Apuntes de Cristina Carrasco

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Unit 1: Developmental psychology and primary education. Implications for

the teaching-learning process
INTRODUCTION : DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Developmental psychology is the Branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and so-
cial change of humans throughout their life cycle. Three factors: Life stage, Cultural circum-
stances, and Personal experiences.

1. History and developmental psychology theories

Educational interests
 Plato, Aristotle: emphasis in educational aspect
 Renaissance (Luis Vives, Erasmus, Comenius, Rousseau or Pestalozzi): study of
children’s characteristics in order to improve education

Medical interests

 Children’s health and welfare

 XVI century: promote normal development

Philosophical and scientific interests

 Causes and origin of thought, language…

Origins of developmental psychology

From ancient Greece to the end of the XIX century

o Sporadic observation of children, not systematic

o Aristotle worried about children’s educational problems. Advices to
“promote the formation of free men”. Only education, not development.
o Middle Ages: childhood as an evolutionary moment that had to pass as
fast as possible
o Children seen as small adults, fragile and less intelligent
o Innate idea of mankind (children are born with a genetic programming.
Determinism.)
o Development as inheritance unfolding
o Changes since XVI and XVII centuries
o New ideas about the concept of man (Renaissance)
o Philosophical and cultural movements, like the Enlightenment (XVIII cen-
tury)
o Scientific advances achieved by medicine and other sciences

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o New vision of childhood, more dynamic and less predetermined. A stage

different from adulthood, with its own characteristics.
o Relevance of children’s education: it influences their development (XVI
and XVII centuries)
o Erasmus of Rotterdam, Vives: stages in children’s development. Indi-
vidual differences in children require differential treatment at school
o Comenius (1592-1670): teach with kindness, in a clear and precise way
o Locke (1632-1704), one of the founders of empiricism and association-
ism
o Rousseau, (Émile ou de I'éducation) (1762).
o Naturalistic ideas about education
o Stages of individual development
o Forefather of the positivist and naturalistic paradigm in pedagogy and
psychology
o Great influence in the movement for Pedagogical Renovation
(Pestalozzi, Froebel, Montessori, Claparéde)
o End of XVIII century, first systematic observations of children
o Pestalozzi (1746-1827), diary of development and education of his son
o Education focused on the child and worried about his development
o Tiedemann (1748-1803), Systematic biography of his son’s development
from birth to two and a half years
o Feral child Victor of Aveyron (1799)
o Itard (1774-1838) aimed for Victor to become a normal human being
o Biographical studies: one subject
 Advantage: depth of analysis
 Disadvantage: difficulties to generalise to the whole population, spe-
cially normal children

Foundation of developmental psychology

 Social and historical changes (end of the XIX century) caused more interest for
the study of children (industrialization)
 Creation of the first psychological laboratory (Wundt, 1789)
o Two kinds of psychic elements:
 Objective contents: sensations
 Subjective contents: sentiments
 Introspective study, but in an experimental context
 Birth of the Scientific Psychology
 Freud (Psychoanalysis). Importance of the first experiences

Consolidation of developmental psychology

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 Two main approaches:

o Behaviourism (Pavlov, Watson, Skinner)
o Organicism (Freud, Piaget, Gesell)
 1913 birth of behaviourism (Watson, Psychology as the behaviourist views it).
Classical conditioning
 Neo-behaviourism: Skinner (1938) operating conditioning, and Bandura (1963),
observational conditioning
 Gestalt: Wertheimer (1880-1943), Köhler (1887-1967) and Koffka (1886-194l)
 Lewin (1890-1947), field theory. Explains every theory taking into account the
whole situation, the context (field).
 Piaget’s psychogenetic theory: process of cognitive development
 Vigotsky’s social constructivism: cultural and historical development.

