimmoeller, 1998; Vygotsky, 1934/1986). As you probably know from your own experience, even adults occasionally talk to themselves when they face new chaHenges.

Complex mental processes begin as social activities qnd gradually evolve into inter­nal mental activities that children can use independent~y. Vygotsky proposed that complex thought processes, including the use of cognitive tools, have their roots in social interactions.

In infancy, thought is nonverbal in nature,

and language is used primarily as a means of communication.

At about 2 years of age, thought becomes verbal in nature, and language becomes a means of

expresslng thoughts.

With time, children begin to use self-talk to guide their own thoughts and behaviors.

(

Self-talk gradually evolves into inner speech, whereby children guide themselves silently (mentally) rather

than aloud.

f\) FIGURE 6-6 Fusing of thought and language. Vygotsky pro­posed that thought and language initially emerge as separate func­tions but eventually become intertwined.

cognitive tool Concept, symbol, strategy, or other culturally constructed mechanism that helps people think more effectively.

self-talk Talking to oneself as a way of guiding oneself through a task.

inner speech "Talking" to oneself mentally rather than aloud as a way of guiding oneself through a task.

218 CHAPTER 6 • COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: PIAGET AND VYGOTSKY

internalization

In Vygotsky's theory, the gradual evolution of external, social activities into internal, mental activities.

appropriation

Gradual adoption of (and perhaps also adaptation of) other people's ways of thinking and behaving for one's own purposes.

As children discuss objects and events with adults and other knowledgeable individuals, they gradually incorporate into their own thinking the ways in which people around them talk about and interpret the world, and they begin to use the words, concepts, symbols, and strategies that are typical for their culture.

The process through which social activities evolve into internal mental activities is called interna]izatj.on. The progression from self-talk to inner speech just described illustrates this process: Over time, children gradually internalize adults' directions so that they are eventually giving themselves directions.

Not all mental processes emerge as children interact with adults, however. Some develop as children interact with peers. For example , children frequently argue with one another about a variety of matters-how best to carry out an activity, what games to play, who did what to whom, and so on. According to Vygotsky, childhood arguments help children discover that there are often several ways to view the same situation. Eventually, he suggested, children internalize the "arguing" process, developing the ability to look at a situation from several different angles on their own.

Children acquire their culture's tools in their own idiosyncratic manner. Recall that Vygotsky was a constructivist. He believed that children do not necessarily internalize exactly what they see and hear in a social context. Rather, they often transform ideas, strategies, and other cognitive tools to make these tools uniquely their own. You may sometimes see the term appropriation used to refer to this process of internalizing but also selectively imple­menting some skills rather than others and adapting the ideas and strategies of one's culture for personal use.

Individual differences in 4- and 5-year-old children's responses to dramatic perfor­mances in a classroom reveal the process of appropriation. The teacher had encouraged chil­dren to act out such popular stories as Little Red Riding Hood and then encouraged children to dictate and act out their own stories. Most children enthusiastically made up stories and participated in other children's dramatic plays but a few stood on the periphery or tried to change the rules to suit their own needs . Their teacher described two children who initially avoided the drama project:

Sonya was a shy girl , seldom spoke during large-group activities, ancl was re luctant to partici­pate in any group activity in the classroom including morning meeting. She told her mother that she did not participate because she was shy. Her conversations with an adult involved a minimum number of words and she spoke mostly in a soft whisper. Sonya was the last to volunteer to be the storyteller and avoided taking part in plays. She had to be encouraged and cajoled into trying to write her first story which was very brief with the process requiring a lot of prompting and scaffolding by the teacher. ... But the experience of writing and directing that first story was so positive for her that she immediately told the teacher she wanted to do another story. (Gupta, 2009, p. 1049-1050)

In comparison, another child, Alec, did not like to write but wanted to be selected for every play:

Alec rarely used to leave the block area to work in the other centres . Blocks were his favourite activity and he very seldom worked on any art and writing work. Further, Alec was easily frustrated if he was nor included in th e acting out of the story. He would cry out loudly, fling himself on the floor and prevent the activity from proceeding. With time, however, there was a marked change in his behaviour. Although he continued to exhibit initial disappointment if not chosen to act in a story, he began to quickly reconcil e to being part of the audience, showed more patience and enthusiastically began to offer feedback at the encl of each play (Gupta, 2009, p. 1050)

As Sonya and Alec reveal , children do not necessarily learn all cultural pastimes easily or enthusiastically. Instead, individual children approach educational activities using their own motivations, prior understandings, and creative learning processes.

