Topic 7: Interactional Theories of Cognitive Development

Objectives
Discuss Bruners models of representation Discuss the course of cognitive growth Apply the Vygotskys concepts of cognitive growth to instruction Determine the difference between good and back interaction design Apply concepts of user experience and usability to interaction design

Readings and Resources

Driscoll Chapter 7: Interactional Theories of Cognitive Development Preece, Rogers & Sharp: Chapter 1: What is interaction design? http://tip.psychology.org/bruner.html http://tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html http://psych.hanover.edu/vygotsky/subbot.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction_design

Key Terms
Discovery Learning Enactive Iconic Intersubjectivity Mediation Symbolic Scaffolding Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Bruner
Sequence of representational systems children acquire through which they understand their worlds

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Second level

Third level Fourth level Fifth level

Role of culture in the course of cognitive growth and of schooling as an instrument of culture in human development http://educationupdate.com/archiv

Models of Representation

Enactive stage: Action or patterned motor acts. Knowledge is stored mainly in the form of motor responses. Iconic Stage: Conventionalized imagery and perception. Knowledge is stored primarily in the form of visual images. Symbolic Stage: Language and reason. Knowledge is stored primarily as words, mathematical symbols, or in other symbol systems.

Models of Representation
Mode Enactive Definition Implications for Instruction Representing ones Use manipulables understanding and tactile through motor instruction with responses young learners to teach concepts where learners have no prior experience. Using images too represent understanding Accompany instruction with diagrams and other strategies that appeal to the imagination. Using symbols such Use familiar symbols as mathematics and when teaching new music to represent concepts in a topic understanding that learner has

Iconic

Symbolic

Sequence and Instruction

To determine what mode of representation is optimal requires knowing something about learners prior knowledge and dominant mode of thinking Speed of learning or transfer of learning may dictate what representation models should be included in the instruction Spiral curriculum as a strategy for translating material into childrens mode of thought

Discovery Learning

Bruner defined discovery all forms of obtaining knowledge for oneself by the use of ones own mind Involves finding regularities and relationships in the environment Learners devise strategies for searching and finding out what the regularities and relationships are Learners must determine what variables are relevant, what information should be sought about those variables, and when information is

Promoting Discovery Learning

Teacher: Asks certain kinds of questions Prompts certain hypotheses during problem-solving Models conduct of inquiry Need for reflection Guided practice

Inquiry Teaching

Selecting positive and negative exemplars Varying cases systematically Selecting counterexamples Generating hypothetical cases Forming hypotheses Testing hypotheses Considering alternative predictions Entrapping students Tracing consequences Questioning authority

Effective Teaching
A set of strategies for systematically selecting cases that will facilitate student achievement of a particular, top-level goal As it proceeds teachers adjust their questions according to their model of the student As teachers identify the specific problems they add sub-goals too their agenda Teachers use priority rules for adding sub-goals

Inquiry Teaching
Present Cases Vary Cases Systematically Present Counterexamples Generate hypothetical cases Prompt Students to Form and Test Hypotheses Provide Alternative Predictions to Consider

Culture and Cognition

Culture influences the manifestation of inherent competence Demands of respective cultures have made it likely for them to develop different manifestations of their abilities. What goes on in schools should equip students with the cognitive skills required for utilization and control of the resources of the culture

Culture and Cognition

Children should be accepted as member and participants in the culture and provided opportunities to make and remake the culture in each generation Performance differences evident in the classroom should be viewed in the context of situational difference in how the children have learned to apply their skills outside if the classroom By understanding how skills are influenced by culture, teachers will be in a better position to

Bruner: Theory of Instruction

Theories of development and instruction go together Cognitive growth is a matter of growing from inside and outside Some environments push cognitive growth better, earlier, longer than others Goal of effective instruction is to tread the fine line between economy of representation and power of representation to convey important meanings. Knowledge getting dictates type of strategies to

