Cognitive Development

1
Cognitive Development

• Infancy

2
Outline

• Infant Research Methods
• Infant Cognitive Development
• Object Permanence Piaget and Beyond

3
Outline

• Infant Research Methods
• Infant Cognitive Development
• Object Permanence Piaget and Beyond

4
Infant Research Methods

• Preferential Looking
• Dishabituation

5
Preferential Looking
6
(No Transcript)
7
Preferential Looking

• What can preferential looking tell us?
• Discrimination
• Preference
• Cat in the Hat study
• DeCaspar Spence (1986)

8
Dishabituation
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
Dishabituation
16
Dishabituation

• What can dishabituation tell us?
• Discrimination
• Memory
• Categorization
• Extensions
• Events as well as pictures
• Behavior other than looking
• Combine preferential looking and dishabituation

17
Outline

• Infant Research Methods
• Infant Cognitive Development
• Object Permanence Piaget and Beyond

18
Piagetian Principles

• Cognitive development proceeds in general stages.
• Child is actively constructing an understanding
  of the world
• Equilibration
• Assimilation
• Accommodation

19
Sensorimotor Stage

• Birth - 2 years
• Newborn comes equipped with...
• Set of reflexive behaviors
• Tendency to actively engage the world
• Child understands the world through perception
  and action.

20
Circular Reactions

• Primary Circular Reactions (1-4)
• Intentionally repeat an interesting event
• Centered on childs own body.
• Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8)
• Involve external objects
• Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18)
• Variation and experimentation

21
The Object Concept

• Understanding that objects continue to exist even
  when you cant see them.
• Requires symbolic representation.

22
Piagetian Obj Perm Stages

• SM 12 (0-4)
• Interest in objects, no OP
• SM 3 (4-8)
• Will reach for partially occluded object
• Will not search for covered object
• SM 4 (8-12)
• Will search for hidden object
• A-not-B error
• SM 5 (12-18)
• No longer make A-not-B error

23
Issues with Piagets Account

• Requires more than knowledge that objects
  continue to exist.
• Action
• Attention
• Coordination
• Infant could understand that objects continue to
  exist and still fail at Piagets task.

24
Modern Research on Physical Objects

• How can we test what infants know without testing
  what they can do?
• Renée Baillargeon
• Infants start with understanding of essence of
  phenomena, and gradually elaborate it.
• Method
• What do infants find surprising?
• What surprises you depends on how you think
  objects behave.

25
Barrier Event
26
Logic of Experiment

• Figure out what infant would expect if they did
  or did not understand OP.
• Violate that expectation.
• Habituate to an event
• Present a test event that does (or doesnt)
  violate expectation set up in the event
• See if the infant is surprised.

27
Barrier Phenomena

• At 4.5 months, infants are surprised if barrier
  doesnt stop screen.

28
Barrier Event
Whoa!!
29
Barrier Phenomena

• At 4.5 months, infants are surprised if barrier
  doesnt stop screen.
• At 6.5 months, infants are surprised if screen
  moves through some of the barrier

30
Collision Event
Habituation Event
Test Event 1
Test Event 2
31
Collision Phenomena

• At 2.5 months children look longer at impossible
  collision event.

32
Collision Event
33
Collision Phenomena

• At 2.5 months infants look longer at impossible
  collision event.
• Not until 6.5 months do children look longer at
  small-cylinder event.

34
Grasping Physical Phenomena alá RB

• Infants first form a preliminary all-or-none
  concept that captures essence but no details.
• Initial concept is slowly elaborated
• Infants identify relevant variables
• Explore effects

35
Bottom Line

• Piaget was not wrong about childrens behavior.
• Recent research questions his link between
  behavior and underlying cognitive
  abilities/knowledge.
• Infants have sophisticated knowledge about the
  physical world.
• Still a lot to learn.