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PSYC 304 > Lecture 4: Learning about the Physical World > Flashcards

Lecture 4: Learning about the Physical World Flashcards

1
Q

questions of cognitive development researchers

A
  • How do children’s knowledge and thinking change as they grow?
  • What factors influence their thinking?
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2
Q

Jean Piaget

A
  • Father of the field of cognitive development
  • In 1920, he worked at the Binet Institute on intelligence tests
  • Piaget was intrigued by children’s wrong answers on adult intelligence tests
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3
Q

Piaget’s proposals

A
  • Children’s thinking is qualitatively different from adults’ thinking
  • Cognition grows and develops through a series of stages
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4
Q

Properties of Piaget’s stage theory

A
  • Outlines 4 stages of children’s cognitive development
  • Children at different stages think in qualitatively different ways
  • Thinking at each stage influences thinking across diverse topics
  • Brief transitional period at the end of each stage
  • The stages are universal (not culturally dependent) and the order is always the same
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5
Q

4 stages of children’s cognitive development with ages

A
  • sensorimotor stage (birth-2)
  • preoperational stage (2-7)
  • concrete operational stage (7-12)
  • formal operational stage (12+)
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6
Q

properties of the sensorimotor stage

A
  • Infants live in the here-and-now
  • They gain knowledge about the world through movements and sensations
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7
Q

subdivisions of the sensorimotor stage

A
  • 1-4 months
  • 4-8 months
  • 8-12 months
  • 12-18 months
  • 18-24 months
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8
Q

1-4 month-olds (Piaget)

A
  • interact with the world via reflexes and repeat pleasurable actions
  • Indicates interest in their bodies
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9
Q

4-8 month-olds (Piaget)

A
  • repeat actions towards objects to produce a desired outcome
  • Indicates interest in the world, beyond their own body
  • Allows for the formation of connections between their own actions and consequences in the world
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10
Q

8-12 month-olds (Piaget)

A
  • combine several actions to achieve a goal
  • Indicates that actions are clearly intentional
  • The emergence of object permanence
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11
Q

12-18 month-olds (Piaget)

A
  • trial-and-error experiments to see how outcomes change
  • Allows for greater understanding of cause-effect relations
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12
Q

18-24 month-olds (Piaget)

A
  • mental representation
  • Fully developed object permanence
  • Indicated by deferred imitation
  • Allows for symbolic thoughts
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13
Q

object permanence

A

Knowing that objects continue to exist even though they can no longer be seen or heard

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14
Q

when does object permanence develop

A

around 8 months

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15
Q

how is object permanence tested

A

by seeing how a baby reacts to an object being hidden
- If the baby doesn’t look for the object or get upset, they don’t have object permanence
- If they look for the object, they have object permanence

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16
Q

A-not-B-error

A

the tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was last found rather than in the new location where it was last hidden

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17
Q

what does the A-not-B-error demonstrate

A

that inital object permanence is fragile

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18
Q

when does the A-not-B-error disappear

A

around 12 months

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19
Q

main characteristics of the preoperational stage

A
  • symbolic thought
  • egocentrism
  • centration
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20
Q

symbolic thought

A

the ability to think about objects or events that are not within the immediate environment

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21
Q

benefits of symbolic thought

A
  • enables language acquisition
  • enables symbolic representation (ability to engage in pretend play adn drawing)
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22
Q

egocentrism

A

perceiving the world solely from one’s own point of view

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23
Q

examples of egocentrism

A

difficulties taking another person’s spatial perspective & egocentric speech

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24
Q

egocentric speech

A

taking turns speaking, but providing one’s own monologue

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25
Q

signs of progress in reducing egocentrism

A

increase in children’s verbal arguments. This means that the child is at least paying attention to another perspective

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26
Q

centration

A

the tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or event to the exclusion of other relevant features

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27
Q

children in the preoperational stage struggle with ___

A

the conservation concept

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28
Q

the conservation concept

A

changing the appearance of an object does not change the object’s other key properties

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29
Q

Piaget’s conservation tasks

A

Involves changing the appearance of an object and determining if the child will believe that other properties have been changed

