Chapter 5

Question 1

cognitive development

Answer 1

development of behavior that relates to perception, attention, thinking, remembering and problem solving

Question 2

mental representation

Answer 2

internal description of aspects of reality when they are not there. Was a distinction between perception and cognition.

Question 3

visual acuity

Answer 3

ability to make discrimination between elements.

Question 4

visual accommodation

Answer 4

The ability to focus on objects , young infants have poor control over this.

Question 5

visual preference method

Answer 5

Measuring of which stimuli an infant look longer at between two. They look longer at new stimuli.

Question 6

habituation

Answer 6

The attention to a stimuli gradually declines

Question 7

How do infants process?

Answer 7

They process on basis of the simplest variable. They perceive simple shapes as a whole, not a collection of parts.

Question 8

size constancy

Answer 8

understanding that an object stays the same size even as it moves away or closer.

Question 9

shape constancy

Answer 9

understanding that something stays the same shape even when it is viewed from different angles.

Question 10

Do infants perceive shape and size constancy?

Answer 10

Yes, they react to a change in true size but not to a change in retinal image size.

Question 11

object unity

Answer 11

perceiving a whole object despite parts of it being hidden.

Question 12

Do infants perceive object unity?

Answer 12

yes, from 4 months old they do, newborns do not though.

Question 13

subjective contour

Answer 13

When only parts of an object are presented the rest of it can be perceived because the brain fills it in. (infants of 4 months perceive this)

Question 14

facial preference

Answer 14

They have an innate subcortical mechanism for perceiving faces. (CONSPEC) which makes them prefer faces of the same species. It becomes CONCLERN which enables to identify specific faces. Newborns prefer stimuli with more elements in the upper relative because of this.

Question 15

prototypical face

Answer 15

the most typical example of a face. Faces averaged out. Infants are more stimulated by this.

Question 16

Preference gender in infants?

Answer 16

yes, it depends on the primary caregiver. They will prefer that gender in faces.

Question 17

Do infants imitate?

Answer 17

yes

Question 18

infant-directed speech

Answer 18

infants prefer this type of speech or motherese.

Question 19

object permanence

Answer 19

The understanding that an object still exists even when it is not in the visual field.
(Piaget - 9 months)
(Actual - 5 months)

Question 20

A not B error

Answer 20

object searching error in 8-12 month olds. Infants making this error will look for the object at the place where they have found the object most often. rather than where it was last hidden.

Question 21

violation of expectation technique

Answer 21

Infants see an impossible and possible event and they will look at the impossible one longer as it violates their expectation.

Question 22

core knowledge

Answer 22

innate information infants have about the working of the world

Question 23

subitising

Answer 23

The ability to directly perceive the amount without consciously counting. Only applies to very small numbers, infants can do this.

Question 24

response perseveration

Answer 24

repeating a previously learned response when it is no longer appropriate.

Question 25

Explanation as to why the A not B error happens?

Answer 25

Infants do not yet have the link between action and thought and can not yet act on the information they get.