Vygotsky vs. Gibson Pro/Contra PresentationAssignment 3 Advanced Motivation and Developmental TheoryDr. M. Gail Derrick

Group 4Geertina Ellis, Jacqueline Higgins, Margaret Gibson-Gutierrez, Harriet Watkins

A Contrast in Theories …Welcome to our presentation. In the following slides, we present two starkly different theories of development.

Eleanor Gibson’s theory of perceptual development and Lev Vygotsky’s socio cultural approach.

We hope to demonstrate the pros and cons of each theory and synthesize the works applying them to the K-12 school environment

Short example of Gibson’s theory

CONTRAST OF THEORIESPro

Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934)

A socio-cultural approach:

The child-in-cultural context

Vygotsky’s Views

Children ‘s quantitative and qualitative developmental patterns of behavior vary across cultures, subcultures and/or historical time. This is the worldview to which Vygotsky’s socio-cultural approach ascribes (Miller, 2002).

Socio-cultural ApproachAssumptions

Child – in Activity – in Cultural-Context: the unit of study

The Zone of Proximal Development

The Socio-cultural Origins of Mental Functioning

Cultural Tools Mediate Intellectual Functioning

Socio-cultural Methodology

Child-in-Activity-in Cultural Context

The “zone”: child’s actual development level based on independent problem solving vs. their potential development level with help

Immature functions that are in the

process of maturation state are defined

Learning and internal development

“awaken” with implicit and explicit interaction with peers and others through inter-subjectivity or common goals

Interaction affects behavior between children and adults through collaboration

Focus is on the child-in-context or the child and his/her activities in the larger and sub-culture

The child, other people and the cultural setting collectively impact each other and shape experiences

The communication of feelings and desires are the essence of cognition and part of everyday life

Emphasis is on how children manipulate organized cultural opportunities and activities such as family structures, rituals and narratives

Zone of Proximal Development

The Sociological Origins of Individual Mental Functioning:

Internalized in child’s mind

Interaction between a child,

adult or older child

Intermental (between minds)

Intramental (within minds)

is

EXTERNALINTERACTION

INTERNAL INTERACTIO

N

becomesMovement

from intermental

to intramental explains

Why child-in-activity—in context is smallest unit to study; intermental/intramental activity between child and adult can’t be separated

Children internalize problem solving mode that was supported socially

Learning to converse with others leads to ability to problem solve within one’s self

Cultural Tools that Mediate Intellectual Functioning

Counting systems

Writing

Diagrams, maps, conventional

signs

Works of art

Strategies for learning, attending

or memorizing

Language systems: most important

(Miller, 2002, p. 383)

Impact on

Improve spatial skills

Control thought or behavior

Transforms elementary mental function into higher mental functions (e.g. attention & logical and abstract thinking)

Utilization of cultural system of meaning

Connects children Directs thinking

(Miller, 2002, p. 384)

PSYCHOLOGICAL TOOLS INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING

Different cultures emphasize different tools

Tools mediate between the child and environment

Points to Consider

Socio-cultural MethodologyMethods to capture the uniqueness of Development and Social Interaction

DYNAMIC ASSESSMENT

CONTEMPORARY MICROGENETIC METHOD

The favored Vygotsky method

Measures children’s readiness for learning, instead of standardized intelligence

Zone of proximal development is better intellectual reflection versus what can be done alone

Dyads and larger groups vs. single children are observed

Ethnographies & other cultural anthropology methods used

(Miller, 2002, p. 387)

Adopted by information- processing psychologists

The developmental process is captured; and problem solving process is studied

Tries to obtain a “developmental moment” (Miller, 2002, p. 387)

Applications of Vygotsky’s theoryin the K-12 setting

Problems in the current educational system:

too much focus on cognitive development

too much focus on imparting knowledge without the possibility of discovery and exploration

too much focus on cognitive skill acquisition without meaning

Solutions based on Vygotsky’ s theory:

