Cognitive development Flashcards
what are the aspects of the mind?
perception, emotion, action, cognition
what is ontongenetic development?
origination and development of an organisim
what is phylogenetic development
evelutionary history of groups of organisims (e.g population or species) - how an organisum changes over time
what is the analysis approach?
Analysis – breaking the system down
what is systhesis
how does the system as a whole, function (how the componentd come together)
what is linked to perception development
Behavior – Moter/bodily development is linked to perception development (synthesis)
what veiw of the mind does developmental encourage?
holistic, intergrative veiw
what are the different developments?
preceptual, cognitive, moral, social, action, emotinal
what other aspects of psych does developmental touch on (4)
evelutionary, educational, comparitive, clinical
what are the levels of analysis
from lower (genetics) to higher (culture)
timeline (developmental psych) - what is this
how the mind changes over a lifetime
what dose developmental psych focus on?
change and constancy
what is Ontogenetic Development:
Origination and development
of an organism
what is Evolutionary Psychology:
How was the mind shaped over evolution?
what is Phylogenetic Development:
Evolutionary history of
groups of organisms (e.g., populations or species)
what is Comparative Psychology
How do different kinds of minds
function?
what are the parts of Goal
basic research, applied research
what is basic research
research to expand our understnading
what is applied research
research to address partical issues. Educational, Clinical, Consumer, and Organizational
Psychology
the developmental approach includes…
analysis, systhisis
how to think like a developmental scientist (theoretical questions) what is quantitative change
Quantitative Change:
Numerically different
(e.g., tadpole growing
what is qualitative change
New structure, ability, or process
(e.g., transition into frog)
nature v nuture (what are we the product of?)
Are we the product of nature (e.g., our genes) or nurture (e.g., our experiences)?
what is False dichotomy?
Always an interplay between nature and nurture
what does epigenetics mean?
Gene expression can be modulated by experience
what is domain specific
Are our minds supported by many specialised systems that evolved for specific domains (e.g., objects, people, language,
etc.)?
Pre-Installed “Apps”
* Physics, Number, Language,
Causality, Other Agents
what is domain general
do we have a few general systems that can be used across
many different domains?
General Programs
* Learning algorithms that work for lots
of domains
how to think like a scientist - what are the aspect of ‘dont take the mind for granted’?
physics metaphor, building.a mind from scratch, think critically
theoretical questions aspects?
a. Quantitative vs. Qualitative Change
b. Nature vs. Nurture
c. Domain Specific vs. Domain General
why developmental psych (to get comfterble with complexity
Mechanistic view of the mind, Complexity view of the mind
what is a Mechanistic veiw of the mind?
The mind is like a machine
- The each part serves a particular function
- The parts don’t change function
what is a complexity veiw of the mind
he mind is like an ecosystem
- Components contribute to system in many ways
- Changes at one level can reverberate through other
levels (feedback loops)
To Understand Others (and Yourself) Better…
It is easy to judge people.
Developmental is about understanding the factors that influence
how different people think, feel, believe, and act.
Why do you think, feel, believe, and act the ways you do?
Piaget theory - basic question
where does knowledge come from - reflect to reason?
what is genetic epistemology
the study of the origins of knowledge
Piagetian Theory: Hallmarks (3)
constructivist, domain general mechinisms, stage-based,
what is Constructivist in relation to kids (is a kid a constiructivist
Child is not a blank slate, but does not come “preloaded” with innate knowledge
either
– Child actively “constructs” increasingly complex knowledge and abilities out of
simpler components (e.g., reflexes
what is domain general mechinisms
Development involves learning mechanisms that apply across domains
– Not many specialised systems for specific domains
Piagetian Theory: Hallmarks
Are our minds supported by many specialized systems that
evolved for specific domains
(e.g., objects, people, language, etc.)?
