Piaget underestimated the cognitive abilities of the child during the first two years of life

Question 1

Piaget identified four major periods, or stages of what?

Answer 1

cognitive development

Question 2

Piaget identified four major periods, or stages of cognitive development: what were they?

Answer 2

the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), the preoperational stage (2-7 years), the concrete operational stage (7-11 years), and the formal operational stage (11 years and beyond).

Question 3

To Piaget, these stages of intellectual growth represented what 2 things?

Answer 3

qualitatively different levels of functioning, and formed an invariant developmental sequence

Question 4

structure? 4 points

Answer 4

1. Intro and structure
2. Describe sensorimotor stage
   - Problem solving
   - imitation
   - development of object permanence
3. Neonativist critique.
   - object permanence
   - imitation and symbolic representation
4. Conclusion

Question 5

What 3 things are implicated in the sensorimotor period

Answer 5

1. Problem solving
2. imitation
3. development of object permanence

Question 6

The first stage of Piaget’s theory lasts from birth to approximately age 2 and is centred on …

Answer 6

the infant trying to make sense of the world.

Question 7

During the sensorimotor stage, and infant’s knowledge of the world is limited to …

Answer 7

his/her sensory perceptions and motor activities

Question 8

the co-ordination of sensory inputs and motor capabilities form …

Answer 8

schemes that allow them to learn about their environments

Question 9

Over the course of two years, the infant changes from mainly a X to Y being - an [blank]

Answer 9

reflexive
reflective
active problem solver

Question 10

What are the 6 sub-stages of the sensorimotor period?

Answer 10

1. Reflex activity (0-1 month)
2. Primary circular reactions (1-4 months)
3. Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months)
4. Coordination of secondary schemes (8-12 months)
5. Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months)
6. Invention of new means through mental combinations (18-24 months)

Question 11

There are three aspects of development that are central to the sensorimotor period:

Answer 11

problem solving skills, imitation, and the growth of object permanence.

Question 12

According to Piaget the earliest forms of problem solving behaviour occurs in the X sensorimotor stage

Answer 12

4th

coordination of secondary reactions (8-12 months)

Question 13

What happens in the 4th sensorimotor stage? give an example

Answer 13

The infant begins to coordinate two or more actions to achieve simple objectives.

For example, if you were to place an attractive toy under a cushion, a 9 month old might lift the cushion with one hand, while using the other to grab the toy. In this case, the act of lifting the cushion is not a pleasurable response in itself, nor is it executed by chance. Rather it is part of a larger intentional scheme in which two initially unrelated responses – lifting and grasping – are coordinated as a means to an end.

Question 14

According to Piaget, this problem solving ability then develops in sophistication during the X and Y sensorimotor stages; this culminates in

Answer 14

5th (12-18 months)
6th (18-24 months)

the infants ability to use inner experimentation to solve simple problems on a mental level without having to rely on trial and error.

Question 15

Piaget recognised the adaptive significance of [blank], and he was very interested in its development.

Answer 15

imitation

Question 16

His own observations led him to believe that infants are incapable of imitating novel responses displayed by a model until …

Answer 16

the 4th sensorimotor stage ( 8 – 12 months of age)

Question 17

These imitations became more precise age

Answer 17

12-18 months.

Question 18

What is deferred imitation?

Answer 18

the ability to reproduce the behaviour of an absent model

Question 19

According to Piaget, deferred imitation – the ability to reproduce the behaviour of an absent model – first appears at …

Answer 19

18 to 24 months of age (Piaget, 1951).

Question 20

Perhaps the most notable achievement of the sensorimotor period is …

Answer 20

the development of object permanence,

Question 21

What is object permanence?

Answer 21

The idea that objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible or detectable through the other senses

Question 22

Piaget found that X-Y month old infants will not search for attractive objects that are hidden from view

Answer 22

1-4

Question 23

at X-Y months infants will retrieve toys that are partially concealed or placed beneath a semi-transparent cover, but their failure to search for objects that are completely concealed suggested to Piaget that…

Answer 23

4-8

from the infant’s perspective, disappearing objects no longer exist.