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30
Q

main characteristics of the concreate operational stage

A
  • can reason logically about concrete objects and events such as reversibility, seriation, and cognitive maps
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31
Q

reversibility

A

the capacity to think through a series of steps and then mentally reverse direction, returning to the starting point

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32
Q

seriation

A

the ability to order items along a quantitative dimension such as length or width

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33
Q

cognitive maps

A

the mental representation of familiar large-scale spaces, such as their neighbourhood and school

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34
Q

children in the concrete operational stage struggle with ___

A

thinking in purely abstact/hypothetical terms or general systematic scienetific experiments to test their beliefs

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35
Q

the conservation concept in children in the concrete operational stage

A

they understand the conservation concept

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36
Q

main characteristics of the formal operational stage

A
  • the ability to think abstractly and reason hypotehtically
  • they can imagine realities that are different from the current one
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37
Q

does everyone reach the formal operational stage?

A

no, not all adolescents or adults reach it

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38
Q

what does Piaget’s pendulum problem test?

A

deductive reasoning

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39
Q

Piaget’s pendulum problem

A

Requires that people determine the influence of weight and string length on the time it takes for the pendulum to swing back and forth

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40
Q

what makes an experiment unbiased

A

varying only one variable at a time

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41
Q

children under 12 in the pendulum problem

A

they perform unsystmetic experiments and draw incorrect conclusions

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42
Q

what stage are people who succeed in the pendulum problem in?

A

formal operation stage

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43
Q

Piaget on how children learn

A
  • Children actively shape their knowledge of the world
  • Children learn on their own
  • Children are intrinsically motivated to learn
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44
Q

strengths of Piaget’s theory

A
  • Intuitively plausible depiction of children’s nature as active learners and how learning progresses
  • Provides a good overview of children’s thinking at different ages
  • Exceptional breadth (spans the lifespan & examines many cognitive operations and concepts)
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45
Q

applications of Piaget’s theory to education

A
  • Children’s distinctive ways of thinking at different ages need to be considered in deciding how to teach them
  • Children learn best by interacting with the environment (hands-on learning and experiments)
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46
Q

weakenesses of Piaget’s theory

A
  • Piaget didn’t use the scientific method to develop his theory
  • His theory depicts children’s thinking as more consistent than it is
  • Children are more cognitively competent than Piaget recognized
  • The theory is vague about the mechanisms of cognitive growth
  • The theory underestimates the contribution of the social world to cognitive development
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47
Q

Nativist view

A
  • Children have innate, specialized cognitive mechanisms that provide them with basic knowledge in domains of evolutionary importance
  • These cognitive mechanisms also allow children to rapidly acquire additional knowledge in these important domains
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48
Q

domains of evolutionary importance (Nativist view)

A
  • Solid objects
  • Understanding of physical laws
  • Numbers
  • Categorization
  • Understanding the minds of people
  • Language
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49
Q

evidence for earlier object permanence

A
  • When shown an object and then the light in the room is turned off, most infants younger than 8 months old will reach for where they last saw the object
  • Piaget’s object permanence task may be too difficult. Infants younger than 8 months may fail Piaget’s object permanence task because they haven’t developed the motor capacity to manually search
  • Can use looking behaviour as a better measure of object permanence (violation of the expectation paradigm)
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50
Q

violation of the expectation paradigm

A

Adaptation of habituation paradigm used to study infant cognition

51
Q

violation of the expectation paradigm method

A
  • Infants are habituated to an event
  • Test: presented with a possible and impossible event that are variations on the habituation event
  • Longer-looking at the impossible event indicates that the infant possesses the physical knowledge being studied (both innate and through experience)
52
Q

possible event

A

consistent with knowledge or expectation being examined in the study

53
Q

impossible event

A

violates knowledge or expectation being studied

54
Q

impossible events are viewed as ___

A

more novel/unexpected, resulting in longer looking time

55
Q

results of the drawbridge study

A

infants as young as 3.5 months looked longer at the impossible event drawbridge going through a box than the possible event

