Devo & Evo sem 2

Why is social cognition considered more complex than physical cognition?

• Social partners are self-propelled and unpredictable

• Behaviour driven by hidden mental states (goals, beliefs, desires)

• Requires inference about others’ minds

• Must manage multiple individuals and competing motives

Why are early social skills important for later life outcomes?

• Predict:

  • Number & quality of relationships

  • Academic & work success

  • Likelihood of criminal behaviour

• Linked to:

  • Empathy

  • Perspective-taking

  • Cooperation & communication

What is the evolutionary problem human infants face?

• Born extremely physically helpless

• Cannot move, cling, or survive independently

• Depend entirely on caregivers for survival

What evolutionary solution helps infants survive?

• Develop mechanisms to promote bonding with caregivers

• Ensure attention, protection, and care

What is “baby schema” and who proposed it?

• Proposed by Konrad Lorenz

• Features:

  • Big eyes, round face, chubby cheeks

• Function:

  • Triggers caregiving behaviour in adults

What is bonding in humans?

• First major social relationship (infant–caregiver)

• Develops over time, not instantly

Is there a critical period for bonding in humans?

• ❌ No

• Early belief based on flawed study

• Bonds can form even after separation (e.g., adoption)

What is imprinting?

• Rapid attachment to first moving object

• Occurs in some animals (especially birds)

• Happens in a critical period

Key features of imprinting?

• Timing = fixed (hours/days after birth)

• Target = flexible (mother, human, object)

Classic imprinting experiment?

• Konrad Lorenz

• Geese followed:

  • Mother (if hatched naturally)

  • Lorenz (if first seen)

• Behaviour was irreversible

Why must human infants be especially social learners?

• Need to learn:

  • Language

  • Cultural practices

  • Values & norms

• Not just survival skills → culture-specific knowledge

When do foetuses start responding to sound?

• Third trimester

What do foetuses hear most?

• Mother’s voice (plus internal sounds)

Do newborns prefer their mother’s voice?

• ✅ Yes (within 2–3 days)

How was this tested?

• Operant sucking paradigm

• Babies suck differently to hear:

  • Mother vs stranger voice

What does this show?

• Infants learn and prefer mother’s voice

Why is prenatal learning likely?

• No preference for father’s voice early on

• Suggests learning occurred in the womb

Evidence foetuses distinguish voices?

• Different heart rate responses to:

  • Mother vs stranger voice

Study by Anthony DeCasper & William Fifer found what?

• Newborns prefer mother’s voice

• Will “work” to hear it

What did Anthony DeCasper & Melanie Spence show?

• Foetuses learn specific stories (rhythm patterns)

• Prefer them after birth (even read by stranger)

What did William James claim about infants?

• Experience is a “blooming, buzzing confusion”

What did later research show instead?

• Infants are competent and active learners

What method did Robert Fantz develop?

• Preferential looking paradigm

Q: What did Fantz find?

• Infants (2 days old) prefer:

  • Faces over non-face stimuli

What did Mark Johnson show?

• Even 43-minute-old infants track face-like patterns more

Do infants recognise their mother’s face?

• ✅ Yes (1–3 days old)

Q: How quickly do infants learn their mother’s face?

• After ~5.5 hours of exposure

What face features do infants prefer?

• Direct gaze

• Happy expressions

Q: Why is eye contact important?

• Signals engagement and communication

Q: What visual limitation do infants have?

• Nearsighted

• Best vision: 7–10 inches (perfect for caregiver face)

What is neonatal imitation?

• Infants copy facial actions:

  • Tongue protrusion

  • Mouth opening

Q: Key researchers?

• Andrew Meltzoff & M. Keith Moore

Q: Why is imitation considered impressive?

• Infants:

  • Have never seen their own face

  • Must match seen actions → felt movements

• Called Active Intermodal Mapping

Q: What does imitation suggest (according to Meltzoff)?

• Early understanding of self–other equivalence

• Foundation for theory of mind

Q: Is neonatal imitation universally accepted?

• ❌ No (controversial)

Q: Problems with imitation findings?