1. Psychoanalysis
o Psychoanalytical theory (Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939):
o cultural revolution
o Increased knowledge and study of mankind.
o One of the first theories to explain children’s development
o Genetic perspective in the study of the human psique
o Manifest behaviour depends on latent causes, unconscious for the subject.
o Nature mainly sexual and aggressive
o Influenced by Charcot (hypnosis) and Breuer (catharsis)
o Free association: method whereby the patients are encouraged to talk
freely about whatever ideas or memories occurred to them, without censure and
without needing to use a logical discourse.
o Those ideas are used by the therapist to make conscious the repressed
memories which were causing the symptoms.
o Main aim of psychoanalysis: the subject has to admit the repressed con-
tent, making it conscious, and accept what he had always rejected.
o Unconscious memories of sexual content in early childhood
o The unconscious and sexual nature of the conflict causes the psychiatric
disorders
o Same explanation for the normal development
Two main concepts:
o The libido (sexual and psychological energy)
o The unconscious (formed by repressed content, not conscious for
the subject)
o Dreams
Basic concepts
 The libido: the psychological energy, in which sexual instinct mani-
fest itself

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 Mechanical model to explain the energy flux (tension-action-re-

lease-relaxation)

 Drives, the expressions of that energy

o Self-preservation
o Aggressive or destructive (Thanatos)
o Sexual (Eros)
 The conflict appears when these drives, following the pleasure prin-
ciple, crash against reality, and are unable to satisfy their desires and
release the energy
 Normal development: the energy is reoriented towards different ob-
jects, or is used as a basis for different mental processes
 If the drive is too intense, uncontrollable or is seen as unacceptable:
repression (it blocks energy, moving it out of the consciousness and
making the subject forget about it)

Defence mechanism

 Repression: using this mechanism the ego keeps the disturbing or threatening
content out of the conscious mind, making them unconscious
 Denial: blocking external events from awareness
 Projection: the subjects attributes their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings
and motives to another person
 Sublimation: satisfying an impulse with another object in a socially acceptable
way

Structure of the psyche

 Id
o Source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly
our sexual and aggressive drives.
o Acts according to the pleasure principle (the psychic force that motiv-
ates the tendency to seek immediate gratification of any impulse)

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o Filled with energy, but without organization (source of all the psychic
energy)
o Contains everything that is inherited, that is present at birth. From it the
ego and superego will develop
 Ego
oOrganized part of the personality structure that includes defensive, per-
ceptual, intellectualcognitive, and executive functions. It starts to form
during the first months, when the id meets the reality, and appears
around two years
o It’s composed by conscious and unconscious content, like the defence
mechanisms.
o Takes the psychic energy from the id to carry on its functions
o Acts according to the reality principle (it seeks to please the id's drives in
realistic ways that will benefit in the long term)
o Tries to balance the id’s demands, the impositions of reality and the
norms and morals of the superego
 Super-ego
o Represents the moral compass, the rules that establishes what is right
and wrong
o Ideal ego
o Its formation takes place during the dissolution of the Oedipus complex,
around 5-6 years, and is formed by an identification with and internal-
isation of the father figure
o Strives to act in a socially appropriate manner, controlling our sense of
right and wrong and guilt. It helps us fit into society by getting us to act
in socially acceptable ways
o Internalization of cultural rules, mainly taught by parents applying their
guidance and influence
o Functions: inhibit the id’s drivers, persuade the id to be moral, and
strive for perfection

Psychosexual development

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 Development determines by inner factors, following a biological programming,

