Chapter 6 Developmental Psych

Sensorimotor intelligence

Piaget's term for the way infants think-by using their senses and motor skills- during the first period of cognitive development

Stages of sensorimotor intelligence

- Primary Circular Reactions
- Secondary Circular Reactions
- Tertiary Circular Reactions

Primary Circular Reactions

reactions involving the infant's own body
- Stage One [birth to 1 month]
reflex stage. e.g. sucking, grasping, staring, listening; the babies awareness to its reflexes and sensations provides information about what the body can do
- Stage Two [1-4 months]

Assimilation

occurs when a new experience is simply incorporated into old concepts and perceptions

Accomodation

requires changing one's perceptions and assumptions to adjust to new experiences

Secondary Circular Reactions

interactions between the baby and something else; mirror neurons begin to function
- Stage Three [4-8 months]
infants seek to make exciting or interesting events last and do so by responding to people and objects {ex. waving their arms and laughing when s

Object permanence

the awareness that objects or people continue to exist even when they are no longer in sight

Object permanence typically develops between _____ of age

4-7 months

Tertiary Circular Reactions

Involved active exploration and experimentation; exploration of range of new activities and variations in responses as way of learning
- Stage Five [a year to 18 months]
new means through active experimentation and creativity; builds on the goal orientati

Little scientist

a toddler who experiments in order to see

Deferred imitation

requires the toddler to combine what they witnessed before with a new opportunity to repeat what they saw

Preoperational Intelligence Vocabulary

- centration
- egocentrism
- focus on appearance
- static reasoning
- irreversibility
- conservation
- animism

Concrete Operational Vocabulary

- classification
- concrete operational thought
- transitive inference
- seriation

Centration

a characteristic of preoperational thought where a young child focuses on one idea, excluding all others [ex. child insists that lions and tigers at the zoo cannot be cats because the child centers on the house pet aspect of cats they know]

Egocentrism

a characteristic of preoperational thought where young children's tendency to think about the world entirely from their own personal perspective

Focus on Appearance

a characteristic of preoperational thought where a young child ignores attributes that are not apparent [ex. a girl who is given a short hair cut looks into a mirror starts crying because she thinks that she is a boy]

Static reasoning

a characteristic of preoperational thought where a young child thinks that nothing changes [ex. children look at a photo of their parents in disbelief that this was them back in the day]

Irreversibility

a characteristic of preoperational thought where a young child thinks that nothing can be undone

Conservation

the principle that the amount of a substance remains the same when its appearance changes [ex. the equal amount of milk is poured into a short fat glass and a tall skinny glass; when the child is asked which has more they say the tall one]

Animism

the belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive

Classification

the logical principle that things can be organized into groups for categories or classes according to some similar characteristics [ex. a child's parents and siblings are classified as belonging to a group called family]

Concrete Operational Thought

Piaget's term for the ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions

Transitive Influence

the ability to figure out the unspoken link between one fact and and another

Seriation

the idea that things can be arranged into a series

PIaget Reevaluated

many infants reach the stages of sensorimotor intelligence earlier than Piaget predicted
due to small sample size, simplistic methods, and unseen brain activity

Information processing theory

- modeled on computer functioning
- involved incremental details and step-by-step description of the mechanisms of though
- adds insight to understanding cognition at every age

Techniques Used by Neuroscientists to Understand Brain Function

- EEG
- ERP
- fMRI
- PET
- fNIRS

EEG [electroencephalogram]

Use: Measures electrical activity in the top layers of the brain, where the cortex is.
Limitations: Especially in infancy, much brain activity of interest occurs below the cortex.

ERP [event-related potential]

Use: Notes the amplitude and frequency of electrical activity (as shown by brain waves) in specific parts of the cortex in reaction to various stimuli.
Limitations: Reaction within the cortex signifies perception, but interpretation of the amplitude and t

fMRI [functional magnetic resonance imaging]

Use: Measures changes in blood flow anywhere in the brain (not just the outer layers).
Limitations: Signifies brain activity, but infants are notoriously active, which can make fMRIs useless

PET [positron emission tomography]

Use: PET (like fMRI) reveals activity in various parts of the brain. Locations can be pinpointed with precision, but PET requires injection of radioactive dye to light up the active parts of the brain.
Limitations: Many parents and researchers hesitate to

fNIRS [functional near-infrared spectroscopy]

Use: Via light waves that indicate blood flow, the fNIRS measures activity in the cortex and beyond. The device is portable and non-invasive: no need for expensive equipment, electrodes, or special dye. This is especially useful for infants who do not sta

Selection of which affordance is perceived and acted upon is related to what four factors?

- sensory awareness
- immediate motivation
- current development
- past experience

Perception requires ________

selectivity

Affordances provide what?

opportunities for perception and interaction that is offered by a person, place, or object in the environment

All babies are attracted to what kinds of affordances?