• Only ~50% of infants show it

• Difficult to replicate

• May be due to arousal, not imitation

Alternative explanation (Anna Field)?

• Tongue protrusion = response to interesting stimuli, not imitation

Q: Evidence supporting arousal explanation?

• Babies stick out tongues to:

  • Lights

  • Music (e.g., Barber of Seville)

Q: Is neonatal imitation linked to later imitation ability?

• ❌ No clear link

At what age do chimpanzees show face preferences?

• Around 1 month old

What are infants biologically prepared to do socially?

• Detect:

  • Faces

  • Voices

  • Eye contact

  • Emotions

Q: What can infants do from very early on?

• Learn & remember social information

• Prefer caregivers

• Engage with social world

Q: What is the overall function of early social abilities?

• Promote:

  • Bonding

  • Caregiver attention

  • Learning from others

When do infants begin true imitation? - what is imitation

A: Around 9 months (especially actions on objects)

Q: What type of imitation do infants show at 9 months?
A: Imitating actions on objects (e.g. pulling apart a toy)

Q: What is significant about infant imitation at 9 months?
A: They can remember and reproduce actions later (deferred imitation)

Q: Do apes imitate like humans?
A: Debate exists, but generally:

• Humans → imitate

• Apes → emulate

What is imitation?
A: Copying both:

• Means (how)

• End (goal)

What is emulation?

A: Reproducing the goal only, using own method

What is mimicry?

A: Copying actions only without understanding the goal

Key difference between human children and apes in learning?

A:

• Humans → Imitation (means + goal)

• Apes → Emulation (goal only)

What is overimitation?

A: Copying irrelevant/unnecessary actions

Q: At what age does overimitation occur?
A: Around 3–5 years

Q: Do children copy irrelevant actions even when they know they are unnecessary?
A: Yes

Q: Do chimpanzees overimitate?
A: No — they ignore irrelevant steps

Q: What does overimitation suggest about human cognition?
A: Strong tendency to faithfully copy others (possibly cultural learning)

What is cooperation in development?

A: Working together to achieve a shared goal

Q: When does cooperation emerge?
A: Around 14–18 months

Q: What is shared intentionality?
A: Sharing goals and intentions with another person

Q: What happens when an adult stops cooperating in experiments?
A: Children:

• Try to re-engage the adult

• Use communicative signals

Q: What motivates children to cooperate?
A: Intrinsic enjoyment (not just rewards)

Q: Evidence children enjoy cooperation?
A:

• Put reward back to play again

• Prefer cooperation even when they can do task alone

Q: How do chimpanzees perform in cooperation tasks?
A:

• Less coordination

• Little communication

• Not interested in social games

Q: Is chimp cooperation debated?
A: Yes — some argue they cooperate in the wild (e.g. hunting)

What type of interaction is secondary intersubjectivity?

A: Triadic (person–person–object)

Q: What does secondary intersubjectivity involve?
A:

• Sharing attention

• Sharing emotions

• Sharing goals

• Coordinating behaviour

Q: When does secondary intersubjectivity develop?
A: ~9 to 14 months

What abilities are part of the 9-month revolution?

A:

• Joint attention

• Gaze & point following

• Social referencing

• Intentional communication

• Imitation

• Cooperation

Q: Are these abilities unique to humans?
A:

• Some (e.g. gaze following) → seen in animals

• Others → debated or more advanced in humans

Q: What characterises the 9-month revolution overall?
A:
A shift to shared minds with others about the world
→ Infants begin:

• Understanding others

• Sharing attention & goals

• Participating in social interactions actively

attachment and its signs

Attachment

• Newborn infants show a preference for their mother’s face and voice

• There is no specific attachment bond yet at birth

• Attachment develops later in infancy

• Attachment = strong emotional bond between infant and primary caregiver

• Begins to develop around 7–9 months (just before the “9-month revolution”)

Signs of Attachment

• Attempts to stay close to the caregiver

• Separation anxiety (distress when caregiver leaves)

