The role of language in cognitive development : speech and seriation in children of 5-6 years
The role of language in cognitive development : speech and seriation in children of 5-6 years
Among explanations of the relation of language to cognitive development Bruner (1964) and Piaget (1970a) provide a contrast. Bruner has held language to be the major instrument of external influences moulding thought, while Piaget views it as merely one medium which represents developing thought systems. The first study of the present work is based on the language training experiment in seriation of Sinclair-deZwart (1967). Two groups of children comparable in seriation but who were initially at different levels of competence in the appropriate use of the relevant descriptions were trained in this use and then compared for subsequent progress in seriation. Significant progress followed for experimental subjects which was notably more rapid among those with prior command of the descriptions. Results taken together suggested an interactive process uniting speech-in-context with cognition.Four more similar studies were undertaken with subjects most likely to respond promptly to intervention in order to explore the nature of this interaction. A comparison of different problem situations revealed that dialogue between the observer and child was more effective than learned descriptions or action without relevant discourse. Yet discussion between child pairs of equal cognitive status was not effective. Further analysis showed that the influence of dialogue operates where the child is led to explain and justify the central relations of a problem. It is not the terminology he uses but the generality of his explanation which influences progress in understanding. These findings are discussed in terms of a synthesis of views of Austin (1962), Bruner (1973, 1975), Polanyi (1962) and Piaget (1977). Speech used in communication between the child and another more experienced person becomes an heuristic for resolving ak problem by negotiation. This promotes cognitive growth.
University of Southampton
Heber, Violet Mary
bc7d1e92-6ed3-4ee6-b1af-e1b39763e56e
1978
Heber, Violet Mary
bc7d1e92-6ed3-4ee6-b1af-e1b39763e56e
Heber, Violet Mary
(1978)
The role of language in cognitive development : speech and seriation in children of 5-6 years.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
Among explanations of the relation of language to cognitive development Bruner (1964) and Piaget (1970a) provide a contrast. Bruner has held language to be the major instrument of external influences moulding thought, while Piaget views it as merely one medium which represents developing thought systems. The first study of the present work is based on the language training experiment in seriation of Sinclair-deZwart (1967). Two groups of children comparable in seriation but who were initially at different levels of competence in the appropriate use of the relevant descriptions were trained in this use and then compared for subsequent progress in seriation. Significant progress followed for experimental subjects which was notably more rapid among those with prior command of the descriptions. Results taken together suggested an interactive process uniting speech-in-context with cognition.Four more similar studies were undertaken with subjects most likely to respond promptly to intervention in order to explore the nature of this interaction. A comparison of different problem situations revealed that dialogue between the observer and child was more effective than learned descriptions or action without relevant discourse. Yet discussion between child pairs of equal cognitive status was not effective. Further analysis showed that the influence of dialogue operates where the child is led to explain and justify the central relations of a problem. It is not the terminology he uses but the generality of his explanation which influences progress in understanding. These findings are discussed in terms of a synthesis of views of Austin (1962), Bruner (1973, 1975), Polanyi (1962) and Piaget (1977). Speech used in communication between the child and another more experienced person becomes an heuristic for resolving ak problem by negotiation. This promotes cognitive growth.
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Published date: 1978
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Local EPrints ID: 459761
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/459761
PURE UUID: 5d6aca3b-2835-40a2-a6dc-e3a40262cdef
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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 17:18
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 18:33
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Author:
Violet Mary Heber
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