and influenced by ambient factors (conflicts and resolutions)
 Human beings, from birth, possess an instinctual libido that develops in five
stages
 The libido is preserved throughout the whole process, moving and fixating in
different places and objects
 This change is produced by a dynamic interaction between the passions and the
reality
 Evolution in stages, biologically programmed, that follows a corporal topography
and a universal chronology (oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital)
 Characteristics of the stages
o A primary erogenous zone
o An object of satisfaction
o A conflict between passions and reality
o A specific organization of the personality
 Oral stage (birth-1 year)
o The primary erogenous zone is the mouth of the infant, and, in a broad
sense, the upper digestive tract and the phonatory and sensorial system
o The mouth is the main source of pleasure and knowledge of the world
o The objects used to satisfy the libido are the food, the suction objects
(specially the mother’s breast), caresses, hugs, and ludic sensorial stimu-
lation
o The conflict that must be resolved in this stage is satisfaction vs frustra-
tion (the environment has t provide food, acre and love. If those needs
are not met, if the passions aren’t satisfied, the infant will suffer frustra-
tion)
 Anal stage (1-3 years)
o The primary erogenous zones of this stage are the anus and the lower
digestive tract. The satisfaction is achieved throughout defecation and
urination
o The main conflict is authority vs rebellion: adults demand compliance,
and control of the anal sphincter (toilet training). The child can comply,
and learn, or not comply and rebel.
 Phallic stage (3-6 years)
o The primary erogenous zone is the child’s genitalia
o The object of gratification is exterior (parent of the opposite gender)
o Conflict: Oedipus complex (boys) and Electra complex (girls)
o The Oedipus complex is resolved when the child internalises the pa-
ternal figures, and with a change in the parent-child relationship (non-
sexual)
o If this doesn’t happen, the child micht develop a pathology
 Latency stage (6 years-puberty)
o Consolidation of the character habits developed in the three earlier
stages

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o The drives become latent (hidden) and the gratification is delayed

o This will change with the psycho-physiological changes of puberty
 Genital stage (puberty-adult life)
o Sexual drives are reactivated, but the object of satisfaction is outside the
family context
o The libido focuses on the sexual organs
o The conflict of the past stages are reactivated, but now they refer to
different contents and objects
o Fixation: stagnation in a stage that doesn’t match the chronological age.
The development program is paralysed, and the libido remains
anchored
o Regression. Temporary or long-term reversion to an earlier stage of de-
velopment rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult
way

Other psychoanalytical authors

Anna Freud: children
C.G. Jung: emotional state
Alfred Adler: social determinants
2. Behaviourism and neo-behaviourism
1. Watson (1912). First scientific paradigm in psychology, opposed to mentalism
Only public events (behaviours of an individual) can be objectively ob-
served, and therefore private events (thoughts and emotions) should
be ignored
2. Behaviourism became the dominant paradigm in psychology until the late 50s

Subject of study in psychology:

Observable behaviour
Ambient stimuli associated to that behaviour
Objective: describe every behaviour in terms of stimulus-response

Concept of development

 Person as a passive organism that react to the external stimuli

 Based on empiricism (Locke, mind as tabula rasa)
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 Development: sequence of interactions between behaviour and environment

 Main process that explains the behavioural changes: learning
 Development as addition of experiences (quantitative)
 Development = learning
 Universal learning laws
 Main paradigm to explain changes until the 60s and 70s (first evolutionary the-
ories of psychological change)

Basic learning processes in behaviourism

 Habituation
Form pf learning in which an organism decreases or ceases to respond to a stim -
ulus after repeated presentations
 Classical conditioning
Discovered by Ivan Pavlov, who studied the salivation and digestive processes in
dogs.
Learning process in which an innate response to a biologically potent stimulus;
this is achieved y repeated pairings of the neutral stimulus with the potent stim -
ulus.
Elements of classical conditioning
o The Unconditioned Stimulus (US). A stimulus that reflexively eli-
cits a response. In Pavlov’s experiments the US typically was meat
powder.
o The Unconditioned Response (UR). The response to the uncon-
ditioned stimulus that the experimenter measures. In Pavlov’s experi-
ments the UR was salivation.
o The Neutral Stimulus. A stimulus that initially does not elicit the
response to be conditioned.
o The Conditioned Stimulus (CS). The neutral stimulus after it has
acquired the ability, through conditioning, to elicit a response.
o The Conditioned Response (CR). The response conditioned to
the CS. In Pavlov’s experiment, the CR was salivation.