  • Starts around 8 months

• Happiness when reunited with caregiver

theories of attachment

Theories of Attachment

• Sigmund Freud – Drive Reduction Theory

  • Infants attach to caregivers because they satisfy biological needs (e.g., hunger, thirst)

  • Satisfaction of needs → pleasure → attachment

• Behaviourist View

  • Caregivers become associated with reinforcement

  • Attachment forms because they reduce discomfort

• John Bowlby – Ethological Theory

  • Caregivers are more than food sources

  • Provide a secure base for exploration

  • Attachment has an evolutionary function (survival + learning)

harry harlow monkey studies

Harry Harlow – Monkey Studies

• Separated 8 infant monkeys from biological mothers shortly after birth

• Each monkey placed in a cage with:

  • Wire mother (provided milk)

  • Cloth mother (soft, no food)

• Findings:

  • Monkeys spent more time with cloth mother

  • Only went to wire mother briefly for feeding

  • When scared → ran to cloth mother

  • Cloth mother used as a secure base

• Conclusion:

  • Attachment is based on comfort and security, not just food

  • Supports Bowlby’s theory

mary ainsworth - strange situation test

Mary Ainsworth – Strange Situation Test

• Measures attachment style in human infants

• Procedure includes:

  • Infant + caregiver play

  • Stranger enters

  • Caregiver leaves

  • Caregiver returns

attachment styles

Attachment Types

• Secure Attachment

  • Uses caregiver as secure base

  • Explores environment confidently

  • Distressed when caregiver leaves

  • Happy when caregiver returns

• Insecure Attachment

  • Avoidant

    • Little interest in caregiver

    • Minimal distress when they leave

    • Avoids contact when they return

  • Resistant / Ambivalent

    • Seeks contact but not comforted

    • Mixed emotional responses

  • Disorganised

    • No clear pattern of behaviour

Consequences of Disrupted Attachment

Consequences of Disrupted Attachment

• Harlow’s monkeys → abnormal social development

• Children raised in orphanages:

  • Impaired social, emotional, and cognitive development

  • Especially if adopted after 6 months

• Early attachment affects future relationships

prosocial behaviour

Prosocial Behaviour

• Voluntary behaviour intended to benefit others

  • Helping

  • Sharing

  • Comforting

Key Findings

• Felix Warneken & Michael Tomasello

• 18-month-olds help others with tasks (instrumental helping)

• Even 14-month-olds show some helping

• Helping is:

  • Spontaneous

  • Done without being asked

  • Done without rewards

  • Can decrease if rewarded (extrinsic rewards reduce motivation)

  • Costly (children will make effort to help)

• Humans may be naturally altruistic

Helping in Younger Infants

• Liszkowski

  • 12-month-olds help by providing information (e.g., pointing)

Antisocial Behaviour

• Also common in children:

  • Aggression

  • Stealing

  • Teasing

  • Lying

  • Cheating

Theory of Mind (ToM) — Core Idea

Theory of Mind = ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions, emotions, knowledge) to:

• Other people

• Yourself

👉 These mental states are invisible, so we infer them to:

• Explain behavior

• Predict what someone will do next

Two Key Components of ToM

1. People have mental states (beliefs, desires, etc.)

2. Mental states can differ

   • From your own (you like broccoli, I don’t)

   • From reality (false beliefs)

Development Timeline (VERY IMPORTANT)

Focus on age ranges, not exact numbers:

Early abilities (≈ 6–12 months)

• Understand:

  • Perception (what others see)

  • Attention (what others focus on)

• Around 9 months (“9-month revolution”):

  • Joint attention; Shared focus between two individuals on an object, showing awareness of others’ attention.

  • Social referencing: Using others’ emotional reactions to guide your own behavior.

  • Goal understanding begins

Perception:

• Knowing that others can see, hear, or perceive things.

• Knowing that others selectively focus on certain aspects of their environment.

• By ~12 months, infants understand that others attend selectively and use this to interpret ambiguous requests.

