Cognitive Development and the Social World

Cognitive Development and the Social World

1. Vygotsky’s theory

   • the significance of culture
   • the role of a principal proponent of culture
     • language
   • the student’s relationship
     • sociocultural world
   • language makes thought possible

2. Culture

   • socially accepted behaviors
     • attitudes
     • beliefs
   • constructed through human societal products
     • institutions, symbol systems, and tools such as language.
   • Is a dynamic outcome of historical events and developments,

3. Relationship between the cultural environment and personal development.

4. In the course of development, perhaps through operant conditioning

   • Imitation, perception or some limited cognitive evaluation
     • Elementary functions are gradually transformed into higher mental functions

5. Vygotsky believed that inner speech enables individuals to direct and organize thought

6. internalization

   • little active participation
     • Nevertheless determined by sociocultural influences.

7. socialization

   • pseudo-internalization

8. Student-teacher and student-peer relationships are of prime importance of generating and facilitating new ideas, perspectives, and cognitive strategies

9. Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

   • Importance to the student- centered basis of education, and suggests that the individual progression towards an overall learning outcome will be dictated by the guided and subjective accomplishments of intermediate (proximal) outcomes.