Infancy: Cognitive Development - Study Notes (Chapter 5)

Piagetian Theory of Cognitive Development (LO 05.01)

  • Focuses on how children develop perception and mental representation of the world.
  • Four stages of cognitive development:
    • Sensorimotor stage
    • Preoperational stage
    • Concrete operational stage
    • Formal operational stage
  • Overarching idea: Cognitive development proceeds through qualitative changes in how children think about and understand the world.

Sensorimotor Stage (0–2 years) LO 05.01

  • First two years: infants progress to goal-oriented behavior.
  • Substages within Sensorimotor Stage:
    • Simple reflexes (First month after birth)
    • Dominated by assimilation of stimulation into inborn reflexes.
    • Primary circular reactions (Lasts from 1–4 months)
    • Beginnings of coordinating sensorimotor schemes.
    • Secondary circular reactions (Lasts from 4–8 months)
    • Repeated patterns of activity due to effects on the environment; focus on objects and environmental events.
    • Coordination of secondary schemes (Lasts from 8–12 months)
    • Intentional, goal-directed behavior; differentiate between how to achieve a goal and the goal itself.
    • Gain the capacity to imitate gestures and sounds previously ignored.
    • Tertiary circular reactions (Lasts from 12–18 months)
    • Apply established ideas to new situations via trial and error.
    • Invention of new means through mental combinations (Lasts from 18–24 months)
    • Transition between sensorimotor development and symbolic thought.
  • Key concept: development moves from simple motor actions to deliberate problem solving and symbolic thought.

Object Permanence LO 05.01

  • Recognition that objects or persons continue to exist even when out of sight.
  • Neonates do not recognize objects not within immediate sensory grasp.
  • A-not-B error: Infants repeatedly search for an object in familiar hiding place A rather than the new hiding place B, even after seeing the object hidden in B.
  • Object permanence marks a major cognitive milestone within sensorimotor development.

Information Processing Approach (LO 05.02)

  • Focuses on how children manipulate sensory information and store information in memory.
  • Infants use memory and imitation as tools for processing information.
  • Infant memory improves between ages 2 and 6 months when given a reminder.
  • Key studies/figures referenced: Figure 5.2 Investigating Infant Memory; Figure 5.3 Imitation in Infants.
  • Core idea: cognition is increasingly about attention, encoding, storage, and retrieval processes rather than stage-like changes alone.

Mirror Neurons LO 05.02

  • Activated when an individual performs a motor act or observes another performing the same act.
  • Linked to:
    • Emotions
    • Innate language learning tendencies
    • Gender differences in empathy
    • Observational learning (learning by watching others)
  • Implication: may support early understanding of others’ actions and social learning.

Individual Differences in Cognitive Functioning among Infants (LO 05.03)

  • Assessing infant cognition with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II):
    • Mental scale: verbal communication, perceptual skills, learning and memory, problem solving.
    • Motor scale: gross motor skills (standing, walking, climbing).
  • Purpose: detect handicaps and neurological problems.
  • Instability of intelligence scores in infancy:
    • Scores in the first year correlate moderately with scores a year later.
    • Overall BSID-II scores do not predict school grades or IQ scores well for schoolchildren.
  • Visual recognition memory and habituation:
    • Ability to discriminate previously seen objects from novel objects increases over the first year.
    • Measured via habituation-based tasks.
  • Example: Items from BSID–II (Table 5.1) illustrate early cognitive assessments (item content not enumerated here).

