Cognitive Development, 0 to 3 Chapter 6

What’s to Come? Behaviorist Approach: Basic Mechanics of Learning Psychometric Approach: Developmental and Intelligence Testing Piagetian Approach: The Sensorimotor Stage Information-Processing Approach: Perceptions and Representations

What’s to Come? Cognitive Neuroscience Approach: The Brain’s Cognitive Structures Social-Contextual Approach: Learning from Caregivers Language Development

Behaviorist Approach: Basic Mechanics of Learning Behaviorist approach to cognitive development How we learn How behavior changes in response to experience

Behaviorist Approach: Basic Mechanics of Learning Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning Learning based on: Associating a stimulus that does not elicit a particular response with another stimulus that does elicit the response Becomes extinct when not reinforced by repeated association

Operant Conditioning Learning based on reinforcement or punishment Positive or negative Used in research to ask babies questions about what they know

Psychometric Approach: Developmental and Intelligence Testing Measures quantitative differences in abilities that make up: Intelligences by using tests that indicate or predict these abilities Intelligent behavior Behavior that is goal oriented and adaptive to circumstances and conditions of life

Psychometric Approach: Developmental and Intelligence Testing Intelligence enables people to: Acquire Remember Use knowledge Understand concepts and relationships Solve everyday problems IQ (intelligence quotient) tests Psychometric tests that seek to measure intelligence by comparing a test-taker’s performance with standardized norms

Psychometric Approach: Developmental and Intelligence Testing Testing Infants and Toddlers Assessing the Impact of the Home Environment Early Intervention

Testing Infants and Toddlers Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Indicate a child’s strengths and weaknesses in five developmental areas Cognitive Language Motor Social-emotional Adaptive behavior

Assessing the Impact of the Home Environment Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Instrument designed to measure the influence of the home environment on children’s cognitive growth HOME scores - Correlated with measures of cognitive development

Assessing the Impact of the Home Environment Important factors Parental responsiveness Number of books in the home Presence of playthings that encourage the development of concepts Parents’ involvement in children’s play

Assessing the Impact of the Home Environment Factors associated with kindergarten achievement scores Language competence Motor and social development

Early Intervention Systematic process of providing services to help families meet young children’s developmental needs The best support for the effectiveness of early intervention programs is data from: Project CARE The Abecedarian (ABC) Project

Early Intervention Most effective early interventions Start early and continue throughout the preschool years Are time-intensive Are center-based, not just parental training Take a comprehensive approach Are tailored to individual needs

Piagetian Approach: The Sensorimotor Stage Piagetian approach to cognitive development Looks at changes, or stages, in the quality of cognitive functioning Concerned with how the mind structures its activities and adapts to the environment

Piagetian Approach: The Sensorimotor Stage Sensorimotor Substages Object Concept Evaluating Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage

Sensorimotor Subsstages During the first five substages, babies: Learn to coordinate input from their senses Organize their activities in relation to their environment During the sixth substage, babies: Progress from trial-and-error learning to the use of symbols and concepts to solve problems

Object Concept Objects have independent existence, characteristics, and locations in space Object permanence - Realization that something continues to exist when out of sight

Evaluating Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Recent research suggests that: Object permanence may have reflected immature linguistic and motor skills Piaget may have been mistaken in emphasizing: Motor experience as the primary engine of cognitive growth Infants’ perceptions are far ahead of their motor abilities

Information-Processing Approach: Perceptions and Representations Focuses on: Perception Learning Memory Problem solving Aims to: Discover how children process information from the time they encounter it until they use it

Information-Processing Approach: Perceptions and Representations Habituation Visual Processing Abilities Information Processing as a Predictor of Intelligence Information Processing and the Development of Piagetian Abilities

Habituation Type of learning in which familiarity with a stimulus reduces attention to it Dishabituation Increase in responsiveness after presentation of a new stimulus

Visual Processing Abilities Visual preference Tendency of infants to spend more time looking at one sight than another Visual recognition memory Ability to distinguish a familiar visual stimulus from an unfamiliar stimulus when shown both at the same time Joint attention Involves understanding that you and I have a shared focus of attention

Information Processing as a Predictor of Intelligence Weak correlation between infants’ scores on developmental tasks with the exception of scores for: Habituation Attention-recovery Visual recognition memory abilities

Information Processing and the Development of Piagetian Abilities Categorization Vital to thinking about objects or concepts and their relationships Foundation of language, reasoning, problem solving, and memory Does not appear until the sixth sensorimotor substage

