Cognition and Development Flashcards
What is cognitive maturation?
Cognitive maturation is the biological unfolding of mental abilities
What is a schema
A schema is a mental structure often based on previous experiences that helps us formulate expectations and how to operate in the world
Supporting evidence for schemas
Fantz’s face study - innate face schema
What’s Fantz’s face study?
We are innately pre-programmed to prefer/recognise faces. Babies as young as 2 months prefer faces which make sense to those scrambled up, measured by time spent looking at them. Therefore, it can be argued that our schema for faces is innate
What is assimilation?
Assimilation occurs when an individual incorporates new knowledge into an existing schema.
What is accommodation?
Accommodation involves either a child adapting an existing schema to fit new information or creating a new schema in order to deal with the new understanding
Define equilibration
Equilibration can be see as the balance achieved between existing schemas and new knowledge
What happens in the sensorimotor stage?
Piaget believed infants learn to do-ordinate sensory input with motor actions. Piaget used the term circular reactions to describe how how an infant repeats actions over and over again to rest sensorimotor relationships
What is object permanence?
The realisation that objects have a permanent existence even when they are out of sight
How did Piaget test for object permanence?
He showed a toy to an infant before hiding it or taking it away. In one version of his experiment, Piaget would hide a toy under a blanket and then observe to see if the infant would search for the object
What is the contesting evidence for object permanence?
Bower found infants as young as 3-4 months were surprised when an object had disappeared from a place they had seen it previously
What are the key characteristics of the pre-operational stage?
- Animism
- Egocentrism
- Class inclusion
- Conservation
What age is the sensorimotor stage?
0-2 years
What age is the pre-operational stage?
2-7 years
Define egocentrism
Egocentrism means that you can only see the world from their own perspective and being unaware of other peoples viewpoints
How did Piaget and Inhelder test egocentrism?
The 3 mountains task:
Children were shown a model of 3 mountains with different features and saw views of the model from different angles. They were asked to select from pictures what a doll placed on the other side of the model could see. Children under 7 tended to choose the picture that showed their own viewpoint, rather than that of the doll suggesting they could not grasp that others had a different viewpoint to them
Who contested against the 3 mountains task?
Hughes argued that the 3 mountains task was too abstract and children couldn’t relate to it
Define class inclusion
Class inclusion is the ability to work out how categories of objects relate to one another, and includes sub categories. Understanding the reaction between two classes where all members of one class are included in the other
How did Vygotsky see the child?
An apprentice
What does mental functions involve in Vygotsky’s theory?
- Born with elementary mental function (memory, perception) - biological, part of natural development
- Transformed into higher functions by the influence of culture
What does the role of culture involve in Vygotsky’s theory?
- Children learn through problem solving experiences shared with someone else
- More knowledgeable other/expert guides the process at first then shifts responsibility to the child
What does the role of language involve in Vygotsky’s theory?
Culture is transmitted by semiotics (signs and symbols) - language, and math symbols
Who is supporting evidence for Vygotsky’s stages?
Gredler (1992)
What did Gredler(1992) find
Found people in Papua New Guinea who used a counting system involving their digits and arms which ended at 29 meaning they cannot deal in large numbers suggesting their cognitive abilities had been shaped by cultural context. This can be explained by the fact that people in this culture have no need for complex maths, so this counting system fits their cultural needs
Who is supporting evidence for the Zone of proximal development?
- Roazzi + Bryan’s (1998)
- Wertsch et al (1980)
Overall evaluation of Vygotsky - GRAVE
Generalisability - Good, cross cultural research (e.g. Gredler) supports language and culture element of theory, but individual differences not accounted for (do we all like group work? Nomothetic approach)
Reliability - Evidence often relies on observational data, may lack reliability
Application - Yes
Validity - Difficult to test/falsify the main concepts such as ZPD, some supporting evidence exists, ignores individual differences
Reductionism - Focuses on social environment causing cognitive development, downplaying role of genetics/biology/personality type
How does Piaget view the child?
As a scientist
What are Piaget’s structure and processes?
Schemas
Assimilation
Accommodation
Equilibration
What 3 questions did Piaget and Szeminska ask?
- Are all the beads wooden?
