Psych 313: Chap. 5
C5P How touch helps younger and older infants understand the world
Infants learn about the environment through active touch. -Oral exploration dominates for the first few months. -Around 4 months of age, infants gain greater control over their hand and arm movements, and manual exploration gradually takes precedence over oral exploration.
C5 Name the sources of information that infants use to perceive depth and objects.
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C5C How a series of studies using the violation-of-expectancy procedure has demonstrated infants' developing understanding of object-support relations
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C5L How children's understanding of intention plays a role in their observational learning
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C5L How infants learn expectancies for future events and how this has been examined
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C5L What infants learn from paying attention to the objects and events they perceive
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C5MD How a secular change in motor development in the United States was apparently caused by a societal change
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C5MD How infants' awareness of their bodies and motor abilities, as well as their perception of the environment, influences their reaching and locomotor behaviors
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C5MD The impact of experience on infants' judgments of their motor abilities
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C5MD The types of misjudgments that young children make and how this informs our understanding of their development
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C5P The methodologies used to examine infants' visual abilities and what they have demonstrated about infants' preferences and visual acuity
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Describe the development of means-end problem solving in infancy.
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Dishabituation and example
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C5L How learning through instrumental conditioning also teaches infants about their impact on their environment
...Also called operant conditioning Involves learning the relation between one's own behavior and the consequences that result Most instrumental conditioning research with infants involves positive reinforcement, in which a reward reliably follows a behavior and increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated. There is a contingency relation between the infant's behavior and the reward.
C5C How the violation-of-expectancy paradigm has been used to examine a variety of expectations about objects by infants
..The majority of the evidence is based on research using the violation-of-expectancy procedure, in which infants are shown an event that should evoke surprise or interest if it violates something that the infant knows or assumes to be true.
C5MD The general age range for the major motor milestones
0-14monthes
C5L What the process of habituation is and why it is adaptive
A decrease in responsiveness to repeated stimulation reveals that learning has occurred. The infant has a memory representation of the repeated, now-familiar stimulus. The speed with which an infant habituates is believed to reflect the general efficiency of the infant's processing of information. A substantial degree of continuity has been found between these measures in infancy and general cognitive ability later in life.
habituation and example
A decrease in responsiveness to repeated stimulation reveals that learning has occurred. The infant has a memory representation of the repeated, now-familiar stimulus. The speed with which an infant habituates is believed to reflect the general efficiency of the infant's processing of information. A substantial degree of continuity has been found between these measures in infancy and general cognitive ability later in life.
C5L What classical conditioning is and what components stimuli and responses are
A form of learning that consists of associating an initially neutral stimulus with a stimulus that always evokes a reflexive response Plays a role in infants' everyday learning about the relations between environmental events that have relevance for them Classical conditioning involves an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that reliably elicits a reflexive, unlearned response - an unconditioned response (UCR). Learning or conditioning can occur if an initially neutral stimulus, the conditioned stimulus (CS), repeatedly occurs just before the unconditioned stimulus. Gradually, the originally reflexive response - the learned or conditioned response (CR) - becomes paired with the initially neutral stimulus.
classical conditioning and ex
A form of learning that consists of associating an initially neutral stimulus with a stimulus that always evokes a reflexive response Plays a role in infants' everyday learning about the relations between environmental events that have relevance for them It is thought that many emotional responses are initially learned through classical conditioning, as demonstrated by the case of Little Albert.
instrumental conditioning and example
Also called operant conditioning Involves learning the relation between one's own behavior and the consequences that result Most instrumental conditioning research with infants involves positive reinforcement, in which a reward reliably follows a behavior and increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated. - There is a contingency relation between the infant's behavior and the reward.
C5L What instrumental conditioning is and what the limitations of learning in this fashion are
Also called operant conditioning Involves learning the relation between one's own behavior and the consequences that result Most instrumental conditioning research with infants involves positive reinforcement, in which a reward reliably follows a behavior and increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated. There is a contingency relation between the infant's behavior and the reward.
C5P How well infants' auditory system is developed at birth
Although the human auditory system is relatively well developed at birth, hearing does not approach adult levels until age 5 or 6. Newborns turn toward sounds, a phenomenon referred to as auditory localization. Infants are remarkably proficient in perceiving subtle differences in human speech.
C5 Describe the rapid development of visual acuity that occurs during infancy.
