Module 3 - Infant Cognitive Development Flashcards
Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory: The Sensorimotor Stage
- Birth - 2 years old
- Act & understand the world using sensorimotor or behavioural schemes
Piaget - Sensorimotor Substages: Birth - 1 Month old
Reflexive schemes - Newborn reflexes
Piaget - Sensorimotor Substages: 1 - 4 Months
Primary circular reactions - Simple motor habits centered around own body
Piaget - Sensorimotor Substages: 4 - 8 Months
Secondary circular reactions - Repititon of interesting effects; imitation of familiar behaviours
Piaget - Sensorimotor Substages: 8 - 12 Months
Coordination of secondary circular reactions - Intentional, goal-directed behaviour, beginning object permanence
Piaget - Sensorimotor Substages: 12 - 18 Months
Tertiary circular reactions - Exploration of object properties through novel actions
Piaget - Sensorimotor Substages: 18 Months- 2 years
Mental representation - internal depictions of objects and events; advanved object permanence (invisible displacement)
Object permanence - Developmental progression
Under 6 months - no object permanence
8-12 months - search but A-not-B errors (child will search where an object was last found, not where it was moved to)
Piaget - Critisisms of theory
- Underestimated infant abilities
- Evidence of some conceptual understanding before motor skills
Informaiton processing Perspecitve
“Central Executive”
Stimulus Input > Sensory Register > Attention > Short-term Memory Store > Storage . Long-term Memory Store > Response Output
Sensory Register
Represents sights and sounds directly and stores them briefly
Short-Term Memory Store
Holds limited amount of information that is worked on to facilitate memroy and problem solving
Long-Term Memory Store
Stores information permanently
Central Executive
- Conscious part of the mind
- Coordinate incoming information with information in the system
- Controls attentions
- Selects, applies & monitors the effectiveness of stategies
Cognitive Gains: Infancy to Toddlerhood - Attention
- Improves efficiency and ability to focus
- Less attractions to novelty, imporved systained attention
Cignitive Gains: Infancy to Toddlerhood - Memory
- Longer retentional intervals
- Development of recall by econd half of first year
Cignitive Gains: Infancy to Toddlerhood - Categorisation
- Gradual shift from perception to conceptual categorisation in toddlerhood
Sociocultural Theory - Vygotsky
Knowledge is constructed via;
- Collective dialogues
- Collabrotive learning
- Guided participation, scaffolding
- Imitation
Child is known as “little apprentice”
Emphasised social mediation of cognitive construction
Zone of Proximal Development
Performance lelve past independant performance that can be performed with help. Past this, the kevek us too advanced
Language development: Nativist Approach
Chomsky - 1957
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
- Universal grammar is hard-wired
- Maturational unfoldling
- Fine-tuned by experience
Evidence: Universal aspects of early language, uniquely human, specialised area left hemisphere, 6-12 years sensitive period
Critique of Nativist Approch
- Hard to identify universal grammer
- Slower and more error-prone lenguage acquisition than innate ability would predict
- Learning is important in language
- Brain plasticity shows other areas of brain capable of supporting language
Social Interactionist View
- Children cue caregivers to provide necessary language experiences
- Language acquired via socia interaction (debate whether there are also specialised or innate language abilities)
- Social comptence & language experience affect language progress
Infant Directed Speech (IDS)
Speech altered to be directed at infants. Is usually;
Higher pitched, simple words, sound substitution, short sentences, fluctuating inotation, exahherated gestures.
Gains attention, maintains communication & greater language development