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Important concepts of classical conditioning

 Acquisition: After a number of CS-US pairings, the CS elicits a conditioned re-

sponse (CR) that increases in magnitude and frequency
 Interstimulus Interval: Conditioning is optimal if the US precedes the CS. Usually
the best interstimulus interval is 0.5 seconds.
 Extinction: once the conditioned response is established, if the unconditioned
stimulus is omitted repeatedly the conditioned response gradually diminishes.
 Generalization: the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar re-
sponses after the response has been conditioned. For example, if a child has
been conditioned to fear a stuffed white rabbit, the child will exhibit fear of ob-
jects similar to the conditioned stimulus.
 Discrimination: differentiation between a conditioned stimulus and other stim-
uli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if a
bell tone were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would involve being
able to tell the difference between the bell tone and other similar sounds.
 Second-order and higher-order conditioning: This form of conditioning follows
a two-step procedure. First a neutral stimulus (“CS1”) comes to signal a US
through conditioning. Then a second neutral stimulus (“CS2”) is paired with the
first (CS1) and comes to yield its own conditioned response.

Conclusions

 One of the basic learning mechanisms

 Fundamental for survival
 It appears very early (new-borns)
 Attachment

Operant conditioning

 Formulated by B.F. Skinner (“The Behaviour of Organisms”, 1938)

 The subjects learn to associate his behaviour with a stimulus or the con-
sequences of that behaviour
 Study of the observable behaviour and its equally observable consequences
Laboratory studies (Skinner box: subjects such as pigeons and rats were isolated
and could be exposed to carefully controlled stimuli)
The animals learned that their behaviour (operational response) has a con-
sequence (reinforcer)
To be most effective, reinforcement should occur consistently after responses and
not at other times (contingency).

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The discriminative stimulus: a stimulus in the presence of which a particular re-

sponse will be reinforced (A-B-C)
The reinforcer can be appetitive or aversive. Depending on the motivational value
The behaviour can have as consequence the addition or the removal of a con-
sequence.
Positive: presence of a stimulus
Negative: absence or removal of a stimulus
Reinforcement: Increases the probability of the behaviour
Punishment: decreases the probability of the behaviour

Motivational Value

Appetitive Aversive

Addition of a Positive reinforcement Positive punishment

Consequence consequence
of the beha-
viour
Removal of a
Negative punishment Negative reinforcement
consequence

Schedules of reinforcement

 Continuous reinforcement. The reinforcer occurs after each response.

 Intermittent reinforcement. The reinforcer appears following only some in-
stances of the same response
 Learning may be slower if reinforcement is intermittent, but responses rein-
forced intermittently are usually much slower to extinguish

Intermittent reinforcement

 Ratio: depending on the number of responses

 Interval: depending on the amount of time
 Fixed: The criteria are constant
 Variable: The criteria can change
 Fixed interval schedule: Reinforcement occurs following the first response after
a fixed time has elapsed after the previous reinforcement.

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 Variable interval schedule. Reinforcement occurs following the first response

after a variable time has elapsed from the previous reinforcement.
 Fixed ratio schedule: Reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses
have been emitted since the previous reinforcement.
 Variable ratio schedule: Reinforcement occurs after a variable number of re-
sponses have been emitted since the previous reinforcement.

Shaping

 Used in animal training and in teaching non-verbal humans

 Phases
o Identifying the desired final behaviour (target)
o Choosing a behaviour that the animal or person already emits with
some probability
o The form of this behaviour is then gradually changed across successive
trials by rewarding behaviours that approximate the target behaviour
more and more closely.

