Psych 213: Chapter 6- The First Two Years of Cognitive Development
Conclusions: Babbling and Gesturing
Variability: babbling + gesturing before speech (biological + social factors) Research/diagnosis (implications) found: young infants' communication patterns in the detection + indicators of early signs of some disorders (e.g., autism, ADHD, hearing impairment) Issues with diagnosis Often: warning signs (vs. concrete) is challenging to make definitive diagnosis (i.e., only observation = early months)
Development of memory
Very young show evidence of memory (e.g., recognize caregiver's face, smell) There are constant improvements: day-by-day + month-by-month Key: babies are not smart they simply remember what they need to remember Language is associated with recall which is more difficult until they learn some verbal skills (i.e., language acquired)
What are the two key concepts in information-processing theory?
1) Affordances: which are related to input 2) Memory: which is related to brain organization and output (mechanisms used in storage and retrieval) These are unlike Piaget because there can be daily or weekly cognitive advances not sudden changes or shifts
What are the three critiques of Piaget's stages?
1) Infants reach stages of sensorimotor development occurs far earlier (vs. Piaget) Found: younger than 1 year will pretend/defer imitation (stage 6); At 5 months: surprise when object disappears (i.e., initial sign = object permanence) 2) Original insights: based on observation of own children (vs. larger sample sizes) 3) Infants are difficult to study (often lack direct communication ability)
What are the three approaches to measuring cognitive development?
1) Piaget- Key concern: qualitative differences in knowledge acquisition 2) Psychometric approaches- Key: quantify using psychometric tests Comparison: cognitive capacities relative to age-related norms 3) Information-Processing Approach: Description of cognitive processes as they develop Intelligence is not single entity but a set of cognitive processes (e.g., attention, memory, retrieval) Methods: primarily physiological/neurological changes (e.g., brain potentials, heart rate, eye movement) Specifically: in response to change in sensory environment
Selection of which affordance is perceived/acted upon: related to four factors:
1) Sensory awareness 2) Immediate motivation 3) Current development 4) Past experience
Rovee-Collier's (1987, 1990) Experiments
3-month old infants have their foot tied to a ribbon that is attached to mobile Result: kicked at mobile (moved) and they saw that and kicked more often/more strength Self-activated movement is highly reinforcing = dynamic perception (i.e., unsurprising = continued to kick) •One week later Started: kicking immediately (foot tied to mobile) and demonstrated remembering (previous movements) •Two weeks later Started: random kicks + movements (again) •Forgotten: what was learned (i.e., evidence of memory fragility = early life) BUT: (theorized) impact of reminder session (on processing/retrieval) aids (Any) experience: and assists with recollection (e.g., idea, object, event)
Secondary Circular Reaction & Sensorimotor Stage 4: New Adaptation and Anticipation (aka "means to the end")
8 to 12 months Actively behave in ways that enable the acquisition of what is wanted (e.g., fussing, pointing, gesturing) Initiate + anticipate (more complex adaptation from Stage 3) Ex) The baby puts parent's arms around her to make them give her a hug.
Historical beliefs of infant memory
Argument: children remember nothing during the first year of life Has been disproved since but memory during this time is shown to have increased fragility (esp. first 3 years) Adults' (also have) Fragile Memories but adults and older children do not lose memories (just fragile) Memories can fade (degraded) but are not absent Ex) Remembering Coach's Name (from age 9 to now) They cannot remember but if prompted (e.g., photo, possibilities) they are likely to recall (i.e., has not "disappeared")
Increased age and memory current research
At 6 months they retained info longer with less training/reminders (vs. 3 months) At approx. 9 months memory in different parts of brain shows significant improvement (i.e., new maturation) Linguistic memory: example vocalizations begin to sound like (experienced/heard) speech Motor memory: example see person play with toy and (next day) play with toy same way (observed) At 1 year Transfer learning: one object/experience to another Ex) Many people, objects, + events (e.g., parents, strangers, books, photographs)
Listening and Responding at 6 months
Babies have the ability to distinguish sounds/gestures (own language) Ex) Observation of Mouth Movements Attend so closely: determine if speaking native language (only based on mouth movements)
Listening and Responding: Newborns/early infancy if mother is bilingual
Babies have the capacity to differentiate between languages If parents want a child to speak two language parents should speak both around the child Sound never/rarely spoken lowers ability to hear (certain sounds) which will deteriorate over time Developmental differences in sounds + deterioration of ability to distinguish (no experience) in first year
Insights: information-processing perspective
Brain: very active and changes with daily events Early experiences + memories: (essential to determining) what infant does + does not know Make generalizations (all ages): perceive more of visual scene (vs. presented) Consequence: (even infants) develop expectancies for what is observed and fill in (currently unseen)
Selective perception of affordances is characteristic of?
