La teoría del conflicto sociocognitivo del desarrollo: Una mirada retrospectiva a partir de investigaciones propias / The theory of socio-cognitive conflict of development: A retrospective approach from our own research

Resumen La teoría del conflicto sociocognitivo del desarrollo cognitivo emerge en la psicología europea en la década de los 70, sobre todo a partir de investigaciones de la llamada Escuela de Psicología Social de Ginebra, que alcanzó notable difusión en las décadas siguientes. Representa una postura neopiagetiana crítica que pone el acento en el papel determinante de la interacción sociocognitiva entre iguales (y más específicamente de la confrontación de puntos de vista distintos) en el desarrollo de la inteligencia. En este artículo se analiza la especificidad del constructo que perimitirá determinar con claridad los elementos teóricos que lo definen y analizar las confusiones y malos entendidos a que dio lugar la notable difusión del paradigma en la psicología y la educación. En una segunda parte se reportan diversas ilustraciones experimentales sobre la temática, fruto de la labor de un equipo compacto de investigadores del IRICE (CONICET). Se trata de una selección en torno a tres ejes de extensión del paradigma: el conflicto como promotor del desarrollo de la operacionalidad formal, el microanálisis de los tipos y modalidades de conflicto sociocognitivo, y el papel de este en el aprendizaje de conocimientos y el cambio conceptual. Estas ilustraciones son solo un ejemplo de la vitalidad que el paradigma generó en el seno de este equipo de trabajo, y marcan una evolución que también se registra en el contexto científico global. El artículo también hace referencia a estos aportes, aunque el acento se pone en las investigaciones propias, entendido como una muestra de construcción colaborativa.

Abstract The theory of socio-cognitive conflict emerges in European Psychology in the 1970s, particularly from the research of the social psychology school of Geneve, that had a strong diffusion in the following years. This theory represents a neo-piagetian critical view of Piaget's theory of cognitive development, in the sense that the attention is focused on the role of peer socio-cognitive interaction (specifically in the social confrontations of different points of view) enhancing cognitive growth. The value of the socio-cognitive conflict promoting cognitive development lies in the decentration effect that it produces. According to this view, disturbance resulting from socio-cognitive conflicts gives way to a superior state of equilibrium. The first part of the article focuses on the theoretical and methodological analysis of the concept. In that way, two periods are distinguished in the evolution of the paradigm attending the inclusion of the communicational analysis of the verbal exchange between subjects. Also, this analysis refers to many confusions and misunderstandings in the larger application of the paradigm to psychology and education. The aim of the second part is to present some experimental illustrations produced by the IRICE (CONICET) research team's work. These illustrations concern three conceptual axes: the application of the paradigm to the development of the formal-logical intelligence, the microanalysis of modalities and types of socio-cognitive conflict, and the extended application of the paradigm to the knowledge learning and conceptual change. The research reported in the first axis concerns the comparison of two experimental conditions: collaborative (dyads) and individual problem solving task (problems of Raven's test), in a sample of 12-13 year old students. The comparison concerns to the performances both in the experimental treatment and in the individual post-test of equivalent problems applied to all participants. Results show, in both cases, the superiority of the collective condition. The second axis focuses on some studies concerning the modalities and types of socio-cognitive conflicts. Particularly, a system of categories for the analysis of the social behavior of children of different ages (4, 8 and 12 years old) in a block construction task (to build a house) is reported. This system differentiates many kinds of interactional behavior: dissociation, dominance-submission (both lower social coordination), cooperation (implicit and explicit) and collaboration (these three are modalities of higher social coordination). The third axis examines some illustrations referring to the extension of paradigm to the epistemic learning. After some references to the difficulty of this extension to the educational settings, two studies are reported. The first one concerns an experimental comparison between a collaborative learning condition (dyads) and an individual learning condition in university students of Psychology and Physics. Also, two kinds of collaborative learning are considered, one that assures alternating of participation, the incentive of argumentation and the reciprocal evaluation (in other words, the promotion of the socio-cognitive conflict), and one that is carried out without any intervention (spontaneous collaborative learning). Results show the superiority of the promoting socio-cognitive conflict condition upon the others, both in a written production and in individual learning post-tests. In a second research the comparison is between three instructional modalities to teach an epistemic topic: expositive, participative (with teacher's scaffolding) and collaborative (only peers), in students of the first grade of secondary education (13 years old), in samples taken from two schools. Results for individual learning show that there are not great differences between the three modalities when the initial level (pre-test) of cognitive competence is high, but not if the cognitive level is low; here the collaborative condition (without scaffolding) has many difficulties. Finally, the article presents some general conclusions specifically concerning the socio-cognitive conflict.

Off to a Jump Start: Using Immersive Activities to Integrate Continuity Clinic and Advocacy.

BACKGROUND: Training in advocacy is an important component of graduate medical education. Several models have been implemented by residency programs to address this objective. Little has been published regarding application of immersive advocacy activities integrated into continuity clinic. OBJECTIVE: To create an Integrated Community Health and Child Advocacy Curriculum (ICHCA) by integrating advocacy activities that were immersive and contextualized in a continuity clinic setting and to familiarize interns with continuity clinic immediately at the beginning of their training. METHODS: We utilized a socio-constructivist lens, Kern's Six-step curriculum development and a published curriculum mapping tool to create the curriculum. Twenty residents completed ICHCA in 2019. Evaluations from key stakeholders including participants, support staff and attendings were analyzed on four levels of Kirkpatrick's model. We compared results before intervention, immediately following intervention and ten months following intervention. RESULTS: We demonstrated improvement in learner satisfaction, knowledge and behaviors with respect to advocacy in the clinical environment. Response rate was 70% (7/10) for attendings, 75% for support staff (15/20) and 72.5% for residents (29/40). Our intervention was feasible, no cost, and required no additional materials or training as it relied on learning in real time. CONCLUSIONS: An integrated advocacy curriculum utilizing the mapping tool for curricular design and evaluation is feasible and has value demonstrated by improvements in reaction, knowledge, and behaviors. This model improves understanding of social responsibility and can be implemented similarly in other residency programs.

Teaching research methodology to student midwives through a socio-constructivist educational model: The experience of the high school for science and health techniques of Tunis.

Since its independence in 1956, Tunisia's maternal health indicators have steadily improved as the result of the implementation of a national holistic strategy that emancipated women and developed midwifery education and maternal health services provision. The last review of the midwifery education programme, occurred in 2008, and was based on evidence based core competencies. This paper describes the implementation process of the socio-constructivist educational model used by to teach research methodology to student midwives, the changes observed among them, the challenges and the lessons learned.

Toward a neural basis for peer-interaction: what makes peer-learning tick?

Many of the instructional practices that have been advanced as intrinsically motivating are inherent in socio-constructivist learning environments. There is now emerging scientific evidence to explain why interactive learning environments promote the intrinsic motivation to learn. The "two-body" and "second person" approaches have begun to explore the "dark matter" of social neuroscience: the intra- and inter-individual brain dynamics during social interaction. Moreover, studies indicate that when young learners are given expanded opportunities to actively and equitably participate in collaborative learning activities they experienced feelings of well-being, contentment, or even excitement. Neuroscience starts demonstrating how this naturally rewarding aspect is strongly associated with the implication of the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway during social interaction. The production of dopamine reinforces the desire to continue the interaction, and heightens feelings of anticipation for future peer-learning activities. Here we review how cooperative learning and problem-solving interactions can bring about the "intrinsic" motivation to learn. Overall, the reported theoretical arguments and neuroscientific results have clear implications for school and organization approaches and support social constructivist perspectives.