Goals vs Intentions (IMPORTANT distinction)

• Goal = desired outcome
  → e.g., opening a box

• Intention = plan to reach goal
  → e.g., using scissors vs hands

👉 Infants often understand goals first

Classic Study: Andrew Meltzoff

18-month-olds

• See adult:

  • succeed OR

  • fail to open toy

👉 Infants imitate the goal, not the action
→ They open it even if adult failed

✔ Shows: understanding of intentions/goals

Understanding Intentions (Younger infants)

• 9-month-olds:

  • Distinguish:

    • Unwilling vs unable

    • wont give toy vs cant give toy

• Show more frustration when:

  • Adult won’t give toy vs can’t - unwilling

✔ Also seen in chimpanzees

Emotions & Empathy Development:

• Newborns: emotional contagion (not real empathy) - Automatic copying of others’ emotions (e.g., newborn crying when others cry)

• ~9 months: concern for others - true empathy begins

• by 18 months - infants comfort others, infer emotions from context not just facial expressions

• Can infer emotions even without facial cues

Desires (Classic Study) Betty Repacholi & Alison Gopnik

Broccoli vs crackers experiment

• infants prefer crackers, experimenter prefers brocoli

Results:

• 18-month-olds → give experimenter what she likes

• 14-month-olds → give what they like

✔ Shows: Understanding that others’ desires ≠ own desires

👉 Chimpanzees:

• Understand preferences somewhat

• ❌ Fail when desires differ from their own

False Belief - What is it?

• belief that does nto match reality - strongest test of theory of mind

Understanding that:

• Someone can believe something wrong

Classic Test: Sally-Anne

• Sally puts object somewhere

• It gets moved while she’s away

👉 Question: Where will Sally look?

Results:

• ❌ 3-year-olds fail (say real location)

• ✅ 4+ year-olds pass

Smarties Test (unexpected contents)

• Box looks like candy but contains pencil

Results:

• ❌ Young children say:

  • others will say “pencil”

• ✅ Older children say:

  • others will say “candy”

Big Discovery: Implicit vs Explicit ToM Explicit ToM

• Verbal answers required

• Develops ~4 years

Implicit ToM

• Measured via:

  • Looking

  • Helping behavior

• Present as early as:

  • 15–16 months

👉 Infants

• Look where agent believes object is

• Help based on false belief

Chimpanzees & ToM

• Understand:

  • Goals

  • Intentions

  • Perception

  • Knowledge/ignorance

• ❌ Fail:

  • Explicit false belief tests

• ✅ Pass:

  • Implicit false belief tests

👉 Similar to human infants

What is the difference between intentional and unintentional communication in infants?

• Newborns produce sounds like crying, which caregivers interpret (e.g., hunger, pain), but these are not intentional

• Infants are not yet trying to communicate or influence others deliberately

• Intentional communication requires:

  • The infant to direct signals toward a recipient (adult)

  • Not just toward a goal (e.g., reaching a cookie)

• True intentional communication develops later, around 9–10 months, though earlier signs may exist

What are early indicators that an infant is communicating intentionally?

• Gaze alternation between an object and an adult

• Eye contact, especially “sensitive eye contact” (raised eyebrows, attention-seeking expression)

• Use of facial expressions (e.g., frustration, smiling)

• Vocalisations directed at the adult

• Presence of an adult changes behaviour (vs. just reaching alone)

What are dyadic gestures and how do they differ from triadic gestures?

• Dyadic gestures:

  • Involve only infant and caregiver

  • No reference to external objects

  • Examples:

    • “Pick me up” gesture

    • Waving “bye-bye”

  • May be ritualised or learned, not clearly intentional

• Triadic gestures:

  • Involve infant, adult, and object/event

  • Clearly referential and intentional

  • Include:

    • Pointing

    • Showing

    • Giving

  • Often involve joint attention and gaze alternation

What are imperative and declarative gestures?

• Imperative gestures (requests):

  • Used to get something

  • Examples:

    • Reaching for a cookie

    • Pointing to request an object

  • Function: “Give me that”

• Declarative gestures (sharing attention):

  • Used to share interest or attention

  • Examples:

    • Pointing at something interesting

    • Showing an object to a caregiver

  • Function: “Look at that!”

