Psyc 101 NOTES- m2

Developmental Psychology (Psyc 101)

Theme 2: Core Cognition

  • How do we come to know?

    • Origins of Knowledge include:

      • Objects

      • People

      • Categorization

      • Space, time, number

      • Symbols

      • Cause and effect

I. Piaget's Influential Perspective

  • Constructivism:

    • Continuous Development through:

      1. Assimilation - Incorporating new objects into existing schemas

      2. Accommodation - Adjusting schemas when new objects don’t fit

    • Equilibration: Achieving mental balance between existing schemas and new information.

  • Discontinuous Development:

    • Universal stages of cognitive development.

  • Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years):

    • Cognition is minimal at birth (only reflexes).

    • No ability to represent absent objects until around 9 months.

    • Object Permanence:

      • 7-month-olds often fail basic object permanence tasks.

      • 9-month-olds passing shows development.

      • Tendency of 9-12 month-olds to reach for familiar locations (the "A-not-B" error).

II. Object Permanence

  • A-not-B Error:

    • Tendency of infants to reach where objects were previously found rather than where they are last hidden.

    • Indicates incomplete understanding of object permanence.

Evidence of Early Object Concepts

  • Method: Violation of Expectation (VoE):

    • Two outcomes shown: one possible/expected, the other impossible/unexpected.

    • Longer looking time indicates understanding.

  • Infants understand objects continue to exist, indicating memory and continuity.

  • Infants know objects are solid (one cannot pass through another).

III. Core Knowledge Theory

  • Core Knowledge:

    • Initial seeds of knowledge that assist learning

    • Early development, possibly at birth

    • Evolutionarily ancient knowledge shared by other animals.

  • Learning Mechanisms:

    • Habituation, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational learning, statistical learning, rational learning.

IV. Core Cognition: Social World

What do babies know about people?

  • The Problem of Other Minds:

    • Understanding intentions, goals, desires, beliefs.

  • Observational Learning: Powerful way to learn from others (mimicry without rewards).

    • Includes:

      • Direct imitation

      • Deferred imitation (recall actions later)

  • Face Perception:

    • Newborns follow faces more than non-faces, indicating an innate template for face recognition.

    • Preference for mother's face emerges after about 12 hours of exposure.

V. Social Partners and Understanding Goals

  • Joint Attention and contingent behavior show how infants learn social dynamics.

  • Infants as young as 6 months infer actions have goals.

  • Reflection on Actions:

    • 18-month-olds imitate intended actions, not just observed actions.

VI. Understanding Desires and Moral Intuitions

  • Infants show preferences and develop understanding of their own desires versus others.

  • Moral intuitions manifest early, with preferences observed around 3 months.

  • Emergence of Altruism:

    • Infants show distress in response to others' distress and display prosocial actions without external rewards.

VII. Individual Differences in Social Knowledge

  • Cognitive Theories: Intuitive theories about the psychological domain.

  • False Belief Tasks: Understanding that beliefs can be false develops around ages 4-5.

  • Egocentrism: Preschool-age children exhibit egocentrism, impacting their social understanding.

VIII. Conceptual Development and Intuitive Theories of Biology

Concepts and Categorization

  • Understanding requires grouping similar objects/events into categories.

    • Example of hierarchical organization in categorization (basic-level categories) playing a crucial role in foundational learning.

    • Children learn basic categories around 3-4 months.

IX. Nurture, Cultural Context, and Categorization

  • Experience shapes conceptual development and is influenced by cultural context.

  • Nativist vs. Empiricist Views:

    • Nativists argue for innate understanding; Empiricists argue for knowledge gained through exposure and experience.

X. Conclusion: Learning Mechanisms

  • Child's learning involves exploration and play-based activity to promote understanding.

  • Play is a fundamental mechanism through which children practice and reinforce understanding, synthesizing experiences to develop core knowledge and intuitive theories.