Educational Developmental Factors

OCR A level Psychology

Topics

Growth Rate
growth: Physical changes
maturity: changes relatively independent of the environment
Language

Growth rate

Reading

Lefrancois - Differential growth Rates pp28-31

Observer article on the lowering of the age of puberty

Synopsis

Major personality and intellectual characteristics appear to be strongly influenced by early experiences.
Neurons - most formed during pre-natal period.
Brain grows in spurts. this can be measured by increases in head measurements.
The effects of malnutrition are severe at this early stage (Parmalee & Sigman 1983)

Undeveloped nations have people with smaller than average head circumferences (Winick, 1976).

Epstein (1978) has identified the following growth spurts by measuring head circumferences.

1. 2 to 3 months
2. 2 to 3 years
3. 6 to 8 years
4. 14 to 16 years for males, 10 to 12 years for females

These periods relate to the periods of cognitive change discovered by Piaget.

Hemisphere Lateralization

At birth the brain is not particularly lateralized
It is during early infancy that opposite control is established (see Sperry )
90% of people are right handed (Halpern & Coren, 1990).
This was most likely true of cave-people as well. A study of primitive hand tracings has shown most to be of the left hand (drawn by the right hand) (Springer & Deutsch, 1989)
The Left hemisphere is mainly responsible for language production
This is true of 95% of right handers and 70% of left handers (Bradshaw 1989).

If there is early damage to the left hemisphere then the right hemisphere can take over functions ok. Later damage to left can leave language permanently impaired (right can not take over). Right hemisphere - emotions, spatial, temporal (art and music) Left hemisphere - logic, maths, science, language. Educational practices favour the left (Sonnier 1985). Educating both halves is called 'Holistic Education'.

Language development

References

Fontana -Psychology for Teachers p73-90. (Chapter 4)
LeFrancois p35-39
Banks, Thompson - Educational Psychology p88-93
Gross & McIlveen - Cognitive Psychology p141-147

Sequence

Cooing

Vowel like -pitch modulated
15 - 20 seconds (Lenneberg 1967)
'ooooh' or 'aaaah'

Babbling

Vowel and consonant - 'pakapakapaka' (Lenneberg, 1967)
Language parallels motor co-ordination (Lenneberg, 1967)

First 'baba' - 'meme' - 'dada' - 'nana' - in that order
How does a baby know how to copy sounds or how to use the correct muscles?
Although this process is innate, social interaction is important if child is to complete this stage successfully.
Echolalia - child repeats back sounds made by others

First Words

Earlier babbling sounds are dropped (Bates et al, 1987). Known as phonemic contraction . This explains why we can not learn to speak a foreign language with a native accent.

Deaf children need sound amplified to them at babbling stage or else any future sounds will appear false.
Words unlike adult words. Scollon (1976) defines early words as 'a systematic matching of form and meaning'. e.g. 'da' is always used to refer to a doll.
Barrett (1989) - many early words are context bound e.g. 'duck' refers to bathtime plastic duck only.

65% Nouns

Persons, animals, objects in the immediate environment (eg milk, mama, dada, doggie, ball).
Specific nominals (14%) - unique objects, people or animals
General nominals (51%) - classes of objects, e.g. 'ball', 'car', etc.

13% Action Words

eg give, go, bye-bye. Age 2½

8% Personal-Social words

Communicate information about the child's feelings or are used in social relationships. e.g. 'ouch', 'please', 'no', 'yes', 'want'.

4% Function words

These serve a purely grammatical function. e.g. 'what', 'is', 'to', 'for'

Pronouns

Problem with 'I' - 'I' means 'Me' when talking about myself, but also means 'you' when you are talking about yourself!

8% Modifiers (Adjectives and Adverbs)

eg dirty, mine, nice. (Nelson, 1973).
Problem with 'big' because it depends upon what concept we are talking about. eg I may have a big bike, but it would not be bigger than a small lorry.
Problem with 'quickly'. eg a person running quickly could be slower than a slow moving car.

What? and Who? are asked at 2½
Where? and Why? at 3

After this Plurals and other pronouns appear. This is followed by simple propositions 'on', 'by', 'in'. The child can repeat short rhymes or songs.

Holophrastic Speech

One word can mean a lot.
eg 'milk' means 'I want to have some milk', or 'I have spilt my milk' - accompanying gestures help to convey the intended meaning.

Telegraphic Speech

2 word utterences - 'go store' 'want biscuit' Leaves out modifiers and prepositions
Formed by the use of one of two combinatorial rules; either pivotal or categorical (Brown 1970). Pivotal rule - Pivot word used with another. e.g. 'more milk', 'more ice-cream', etc.