Vygotsky
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Believed that individual development could not be understood without reference to the social and cultural context within which such development is embedded

Second level

Third level Fourth level Fifth level

http://web.syr.edu/~agforbes/KB

Themes in Vygotskys Theoretical Framework

Reliance on genetic or developmental method Claim that higher mental processes in the individual have their origin in social processes Claim that mental processes can be understood only if we understand the tools and the signs that mediate them

Vygotskys Developmental Method

Was concerned with how human beings came to develop higher psychological processes Was interested in how individuals through childhood come to presses the cognitive functions they later exhibit in life Believed it was important to study the natural development of cognitive skills in humans, to make cross-species comparisons and to consider the role of socio-historical factors and how they can mediate development

Natural Process of Development

Higher forms of human behavior, individual actively modifies the stimulus situation as part of the process of responding to it Vygotskys techniques:

Introducing obstacles that disrupt normal problemsolving Providing external aids to problem-solving that can be use in a variety of ways Asking children to solve problems that exceed their current knowledge and skills

Sociocultural History
Considered the development of intelligence to be internalization of ones culture Understanding historical and cultural is important to understanding human mental functions Sociocultural and historical perspectives are the same because cultures can be viewed along a continuum of social evolution

Mental Functions
Origins Structure The way of functioning The relation to other mental functions

Internalization
Bodies of knowledge and tools of thought first exist outside the child, in the culture of the environment Development consists of internalization, primarily through language, to form their cultural adaptation. When child internalizes the meaning the interpersonal activity is transferred into an intrapersonal one.

Zone of Proximal Development

The difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can do with Full development of ZPD depends on full social interaction The range of skill that can be developed with adult guidance or peer collaboration is more than what can be achieved alone

Learning and Development

Development is a precondition for learning Development in learning is more characteristic of behaviorist and cognitive information processing theories Acquiring specific prerequisite skills and knowledge within a content discipline is important Learning involves solving problems that arise out of conflict-generating dilemmas in everyday situations

Scaffolding
Instructor should provide the guidance required for learners to bridge the gap between the current and desired skill level Partners should come to some degree of joint understanding about the task to be completed

Role of Language

The signs children establish in their imagination can make up a complex symbol system which they communicate through verbal and nonverbal gestures Vygotsky believed that language constitutes the most important sign-using behavior to occur during cognitive development because it frees children from constraints of their immediate environment Provides for decontextualization where signs become more and more removed from a

Interaction Design
Refers to the structure and definition of the behavior of a system, the surrounding environment, corresponding artifacts, and the elements whom communicate the aforementioned behavior. Concerned with how to design user experiences

Interaction Design
Interaction design is the discipline that defines the behavior of products and systems that users interact with Practice centers on technology systems such as software, mobile devices, etc.

What to Design
Consider who is going to use them Understanding the kinds of activities that people are doing when interacting with the products The appropriateness of different kinds of interfaces and arrangements of input and output devices depends on what kinds of activities need to be supported

Optimizing User Interaction

Account what people are good or bad at Consider what might help people with the way they are currently doing things Think through what might provide quality user experience Listen to what people want and getting them involved in the design Use tried and tested user-based techniques during the design process

People in User Design

Engineers Designers Programmers Psychologists Sociologists Educators Etc Include people with different backgrounds to bring different perspectives

Process of Interaction Design

Identify needs and establishing requirements for the user experience Develop alternative designs that meet those requirements Building interactive versions of the designs so that they can be communicated and assessed Evaluating what is being built throughout the process and the user experience it offers

Usability Goals
Effectiveness Efficiency Safety Utility Learnability Mememorability

Design Principles
Visibility Feedback Constraints Consistency Affordance

Summary

Predisposition towards learning Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Cognitive development depends on the zone of proximal development Interaction design should pay attention to users should be able to interact with interface and instructional products. Importance of having a better understanding of people in the contexts in which they live, work, and learn