Introduction
Learning through observation and learning through action are two main strategies used in educational setting. Borghi and Cimatti (2010) argued embodied cognition stress the importance of acting body, and this action is possesses an effect on cognition. The perspectives of embodied cognition vary from study to study. For example, in their study Vogt, Taylor, and Hopkins (2003) take investigated embodied cognition from an egocentric perspective and non-egocentric perspective. By changing positions of hands (interacting with objects) presented to the participants, they formed a sense of self and other’s perspective. In another study conducted with infants and their parents, it is found that what children perceive is based on their action and also their social partner’s actions (Yu, Smith, Shen, Pereira & Smith, 2009). They also emphasized in their results the manual actions are important for visual experience and for children to acquire what information about object is relevant or not relevant which supports the cognitive learning process. In this study, embodied cognition will be addressed from the physical embodiment (engaging in activity physically) perspective.
Embodied Cognition and Importance of Action in Learning
As stated before state body and interactions are effective in cognitive learning. Mingyuan and Sotaro (2011)
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Engelkamp, Zimmer, Mohr & Sellen (1994) found in their study, when the phrases are acted out they were more likely to be recalled than when the phrases were simply memorized or just listened by the participants. This literature shows that actions and hand gestures have a substantial impact on problem solving including adults, school age children, preschoolers and even infants and benefits of learning through action is including increased performance on problem solving, increased perceptual information and memory.
Learning through
From the video observation, the two three-year old children, Thomas and Riley set off on a bus journey along with their childminder; it is observed that both the children speak about their journey, in which they are able to identify various features, which include the passengers; various buildings and different types of buses. Both children observe many of the features by taking photographs to highlight what they have observed on their journey. From observation, the video looks at the way the childminder plans the experience from a child-initiated stance, which directs the children’s learning in addition with assisting them with role-play and symbolic play, which is shown towards the end of the video. Thus, this essay will focus on the importance of early physical development within the Early Years framework, as well as the influence of the family with reference to the children along with the childminder. I shall link theory to practice from observation, by recounting both the boy’s bus journey, using a number of hypothetical methods, as well as emphasising the social and emotional development equally with cognitive development. However in particular, I will address the cognitive development, by doing so, a whole approach is required regarding both the children’s development, as children are seen as individuals and that each area of their development cannot be divided into different sections.
way a child learns what the body can do shapes his or her feelings, attitudes, and values about him- or herself” (1985, p. 58). Becoming aware of their own bodies will
Piaget described this stage to be where the infant is making sense of the world and during this stage the infant's knowledge is limited. This is where the main senses come into play, such as touch, taste, smell etc. At this stage sport to an infant is a sensory experience, with the use of a ball for example for exploration. Object permanence was highlighted by Piaget as one of the most important accomplishments of the sensorimotor stage. Object permanence is an infant's understanding that objects exists even if the object can not be heard or seen. For example with the game Hide and Seek, a younger infant will simply believe that the person hiding has completely vanished and will be shocked once that person is visible again whereas an older infant who understands object per...
The body and mind dilemma has been of great interest by many since the first
Metzloff, Andrew N. and Jean Decety. "What Imitation Tells us About Social Cognition: A Rapprochment Between Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience." Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences: Decoding, Imitating, and Influencing the Actions of Others: The Mechanisms of Social Interaction 358.1431 (2003): 491-500. JSTOR. 20 04 2014. .
In the early stages of development, it was noticed that children learn by playing. In fact, play, in a developmentally appropriate environment, inspires the child to relate oneself to the environment while making sense of the infinite elements where the children unites internal processes with external influences. Therefore, as children play, they learn. This theory demonstrates that the children learn while having fun. As the children internalize the sensations of the environment, they somehow integrate personal experiences to hypothesize the so-called impossible. This brings us to the concept of imaginary play where such play is constant as children relate their hopes and experiences to the new sensations. However, as their minds translate external experiences with personal meaning, children become masters of their environment and such environment may be defined as a continuum between the imaginary and the sensory (Bodrova and Leong, 2006). In addition, complex yet accessible relationships occurring in the classroom enrich the mental processes of young students. This is proven when children reflect on their environment, as they instinctively classify experiences according to both individual personality and the surrounding culture (DeVries, 2008). As children become familiar with the syntax of social knowledge, their worlds are somehow shared with one another to form a social imagination. According to Gardner (2007), a child struggles to comprehend new experiences, he or she will naturally utilize scientific notions of problem-solving and critical thinking. As the child begins to understand experience, social cooperation augments skills of perspective and interpretation. In one hand, shared activity provides a meaningful social co...
