developmental psych exam 2
piaget's formal operations stage
11 years and older. achievements: hypothetico-deductive reasoning - ability to think abstractly and hypothetically, ability to engage in scientific thinking, ponder deep questions regarding truth, justice, morality, etc
steps in pattern perception
3 weeks: poor contrast sensitivity, prefer large simple patterns - the brain is not that developed so large patterns easier to process. their eyes are drawn to wherever they can find high contrast 2 months: can detect fine-grained detail, prefer complex patterns - scarf study 4 months: can detect patterns even if boundaries are not really present 12 months: can detect objects if two-thirds of drawing is missing
behavior on A not B task in piaget's sensorimotor substages
3. will search if partially covered. not object permanence, they are capable of searching behavior 4. will search if fully covered, but makes A not B error 5. can nope with visible displacement. overcome A not B only if it is visibly displaced (see you move it) 6. can cope with invisible displacement. can rearrange where the object is. can track it and find it (ex carnival game of ball under cup) - object permanence is a prerequisite for this. but in order to do this well you need executive function too
prosocial behavior
any action that benefits other people
quality of home literacy and its effect on vocabulary development
books without words are valuable for parents without a lot of language
inductive discipline
help child notice others' feelings - "look johnny is sad". point out effects of misbehavior on others "ITS YOUR FAULT". note others' distress. make clear the child caused the distress - empathy-based guilt. don't just put the kid in time out, make them learn
protodeclarative: pointing and showing
higher level. also social. another way to call attention
equifinality
idea that there can be multiple developmental pathways to end up at the same result. ex fearful toddler with gentle discipline can end up in same place as bold toddler with responsiveness
cognitive-developmental theory
piaget viewed human cognition as a biological adaptation of. complex organism to a complex environment via the following processes: assimilation, accommodation, = equilibrium
navigating with maps: dual representation challenge
the map is an object and also a symbolic representation. preschoolers can use simple maps. but can't keep track of the fact that not all map characteristics are literally represented in the real world - look for dotted line or red X. cannot keep track of how maps do not look like the real world
stage 1: punishment and obedience orientation
the morality of a behavior depends on its consequences. the greater the har, done or more severe the punishment, the more 'bad' the act is. moral action is motivated by avoidance of punishment. not about motive-only consequence. similar to piaget's 1st stage. he shouldn't break in because he might get caught and go to jail
how about inverted faces
they can't differentiate faces or emotions when the faces are inverted (upside down)
early semantic development categorized
underextensions (about word meaning), overextensions (about word meaning - use word for broader category than it is: city kids leave cities and call goats dogs), word coinages (kid makes up a word for something and use that word consistantly
awareness of subject-verb-object word order/ syntactic bootstrapping
using grammar of sentence for clues of what the word is. by age 2 kids can figure out what the very is. must be the section picture because the duck is doing the action
the steps of classical conditioning
when you learn in association, something that had no meaning becomes a stimulus
pictorial depth cues
5-12 months. development of good visual acuity.
object thinking
separate meaning from object. making a banana a phone
development is a process of _____ change
constant
equal equilibrium
no discrepancies between experience and understanding
timeline for emotion processing circuits
- 0-5 months: structural formation of neural circuitry. enough brain maturation that they are ready to learn about emotions - 5-7 months: experience-expectant functional development - t happens with rapid change. fixation on fear faces perceive emotions almost like adults - 8 months to adolescence: experience-dependent functional developkent. subtle distinctions
perceptual narrowing effect: speech and faces
- 0-6 months, can distinguish speech sounds in all languages - by 9 months, less sensitive to speech distinctions in non-native languages - the brain prunes away nonrelevant syllable distinctions - similar pattern with face perception - 6-month-olds can learn to recognize monkey faces, 9-month-olds don't - emphasizing perceptual distinctions that are more relevant in the environment is a function of evolution
core-knowledge theories of cognitive development
- NTURE and nurture - children have innate cognitive knowledge (focus on what is innate) - specialized learning abilities that allow them to quickly and effortlessly acquire information of evolutionary importance - experience expectant processes, infants are more capable
criticisms of piaget's theory
- children's thinking is not as consistent as the stages suggest. it is far more variable and they can often backslide - infants and young children are more competent than piaget recognized (he equated performance and knowledge) - piaget understates the contribution of the social and cultural world to cognitive development
spatial learning and the sociocultural context
- aboriginal children growing up in the desert were compared to euro-australian children growing up in cities - children were asked to study a random array of objects, and then reconstruct it from memory
factors contributing to semantic development
- adult feedback - correct and fine tune - cognitive processing: working memory - phonological store impoves (eg remembering what your professor is saying enough to write it, but still listening to what is currently being said) - strategies: mutual exclusivity bias, whole object bias, shape bias, syntactic bootstrapping, social information
vygotsky and education
- assisted discovery. teacher guides learning and tailors help to zone of proximal development. you want the task to be a little but too hard but not impossible - peer collaboration - kids learn through each other
elementary age semantic development
- big vocabulary increase. fast-mapping continues. analyze word structure. - use words precisely, understand multiple meanings - metaphors, puns from 1st to 5th grade vocabulary quadruples by 5th grade, they understand that the same word can have multiple meanings and are better able to play with words and tell jokes.
