Unit 4 & 5 Infancy: Cognitive and Language Development Flashcards
Jean Piaget
determine how children of different ages organize and understand information and how they act on the world
schemas change through assimilation and accommodation
Schemas
cognitive representations of the world
Assimilation
incorporation of new experience into existing schema
accommodation
modifying schemas to fit new information
4 distinct qualitatively different stages of development
sensorimotor period -birth to 2 years
preoperational period - 2-7 years
concrete operational 7-11 years
Formal operational period 11 years through adulthood
Stages of sensorimotor
Reflexes
Primary circular reactions
secondary circular reactions
coordination of secondary circular reactions
tertiary circular reactions
mental representation
Sensorimotor stage reflexes
birth- 1 month
display movement by sucking and grasping
spontaneous actions by moving fingers libs head and torso
Sensorimotor stage primary circular reactions
1-4 months
begin to repeat their actions
Sensorimotor stage secondary circular reaction
4-8 months
enjoy watching the effects of their actions
Sensorimotor stage coordination of secondary circular reactions
8-12 months
actions are goal-directed and intentional
Sensorimotor stage tertiary circular reaction
12-18 months
means-end analysis
increased creativity by engaging in trial and error to explore consequences with actions
Sensorimotor stage mental representation
18-24 months
able to mentally represent and manipulate objects and events in their minds using language symbolic play and deferred imitation
object permanence
the understanding that objects continue to exist independent of one’s immediate perceptual experience
7-months old fail 9-months
mental representation
the ability to hold and manipulate objects and events in one’s mind
18-24 month
language: children enter a vocabulary spurt (6-8 weeks)
pretend play: toddlers play pretend
challenges to Piaget and new theoretical orientations
- nativists believed that Piaget underestimated infants’ cognitive ability
-dynamic system theorists: believed that Piaget neglected in the moment contextual influences that affected how children performed on certain tasks - information processing theorists: believed that development is more gradual than Piaget proposed
contemporary perspectives
nativist theories focus on the nature side of things
born with mental capacities that are building blocks to cognitive development
nativists claim infants are born with core capacities in areas such as number, object properties,
principle of persistence
an innate understanding that objects retain their physical properties
infant understanding gravity and support
infants understanding of number
challenges to nativism theories
infant looking time patterns may be explained by infants’ attention to perceptual features
might be interested
challenges to nativism theories
infant looking time patterns may be explained by infants’ attention to perceptual features
when infants show interest in the novelty of the window rather than the impossibility
contemporary perspective: Developmental systems theory
focusing on the external influences on infants
humans behaviour is the product of many factors create developmental change
rejects innate core capaticies
modifying Piaget’s A-not-B task
shows that the A not B task is not all mental and it is also phsyical
Recognition memory
infants pay more attention to a new stimulus vs a familiar stimulus
