How does a child's use of the word gone support Piaget's view?

Children tend to use words like gone only after understanding that hidden objects still exist. The concept comes first and the word follows.

What did Sinclair-de-Zwart (1969) find about language and thought?

Children who could not solve conservation tasks were taught words such as longer and shorter. Most still could not solve the tasks, suggesting words alone do not create understanding.

Give one weakness of Piaget's view of language and thought.

Piaget may have underestimated the role of language and social interaction in developing thought. Vygotsky argued that language becomes a key tool for thinking.

Edexcel GCSE Psychology 1PS0

Development

Topic overview Early brain development Piaget's theory of cognitive development Dweck's mindset theory and Willingham's learning theory The three mountains task and Gunderson's praise study The development of morality

Memory

Topic overview Information processing, duration and capacity Retrograde and anterograde amnesia Bartlett's theory of reconstructive memory The multi-store model, reductionism and holism War of the Ghosts and the Peterson and Peterson study

Psychological Problems

Topic overview Symptoms of depression and addiction Incidence and effects of mental health problems Explaining depression Explaining addiction Treating depression and addiction Key studies and the nature–nurture debate

The Brain and Neuropsychology

Topic overview Lobes of the brain and the effects of damage Lateralisation and Sperry's split-brain study Neurons, synapses and the central nervous system Phineas Gage and how brain research has changed

Social Influence

Topic overview Conformity to majority influence Obedience to authority Bystander intervention Crowd behaviour, society and culture Piliavin's subway study and the Stanford prison study

Criminal PsychologyOptional topic

Topic overview Operant conditioning and social learning explanations of crime Eysenck's criminal personality theory Punishment, recidivism and rehabilitation Bandura's Bobo doll study and Charlton's St Helena study

The SelfOptional topic

Topic overview Self-concept and influences on self-esteem Erikson's identity stages and belief in free will Rogers' and Maslow's humanistic theory Measuring personality and trait theory Vohs and Schooler's cheating study and Van Houtte and Jarvis's pet study

PerceptionOptional topic

Topic overview Depth cues, visual illusions and constancies Gibson's direct theory and Gregory's constructivist theory Perceptual set The Haber and Levin and Carmichael studies

Sleep and DreamingOptional topic

Topic overview Sleep stages and the sleep cycle Influences on sleep and sleep disorders Freud's theory of dreaming and activation synthesis theory Freud's Little Hans and Siffre's cave study

Language, Thought and CommunicationOptional topic

Topic overview Piaget and Vygotsky on language and thought Linguistic relativism and determinism Human and animal communication Non-verbal communication and Darwin's evolutionary theory The Yuki and Boroditsky studies

Research Methods

Topic overview Variables, hypotheses and controls Sampling methods Experiments and experimental designs Interviews, questionnaires and types of data Correlations, case studies and observations Ethical issues in psychological research Evaluating studies and the core areas of psychology Averages, calculations and graphs

Language, Thought and Communication

Piaget and Vygotsky on language and thought

3 things to know
Paper 2

Overview

Piaget's view that thought comes first and representational thinking, Sinclair-de-Zwart's findings, and Vygotsky's pre-linguistic thought, egocentric speech and inner speech.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What is Piaget's view of the relationship between language and thought?

Key term

What is representational thinking?

Key term

Why did Piaget believe representational thinking must come before language?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is Piaget's view of the relationship between language and thought?
Model answer
Piaget argued that thought develops first and language depends on it. Children can only use words for ideas they already understand.
2
What is representational thinking?
Model answer
Representational thinking is the ability to hold an image or idea of something in the mind. Piaget believed children develop it before they begin to use language properly.
3
Why did Piaget believe representational thinking must come before language?
Model answer
Words are symbols that stand for things. A child must first be able to picture objects mentally before words can be attached to them.
4
How does a child's use of the word gone support Piaget's view?
Model answer
Children tend to use words like gone only after understanding that hidden objects still exist. The concept comes first and the word follows.
5
What did Sinclair-de-Zwart (1969) find about language and thought?
Model answer
Children who could not solve conservation tasks were taught words such as longer and shorter. Most still could not solve the tasks, suggesting words alone do not create understanding.
6
Give one weakness of Piaget's view of language and thought.
Model answer
Piaget may have underestimated the role of language and social interaction in developing thought. Vygotsky argued that language becomes a key tool for thinking.

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Development

Memory

Psychological Problems

The Brain and Neuropsychology

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AThe median is 10.

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