56
Q

the drawbridge study indicates that infants as young as 3.5 months…

A
  • Have object permanence
  • Understand that solid objects can’t go through another solid object
57
Q

implications of the drawbridge study

A

since 3.5-month-olds haven’t learned language yet, and couldn’t have been taught, this suggests that understanding solid objects is innate

58
Q

understanding gravity study aim

A

determine if infants understand gravity

59
Q

understanding gravity study method

A

violation of expection paradigm with 3-month-olds

60
Q

possible event in the understanding gravity study

A

a hand places a box on a platform

61
Q

impossible event in the understanding gravity study

A

a hand places a box in middair and it remains suspended

62
Q

results of the understanding gravity study

A

3-month-olds looked longer at the box suspended in midair

63
Q

understanding gravity follow-up study

A
  • compared looking times at a box suspended in midair (same impossible event) vs. a box that falls when placed in midair
  • found that infants looked longer at the box suspended in midair
64
Q

gravity study takeaways

A
  • Shows that infants expect the box to fall if there is no support
  • Since infants haven’t learned language yet, this suggests an innate, rudimentary understanding of gravity
65
Q

infants’ understanding of numbers study aim

A

Do infants have a basic concept of numbers?

66
Q

infants’ understanding of numbers study method

A

habituation paradigm with 6-month-olds

67
Q

infants’ understanding of numbers habituation paradigm

A
  • shown a series of displays containing 16 dots
  • dots of different sizes and arrangements on each display
68
Q

infants’ understanding of numbers test phase

A
  • Same number: 16 dots
  • New number: 8 dots
69
Q

infants’ understanding of numbers results

A

infants looked longer at the new number display

70
Q

infants’ undestanding of numbers follow-up studies

A

show that 6-month-olds show the same behaviour for other dots in a 2:1 ratio

71
Q

9-month-olds’ understanding of numbers study

A

discriminate displays in a 3:2 ratio

72
Q

infants’ understanding of numbers study takeaway

A

since infants haven’t learned to count yet, this suggests they have an innate approximate number sense (ANS)

73
Q

approximate number sense (ANS)

A

a cognitive system that allows infants to intuitively estimate numbers and magnitudes

74
Q

foundations of differences in math ability

A

Research shows a positive correlation between infant ANS and preschool math ability. This suggests that ANS lays the foundation for later math ability

75
Q

when does categorization begin?

A

in infancy

76
Q

habituation paradigm for categorization in infancy

A

showed 3-month-olds various pictures of cats
Habituated them to the general category of cats, looking at novel cat photos less and less

77
Q

test phase of the habituation paradigm for categorization in infancy

A

a photo of a dog

78
Q

results of the habituation paradigm for categorization in infancy

A

infants looked longer at the dog, suggesting that they saw all cats as a single category and dogs as a different category

79
Q

habituation paradigm for general categorization in infancy method

A

6-month-olds were habituated to photos of mammals

80
Q

habituation paradigm for general categorization in infancy results

A

on test trials, kids looked longer at non-mammals

81
Q

habituation paradigm for general categorization in infancy implications

A

this shows that infants had formed the category of mammals by recognizing similarities between mammals

82
Q

3 broad categories

A

9-month-olds divide objects into 3 broad categories: people, animals, and inanimate objects

83
Q

evidence for 3 broad categories

A
  • This is indexed by different reactions to members of each of these categories
  • Ex. in lab settings, 9-month-olds pay more attention to animals than inanimate objects but smile less at animals than they do people
84
Q

importance of categorization

A
  • Helps make sense of the world by simplifying it
  • Allows children to make inferences and predicts about objects of that same category
85
Q

forming categories based on shape

A
  • Infants focus on similarities in shape when forming categories
86
Q

forming categories based on shape study

A

various objects were placed in front of 12-month-olds. The experimenter picked up the target object and demonstrated that it rattles. Infants were more likely to assume that an object of similar shape also rattles vs. objects similar in colour or texture

87
Q

implications of forming categories based on shape

A

results in difficulties undestanding exceptions (ex. they fail to understand that a boat is a vehicle because it lacks wheels)

88
Q

when do infants start to form category hierarchies?