What additional functions of gestures have been identified beyond imperative and declarative?

• Informative gestures:

  • Help others by providing information (e.g., pointing to a lost object)

• Questioning gestures:

  • Used to request information (e.g., “What is this?”)

• Show that infant communication is more complex than originally thought

What are baby signs and what is their significance?

• Gestures taught to infants (around 9–10 months) to communicate before speech

• Can be:

  • Standard (e.g., “eat”, “all done”)

  • Invented by caregivers

• Benefits:

  • Enable early communication

  • Allow infants to express needs and thoughts

• Research findings are mixed:

  • Some studies suggest better vocabulary later

  • Others find no long-term advantage

• Still considered useful and rewarding

What are iconic (pantomiming) gestures and when do they emerge?

• Gestures that represent actions or objects visually

  • Example: flapping arms for a bird

• Often emerge around 2–3 years

• Can be:

  • Learned from caregivers

  • Invented by children themselves

• Demonstrate symbolic and representational thinking

How do children demonstrate the ability to invent new gestures?

• In experiments:

  • Children observed how a toy worked

  • Then had to teach a puppet without physical interaction

• They used novel pantomime gestures to communicate

• Shows:

  • Ability to create new communicative symbols

  • Understanding of others’ needs

How does chimpanzee gestural communication compare to humans?

• Similarities:

  • Intentional and referential

  • Sensitive to attention and knowledge of others

  • Flexible use of gestures

• Differences:

  • Mostly imperative (requesting), rarely declarative

  • Rarely share attention just for social purposes

  • Less frequent iconic gestures

What is a key difference between human and chimpanzee communication?

• Humans:

  • Frequently use declarative gestures (sharing interest)

• Chimpanzees:

  • Mostly use imperative gestures (requests)

  • Declarative communication is very rare

• This difference is considered fundamental in human communication development

What are vervet monkey alarm calls and why are they important?

• Vervet monkeys have distinct calls for different predators:

  • Eagle → look up, hide in middle of tree

  • Leopard → climb high into trees

  • Python → stand up, scan ground

• Each call triggers a specific adaptive response

What did playback experiments reveal about vervet monkey calls?

• Researchers played recorded calls without real predators

• Monkeys responded appropriately to each call

• Suggests calls are:

  • Functionally referential

  • Not just general fear or arousal signals

• Unclear if monkeys intend meaning, but signals act like “words”

How does language development begin in infants?

• Starts with comprehension before production

• Early stage:

  • Discrimination of speech sounds

• Infants initially:

  • Can distinguish all phonetic contrasts

• Over time:

  • Lose sensitivity to non-native sounds

Why are infants better than adults at distinguishing speech sounds?

• Infants:

  • Sensitive to all possible speech sounds

• Adults:

  • Specialised for native language only

• Example:

  • Japanese adults struggle with R vs L

  • Japanese infants can distinguish them early on

When do infants begin to understand words?

• Around 8–12 months

• Begin linking sounds to meanings

• Marks transition from pure perception to language comprehension

What are the stages of language production in early development?

• Crying:

  • Present from birth

  • Not intentional communication

• Cooing and early sounds:

  • Gurgles, squeaks

  • No linguistic meaning

• Babbling (around 6 months):

  • Repetitive sounds (e.g., “bababa”)

  • Practice of speech sounds

  • No meaning yet

What is babbling and why is it important?

• Repetitive vocal play with speech-like sounds

• Examples:

  • “mamama”, “bababa”

• Functions:

  • Practice for speech production

  • Exploration of vocal abilities

• Not yet intentional communication

When do infants produce their first words and what are they like?

• Around 12 months (range: 9–17 months)

• Characteristics:

  • Single-word utterances

  • Represent whole ideas

    • Example: “up” = “pick me up”

• Usually refer to:

  • Familiar people

  • Objects

  • Basic needs

What is telegraphic speech?

• Early multi-word speech with missing grammatical elements

• Focus on key content words

• Example:

  • “where ball” instead of “where is the ball”

• Shows emerging syntax without full grammar

What is the vocabulary spurt?