speech perception
- can detect sounds/syllables of any human language. prefer slow, clear, and high-pitched (ie baby voice). prefer own mother's voice. even people who have not been around babies will do baby voice - it's a function of evolution. - statistical learning capacity for speech patterns and sounds - newborns can discriminate languages of different rhythmic families (ie germanic and romance languages - english and spanish) - so can rats and tamarin monkeys - by 4 months, they can discriminate within the same rhythmic families (ie spanish and italian) - by 12 months, segment speech into words, pair word with object: do you want to touch the KEYS - they must have some understanding of what keys are. <7% of speech directed at infant consists of single words
three areas of ethics (shweder)
- community: based on moral concepts such as duty, hierarchy and interdependency, which is designed to help individuals achieve dignity by virtue of their role and position in a society - level 3 - autonomy: based on moral concepts such as har,. rights and justice, which is designed to protect individuals in pursuit of the gratification of their wants - level 4 - divinity: based on moral concepts such as natural order, sacred order, sanctity, sin and pollution, which is designed to maintain the integrity of the spiritual side of human nature - hot covered by kohlberg there are still times in our lives that we think at a level 1 - if i speed will i get caught? is anyone watching me
conservation concepts
- conservation of liquid quantity - conservation of solid quantity - conservation of number in preoperational period - children only pay attention to static states. they will consistently get it wrong, they are not guessing, they just understand incorrectly
basics of piaget's theory
- constructivist approach. believed baby and child are building up (constructing) knowledge. very active role - general theory of development: all aspects of cognition change in an integrated fashion. stage theory is discontinuous - four universal, invariant stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
first speech sounds
- cooing - 2 months. vowel sounds - babbling - 6 months (needs to happen around this time otherwise pediatrician takes note). consonant-vowel combination. universal timing. range expands appraxia: muscle issue with tongue
follow-up research on concrete operational thought
- culture and teaching practices affect performance on tasks. conservation often delayed in tribal societies - likely practice effect. going to school gives experience on piagetian tasks - relevant non-school experiences of some cultures can help too
limitations of pre-operational thought
- egocentrism - centration - lack reversibility of mental operations - lack hierarchical classification
overregularization
- errors appear as children begin to learn grammar rules - applying rules without appropriate exceptions. eg goed instead of went. after learning about the rule, they might start saying goed and overreguarlize
piagets theories of moral development
- heteronomous morality (5-8 years): view rules as handed down by authorities, permanent, unchangeable, require strict obedience - morality of cooperation (9 years and older): rules as socially agreed-on, flexible principles. standard of ideal reciprocity. judge on outcomes and intentions
early grammatical development
- holofrastic period: 1 word. no grammar - telegraphic speech: 2-word combinations. high-content words. very concise- mama water (key context words) usually noun _ noun or noun + verb - simple sentences: 3-word sentences. past tense -ed will sometimes occur. follow adult rules piecemeal, gradually refine and generalize. affected by language environment
early words
- holophrastic period: - in english, productive vocabulary is mostly nouns at first - cultural difference - American mothers label objects whereas japanese mothers label verbs more (so japanese babies learn verbs sooner)
evaluation of vygotsky's theory
- how vygotsky was right: helps explain cultural diversity in cognition. emphasizes importance of teaching - how vygotsky might have been wrong: focus on language de-emphasizes observation and other learning methods. says little about biological contributions to cognition - did not explain how cognitive development happened. vague in explanation of change - did not pay attention to observation and how children learn.
assimilation and accommodation depend on your experience
- if you hear a loud noise, what do you think it is? ex. live in a "nice" area, think that a loud noise may just be a car backfiring, live in a "bad" area, might think that the loud noise is a gun. the way we interpret input is impacted by our past experience - stereotypes are also schemas. gender, race, etc. - accommodation is hard bc you have to adjust what you thought before instead of just adding it into what you already know
motor skills as dynamic systems
- increasingly complex systems of action with each skill - four factors in each new skill: 1. central nervous system development 2. body's movement capacity 3. child's goals - critical bc takes lot of trial and error - babies sometimes crawl backwards 4. environmental supports - soft vs hard surfaces
interactionist perspectives of language development
- inner capacities and environment work together - social interactionist theories: social context is important (social competence - addresses what was missing from nativists (note: children with autism and difficult temperaments might have limited social interactions) and language experiences - how are people interacting/talking around you) - information processing theories: role of statistical learning - word order. this with biological preparedness helps children learn
prelinguistic development
- joint attention - non-verbal, sharing attention. important factor for early language development - receptivity to language - how ready are kids to learn language - first speech sounds - babbling
joint attention and language
- joint attention facilitates world-learning by focusing the child's attention on the relevant aspects of the environment and therefore helping the child to infer a speaker's referential intent. child needs to pay attention to where speaker is looking to understand what they are talking about - the importance of joint attention for word learning may vary somewhat over development
autistic children: joint attention deficits
- language development is concurrently and longitudinally predicted by frequency of joint attention behaviors - interventions to improve their joint attention lead to gains in language development - the mechanisms of joint attention still work, but they engage in less joint attention. - autistic children aren't usually diagnosed until 4-5 years old, but at 2-3, its obvious that they are need assessment
learning two languages
- learn both at the same time: no problems wit language development. good at both by preschool - one, then the other: takes 3 to 5 yeas to be as good as the same-age native speakers of second language - both offer cognitive advantages of bilingualism. switching between 2 languages encourages attention, reasoning, concepts, flexibility. general language skills
comparison of dynamic systems to other theories of cognitive development
- like piaget, emphasizes child's internal motivation to explore and learn. will practice new skills even when established skills would be more efficient - like sociocultural theory, emphasizes importance of the social world (but more focused on imitation rather than teaching interactions) - unique in PERVASIVE emphasis on centrality of action