Question 24

Clearer signs of emerging object concept appear by 8-12 months – here infants will look for the object, but they are likely to make …

Answer 24

the A-not-B error where they will search for the hidden object where they found it previously, rather than where they last saw it.

Question 25

What age are infants likely to make the A not B error?

Answer 25

8-12 months of age

Question 26

What is the A not B error?

Answer 26

the tendency of 8-12 month olds to search for a hidden object where they previously found it, even after they have seen it moved to a new location

Question 27

Between 12-18 months of age [blank] improves

Answer 27

object concept

Question 28

Between 12-18 months of age object concept improves. Toddlers …. However, object permanence is not complete because…

Answer 28

now track the visible movements of objects and search for them where they were last seen.

because the child cannot make the mental inferences necessary to understand invisible displacements. So if you conceal a toy in your hand, place your hand behind a barrier and deposit the toy there, remove your hand, and then ask the child to find the toy, 12-18 month olds will search where the toy was last seen (in your hand) – rather than looking behind the barrier.

Question 29

By X - Y months toddlers are capable of mentally representing such invisible displacements; at this point they fully understand that…

Answer 29

18 – 24 months

objects have a ‘permanence’ about them.

Question 30

Piaget was an amazing observer of infants, and …, Piaget’s account of infant development is generally accurate, although somewhat incomplete (Bjorklund, 2011).

Answer 30

at the level of describing infant problem solving that most people actually see

Question 31

Yet Piaget generally underestimated infants’ cognitive capabilities, and many researchers today believe …

Answer 31

that new theories are needed to completely capture the richness of infant intelligence.

Question 32

The most articulate criticism of Piaget’s infancy theory comes from proponents of what?

Answer 32

neo-nativism

Question 33

what is neo-nativism?

Answer 33

the belief that infants are born with substantial innate knowledge about the physical world, which requires less time and experience to be demonstrated than Piaget proposed (Gelman & Williams, 1998; Spelke & Newcomb, 1998).

Question 34

Two references for neo-nativism?

Answer 34

(Gelman & Williams, 1998; Spelke & Newcomb, 1998

Question 35

Research suggests that infants know something about the permanency of objects very early on; such knowledge does not have to be ‘constructed’ as Piaget proposed, but …

Answer 35

is part of an infant’s genetic heritage

Question 36

Indeed, who found that infants understand object permanence earlier than Piaget thought?

Answer 36

Renee Ballairgeon

Question 37

How did Renee Ballairgeon come to the conclusion that infants understand object permanence much earlier than Piaget thought?

Answer 37

in several studies she analysed infant looking responses to the outcomes of events that seemed to violate physics principles – she found that infants as young as 3.5 months will look longer at impossible events indicating that they understand on some level that the object should not just simply disappear.

Question 38

From what age did Renee Ballairgeon find that infants will look longer at the impossible event?

Answer 38

3.5 months

Question 39

Similarly to Renee Ballairgeon what did Bower et al (1971) do? what did they find?

Answer 39

Bower et al. (1971) designed a task that used gaze tracking to decipher whether infants of 5 months old understand object permanence

Four month old infants were shown a train moving along a track. The train went behind a screen that blocked the infant’s view.

The infants would direct their gaze to the other side of the screen, where the train would be expected to emerge.

Question 40

In Bower et al. (1971) sutdy what would the 4 month old infants do when the train went behind the screen that blocked the infants’ view?

Answer 40

The infants would direct their gaze to the other side of the screen, where the train would be expected to emerge.

Question 41

In Bower et al (1971) study) 4 month old infants were shown a train moving along a track. The train went behind a screen that blocked the infant’s view. The infants would direct their gaze to the other side of the screen, where the train would be expected to emerge - what does this imply?

