PSYC 331: Ch 4: Cognitive Development

-learning through experience

-scheme: mental representation for acting on a specific object

-assimilation: a new object is added to an existing scheme

-accommodation: an existing scheme is changed or expanded in response to a new object

-children develop and expand their repertoire of schemes through assimilation and accommodation

-operation: a reversible action

-Piaget’s Developmental stages

-sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete-operational, formal-operational

-sensorimotor stage

-roughly birth - 2 years

-children develop schemes for acting on objects

-objects must be physically present

-6 substages representing smaller cognitive gains

-substage 1

-birth - 1 month

-children use reflexes to relate to the world

-adapt reflexes to specific objects

-substage 2 

-1-4 months

-combine reflexes to form one action

-substage 3

-4-8 months

-interest centered outside the self

-repetitive actions

-lack object permanence

-sensorimotor children have difficulty conceptualizing absent objects

-object permanence: realizing an object continues to exist when out of sight

-substage 4

-8-12 months

-children will search for hidden objects

-children have mental representations of the objects

-this understanding is initially weak

-a-not-b error

-children look for the object where they last found it, rather than where they say it hidden

-understanding of object permanence is weak

-substage 5

-12-18 months

-children actively explore their environment

-”little scientists”

-substage 6

-18-24 months

-children form enduring mental representations

-deferred imitation

-light box study: 

-infants imitated the actions of an adult after a delay

-question: are kids copying or thinking critically?

-why use your head? Kids think: there must be a reason

-this time: actor wrapped in a blanket. Either:

-replication: hand free, but used head

-hands wrapped up and occupied, used forehead to push

-idea: kids will think using head is important when hands are free

-results: kids used heads only in hands free condition

-light box study:

-infants imitated the actions of an adult after a delay

-Gergely et al., 2002

-infants imitate actions, not verbatim, but based on the reason behind the action

-shows infants are goal oriented, and discriminating in their imitation

-substage 6

-18-24 months

-children form enduring mental representations 

-deferred imitation

-end of sensorimotor stage

-children graduate when they can represent absent objects

-gain object permanence

-use symbols to represent objects

-pretend play

-preoperational stage

-roughly 2-7 years age

-CAN use symbols to represent absent objects

-objects and events no longer have to be present to be thought about

-egocentrism: viewing the world only form your perspective

-trouble representing other people’s point of view

-egocentric speech

-3 mountains task

-experiment by Piaget, to study egocentrism in children

-children asked to describe different perspectives of a 3 mountain model from different positions with a doll

-kids age 2-7 had trouble

-7-11 age kids did better 

-conservation tasks: an operation is performed that changes only the appearance of the object(s)

-to pass, children must realize nothing else has changed

-preoperational children FAIL because they focus on appearances, do not perform mental operations

-end of preoperational stage

-children graduate by overcoming centration and egocentrism

-can focus on more than one aspect of an object

-gain an understanding of other people’s minds

-realize the world is governed by principles, not appearances

-concrete operational

-roughly ages 7-12 years 

-correct understanding of objects based on principles, not appearances

-sort objects according size, shape, gradient, etc

-observe and reason about multiple features of an object/situation

-understand categorization

-BUT….

-rely on trial and error, rather than systematic problem solving

-lack deductive reasoning

-understanding is still closely tied to personal experience

-deductive reasoning

-formal operational

-roughly ages 12 and up

-children are no longer tied to experiences for understanding

-CAN reason theoretically about the world

-CAN conceptualize hypothetical situations 

-Critique of piaget’s Theory

-piaget’s theory remains highly influential, but there are some weaknesses: 

-a stage model depicts children’s thinking as being overly consistent

-underestimates cognitive competency of infants and young children

-understates the contribution of the social world to cognitive development

-vague about causal mechanisms for change

-Sociocultural theories

-sociocultural perspective; social interaction and cultural are key to cognition

-culture defines what abilities are valued

-culture provides tools that shape learning

-culture provides structure for thought

-Vygotsky’s theory: 

-directions come from others

-directions move to private speech

-speech changes to silent thought

-intersubjectivity: mutual understanding people share during activities and communication

-critical for learning

-involves joint attention

-supports guided participation

-results in social referencing

-child looks to others for guidance

-social scaffolding: when initial help is given, but gradually removed as children become more competent

-zone of proximal development: the stage at which children benefit from instruction

-when help is necessary and sufficient for learning

-information-processing theories

-interested in how children reason about the world around them

-solve problems

-reach goals

-metaphor: the child as a computer system

-computers are limited by software and hardware capacities: processing limitations

-people, too, are limited by processing capacities

-cognitive development arises from children gradually surmounting their processing limitations

-view children as undergoing continuous cognitive change

-continuous in two senses:

-important changes viewed as constantly occurring, rather than restricted to transition periods between stages

-cognitive growth viewed as typically occurring in small increments rather than abruptly

-increased speed of processing with age 

-both biological maturation and experience contribute to increased processing speed

-myelination speeds information transfer between neurons

-increased connectivity among brain regions speeds cognitive processing

-overlapping waves theory: children are active problem-solvers and use many strategies

-children may use several strategies interchangeably

-with age/experience, more successful strategies win out

-children may benefit from this strategic variability

-Planning

-plan: set of steps/actions that lead to a goal

-contributes to successful problem-solving

-children begin to form simple plans by 12 months

-requires inhibition of immediate action

-problem solving task: toy placed out of reach on a cloth

-8-month-old infant to retrieve the toy

-9-month-olds succeeds, pulling until toy is in reach

-as children grow older, they make a greater variety of plans, which help them solve a broader range of problems

-Dynamic systems theory

-focuses on how change occurs in complex systems over time

-main ideas:

-improvement in one domain leads improvements in other domains

-”sticky mittens”

-development isn’t necessarily linear

-Mateo

-interconnectivity

-A-not-B error depends on not just an object permanence

-also on: statistics, attention, memory, muscle movements