Chapter 6: The first two years: cognitive development

information-processing perspective

-The information-processing perspective, aided by modern technology, has uncovered many aspects of infant cognition. As one researcher summarizes, "Rather than bumbling babies, they are individuals who . . . can learn surprisingly fast about the patterns of nature -The information-processing perspective helps tie together many aspects of infant cognition. In earlier decades, infant intelligence was measured via age of sitting up, grasping, and so on, but we now know that the age at which infants achieve motor skills does not predict later intellectual achievement.

What conditions help 3-month-olds remember something?

. reminder session A perceptual experience that helps a person recollect an idea, a thing, or an experience.

reminder session

A perceptual experience that helps a person recollect an idea, a thing, or an experience. -In the reminder session, two weeks after the initial training, the infants watched the mobile move but were not tied to it and were positioned so that they could not kick.

holophrase

A single word that is used to express a complete, meaningful thought.

naming explosion

A sudden increase in an infant's vocabulary, especially in the number of nouns, that begins at about 18 months of age. -Spoken vocabulary builds rapidly once the first 50 words are mastered, with 21-month-olds typically saying twice as many words as 18-month-olds

Theory Three: Infants Teach Themselves

A third theory holds that language learning is genetically programmed to begin at a certain age; adults need not teach it (theory one), nor is it a by-product of social interaction (theory two). Instead, it arises from the universal genetic impulse to imitate. -Theory three proposes that this is exactly how they learn language (Saxton, 2010). This theory is buttressed by research which finds that variations in children's language ability correlate with differences in brain activity and perceptual ability, evident months before the first words are spoken and apart from the particulars of parental input -This perspective began soon after Skinner proposed his theory of verbal learning. Noam Chomsky (1968, 1980) and his followers felt that language is too complex to be mastered merely through step-by-step conditioning. ^Although behaviorists focus on variations among children in vocabulary size, Chomsky focused on similarities in language acquisition—the evolutionary universals, not the differences. >Noting that all young children master basic grammar according to a schedule, Chomsky cited universal grammar as evidence that humans are born with a mental structure that prepares them to seek some elements of human language.

The Six Stages of Sensorimotor Intelligence

A. Primary Circular Reactions: The first two stages involve the infant's responses to its own body. 1. Stage One (birth to 1 month) Reflexes: sucking, grasping, staring, listening Example: sucking anything that touches the lips or cheek 2. Stage Two (1-4 months) The first acquired adaptations: accommodation and coordination of reflexes Examples: sucking a pacifier differently from a nipple; attempting to hold a bottle to suck it B. Secondary Circular Reactions: The next two stages involve the infant's responses to objects and people. 1. Stage Three (4-8 months): Making interesting sights last: responding to people and objects Example: clapping hands when mother says "patty-cake" 2. Stage Four (8-12 months): New adaptation and anticipation: becoming more deliberate and purposeful in responding to people and objects Example: putting mother's hands together in order to make her start playing patty-cake C. Tertiary Circular Reactions: The last two stages are the most creative, first with action and then with ideas. 1. Stage Five (12-18 months): New means through active experimentation: experimentation and creativity in the actions of the "little scientist" Example: putting a teddy bear in the toilet and flushing it 2. Stage Six (18-24 months): New means through mental combinations: thinking before doing, new ways of achieving a goal without resorting to trial and error Example: before flushing the teddy bear again, hesitating because of the memory of the toilet overflowing and mother's anger

Why do 10-month-olds refuse to crawl over visual cliffs?

According to this hypothesis, as the visual cortex matured, 10-month-olds perceived that crawling over a cliff afforded falling

AT ABOUT THIS TIME The Development of Spoken Language in the First Two Years

Age* Means of Communication 1. Newborn: Reflexive communication—cries, movements, facial expressions. 2. 2 months: A range of meaningful noises—cooing, fussing, crying, laughing. 3-6 months: New sounds, including squeals, growls, croons, trills, vowel sounds. 6-10 months: Babbling, including both consonant and vowel sounds repeated in syllables. 10-12 months: Comprehension of simple words; speechlike intonations; specific vocalizations that have meaning to those who know the infant well. Deaf babies express their first signs; hearing babies also use specific gestures (e.g., pointing) to communicate. 12 months: First spoken words that are recognizably part of the native language. 13-18 months: Slow growth of vocabulary, up to about 50 words. 18 months: Naming explosion—three or more words learned per day. Much variation: Some toddlers do not yet speak. 21 months: First two-word sentence. 24 months: Multiword sentences. Half the toddler's utterances are two or more words long.

grammar

All of the methods—word order, verb forms, and so on—that languages use to communicate meaning, apart from the words themselves. -includes all of the methods that languages use to communicate meaning. Word order, prefixes, suffixes, intonation, verb forms, pronouns and negations, prepositions and articles—all of these are aspects of grammar. Grammar can be discerned in holophrases, as one word can be spoken differently depending on meaning. However, grammar becomes essential when babies combine words (Bremner & Wachs, 2010). That typically happens between 18 and 24 months.