Language Development in Infancy LO 05.04

  • Language develops in an invariant sequence of steps or stages; begins with prelinguistic vocalizations.
  • Prelinguistic vocalizations:
    • Do not represent actions or objects.
    • Crying, cooing, and babbling convey messages; echolalia is the repetition of syllables.
    • Intonation patterns convey desired messages.
  • Vocabulary development:
    • Receptive vocabulary (words understood) outpaces expressive vocabulary (words produced).
    • First word typically spoken between 11–13 months; usually a brief utterance of 1–2 syllables.
  • Development of vocabulary:
    • Most first words are general nominals (e.g., objects) and specific nominals (e.g., a particular toy).
    • Overextension: words used in broader contexts than appropriate; gradual refinement as vocabulary grows and categorization improves.
  • Development of sentences:
    • Telegraphic speech: brief expressions with meanings of sentences; relies on content words.
    • Mean Length of Utterance (MLU): average number of morphemes in an utterance.
    • Morphemes: smallest units of meaning in a language.
    • Growth pattern: swift upward progression with brief regressions; occasional plateaus.
    • Equation: extMLU=exttotalmorphemesinutterancesextnumberofutterancesext{MLU} = \frac{ ext{total morphemes in utterances}}{ ext{number of utterances}}
  • Morphology and syntax:
    • Holophrase: single word expressing a complex meaning.
    • Two-word sentences: demonstrate basic syntax understanding (rules for word order).
    • Telegraphic speech and early syntax show emerging language structure before full grammar.
  • Language acquisition: learning occurs through observation and imitation; parents models for imitation.
  • Views on language development:
    • Nurture-focused perspectives (influence of environment and reinforcement):
    • Role of imitation; shaping through reinforcement; extinction of non-native sounds.
    • Shaping: gradual building of complex behavior through reinforcement of successive approximations.
    • Nature-focused perspectives (innate predisposition):
    • Psycholinguistic theory: language learning involves interaction between environmental input and an inborn tendency to acquire language.
    • Language Acquisition Device (LAD): proposed innate mechanism enabling language learning.
    • Surface structure: superficial grammatical form of a sentence; Deep structure: underlying meaning.
  • Brain structures for language (left hemisphere involvement for most individuals):
    • Broca's area: linked to speech production; damage leads to Broca's aphasia (difficulty speaking).
    • Wernicke's area: linked to language comprehension; damage leads to Wernicke's aphasia (impaired comprehension and word retrieval).
    • Left hemisphere dominance is common in right-handed people; two-thirds of left-handed people also show this tendency, though there is variability.
  • Brain areas and language-related aphasias (LO 05.04):
    • Aphasia: disruption in understanding or producing language.
    • Broca's aphasia: damage to Broca’s area; nonfluent speech with relatively preserved comprehension.
    • Wernicke's aphasia: damage to Wernicke’s area; fluent but often nonsensical speech with poor comprehension.
  • Critical ( sensitive ) period for language development LO 05.04
    • Period from about 18 months to puberty during which the brain is particularly capable of learning language.
    • Language acquisition is strongest during this window; injuries to the left hemisphere during development can sometimes be compensated by right-hemisphere functions in young children.
  • Key terms and concepts:
    • Invariant sequence, prelinguistic vocalizations, echolalia, intonation, receptive vs expressive vocabulary, first word, overextension, telegraphic speech, MLU, morphemes, holophrase, two-word sentences, syntax, imitation, shaping, LAD, surface structure, deep structure, aphasia, Broca's aphasia, Wernicke's aphasia, critical period.

Connections, Implications, and Summary

  • Piaget vs. Information Processing:
    • Piaget emphasizes qualitative stage-like shifts (sensorimotor to symbolic thought).
    • Information-processing emphasizes gradual improvements in attention, memory, and processing efficiency, with empirical measures (e.g., memory tasks, habituation).
  • Foundational principles:
    • Early cognition relies on memory and imitation as tools for processing information.
    • Language development emerges from a combination of environmental input (caregiver interaction, social context) and biological predispositions (LAD, brain organization).
  • Real-world relevance:
    • BSID-II is used for early detection of developmental delays or neurological issues, informing early interventions.
    • Understanding object permanence and memory informs parenting practices (e.g., encouraging object exploration, varied experiences).
  • Ethical/ practical implications:
    • Early cognitive assessments must be used carefully to avoid labeling or stigmatization; they guide supports and services when delays are present.
    • Recognizing variability in infant scores over time helps prevent over-interpretation of single measurements.
  • Foundational figures and concepts to remember:
    • Piaget: Sensorimotor sub-stages; object permanence; A-not-B error; deferred imitation as a challenge to Piagetian view of cognitive discontinuity.
    • Rovee-Collier: Infant memory research (memory via reinforcement and reminders).
    • Meltzoff & Moore: Early imitation findings suggesting social learning and mirror-neuron frameworks.
    • LAD and language development frameworks (Chomsky-inspired) versus purely nurture-based accounts: interaction between biology and environment.

Key Terms (Key Terms 1–2)

  • A-not-B error
  • Aphasia
  • Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-II)
  • Broca's area
  • Wernicke's area
  • Central concepts: Morpheme, Telegraphic speech, Holophrase, Syntax, Surface structure, Deep structure, LAD (Language Acquisition Device)
  • Imitation
  • MLU (Mean Length of Utterance)
  • Overextension
  • Shaping
  • Echolalia
  • Visual recognition memory
  • Deferred imitation
  • Mirror neurons
  • Critical period (sensitive period)
  • Visual habituation
  • Primary circular reactions
  • Secondary circular reactions
  • Tertiary circular reactions
  • Coordination of secondary schemes
  • Sensorimotor stages (0–24 months)

Summary

  • Infancy cognitive development integrates Piagetian progression through sensorimotor stages with a broader information-processing perspective that emphasizes memory, imitation, and processing efficiencies.
  • Object permanence emerges during infancy with potential errors (A-not-B) illustrating ongoing cognitive refinement.
  • Memory and imitation capabilities are foundational in infancy cognition and are studied with tasks like the visual recognition memory paradigm and deferred imitation studies.
  • Language development demonstrates a robust interaction between biology (brain structures, left-hemisphere language specialization) and environment (caregiver input, social interaction), with notable milestones like prelinguistic vocalizations, first words, vocabulary spurt, and the emergence of grammar-like structures (telegraphic speech, MLU growth).
  • The Bayley Scales provide clinical tools for identifying developmental delays but show limited predictive validity for later academic performance, underscoring the importance of longitudinal assessment.
  • Practical implications emphasize early detection and support while considering the variability and plasticity of infant cognition and language development.