• Rapid increase in number of words learned

• Occurs after first words (timing varies widely)

• Some children:

  • Show early rapid growth

• Others:

  • Develop gradually

• Both patterns are normal

How large can children’s vocabularies become by age five?

• Up to ~10,000 words

• Demonstrates rapid and efficient word learning ability

What are individual differences in language development?

• Large variability is normal

• Examples:

  • First word: 9–17 months

  • Vocabulary spurt timing varies widely

• No need for concern unless delays are extreme

How do children learn grammatical rules?

• Develop abstract rules, not just memorisation

• Apply rules to new (novel) words

• Demonstrates understanding beyond imitation

What is the Wug Test and what does it show?

• Children are shown a novel object (“wug”)

• Asked to produce plural form

• Correct response: “wugs”

• Shows:

  • Knowledge of plural rule (add -s)

  • Ability to generalise rules

What is overgeneralisation (overregularisation) in language development?

• Applying rules too broadly

• Examples:

  • “foots” instead of feet

  • “mouses” instead of mice

  • “goed” instead of went

• Indicates:

  • Active use of learned grammatical rules

  • Not just imitation

What is notable about infants' language development in the first year?

• Many infants produce their first words before their first birthday.

• At this stage, they are still very young: barely walking, still in nappies, and learning basic routines.

• Language production starts early, laying the foundation for combining words into sentences.

How advanced is language by age five?

• Children may know up to 10,000 words.

• They can combine words to form an infinite number of novel sentences using grammar.

• Grammar is complex and often learned naturally, unlike the effort required when learning a second language.

How do behaviourists explain language acquisition?

• Language is a behaviour learned like any other.

• Acquired through:

  • Classical conditioning: associating sounds with objects (e.g., “shoe” = object).

  • Operant conditioning: selective reinforcement of correct or close vocalisations by caregivers.

  • Imitation: children reproduce sounds and words they hear.

• Problems:

  • Parents rarely reinforce grammatical correctness; focus is on meaning or truth.

  • Children often over-regularize (e.g., “mouses”) or create novel sentences adults haven’t modeled.

What are the key limitations of the behaviourist theory?

• Positive reinforcement often targets meaning rather than grammar.

• Corrections by adults have limited immediate impact.

• Children produce novel grammatical structures, which cannot be learned solely through imitation.

What is the nativist theory of language acquisition (Noam Chomsky)?

• Language is an innate human ability; unique to humans.

• Children learn complex grammar quickly and effortlessly between ages 1–2.

• Key ideas:

  • Poverty of the stimulus: children learn from incomplete, messy language input.

  • Language Acquisition Device (LAD): innate brain structure pre-programmed with universal grammar rules.

  • Children select rules from universal grammar relevant to their native language.

• Problems:

  • LAD has never been located in the brain.

  • Children often receive simplified, clear “child-directed speech” (Motherese), contradicting the poverty of stimulus claim.

What is child-directed speech (Motherese)?

• Slow, high-pitched, clearly enunciated speech with exaggerated intonation.

• Uses simple words and well-formed utterances.

• Captures infant attention, supporting language learning.

How do parents provide indirect feedback to support language development?

• Recasts: repeating the child’s utterance with correct grammar or elaboration.

  • Example: Child says “ball fall,” adult says “Yes, the ball fell.”

• Clarification requests: adults ask for clarification without explicitly correcting grammar.

• Provides subtle guidance without negative reinforcement.

What is the social interactionist (pragmatic) theory of language acquisition?

• Language is learned in naturally occurring social interactions.

• Children learn by:

  • Understanding adults’ intentions and goals.

  • Engaging in joint attention and imitating speech.

• Adults scaffold learning by:

  • Naming objects in routines.

  • Following the child’s focus of attention.

• Jerome Bruner called this the Language Acquisition Support System (LASS).

How do children figure out the meaning of novel words?

• Social-pragmatic approach: children use context, routines, gaze-following, and adult intentions.