Information Processing and the Development of Piagetian Abilities Causality Understanding that one event causes another Develops slowly during the 1st year of life Infants do not know that causes must come before effects

Information Processing and the Development of Piagetian Abilities Object permanence Violation-of-expectations Research method in which dishabituation to a stimulus that conflicts with experience is taken as evidence that an infant recognizes the new stimulus as surprising Understanding of numbers may begin long before Piaget’s sixth substage

Cognitive Neuroscience Approach: The Brain’s Cognitive Structures Examines the hardware of the central nervous system Implicit memory Unconscious recall, generally of habits and skills Sometimes called procedural memory Explicit memory Intentional and conscious memory, generally of facts, names, and events Sometimes called declarative memory

Cognitive Neuroscience Approach: The Brain’s Cognitive Structures Maturing of the hippocampus A structure deep in the temporal lobes, along with the development of cortical structures coordinated by the hippocampal formation make longer-lasting memories possible

Cognitive Neuroscience Approach: The Brain’s Cognitive Structures Prefrontal cortex is believed to control many aspects of cognition Working memory - Short-term storage of information being actively processed

Social-Contextual Approach: Learning from Caregivers Examines the effects of environmental aspects on the learning process Guided participation Participation of an adult in a child’s activity in a manner that helps to structure the activity Bring the child’s understanding closer to that of the adult Cultural context influences the way caregivers contribute to cognitive development

Language Development Language Nativism Communication system based on words and grammar Children learn language through operant conditioning Nativism Theory that human beings have an inborn capacity for language acquisition Language acquisition device (LAD) An inborn mechanism that enables children to infer linguistic rules from the language they hear

Language Development Sequence of Early Language Development Characteristics of Early Speech Influences on Language Development Preparing for Literacy

Sequence of Early Language Development Prelinguistic speech Forerunner of linguistic speech; utterance of sounds that are not words Early vocalization Crying is a newborn’s first means of communication Babbling Imitation

Sequence of Early Language Development Perceiving language sounds and structure Infants’ brains seem to be preset to: Discriminate basic linguistic units Perceive linguistic patterns Categorize them as similar or different

Sequence of Early Language Development Every language has its own system of sounds that are used in the production of speech Early experience modifies the neural structure of the brain Babies begin to become aware of the phonological rules of their language

Sequence of Early Language Development Gestures Before babies can speak, they point Symbolic gestures emerge around the same time as babies say their first words Function much like words Learning gestures help babies learn to talk Early gestures are a good predictor of later vocabulary size

Sequence of Early Language Development First words Linguistic speech Verbal expression designed to convey meaning Holophrase Single word that conveys a complete thought Passive vocabulary continues to grow as: Verbal comprehension gradually becomes faster and more accurate and efficient Nouns are the easiest type of word for most children to learn

Sequence of Early Language Development First sentences Cause of speech delays - Hearing problem Telegraphic speech Early form of sentence use consisting of only a few essential words Children illustrate their implicit understanding of the structure of their language with the word order they use

Characteristics of Early Speech Children understand grammatical relationships they cannot yet express Children underextend word meanings Children overregularize rules

Influences on Language Development Brain development A newborn’s cries are controlled by the brain stem and pons Repetitive babbling may emerge with the maturation of parts of the motor cortex Control movements of the face and larynx Brain scans confirm the sequence of vocabulary development

Influences on Language Development Social interaction - Role of caregivers Language is a social act Language takes: Biological machinery Cognitive capacity Interaction with a live communicative partner

Influences on Language Development Caregivers play an important role by: Providing opportunities and motivation for communicative experience Providing models of language use

Influences on Language Development Factors that affect the course of language acquisition Age of caregivers The way caregivers interact with and talk to an infant Child’s birth order Child care experience Schooling Peers Television exposure

Influences on Language Development Parents’ imitation of babies’ sounds: Affects the amount of infant vocalization Affects the pace of language learning Helps babies experience the social aspect of speech Caregivers help babies understand spoken words Strong relationship exists between the: Frequency of specific words in mothers’ speech Order in which children learn these words

Influences on Language Development Child-directed speech (CDS) Form of speech often used in talking to babies or toddlers Slow, simplified speech, a high-pitched tone, exaggerated vowel sounds, short words and sentences, and much repetition Also called parentese or motherese

Preparing for Literacy Frequency with which caregivers read can influence: How well children speak How well and how soon they develop literacy

Preparing for Literacy Adults tend to have one of three styles of reading to children Describer Comprehender Performance-oriented style