- things that move [dynamic perception: focus on movement and change]
- people [people preference: universal principle of infant perception; tied to evolution]

Visual cliff

experimental apparatus that gives the illusion of a sudden drop-off between one horizontal surface and another
infant performance depends on past experience including social context

Childhood amnesia

according to classic developmental theory, infants store no memories in their first year

Developmentalists current stance on Childhood Amnesia

they now agree that very young infants can remember if the following conditions are met:
- experimental conditions are similar to real life
- motivation is high
- special measures are used in memory retrieval

Rovee-Collier's experiment

a young infant immediately remembers how to make a familiar mobile move
- 3 month old infants could remember two weeks if they had a brief reminder session before being retested
- 6-month-olds retain information longer with less training or reminding

Listening and Responding

- before birth: language via brain organization and hearing, may be innate
- newborn: preference for speech sounds and mother's language, gradual selective listening
- around 6 months: ability to distinguish sounds and gestures in own language

Timing of language development ______ but sequence is ___________

varies, universal

Babbling

involved repetition of certain syllables, that begins when babies are between 6 and 9 months
begins to sound like native language around 12 months

Concepts in ________ are expressed sooner than speech

gesture

Pointing emerges in human babies around ____ months

10

Naming explosion

once spoken vocabulary reaches about 50 words, it builds up quickly, at a rate of 50 to 100 words per month

Development of Spoken Language in the First Two Years

- Newborn [reflexive communication: cries, facial expressions}
- 2 months [a range of meaningful noises: cooing, fussing]
- 3-6 months [new sounds, including squeals and growls]
- 10-12 months [Comprehension of simple words; speech-like intonations; speci

Theories of Language Learning: Infants need to be Taught

- by B.F. Skinner who noticed that spontaneous babbling is usually reinforced
- well-taught infants become well spoken children
- frequent repetitions of words is instructive, especially when the words are linked to the pleasures of daily life
- if adults

Theories of Language Learning: Social Impulses foster Infant Language [social-pragmatic]

- infants communicate because humans have evolved as social beings
- the emotional messages of speech, not the words are the focus of early communication
- each culture has practices that further social interaction
- the social content of speech is univer

Theories of Language Learning: Infants teach Themselves

- language learning is innate; adults need not teach it, nor is it a by-product of social interaction
- language itself is experience expectant, although obviously the specific language is experience dependant
- variations in children's language ability c

Chomsky's view on language learning

- language is too complex to be mastered through step by step learning
- all babies are considered eager learners, and language may be considered one more aspect of neurological maturation
- language acquisition device `

Language acquisition device

a hypothesized mental structure that enables grammar, vocabulary, and intonation

Theories of Language Learning: Hybrid Theory

- some aspects of language may be best explained by one theory at one age and other aspects by another theory at another age
- multiple attentional, social, and linguistic cues contribute to early language
- different elements of the language apparatus ma

Sensorimotor intelligence

Piaget's term for the way infants think-by using their senses and motor skills- during the first period of cognitive development

Stages of sensorimotor intelligence

#NAME?

Primary Circular Reactions

reactions involving the infant's own body
- Stage One [birth to 1 month]
reflex stage. e.g. sucking, grasping, staring, listening; the babies awareness to its reflexes and sensations provides information about what the body can do
- Stage Two [1-4 months]

Assimilation

occurs when a new experience is simply incorporated into old concepts and perceptions

Accomodation

requires changing one's perceptions and assumptions to adjust to new experiences

Secondary Circular Reactions

interactions between the baby and something else; mirror neurons begin to function
- Stage Three [4-8 months]
infants seek to make exciting or interesting events last and do so by responding to people and objects {ex. waving their arms and laughing when s

Object permanence

the awareness that objects or people continue to exist even when they are no longer in sight

Object permanence typically develops between _____ of age

4-7 months

Tertiary Circular Reactions

Involved active exploration and experimentation; exploration of range of new activities and variations in responses as way of learning
- Stage Five [a year to 18 months]
new means through active experimentation and creativity; builds on the goal orientati

Little scientist

a toddler who experiments in order to see

Deferred imitation

requires the toddler to combine what they witnessed before with a new opportunity to repeat what they saw

Preoperational Intelligence Vocabulary

#NAME?

Concrete Operational Vocabulary

#NAME?