- Are there more brown or white beads?
- Are there more brown beads or wooden beads?
What is animism?
Attributing human intentions to objects
What is conservation?
The ability to recognise that reorganising the appearance of materials and objects does not alter properties like volume, mass and number
Describe the traditional Piagetian conservation task
It was asked whether two instances (e.g. rows of counters or beakers of liquid) were the same or different both before and after a change was made to their physical appearance. Children under 8 years old extremely struggle to grasp this concept
What did McGarrigle & Donaldson do?
Used a conservation of number task and found 16% of 6 year old participants showed number conservation if the experimenter deliberately messed up the rows, whereas 62% showed conservation if a ‘naughty teddy’ appeared to accidentally mess up the rows. This suggests that Piaget’s original research may have in accurately measured children’s actual abilities at these ages
What does a child have problems with in the concrete operational stage?
Abstract thinking
What does abstract thinking mean?
Solve problems of transivity inferences without concrete examples
According to Vygotsky, what are the two major influences on children’s development of understanding?
- culture and social interaction
- language
What are the 3 speech development stages?
Pre intellectual speech
Egocentric speech
Inner speech
What age is pre intellectual speech?
0-3 years
What age is egocentric speech?
3-7 years
What age is inner speech?
7+ years
What happens during the pre intellectual speech stage?
- no thoughts constructed through the use of language
- speech used for social change
What happens during the egocentric speech stage?
- language helps control child’s behaviour
- spoken out loud (children verbalise their thoughts when playing games)
What happens during the inner speech stage?
- silently used to develop inner thoughts
- publicly used for communication with others
What is the zone of proximal development?
It is the distance between what a child can achieve unaided and what they are able of when given support by a more knowledgeable other
What is scaffolding?
A support structure or framework to help children learn
Who is supporting evidence for Scaffolding?
Wood & Middleton
Conner + Cross
What did Wood and Middleton do?
Through video recordings they observed 12 mothers supporting 4 year olds in the building of a model that was initially too difficult for them. They then coded and categorised the observations e.g. specific verbal instructions. Mothers were most effective when they varied their strategies in response to how the child was doing i.e. when they were doing well the mothers gave less specific help. This helped demonstrate scaffolding in action
What did Conner and Cross do?
Used a longitudinal procedure to follow 45 children and their mothers completing tasks aged 16,24,44, and 54 months and found changes in the help given over time: mothers used gradually less direct intervention and increased their use of hints and prompts as the children gained experience. This supports the idea that the support given through scaffolding can gradually be withdrawn
How many stages are there in Selman’s level of perspective taking?
5
What age is the first stage of Selman’s levels of perspective taking?
3-6 years
What are the features of stage 0 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Children understand that other people can have different thoughts and feelings from their own, but confuse the two
What age is stage 1 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
6-8 years
What are the features of stage 1 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Children are aware others have different perspectives to their own but assume this is because others have different information
What age is stage 2 of Selman’s levels of perspective taking?
8-10 years
How many stages are there Selman’s level of perspective taking?
5
What is stage 0 of Selman’s levels of perspective taking?
Socially egocentric viewpoint
What age is stage 0 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
3-6 years
What is involved in stage 0 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Children understand that other people can have different thoughts and feelings from their own, but often confuse the two
What is stage 1 of Selman’s level of perspective taking called?
Social informational perspective taking
What age is stage 1 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
6-8 years
What is involved in stage 1 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Children are aware others have different perspectives to their own but assume this is because others have different information
What is stage 2 of Selman’s level of perspective taking called?
Self reflective role taking
What age is stage 2 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
8-10
What is involved in stage 2 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Children can now view their own thoughts and feelings from another’s perspective and recognise that others do the same
What is stage 3 of Selman’s level of perspective taking called?
Mutual role taking
What age is stage 3 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
10-12 years
What is involved in stage 3 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Children can step outside of a two person situation and imagine how they and another would be viewed from the perspective of a third person. They can soo consider 2 viewpoints simultaneously
What is stage 4 of Selman’s level of perspective taking called?
Social and conventional system role taking
What age is stage 4 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
12-15 years
What is involved in stage 4 of Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Child realises that perspectives can also be influenced by larger societal values, which are understood by all members of cultural group regardless of their position, role or experience
Who can be used as supporting evidence for Selman’s level of perspective taking?