Observational conditioning

 Alternative to the classic and operational conditioning to explain the acquisition

of new responses
 One of the bridges from behaviourism to cognitive models for learning
 Also called observational learning
 Formulated by Bandura
 Learning can occur without direct reinforcement or motor reproduction
 Bodo doll experiment
 Vicarious reinforcement: a change in the behaviour of observers as a function of
witnessing the consequences accompanying the performance of others (Ban-
dura, 1971)

Processes in observational learning

 Attention: the individual notices something in the environment

o The individual has to pay attention to
 The model
 The behaviour
o The attention processes regulate exploration and perception
o Influenced by:
 Characteristics of the observer
Perceptual capabilities, perceptual set, cognitive capability,
arousal level, acquires preferences.
 Characteristics of the model and the behaviour
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Functional value, complexity, prevalence, distinctiveness, af-

fective valence, attraction to the model, similarity (identify)
 Retention: the individual remembers what was noticed
o Symbolic coding
o Cognitive organization
o Symbolic rehearsal
o Motor rehearsal
o Latent learning
 Reproduction: the individual produces an action that is a copy of what
was noticed
o Physical capabilities
o Availability of component responses
o Self-observation of reproduction
o Accuracy of feedback
 Motivation: the environment delivers a consequence that changes the
probability the behaviour will be emitted again (reinforcement or punishment)
o External reinforcement
o Vicarious reinforcement
o Self-reinforcement
o Motivational variables (perception of control behaviour, self-
efficacy and expectative)

Conclusions

 Mechanism involves in the acquisition of several abilities and beha-

viours:
o Moral development
o Pro-social and interpersonal behaviour
o Affective behaviour
o Linguistic development
o It requires
 A certain level of development (cognitive and matura-
tion processes)
 Symbolic representation

Learning theories in developmental psychology

 These theories assume that every acquisition can be explained by stimu-

lus-response associations, and by modelling processes
 According to them, any behaviour can be learned at any moment
 The behavioural principles explain certain acquisitions
 They are not enough, on their own, to explain the whole developmental
process

New theories
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 Relevance of different factors, not directly observable

 New principles to explain development (not only learning)
 New variables, apart from behaviour:
o Maturation
o Cultural factors
o Intra-individual factors
 Temporal limitations of development
 Qualitative and quantitative acquisitions

1. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

The social origin of the higher cognitive functions: Social Development

Theory

 The symbolic nature of the thought can’t be explained as a result of individual

psychological processes
 Higher mental processes in the individual have their origin in social process,
the social interaction
 The development of reasoning is mediated by signs and symbols, built during
social interaction (communicating demands)
 Used for sharing a common way of describing, interpreting and reasoning
about reality
 The signs
o Are tools of the thought
o Have a function of cultural mediation
o Are build throughout social interaction
 Double-formation law:
Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice. First, on the
social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsy-
chological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological)
o This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to
the formation of concepts
o All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between indi-
viduals
o Internalization: the internal reconstruction of an external operation
o Origin of all the higher psychological processes
 An operation that initially represents an external activity is re-
constructed and begins to occur internally
 An interpersonal process is transformed into an intrapersonal
one is the result of a long series of developmental events
o Development: process of adaptation to the environment’s demands
 Communication

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Two different mental functions:

 Lower mental functions (natural)

o Common for animals and humans
o Created by adaptation to physical environment
 Higher mental functions (cultural)
o Specifically human
o Product of adapting to the social and cultural environment
 Development: phylogenesis + cultural history
 Process of interactive construction
o Maturation
o Cultural development (mastering the mediation tools given by the cul-
tural environment)
 Children are born with basic biological functions
 Each culture provides what as tools of intellectual adaptation. These tools al-
low children to use their basic mental abilities in a way that is adaptive to the
culture in which they live

Language acquisition and its relationship with though

 Acquisition of word meaning

o First words not symbolic (communicative function)
o From two years: communicative and symbolic function
o Abstraction will develop later
 Communicative origins
o Language starts as a tool external to the child used for social interac-
tion (interpsychological, external speech)
o Internalization (private speech)
o Intrapsychological (language)

