Cognitive development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Question 1

4 main learning capacities during INF/TOD

Answer 1

1) Classical conditioning: condition response to stimulus
2) Operant conditioning: Rewards and punishments
3) Habituation- Dishabituation
4) Imitation: We know infant has learned if they repeat it

Question 2

Habituation and Dishabituation

Answer 2

Habituation: infant reduces focus when they learn the features of what they focus on- Phase 1
Dishabituation: introduce something new with the first thing, infant focuses on new thing -Phase 2

Question 3

What changes with development

Answer 3

Schemes: organized way of making sense of experience
action based level to mental level
Leave sensorimotor- not just doing, thinking about what you’re doing

Question 4

How changes take place

Answer 4

1) Adapting: build schemes through direct interaction with environment
Assimilation: use current schemes to interpret external world
Accommodation: create new schemes or adjust old

2) Organization: internal linking of skills to one another

Question 5

1) Reflexive schemes

Answer 5

Newborn reflexes are building blocks of sensorimotor intelligence

Question 6

2) First learned adaptations

Answer 6

Primary circular reactions: repetitive nature, purposeful

• 1 to 4 months
• voluntary control -> satisfying results
• accommodate, not purposeful
• primary anticipation skills: if you cry someone will come

Question 7

3) Make interesting sights last

Answer 7

Secondary circular reactions: external focus

• 4 to 8 months
• improved control over own behaviours
• attention towards environment

Question 8

4) Coordinating reactions

Answer 8

• 8 to 12 months
• advanced anticipation
• physical causality: basis for problem solving
• object permanence: still exists even if you can’t see it
• EXCEPT: if it’s been moved, AB search error

Question 9

5) Discover through active experience

Answer 9

• 12 to 18 months
  -tertiary circular reactions
  -AB search error corrected
  (some suggest this is last sensorimotor change)

Question 10

6) Mental Representation

Answer 10

• 18 to 24 months
• deferred imitation : use of something they have seen before
• make believe play

Question 11

Info Processing theory: How do you process information?

Answer 11

Sensory register: briefly store info so we can attend to most important sights and sounds

Working on short term memory: can only hold a certain amount of info

Long term memory: permanent knowledge base

• harder to retrieve info they older you get
• Categorized
• Capacity

Question 12

Language development

Answer 12

First word: 8 to 18 months

Combine words: 1.5 to 2 years

Question 13

Getting ready to talk

Answer 13

• Cooing and babbling: vowel based sounds, consonant vowel combination (2 to 4 months)
• Turn- talking language: adults do something, infant waits before repeating (7 months)
• Preverbal gestures: explain with body, not done on purpose but learn our response to them (12 months)

Question 14

Underextension

Answer 14

under extension: doll= only favourite, nobody else doll is a doll
-too narrow

Question 15

Two word utterances (18-24 months)

Answer 15

telegraphic speech
infants leave out words adults use
rarely make grammatical errors

Question 16

Conversation

Answer 16

Early language development
Academic competence in school
-children encouraged to participate you in conversation to do better in school
-Picture books are useful for children to create story for themselves

Question 17

Over extension

Answer 17

car= all moving vehicles are cars (trucks, boats, trains)

-too broad

Question 18

first words

Answer 18

12 months
rarely inanimate object
learn 1 to 3 words a month
leave infancy/toddlerhood with 150 to 200 words

Question 19

6 substages of organization

Answer 19

1) reflexive schemes
2) First learned adaptations
3) Make interesting sights last
4) Coordinating reactions
5) Discover through active experience
6) Mental reprisentation