Gurucharri + Selman’s
Selman et al
What did Gurucharri + Selman’s
They did a longitudinal study found that most of the 41 boys in their study showed an advance in understanding of Selman’s theory that children shoukd advance the various levels as they grow older
What did Selman et al do?
Developed the idea of ‘pair therapy’ in which pairs of children learn, with the help of a therapist, to manage a friendship or relationship using perspective taking and negotiation skills appropriate to their age. This demonstrates the usefulness of Selman’s theory and it can be used to help children develop social skills that can raise their sociometric status
What does theory of mind refer to?
Knowledge of how someone will behave, or should behave in a given situation
Why is a theory of mind necessary?
It is necessary for individuals to develop social relationships and recognise the possible thoughts and feelings of those they are interacting with
What does ToM allow us to do?
Make predictions about other people’s behaviour based on what we infer about their thoughts and feelings and develop. Empathy for others
What did Wimmer + Perner do?
Developed the original ‘false belief’ task to assess an individual’s understanding that other people hold different beliefs to themselves and that these can be wrong. False belief tasks involve giving children information that the main character in a story cannot possibly know. A child succeeds at the task if they realise that the knowledge the main character has is different to the knowledge they themselves have
Max’s mother buys chocolate for a cake and puts it in the blue cupboard when Max is out to play the mother then moves the chocolate to the green chipboard. Which cupboard will Max look in?
3 years = green
6 years = blue
What did Baron-Cohen et al do?
Sally-Anne test - balls in a basket
What is supporting evidence for ToM
Peskin investigated children’s ability to deceive. Younger children seemed unable to use deception to get what they wanted, suggesting they struggled with the idea that they could make someone else believe something that wasn’t true. This suggests that they had yet to develop a coherent ToM
Who is contesting evidence for ToM?
Bloom and German
Perner et al
What did Bloom and German do?
Identity a theoretical flaw with research into ToM. They suggest that children can have a well-developed ToM and still fail the false belief task. For example, many children who struggle with the false belief task still enjoy pretend play, which requires a ToM to create imaginary characters with different thoughts/feelings and intentions. This suggests that the false belief tasks are an inadequate measure of this aspect of children’s social cognition
What did Perner et al do?
Found ToM appeared earlier in children from large families, suggesting having siblings encourages children to think about the intentions of others at an earlier age. Therefore, ToM may not be simply an age related developmental feature
Autistic spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder characterised by key deficits. Identify the 3
Social communication
Social interaction
Imagination
What are mirror neurons?
Neurons that fire not only when a person is doing a motor action but also when the motor action is being viewed (being done by someone else) or even when a sound associated with the motor action is being heard
Where are mirror neurons found?
Parts of the brain involved in social cognition especially motor related areas such as: inferior frontal, pre motor and inferior parietal cortices
Can mirror neutrons understand intentions?
Yes
What did Rizzolatti find?
That if the monkey’s task was to grasp a piece of food and bring it to its mouth, there was a different activity amongst the neurons during the grasping part compared with when the task to grasp the same item and put it in a container
What is the IV of Dapretto et al’s study?
Typically developing vs autism
What is the DV of Dapretto et al’s study?
Mirror neutron activity level via fMRI scans
What was the sample of Dapretto et al’s study?
Typically developing children x 10
Children with Hugh functioning autism x 10
All aged 10-14
Outline the procedure of Dapretto et Al’s study
Parents and children consent gained
80 facial expressions representing 5 different emotions were presented for 2 seconds in random sequence. Half of each group observed and the other half were asked to imitate
What were the results of Dapretto et Al’s study?
- Both groups were able to observe and imitate
- HF autism = no mirror neutron activity in the inferior frontal gyrus brain region
- negative correlation found between symptom severity and mirror neutron brain activity
What did Gazzola et al find?
That mirror neurons are less active in people who score low on empathy. This suggests that there may be a biological basis for social cognition although it may require interaction
What did Churchland argue?
That a mirror neutron is still just simply a neuron; a neuron that reports information to a higher level circuit which then establishes intentions and thoughts of others