Stages of language development

 Natural or primitive stage (0-2). Lack of speech (no verbal thought)

o Experiments with sound production
o Acquisition of the first words
o No relation between language and thought
 Naive psychology (2-7)
o Grammar and syntax become integral parts of the child’s speech
o The child uses language to communicate needs an ideas
o Practical intelligence, experimenting with the physical properties
o Language represents things, not ideas
 Third stage. Egocentric speech 87-12). External signs
o Close interaction between thought and language

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o Children talk to themselves constantly

o Heps to solve internal problems
o Appears when children use language to
 Guide their activity
 Solve problems
 Personal adaptation
 Fourth stage. Internalization of the external operations, egocentric language
stops being audible, and it transforms. Language becomes verbal thought

Zone of proximal development and scaffolding

 Two levels in a child’s development

o Actual development level
o Potential development level
 Zone of proximal development (ZPD): The difference between the actual
development level as determined by individual problem solving and the level of
potential development as determined through problem solving under adult
guidance or collaboration with more knowledgeable peers

 Bruner: scaffolding. When an adult provides support for a child, they will
adjust the amount of help they give depending on their progress.
 This progression of different levels of help is scaffolding. It draws paral-
lels from real scaffolding for buildings; it is used as a support for construction of
new material (the skill/information to be learnt) and then removed once the
building is complete (the skill/information has been learnt)
1. Piaget’s psychogenic theory
 Most widely known theory of cognitive development
 First psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development
 Constructivism: learning as an active process of construction rather than a
passive assimilation of information
o Active learning as opposed to simply absorbing information
o The child is seen as a “little scientist” constructing understanding of
the world largely alone
 Two aspects of the theory
o Structure (schemata, stages)
o Function (Adaptation though assimilation and accommodation)

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Structure of knowledge

 Knowledge comes from the interaction between subject and object

 That interaction happens through actions
 Actions: ways to act that imply a transformation of reality
 Include
o Elementary sensorimotor actions (push, pull…)
o Intellectual operations (order, compare…)

To Piaget, intelligence comes from the coordination of actions

 Object
o Physical elements
o People, animals
What is relevant is the interaction between subject and object
 Schemata (sing. Schema): mental operations and cognitive structures that can
be transferred and generalised, created as children interact with their physical
and social environments
 It’s not observable, but it can be inferred from the actions
 The reflexes (innate and involuntary behaviours, rigid and stereotyped)
 Are applied to different objects, and become behavioural schemata, that co-
ordinate between themselves
 Those behavioural schemata are interiorised, and mentally represented, be-
coming symbolic schemata
 The first structures are formed from the coordination of behavioural schemata
 In what coordinates are interiorised actions, (7 years), the result are opera-
tional schemata
 Behavioural schemata: organized patterns of behaviour that are used to rep-
resent and respond to objects and experiences
 Symbolic schemata: internal mental symbols (such as images or verbal codes)
that one uses to represent aspects of experience
 Operational schemata: internal mental activity that one performs on objects
of thought
 The structures
o Are not observable, they can be inferred from the performance
o Evolve
 Development = structural changes
 Evolution in stages, qualitatively different
 Four stages in cognitive development
o Stage 1: Sensorimotor Stage (birth - 2 years)
o Stage 2: Preoperational Stage (2 – 7 years)
o Stage 3: Concrete Operations (7 – 11 years)
o Stage 4: Formal Operations (11 – on)

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The stages

 Are universal
 Appear in the same order
 Had a characteristic structure
 Are integrated in the following ones
 Have a preparation time
 The structure of the first stage of cognitive development:
o Is composed by coordination of behavioural schemata
o Knowledge is achieved through activity
 The preoperational stage involves
o The symbolic unction (2 years)
o The knowledge is amplified to the internalised actions, the symbolic
schemata, and the conceptual development starts
 Concrete operations, determines by the development of
o The operational schemata, a system of coordination of interiorised
schemata that are reversible
 Formal operations stage
o The operations are applied not only to real objects and transforma-
tions, but to all the possible ones, to hypothesis, formulates in proposi-
tions