A

by 2-3 years

89
Q

category hierarchies

A

organize object categories by set-subset relations

90
Q

benefits of category hierarchies

A

Allow for finer distinctions among objects within each level

91
Q

superordinate categories

A

provide general information

92
Q

basic categories

A

provide medium information

93
Q

subordinate categories

A

provide specific information

94
Q

what categories do children learn first?

A

basic categories

95
Q

objects at the basic level

A

have obvious similarities

96
Q

objects at the superordinate level

A

have similarities are less obvious

97
Q

objects at the subordinate level

A

have differences that are hard to detect

98
Q

critcism of the nativist view

A

Over-estimates infants’ innate cognitive understanding

99
Q

findings of nativist studies can instead be explained by:

A
  • perceptual features of stimuli
  • learning from the environment
100
Q

perceptual features of stimuli

A

infants may look longer at certain stimuli because they are more visually interesting and not because they understand the concept being tested

101
Q

learning from the environment

A

3-month-olds have learned a lot about the world in about 810 hours of awake time

102
Q

3 Views of Learning about the Physical World

A
  • Piaget’s View
  • Nativist View
  • Learning View
103
Q

how do children learn from the environment

A
  • Children actively learn from the environment on their own
  • Caregivers play a role in children’s learning by determining the quality of the home environment
104
Q

examples of children learning from the environment on their own

A
  • Trial and error
  • Statistical learning
105
Q

statistical learning

A

Forming associations between stimuli that occur in predictable patterns

106
Q

statistical learning is an example of _____

A

observational learning

107
Q

statistical learning study design

A

habituation paradigm with 2-month-olds

108
Q

statistical learning study method

A

habituated infants to sequences of 3 pairs of shapes. The first shape in a pair always came before the second shape in the pair

109
Q

statistical learning study test

A
  • presented infants with a familiar sequence and a novel sequence
  • Familiar sequence: the same pair of shapes
  • Novel sequence: randomly ordering the same shapes (no pattern)
110
Q

statistical learning study results

A

2-month-olds looked longer at the novel sequence, suggesting that they had learned the order of shapes in the habituation phase

111
Q

statistical learning study takeaway

A

Evidence that infants are sensitive to statistical regularities in their environment

112
Q

implications of statistical learning

A
  • Babies actively interpret the world around them and draw conclusions
  • Statistical learning is innate and domain-general (mechanisms through which infants learn in various domains)
  • Contrast with the nativist theory, which asserts the existence of innate, domain-specific learning mechanisms
113
Q

Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)

A
  • The gold standard for measuring the home environment
  • Researchers visit a child’s home, observe the environment and interview the caregiver
114
Q

how is HOME formatted?

A

Checklist of characteristics that reflect 2 factors

115
Q

2 factors reflected in HOME

A

parenting quality & stimulation of the environment

116
Q

parenting quality

A

responsiveness, acceptance, and involvement

117
Q

stimulation of the environment

A

variety and presence of interesting toys

118
Q

what do high scores on HOME indicate?

A

higher quality home environment

119
Q

what do high HOME scores predict?

A

positively predict children’s cognitive skills and development (IQ, Math and reading comprehension, and Language ability)

120
Q

what is the most important factor in HOME?

A

parenting quality

121
Q

factors influencing home environment

A

SES and culture

122
Q

SES and home environment

A

low SES is associated with a lower-quality home environment

123
Q

culture and home environment

A
  • Determines the specific contents of what a child learns
  • The process through which children learn is universal
  • Children everywhere benefit from accepting/involved parents and stimulating environments
124
Q

development of our understanding of the physical world (nativist view)

A
  • 2 months: statistical learning
  • 3 months: understand that solid objects can’t go through other objects, object permanence, understanding of gravity, understanding of basic categories (dog vs. cat)
  • 6 months: have ANS for 2:1 ratios, understand superordinate categories (mammals vs. non-mammals)
  • 9 months: have ANS for 3:2 ratios
  • 12 months: form categories by shape
  • 2-3 years: form category hierarchies

PSYC 304 (11 decks)

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