Cognitive development pt 3

lecture 3

Evaluation piaget’s theory

• large impact on our thinking about children’s intellectual growth

• critics believe he underestimated children’s abilities at various ages

Criticism 1: Babies don’t seem to start with nothing

space and objects

• visual cliff

• the effect of occlusion —> habituation procedure

• understanding of support

• object permanence

number and mathematical reasoning

social cognition

space and objects (C1)

• visual cliff

• the effect of occlusion —> habituation procedure

• understanding of support

• object permanence

the visual cliff (C1)

childrens ability to percieve depth, around the time they can crawl - even pre-crawling infants may discrimate between the sides of the ‘cliff"‘

• putting children on a platform, half covered with glass, the illusion from the pattern covering all surfaces that make it hard to discriminate

• dependent on the willingness to crawl over the glass, the reaction to the glass ‘hesitant’

the effect of occlusion —> Habituation procedure (C1)

Infants prefer to pay attention to novel things; gradually, they become accustomed to stimuli and pay less attention to them. They pay attention again if something “new” happens.

(fence picture example - covered vs not)

• 4 month olds can understand this

understanding of support (C1)

develops gradually by 6 months old, the changing position of blocks (a) beside each other, (b) ontop of each other slightly, © almost off one block, (d) floating in the air at different heights.

object permanence —> criticism of it (C1)

A not B error —> even if you can’t see something you’re still aware it exists, infants search the last place they saw the object but not where it disappeared aka the last place they saw it

• the error simply appears to represent difficulty overriding a motor habit

number and mathematical reasoning (C1)

piaet said that infants had no concept of numbers and couldn’t converse numbers until around 6 years old. (recognise the number of blocks don’t change, just the space between them grows.

• even 6month olds show some understanding of number

Social cognition (C1)

• newborn babies would rather look at faces then scrambled faces.

• at 3wks, infants will attempt to imitate facial expressions

• 4 month olds will look in the direction of their mothers gaze

• intentions (a change in goal -what you want - is more strange then the change in reach - way you get it)

even 6-month old understood that the object being reached for is separate to the reach itself. Infants of this age appear to understand actions in terms of intended goals.

Criticism 2 = Cognitive Development isn’t an all-or-nothing phenomenon

Numerical skills in preschoolers

• counting

• numerical reasoning

Numerical skills in preschoolers (C2)

counting - even when they don’t use the right numbers, toddlers understand what counting is all about

Numerical reasoning - could Piaget’s assertion that children can’t conserve numbers be due to repeated questioning?

• children younger than 6 can generally conserve numbers if the task is relevant and when motivated and engaged, perform better younger.

social cognition in preschoolers (C2)

Egocentrism - Piaget thought that children were egocentric until 7

• even 3 and 4 year olds can ‘pass’ a diagram task if its relevant

• at 2 ½ —> 3 ½

egocentrism (C2)

piaget thought that children were egocentric until they were around 7 years old, even 3-4 years old can ‘pass’ a diorama task if its relevant. At 2 ½ to 3 ½ children will turn a book around so an adult can see it, bend down when talking to younger children - understanding different views.

children under 1 year will turn to see what their mother is looking at

theory of mind (C2)

a group of skills relating to the understanding of the existence of other people’s mind (their intentions, beliefs, likes and dislikes, perspectives etc.)

theory of mind allows us to be effective in social situations.

other’s likes and dislikes (C2)

broccoli vs cracker study

• 18 month old gave the experimenter what she liked

• 14 month olds gave the experimenter what they liked

true and false beliefs (C2)

one aspect of the theory of mind

false belief task (wombat toy in a cracker box)

on average, 4-year-olds pass and 3-year-olds don’t

Did Piaget underestimate or overestimate children? How do we know?

Piaget is often considered to have underestimated children's cognitive abilities, especially in areas such as reasoning and moral development, as newer research has shown children possess certain skills earlier than he proposed.

What are the two main criticisms of Piaget’s theory?

1. babies don’t seem to start with nothing

2. cognitive development isn’t an all or nothing phenomenon

Describe the ways in which babies can do more than Piaget thought.

Research indicates that infants have innate knowledge of physical properties and simple arithmetic, showing they can understand more complex concepts earlier than Piaget suggested.

Describe the ways in which cognitive development proceeds in more of a continuous way than what Piaget proposed.

Research suggests that cognitive development is gradual, with infants capable of more advanced thought processes, such as understanding object permanence and basic numerical concepts, earlier than Piaget suggested.