Or do we have a few general systems that can be used across
many different domains?
what are stage-based
Children travel through a series of stages as they develop new knowledge and
abilities
– Each stage forms the foundation for the next stage
– Development is about “leveling-up”
– Involves qualitative changes (e.g., the emergence of new abilities)
what is schemas
Child’s knowledge and ways of interacting with the world
example of child schemsa
mouthing, shaking, looking, throwing
what is adaptation (following schema)
Linking the child’s schemas and experiences in the world
what does adaptation include (2)
assimilation, accommodation
what is assimilation
interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas
what is Accommodation
altering existing schemas or creating new schemas in
response to new experiences
examples of phone schema
Rectangular
* Buttons
* Hold it to head
* Talk into it
what is equilibrium
finding a adaptive balance between child’s schemas and the
environment
assimilation and accommodation working together to
enrich the child’s worldview
what can too much assimilation mean in equalibrium
Schemas too simplistic:
Difficulty understanding what separates
experiences/objects
what can too much accommodation mean in equilibrium
Schemas too specific:
Difficulty understanding what unifies
experiences/objects
what does stage 1 include
0-2 years, reflexes, self v objects,
what does stage 2 include
symbolic thought (e.g., language, pretend play)
- Difficulty reasoning logically, 2-7 years
what is stage 3?
Logical reasoning about concrete problems (e.g.,
featuring observable objects and events)
(concreat logic) 7-11 years
stage 4
Logical reasoning about abstract problems (e.g., featuring
hypothetical objects and events) Abstract Logic, 11+ years
stage one - reflexes
Rooting reflex: opening mouth and turning head when corner of mouth is touched
- Grasp reflex: closing fingers in a grasp when palm is touched
- Moro reflex: spreading out arms when a loss of support is felt (as when falling)
stage 1 self v object
Reflexes used (accidentally at first) to learn
about self and objects, improved ability to controll actions but limited understanding of objects
Lacking concept of object permanence (the understanding that
objects continue to exist when they are not immediately
available to the senses
stage one - object permeanence (1)
out of sight, out of mind - Child doesn’t know to search for toy when it is out of view
stage one - object permeanence (2)
Weak Object Understanding (9 to 12 months)
Child can search for toys that are out of view
but fails the A-not-B task
stage one - when does a child show object permeanence (3)
Object Permanence (by 24 months)
Child passes the A-not-B task and the
Invisible Displacement Task
Child can represent changes to unseen
object
stage 2 - symbolic thought
Child can use symbols to mentally represent objects
and events (e.g., language, pretend play, and
imaginary companions)
But is limited in a number of important ways:
* Egocentric thought
* Easily fooled by appearances
* Fail Conservation Tasks (different sized juice glasses same amount of juice)
conservation tasks - what is it
the ability to determine that a certain quantity
will remain the same despite adjustment of the container,
shape, or apparent size
why do stage 2 childeren fail the conservation task?
Centration: focus on one dimension of the problem
(e.g., focus on height instead of both height and width)
Failure to use “logical tools” called mental operators
what are mental operators
Mental operators are logical, rule-based ways of comparing mental representations.
components of mental operators
Compensation, reversibility, identity
what is compensation
changing an object (e.g., a ball of clay) along one dimension (e.g., height) results in
changes to other dimensions (e.g., width)
what is reversability?
certain changes can be undone in order to return objects to their initial conditions
(e.g., a flattened ball of clay can be made into a ball again)
what is identity (s2)
certain aspects of an object don’t change when other dimensions change (e.g., the
amount of clay doesn’t change if you flatten a ball of clay out)
what stage is concerate reasoning
7-11, 3, Can solve conservation tasks by overcoming
centration and using mental operators
logic and concreate reasoning
Logical reasoning for concrete problems but
difficulties with abstract or hypothetical
reasoning
stage 3 - what is formal logic
identifying whether a conclusion
is valid based upon an argument’s form rather
than its content
what is stage 4 called
abstract reasoning 11+
what stage is abstract reasoning and what does it do
4, 11+, Logical reasoning for
abstract/hypothetical/formal problems
Scientific reasoning using the hypothetico-
deductive method (generating and testing
falsifiable hypotheses)
what stage uses scientific reasoning
4
what is scientific reasoning
using the hypothetico-
deductive method (generating and testing
falsifiable hypotheses)
stage 1-2 task
invisible displacement
stage 2-3 task
conservation task
stage 3-4 task
formal logic tasks
name of stage 1
sensorimotor
name of stage 2
preperational
name of stage 3
concrete operational
name of stage 4
formal operational
comtemporary veiws of piget - lasting impact
Constructivism presented alternative to classic Nature vs.