Characteristic of every age + culture Importance (in perception of affordances): age, motivation, + experience Ex) Infants explore the world whenever/ however possible (e.g., listening, grabbing touching) Result: develop understanding of how world works which (then) shapes brain Ex) Running (Toddlers vs. Adults) Toddlers see opportunities everywhere but adults see danger Key: impact of motivation + context Between-culture variation (different environments) Within-culture variation Ex) Walking Speed (Tourists/Locals) allows Different Affordances
Listening and Responding at 4 months
Child-directed speech (informal = "baby talk") is universal (all or almost all primary caregivers + others = fosters learning) Babies communicate: (in response) to internal state (e.g., to caregiver) Express (themselves): with whatever ability possessed (i.e., as best as they can - e.g., squeal, gurgle, yell)
What are the three distinct circular reactions in the sensorimotor stages of intelligence?
Circular reaction 1-Primary: are responses related to own body 2- Secondary: are responses related to objects and people 3- Tertiary: focuses on ideas and actions In general they involve the interplay of sensation to perception to action to cognition
Stages of sensorimotor intelligence are?
Circular reactions: interplay from sensation to perception to action to cognition, etc. (feedback loops) (Each) Experience leads to the next one and then loops back (to beginning) Continue (because): each action produces pleasure which encourages more action
What is one response to the modern critique of Piaget?
Measurement of brain activity allows accurate recording of (signs of) infant cognition Ex) Brain Imaging Studies Examine: areas of activation to stimulus = noticed/processed (Leads to) Increased knowledge of what (brain) areas signify processing of (specific types) of sensations or thoughts (e.g., area for processing faces)
Types of memory during different months of development are?
Distinct and specific parts of the brain develop at different speeds First month: sensory Third month: motor By ninth month: more complex
Gesturing at 10 months
Early gestures and pointing (i.e., point where somebody else looks + things of interest) Considered: advanced transition Social (e.g., understanding = others' perspective) Physiological (e.g., one finger vs. entire hand)
Found: memory particularly salient/evident (if)
Efforts made to identify/understand what (can be remembered) even if it cannot (later) be translated from memories to words Found: memory particularly salient/evident (if) 1) Motivation + emotion = high 2) Special measures (applied) to aid memory retrieval 3) Experimental conditions are similar to real life
Listening and Responding at 1 year
Even greater attendance to others who speak (native) language (specifically) Research: Selectively Imitating Actions with increased likelihood: imitate stranger's actions if speak own language (vs. not) Also imitation increases Ex) Increasingly: sounds like native language (e.g., accents, cadence) Pointing typically well developed
Research: Early Affordances Visual cliff
Experimental apparatus Ex) 1960s Study (6 months vs. 10 months) Historical explanation: it was believed to be from a visual deficit in depth perception due to visual cortex maturation: over cliff which affords falling Recent Research found: (even at) 3 months some babies noticed "drop" Ex) Heart rate, eyes opened wide when placed "over" cliff Believed: (vs. only vision) that performance/reaction depends on past experience Ex) Crawling and brain maturation
Primary Circular Reaction & Sensorimotor Stage 2: First Acquired Adaptations (aka "stage of first habits")
From 1 to 4 months old Adaptation: reflexes used to adjust/adapt to the responses they elicit Both: accommodation (develop new patterns) + assimilation (repeating old patterns) (Ch #2) Key: based on repeated experiences of what body does + how accompanying actions feel Ex) The baby shows a different sucking pattern on the pacifier than she has on the nipple.
