cognition and development - baillargeons theory

Question 1

what did baillargeon suggest

Answer 1

infants in the sensorimotor stage may have a better-developed understanding of the physical world than previously thought.

Question 2

what is the violation of expectation technique used for

Answer 2

compare infant reactions to an expected and unexpected event and thus was able to make inferences about the infant’s cognitive abilities

Question 3

what was the main principle behind baillargeosn VOE research

Answer 3

infants will look at new things for LONGER than they will look at things that they have encountered before.

Question 4

Baillargeon and Graber (1987) VOE Research procedre

Answer 4

24 infants, aged 5-6 months, were shown a tall or a short rabbit passing behind a screen with a window ·
Possible condition – the tall rabbit can be seen passing the window but the short one cannot ·
Impossible condition – tall rabbit did not appear at the window

Question 5

Baillargeon and Graber (1987) VOE Research results

Answer 5

The infants looked for an average of 33.07 seconds at the impossible condition compared to 25.11 seconds at the possible condition

Question 6

Baillargeon and Graber (1987) VOE Research conclusions

Answer 6

results interpreted as meaning that the infants were surprised at the impossible condition as they looked at it for longer

they knew the tall rabbit should have reappeared at the window

Question 7

Baillargeon and Graber (1987) VOE study is an example of what

Answer 7

‘occlusion study’, in which one object occludes another, i.e. it is in front of it

Question 8

what is meant by humans are born with physical reasoning system

Answer 8

we are born hard-wired with a basic understanding of the physical world AND the ability to learn more details easily. This is known as a nativist approach because it suggests humans are born with innate abilities.

Question 9

initially what do we have at birth

Answer 9

primitive awareness of the physical properties of the world. This becomes more sophisticated as we learn from experience

Question 10

explain why a child would look longer at the impossible condition

Answer 10

• born with basic understanding of object persistence
• know that one object can block their view - have good understanding that rabbit should appear at the window so when it doesn’t they pay more attention because of their PRS

Question 11

what does baillargeon theory suggest and conclude

Answer 11

Children pay attention to things that violate their expectations. They therefore look intently because they have not experienced this before