Answer 41

ThiThis implies an understanding that the train still exists even though the infant cannot see it.

Question 42

In follow up studies to Bower et als (1971), what happened? what was found?

Answer 42

This implies an understanding that the train still exists even though the infant cannot see it.

Question 43

According to Piaget, as soon as the train was no longer visible, the infants should…

Answer 43

should lose interest and look elsewhere, since for them the train no longer exists.

Question 44

According to Piaget, as soon as the train was no longer visible, the infants should lose interest and look elsewhere, since for them the train no longer exists. However, since this study showed otherwise, this suggests that

Answer 44

Piaget underestimated the age at which children develop object permanence.

Question 45

Why did Piaget believe that older infants are capable of deferred imitation?

Answer 45

) because they can now construct mental symbols, or images of a model’s behaviour that are stored in memory and retrieved later to guide the child’s recreation of the modelled sequence.

Question 46

) because they can now construct mental symbols, or images of a model’s behaviour that are stored in memory and retrieved later to guide the child’s recreation of the modelled sequence.

Other investigators disagree with Piaget, arguing that …

Answer 46

deferred imitation, and thus symbolic representation, begins much earlier (Gergley, Bekkering & Kiraly, 2003)

Question 47

In relation to imitation - what has research shown with 6 month olds? Who conducted it?

Answer 47

research has shown that 6 month olds are able to imitate very simple acts (such as button pressing to activate a noise-making toy) after 24 hours (Colin & Hayne, 1999

Question 48

toddlers have been shown to imitate particularly memorable events up to …

Answer 48

toddlers have been shown to imitate particularly memorable events up to

Question 49

So a capacity for deferred imitation is present much earlier than Piaget had thought, something that brings into question Piaget’s account of …

Answer 49

the nonsymbolic sensorimotor child.

Question 50

early display of symbolic ability is illustrated in innovative research by who?

Answer 50

Karen Wynn (1992).

Question 51

early display of symbolic ability is illustrated in innovative research by Karen Wynn (1992).

What happened in her experiment?

Answer 51

In Wynn’s experiment, 5 month old infants were shown a sequence of events that involved the addition and subtraction of dolls from a model screen; one of the sequences led to a possible outcome, whereas the other led to an impossible outcome.

Question 52

In Wynn’s experiment, 5 month old infants were shown a sequence of events that involved the addition and subtraction of dolls from a model screen; one of the sequences led to a possible outcome, whereas the other led to an impossible outcome.

What was the procedure? 4 steps

Answer 52

. Infants sat and watched as an object was placed on a model stage.

. A screen was then raised, hiding the object.

The infant then watched as a second object was placed behind the screen

The screen was then lowered revealing either two objects (the possible outcomes), or one object (the impossible outcome).

Question 53

What did Wynn (1992) conclude from her research?

Answer 53

Infants seem not to be making only a perceptual discrimination between two displays. Rather, when they watch as one item is added to another behind a screen, they expect to see two items when the screen is dropped. This requires a certain level of object permanence and memory, but also some rudimentary ideas about addition.

Question 54

Wynn’s findings are provocative - why?

Answer 54

They suggest substantially greater symbolic (quantitative) knowledge in young infants than proposed by Piaget.

Question 55

To conclude… 2 sentences

Answer 55

To conclude, it is clear that Piaget did somewhat underestimate the cognitive abilities of the child in the first two years of life. However, it is important to remember that his work was the first of its kind, many aspects of his theory have been supported by research, and much of the subsequent research critiquing his findings could not have been done without his pioneering work recognising both the central role of cognition in human development, and the child as active in its own development.

Question 56

Whilst Piaget did somewhat underestimate the cognitive abilities of the child in the first two years of life, what is it important to remember? (3 points)

Answer 56

1. That his work was the first of its kind
2. That many aspects of his theory have been supported by research
3. That much of the subsequent research critiquing his findings could not have been done without his pioneering work recognising both the central role of cognition in human development, an the child as active in its own development