Waubonsee Community College

The social context of cognitive development, Mary Gauvain ; foreword by Robert S. Siegler

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-238) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The social context of cognitive development

bibliography

44802777

Mary Gauvain ; foreword by Robert S. Siegler

The Guilford series on social and emotional development

Traditional approaches to cognitive development can tell us a great deal about the internal processes involved in learning. Sociocultural perspectives, on the other hand, provide valuable insights into the influences on learning of relationship and cultural variables. This volume provides a much-needed bridge between these disparate bodies of research, examining the specific processes through which children internalize the lessons learned in social contexts. The book reviews current findings on four specific domains of cognitive development- attention, memory, problem solving, and planning. The course of intellectual growth in each domain is described, and social factors that support or constrain it are identified. The focus throughout is on how family, peer, and community factors influence not only what a child learns, but also how learning occurs. Supporting her arguments with solid empirical data, the author convincingly shows how attention to sociocultural factors can productively complement more traditional avenues of investigation

pt. I. The Social Foundations of Cognitive Development. 1. Introduction. The Social Foundation of the Mind. Remembering Childhood. 2. Process of Change: The "How" of Cognitive Development. What Are the Mechanisms of Cognitive Development? What External Factors Have Been Implicated as Mechanisms of Cognitive Change? Social Processes as Mechanisms of Intellectual Growth. Social Processes of Cognitive Development. 3. The Sociocultural Context of Cognitive Development. Cognitive Development in Cultural Context. Identifying the Origins of Higher Mental Functions in Social Activity. Cognitive Socialization: Who's Involved? -- pt. II. The Development of Specific Higher Mental Functions in Social Context. 4. Acquiring Knowledge: Intersubjectivity, Joint Attention, and Social Referencing. Attention and Its Development. Social Experience and Early Attentional Processes. 5. Remembering: The Social Construction of the Past. What Is Memory and Why Is It Important? Early Evidence of Remembering. The Social Context of Memory Development. Social Influences on the Development of Event and Strategic Memory. 6. Solving and Learning to Solve Problems in Social Context. What Is Problem Solving? Social Interaction and the Development of Problem Solving. The Social Context of Problem-Solving Interaction. 7. Constructing the Future: Planning in Social Context. Planning and Its Development over Childhood. Social Interaction and the Development of Planning. Social Processes That Regulate Children's Opportunities to Learn about Planning from Experience with Others. 8. Conclusions and Future Directions