C OGNITIVE D EVELOPMENT IN I NFANCY OT 500 Spring 2016

W HAT ARE COGNITIVE S KILLS IN INFANCY ? Awareness, Alertness, Interest in Environment Control of movements; goal directed movement toward self Goal directed movements towards objects and others Smile, reach for caregiver; recognition of familiar faces Imitation of motor movements and sounds Learning by basic trial and error Understanding simple cause and effect relations Understanding Object permanence Memory functions Some understanding of size, and shape concepts Language development: expressive and especially receptive

C OGNITIVE D EVELOPMENT – J EAN P IAGET Focus on development of children’s ways of perceiving and mentally representing the world Schemes Concepts Assimilation “Fit” new ideas into existing schemes Accommodation Modify schemes to accept new ideas

C OGNITIVE D EVELOPMENT Scheme Assimilation Accommodation

P IAGET ’ S S TAGES OF C OGNITIVE D EVELOPMENT StageAgeDescription Sensorimotor0 – 2 yrsBegins reflex based; sensory and motor dominant; mental representation of objects develops; trial of error Preoperational2 – 7 yrsSelf orientated Egocentric Concrete Operational 7 – 12 yrsPerspective taking No abstract problems Formal Operational12 yrs and above Abstract thinking Reason theoretically

6 S UBSTAGES OF THE S ENSORIMOTOR S TAGE OF C OGNITIVE D EVELOPMENT ( BIRTH -2 YRS ; P IAGET ) SUBSTAGE 1 Reflexes ( Birth to 1 month) Simple Reflexes; Modify reflexes based on experience SUBSTAGE 2 Primary Circular Reactions ( 1 to 4 months) Infant focus on own body; repeat actions that happen by chance Circular = repeated behaviors SUBSTAGE 3 Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months) Secondary = focus on objects or environmental events Track moving objects until they disappear from view Learn simple cause and effect;

S UBSTAGES OF S ENSORIMOTOR D EVELOPMENT SUBSTAGE 4 Coordination of Secondary Schemes (8-12 mos) More intentional, goal directed behavior; complete 2-3 step sequence of behaviors to achieve a goal Motor imitation, begin trial and error SUBSTAGE 5 Tertiary Circular Reactions ( 12 to 18) months Deliberate trial and error behaviors with more variation in trials SUBSTAGE 6 Invention of New Means Through Mental Combinations ( 18 to 24 months) External exploration is replaced by mental exploration Motor planning; think a bit before they do

H OW D OES O BJECT P ERMANENCE D EVELOP ? Neonates show no response to objects not within their immediate grasp 2 month - show surprise when a screen is lifted after an object was placed behind a screen and now is not there Child makes no effort to search for the missing object 6 month - try to retrieve a preferred object partially hidden 8- to 12-months - try to retrieve objects completely hidden More recent research – object permanence in some form as early as 3-4 months

Figure 6.1 D EVELOPMENT OF O BJECT P ERMANENCE

S TRENGTHS AND L IMITATIONS OF P IAGET ’ S T HEORY Comprehensive model Confirmation from research of others Pattern and sequence appear cross-culturally Stages are more gradual than discontinuous Underestimate infants’ competence Emergence of object permanence Deferred imitation Computational concepts

INFORMATION PROCESSING: W HAT A RE I NFANTS ’ T OOLS FOR P ROCESSING I NFORMATION ? Memory Neonates show memory for previously exposed stimuli By 12 months dramatic improvement in encoding and retrieval Rovee-Collier (1993) studies of infant memory Given a reminder (priming), improves memory

W HAT A RE I NFANTS ’ T OOLS FOR P ROCESSING I NFORMATION ? Imitation Deferred imitation – as early as 6 months Neonates imitate adults who stick out their tongue Not present in older infants – likely reflexive Speculation on newborn’s ability to imitate Aids in caregiver – infant bonding Mirror neurons

