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Problem solving and schemas

In this chapter we watch Orson playing and analyse how all of his development, learning and emotional well being has lead to a point where Orson can independently start to solve problems as he plays and experiments. Maria Robinson explains how he repeats behaviours in different contexts in a schematic way.

Good for looking at

Playing & experimenting
Object play
Schema
Piaget
Chris Athey
Babies
Parents
Learning through play

00:06: Austen's behavior
00:07: is becoming increasingly purposeful.
00:10: He can keep two ideas in his mind at once
00:12: and he's able to work out to see concept events,
00:14: in order to get what he wonts.
00:17: He wants the dog, but he can't reach it
00:20: and mom isn't getting it for him.
00:29: He deliberately pulls the cloth,
00:30: that the dog is sitting on to achieve his aim.
00:36: We got doggy.
00:40: We got doggy.
00:41: He's solving probLems.
00:45: Austen is learning and making connection all the time.
00:49: As we've already seen, babies often use repeated behaviors.
00:54: What Piaget called schemers.
00:59: Chris Athy followed up this idea
01:01: and applied it to the way
01:02: young children experiment and play.
01:06: Children will focus on a particular theme of actions,
01:08: which are repeated in many ways in the world around them.
01:12: Austen has become fascinated
01:14: with the schemer of transferring.
01:16: He's transferring the cotton reals
01:18: in and out of different containers.
01:21: He's totally absorbed and working hard.
01:26: They go back in.
01:34: Later, he's put himself in the box.
01:38: Then he transfers a smaller box in and out.
01:41: Oh are you gonna get in?
01:43: Well done!
01:50: You do it again.
01:54: Outside in the sandpit,
01:56: he transfers the sand into different cups.
02:00: So, schemers seem to be a repeated pattern of behaviors,
02:04: in order to help the child learn a new concept.
02:07: They begin to get the idea of consistency across context.
02:12: They start to understand that something happens here
02:15: and ah, it's the same if it happens over there.
02:19: Austen is learning through playing,
02:21: where the central process is comparison.
02:25: This is the same, this is different,
02:27: this is inside, this is outside.
02:31: This constant process of comparison,
02:33: seems to be what underpins
02:35: the development of cognitive schemers.
02:47: During these last few months,
02:49: Austen's internal and external world
02:51: has become much more complex.
02:54: All of his development come together
02:56: in a rather evolutionary way.
02:59: He knows know that objects always exist.
03:01: And has been learning about their properties,
03:03: through repeated experimentation and play.
03:08: He's been learning about his close family
03:09: from their faces, emotional reactions and behavior.
03:13: His brain has been soaking up information,
03:16: sorting and categorizing all of his experiences,
03:19: helping him to anticipate what's going to happen next.
03:23: He's linking feelings with behavior
03:26: and the emerging realization,
03:27: that interest can be shared with others,
03:29: leads to the beginnings of an awareness,
03:32: that there is a me and a you.
03:35: Because he now knows
03:37: who's familiar and can be trusted.
03:41: He's become wary of strangers.
03:44: This happens at the same time as he's become mobile,
03:45: leading to new exploration
03:49: and new or maybe dangerous situations.
03:51: During these times, he knows he can look
03:55: to his attachment figures for cues on how to react.
03:58: This trust in his attachment figures,
04:00: means he's able to explore further
04:04: and taking new experiences with confidence.
04:06: We need our carers desperately,
04:15: in order to learn about ourselves and our world.
04:17: We talk about the individual needs
04:20: of every child, which is absolutely true.
04:22: There is still a remarkable similarity
04:26: between the experiences and the development,
04:27: that we see in each every child,
04:31: that every child seems to display it round about
04:33: similar times, so, it does seem
04:35: as if we have this kind of sequence of development,
04:39: which starts off absolutely with babies
04:42: getting to know about that world outside the womb.
04:44: Getting to know their carers,
04:48: getting to know that first primary relationships
04:49: and then they begin to know
04:51: more about the world around them.
04:53: So, simply reaching out and exploring
04:58: and then you begin to see that he was able to be
04:59: much more sophisticated
05:02: in how he communicates with his carers,
05:04: but it's almost as if we need to get
05:09: that first bit established about our needs are met first,
05:13: before we can actually move on.
05:21: Would you like to meet Timo today?
05:23: The good one.
05:26: You want more peppers?
05:27: Would you like--
05:42: He's gonna be a politician.

Links

Find out more about schemas