social origins of make-believe play
- make-believe ply is major means by which children grow cognitively and learn about important activities in culture - toddlers need encouragement to participate in imaginative make-believe play - parents and siblings play an important role in modeling make-believe play (guidance)
evaluation of core knowledge perspective
- most serious consideration of beginnings of thinking - amount and nature of inborn knowledge is hotly debated - suggests environment and experience work together (baillargean), but does not clarify how/what experiences are needed - suggests cognitive development is independent (piaget); little attention to learning with others
motor milestones
- motor development does NOT have sensitive periods - some cultures carry their babies more often "baby wearing" - these babies sometimes learn to walk more delayed - differences also in the home - harder to sit up on mattress/couch than hard floor/bench - they also have to learn again how to balance without holding onto things even after they learn how to stand while holding on
mutual exclusivity and whole object bias
- mutual exclusivity: assumption only one label applies to each object. ex: kid knows the word for paan but not the word for spoon. say "find the spoon" and kid will pick up the spoon (process of elimination). you could say" find the block" and they will still pick up the spoon - whole object bias: assume label applies to entire object. not to part of an object. ex say find the rabbit and kid will assume you are talking about the whole animal, not the ears or the paw
vygotsky's sociocultural theory of cognitive development
- nature and NURTURE. cognitive development occurs though INTERACTION with parents, siblings, teachers, and playmates. it involved use of cultural tools, like symbol systems, artifacts skills, and values - the active child: both a learner and a teacher - mechanism of change: 1. children are social beings shaped by their cultural contexts. content varies greatly across culture. 2. cognitive change originates in social interaction
limitations of nativist perspective of language development
- no agreement on universal grammar rules - contradictions observation of development. more experimentation, learning involved - fine tune their behavior. children don't apply a consistent grammatical structure - theory lacks comprehensiveness. ignores quality of language input. ignores role of social experience (how language is largely learned) and cognitive capacities (IQ, memory)
types of early words
- object and action: more objects than actions. objects are easier concepts. adults rarely name verbs - state: adjectives, modifiers or labels for attributes - size, color, possession. learn general distinctions before specific ie big and tall before rough and shiny
speech perception: experience expectant process
- species typical - similar brain circuitry to adults - too advanced to be based purely on auditory experience - argues for experience-expectant modules to facilitate language acquisition
limitations of concrete operational thought
- operations work best with concrete objects. problems with abstract ideas - can mentally manipulate concrete things like numbers - continuum of acquisition. master concrete operational tasks gradually (usually number, then liquid and solid quantity, then weight). they have trouble with empathy
dynamic motor systems in action
- order in which motor skills develop depends on anatomy, environment, and baby's efforts - cultural varitions in child rearing also affect motor development
components of languge
- phonology: rules about structure and sequence of speech sounds - semantics: vocabulary - words and word combinations for concepts - grammar: syntax - rules for sentences, morphology - grammatical markers - pragmatics: appropriate and effective communication
children's private speech
- piaget called this "egocentric speech" - vygotsky viewed as foundation for all higher cognitive processes - helps guide behavior - used more when tasks are difficult, after errors, or when confused - gradually becomes more silent and internalized - children with learning and behavior problems use it longer
deferred imiitation: piaget vs new research
- piaget: deferred imitation develops at about 18 months - newer research: 6 weeks - deferred facial imitation, 6-9 months - deferred copying actions with objects, 12-18 months - deferred imitates skillfully
is kohlberg's theory applicable to non-western societies?
- postconventional moral reasoning not observed in some communal societies. in smaller communal societies, there is no stage 5. your universe is your village - specific ideas about what moral behavior is and what the universal moral principles are vary by culture. individuals who occupy a subordinate position (eg arab women) tend to view themselves as having few choices and under greater moral obligation to obey authority. these women might give answers more like level 3 because they hav been socialized to value relationships. - obviously not everyone agrees on universal moral priinciples
learning through action (velcro and more)
- practice reaching with velcro-covered mitten for velcro-covered objects improved later grabbing ability without velcro. - skillful reachers are more likely to correctly predict with their gaze where another person is reaching - actions also affect vocabulary learning (saying the wrong label makes it hard to later learn the correct label) - actions shape memory: children's past attempts to dig up an object in a sandbox affect where they think it's hidden, even after being shown a new location - similar to A not B, but in this case its more muscle memory
benefits of make-believe play
- practice representational schemas. do not need to teach them to do this, they will do it anyways. kids play a lot of places they go (school, doctors, store) - emotional integration. can help them work through emotional issues, it shows up in their play - social, language skills - attention, memory, logical reasoning. much more fun when everyone follows rules and acts logically - imagination, creativity
kohlberg's stages of moral development
- preconventional level: stage 1 - punishment and obedience. stage 2 - instrumental purpose - conventional level (most adults think like this): stage 3 - "good boy-good girl" (morality of interpersonal cooperation). stage 4 - social-order-maintaining - postconventional or principled level (very rare): stage 5 - social-contract. stage 6 - universal ethical principle
steps in reaching and grasping
- prereaching (reflex) - newborn - reaching with ulnar grasp - as if all fingers wilded together. 1st kind of reaching 3-4 months) - reaching (move objects hand to hand) 4-5 months - pincer grasp - forefinger and thumb more detailed motor grasp. 9 months
baillargeon's interpretation of support relations/gravity findings
- quantitative reasoning (are they touching enough) is more difficult than qualitative reasoning (are they touching or not) - like other core knowledge theorists, assumes more innate knowledge at the starting point compared to piaget, and highly constrained learning mechanisms - but, like piaget, takes the approach that nature and nurture combine and knowledge is not all-or nothing. experience will help them build on innate understanding of gravity and gain more sophisticated knowledge
