Experimental micro-histories,private speech and a study of children’s learning and cognitive development / Microhistorias experimentales,habla privada y un estudio del aprendizaje y el desarrollo cognitivo en los niños

Abstract

In this paper, we present the recent development of a methodological approach originally devised by Perret-Clermont and Schubauer-Leoni called ‘experimental micro-histories’. This approach allows us to investigate processes of change that often seem to be underestimated in the typical experiments used in developmental psychology that focus on the average impact of certain factors. Two dyads were studied in-depth to understand how, for better or for worse, children use elements learned from previous conversations in their subsequent self-regulatory processes. Different trajectories of private-social speech were studied through different phases (child-adult scaffolding phase and a subsequent child-child interaction phase) and will be discussed in order to reconsider the necessity of adopting a micro-historical focus on developmental processes of change.