LifespanDevelopment Chapter 3.2

Piaget and the Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development centers around the idea of cognitive equilibrium, which is the balance between what an individual perceives through sensory input and what they already know internally (Piaget, 1954). Children face a continuous challenge as they navigate a world filled with new situations and information that disrupts this equilibrium. To effectively process new experiences, they organize information through the use of mental frameworks known as schemas.

Processes of Schema Development

• Assimilation: This process involves incorporating new information into existing schemas without altering them. For example, children may first learn the term "doggie" and generalize it to all four-legged animals, including cats. This oversimplification illustrates how children integrate observations into their current knowledge base.

• Accommodation: In contrast, accommodation occurs when existing schemas are modified or new ones are created to encompass new information. An example of this is when a child learns to differentiate between a horse and a zebra after initial confusion, leading to the formation of unique schemas for each animal.

Learning Objectives

• Compare and contrast the concepts of schema, assimilation, and accommodation as defined by Piaget.

• Describe the six substages of sensorimotor intelligence.

• Identify characteristics of infant memory and their implications for cognitive development.

• Discuss the components and progression of language development in infancy.

• Analyze and compare different theories of language acquisition.

Sensorimotor Stage of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage spans from birth to approximately 2 years of age and is divided into six key substages:

Substage Ages and Characteristics

1. Reflexes (0–1 month): Infants primarily learn through reflexive actions such as sucking and grasping. These reflexes form the basis of behavioral responses to environmental stimuli.

2. Primary Circular Reactions (1–4 months): Infants begin to engage in repeated actions that are focused on their own body. Initial behaviors might be accidental but soon become purposeful as infants learn to replicate pleasurable sensations (e.g., thumb sucking).

3. Secondary Circular Reactions (4–8 months): Infants start to repeat actions involving external objects, demonstrating emerging intentionality (e.g., shaking a rattle to hear the sound).

4. Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8–12 months): This substage marks the integration of reflexive and voluntary behaviors to achieve specific goals. Infants develop the ability to plan actions, like using a toy to reach another object.

5. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12–18 months): Exploring the environment becomes more systematic. Infants engage in trial and error experimentation, such as dropping different objects from a height to observe varying outcomes.

6. Beginning of Representational Thought (18–24 months): Symbolic thought begins to emerge at this stage, facilitating memory recall and imaginative play, signaling the transition towards the preoperational stage of cognitive development.

Object Permanence

Object permanence is a critical cognitive milestone characterized by the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not directly visible (Bogartz et al., 2000). Piaget's studies indicated that infants lacking object permanence would not reach for hidden toys, revealing their limited understanding of permanence. Typically mastered by 8 months, the onset of object permanence correlates with various interactive behaviors and games such as peek-a-boo.

Relation to Stranger Anxiety

The development of object permanence is also linked to stranger anxiety in infants. As children begin to realize that unseen objects still exist, they may exhibit fear towards unfamiliar individuals when they cannot assimilate new experiences (Crain, 2005). This emotional response underscores the increasing complexity of their understanding of the social world around them.

Critique of Piaget's Theory

While Piaget's contributions were foundational, several critiques have emerged regarding his timelines for object permanence and cognitive skills. Research indicates that younger infants may possess an understanding of object permanence earlier than Piaget proposed (Baillargeon, 1987). Studies have also shown that infants can recognize key properties of objects as early as 6-7 months. Furthermore, it has been suggested that memory's effectiveness may highly depend on context, with older infants exhibiting superior memory retention.

Infant Memory

Infant memory is characterized by fragility, often described as fleeting, resulting in a phenomenon known as infantile amnesia, which refers to the inability to recall early childhood memories. Several hypotheses account for this amnesia:

• Biological Immaturity: Infants’ neural structures, particularly the hippocampus, may not yet be developed enough to store lasting memories effectively.

• Cognitive Constraints: Without linguistic skills, infants may lack the cognitive tools necessary for encoding and recalling experiences.

• Self-Concept: The development of a sense of self is crucial for forming episodic memories; without it, memories may not be integrated cohesively. Rovee-Collier's studies suggest, however, that infants can retain memories under certain conditions, such as when they learn that kicking their legs produces a mobile movement.

Components of Language

• Definitions:

  • Phoneme: The smallest unit of sound in a language (e.g., the /b/ in "bat").

  • Morpheme: The smallest unit of meaning (e.g., the prefix "un-" in "undo").

  • Semantics: The rules governing the meaning derived from morphemes.

  • Syntax: The rules that dictate sentence structure and word order.

  • Pragmatics: The social rules and context that guide language use, including turn-taking and situation adaptation.

Language Developmental Progression

• Infants can recognize their mother's voice and exhibit language discrimination even before birth.

• Early communication is primarily non-verbal, relying on cues such as crying and gestures.

Stages of Language Acquisition

1. Cooing: Infants produce initial one-syllable sounds, typically around 2-3 months of age.

2. Babbling: By around 7 months, infants begin to produce repetitive consonant-vowel combinations, such as "ba" and "da."

3. Receptive vs. Expressive Language: By around 10 months, infants start to comprehend words, although they may not yet be able to express them vocally.

4. Holophrastic Speech: Between 12-13 months, children transition to using single words to convey complete ideas (e.g., saying "ju" for "juice").

Language Errors and Development

Common early language errors include underextension (restricting the meaning of a word) and overextension (applying a word too broadly). Cultural differences may influence language acquisition, particularly regarding the focus on nouns versus verbs in different languages. As children progress, they begin forming telegraphic speech, which consists of simple two-word sentences (e.g., "baby bye-bye"). Furthermore, infant-directed speech, characterized by exaggerated pitch and slower tempo, captures infants' attention and aids language development.

Theories of Language Development

• Biological Theories (Nativism): Proposed by Noam Chomsky, these theories assert that humans have an innate language acquisition device (LAD) and a universal grammar structure inherent to all languages.

• Learning Theory: This perspective, influenced by B.F. Skinner and Albert Bandura, posits that language is acquired through association, imitation, and reinforcement.

• Social Pragmatics: This theory emphasizes the social context in which language is used, focusing on the ways in which language facilitates communication and relationships.