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Social interaction

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Three important factors that contributed to cognitive development

Social & Cultural Factors

Social Interaction

• Vygotsky believes that culture also plays an important role in cognitive development.
• To be able to move from the elementary mental function to the higher functions, social and cultural factors are necessary.
• In other words, children need social interaction to be able to cognitively develop

• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Vygotsky discussed the importance of social interaction.
• For learning to take place, a child must be in their zone of proximal development.

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

• Zone of proximal development is the difference between when a child can solve a problem or do a task with an adult’s help and without an adult’s help.
• In other words, what the child or student can do independently or with help.

Teaching and scaffolding

• Teaching takes place within the zone of proximal development.
• A teacher will push a student to their potential using scaffolding.
• Scaffolding is when a teacher or adult provides a framework so the child can access the task or activity.
• Eventually, the child will move towards independence.

Three stages /form of languange in the development process

Social speech – comunication betwen childen and others (ussualy from the age of 2)

Privat speech – private speech that is directed to the self but has not yet been internalised (usually from the age 3)

Silent inner speech – a child’s internal monologue (ussualy from the age of 7)

Vygotsky’s Stages of Development

Vague syncretic - is the initial stage where children, when learning, go through trial-and-error. But the children do not understand the underlying concepts.

Complex - as children begin to develop, they can employ strategies instead of solely using trial-and-error. But the strategies are not necessarily successful.

Potential concept - children have a bank of successful strategies. But they can only use one strategy at a time.

Mature concept - finally, once they have learnt multiple strategies, they can begin to employ successful strategies simultaneously. In other words, their thinking is mature and developed.

Level 1

Pre-conventional

Follow rulers to avoid punishment. Acts in own interest. Blind obedience to authority for its own sake

Level 2:

Coventional

Live up to expectations of others. Fulfills duties and obligations of social system. Upholds laws

Level 3:

Post-conventional

Follows internalised universal principles of justice and right. Balances concern for others and the common good. Acts in an independent and ethical manner regardless of expectations of others

Pre-conventional Morality

• Stage 1: Obedience and punishment behavior driven by avoiding punishment.
• Stage 2: Individual interest: behavior driven by self-interest and rewards

Conventional Morality

• Stage 3: Interpersonal: behavior driven by social approval
• Stage 4: Authority: behavior driven by obeying authority and conforming to social order.

Post-conventional Morality

• Stage 5: Social contract: behavior driven by balance of social order and individual things
• Stage 6: Universal ethics: internal moral principles

Theory of Attachment John Bowlby (1907)

Lorenz Theory of Imprinting (1935)

Theory of Evolution Darwin (1809)

Ethological Theories of Human Development

Konrad wondered what ducklings would do if we has the firstmoving creature they observed, what he discovered was that the ducklings followed him wherever he went.

Konrad Lorenz studied process of attachment called imprinting. Attachment are based in familiarity and contact and are almost always made during the critical period in an animals life.

Animals imprint best on their own species, but will also imprint on any moving object like a moving vehicle, an animal of another species, a moving toy, etc. Once atachment is made, it is hard to reserve

Bowlby introduced the concept of the “secure base, where a child uses caregiver as a stable poin of safety from which explore the world. The gains confidence is exploring their environtment when they feel secure in the attachment to their caregiver

He also identified the importance of early relationship and how disruptions in these bonds could lead to attachment issues later in llife, such as anxiety or emotional insecurity.

Anxious-Avoidant. Explore the world with the little relutance; shows little anxiety when isolated

Secure. Use mother as secure base for exploration; shows signs of missing parent during separation; greets parent positively upon reunion

Anxious-Resistant. Visibility, distresed upon entering playromm; fails to explore; is distresed during separationn, shows angry rejection or ambivalence upon reunion.

Disorganized. Does not show a clear-cut attachement strategy, appears confused, disoriented

Category of attachment

Stage of Attachment

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• 1. Pre-attachment (birth-12 weeks): Infants show no particular attachment to a specific caregiver but enggange in behaviors such as crying or smiling to prompt caregiving respons
• 2. Attachment-in-the making (3-6/7 months): Infants begin to show preferences for their primary caregiver but dont protected separated from them.
• 3. Clear-cut attachment (6 months-2/3 years): Infants become more attached to their primary caregiver and may show separation anxiety when they leave.
• 4. Goal-corrected partnership 2-3 years): Children grow and become more independent and understand that caregiver will return. This understanding results in decreasing levels of anxiety during separations.

Key Takeways

The theory views child development as a complex system of relationship affected by multiple levels of the sourrounding environment.

Brofenbrenner divided the environment into five system: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem.

The theory has significant implications for educational practice and understanding diverse development contexts

The microsystem is the innermost level, composed of an individual's immediate environment. It includes the people the person interacts with daily, including their family members, friends, classmates, teachers, and others.

The mesosystem is the next level of the model, comprised of all the relationships and interactions between the microsystems. Examples of mesosystems in a child’s life include the interactions between their family and school or between their friends and family. 

The exosystem refers to environments in which the individual is not an active participant but still impacts development. This level encompasses the social context in which a person lives and other aspects of the environment, including government policies, social services, community resources, and mass media.

The macrosystem involves the broader society and cultural forces that contribute to individual development. Important components of this level of Bronfenbrenner's theory include values, social norms, customs, traditions, ideology, and cultural beliefs.

The chronosystem is the outermost level of the model, accounting for the role that time plays in influencing individual development. This includes personal experiences that occur over the course of life, the various life transitions that people experience, historical events, and societal changes.