Midterm 1 November 13, @ 18:30-20 Places to be announced later Midterm covers modules 1-8 and 15

Infancy and Childhood Physical/Motor Development Cognitive Development Module 8 Infancy and Childhood Physical/Motor Development Cognitive Development For specific periods of life – we will talk about physical, cogntive and social development (changes).

Infancy and Childhood: Physical Development The brain is immature at birth As the child matures, the neural networks grow increasingly more complicated Rapid growth is observed coordination (maturation) in the frontal lobes Association areas are the last areas to develop Developing brain also enables physical coordination At birth 3 months 15 months Cortical Neurons From infancy on – neural hardware and cognitive software develop at the same time. Neural networks get complex --- At the same time association areas within the cortex develop – enabling thinking, memory and language formation. Even though most of the brain cells (nurons) are formed when you are born ---- they were not connected to each other. Connections of neurons – neural networks – occur through sitmulation. Esp. Development in the frontal lobe --- rational planning, abstract thinking etc. Lack of these neural connections actually explain why we have difficulty in remembering our early memories.

Infancy and Childhood: Physical Development Maturation biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in physical coordination & behavior Sit, stand, walk, run  maturation of the cerebellum relatively uninfluenced by experience, the sequence of motor/physical devepment is universal. This biological growth is called maturation. Cannot perform some of the acts – if not have the hardware developed. That is why there is in order in many of our processes. Stand – walk –run --- maturation oıf the nervous system , strength of the neurons etc. Say nouns first – than adjectives – than build sentences. Severe deprivation at these stages will retard development Identical twins usually start sitting up and walking on the same day. there are individual differences but experience has a limited effect. 4

During the First Year Rolls over at 3 months Sits without support at 6 months Stands alone at about 11 months Walks at just over one year old

Prop up to get a stronger back 6

Sit up without support 7

Crawling 8

Standing supported 9

Standing unsupported 10

Cruising 11

Walking 12

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Cognition All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

What is the driving force of cognitive development? Jean Piaget Mind develops through a series of stages Cognitive capacity develops through children’s constant trials to make sense of the world. Mind develops using schemas a concept or mental framework that organizes and interprets information/experiences E.g. Animal, dog, love etc. Famous psychologist who studied children’s cognitive development in 1920s. Children think /process in different ways than adults. Children’s cognitive abilities develop through a sequence- a series of stages. This capacity changes, develops through children’s constant trials to make sense of the world. Schemas: mental representations of the world that guide the processes of assimilation and accommodation

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development, J. Piaget Concept of Assimilation New cognitive elements are fitted in with old elements or modified to fit more easily Concept of Accommodation Restructuring cognitive structures and building new schemas so that new information can fit into them more easily Our congition develops through creating and differentiating schemas. Create mental representations of the world and mental adaptations to new observations and experiences. Assimilation – New experiences are fitted into already existing schemas. Accommodation May sometimes need to change the already existing schemas or form new scemas to incorporate new information adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Assimilation --- all four legged animals are dogs. Accomodation – differentiate between dogs and cats.

Infancy and Childhood: Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Typical Age Range Description of Stage Developmental Phenomena Birth to nearly 2 years Sensorimotor Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing) Object permanence Stranger anxiety About 2 to 6 years About 7 to 11 years About 12 through adulthood Preoperational Representing things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning Egocentrism Language development Concrete operational Thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations Conservation Mathematical transformations Formal operational Abstract reasoning Abstract logic Potential for moral reasoning Sensorimotor --- experience the world through sensory and motor interactions with objects. Looking, touching, smelling, tasting etc. Preoperational – up until school age. Too young to perform mental operations. Are egocentric. Can see things from others’ perspectives. That is why when they hide behind a curtain, they think you also don’t see you. I don’t see you – I am also invisible. Stand between you and the TV --- because think that since he can see the TV, you should be as well.

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years old) Key developmental phenomon is Object permanence (7-9 months). The awareness that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see or touch it. Sensorimotor --- experience the world through sensory and motor interactions with objects. Looking, touching, smelling, tasting etc. Live in the present: out of sight is out of mind. Key developmental phenomenon: Object permanence (7-9 months). The understanding that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see or touch it.

Preoperational Stage (2-7 years old) Children cannot grasp the concept of conservation. Understanding that quantities of objects can remain the same even when their shape changes Preoperational – up until school age. Too young to perform mental operations. Are egocentric. Can not see things from others’ perspectives. That is why when they hide behind a curtain, they think you also don’t see you. I don’t see you – I am also invisible. Stand between you and the TV --- because think that since he can see the TV, you should be as well. Egocentrism: Allowed to view diorama (3 mountain experiment) from all sides Seated on one side; doll on opposite side Shown pictures from various perspectives and asked to identify how things would look to doll Chose view corresponding to their own point of view Theory of mind video. Although egocentric – preschoolers begin forming a theory of mind. All people are individual beings. They have their own personalities /minds. Then can understand what made a playmate sad, mommy angry etc. Also learn how to make parents buy a toy. Learn how others brain work – and develop strategies. , A problem that is observed at this stage – autism – when children fail to develop communication and social relations. Have difficulty inferring others’ thoughts and feelings.

Conservation the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects Can grasp the meaning of conservation Change in shape does not mean change in quantity. Fully gain the mental ability to comprehend mathematical operations.

Conservation of Number Two identical rows of coins One row is rearranged “Do the two rows have the same number of coins?” Fully gain the mental ability to comprehend mathematical operations.

Preoperational Stage (2-7 years old) Children cannot grasp the concept of conservation. Egocentrism: Seeing the world from only your point of view; the inability to take someone else’s perspective. Begin forming a Theory of Mind: People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states – (thoughts, emotions and beliefs) and that these may be distinct People with autism have an imparied theory of mind.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years old) Can understand conservation Loss of egocentric thinking Begin to reason logically, categorize objects, but they cannot fully handle abstract reasoning

Formal Operations Stage (12 years to adulthood) Abstract and hypothetical thinking (imagined realities and symbols) Reason about situations not personally experienced Search systematically for solutions to problems e.g., If John is in school, then Mary is in school. John is in school. What can you say about Mary? Abstract and hypothetical thinking Understand that ideas can be compared and classified Reason about situations not personally experienced Search systematically for solutions to problems

Infants may be smarter than Piaget’s conclusions indicate Baby Mathematics – 5 months Shown a numerically impossible outcome, infants stare longer (Wynn, 1992) 1. Objects placed in case. 2. Screen comes up. 3. Object is removed. 4. Impossible outcome: Screen drops, revealing two objects. 4. Possible outcome: one object. Today’s researchers see development as more continuous Infants saw a sequence of events that illustrated addition or subtraction. Then they saw a correct or incorrect outcome (2-1=2, for example). The infant looked longer at outcomes that were incorrect.

Contemporary Perspectives on Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Cognitive development is probably more continuous The beginnings of each type of thinking emerge at earlier ages Social and Cultural Influences Role of social interactions in cognitive development. Stimulation, schooling Cultural differences in Piaget’s stages. Still, it is helpful for practitioners to think about the stages of cognitive development when dealing with young children Children are not passive receipients of info.