Approaches that of adults by age 8 months and reaches full adult acuity by 6 years of age. Young infants prefer to look at patterns of high visual contrast because they have poor contrast sensitivity (the ability to detect differences in light and dark areas). In addition, very young infants have limited color vision, although by 2-3 months of age their color vision is similar to that of adults'.
C5P How infants' perception of patterns and objects develops, including how the cues used to perceive objects change with development
At about 6-7 months of age, infants become sensitive to a variety of monocular or pictorial cues, the perceptual cues of depth that can be achieved by one eye alone. -These include relative size and interposition Before they reach about 19 months of age and have substantial experience with pictures, infants and toddlers attempt to treat pictures as though they were real objects.
C5P How the cues used to perceive depth change with development and the methods used to study this in infants; use of these cues
At about 6-7 months of age, infants become sensitive to a variety of monocular or pictorial cues, the perceptual cues of depth that can be achieved by one eye alone. -These include relative size and interposition Before they reach about 19 months of age and have substantial experience with pictures, infants and toddlers attempt to treat pictures as though they were real objects.
C5MD How current views of motor development differ from early views, and how the dynamic-systems perspective has broadened the view of what influences motor development
Current theories often take a dynamic-systems approach, emphasizing a confluence of many factors, including not only neural mechanisms but also increases in strength, posture control, balance, perceptual skills, and motivation.
C5C How infants' physical knowledge, including an understanding of gravity, develops
Ex. Knowledge of gravity begins in the first year. Infants have been shown to look longer at objects that violate expected motion trajectories.
C5P What factors are involved in newborns' attraction to faces, and how infants' perception of the human face develops
Experience / look longer at faces that are more attractive
C5C Piaget's perspective on infants' knowledge of objects and conceptions of object permanence
In contrast to Piaget's description of the development of object permanence, a great deal of evidence now indicates that young infants are in fact able to mentally represent and think about the existence of invisible objects and events.
C5C How more recent research using different methodologies have demonstrated more advanced knowledge of object permanence than the research concluded by Piaget
In contrast to Piaget's description of the development of object permanence, a great deal of evidence now indicates that young infants are in fact able to mentally represent and think about the existence of invisible objects and events. The majority of the evidence is based on research using the violation-of-expectancy procedure, in which infants are shown an event that should evoke surprise or interest if it violates something that the infant knows or assumes to be true.
perceptual learning and example
Infants actively search for order and regularity in the world around them.
C5L What perceptual learning is, and the key processes involved in it
Infants actively search for order and regularity in the world around them. Differentiation is the extraction from the constantly changing stimulation in the environment of those elements that are invariant or stable. A particularly important part of perceptual learning is the infant's discovery of affordances, the possibilities for action offered by objects and situations.
observational learning and ex
Infants as young as 6 to 9 months of age imitate some of the novel actions they have witnessed. The ability to imitate the behavior of others appears to be present early in life, although in an extremely limited form. - For example, newborns will stick out their tongues after watching an adult model repeatedly perform this action. In choosing to imitate a model, infants appear to pay attention to the reason for the person's behavior. -Infants attempt to reproduce the behavior of other people, but not of inanimate objects. By 15 months of age, infants can imitate actions they have seen an adult perform on television.
C5L What observational learning is and how it develops with age
Infants as young as 6 to 9 months of age imitate some of the novel actions they have witnessed. The ability to imitate the behavior of others appears to be present early in life, although in an extremely limited form. For example, newborns will stick out their tongues after watching an adult model repeatedly perform this action. In choosing to imitate a model, infants appear to pay attention to the reason for the person's behavior. Infants attempt to reproduce the behavior of other people, but not of inanimate objects. By 15 months of age, infants can imitate actions they have seen an adult perform on television.
C5C What infants appear to know about people and their behavior and how research has demonstrated this knowledge
Infants must acquire knowledge about people and their behavior. -Distinguishing animate and inanimate entities -Knowing that the behavior of others is purposeful and goal-directed By the end of their first year, infants have learned a great deal about how people's behavior is related to their goals and intentions.
C5 Explain the preferential-looking technique for the study of infant perception.
Involves showing infants two patterns or two objects at a time to see if the infants have a preference for one over the other.
C5L How classical conditioning plays a role in everyday learning and emotional responses
It is thought that many emotional responses are initially learned through classical conditioning, as demonstrated by the case of Little Albert.