Children can perform more challenging Lask1s when assisted by more advanced and competent individuals. Vygotsky distinguished between two kinds of abilities that children are apt to have at any particular point in their development. A child's actual developmen­tal level is the upper limit of tasks that he or she can perform independently, without help

VYGOTSKY'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 219

. , ,ynne tJ l.s ..... ·hil I':-. le11e/ r!fp<1lenlial ,(,velopment is the upper limit of tasks that he frPfl 1 '.\an perform with tl1e assl. l~m ·e r a more competent individual. To get a true sense 01: ~1~\ lrcn 's cngniciv -' de elopment, Vyg( tsky suggested, teachers should assess children's ol cl 11 .~.11 e~ l>oLh when performing alone and when performing with assistance. L°1.1Prtl, r: ;t:: noLt!d e~1rli ·r, V gotsky round that children typically accomplish more difficult

. 1 ·olllibor.tl iun with a lulls 1han 1h ' Y can do on their own. With the assistance of a 1 ·ngs II

1 11 · r read ier, lh.ey may 1> ~ nhl- l r ~~1d 1i1ore complex prose than they are likely to read ,1reri t . . f' , t!JlLh-' ntly. Tb. 3 ~n ph1y 1nor· dlffi <.:Llli piano pieces when an adult helps them locate

uiJt:!J of till! notes n the k.eyl oa rd >r provides suggestions about which fingers to use. And son

1e !Jc>\V a stude nt v ho cannot independently solve division problems with remainders

110 1,ce . . . . _ t 1 Jet1rn !be correct procecl.ur through an mteraction with her teacher:·,

l;eg1n. . 'I.' t..;

Teacher: [writes 6)44 on the board] 44 divided by 6. What number,times 6 is close to 44? '

Child: 6. Teacher: Child: Teacher: Child: Teacher: Child: Teacher: Child:

What's 6 times 6? [writes 6] 36. 36. Can you get one that's any closer? [erasing the 6] 8. What's 6 times 8? 64 ... 48. 48. Too big. Can you think of something ... 6 times 7 is 42. (A. L. Petitto, 1985, p. 251)

Challenging tasks promote maximum cognitive growth. The range of tasks that children cannot yet perform independently but can perform with the help and guidance of others is, in Vygotsky's terminology, the zone of proximal development, or ZPD (see Figure 6-7). A child's zone of proximal development includes learning and problem-solving abilities that are just beginning to emerge and develop. You can observe children working within their ZPD in the two "Zone of Proximal Development" videos in MyEducationLab.

Vygotsky proposed that children learn very little from performing tasks they can already do independently. Instead, they develop primarily by attempting tasks they can accomplish only in collaboration with a more competent individual-that is, when they attempt tasks within their zone of proximal development. In a nutshell, it is the challenges in life, not the easy successes, which promote cognitive development.

Whereas challenging tasks are educational, tasks that children cannot do even with considerable structure and assistance are of no benefit whatsoever. (For example, it is prob­ably pointless to ask a typical kindergartner to solve for x in an algebraic equation.) A child's ZPD therefore sets a limit on what he or she is cognitively capable of learning.

Naturally, any child's ZPD will change over time. As some tasks are mastered, other, more complex ones appear on the horizon to take their place. Furthermore, as we discovered

Actual developmental

level

Level of potential

development

Tasks that a child can successfully accomplish without assistance

I I

.i : ZONE OF PROXIMAL , :~ DEVELOPMENT -+:

Tasks that a chlld can acoo,npllst, only With some assTstance and support

Tasks that a child ~not accompllst, 8llfl"I • considerable~ support

Increasing task difficulty - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ _:'- ~

~~1~URE 6 7 Entering the zone. Tasks within a child's zone of proximal development are optimal

Pro1 noting cognitive advancements.

Observe examples of children working within their zone of proximal development in the two "Zone of Proximal Development" videos. (Find Video Examples in Topic 6 of MyEducationlab.)

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Range of tasks that one cannot

yet perform independently but can

perform with the help and guidance

of others.

220 CHAPTER 6 • COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: PIAGET AND VYGOTSl,Y

earlier, children's ZPDs may vary considerably in "width." Whereas some children may, with assistance, be able to "reach" several years above their actual Cin­dependent) developmental level, others may be able to handle tasks that are only slightly more difficult than what they can currently do on their own.