Nurture debate
* Identified major questions in the field
* Pioneered many influential tasks that are still being explored
critiques of pigeat
Many view stage-based theories as being too rigid
* Underestimated children’s abilities and knowledge
* Tasks misinterpreted?
Emphasis on logic, overlooked social context of developmen
Topál et al., 2008: A-not-B Task
Adult-infant interactions often about learning
(some intention behind the communication)
Maybe infants think the adult is trying to teach them
something about Location A
* What if the adult wasn’t paying attention to the infant?
* What if no adult were present at all?
three parenting styles of a not b task
communicativr, non-communicative, nonsocial
what is the likelihood of committing A-not-B error when clear communicative
cues are provided
Higher
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
social development theory
children are entrenched in different sociocultural contexts
* Cognitive development is advanced through social interaction with more skilled individuals
* Shifts the focus of development from the individual to onto
larger interactional units (e.g., parent/child, students/teacher)
- Importance of private speech (speaking to one’s self to guide thought and action)
– Peaks around 5-7 yrs
– Internalisation of language (and culture)
critiques following topal et al, (2008)
Topal et al. (2008)
o Adult-infant interactions often about learning
(some intention exists behind the
communication)
o Maybe infants think the adult is trying to teach
them something about Location A
▪ What if the adult wasn’t paying attention
to the infant?
▪ What if no adult were present at all?
o 3 versions of task
▪ Communicative (like normal A-not-B task)
▪ Non-communicative (human present but
not attending to infant)
▪ Non-social (no human in sight)
o Worse performance on communicative version
of the task
▪ Indicates that infants might struggle with
the task because they presume the adult wanted them to learn something about location A specifically
emphasis on logic, overlooked social context of development
what can fifants do?
suck, kick, look
DeCasper & Spence (1986)
can babies remeber expreiences before they were born - mothers reading books in final trimester, teching babys they can change what they hear by altering how often they suck on a pacifier (high-amplitude sucking), hav babies choosen between listen to a familiar book and non familiar book
DeCasper & Spence (1986)
results
infants adjusted their sucking speed to hear the
familiar story
- Regardless of whether mother or unfamiliar female
was reading the passage
Note: Nature of memory is debatable, probably not
episodic memory
Memory: Rovee-Collier - what the was experiment question
How long can infants retain information
for at different ages?
what was the method used in Rovee-Collier
Mobile task (Mobile Conjugate-
Reinforcement Task)
what was the learning phase in Rovee Collier
Attach ribbon from foot to mobile
- Allow infant to learn that kicking results in
interesting visual display
what wad the test phase of rover-collier (1999)
Come back after delay (e.g., 1 week)
- Don’t attach ribbon to mobile
- Assess whether they kick in an attempt to
make the mobile move
what were the results of Rover-Collier
8-week-olds showed evidence of memory after
delay of one week
- (And after delay of 2.5 weeks if a reminder was
given a day before) Some evidence that infants are using
explicit/declarative memory (debated)
what factors have to be considered with the rover-collier experiment?
Age of infant, length of delay
- Objects attached to mobile
- Different rooms, cribs
Memory: Simcock & Hayne (2002) - experiment question?
Why do we struggle to remember events from
the first few years of life?
(Infantile Amnesia)
Simcock & Hayne (2002) method?
Method: The Incredible Shrinking Machine
- Children 27 to 39 months of age came into lab
- Interacted with machine
- Verbal abilities assessed (What words did they know?)
- After delay of 6 or 12 months, verbal and non-verbal
memory of previous visit assessed
Simcock & Hayne (2002) results?
Better non-verbal than verbal memory
- When recalling their first visit, children only used
words that they knew during the first visit
Suggests that children struggle to translate
preverbal memories into language during recall
- Mastering language may be helpful for recalling
events later in life
Jack, MacDonald, Reese, & Hayne (2009), research question
How is a child’s memory shaped by
their parents?
Jack, MacDonald, Reese, & Hayne (2009) method?