individual differences in language style
- referential: speech strategy analyzing speech stream into individual phonetic elements and words - first utterances tend to be monosyllabic - dog, ball most common - expressive: giving more attention to overall sound of language (sounds conversational) - figuring out tone and turn taking of language may use hand gestures - wait and see style: late talkers who then have a large quickly growing vocabulary - not talking then all of a sudden at 3 speaking in complete sentences. most common in bilingual kids
consequences of adolescent cognitive changes
- self-consciousness and self-focusing - adolescents are very self focused. imaginary audience - everyone always watching the, all the time - kids in middle childhood and college don't think like this anymore. sensitivity to criticism. personal fable - you don't understand what it's like to be me. thinking of yourself as unique - idealism and criticism - decision-making problems. inexperience. overwhelming option
vygotsksy's sociocultural theory
- social scaffolding: more competent people provide temporary guidance that leads children to higher-order thinking - zone of proximal development: the range between what children can do unsupported and what they can do with optimal support
piaget's cognitive-development theory: where does it stand on developmental controversies
- stage theory - discontinuous - "child as scientist" - active (agents of their own development) - nature-nurture interaction as the mechanism of change - universal (not looking at individual differences - how did prior developments pave the way for new cognitive achievement). not exactly universal bc he did not test outside his own culture - performance = knowledge baby has a limited repertoire. if experiment isn't designed well, you might be measuring something you didn't design to test. wasn't making assumptions. only gave babies credit for knowing things when they can perform them. he high standard, ages for cognitive development is later than we would say now so don't memorize
piaget's moral dilemmas
- story 1: john accidentally breaks 15 cups on his way to dinner - story 2: henry went to steal jam, while doing it he accidentally knocks over 1 cup and breaks it who is naughtier and why? piaget - john is naughtier bc his actions had worse consequences. at 10 years old, they are more likely to consider both intention and outcome
phonological development
- the acquisition of knowledge about the sound system of a language. - english uses 45 of the 200 sounds in the world's languages. - phonemes: elementary units of sound used to produce language. eg 'rake' and 'lake' differ by one phoneme - early phase: first words - can only pronounce few sounds. related to semantic development. understand more than they can say - later development: refine syllable stress patterns - related to meaning
overview of language
- theoretical perspectives - prelinguistic development - learning two languages - components of language: phonology, semantics, grammar, pragmatics
action is essential to problem solving
- thinking isn't enough - child also needs motor capabilities to solve problems - example of child pulling cloth to get the snack that's out of reach - younger babies won't know to pull blanket. even if they knew, they don't have motor skills to do it.
deferred imitation: advanced
- to make a shaker, put in the ball, cover it up, then shake it - usually pass at around 12-15 months when they learn the task and can replicate it themselves. do not let them touch, just demonstrate. only works if you do it in the right order. important because it is a way that we are socialized and learn from those around us (parents, teacher. peers). may not be able to imitate an action right away so need to storer it to try later. being better at this means that they are better at declarative memory later on (able to memorize and list words when they are 7)
object permanence
- understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight - according to piaget, develops in substage 4 (8-12 months). if something drops out of sight they are not going to cry about it because it is out of sight and out of mind. as they get older they will look for whatever they drop. applies to attachment - as they understand object permanence they cry less bc they know mom still exists, just not in room - incomplete at first: A-not B search error
dual representation
- viewing a symbolic object as both an object and a symbol. ex: a map. it is aa piece of paper but also a representation of the city. letters and numbers are also symbolic - mastered around age 3 - adult teaching can help. provide lots of maps, photos, drawings, make-believe playthings, etc. point out similarities to real world. expose children to diverse symbols (ie letters, numbers, maps, logos, signs)
kinetic cues
0-1 month; sensitivity to motion. looming effect - flinching (lifetime reflex)
the pre-operational stage
2 to 7 years. achievements during pre-operational stage: language, make-believe play, dual representation
sensorimotor substages
1. reflexive schemes - birth to 1 month - newborn reflexes 2. primary circular reactions - 1-4 months - simple motor habits centered around own body 3. secondary circular reactions - 4-8 months - repeat interesting effects in surroundings 4. coordination of secondary circular reactions - 8-12 months - intentional, goal-directed behavior, object permanence 5. tertiary circular reactions - 12-18 months - explore priorities of objects through novel actions and experimentation 6. mental representations - 18-24 months - internal depictions of objects or vents; deferred imitation
key mechanisms for word learning
10-12 months: perceptual salience - attribute it to whatever catches their attention most 12-24 months: joint attention - paying attention to what other people are talking about 2 years and up: figure out what something mans based on its place in the sentence. using grammatical structure to infer
pragmatic development
2 year olds can have effective conversations. gradual increase in related turn-taking and decline in collective monologue - having an actual conversation. never gets to 100 even in adulthood. the graphs are practically opposite
binocular depth cues
2-3 months. images your left and right eye see are slightly different, what you perceive merges these inputs. more similar for things far away, more different for things close up. intentional reaching is 1st major milestone (2-3 months) - ned depth perception for this
infants' arithmetic (wynn)
5 months old. sequence of events: 1+1 = 1 or 2?the impossible outcome is most perceptually similar (one bunny), but not possible bc then the other one just disappeared. babies looked longer at the impossible outcome. only works with very small numbers - they are not actually counting, only works with 2-3 objects
physical knowledge: causality (leslie)
6 months. habituation of one block hitting the other, then look at possible vs impossible alternatives. babies look longer at the impossible event - understanding that size plays an important role. only perceive causality if simple shapes used (no faces) - people can move when other ppl get too close. when using real world objects like a car, 6-month-olds get distracted by the visual stimulus because of limited processing capacity at that age - all processing goes to complexity of the object. they are unable to perceive causality in real world examples until 11 months.