IN THE ZONE. A San Bushman father operates within his son's zone of proximal development during a hunting trip. The father demon­strates how to use a bow and arrow and gives the boy a chance to try his hand at various steps of hunting.

Play allows children to stretch themselves cognitively. Recall the scenario of Jeff and Scott playing "restaurant" presented earlier in the chapter. The two boys take on several adult roles (restau­rant manager, server, cook) and practice a variety of adult-like behaviors: assembling the necessary materials for a restaurant, creating menus, keeping track of customers' orders, and tallying final bills. In real life such a scenario would, of course, be impossible. Very few 5-year-old children have the cooking, reading, writing, mathematical, or organi­zational skills necessary to run a restaurant. Yet the element of make-believe brings these tasks within the boys' reach (e.g., Lillard, 1993). In Vygotsky's words:

sociodramatic play

Play in which children take on specific roles and act out a scenario of imaginary events.

In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself. (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 102)

Many contemporary psychologists share Vygotsky's and Piaget's belief that play provides an arena in which youngsters can practice skills they will need in later life. Not only does play promote social skills (e.g., cooperation and conflict resolution strategies), but it also helps children experiment with new combinations of objects, identify cause-and­effect relationships, learn more about other people's perspectives, and direct their behavior according to real-life plans (Chafe!, 1991; Gredler & Shields, 2008; Lillard, 1998; Rubin, Fein, & Vandenberg, 1983; Vygotsky, 1966; Zervigon-Hakes, 1984).

To some degree, play probably serves dissimilar purposes for different age-groups. For infants, one primary goal of play activities seems to be to discover what objects are like and can do, as well as what people can do to and with the objects. Through such dis­coveries, infants learn many basic properties of the physical world (Gopnik, 2009b; Morris, 1977). Through more social games, including peekaboo, pat-a-cake, and playful exchanges of sounds, infants practice imitation and acquire rudimentary skills in cooperation and turn­taking (Bruner & Sherwood, 1976; Flavell et al., 2002; Powers & Trevarthen, 2009).

When play takes on an element of make-believe sometime around age 2, children begin to substitute one object for another and perform behaviors involving imagina1y objects-for instance, "eating" imaginary food with an invented fork (M. Lewis & Carmody, 2008; O'Reilly, 1995; Pederson, Rook-Green, & Elder, 1981). As Vygotsky suggested, pretense probably helps children distinguish between objects and their symbolic representations and respond to internal representations (e.g., to the concept of fork) as much as to immediate appearance of external objects (Bodrova & Leong, 1996; W. L. Haight, 1999; Karpov, 2003). When, in the pre­school years, children expand their pretend play into elaborate scenarios-sometimes called sociodramatic play-they can also practice such roles as "parent," "teacher," or "server," and they learn how to behave in ways that conform to cultural standards and expectations. Furthermore, children engaging in socioclramatic play are apt to gain a greater appreciation of what other people might be thinking and feeling (Gonci.i, 1993; Lillard, 1998; Sobel, 2009).

As children reach school age, role-playing activities gradually diminish, and other forms of play take their place. For instance, elementary school children often spend time with friends constructing things from cardboard boxes or Legos, playing cards and board games, and engaging in team sports. Many of these activities continue into adolescence. By adhering to rules of games and restrictions on their behavior, youngsters learn to plan

VYGOTSKY'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 223

Liz:

Jeanette: Liz: Kerri: Liz:

Nina: Kerri: Liz:

But you've got twenty quarters, if you've got twenty quarters you might be right. I'll show you. No, I've drawn them all here. How many quarters have you got? Twenty? Yes, one quarter makes five apples and out of five apples she can make five tarts which will make that twenty-five tarts and then she will have, wait, one, two, three, four, five quarters, she'll have one, two, three, four, five quarters .... I've got a better ... Yes? Twenty-six qtiarters and a :remainder of one quarter left. CJ Hiebert et al., 1997, p. ~~l)R .

1" .

The discussion and occasional disagreements continue, and the girls eventually arrive at the correct answer: Mom can make 26 tarts and then will have half an apple left over.