Centration

a characteristic of preoperational thought where a young child focuses on one idea, excluding all others [ex. child insists that lions and tigers at the zoo cannot be cats because the child centers on the house pet aspect of cats they know]

Egocentrism

a characteristic of preoperational thought where young children's tendency to think about the world entirely from their own personal perspective

Focus on Appearance

a characteristic of preoperational thought where a young child ignores attributes that are not apparent [ex. a girl who is given a short hair cut looks into a mirror starts crying because she thinks that she is a boy]

Static reasoning

a characteristic of preoperational thought where a young child thinks that nothing changes [ex. children look at a photo of their parents in disbelief that this was them back in the day]

Irreversibility

a characteristic of preoperational thought where a young child thinks that nothing can be undone

Conservation

the principle that the amount of a substance remains the same when its appearance changes [ex. the equal amount of milk is poured into a short fat glass and a tall skinny glass; when the child is asked which has more they say the tall one]

Animism

the belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive

Classification

the logical principle that things can be organized into groups for categories or classes according to some similar characteristics [ex. a child's parents and siblings are classified as belonging to a group called family]

Concrete Operational Thought

Piaget's term for the ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions

Transitive Influence

the ability to figure out the unspoken link between one fact and and another

Seriation

the idea that things can be arranged into a series

PIaget Reevaluated

many infants reach the stages of sensorimotor intelligence earlier than Piaget predicted
due to small sample size, simplistic methods, and unseen brain activity

Information processing theory

#NAME?

Techniques Used by Neuroscientists to Understand Brain Function

#NAME?

EEG [electroencephalogram]

Use: Measures electrical activity in the top layers of the brain, where the cortex is.
Limitations: Especially in infancy, much brain activity of interest occurs below the cortex.

ERP [event-related potential]

Use: Notes the amplitude and frequency of electrical activity (as shown by brain waves) in specific parts of the cortex in reaction to various stimuli.
Limitations: Reaction within the cortex signifies perception, but interpretation of the amplitude and t

fMRI [functional magnetic resonance imaging]

Use: Measures changes in blood flow anywhere in the brain (not just the outer layers).
Limitations: Signifies brain activity, but infants are notoriously active, which can make fMRIs useless

PET [positron emission tomography]

Use: PET (like fMRI) reveals activity in various parts of the brain. Locations can be pinpointed with precision, but PET requires injection of radioactive dye to light up the active parts of the brain.
Limitations: Many parents and researchers hesitate to

fNIRS [functional near-infrared spectroscopy]

Use: Via light waves that indicate blood flow, the fNIRS measures activity in the cortex and beyond. The device is portable and non-invasive: no need for expensive equipment, electrodes, or special dye. This is especially useful for infants who do not sta

Selection of which affordance is perceived and acted upon is related to what four factors?

#NAME?

Perception requires ________

selectivity

Affordances provide what?

opportunities for perception and interaction that is offered by a person, place, or object in the environment

All babies are attracted to what kinds of affordances?

- things that move [dynamic perception: focus on movement and change]
- people [people preference: universal principle of infant perception; tied to evolution]

Visual cliff

experimental apparatus that gives the illusion of a sudden drop-off between one horizontal surface and another
infant performance depends on past experience including social context

Childhood amnesia

according to classic developmental theory, infants store no memories in their first year

Developmentalists current stance on Childhood Amnesia

they now agree that very young infants can remember if the following conditions are met:
- experimental conditions are similar to real life
- motivation is high
- special measures are used in memory retrieval

Rovee-Collier's experiment

a young infant immediately remembers how to make a familiar mobile move
- 3 month old infants could remember two weeks if they had a brief reminder session before being retested
- 6-month-olds retain information longer with less training or reminding

Listening and Responding

- before birth: language via brain organization and hearing, may be innate
- newborn: preference for speech sounds and mother's language, gradual selective listening
- around 6 months: ability to distinguish sounds and gestures in own language

Timing of language development ______ but sequence is ___________

varies, universal

Babbling

involved repetition of certain syllables, that begins when babies are between 6 and 9 months
begins to sound like native language around 12 months

Concepts in ________ are expressed sooner than speech

gesture

Pointing emerges in human babies around ____ months

10

Naming explosion

once spoken vocabulary reaches about 50 words, it builds up quickly, at a rate of 50 to 100 words per month

Development of Spoken Language in the First Two Years

- Newborn [reflexive communication: cries, facial expressions}
- 2 months [a range of meaningful noises: cooing, fussing]
- 3-6 months [new sounds, including squeals and growls]
- 10-12 months [Comprehension of simple words; speech-like intonations; speci

Theories of Language Learning: Infants need to be Taught

#NAME?

Theories of Language Learning: Social Impulses foster Infant Language [social-pragmatic]

#NAME?

Theories of Language Learning: Infants teach Themselves

- language learning is innate; adults need not teach it, nor is it a by-product of social interaction
- language itself is experience expectant, although obviously the specific language is experience dependant
- variations in children's language ability c

Chomsky's view on language learning

- language is too complex to be mastered through step by step learning
- all babies are considered eager learners, and language may be considered one more aspect of neurological maturation
- language acquisition device `

Language acquisition device

a hypothesized mental structure that enables grammar, vocabulary, and intonation

Theories of Language Learning: Hybrid Theory

#NAME?