Five-year-old Michela appears to be talking to herself as she is ...

[KWilfred]

Five-year-old Michela appears to be talking to herself as she is putting together a tea party with several of her dolls. Describe Vygotsky's take on this behavior (e.g., Is this normal behavior? Is this a helpful behavior? Will this behavior go away?).
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Describe the three main forms of learning as they related to the information-processing model of cognitive development.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[kthug]

Answer to Question 1

Vygotsky would suggest that Michela's behavior demonstrates private speech, and is entirely normal and developmentally appropriate. In fact, Vygotsky felt that such private speech helps children to learn self-regulation of cognitive skills. It can act to help them make sure to handle all of the required steps in a particular problem. As the child grows, eventually private speech will become inner speech, which was Vygotsky's term for thoughts.

Answer to Question 2

The chapter presents three different forms of learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and imitation.
Classical conditioning involves the spreading of a response from stimulus that evokes the response naturally to another, neutral stimulus. As an example, if a child initially smiles in response to the milk coming out of a bottle, eventually that child may smile when (s)he sees the bottle in her mother's hands. It allows children to develop the ability to predict what will happen in their environment based on the presence of certain stimuli in the environment.
Operant conditioning involves the learning of consequences of specific actions. When an action leads to a favorable, or pleasant, outcome, the action is more likely to be repeated in the future. When action leads to an unpleasant outcome the action is less likely to be repeated. Based on the way individual instructors present this material, students may describe reinforcements and punishments.
Imitation involves observing the actions of another and then, in certain circumstances, repeating that behavior. Some research suggests that imitation may be possible as early as two or three weeks of age.

[KWilfred]

Thank you!

[kthug]

Happy to help