Scaffolding • Theorists have given considerable thought to the kinds of assistance that can help children successfully accomplish challenging tasks and activities. The term scaffolding is often used to describe the guidance or structure provided by more competent individuals to help chil­dren perform tasks in their ZPD. To understand this concept, think of the scaffolding used in the construction of a new building. The scaffold is an external structure that provides support for the workers (e.g., a place where they can stand) until the building itself is strong enough to support them, other people, furniture, and its own materials. As the building gains substance and stability, the scaffold becomes less necessary and is gradually removed.

In much the same way, an adult guiding a child through a new task may initially provide a scaffold to support the child's early efforts. In the following example, notice how a mother helps her 4-year-old daughter Sadie assemble a toy from Duplo blocks (larger versions of Legos) by following a set of instructions:

Mother:

Sadie:

Mother:

Sadie: Mother: Sadie: Mother:

Now you need another one like this on the other side. Mmmmmm ... there you go, just like that. Then I need this one to go like this? Hold on, hold on. Let it go. There. Get that out. Oops! I'll hold it while you turn it. (Watches Sadie work on toy.) Now you make the end. This one? No, look at the picture. Right here (points to plan). That piece. Like this? Yeah. (Gauvain, 2001, p. 32)8

Scaffolding can take a variety of forms. Here are just a few of the many possibilities:

• Demonstrate the proper performance of the task in a way that children can easily imitate.

• Divide a complex task into several smaller, simpler tasks. • Provide a structure or set of guidelines for how the task should be accomplished. • Provide a calculator, computer software (word processing program, spreadsheet, etc.),

or other technology that makes some aspects of the task easier. • Ask questions that get children thinking in appropriate ways about the task. • Keep children's attention focused on the relevant aspects of the task. • Give frequent feedback about how children are progressing. (Bodrova & Leong, 2009;

A. Collins, 2006; Gallimore & Tharp, 1990; Pentimonti & Justice, 2010; Rogoff, 1990; Torres-Guzman, 2011; D. Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976)

8 Excerpt from THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT by Mary Gauvain. Copyright© 2001 by

Mary Gauvain. Reprinted with permission of Guilford Publications, Inc.

scaffolding

Support mechanism, provided by a more competent individual, that helps a child successfully perform a task within his or her zone of proximal development.

226 CHAPTER 6 • COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: PIAGET AND VYGOTSKY

Preparing for Your Licensure Examination Your teaching test might ask you about the major contributions of Vygotsky to educational practice.

reciprocal teaching Approach to teaching reading comprehension in which students take turns asking teacher-like questions of their classmates.

When children help others, the "teacbcr.s'' oft ' ll bcneflr as mu ·h a.c; 1he ''s Lud ~nts" (D. Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes, & Simmons, 1997; Kar her. 2 Qc; Webh & Palinc.sar, J 9c 6). For instance, when youngsters study something with th exp • tal ion 1h·1L Lhcy wi ll h t achii g it to someone else, they are more motivated to le,1rn it, lin I il m. re inLeresling, auJ learn it more effectively (Benware & Deci, 1984; Cho , 2009; SJmb, Elli , & Arn uj , 1)9;3).

Applying the Ideas of Vygotsky and His Followers Vygotsky's work and the recent theoretical advances it has inspired have numerous implica­tions for teaching and working with children and adolescents. Educators taking a Vygotskian perspective strategically direct children to take on increasing levels of responsibility for cultural tasks.

", ' I.:

• Help children acquire the basic cognitive tools n~.cessary for succeeding in academic disciplines. Mastering concepts that undergird a cultural activity helps children to engage more successfully in the activity. Children can become better musicians when they can read music and understand what keys, chords, and thirds are. In the disciplines of science maLhcmati :rn I soci;LI stu lies, ur culture passes along other key concepts (e.g., molecule' negc:11.ioe n11.mber dem.oc1r;t1.;J1), symbols ( ·.g., H

20, re, x3), a,td visual representations (e.g.',

g raphs, maps) th.at help gr w in,g dtildn.: 11 organize and interpret the physical and social worlds in which they live.