C5MD How sociocultural factors can influence the timing of major motor milestones
Mothers in Mali believe it is important to exercise their infants to promote their physical and motor development. The maneuvers shown here do not harm the babies and do hasten their early motor skills
C5MD What reflexes are
Newborns demonstrate reflexes - innate, fixed patterns of action that occur in response to particular stimulation.
C5 Describe the rapid development of scanning patterns that occurs during infancy.
One-month-olds (a) scan the perimeters of shapes. Two-month-olds (b) scan both the perimeters and the interiors of shapes.
C5C How different theoretical perspectives point to different sources of infants' cognitive abilities
Physical Knowledge Ex. Knowledge of gravity begins in the first year. Infants have been shown to look longer at objects that violate expected motion trajectories
C5MD How reaching and self-produced locomotion change infants' experience of the world
Reaching For the first few months, infants are limited to prereaching movements - clumsy swiping movements by young infants toward the general vicinity of objects they see. Infants begin successfully reaching for objects at around 3 to 4 months of age. At about 7 months, as infants gain the ability to sit independently, their reaching becomes quite stable. Reaching shows signs of anticipation, and by 10 months of age, infants' approach to an object is affected by what they intend to do with the object. Self Locomotion At around 8 months of age, infants become capable of self-locomotion for the first time as they begin to crawl. Infants begin walking independently at around 11 to 12 months of age, using a toddling gait.
C5 Describe the developmental progression of reaching and self-locomotion.
Reaching At about 7 months, as infants gain the ability to sit independently, their reaching becomes quite stable. Reaching shows signs of anticipation, and by 10 months of age, infants' approach to an object is affected by what they intend to do with the object. Self At around 8 months of age, infants become capable of self-locomotion for the first time as they begin to crawl. Infants begin walking independently at around 11 to 12 months of age, using a toddling gait.
C5P How infants perceive aspects of music, what their preferences are, and the extent to which their musical perception is similar to that of adults
Recent research evidence suggests a biological foundation for music perception. Infants share the strong preferences adults have for some musical sounds over others.
C5 Explain the role of culture and experience in the achievement of motor milestones.
See slide 21
C5P Some of the tastes and smells preferred by infants and how these preferences are formed
Sensitivity to taste and smell develops before birth. Newborns have an innate preference for sweet flavors. Newborns prefer the smell of breast milk and by two weeks of age appear to be able to differentiate the scent of their own mothers from that of other women.
C5P How intermodal perception has been examined in infants and what it has indicated about the developmental path of these abilities
The combining of information from two or more senses is present from very early in life. Very young infants link sight and sound, oral and visual experience, and visual and tactile experience. - When two videos are presented simultaneously, 4-month-old -infants prefer to watch the images that correspond to the sounds they are hearing. - Using a similar technique, researchers have found that by 5 months of age, infants associate facial expressions with emotion in voices.
C5 Provide evidence for intermodal perception in early infancy.
The combining of information from two or more senses is present from very early in life. Very young infants link sight and sound, oral and visual experience, and visual and tactile experience. - When two videos are presented simultaneously, 4-month-old infants prefer to watch the images that correspond to the sounds they are hearing. - Using a similar technique, researchers have found that by 5 months of age, infants associate facial expressions with emotion in voices
Explain the use of the violation-of-expectancy procedure in the study of infant cognition.
The majority of the evidence is based on research using the violation-of-expectancy procedure, in which infants are shown an event that should evoke surprise or interest if it violates something that the infant knows or assumes to be true.
C5 Describe the rapid development of pattern perception that occurs during infancy.
Two-month-old infants can analyze and integrate separate elements of a visual display into a coherent pattern. -When you look at this figure, you no doubt see a square. -Seven-month-olds also see the overall pattern here and detect the illusory square. Infants are also able to perceive coherence among moving elements
C5P The general limitations of infant vision compared to the vision of adults
Young infants prefer to look at patterns of high visual contrast because they have poor contrast sensitivity (the ability to detect differences in light and dark areas). In addition, very young infants have limited color vision, although by 2-3 months of age their color vision is similar to that of adults
C5P What types of faces infants prefer and how these preferences have been studied
attractive faces
C5P How infants perceive and understand pictures
infants and toddlers attempt to treat pictures as though they were real objects
C5 Describe several reflexes that are present at birth.
innate, fixed patterns of action that occur in response to particular stimulation.
C5P sensation vs p
refers to the processing of basic information from the external world by the sensory receptors in the sense organs and brain.
C5P Perception vs s
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information about the objects, events, and spatial layout of our surrounding world.