Tertiary Circular Reaction & Sensorimotor Stage 5: New Means through Active Exploration
From 12-18 months Expansion (goal-directed/purposeful activities) and start to act in innovative ways Ex) Toothpaste (squeeze an entire tube out), Teddy Bear (or toy and flush it down the toilet) to see what will happen/reaction (During stage) Piaget: "Little Scientists": experiment to see "what happens" Research method: view as "trial + error" Ex) The baby experiments with her spoon, banging first on the dish, then on the high chair, and finally throwing the spoon on the floor.
Tertiary Circular Reaction & Sensorimotor Stage 6: Mental Combinations
From 18 to 24 months old Higher-level (intellectual) experimentation to (using) imagination Thought then action and (then also new consideration of the: Consequences (e.g., hesitation before touching object know they should not) Ability: pretend (a capacity to combine ideas) Skill: deferred imitation (which involves memory + thinking) Process: store what has been seen (memory) in copying behaviors later time (e.g., hours or days) Ex) The baby imitates a temper tantrum she has observed in an older child so that she can get a cookie, as she saw the older child get a cookie after the temper tantrum.
Primary Circular Reaction & Sensorimotor Stage 1: Stage of Reflexes
From birth to one month Foundation: senses + motor skills Infants: exercise, refine, + organize basic reflexes (Senses/skills) Shift: from unconscious to more deliberate (actions) Learning challenges addressed through reflexes (key: sucking, grasping, staring, listening) Ex) The baby sucks the nipple and anything else that comes near her mouth.
What do humans develop better than other species?
Humans have far more neurons/network to facilitate language + communication Learn language: because priority Question: how do they do so? (very complex) -"Infants are acquiring much of their native language before they utter their first word" (Aslin, 2012, p. 191)
Distinction between memory types implicit vs. explicit memory
Implicit memory: (non-verbal) memory for movement + thoughts (i.e., not put into words) Development: (begins) 3 months and is (stable) at 9 months with (continued improvement) for the rest of first 2 years Explicit memory: can be translated into words
Insights on information-processing perspective in research
Infants remember (very) specific events/objects but (also): general (broader) goals + patterns (e.g., patterns + details indicating time for bed) Overall every day: (infants) are processing info and storing conclusions
Information-Processing Theory
Input to memory to program to analysis to output Mechanisms of thought: incremental details + step-by-step descriptions Ex) Developmental Differences: Hunger Newborn: cries (from hunger pangs) Older infant: multiple senses + actions (e.g., hears mother's voice, looks for her, reaches to be picked up, tries to find breast) Toddler: says something which indicates hunger
Secondary Circular Reaction & Sensorimotor Stage 3: Making Interesting Sights Last
Interaction: infant + environment (is extend beyond self = objects/people) Ages 4 to 8 months Goal: try (to produce) more exciting experiences Experiences trigger active effort toward (environment) interactions Ex) The baby laughs when tickled and shakes arm with pleasure when a rattle is put into her hand.
General overview of the critiques of Piaget
Must address: fidelity (copy + reproduce results) + credibility (formal + complex methods + stats) Contemporary research (which is more complex is unavailable to Piaget) Many sensorimotor accomplishments far earlier and with more variability
What is occurring during stages 4-6?