• use group learning activities to help children internalize cognitive strategies. Contemporary researchers have found that, as Vygotsky suggested, children often do internalize-and so eventually use independently-the complex thinking processes they first use in social interaction (e.g., Andriessen, 2006; Murphy, 2007). We find an example in reciprocal teaching, an approach to reading instruction that has had great success in enhancing children's reading comprehension skills (Alfassi, Weiss, & Lifshitz, 2009; A. L. Brown & Palincsar, 1987; Palincsar & Brown, 1984; Pilonieta & Medina, 2009). This approach is designed to foster four effective reading strategies:

• Summarizing-Identifying the main ideas of a reading passage • Questioning-Asking oneself questions to check comprehension of ideas • Clarifying-Taking steps to better understand a confusing point • Predicting-Anticipating what points an author is apt to make in later sentences or

paragraphs

In this approach, a teacher and several students meet in a group to read a piece of text, occasionally stopping to discuss and process the text aloud. Initially, the teacher leads the discussion, asking questions about the text to promote summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting. He or she gradually turns this "teaching" role over to a few students, who for a short time take charge of the discussion and ask one another the same kinds of questions that their teacher has modeled. Eventually, the students can read and discuss a text almost independently of the teacher, working together to make sense of it and checking one another for comprehension and possible misunderstandings.

As an illustration, consider the following reciprocal teaching session for a group of six first graders reading a passage about snowshoe rabbits. In this particular case the teacher reads the text in small segments (at higher grade levels, the children themselves take turns reading) . After each segment, the teacher pauses while the children discuss and make sense of the segment. As you read the dialogue, look for examples of summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting (there is at least one instance of each).

The children were reading about the snowshoe rabbit, and it was the 16th clay of dialogue. The teacher had just read a segment of text describing the season in which baby rabbits are born and the ways in which the mother rabbit cares for her babies. A student named Kam is the dialogue leader.

Kam: When was the babies born? Teacher: That's a good question to ask. Call on someone to answer that question. Kam: Robby? Milly?

VYGOTSKY'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 227

Milly: Summer. Teacher: What would happen if the babies were born in the winter? Let's think.

Several children make a number of responses, including: "The baby would be very cold." "They would need food." "They don't have no fur when they are just born."

Kam: I have another question. How does she get the babies safe? Kris: She hides them. Kam: That's right but something else .... Teacher: There is something very unusual about how she hides them that surprised me.

Travis: Teacher: Milly:

Teacher:

I didn't know this. They are all in a different place. Why do you think she does this? Probably because I heard anothe{, story, and\~hen they're babies they usually eat each other or fight with each oth,et , That could be! And what about when that lY,hX comes?

Several children comment that that would be the end of all the babies.

Travis: If I was the mother, I would hide mine, I would keep them all together. Kris: If the babies are hidden and the mom wants to gi and look at them, how can she

remember where they are? Teacher: Good question. Because she does have to find them again. Why? What does she

bring them? Milly: She needs to bring food. She probably leaves a twig or something. Teacher: Do you think she puts out a twig like we mark a trail?

Several children disagree and suggest that she uses her sense of smell. One child, recalling that the snowshoe rabbit is not all white in the winter, suggests that the mother might be able to tell her babies apart by their coloring.

Teacher: So we agree that the mother rabbit uses her senses to find her babies after she hides them. Kam, can you summarize for us now?

Kam: The babies are born in the summer .... Teacher: The mother .. .. Kam: Teacher: Kam: Travis: Teacher: Milly: Kris: Teacher:

The mother hides the babies in different places. And she visits them ... To bring them food. She keeps them safe. Any predictions? What she teaches her babies ... like how to hop. They know how to hop already. Well , let's read and see.9 (dialogue courtesy of A. S. Palincsar)

Notice how the teacher scaffolds the children's teaching strategies, in part by giving hints ("Kam, can you summarize for us now?") and in part by modeling effective questions ("What would happen if the babies were born in the winter?"). Notice, too, how the children support one another in their meaning-making efforts (Kris: "She hides them." Kam: "That's right but something else .... ").

Reciprocal teaching has been used successfully with a wide variety of students, rang­ing from first graders to college students, to teach effective reading and listening compre­hension skills. In many cases students become far more effective readers and apply their new reading strategies when studying a wide variety of subject areas (Alfassi et al., 2009; A. 1. Brown & Palincsar, 1987; Palincsar & Brown, 1984, 1989; Rosenshine & Meister, 1994; Stricklin, 2011).

• Present challenging tasks, and provide sufficient scaffolding to enable children to accomplish them successfully. To promote cognitive development, teachers and other adults must present some assignments that a child can perform successfully only with assistance­that is, tasks within the child's ZPD. Children at any single age level are likely to hao.e

""Your Snowshoe Rabbit Dialogue" by Annemarie S Palincsar. Copyright © 2001 by Annemarie S. Palincsar Reprinted with permission

t

' : , i

"") . ,;__, ,_,

ARTIFACT 6-3 I can count! In this simple worksheet a pre­school teacher scaffolds 4-year­old Hannah's efforts to write numerals.

