The IP approach

The IP approach

1. A01

   • Proposes that there are quantitative changes that take place in a childs learning as they grow older
     • Increased memory capacity
     • Increased processing efficiency
     • The development of rules and strategies
     • The development of metacognition
   • Siegler
     • Balance scale problem
       • Children had to say which way they thought the scales would tip dependent on how many weights were on each side and how far away they were from the fulcrum
       • Found that as children grew older their strategies became more sophisticated
         • Younger children often guessed or picked side with the most weights
           • Older children used more complex strategies
   • Overlapping waves theory
     • As children get older they develop a range of strategies to cope with the problems they face
     • More than one strategy for problems however most successful survive and others discarded

2. A02

   • Evaluation
     • Credible approach as it uses scientific methods to underpin theory
       • Enables cause and effect to be inferred through statistical analysis of data
     • Impact on education
       • Children in primary schools often encouraged to reflect on their own problem solving ability (metacognition)
       • Children often paired with more advanced peers to help advance learning through the development of new rules and strategies
     • Criticed for not giving a holistic account of cognitive development
       • Mainly focuses on problem solving
   • Contrasts
     • Piaget's theory gives an account of cognitive, social and moral development (i.e more broad theory)
     • Piaget mainly used clinical method and often criticised for this
     • Piaget believed that changes were qualitative, i.e the child just changes the way it thinks about the world