• Nativist approach: innate constraints on word learning:

  • Whole-object bias: novel words refer to entire objects rather than parts.

  • Mutual exclusivity: objects have only one label; new words refer to unfamiliar objects or aspects.

• Experiments show 18–24 month olds use social cues to identify new words and actions.

How can adults facilitate language acquisition in young children?

• Use child-directed speech (Motherese).

• Adjust speech to the child’s level (Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development).

• Use routines and scaffolding during everyday interactions (bathing, eating, etc.).

• Follow the child’s focus of attention when introducing new words.

• Read and talk to children frequently to enhance vocabulary growth.

• Early exposure is crucial for second language acquisition; younger learners achieve native-level fluency more easily.

What happens when children are deprived of language input early?

• Feral or neglected children may fail to develop normal language competence, especially grammar.

• Deaf children not exposed to sign language early struggle with full language development.

How do social cues help with verb learning?

• Children can infer the meaning of a novel verb from intentional actions of adults.

• Example: adult performs intentional action while naming it; children map the word to that action.

What is moral development and how is it defined in developmental psychology?

• The developmental process by which individuals understand what their culture or society considers right and wrong, or good and bad.

• Includes both reasoning about actions and the internalization of social norms.

• Starts in infancy but continues through childhood and adolescence.

How did Piaget describe moral development in children?

• Morality develops in stages, linked to cognitive development.

• Pre-moral (up to ~4 years): Children have no moral principles.

• Heteronomous morality (4–10 years): Focus on consequences, not intentions; naughtiness judged by outcomes.

• Autonomous morality (~10+ years): Children consider intentions rather than just consequences.

• Used story vignettes (e.g., boys breaking cups) to test moral reasoning.

• Younger children judged severity by outcome (15 cups vs. 1 cup), older children considered intentions.

• Problems:

  • Stages often proposed too late in age.

  • Young children actually consider intentions in real-world contexts.

  • Relies on verbal stories, which may not reflect real behavior.

How did Kohlberg expand on moral development?

• Built on Piaget but created a stage theory with three main levels:

  • Pre-conventional (up to ~9–10 years): Morality based on avoiding punishment or seeking reward.

  • Conventional (~10–12 years): Morality based on obeying rules and social approval.

  • Post-conventional (~12+ years): Morality based on abstract principles, possibly overriding rules if necessary.

• Famous test: Heinz dilemma (stealing drug to save a wife).

• Problems with Kohlberg:

  • Stages not always clear-cut.

  • Difficult to score responses reliably.

  • Assumes universality across cultures, which is not supported.

  • Verbal hypotheticals may not match real behavior.

What evidence shows infants have a basic sense of morality?

• Six- to ten-month-old infants prefer “helpers” over “hinderers.”

• One-year-olds expect fair resource distribution and prefer fair actors.

• Children show anger or protest when moral or conventional norms are violated (strong indicator of understanding).

How do young children demonstrate understanding of conventional norms?

• Example: Daxing study (children correct puppets doing a task incorrectly).

• Children as young as 2–3 years protest or show strong reactions when social norms are violated.

• Indicates early understanding of “how things should be done,” separate from abstract moral reasoning.

When do children start showing preferences for in-group members?

• Very young infants (6 months) prefer people who speak their native language.

• 10-month-olds preferentially accept toys from native language speakers.

• 14 months: selectively imitate actions of in-group members.

• 3–5 years: prefer minimal, arbitrarily assigned in-group members (colors, teams).

How do children demonstrate in-group favoritism in minimal group paradigms?

• Assigned to a group based on arbitrary criteria (e.g., color).

• Show more helping, sharing, trust, and liking towards in-group members.

• Preference appears within minutes of assignment.

• Measured via puppets, toys, or drawing tasks.

How does race and familiarity affect in-group preferences?

• 3-month-olds: preferentially look at same-race faces.

• 10-month-olds: take toys equally from same and other races.

• 2.5-year-olds: distribute toys equally across races.

• ~5 years: show preferential treatment for same-race individuals.

• Early racial preferences may be influenced by familiarity or parental cues rather than innate bias.