228 CHAPTER 6 • COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: PIAGET ANDVYGOTSKY

different zones of proximal development an~l so 111:1 n >-•<.J di ff •r >nl L:isks. rn olher wc ,rtli; instruction is most effective when it is indiv id ual.l y tai lo red to h!l cl re n' · uniciue strength ' and limitations (Bodrova & Leong, 2009; Horowilz Darling-Hammond. & Bn1nsford , 200s~s

Children need some degree of support in tackling chaUenges of course. The D '\'cl~ opment and Practice feature "Scaffolding Ch ildre n's Elhrts at h.alknging Tasks'' r>r -•senrs several additional examples. One of the strategic:; lisl' ·d i.n this t'c:.1Lur '-/M t.:/J d 1"i!clrer1, htnv to talk themselves through a complex new procedure-makes use of Vygotsky's concept of se{f-talk to enable children to create their own scaffolding. Teaching children how to give themselves instructions and thereby guide themselves through a new task might proceed through five steps (Meichenbaum, 1977, 1985):

1. Cognitive modeling. An adult model performs the cle&jrecl task while verbalizing instructions that guide performance. 'I.' 1-' -·

2. Overt, external guidance. The child performs the task while listening to the adult verbalize the instructions. '

3. Overt self-guidance. The child repeats the instructions aloud (self-talk) while performing the task.

4. Faded, overt self-guidance. The child whispers the instruc~ons while performing the task.

5. Covert self-instruction. The child silently thinks about the instructions (inner speech) while performing the task.

In this sequence of steps, depicted in Figure 6-8, the adult initially serves as a model both for the behavior itself and for the process of self-guidance. Responsibility for performing the task is soon turned over to the child. Eventually, responsibility for guiding the performance

is turned over as well.

TASK PERFORMANCE TASK INSTRUCTIONS • Assess children's abilities under a variety of work condi­tions. To foster children's cognitive development, educators need to determine under what conditions the children are most likely to accomplish various tasks successfully. For instance, can chil­dren accomplish a task entirely on their own? If not, can they do it in collaboration with one or two peers? Can they do it if they have some adult guidance and support? By addressing such questions, teachers can get a better sense of the tasks that are in each child's ZPD (Boclrova & Leong, 2009; Calfee & Masuda, 1997; Haywood & Liclz, 2007; Horowitz et al., 2005).

- ~ ~

The adult performs the The adult verbalizes Step 1 task, modeling it for the fnstructioris.

child. ~ -- r------ ------- ---

The child performs n,e adult verbalizes the task. instruoltons.

Step 2

---------------The child performs The chftd repeats the the task. Instructions aloud. Step 3 --- - ------ ---------- --- - ; The child performs The child whispers the the task. instructions. Step 4

------------ --------- - ----The child performs The child thinks silently the task. about the instructions. Step 5

~

FIGURE 6-8 Self-talk. In a five-step process, a child shifts from adult help to independent self-regulation.

• Provide opportunities to engage in authentic activities. As we've already seen, children's participation in adult activities plays a critical role in their cognitive development. However, chil­dren spend much of their clay at school, which is far removed from the working world of adults. A reasonable alternative is authentic activities-classroom tasks and projects that closely resemble typical adult activities. Following are examples:

authentic activity Instructional activity similar to one that a child might eventually encounter in the outside world.

• Writing an editorial • Participating in a debate • Designing an electrical circuit • Conducting an experiment • Creating and distributing a class newsletter • Organizing a volunteer campaign to address

a community need

• Performing in a concert • Planning a personal budget • Conversing in a foreign language • Creating a museum display • Developing a home page for the Internet • Filming and editing a video production

By placing classroom activities in real-world contexts, teachers can enhance a variety of skills in students, including their mastery of classroom subject matter and ability to work effec­tively in groups (Bereiter & Scarclamalia, 2006; A. Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989; Kirshner, 2008). For instance, students may show greater improvement in writing skills when they prac­tice writing stories, essays, and letters to real people, rather than completing short, artificial

Ask questions that get children thinking in suitable ways

about a task.