piaget's concrete operational stage
7-11 years. achievements: decentration and transformation, classification and seriation, reversible intellectual operations (ie conservation), logical thinking begins
infant brains respond to faces differently than non-faces
EEG experiment using saltwater as a conductor to measure neuron firing/brain response. temporal lobe is involved in recognizing faces. 6 month olds' temporal lobe shows a different response to faces than to objects, and to mom's vs. stranger's face
the pendulum problem
The task is to determine the influence of weight, string length, and dropping point on the time it takes for the pendulum to swing back and forth. unbiased experiments require varying one and only one variable at a time—for example, comparing a heavier weight to a lighter weight when both are attached to strings of the same length and dropped from the same point. children younger than 12 usually perform unsystematic experiments and draw incorrect conclusions.
infant learning: habituation
a decrease in response to repeated stimulation, revealing that learning has occurred
schema
a mental representation. concept of whaat things mean. not born with, build as children grow. eg schema for an apple, schema for "going to the grocery store." apple - color, texture, taste, appearance
joint attention
a set of abilities that involve sharing or coordinating attention with another person with respect to objects of events - mom and baby looking at book together
adolescent semantic development
abstract terms, sarcasm, irony, figurative language. they are cognitively more sophisticated and frontal lobe is more developed/capable of higher-level thought. entering stage of formal operations - piaget - more capable of abstract thought (like sarcasm and irony and proverbs)
testing infants for deferred imitation
after researchers performed a novel series of actions with a puppet, this 6-month-old imitates the actions a day later - (a) removing the glove; (b) shaking the glove to ring a bell inside. with age, gains in recall are evident in deferred imitation of others' behavior over long delays. ex: show puppet but do not let the baby touch it. remove glove and ring the bell in it. when the baby is finally allowed to touch the puppet they pull off the glove to ring the bell. control group will reach for the eyes or nose because those are the salient features. do not think to go to the glove because they do not know the bell is there
infant-directed speech
also called "mother-ease" - but don't have to be mother to do this. this makes it easier for baby to learn words - short sentences - high pitch - exaggerated expression - clear pronunciation - distinct pauses - clear gestures - repetition
egocentrism
collective monologue. the conversations between two kids don't match up
does moral reasoning predict moral conduct
as children get older, and moral reasoning develops, prosocial behavior tends to increase. individuals at higher stages of moral reasoning are more likely than peers at lower stages to behave prosocially and conscientiously (at least for older children, adolescents, and adults). these relationships are only moderate.
enduring insights from piaget's theory of moral judgements
as kids get older, they increasingly take motives into account of moral reasoning. cognitive level, matters for moral reasoning (IQ, piagetian cognitive stage, perspective-taking skills). parenting matters (authoritarian style associated with less advanced moral reasoning and less moral behavior. piaget was not a neuroscientist, he was not thinking in terms of brain development. b/c of centration in the preoperational period, they can only think about motives OR outcomes. at concrete operational period, they are able to think about more than one thing at once so can think about both motives and outcomes
prevalence of kohlberg's stages for males of different ages
at age 10, most kids at stage 2. by end of adolescence 3 and 4 are most common stage. no stage 6 (stage 5 highest) but only about 10% of people ever reach this
visual cliff - wariness of heights
at around 7 months, they start to not want to go over the cliff. younger babies crawl off. by 7 months they start to become afraid of heights. something they learn from experience. experiment: took new crawlers and experienced drawlers of the same age (abt 7 months), new crawlers crawl off ledge, experienced crawlers do not. if you get mom to encourage you to climb off, new crawlers will, experienced crawlers won't - they just cry.
assessing auditory-visual intermodal perception
audio only matches only one of the screens. brain wants to integrate audio and video. by abt 5 months, babies will look more at the speaker that matches the audio
infant observational learning: media
babies learn both ways (in person and through recording), but they learn better through a live person because more senses are involved in back and forth interactions. It is unclear if babies learn well through facetime because there is still back and forth. TV show pauses and breaking the 3rd wall helps the baby stay engaged
disengaging attention from emotional faces
babies pay more attention to fearful faces
infant emotion discrimination paradigm
babies will look longer at emotions that they were not habituated to - looking t a smiling face for a long time, then a surprised face, they will look at surprised face longer. after habituation to upright happy face, 7 month old infants discriminate them from upright negative faces.
example of assimilation and accommodation: banging
banging is a favorable scheme used by babies to explore their world, and assimilation occurs when they incorporate new objects into the scheme. accommodation occurs when the new object doesn't fit the existing scheme. - first instinct may be to bang things they are given because that is part of their schema - if given something fragile that will break, they will accommodate to know that some things are fragile and cannot be banged
if infants have core knowledge early, why are they not showing it in their behaviors (eg by searching for hidden objects)?
because of ancillary deficits. ancillary deficit hypothesis states that the reason older babies and toddlers fail to implement what they know is because of other (side) deficits. also explains why they have trouble building things - it is easier to look at something and think it looks off than build it yourself. piaget only gave credit to babies after they overcame these ancillary deficits.