Assess what a child can learn and understand with help vs. standardized assessment

Base schooling on child readiness rather than actual level – teach them where they are

Shift from teacher regulated activity to child self-regulation

Utilize unconventional tools vs. conventional tools

(Miller, 2002 p. 406)

Eleanor J. Gibson“perceptual learning”

An ecological approach:

The function of perception in real life

Perception The senses are used to extract

information from the environment (Gibson, 1991)

Adaptive Active

Differentiation, not enrichment is the basis of perceptual learning (Pick, 1992)

Focus on distinctive features Discovery of invariant relations Extraction of (higher-order) structure

Developmental growthDevelopment depends both on a quantitative increase in differentiation

as well as on discovery of meaning in the environment

Utility of objects/ aspects in the environment for the developing child (Pick, 1991).

Reciprocal relationship between child and environment• Objective • Subjective

“affordances”

Perception becomes more precise and efficient (Miller, 2002)

Attention becomes more active and selective (Miller, 2002)

Gibson’s ecological theory as a model for K-12 schoolsReasons why Gibson’s theory should

be the basis for curriculum and instruction:

Children actively explore their environment in accordance with their motor development

Children will seek uses and meaning for objects in the environment

Thinking and perceiving are adaptive and functional: our goal is to live our life

Applications of Gibson’s theoryin the K-12 setting

Solutions based on Gibson’ s theory:

Learning occurs through the senses (“multimodal stimulation” Miller, 2002)

Learning occurs when objects can be utilized in different ways (“discovering contingencies” Miller, 2002)

Learning occurs through perception of new things in the same learning environment (“Differentiation”)

Problems in the current educational system:

too much focus on cognitive development

too much focus on imparting knowledge without the possibility of discovery and exploration

too much focus on cognitive skill acquisition without meaning

Contrast of theoriesCon

Vygotsky vs. Gibson Dynamic Assessment vs. Static Assessment.

Gibson provides a contrasting view of formal assessment with the “visual-cliff” example, proving that children develop depth perception at 6 or 7 months of age.

The Zone of Proximal Development is vague. Gibson counters this belief by showing how information for perception is

specified in stimulation and the active nature of human perceivers. Culture and Interaction Drives Development.

Gibson posits that development happens through the child's perception of the environment and as perception becomes increasingly differentiated.

Ecological theory of perceptual development and the socio cultural approachSynthesis

Comparison & ContrastVygotsky Gibson

Vygotsky

Gibson

Contextual Worldview

Behaviors are explained in social-historical contexts

Learning occurs for children with interaction and collaboration with peers, people and the environment

Organismic Worldview

Children formulate knowledge through affordances & repetitive experiences

Learning is individual, based upon successful extraction of affordances

SummaryVygotsky Development is social in nature and both qualitative and

quantitative Development comes form the internalizing of intermental

interactions Cultural tools mediate intellectual functioning Gibson The senses are used to extract information from the

environment Development is the process of differentiation in perception Growth is both the increase of differentiation and discovery

of meaning in the environment

Synthesis of the ecological and socio-cultural approach• The child is an active explorer and

participant in the learning process:

• Learning occurs in social interactions when new meaning is found

• Developmental growth is a dialectical process of differentiation of efficient perception and selective attention

Assess perceptual level and type of affordances : combination provides zone of proximal development

Emphasis on culture

Emphasis on kinesthetic learning and gathering of meaningful information

Both theories emphasis important aspect of development and offer solid solutions to current

problems in the K-12 setting

ReferencesGibson, E.J. (1991). An odyssey in learning and perception. Learning,

development, and conceptual change. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Miller, P.H. (2002). Theories of developmental psychology (4th ed). New York: Worth Publishers.

Pick, H.L. (1992). Eleanor J. Gibson: Learning to perceive and perceiving to learn. Developmental Psychology (28)5, 787-794.