A middle school teacher asks her students a series of questions as theY prepare to deliver a persuasive speech to members of a com­munity organization: What are the main points you want to make?

who will make them? What kind of objections and counterargu­

ments can you anticipate? How will you respond to them? (Early

Adolescence) . '\,'

AS students in a high school science class begin to plan their experi­ments for an upcoming science fair, their teacher encourages them to separate and control variables with the following questions: What do

I think causes the phenomenon I am studying? What other possible

variables might cause or influence it? How can I be sure that these

variables are not influencing the results I obtain? (Late Adolescence)

When learners are unfamiliar with a task, provide explicit guidance

and give frequent feedback.

• A preschool teacher watches the attempts of children to write their names With a girl who writes the letters of her name backward, the teacher puts a green dot under the first letter of her name and tells her to start with that letter. With a boy who forgets a few letters, the teacher writes the missing letters and highlights them with a color pen and encourages the boy to include these special letters next time. With another boy who has trouble writing a letter that is difficult to write (perhaps "S" or "W"), the teacher writes that letter for him and encourages him to add the other letters himself. (Early Childhood)

• Wl1en an outdoor educator takes 12-year-olds on their first camping trip, he has the children work in pairs to pitch their tents. Although he has previously shown the children how to put up a tent, this is the first time they've actually done it themselves, and so he provides written instructions that they can follow. In addition, he circulates from campsite to campsite to check on each group's progress and provide assistance as necessary. (Early Adolescence)

Provide a calculator, computer software, worksheet, or other material that makes some aspects of the task easier.

• Children in a third-grade class have mastered basic addition, subtrac­tion. and multiplication facts. They are now applying their knowledge of arithmetic to determine how much money they would need to purchase a number of recreational items from a mail-order catalog. Because the list of items is fairly lengthy and includes varying quan­tities of each item, their teacher gives them calculators to do the necessary multiplication and addition. (Middle Childhood)

• A higli school history teacher distributes a worksheet with a partially completed table of cultural accomplishments during ancient African and Middle Eastern history. A few cells contain summaries and serve as models fo and . · I notes students can take as they read their textbook

fill in the missing cells. (Late Adolescence) ......... __ _

VYCOl Sl(Y'STHEORY Of' COCNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 229

Teach children how to talk themselves through a complex procedure.

• A school psychologist teaches children with cognitive disabilities to classify shapes by asking themselves questions (e.g., Does the object have three or more sides? Is it round? How large is the shape?). The children begin to ask themselves these questions and learn to clas­sify shapes more accurately. (Middle Childhood)

• A physical education teacher shows beginning tennis players how to use s~lf-instructions to remember correct form when swinging the racket ~. Say ball to remind yourself to look at the ball. 2. Say bounce to remind yourself to follow the ball with your eyes as

it approaches you. 3. Say hit to remind yourself to focus on contacting the ball with the

ra'tfet. 4. Say ready to get yourself into position for the next ball to come

your way. (Early Adolescence)

Divide a complex assignment into several smaller, simpler tasks, and perhaps ask children to tackle it in small groups.

• A fourth-grade teacher has his students create a school newspaper that includes news articles, a schedule of upcoming events, a couple of political cartoons, and classified advertisements. several students work together to create each feature, with different students as­suming distinct roles (e.g., fact finder, writer, editor) and occasionally switching the parts they play. (Middle Childhood)

• A high school film analysis teacher helps students to dissect movies by breaking up their assignments into manageable parts. After the class watches Citizen Kane, the teacher gives pieces of poster paper to four groups of students and encourages members in each group to answer particular questions. One group pieces together flashbacks of the life of Charles Foster Kane, another reads the screenplay of the movie, a third group examines the movie's filmmaking innovations, and a fourth group looks into the original reception the movie received. (Late Adolescence)

Gradually withdraw guidance as children become more proficient.

• A preschool teacher has 2- and 3-year-olds take turns distributing the crackers, fruit, and napkins at snack time, and she asks all of them to bring their dishes and trash to the kitchen after they have finished eating. Initially, she must show the children how to carry the food so that it doesn't spill. She must also remind servers to make sure that every child gets a snack. As the year progresses, reminders are usually not necessary, although she must occasionally say, "I think two of you have forgotten to bring your cups to the kitchen. I'm missing the one with Big Bird on it and the one with cookie Monster." (Early Childhood)

• In a group of high school volunteers concerned about economic pov­erty, an adult facilitates the young people's discussion and eventu­ally encourages them to develop solutions that can be tried in their community. As the adolescents move closer to generating possible tactics, the adult grows silent and allows students to formulate an action plan. (Late Adolescence)

Sources· B 1996: M~i c~1~ii:u~ Leong,. 2009 (kindergarten writing example); Gallimore & Tharp, 1990; Good et al.. 1992; Kirshner, 2008 (persuasive speech example); Lajoie & Derry, 1993; Lou et al.,

· 1985, Rogoff, 1990; Rosenshine & Meister. 1992; Stevens & Slavin, 1995; D. Wood et al., 1976; Ziegler, 1987 (tennis example).