intermodal perception
being able to coordinate perception across senses - looking at someones mouth moving while they're talking in order to listen to them better - piaget - sensory modalities are initially separate - gibson - newborn already has some ability to integrate information from different sensory modalities. the main way we see this is in reflexes - orienting reflex: sound and vision
sensorimotor stage
birth to 2 years. building schemas through sensory and motor exploration. circular reaction - feedback loop between the baby and the world
steps in depth perception
birth-1 month: sensitivity to motion cues. looming effect. reflex - flinching when something comes at them 2-3 months: sensitivity to binocular cues. brain is merging perceptions from both eyes. most sensitive when objects are close to the face 6-7 months: sensitivity to pictorial cues, wariness of heights
assessing visual-tactile intermodal perception
change from 8 to 9.5 months (Bushnell). experience of motor development fine tunes experience of perception. experiment is done with two objects that obviously different in size and texture. 1/2 of the time, the babies got to touch the toy that they were looking at, 1/2 of the time, they touched the other object through a mirror trick. 8 month olds did not notice when they were feeling the wrong object, 9.5 month olds did.
perspectives on moral development
check textbook for details - biological: evolutionary, genetic heritage. brain areas - psychoanalytic: freud - superego and guild. today - induction, empathy-based guilt - social learning: modeling moral behavior - develop moral behavior by watching other people's behavior - behaviorist: rewards and punishment - might not internalize value if they just want reward - cognitive-developmental: children as active thinkers about social rules
children as naive theorists: core knowledge
children actively organize their understanding of the most important domains into informal theories. divid all objects into a few basic categories. explain events in terms of aa few basic and unobservable causes
does development of moral reasoning truly occur in discontinuous stages
children and adults often regress to a lower moral reasoning stage even when they have acquired a higher stage of moral reasoning - multiple stages co-exist. so could be conceptualized more like overlapping waves of orientations to moral reasoning. what's the highest level you're capable of and then moving around thorough those levels
altruism
concern for welfare of others expressed through prosocial behavior; caring about other people and engaging in behavior that benefits them. motivational definition vs behavioral definition. most children aged 12 and under use a behavioral definition. most adolescents and adults use a motivational definition, though it's often hard to make the distinction in practice. motivational definition - the act is good, but the motivation is bad which makes it non altruistic
dynamic
continuously changing. mastering a skill depends of physiology, activity level, arousal, motivation, and experience - which vary between individuals and from day to day in the same person. eg to learn to reach effectively, some babies need to increase their activity level, others need to learn to control wild movements. the task depends on all these dynamic factors
physical knowledge: support relations and gravity (baillargeon)
cross sectional study. understanding of gravity, but no understanding of support relations. shows how practice and experience intersect with an innate domain. by 3 months, babies will look longer at a block that is floating. by 5 months, babies will look longer at a block that is touching the side. at 6.5 months, babies will look longer at a block that is just slightly touching the other. by 12.5 months, babies will look longer at a block that is balanced, but defying gravity
spatial array used to study links between sociocultural context and spatial learning
cultural difference in approach to learning the information. aboriginal children have better developed spatial skills. european kids try to memorize display verbally, aboriginal kids map out layout ini their brains in the same way they map out terrain
overextension - point to the sheep
do they not know that the goat is not a dog, or are they overextending the word because they don't know the correct one. overextensions are because they don't know the word for it yet so they say the closest thing to it. "point to the sheep" the child will point to the one that they know is not a dog
the wug test
do you know "'s" means plural. "there are two of them. there are two WUGS"
mechanisms of change: survival of the fittest actions
dynamic systems theory does not just apply to cognitive development, applies to all mechanisms of change - variation: use of different behaviors or strategies to pursue the same goal (really helpful for math) - selection: more frequent use of behaviors that are successful and efficient in reaching goals
violation-of-expectancy: baillargeon's drawbridge study
everyone experiences a (habituation) and b (adding a box). half then experience c (a possible event) and the other half experience d (an impossible event). the impossible event looks the most like a (which they have been habituated to). if they knew nothing about the world, they would not pay attention to d because they are habituated, but they spend a longer amount of time looking at d. they must have some sort of understanding of solidity. it's not just perceptual interest because they would look longer at c, they know d is impossible
infant locomotion
experienced crawling does not teach you to be a wise walker (adolph). won't crawl over edge but will walk. to avoid SIDS, parents put babies on their backs, these babies tend to skip the crawling stage and go right to walking. it doesn't matter that they're skipping crawling stage, they are getting to the sam end point
assimilation or accommodation: fish
fish is fish by Leo Lionni: frog and fish are friends, the frog tells fish about creatures he has seen in the sky. the fish pictures are what the creatures looked like. pictures that they all look like fish but with different features. assimilation because he is taking what the frog is telling him and making it fit what he already knows (only knows what fish look like). baby swiping a magazine is accommodation
nativist perspective of language development
focused on language being innate. language acquisition device (LAD) biologically prepares infants to learn rules of language. they rapidly learn rules of language. evidence: - animals have difficulty acquiring language - gorillas can be trained to speak in a very laborious way, babies will pick it up on their own. gorillas just repeat - no novel sentences - languages have many structural elements in common - infants learn language early, even with minimal input - even babies surrounded by people who aren't fluent in a language will pick up language better - sensitive period
centration
focusing on one dimension of objects or events and neglecting other. also, focusing on static states rather than transformations. ex: failure to use both geometric cues and landmarks together. ex: failure to conserve.