Figure 6.5 I MITATION IN I NFANTS

H OW D O W E M EASURE I NDIVIDUAL D IFFERENCES IN THE D EVELOPMENT OF C OGNITIVE F UNCTIONING ? Standardized Assessments/Evaluation tools Bayley Scales of Infant Development 178 mental-scale items; 111 motor-scale items Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale OBSERVATIONS OF BEHAVIOR Overall infant scale scores do not predict well school grades or IQ of schoolchildren; Infant intelligence tests best as screening and research instruments

A PPLYING V YGOTSKY ’ S S OCIOCULTURAL T HEORY TO THE C OGNITIVE D EVELOPMENT OF I NFANTS ? Sociocultural theory – emphasis on teaching and learning Zone of proximal development Examples: Adult naming things; reading a picture book Scaffolding

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Prelinguistic vocalizations occur right from birth; do not represent objects or events Crying; Cooing – vowel-like, linked to pleasant feelings Babbling – combine vowels and consonants Echolalia – repetition of vowel/consonant combinations Intonation – patterns of rising and falling melody Receptive vocabulary outpaces expressive

EARLY M ILESTONES IN LANGUAGE D EVELOPMENT Birth-3 mos: Crying; Cooing – vowel-like, linked to pleasant feelings Smiling 2-3 months Babbling 5-6 months Imitates sounds months First word – 11 to 13 months (nouns, verbs) months; understands many words; points to body parts 18 to 24 months rapid increase from using 50 to more than 300 words

S TYLES IN L ANGUAGE D EVELOPMENT Referential language style Use language to label objects Expressive language style Use language as means for engaging in social interactions Overextensions Extend meaning of one word to refer to things or actions for which the word is not known Telegraphic speech Brief expression with the meanings of sentences 18 to 24 months telegraphic two word sentences begin Demonstrate syntax Mean length of utterance (MLU); Average number of morphemes used in sentence

Figure 6.6 M EAN L ENGTH OF U TTERANCE FOR T HREE C HILDREN

H OW D O L EARNING T HEORISTS A CCOUNT FOR L ANGUAGE D EVELOPMENT ? Imitation Children learn from parental models Does not explain uttered phrases that have not been observed Reinforcement Sounds of adults’ language are reinforced Foreign sounds become extinct Use of shaping Parents do not exclusively reinforce correct syntax Use of Infant-directed speech by others – Motherese Spoken more slowly, briefer sentences Simple syntax Key words are at end and spoken in higher pitch Add diminutive morpheme y to nouns Repeated sentences, reduplication Focus on naming and describing objects

L ANGUAGE A CQUISITION D EVICE The inborn “prewired” tendency to acquire a language; innate factors cause children to attend to and acquire language in certain ways Evidence for LAD Universality of language abilities Regularity of early production of sounds, even among deaf children Invariant sequences of language development, regardless of language Inborn tendency primes nervous system to learn grammar (Chomsky) Surface structure – vocabulary and grammar differences in languages Deep structure – “universal grammar” Psycholinguistic Theory Interaction between environmental influences and inborn tendency to acquire language

W HAT P ARTS OF THE B RAIN A RE I NVOLVED IN L ANGUAGE D EVELOPMENT ? Key structures for most people are based in left hemisphere Broca’s area Wernicke’s area Aphasia – caused by damage in either area Broca’s aphasia – slow laborious speech with simple sentences Wernicke’s aphasia – impairment comprehending speech of others and expressing their own thoughts Angular gyrus Translates visual information into auditory sounds Impairment can cause reading difficulties and dyslexia

W HAT I S M EANT BY A S ENSITIVE P ERIOD IN L ANGUAGE D EVELOPMENT ? Plasticity of brain provides a sensitive period of learning language Begins about 18 to 24 months and continues through puberty Left hemisphere injuries Children recover good deal of speech, utilizing right hemisphere What about hearing impairment during this time???