less efficiency than younger children, suggesting that people may become more imitative as they mature, and selectively imitate particular models with high levels of fidelity (McGuigan et al., 2011). Also, children are more likely to overimitate the demonstrations from an adult versus a child (McGuigan et al., 2011). In addition, children tend to overimitate action when it comes from a knowledgeable teacher versus a naïve demonstrator (Buchsbaum, Gopnik, Griffiths, & Shafto, 2011). In other words, in the pedagogical case children are more likely to overimitate by reproducing the entire demonstrated sequence (Buchsbaum et al.,
Naturalistic observation is a way of observing applicants in their own natural environment without the contestants realizing the observers are present. My observation took me to different places and settings to complete my assignment where I observed the subjects’ reactions and further relate it with concepts of psychology. This assignment is going to look into the observation at different settings by watching people as they go about their normal activities in their own habitats, and will briefly describe the concepts of superego, egocentrism, operant conditioning, pretend play, and lack of conservation. These concepts are common between the ages 4-6 years of age. The paper will also analyze the interactions using a reflective approach on the psychology of young children.
Children do not use verbal communication when they are young. They use gestures as a way to communicate because they have, yet to acquire verbal skills. Gestures are a form of body language. Body language is something that we as humans do on purpose to help explain things, but also perform without even consciously knowing. In today’s society we have been learning more about body language and how our bodies help omit feelings and meanings to others; which we can not, as humans always express through our knowledge of verbal language. Body language is very important for children of a younger age because it is the only way that they are able to communicate. Hand gestures are the form of body language that is the most important abilities to acquire. The hand has more connections with the nervous system than any other body part giving them more information to relay to others. Some believe that body language in context with your hands is a natural motor skill. However, children technically use their hands to communicate their different needs wants and other things that they want that can otherwise not be expressed through verbal communication.
Social interaction plays an important role in people’s life starting from the early childhood as infants interact with their caregivers and build the emotional attachment that is the base for future relationships. By social interaction with others children learn how to communicate, play and behave in particular situation. Berk (2009) proposed the overview of the literature that concentrates upon the early attachment and its importance. Knowing the influence of social interaction on child development in the first few years, the essay is going to elaborate upon the implication of social interaction on the development of cognition. Cognitive development as Lee & Gupta (eds.) claimed is the term that refers to acquisition and development of knowledge and cognition, namely the processes such as memory, language, and problem – solving and drawing. When elaborating upon cognitive development, the three main aspects can be distinguished: the understanding of the objects by children, their ability to imitate caregivers and children’s ability to hold representations of the world (Oates, Wood & Grayson, 2005). All of the aspects play an important role in developing cognition of children and provide the explanation for the understanding of children’s learning influenced by social relationships and practices. In the essay there is going to be an emphasis on the social interaction between children and their caregivers and peer relations. To consider whether social interaction is a fundamental basis for cognitive development of children, there is going to be presented the overview of the literature that concentrates upon it. There are two fundamental theoretical frameworks that touch upon the subjects, namely the work of Piaget (1926) and Vygots...
Physical movement is extremely important in the classroom. I am a tactile learner so through movement I am able to learn better. For example, when given directions to a new place, the movement of the car and myself enables me to remember how to get to that destination again at a later time. “An active body enhances an active mind. Learners who are activ...
Perceive actions or nonverbal actions differently, It also equips us to excel, not only as
There are several different ways in which one learns. One way to learn is by adapting the cognitive style which sets a structure that one should go through a process of perceiving, thinking, problem solving and remembering. James Poon identifies two different types of learning approaches associated with the cognitive theory, reflective and impulsive. “Reflective individuals tend to be analytical, cautious, accurate, and slow in their approach to problem solving” (66). Poon also says that “reflective individuals are found to be an effective predictor of an academic achievement in first grade...
Embodied cognition is a relatively recent comprehensive framework for the study of mind. This kind of approach has recently attained high acceptance in cognitive psychology arena. There is a growing idea that the mind must be understood in the context of agent’s relationship and interaction with the world. Lots of support coming in from the experimental procedures in psychology where the psychologists will ask subjects to perform some sort of tasks and then by making manipulation on their bodies in certain ways. They find that the subjects differ and the result depending on simple facts even such as whether they are right or left handed. There is also works in robotics where robots have been designed that seemed to perform complex behaviors
Body awareness is a key part of Movement Education. Body awareness involves controlling one’s axial movements. This means that a person can control moving their entire body, or isolating one body part and movi...