Syntactic Rule formation

Berko (1958) demonstrated that children form syntactic rules, without being able to express what the rule is, or without being explicitly told. Berko showed a 'wug', then two. Children were asked to complete the sentence 'There are two.....'. Most said 'There are two wugs'. They had never heard the word 'wugs' before.

Evidence of rule formation is found when the child overgeneralises the rule (e.g. sheeps, gooses or 'costed', 'goed').
Over-extension - eg 'dada' applied to all adult males.
The innate component here is the child's attention to word endings. This supports Chomsky's Language Acquisition Device Theory.
Slobin (1985) - Children possess language-making capacity composed of a set of operating principles.
Kuczaj (1982) - Children deprived of speech in the first 12 years lose the ability to learn syntax (eg Genie)
Parents' responsiveness also important (Olsen et al, 1986).

Rapid expansion in vocabulary

At 6 years 8,000 - 14,000 words are known (Carey, 1977)
Between 1st and 6th birthday - 5 to 8 words per day.
Adulthood - 30,000 words (Berk, 1989)

3 step process in language development

1. Innate language-making capacity
2. Input - How others speak
3. Rule Creation - initial rules are changed to agree with language heard

Vocabulary -Passive and Active

Passive (or receptive) Vocabulary - larger - words are understood but may not be used
'bow-wow' may be used for all animals, but if the child is asked to point to a picture of a 'bow-wow', it is quite likely that a picture of a dog is chosen (Gruendel, 1977) Active (or expressive) Vocabulary - words are used.

Active Vocabulary

13 months - first words
17 months - 10 words
18 months - 40-50 words
2 years 300 words, sentences contain 2 or 3 words.
6 years 14,000 words - Adult length sentences

The Role of the Teacher

Children use transitional forms of syntax. They use parts of known syntax when trying to master new syntax. They inevitably make many mistakes, but it is important for the teacher not to be too strict in correcting these mistakes. A child will naturally wish to talk like the adult models around him, but if he is continually criticised the child might revert back to the easier syntax he already knows.

A teacher can help the child learn more complex syntax in four ways:

1. Embed new verbal structure in familiar structures.
2. Give full answers to any questions about language asked by pupils. Give examples of usage, words that are similar in meaning, invite the child to use the new word or structure, or give them some advice about how to remember the rules of the structure.
3. Give positive feedback or constructive criticism
4. Allow the theme of the dialogue between teacher and child to develop, as opposed to giving short snappy replies that kill the conversation.

It's important for the teacher to learn the rules of language, if not it is difficult for the teacher to give clear guidance about the use of language. This means the children are left to discover the rules purely by experience alone.

Types of linguistic competence

1.  
2. Grammatical competence - Allows meaning to be expressed in an accurate, clear and socially approved way.
3. Socio-linguistic competence - Allows a child to talk to somebody at a suitable level, appropriate to the status and understanding of the person one is talking to. The norms and conventions of the social context.
4. Discourse competence - The flow of the topic. Continuity, progression, avoiding contradictions and irrelevances. Being clear and fluent.
5. Strategic competence - Using metaphor, simile, intonation, pitch, etc.

To these can be added analytic competence which is the use of internal language to think things through.

Teachers Questions

40% to 60% of teacher interactions with pupils take the form of questions. A teacher asks a question every 70 seconds on average (Hargie, 1978). Unfortunately, most questions just require the pupil to give previously memorised facts. Often the teacher answers the question herself. Teachers should ask questions that require the pupil to use their evaluative skills, as this will help them to develop their linguistic skills.

Teacher Language

Barnes (1971) teacher's language is often too complex. Often when trying to define a new concept, the teacher uses examples that are just as complex or more so! Further, 40% of questions asked by pupils received irrelevant answers from their teachers (Brown 1973).

Many words that children use may not have the same meaning to them as they do to us, eg Abstract words - fair, right, understand, interest; Relative terms - high, near, fast; time, space; mathematical or scientific terms; etc.

The child's inability to express what they feel a word or concept means, does not always mean that they do not understand the concept.

There is a great deal of emphasis placed upon verbal fluency in Western civilization. This can mean that often empty-headed verbally fluent people get paid more attention than they deserve. Human experiences that can not be adequately expressed in words are often devalued (eg happiness, falling in love, spiritual feelings, appreciation of art, music, sunsets. All of these experiences have a deep meaning to the individual that experiences them, and are an important part of their psyche.

Teaching Techniques

The teacher could ask a child to describe a shape to a partner. The partner then attempts to draw the shape.

Reading is usually efficiently taught be the following method:

1. Pause - when the child gets stuck, allow 5 seconds for the child to attempt reading the word
2. Cue - the teacher drops hints
3. Prompt - if the child is still unable to read the word then the teacher says the word.
4. Praise - should be given when the word is successfully spoken.

Writing is usually successfully taught by capitalising on the child's natural copying behaviour. The teacher provides written words for the child to either trace over or copy.

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