Object Permanence is the realization: objects/people continue to exist (even if) cannot be seen (e.g., reach for toys fallen from crib) Full understanding (involves): progression through number of stages leads to increasing cognitive complexity Begins: approx. 8 months (stage 4) to fully developed by 24 months (stage 6)
All infants: attracted to two kinds of affordances (2)
People People preference (evolutionary theory) based on the universal principle (infant perception) for survival (need to attend to/rely on = others) Importance of caregivers to recognize + expect = certain affordances (e.g., food, comfort, entertainment)
Information-processing theory: 1) Affordances
Perception requires selectivity (active process where people don't just "see" they "look") Review: perception = processing of information which arrives at brain (through sense organs) Affordances: opportunities for perception + interaction (Provided by) Environment: peoples/places/things afford opportunities regarding interaction with what perceived
Sensorimotor Intelligence: Piaget
Piaget was one of the first psychologists to wonder how infants thinks during the first period of their cognitive development Senses and motor skills lead to initial reflexes/movement that becomes more complex This is used to develop the mind in adapting to experiences Piaget held that children had innovation. That they were active rather than passive learners and exert influences This intelligence is a dynamic system between the interaction of the brain and senses during each stage of cognitive development
Listening and Responding: Newborns/early infancy
Preference: speech sounds (vs. other sounds) + mother's language Familarity: not specific words but other aspects (e.g., rhythm, sound, cadence) Closely attend: facial expressions of others when speaking to them
Infant brain development
Process: dendrites + neurons change to reflect remembered experiences during infancy Two key points (review/reminder) 1) Observe affordances (environmental opportunities) 2) Memories of people + (associated) emotions
Listening and Responding at 7 months
Recognition of highly distinctive words (e.g., bottle vs. puppy vs. mama) Challenge: similar sounding words (e.g., Bobby, bottle, baby)
Babbling (6 to 9 months)
Repetition: certain syllable (e.g., ma-ma-ma) (Should be) encouraged Implication: caregivers should respond to early sounds (crucial predictor of later vocabulary) Experience-expectant (all babies babble) Piaget: make interesting experiences last Ex) Want to make child-directed speech occur so should (increase) babbling (i.e., to elicit from other)
Secondary Circular Reaction & Sensorimotor Stage 4 continued: What is occurring during this stage? Goal-directed behaviour
Still in realm of secondary circular reactions: demonstrate efforts of (how hard) to work to get what is wanted This stage is (generally) representative of how personal understanding (begins to) extend to social understanding (Also) Goal-directed behavior: purposeful action can benefit from new development (i.e., motor skills + brain maturation) 8-10 months Personal to social understanding + and goal-directed behavior Very rapid transition (start = 8 months and end of stage = 10 months) in a combination of experience + brain maturation Ex) Dad Putting on Coat: Knows that dad is leaving and wants to go with him VIDEO: Problem Solving (transition from 8 to 9 months) (8 months cant get the toy on blanket, 9 months gets the toy by pulling the blanket)
All infants: attracted to two kinds of affordances (1)
Things that move Dynamic perception which focus's on movement + change Love motion and (realize) change in body motion leads to a change in (what world) affords (e.g., catching, walking) Ex) Ball Study: Affordances Perceived by Infants (3 months to 9 months) Procedure: ball rolled at various speeds with most trying to catch/touch ball when in reach, but found age-related differences where the perceptions of affordance differed on whether the ball could be caught or not
Rovee-Collier's (1987, 1990) Next experiment
Two weeks after original training: reminder session (i.e., positioned infants to see mobile move but not kick) Results Next day: reconnected to mobile they kicked similar to 2 weeks earlier = remembered Reminder session (previous day) revived faded memory Conclusions Info about making mobile move is stored in brain but: requires processing time/effort to retrieve it
Language: The Universal Sequence
Worldwide: sequence of language development is the same All follow same path despite differences (variability) in specifics Ex) Multiple languages, more rapid/slower language learning Research: Infants with Hearing Impairment (Fazzi et al., 2011) Cochlear implant: become able to hear the same sequence/catch up (children = same age) Sign language: same sequence (sign with one word, (then) increasing length/complexity)