infant cognitive development

Question 1

constructivist theory of development

Answer 1

children play an active role in learning and development
- child is an active agent in their development unlike operant condition theories where they were passive

Question 2

schemas

Answer 2

• cognitive representations of the world
• determine how children of different ages organize and understand informations

Question 3

assimilation

Answer 3

incorporation of new experiences into existing schemas

Question 4

accomodation

Answer 4

modifying schema to fit new information

Question 5

stages

Answer 5

1. sensorimotor
2. peoperational
3. concrete
4. formal

Question 6

sensorimotor

Answer 6

• birth to 2 years
• schemas are limited sensory experiences and motor skills
• has 6 substages: reflexes, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of secondary, tertiary circular reactions and mental representation

Question 7

object permanence

Answer 7

understanding that an object continues to exist independent of one immediate perceptual experiences
- stages that help object permanence grow, not just one day they dont get it and the next they do

Question 8

mental representation

Answer 8

the ability to hold and manipulate objects and events in one’s mind
- 18-24 months
- pretend play
- language

Question 9

challenges to piaget

Answer 9

• underestimated infants cognitive abilities
• neglected in the moment contextual influences
• development is more gradual then his idea

Question 10

core capacities

Answer 10

innate, mental capacities that are building blocks to cognitive development

Question 11

nativist

Answer 11

claims that infants are born with core capacities in areas such as number, object properties
- evolutionary history has shaped our understanding
- thought that piaget was focusing too much on motor skills and not cognition

Question 12

violation of expectation paradigm

Answer 12

compares infants looking at expected or possible events compared to unexpected events
- show babies a possible and impossible event and they look longer at the impossible because they find it suprising
- this shows that they have some understanding

Question 13

principle of persistence

Answer 13

an innate understanding that objects retain their physical properties (like height)
ex: understand that when tall carrots are behind a shorter box, the leafs should be visible

Question 14

infant understanding of gravity and support

Answer 14

in the floating box study, infants tended to expect a box to fall as it did not have support

Question 15

approximate number sense (ANS)

Answer 15

infants ability to estimate the approximate magnitude of items in a set without relying on counting
- develops over first year
- will understand that if they are shown one doll and then that another is being added, they will be surprised to see 3

Question 16

challenges to nativism

Answer 16

infant looking time patterns may be explained by attention to perceptual features
- dont test babies in the first few days even though they are getting a lot of experience then

Question 17

developmental systems theory

Answer 17

human behaviour is the product of a complex, ever changing system, and many factores create developmental change
- rejection of the nativist idea of innate, core capacities

Question 18

modifying a not b task

Answer 18

• performance on any cognitive task is affected by the surrounding context and repeated sensory feedback
• in a not b, repeated reaching intensifies a simple motor habit (perseveration)

Question 19

recognition memory

Answer 19

recognition that a specific stimulus had been experienced in the past
- infant pays more attention to a new stimulus vs a familiar stimulus

Question 20

memory and conjugate mobile studies

Answer 20

• infant memory for action on the environment
• a kids leg is tied to a mobile so he kicks his legs, and will kick even when not tied. but if never tied, wont ever kick

Question 21

deferred imitation tasks

Answer 21

even 6 months old can later recall a sequence of actions
- older infants can recall more complex sequences for longer periods of time

Question 22

HOME

Answer 22

a gold standard instrument, using a checklist to measure infant home experiences

Question 23

context of cognitive development

Answer 23

• poverty places infants at risk for later cognitive delays
• interventions for 0-3 y/os and their families living in poverty

Question 24

example intervention: carolina abcedarian project

Answer 24

poor children between infancy and 5 attended a full time day care with activities focused on cognitive stimulation, language development and social growth and showed sustained academic and cognitive achievements compared to those who didnt get intervention