Procesos de cambio cognitivo en la resolución de problemas en niños de un año de edad

Abstract

The aim of this doctoral thesis was to: a) study the capacity of children of 15, 18 and 21 months to solve a particular problem-solving task, paying particular attention to three aspects: the efficiency with which they solved it, the strategy use and the role that inhibitory capacity plays, and b) to analyze the cognitive changes of the aspects studied at two different levels: the evolutionary change between the various ages, and the change that took place during the exercises that make up the task. The study adopted a cross-sectional and a longitudinal approach. We had one cross-sectional group consisting of 75 children of 15, 18 and 21 months of age, and two longitudinal groups: one of 13 children of 15 and 18 months, and the other of 16 children of 18 and 21 months of age. They were observed while they carried out the Fitting Task, a problem-solving task designed for this study that requires inhibitory capacity. From our theoretical perspective, this capacity, in conjunction with others such as the strategic capacity, have implications for problem solving, since our approach integrates various theories, all of which are in the framework of Information Processing. The processes of cognitive change were studied from a microgenetic approach, by applying a methodology of systematic observational. This consisted of intensive observation of the children, and the taking of multiple qualitative and quantitative measurements during the various exercises of the task. As far as evolutionary change is concerned, the statistical analyses revealed that 18 months is a key point in the period studied because it is at this age that most of the changes in task solving begin to occur: a) the efficiency of problem-solving capacity is optimal, b) the choice of strategy throughout the problem-solving process is more stable, and c) the fact that children do not inhibit after this age has a negative influence on performance. The results indicate that while the exercises are being done, the predominance of the external factors (the feedback generated during the task, the characteristics of the context of the task, etc.) alternates with the predominance of internal factors (search for new possibilities with the task material, self-checking procedure, etc.), in such a way that the solution is moulded by varying influences on the three aspects studied: efficiency, strategy use and inhibition. This study provides evidence in favour of using microgenetic methods to study cognitive change in early childhood.