testing infant understanding of object permanence using predictive eye tracking
if the ball behaves weirdly, they will not track it as they do with normally functioning balls
shape bias
if you change the size, texture, and color, they will categorize it as the same. if you change the shape, it is suddenly a different object
protoimperative reaching and pointing
imperative - command, trying to get someone to do something for you. using the experimenter as a tool to get what you want
perceptual learning: affordances
infant's discovery of the possibilities for action offered, or afforded, by objects and situations. as you acquire new skills, objects attain new affordances. they can use a balance beam to get across a narrow path, when there is no balance beam, the baby might fall.
facial emotion processing in children
infants discriminate positive and negative facial expressions at least as young as 7 months of age. discrimination of emotions within valence categories appears to take longer to develop, extending well into childhood and early adolescence
operant conditioning
infants repeat behaviors that are rewarded - eg kicking to get a mobile to spin when it is connected to their legs. no matter which limb you tie to the mobile, the baby will use that one more. young infants' memory for operant responses is context dependent. even when the baby is not tied to the mobile, she will kick her right leg more for a while then gradually stop as she is no longer rewarded. learning this is context-dependent, if you change the walls of the crib or change the mobile, this behavior will change
achievements of the sensorimotor period
intentional behavior (do things on purpose), object permanence, categorization, mental representations, deferred imitation, achievements set the stage for the pre-operatoinal stage
mental representation
internal, mental depictions of information. images: objects, people, places. concepts: categories. can manipulate with mind - the object or event doesn't have to actually be present. allow: deferred imitation and make believe play
kohlberg's theory of moral judgement
interviewed children about moral dilemmas that were increasingly abstract - from helping family to doing something for greater good. focused on the reasoning behind children's decisions, rather than the choice of what to do for the dilemma. like piaget, constructed a stage theory and emphasized the role of age-related advances in cognitive level, especially perspective taking, and the role of social experiences
hierarchical classification: are there more red flowers or flowers?
kids will say there are more red flowers than flowers
conservation concepts ini the concrete operational stage
kids will start succeeding at 1 and still fail the other 2. they will start succeeding at 2 and still fail at 1. they do not understand them all (conservation of liquids, solids, and numbers) at the sam time
heinz's dilemma
kohlberg presented group of men presented with this scenario: heinz must obtain a very expensive drug for his wife. without the medication, his wife will die. The druggist informs Heinz that the needed medication will cost $2000. heinz explains that he has only $1000 and asks the druggist to sell the needed drug to him at the reduced cost. The druggist refuses. heinz broke into the lab and steals the drug. should he have done this? why or why not. kohlberg cared more about how they justified their response, not just if they said yes or no
early semantic development
learning the system, for expressing meaning in a language, including word meaning. comprehension before production - five month lag - 18 month old will only be able to say words they have learned at 13 months. vocabulary spurt - 18 to 24 months - fast mapping - saying word 1 time is enough for the, to know it (no repetition). form networks of related concepts
snoopy study: dual representation
little snoopy hidden in a model room, then had to find big snoopy in a scale room. 2.5-year-olds couldn't do it, but 3-year-olds could. 2.5 year olds could not do it because they did not understand that big snoopy and little snoopy are the same
infant observational learning: imitation
mirror neurons activate when you do an action or when you see someone else doing the same action. newborns can imitate. harder to induce in slightly older babies. capacity improves with age. by 4 months, infants will imitate intention of people, but not intention of machines. they don't just imitate any motion they see, they must see a person doing it
stage 2: instrumental and exchange orientation
moral behavior is conforming to rules to gain rewards. some perspective-taking but just in hopes of benefiting in return. what is right is in own best interest or involves equal exchange ('you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' orientation). ex: wife is more important than breaking window; don't do it bc going to jail is worse that losing wife
stage 6: universal ethical principles
moral behavior is defined on the basis of self-chosen ethical principles - abstract moral principles of universal justice and respect for human rights that transcend and law of social contract that may conflict with them. you are the ultimate arbitrator of morality. no laws of social contracts are relevant - everyone acts based on his own morals
stage 4: "law and order" orientation
moral behavior is fulfilling your duties, upholding the law, and contributing to society. importance of preserving the social order. social norm, it's against the law/ against social order to break in or he has a duty to protect his wife bc of his role in her life
stage 5: social contract orientation
moral behavior is upholding rules that are in the interest of the group (the greatest good for the greatest number) and express the will of the majority. rights to human life, liberty, and dignity must be universally upheld. and laws that compromise these rights are considered unjust. a law that prioritizes profit over life is not good, therefore you are just in breaking it
stage 3: "good girl, nice boy" orientation
moral behavior is what pleases, helps, or is approved of by others. actions are evaluated on the basis of motives and maintaining good relationships with others. heinz ex: people around him would approve. he should do this to maintain a good relationship with his wife
nativist theories
nativists believe in nature, not nurture. perceptual information in environment is impoverished and ambiguous. it takes innate capacity to be able to understand it at all. perceptions are arrived at via construction of representations. there is no link between perception and action. perception is not important for guiding actions
social domain thoery
not a stage theory. alternative to piaget and kohlberg's stage theories. continuous growth in moral development. mechanisms - peer interactions, direct socialization by adults. differs based on environment. moral domain - right and wrong, justice. societal domain - conventions, norms, manners, not what's right and wrong (wearing pjs to work is not appropriate, but not immoral either). personal domain - individual preferences, no right or wrong. by preschool, children distinguish between the moral and societal domains
protodeclarative: eye contact
not just eye contact, must be social. nonverbal communication - do you see what i'm seeing
piaget's theory of moral judgement
observed children playing games, and interviewed children to assess their moral reasoning. constructed stage theory of moral judgement. cognitive and social development both play a role in the development of moral judgements. playing games allow kids to monitor cheating and follow rules
differentiation theory: gibson's contributions
perception = cognition!!! children use meaningful properties of the world as the basis for differentiating features of the perceptual stimulation. experience/learning change our perception, and our perceptions change how & what we learn. babies are good at recognizing faces of their own race and have more difficulty recognizing distinctions among different races. we are biased by our perceptions and our perceptions are altered by our experiences. army has training program to train people to recognize faces differently. the army has training program to train people to recognize different faces
systems
perception, action, memory, attention, language, and social interaction work together to determine behavior
differentiation theory (eleanor gibson)
perceptual information is rich and structured - many patterns. perceptions are arrived at via differentiation. babies don't have blank slate either. we must figure out how to parse it.
