lecture 5: the object concept and mental representations Flashcards
what is object permanence?
objects ocntinue to exist when they are out of sight- retains spatial and physical properties.
what are the mental representations?
form internal concpets and representations of the world.
what are the 4 stages of Piaget’s theory?
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational.
what age does the sensorimotor stage develop in children?
0-24 months
define the sensorimotor stage
learn through action and sensory information. Learn to differentiate self from the environment.
12m- object permanence and full representations at 18-24m.
stage 1 and stage 2 of sensorimotor stage include what types of behaviour
- reflexive activity e.g. sucking
- primary circular reactions- simple behaviours.
stage 3 of sensorimotor stage includes what kind of reactions
secondary circular reactions- focus on objects and intentionally change surroundings.
what is the stage 4 of the sensorimotor stage?
coordination of secondary circular reactions. engage with objects e.g. the a not b error until 12m.
what is the A not B error experiment?
how long does it take for the child to notice the object has moved to the second location.
what is stage 5 of the sensorimotor stage?
tertiary circular reactions- understand objects through trial and error, demonstrate object permenance but not internal representations.
stage 6 of sensorimotor stage
internal representation- mental representations of the world- deferred imitation.
piaget’s observations- what are the 3
object permenance, planning, deferrred imitation (copy behaviour after delay).
what were the methodological ctiques of Piaget’s observations
observed his own children, no quantitative data gathered, used a more clinical method.
what were some of the confounds of Piaget’s observations?
motor coordination could explain result as well as memory problems in the A not B error experiment
Butterworth’s replication consists of what 3 conditions?
normal design, covered but visible (transparency) and visible but uncovered.
(butterworth) what were the results ?
see errors in the 2 new conditions but there were errors in all conditions even when object was clearly visible- suggesting a lack of coordination.
how did Smith & Thelen replicate piaget’s study into object permenance?
infant stood during the B trial
what was Smith & Thelen’s results when the child stood up?
allowed them to refresh it was found that standing up made the A position less salient to the child.
what are Bower’s findings?
a faster heart rate in the second condition of an empty space which suggests surprise.
Baillargeon et al said that infants should look longer at…
the impossible event of the car driving through the box if it is surprising to the child- look longer at impossible.
what was Baillargeon et al’s findings?
infants as young as 5m show object permanence and supports that failure on previous tests is due to other cognitive abilities.
cliften et al associated what two things for 6m old infants?
small and large objects, each object was associated with a sound.
what were the methodological changes that Bower made from Piaget’s experiment?
object still in place versus empty soace- they measure the childs heart rate.
what are the results of clifton et al’s study with the associations?
in darkness they tried to reach for objects suggesting due to mental representations.
how did claxton et al study 10 month old infants?
encouraged them to throw ball or fit it into a hole.
In willats study 9 month old children performed what to get a toy?
a sequences of tasks in order to get the toy from the cloth.
meltzoff and moore studied 6 month olds for deferred imitation and found…
infants who saw an adult make a gesture were more likely to perform the facial gesture at a neutral face days later.
meltzoff found that for 14m and 16m olds they were more likley to reproduce what compared to those who didnt.
observed actions even after a 4 month delay.
