Dev. Psych. - Chp. 5

Piaget’s Adaptation

building new schemas through environmental interaction
ex. child seeing a dog & learning what it is

Piaget’s Assimilation

fit new experiences into preexisting schemas
ex. child already has a schema for a cat, when they see a small dog they say “cat” (b/c this fits into their preexisting knowledge)

Piaget’s Accommodation

modifying schema to fit the new information or creating new schemas
ex. parents points out that the dog (the kid just called a cat) is actually a dog b/c of key differences, so the child updates their old schema & creates a new schema for dog

Sensorimotor

no mental presentation - needs to experience through senses

• progresses through 6 substages

• cognitive dev. from reflexes → intentional action → symbolic representation

Circular Reactions

stumbling upon a new experience due to baby’s own motor activity
*everything starts here

Sensorimotor (Circular Reactions) Primary Substage

• repeat simple motor habits that produce pleasurable results

• body centered

• ex. grabbing feet

Sensorimotor (Circular Reactions) Secondary Substage

• repetitions of actions that trigger responses in the external environment

• actions w/ objects centered

• ex. batting w. mobile

Sensorimotor (Circular Reactions) Tertiary Substage

• active/purposeful trial-&-error exploration to find the best way to attain a goal

• try behavior in a new way

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist outside of sight

Mental Representation

• representational thought

• ability to think of solutions w/o physical trail-&-error

• Invisible Displacement

• Deffered Imitation

*allows for make-believe play

Violation of Expectation Tasks

stimulus appears to violate physical laws
*A-not-B Error tasks

Deferred Imitation

can remember & imitate behavior of absent model

• shows mental representation

• allows for make-believe play & inferred imitation

• ex. watching a parent cook in the evening then playing with their cooking toys the same way later on

Make-Believe Play

builds foundational cognitive, social, & emotional skills while helping them process the world

Core Knowledge Theory

• infants are born w/ innate, core domains of thought that promote early rapid learning/adaption

  • contrast w/ Piaget

Effect of Culture on Cognitive Dev.

cultural contexts affect how infants think & view their world

• social learning is impacted by culture

  • ex. western cultures - emphasis on instruction

Effect of Poverty on Cognitive Dev. & Childcare

early effects on children’s brain dev. that increase over time, w/ lifelong implications for cognitive and language dev.

• impacts quality of parent–infant interactions & infants’ exposure to language

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Information Processing System 4 Parts

1. Sensory Register

2. Working Memory

3. Central Executive

4. Long-Term Memory

Sensory Register (memory)

1st step in the info. processing system where a stimulus is stored for a brief moment in its original form for processing
*short bouts in infants

Working Memory

component of the info. processing system that holds & processes info. that is being manipulated, encoded, or retrieved and is responsible for maintaining & processing information used in cognitive task
*improves w/ prefrontal cortex dev.

• reaching & looking behavior

• delayed response task to access

Central Executive

control mechanism that regulates flow of info. & cognitive activities

*viso-spatial sketchpad, phonological loop, episodic buffer

Long Term Memory (Recognition Memory)

identify previously encountered stimuli

Executive Function

processing component for cognitive activities

• controlled attention

• suppression impulse

• coordinating memory

• flexibility in monitoring thought/behavior

Categorization

grouping different stimuli into a common class

• influenced by language dev.

  • initially obvious traits to form categories

Attention

ability to direct awareness

• nb show more attentiveness to dynamic & complex stimuli

• requires neuro. dev. in the areas underlying attentional

• w/ intentional behavior comes sustained attention

Joint Attention

shared focus of two individuals on the same object

Infant Directed Speech

• voice we use to talk to babies

  • repetition

  • short words

  • high pitch

  • long pauses

*way it is done is universal, BUT it is not used universally

Receptive & Productive Language

RECEPTIVE before PRODUCTION

1. receptive language = language that one can understand

2. production language = language individuals can produce for themselves

Language Dev.

complex process

Referential vs. Expressive Language Styles

1. referential = object focus; “ball”/”dog”/”cup”

2. expressive = social focus “want”/”please”

Holophrases

1-word expressions

Telegraphic Speech

• simple speech including only content words (2wrd)

• steady continual increase in the rate of word learning through pre-K
  *they do it, you do not

Fast Mapping

kids learn new words after brief encounter - connecting them w/ their own mental categories

Syntax

arrangement of words to form coherent sentences

Underextension & Overextension

1. under-extension = using a general word in a restricted/specific way
   *ex. using “car” to talk abt only their family car, not any others

2. over-extension = using specific word in a general/wide way
   *ex. calling every 4-legged animal a “cat”

A-not-B Error tasks

object permanence error - infant uncovers an object several times in one place (Place A), & continues to search for the object in Place A even after seeing the object moved to a new location, Place B.