230 CHi\PTrn 6 a COGNITIVF DEVEi OPMENT: Pli\GEr !\ND VYGOfSJ(Y

CHARACTERISTIC

Exploratory Play with Objects

Group Play

Use of Symbolic Thought and Imagination

Role Taking

writing exercises (E. H. Hiebert & Fisher, 1992). Likewise, they may gain a more complete un­derstanding of how to use and interpret maps when they construct their own maps than when they engage in workbook exercises involving map interpretation (Gregg & Leinhardt, 1994a).

• Give children the chance to play. Many developmental theorists advocate for the inclusion of play in children's daily schedules, especially in the preschool and early ele­mentary years (P. M. Cooper, 2009; Elkind, 2007; Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, Berk, & Singer, 2009; Van Hoorn, Nourot, Scales, & Alward, 1999). Following are several suggestions for promoting the play of children in preschool and kindergarten:

• Partition the classroom into small areas (e.g., a corner for blocks, a "housekeeping" area, an art table) that give children numerous options. .

• Provide realistic toys (e.g., dolls, dress-up clothes, plastic dishes) that,,suggest c~;tain activities and functions, as well as more versatile objects (e.g., Legos,. wooden hlocks, cardboard boxes) that allow children to engage in fantasy and imagination. ·

• Encourage children to set goals in their play, for example, pretending to run a shop together, and help them solve conflicts before they escalate ("It sounds as if you both want to be the cashier. Your shop needs a cashier and a stocker. Could you trade off in these jobs?").

• Provide enough toys and equipment to minimize potential conflicts, but keep the~ limited enough in number that children must share and cooperate (Bodrova & Leong, 2009; Bredekamp, 2011; Frost, Shin, & Jacobs, 1998).

By observing children during play, teachers also can gain insights into the abilities and skills that individual children have acquired. Examples of things to look for are presented in the Observation Guidelines table "Observing the Cognitive Aspects of Young Children's Play."

OBSERVATION GUIDELINES

LOOK FOR

• Interest in exploring objects in the environment

• Ability to manipulate objects • Use of multiple senses in exploratory

play

• Extent to which children play with one another

• Extent to which children in a group cooperate in their play activities

• Extent to which children use an object to stand for another

• Extent to which children incorporate imaginary objects into their play

• Extent to which children use language (e.g., tone of voice. specific words and phrases) and behaviors (e g., mannerisms, characteristic actions of a person with a specific job) that reflect a particular person or role

• Extent to which children coordinate and act out multiple roles within the context of a complex play scenario

EXAMPLE

When Tyler sees a new toy guitar among the toys in the playroom, he picks it up, inspects it on all sides, and begins to turn the crank (although not enough to elicit any musical notes). After Tyler leaves it to play with some­thing else, Sarah picks up the guitar, sniffs it. puts the crank in her mouth, and begins to suck and chew on it.

LaMarr and Matthew are playing with trucks in the sandbox, but each boy seems to be in his own little world

Julia tells her friend she is going to the grocery store, then opens an imaginary car door, sits on a chair inside her "car," steers an imaginary steering wheel, and says, "Beep, beep" as she blows an imaginary horn.

Mark and Alisa are playing doctor. Alisa brings her teddy bear to Mark's "office" and politely says, "Good morning, Doctor. My baby has a sore throat." Mark holds a Popsicle stick against the bear's mouth and instructs the "baby" to say "Aaahhh "

IMPLICATION

Provide a wide variety of toys and other objects for infants and toddlers to explore, making sure that all are safe, clean, and nontoxic Recognize that children may use these things in creative ways (and not necessarily in the ways their manufacturers intended) and will move frequently from one object to another.

Give children opportunities to play together, and provide toys that require a cooperative effort

When equipping a play area, include objects (e.g., wooden blocks, cardboard boxes) that children can use for a vari­ety of purposes.

Provide toys and equipment associated with particular roles (e g., toy medical kit. cooking utensils, play money)