PSYCH 130 - Conceptual Development

object hierarchies: superordinate

most general, low within-category similarity, ex. animal

object hierarchies: basic level

first level children learn, highest shared characteristics, ex. dog

object hierarchies: subordinate

very specific, hard to distinguish, ex. poodle

naive psychology

commensense level of understanding of other people and self, invisible mental states cause visible actions

naive psychology: desires

wanting something

naive psychology: beliefs

thinking something is true

naive psychology: actions

behavioral results

false-belief milestone

understanding that others can believe things that aren’t true, theory of mind, 3 year olds fail, 5 year olds pass

causal reasoning: 6 months

expect physical contact for movement

causal reasoning: 2 years

can use logic to find which object causes an effect

spatial thinking: infants

use landmarks to navigate, initially egocentric before becoming objective