Cognitive Development in Infancy

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

believed that cognitive development occurs in four universal stages: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational.

Sensorimotor Stage

Birth to approximately 2 years, characterized by 6 substages where infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions.

Simple Reflexes (Sensorimotor Substage 1)

First month (e.g., 0-1 month); determine early interactions with the world through inborn reflexes.

First Habits and Primary Circular Reactions (Sensorimotor Substage 2)

Approximately 1-4 months; actions are coordinated into integrated activities. Primary Circular Reactions are repeated motor events centered on the infant's own body (e.g., thumb-sucking).

Primary Circular Reactions

Repeated motor events that are centered on the infant's own body (e.g., thumb-sucking), characteristic of Sensorimotor Substage 2.

Secondary Circular Reactions (Sensorimotor Substage 3)

Approximately 4-8 months; infants act on the outside world to bring about a desired consequence, demonstrating an interest in the environment (e.g., shaking a rattle to hear a sound).

Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (Sensorimotor Substage 4)

Approximately 8-12 months; infants begin to engage in goal-directed behavior to problem-solve, combining several actions to achieve objectives, and develop a very basic understanding of object permanence (e.g., searching for a hidden toy).

Tertiary Circular Reactions (Sensorimotor Substage 5)

Approximately 12-18 months; infants engage in deliberate experimental variation of actions to bring about desirable consequences, exploring the properties of objects (e.g., dropping a toy from different heights).

Mental Representation (Sensorimotor Substage 6)

Approximately 18-24 months; development of symbolic thought, allowing infants to think in symbols and mental images without direct action. Manifests as the ability of pretend play and deferred imitation.

Pretend Play

A manifestation of symbolic thought and mental representation in Sensorimotor Substage 6, where infants engage in make-believe scenarios.

Deferred Imitation

Copying actions seen hours or days earlier, a manifestation of symbolic thought and mental representation in Sensorimotor Substage 6.

Discrimination of Stimuli

The ability to differentiate between two stimuli, which demonstrates infant memory capabilities.

Infantile Amnesia

The common lack of memory for experiences that occur before the age of 3. Theories suggest early memories are encoded but not easily retrieved due to interference, vocabulary changes, or neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity (Infancy)

The rapid formation of new neural pathways in infancy, which may interfere with or overwrite old information, contributing to infantile amnesia.

Developmental Quotient (DQ)

An early measure of infant cognitive development created by Arnold Gesell, assessed through observation of motor skills, language use, adaptive behavior, and personal-social behavior.

Bayley Scales of Infant Development

A widely used assessment tool for infant cognitive development, comprising a Mental Scale and a Motor Scale.

Mental Scale (Bayley Scales)

Assesses senses, perception, memory, learning, problem-solving, and language as part of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

Motor Scale (Bayley Scales)

Assesses gross-motor skills (large muscle movements) and fine-motor skills (small muscle movements) as part of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

Information-Processing Approaches to Infant Intelligence

Suggest that the speed of infant information processing, measured by abilities like visual recognition memory and cross-modal transference, is correlated with IQ test scores in adulthood.

Visual Recognition Memory

The ability to recognize a stimulus that has been previously seen, which relates to later IQ scores and is used in information-processing approaches to infant intelligence.

Cross-modal Transference

The ability to identify with one sense a stimulus that has been initially experienced using another sense (e.g., recognizing an object by sight after only feeling it).

Attention (Infancy)

The cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Essential for processing information, learning, and interacting with the world, laying the foundation for cognitive development.

Focused Attention

The ability to concentrate on a single object or event while ignoring distractions. Crucial for processing information and engaging with specific stimuli (e.g., an infant fixating on a colorful toy amidst other items). Observable at 0-3 months.

Sustained Attention

The ability to maintain focus on a task or stimulus over an extended period (e.g., an infant watching a video for several minutes or maintaining focus on a speaker).

Joint Attention

A social-cognitive skill where two individuals share a focus on an object or event. Important for communication and social interaction, typically develops around 6-12 months of age.

Attention Milestone (0-3 Months)

Focused Attention is observable, with infants briefly fixating on stimuli, especially faces and high-contrast patterns.

Attention Milestone (3-6 Months)

Increased Duration of focus; infants can concentrate for longer periods and are more capable of tracking moving objects.

Attention Milestone (6-12 Months)

Joint Attention Emerges, as infants begin to follow others' gaze and point, indicating an understanding of shared focus.

Factors Influencing Infant Attention

Includes visual and auditory stimuli (bright colors, movement, sounds), social interactions (faces, voices, child-directed speech), and context/familiarity (attention to both very familiar and very novel stimuli).

Individual Variation in Infant Attention

Influenced by temperament, environment (richness vs. chaos), social interaction, parental sensitivity, gestational age, and healthy physical development.

Prenatal DHA Supplementation and Infant Attention (Colombo et al.)

Research found that prenatal DHA supplementation (600 mg/d) allowed infants to maintain high levels of sustained attention (SA) across the first year, unlike the placebo group, suggesting a positive effect on attention and regulation of state.

Long Lookers (LL) vs. Short Lookers (SL)

Individual differences in infant attention theorized to reflect information processing speed. Short Lookers (SL) exhibit shorter look durations, indicating faster habituation and processing, and perform better on later assessments. Long Lookers (LL) exhibit longer look durations, suggesting slower processing or increased attention to detail.

Short Lookers (SL)

Infants who exhibit shorter look durations at 4 months, indicating faster habituation and information processing. They perform better than Long Lookers on assessments of memory, language, and intelligence in later development, aligning with a global adult processing bias.

Long Lookers (LL)

Infants who exhibit longer look durations at 4 months, suggesting slower processing or increased attention to detail (local features), compared to Short Lookers.

Global Processing Bias (Adult Model)

The tendency to focus on the whole rather than individual parts. Short Lookers' processing bias is theorized to align more with this mature adult cognitive strategy.

Heart Rate Defined Phases of Attention (John Richards)

Heart rate (HR) responses to environmental changes can serve as an index for focused attention and inattention in very young infants.

Multisensory Integration

The integration of audio and visual information into a coherent stream.

Attention Control (Multisensory Integration)

Under the competition of a distractor, the ability of participants to still look at the matching event, testing the robustness of multisensory integration against interference.