visual cliff

An experimental apparatus that gives the illusion of a sudden drop-off between one horizontal surface and another. -designed to provide the illusion of a sudden drop-off between one horizontal surface and another.

babbling

An infant's repetition of certain syllables, such as ba-ba-ba, that begins when babies are between 6 and 9 months old. -Between 6 and 9 months, babies repeat certain syllables (ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, ba-ba-ba), a vocalization called babbling because of the way it sounds. Babbling is experience-expectant; all babies babble, even deaf ones. -Before infants start talking, they become aware of the patterns of speech, such as which sounds are commonly spoken together. -Infants notice the relationship between mouth movements and sound.

affordance

An opportunity for perception and interaction that is offered by a person, place, or object in the environment. -Developmentalists studying children emphasize that age, motivation, and experience affect what affordances a child perceives. ex./ For example, since toddlers enjoy running as soon as their legs allow it, every open space affords running: a meadow, a building's long hall, a city street.

infant amnesia

Before information-processing research, many scientists hypothesized infant amnesia, that infants remember nothing. -But the fact that memories fade with time, and that even children cannot verbalize what happened when they were babies, does not mean that memory is absent.

cultural differences

Cultures and families vary in how much child-directed speech children hear. Some parents read to their infants, teach them signs, and respond to every burp or fart as if it were an attempt to talk. -Differences are readily apparent in which sounds capture attention. Infants soon favor the words, accents, and linguistic patterns of their home language.

What are the early signs of grammar in infant speech?

Grammar can be discerned in holophrases, as one word can be spoken differently depending on meaning. However, grammar becomes essential when babies combine words (Bremner & Wachs, 2010). That typically happens between 18 and 24 months.

What is typical of the first words that infants speak and the rate at which they acquire them?

Initially, the first words are merely labels for familiar things (mama and dada are common), but early words are soon accompanied by gestures, facial expressions, and nuances of tone, loudness, and cadence -each holophrase expresses a meaningful thought

Conditions of Memory

Many studies seek to understand what infants can remember, even if they cannot later put memories into words. Memories are particularly evident if: 1. Motivation and emotion is high. 2. Retrieval is strengthened by reminders and repetition.

memory

Memory improves month by month. In one study, after 6-month-olds had had only two half-hour sessions with a novel puppet, they remembered the experience a month later—an amazing feat of memory for babies who could not talk or even stand up

What is a circular reaction?

Piaget described the interplay of sensation, perception, action, and cognition as circular reactions, emphasizing that, as in a circle, there is no beginning and no end. Each experience leads to the next, which loops back

What evidence suggests that infants are thinking, not just reacting, before age 1?

Piaget's stage five (12 to 18 months), new means through active experimentation, builds on the accomplishments of stage four. Now goal-directed and purposeful activities become more expansive.

Why did Piaget call his first stage of cognition sensorimotor intelligence?

Piaget's term for the way infants think—by using their senses and motor skills—during the first period of cognitive development.

sensorimotor intelligence

Piaget's term for the way infants think—by using their senses and motor skills—during the first period of cognitive development. -Early reflexes, senses, and body movements are the raw materials for infant cognition, as now described (see Table 6.1). p. 152

How do the first two sensorimotor stages illustrate primary circular reactions?

Primary Circular Reactions -The first two stages involve the infant's responses to its own body. Stage One (birth to 1 month) Reflexes: sucking, grasping, staring, listening Example: sucking anything that touches the lips or cheek -Stage Two (1-4 months) The first acquired adaptations: accommodation and coordination of reflexes Examples: sucking a pacifier differently from a nipple; attempting to hold a bottle to suck it

How does memory improve between 6 months and 2 years?

Sensory and caregiver memories are apparent in the first month, motor memories by 3 months, and then, at about 9 months, more complex memories

A Hybrid Theory

Since every human must learn language, nature allows variations so that the goal is attained. Ideally, parents talk often to their infants (theory one), encourage social interaction (theory two), and appreciate innate impulses (theory three). Contemporary advocates of a hybrid view conclude that there is no single critical period for language acquisition, but rather that the many aspects of language are mastered at various times and in various ways -The idea that every theory is correct may seem idealistic.

In sensorimotor intelligence, what is the difference between stages five and six?

Stage Five (12-18 months) New means through active experimentation: experimentation and creativity in the actions of the "little scientist" Example: putting a teddy bear in the toilet and flushing it Stage Six (18-24 months) New means through mental combinations: thinking before doing, new ways of achieving a goal without resorting to trial and error Example: before flushing the teddy bear again, hesitating because of the memory of the toilet overflowing and mother's anger

How does a stage-three infant make interesting events last?

Stage Three (4-8 months) Making interesting sights last: responding to people and objects Example: clapping hands when mother says "patty-cake"

mean length of utterance (MLU)

The average number of words in a typical sentence (called utterance because children may not talk in complete sentences). MLU is often used to measure language development.