Factors involves in development

 Maturation
 Physical environment (experience)
 Social environment (necessary, but not enough)
 Equilibration
FUNCTIONAL ASPECT
 Intelligence as a form of adaptation
 The organism changes depending on the environment, and that
change creates more changes in the environment and in the organism
 Two biological mechanisms (functional invariants):
o Assimilation – The process of interpreting new experience by
incorporating them into existing schemes
o Accommodation – The process of modifying existing schemes
in order to incorporate or adapt to new experiences
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND THOUGHT
 Language acquisition linked to cognitive development
 Cognitive determinism
 Language as an expression of the cognitive abilities
 Until 3 years, egocentric language
o No social function

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o Echolalia (verbal repetitions, vocal exercises)

o Monologue that accompanies the actions and reinforces them
o Collective monologue, the child talks next to others, not to
them
 Two characteristics of the egocentric language
o The child speaks without interaction, without expecting an-
swers
o Doesn’t distinguish his own point of view form the others’
 End of sensiorimotor stage
o Deferred imitation
o Pretend play
o Mental images (object permanence)
o Language

COGNITIVE PREREQUISTIES TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE

 Object permanence
 Spatial and temporal comprehension
 Ability to relate objects and actions
1. Cognitive information processing
 Study of the complex metal processes
 Mental activities not directly observable

Main characteristics of the cognitive procession theories

 Humans process the information they receive, rather than merely re-
sponding to stimuli
 Compare the mind to a mind to a computer, responsible for analyzing
information from the environment
 Processing as a manipulation of symbols
 Human cognition
o Is composed by individual processes
o That operate sequentially in order to produce an output
 The information had to be codified and stored, using a symbolic repres-
entation
 The structural models describe the processes the information goes
through
o Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

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 Sensory memory holds information associated with the senses just long
enough for the information to be processed further (mere seconds9
 Short-term memory (STM) functions as a temporary working memory
(further processing)
 Long-term memory (LTM) is the permanent storehouse of information
(unlimited capacity)
 Levels of processing
 Craik and Lockhart (1972)

 In order for the information to pass to the LTM, it should be understood

and must have gained meaning. This way it will last longer.
 The structural level focuses on the appearance of the world
 The phonetic level refers to the sound processing of information
 The semantic level refers to the meaning of the world

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Apuntes de Cristina Carrasco

 Baddeley and Hitch (1974): working memory

 An alternative model of STM called working memory

 Working memory is not a unitary store, there are different systems for
different types of information
 Central Executive
o Drives the whole system
o Allocates data to the subsystems
o Deals with cognitive tasks such as mental arithmetic and prob-
lem solving
 Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
o Stores and processes information in a visual or spatial form
o Used for navigation
 Articulatory control process
o Linked to speech production
o Used to rehearse and store verbal information from the phono-
logical store
 Newell and Simon: problem space theory
 Interaction between
o A task
o A subject
o An environment
 Building a problem space
o Initial state of the problem
o Goal state
o Possible mental operations that can be applied
o All the intermediate states
 On one side of a river are three hobbits and three orcs. They have a boat
on their side that is capable of carrying two creatures at a time across the river.
The goal is to transport all six creatures across to the other side of the river. At
no point on either side of the river can orcs outnumber hobbits (or the orcs

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Apuntes de Cristina Carrasco

would eat the outnumbered hobbits). The problem, then, is to find a method of
transporting all six creatures across the river without the hobbits ever being out-
numbered.

EXPLANATION OF DEVELOPMENT

 It’s not an objective of these theories

 Source of hypothesis about
o Children’s performances in different tasks
o Mechanisms to explain the performance differences in different ages

GENERAL MECHANISMS OF DEVELOPMENT

 Reject structural changes in the processing ability

 Extension and amplification of strategies
 Specific knowledge of a subject
 Metacognition

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