historical: enrichment theories
perceptual learning occurs by accrual of information (from blank slate to knowledge). behavioral stimulus-response theories and piaget
suggested domains of core knowledge
physical (gravity, solidity), numerical (counting), linguistic, psychological, biological (heredity) - all have been around long enough to evolve
navigating using geometric cues AND landmarks
preschool kids have trouble integrating this info. can use geometric cues OR landmarks, but not both
what is conscience
promotes compliance with adult rules and standards even when no one is monitoring/doing what they're supposed to do when you are looking. constrains antisocial behavior and promotes prosocial behavior by causing child to feel guilty when engages in uncaring behavior or doesn't live up to internalized values.
vygotsky and make-believe play
provides zone of proximal development - imaginary substitutions help children separate thinking from objects - rules strengthen capacity to think before acting - helps children understand social norms and expectations
mechanism for perceptual development: exploratory action
reaching is the beginning of exploratory action
infant learning: preferential looking paradigm
relies on habituation. will babies prefer a new category? this would indicate dehabituation. grey dot study: solid gray dot vs gray dot with white stripes. after being habituated to the gray dot. will babies look longer at dot with white stripes? this is used to assess babies visual acuity. you can look at babies at different ages and see what their vision is at different times
cooperative learning
small groups of classmates work toward common goals - intersubjectivity - perspective taking - think about things from someone else's perspective - doesn't just happen in classrooms - cultural variations in ability to learn cooperatively - not that important in america - enhances peer relationships - negotiate and work thinks out within relationships
reciprocal teaching
teacher and students take turns leading dialogue - ask, summarize, clarify, predict
differentiation
the ability to extract invariant elements from the constantly changing environment. there are things in the environment that are still the same even if the way you are perceiving them is different. if the person moves far away from you, you don't think that they shrank. learning takes place by progressive distinctions among stimuli. there is a fundamental reciprocity of perception and action. as your perception gets better it affects your action. As you move through the world, your actions will help with your depth perception.
interaction of temperament and parent-child factors in the development of conscience
temperament is individual differences in personality. toddlers were classified as fearful or bold. attachment and maternal warmth and discipline were measured. at age 5, same children returned to lab and strength of conscience was assessed. parenting needs to be tailored to child temperamentfor fearful, inhibited toddlers, gentle maternal discipline predicts conscience delopment - gentleness helps stabilize kids that are easily overwhelmed. for bold toddlers, secure attachment and maternal responsiveness predicts conscience development. for all toddlers, authoritarian (do it bc I said so - they are not understanding what is right vs wrong) discipline predicts poorer conscience development
multifinality
the concept that various outcomes may stem from similar beginnings - start at same place, end up in different places
phonetic development controversy
to what extent do infants represent precise phonetic detail in words? one argument: they store a vague or inaccurate form of the word, BUT a study of one year olds showed actually they have a precise phonological representation. in experiment they listened to pronunciations and looked at how long the baby looked at the right thing - they pay more attention to the right thing when the word is pronounced correctly. they looked more when it was mispronounced extremely than when it is mispronounced slightly
A not B error
toy hidden in location A. covered by wash cloth. if they take off the wash cloth to look for it, it is a sign of object permanence. next trial, hide the toy in location B. cover it with wash cloth. the baby will still search in location A. this suggests that they do not have strong object permanence . they look at B, but pick up the cloth on A - do not have the inhibitory control to stop what they did before even though they have a sense of where the object is
how do children get from one stage to the next
transitional period (7-10 years): a period of increased interaction with peers, through which children learn that rules can be changed by the group, learn cooperation and perspective taking, learn to value fairness. helps them move from heteronomous morality towards morality of cooperation
development of make-believe play
with age, make believe play gradually becomes: more detached from real life conditions, less self centered, more complex - socioidramatic play - they act out things that are pretty far removed form what is around them. involves lots of cognitive function. agree on physical representations for the setting and characters of make believe
accommodation
you adjust your knowledge in response to the special characteristics of an object or event. make something new and change mapping of the world. make a new category for zebra
assimilation
you interpret or construe external objects or events in terms of your own presently available and favored ways of thinking. make it fit what you already know - zebra looks a lot like a horse, call it horse
physical knowledge: solidity (spelke)
you would expect baby to look longer t what is consistent with the ideas of solidity (ball standing on table), because it is different from what they were habituated to. instead they look at what is "inconsistent because the ball passes through the table. they must have some understanding of the principles of solidity by 5 months