Theory One: Infants Need to Be Taught

The core ideas of this theory are the following: Parents are expert teachers. Repetition strengthens associations, especially when linked to daily life. Well-taught infants become articulate, highly verbal children.

What suggests that very young infants have some memory?

The dendrites and neurons of several areas of the brain change to reflect remembered experiences. Overall, infants remember not only specific events but also patterns

primary circular reactions

The first of three types of feedback loops in sensorimotor intelligence, this one involving the infant's own body. The infant senses motion, sucking, noise, and other stimuli and tries to understand them. Stage one: called the stage of reflexes, lasts only a month, as reflexes become deliberate actions; sensation leads to perception, perception leads to cognition, and then cognition leads back to sensation. stage two: which Piaget pegged from about 1 to 4 months of age, additional adaptation of the sucking reflex begins. Infant cognition leads babies to suck in some ways for hunger, in other ways for comfort—and not to suck fuzzy blankets or hard plastic. Once adaptation occurs, it sticks

child-directed speech

The high-pitched, simplified, and repetitive way adults speak to infants and children. (Also called baby talk or motherese.)

habituation

The process of becoming accustomed to an object or event through repeated exposure to it, and thus becoming less interested in it. -One particular research strategy has been a boon to scientists, confirming the powerful curiosity of very young babies. That research method is called habituation (from the word habit). -Using habituation with infants involves repeating one stimulus until the babies lose interest and then presenting another slightly different stimulus (a new sound, sight, or other sensation).

object permanence

The realization that objects (including people) still exist when they can no longer be seen, touched, or heard. -the concept that objects or people continue to exist when they are not visible. At about 8 months—not before—infants look for toys that have fallen from the crib, rolled under a couch, or disappeared under a blanket. 1. Infants younger than 8 months do not search for an attractive object momentarily covered by a cloth. 2. At about 8 months, infants remove the cloth immediately after the object is covered but not if they have to wait a few seconds. 3. At 18 months, they search after a wait but not if they have seen the object put first in one place and then moved to another. They search in the first place, not the second, a mistake Piaget's followers called A-not-B. They search where they remember seeing it put (A), not where they saw it moved (to B). 4. By 2 years, children fully understand object permanence, progressing through several stages of ever-advanced cognition (Piaget, 1954/2013a).

secondary circular reactions

The second of three types of feedback loops in sensorimotor intelligence, this one involving people and objects. Infants respond to other people, to toys, and to any other object that they can touch or move. Stage 3: (4 to 8 months), infants attempt to produce exciting experiences, making interesting sights last. Realizing that rattles make noise, for example, they wave their arms and laugh whenever someone puts a rattle in their hand. stage 4: (8 months to 1 year), new adaptation and anticipation (also called the means to the end). Babies may ask for help (fussing, pointing, gesturing) to accomplish what they want.

According to sociocultural theory, why do infants try to communicate?

The second theory is called social-pragmatic. It arises from the sociocultural reason for language: communication. According to this perspective, infants communicate because humans are social beings, dependent on one another for survival and joy.

Theory Two: Social Impulses Foster Infant Language

The second theory is called social-pragmatic. It arises from the sociocultural reason for language: communication. According to this perspective, infants communicate because humans are social beings, dependent on one another for survival and joy. -According to this perspective, it is the emotional messages of speech, not the words, that propel communication. Evidence for social learning comes from educational programs for children.

What aspects of early language development are universal, apparent in every culture?

The sequence of language development is the same worldwide (see At About This Time). Some children learn several languages, some only one; some learn rapidly and others slowly; but they all follow the same path

"little scientist"

The stage-five toddler (age 12 to 18 months) who experiments without anticipating the results, using trial and error in active and creative exploration. stage 6: (18 to 24 months), toddlers use mental combinations, intellectual experimentation via imagination that can supersede the active experimentation of stage five. Because they combine ideas, stage-six toddlers think about consequences, hesitating a moment before yanking the cat's tail or dropping a raw egg on the floor. They store what they have seen in memory and do it later, an ability Piaget called deferred imitation

tertiary circular reactions

The third of three types of feedback loops in sensorimotor intelligence, this one involving active exploration and experimentation. Infants explore a range of new activities, varying their responses as a way of learning about the world. -Piaget's stage five (12 to 18 months), new means through active experimentation, builds on the accomplishments of stage four. Now goal-directed and purposeful activities become more expansive.

According to behaviorism, how do adults teach infants to talk?

Typically, when a baby says "ma-ma-ma-ma," a grinning mother appears, repeating the sound and showering the baby with attention, praise, and perhaps food. The baby learns affordances and repeats "ma-ma-ma-ma" when lonely or hungry; through operant conditioning, talking begins.

What communication abilities do infants have before they talk?

babbling

How is object permanence an example of stage four of sensorimotor intelligence?

object permanence is The realization that objects (including people) still exist when they can no longer be seen, touched, or heard. -This has to do with the fact that stage 4 has to do with the response to other objects