Conceptual Development Flashcards
Concepts
General ideas/understandings that organize objects, events, qualities, or relations on the basis of some similarity
Infinite possible concepts
E.g. similar shapes, materials, sizes, tastes, colours, functions, etc.
Categorical Thinking
Dividing the world into categories
Objects in the same category have similar properties, follow similar rules, etc.
E.g. assume anything that is an animal moves, grows, eats, reproduces
Three Big General Categories
People
Other animals
Inanimate objects
Category Hierarchies
Categories organized according to set-subset relations
E.g. furniture, chair, LaZ Boy chair
Categorization in Infancy
3-4 month olds will habituate to pictures of cats but will dishabituate to lions, dogs, and other animals (looking time increased)
6 month olds habituated after being shown mammals and dishabituated when shown birds or fish
Perceptual Categorization
Grouping together of objects that have somewhat similar appearances
Before age 5: superficial characteristics (e.g. shape, legs) guide generalization of new words
5+ years: focus shifts to object function
E.g. if a Dax is a stiff hook, other hook like objects that are floppy won’t be considered to be a Dax because of function
Superordinate Level
general with broad criteria
E.g. animals: move independently, eat, reproduce
Subordinate Level
more specific, highly specific set of criteria
E.g. Shiba Inu: pointy ears, curly tail, bold personality
Basic Level
Medium/in between
Learned first
Form categories of medium generality (e.g. tree) before more general ones (e.g. plant) or more specific ones (e.g. oak)
Children and adults don’t always see the same basic category
Causal Understanding & Categorization
3 months: look longer if box released in midair remains suspended
5 months: appreciate relevance of the type of contact in support in suspending box
6 months: recognize importance of amount of contact for supporting box
12 months: take into account shape of object when suspended
Children told why wugs and gillies have certain features were better at classifying pictures into appropriate categories and remember the categories better
Cause-effect relations help children learn and remember
Characteristic Features
Common or stereotypical traits of members of a category, but aren’t necessary for membership
E.g. cats usually have fur, but hairless cats don’t
Preschoolers rely on characteristic features
Stereotypes based on characteristic features
Defining Features
Traits that define membership in a category, without these don’t belong in the category
E.g. all cats are carnivores
As kids get older kids are better able to focus on defining features when characteristic features oppose them
Naive Psychology
Baseline understanding of how humans and other living beings (animals, cartoon characters) behave in the world
Commonsense level of psychological understanding
Crucial to normal functioning and major part of being human
Intention
people act on the world independently and in line with their own goals (within 1 year)
Desire
people have their own wants and needs that vary across time and situations (1-2 years)
Belief
people’s actions are guided by what they expect or think they know (5+ years)
Properties of Naive Psychology
Refer to invisible mental states (can’t see a desire or belief)
Psychological concepts linked together in cause-effect relations
Belief -> emotion -> subsequent actions
Develop surprisingly early (not 100% sure how early though)
Some aspects evident early on but others take lots of time to develop
Self Concept
Understanding that the self is separate from others (my body, my thoughts, my desires)
Development of Self Concept
Newborns: can discriminate source of contact (only turn if other’s touch them, not if they touch themselves)
4 months: basic understanding of own limitations
-Don’t reach for large objects but do reach for small ones
-Don’t reach for objects they can’t reach
18-24 months: wipe smudges off faces when see in mirrors, make efforts to look good for other people
Less than 18 months: see smudge, touch the mirror
18-24 months: see smudge, touch own face
Body As Obstacle Task
Cart attached by rope to rug, babies need to push cart to caregiver
Zambian 2 year olds (who struggle with mirror task) realize they need to drag cart from other side
Western babies do much worse
Theory of Mind
Organized understanding of how mental processes such as intentions, desires, beliefs, perceptions, and emotions influence behaviour
Understanding of similarities and differences between their own and others’ thinking
Theory of Mind Module
Hypothesized brain mechanism devoted to understanding other human beings (innate)
Nativist
over first few years
Certain areas of the brain are active in representing beliefs
Children with autism have problems with false belief problems through adolescence (problems with social reasoning/ToM)
Empiricist Stance on Theory of Mind
Emphasize role of learning from experiences with physical situations or other people
E.g. preschoolers with siblings outperform peers without siblings on false belief tasks
Growth of general info processing skills as essential to understanding people’s minds
E.g. understanding false belief problems related to ability to reason about complex counterfactual statements and ability to inhibit behavioural propensities
Pretend Play
Make believe activities in which children create new symbolic relations
Emerges at 12-18 months
Object substitution: ignoring many of play object’s characteristics so they can pretend its something else
Sociodramatic Play
Pretend play in which enact miniature dramas with other children or adults
E.g. mother comforting baby or doctor helping sick person or tea parties
Emerges later
Agency
Ability to monitor and act on one’s environment in accordance with one’s will or intentions
10 months: shapes with googly eyes trying to help or hinder red circle get up hill
-Children were more surprised when circle approached the shape that hindered progress up hill
-Inferring intention in circle and preference for the helpful shape
