Chapter 6 Flashcards
Basics of Piaget
When is most important time for brain development?
Birth to 6 years is most important time for brain dev
Develops as a result of brain activity (repeated)
For Piaget, a childs development came from the interaction of their maturation and experiences in the world
assimilation
When new experiences are incorporated into schemas
eh grasping a favorite toy - other toys can be grasped
Schema
Mental structures in a mind allow people to: simply world determine what we pay attention to think quickly
HARD TO CHANGE A SCHEMA
Accomodation
When a schema must be modified based on current experience
eg some toys cannot be lifted at all or require two hands
Like good scientists they adapt their theories
Equilibriation
Parental correction of children eg doggy/cow forces children to change their schemas.
Equilibriation is the process of reorganizing schemas to match new info or experiences. Over time, if a child has to accommodate much more than assimilate, disequilibrium results.
Equilibriation restores balance by rejecting old and creating new, qualitatively different, more advanced schemas.
Sensorimotor phase outline
ages
birth to 2 years
progresses from instinctive reflexes to the start of symbolic thought
Constructs an understanding of the world through physical actions
Object permanence is the main thing learned
Under a certain age, if something is out of sight, it vanishes and they wont look for it
Preoperational outline
2-6 years
Begins to represent world with symbols
Symbols represent world and go beyond the connection of sensory information and physical action
Make believe play
Operations are mental operations such as reversing things in their mind
Around 2 can talk
EGOCENTRIC
Conservation is missing - 2 glasses experiment
Concrete operational outline
Child can now reason logically and classify objects into different categories
Can conserve - will pass glass experiment
Formal operation outline
Adolescent reasons in more abstract ways
Thought is more idealistic
Object permanence A not B search error
(according to Piaget)
Ages when:
a) Do not know an object exists
b) When search for a missing object but their knowledge is incomplete
Hidden object task ages
Piaget claimed that 1-4 month old babies do not know an object exists when they disappear from view
At 8 months baby will search for missing object but still incomplete
THE HIDDEN OBJECT TASK
If you show a baby 9-10 months old an object and then hide it under one cloth then show them moving it to a second one, they look under the first
This is known as the A not B search error
Sub-stage 1 of sensorimotor phase
Birth - 1 month
Rely on reflexes
These schemas get stronger and more complicated with age
Sub-stage 2 of sensorimotor phase
time?
1-4 months
Reflexes are modified by experience
Primary circular reaction - Use own bodies to accidentally produce a nice event, then try to recreate it. Eg suck thumb once cos of reflex then try to get thumb to mouth
Combine what were different actions into single, integrated actions - touch an object-suck it
Sub-stage 3 of sensorimotor phase
4-8 months
Secondary Circular Reactions - Use an object in a pleasing way by accident then try to repeat it eg accidentally shake rattle/keep doing it
1st time an infant explores actions deliberately - might see how rattle held in different ways sounds
Sub-stage 4 of sensorimotor phase
when
8-12 months
Onset of deliberate actions
If dad puts his hand between baby and toy - child moves hand
Moving dads hand schema is a means to the end of getting toy
Sign of purposeful behavior
Sub-stage 5 of sensorimotor phase
12-18 months
Is an active experimenter
Uses old schemas on new objects to try to understand different outcomes
This is a Tertiary Circular Reaction
Doing things just to see what will happen
Miniature experiments to observe consequences
eg dropping an object many times to see where it falls and how
Sub-stage 6 of sensorimotor phase
18-24 months
Can think of what is happening around them
Do make believe play, often by way of Deferred Imitation; acting out an event seen at a previous time
Start to work with Symbols such as words or gestures
Use them to firm an internal, mental image of the world
Eventually, can think of a mental representation without acting it out - is the end of of the sensorimotor phase
Criticism of Piaget`s theories
Piaget thought the task of infancy was learning object permanency - understanding objects exist when you cant see them
8-10 month year old children fail the hidden object task
BUT if interval between hiding and looking is short or the two covers look clearly different, kids are more likely to pass
Might be more to do with memory not understanding
The silver screen experiment Silver screen swings through 180 degrees Orange object is behind it Possible condition - object blocks it Impossible condition, it doesn't cos there is a trap door it disappears into. It is an illusion
Kids at 4.5 years old stare at impossible condition - maybe they understand the orange object is still there
Child as theorist
Kids theories are naive - are not created by specialists nor tested with formal experiments
But are very good!
Naive Physics
timeline & months
3-4 months old, know objects cannot pass thorough objects
Objects move along continuous paths
6 months Expect collisions to move stationary objects in proportion to the speed and mass of already moving object
Later in first year, understand gravity
Naive Biology
Only animate objects eat and drink
Keys only open inanimate objects
However, might think a computer is “sick”
Information processing basics
Human cognition is like computer hardware and software
Mental hardware is neural and mental structures which allow the mind to operate
3 parts
working memory
long-term memory
sensory memory
Is a neo-piagtian theory
All 3 memory stores (sensory, short term, long term) are controlled by the central executive which coordinates everything, controls attention and selects strategies
Sensory memory
Newly perceived information is held for a few seconds
Can persist after stimuli ends
Sparkler trail effect
haptic memory (for tough) also audio
Working memory
Site of ongoing cognitive activity and the information this requires
Systems of components that holds a limited amount of information temporarily in a heightened state of availability for use in ongoing processing
RAM
Long-term memory
Limitless, long term storage
Rarely forgotten, hard to access
Can be cued by reminders