Record parent and child (2-3 yrs) discussing
previous event
- Identify parent’s reminiscing style
what are the two Jack, MacDonald, Reese, & Hayne (2009) parenting styles
Elaborative: asks child a range of
questions about event, leading to richer
account
- Repetitive: overly focused on a few
aspects of event
elaborative parenting style
Elaborative: asks child a range of
questions about event, leading to richer
account
repetitive parenting style
- Repetitive: overly focused on a few
aspects of event
jack, MacDonald, Reese, & Hayne (2009) results
Elaborative-reminiscing style related to age
of earliest memory reported at 12 or 13
years of age
Reese and Newcombe (2007)
- Trained mother to use elaborative-
reminiscing style
- Better memory in this group when assessed
at 2.5 and 3.5 years of age
what is Continuity
Objects move on a connected path and don’t go in
and out of existence
Solidity
Objects are solid
Gravity
Unsupported objects fall
Baillargeon (1986) - what was being tested
whether infants as young as 6 months understand continuity and solidity
Baillargeon (1986) method
Looking Time / Habituation
- Infants observe habituation event, “lose interest”
after repeated viewings
- Infants observe Possible OR Impossible Event
- Do they look longer (“dishabituate”) to the
Impossible Event?
Physics: Baillargeon (1986) - results?
Longer looking times at Impossible Event
- Interpreted as evidence of “surprise” or a
“violation of expectation”
Physics: Baillargeon (1987) - what was the question
Do infants as young as 3.5 months of age
understand continuity and solidity?
Physics: Baillargeon (1987) method?
Looking Time / Habituation
- “Drawbridge” task
- Infants habituate to seeing a panel move 180
degrees
- A solid object is placed on path of panel
- Infants observe either:
- Possible Event - the panel stops where the
object is
- Impossible Event - the panel moves 180
degrees
Physics: Baillargeon (1987) reuslts?
Infants look longer (dishabituate more) at the
Impossible Event
- Infants seem to “know” something about
continuity and solidity by 3.5 months of age
Theoretical Implication:
- Piaget: “Out of Sight = Out of Mind
Physics - A Comparative Approach - question?
Do dogs understand continuity and
solidity?
Physics - A Comparative Approach - method?
Looking Time / Habituation
- Dog-friendly “drawbridge” task
- Dogs observe either:
- Possible Event - the panel stops where the
object is
- Impossible Event - the panel moves 180
degrees
Physics - A Comparative Approach - results?
Dogs looked significantly longer at the Impossible
Event than the Possible Event
Physics: Needham & Baillargeon (1993) - question
Do children understand gravity by 4.5
months of age?
method of Needham and Baillargeon (1993) ?
Looking Time
- Infants observe either:
- Possible Event – Supported object stays in
place
- Impossible Event – Unsupported object stays
in place
Needham & Baillargeon (1993) results?
results:
- Infants look longer at the Impossible Event
Number (Wynn, 1992) question
Do infants as young as 5 months of age
understand basic addition and subtraction?
Number (Wynn, 1992) method? & result
Looking Time
- Simple mathematics problems illustrated with small
number objects
- Possible Event
- Impossible Event
Infants look longer at Impossible Events
Theory Intermission
Infants appear to appreciate much more about the
physical world than Piaget thought
Methodological limitations can result in theoretical
limitations
Where does this “knowledge” come from? (nativisim)
what is a constructivist
someone who sits between nature and nurture
what is Nativism
argues that infants come “pre-loaded” with
different types of Core Knowledge
- Physical Objects
- Number
- Agents
(goes against piaget)
focus on domain specific veiw)
what methods can be used to study young infants?
- high almpitude sucking, (teaching things befire they are born, measuring preferances based upon rapidity which they suck on the pacifier
- kicking. -mobile congregate task (memory)
- psychsics
what are some of the physical principels that infants seem to appreciate before they are 6 months old?
continuity, solidity, gravity
what is nsture v nurture
false dichotomy (division): always an interplay between nature and nutture, gene expression can be modulated by experience (epigenetic)
what is eveidence of emeory in the mobile task used in rove-collier 1999 study
a low rate of kicking in the tests
