2.3 cognitive development

classical conditioning

form of learning where neutral stimulus becomes associated with a reflexive response until the neutral stimulus alone elicits that response

who demonstrated classical conditioning in infants 

John B Watson; Little Albert Experiment 

5 key terms in classical conditioning

unconditioned stimulus

unconditioned response

neutral stimulus

conditioned stimulus

conditioned response

operant conditioning

form of learning where voluntary behavior is followed by a stimulus that increases or decreases the likelihood of that behavior

reinforcement

increases occurrence of a behavior

punishment 

decreases occurrence of a behavior 

positive in operant conditioning

adding a stimulus

negative in operant conditioning

removing a stimulus

example of positive reinforcement 

a baby laughs, mom smiles, baby laughs more 

example of negative reinforcement

baby covers ears to muffle loud noise → covers ears more often

example of positive punishment

baby pulls shower lever, gets splashes → stops touching lever

example of negative punishment 

baby throws toy, lands out of reach → stops throwing toys 

habituation

gradual reduction in response to a repeated stimulus “getting used to it”

recovery (dishabituation)

renewed response when a new stimulus appears

what does a recovery response show about infants 

they can discriminate and remember stimuli 

what did numerical cognition studies show

6mo old can tell 8 dots from 16, but not 8 vs 12 → number sense is ratio-dependent and predicts later math ability

sensorimotor stage

1st stage

infants learn through sensory and motor experiences

two processes in adaptation 

assimilation: fit info into old schemes

accommodation: change schemes to fit new info

how does cognitive growth occur

through equilibrium; balancing assimilation and accommodation

substage 1 (reflex acts)

birth-1mo

uses reflexes like grasping and sucking

substage 2 (primary circular reactions)

1-4mo

repeat body-centered actions (hand-to-mouth)

substage 3 (secondary circular reactions)

4-8mo

repeat actions that affect environment (dropping toys)

substage 4 ( coordination of secondary circular movement

8-12mo

goal-directed behavior, object permanence, A-not-B error

A-not-B error

searching for an object where it was previously found, not where it actually is

substage 5 (tertiary circular reactions)

12-18mo

experiment with variations 

substage 6 (mental representation)

18-24mo

can think symbolically, show deferred imitation, pretend play

what challenges piagets timeline?

object permanence and deferred imitation appear earlier; edvelopment may be gradual, not strictly in stages

information processing theory 

compares mind to a computer, processing occurs simultaneously 

executive function

ability to manage and direct attention

sustained attention

ability to focus on a task, grows with age

selective attention 

focusing on relevant info and ignoring distractions 

goldilocks principle

infants pay most attention to a stimuli of moderate complexity

how infants show memory

through conditioned responses and deferred imitation

when infants form categories 

around perceptual features first

by 14mo, conceptual categories emerge 

4 aspects of language

phonology

semantics

syntax

pragmatics

phoneme

smallest meaningful sound unit

why infants are called “citizens of the world”

they can distinguish nearly all sounds across world languages 

statistical learning

picking up recurring sound patterns to identify words (~5mo)

replaces statistical learning around 9mo

intonation and stress cues

joint attention 

shared focus between caregiver and infant (~9mo) 

supports vocab growth

receptive language

understanding words and sentences (6-12mo)

expressive language

producing meaningful speech (9-18mo)

overextension 

using one word too broadly

underextension

using a word too narrowly

holophrases

single words expressing whole ideas (“milk”=i want milk")

when telegraphic speech appears 

24-30mo

2-3 word sentences without grammatical inflections 

how language develop in deaf infants exposed to sign language

similar to spoken language, included “sign babbling”

when a deaf infant isnt exposed to sign

develop a homemade system called home sign