Infancy Cognitive Development “Baby Human – Face Recognition” 2 key ideas from birth: Born with more neurons than an adult - “Pruning” Hyperattentive - Pay attention to everything (usually considered an inability to focus)

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Schema a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information Assimilation interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas Accommodation adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information Show students gif of accommodation and assimilation. Students will record one example of each in notes.

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 Pretend play 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 Review the stages – note all the developmental phenomena

Cognitive Development: Sensorimotor Stage Object Permanence the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived No object permanence A-not-B Error Review object permanence. Video 1 – shows baby with no indication of object permanence Video 2 – Describes acquisition of permanence and the A-not-B error in searching for a hidden object.

Cognitive Development: Sensorimotor Stage Circular Reactions Primary – baby accidentally does something and repeats simply because it feels good Saliva bubbles, waving arms Secondary – similar to primary, but involve objects in the environment Example Tertiary – infant devises new ways to act on objects to produce interesting results. Tertiary circular reactions represent beginning of curiosity.

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Baby Mathematics 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.

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Scale Error in the Judy DeLoache Study Found 18 – 30 month olds commonly make Scale Errors

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Scale Error Typical scale error ages Not present in young or old children – window of experimentation.

Cognitive Development Self-Awareness – shopping cart study Animism – belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and mental lives. Preoperational Seriation – Ability to arrange objects in ascending or descending order based on characteristic like length or weight Concrete operations Much later than people think Animism – ex: child tells you not to hurt the “baby.”

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Conservation the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects Preoperational vs. Concrete operational Number, Mass, Length, Volume, Area, Weight Note the difference forms of conservation -conservation not fully acquired until Concrete Operations

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Egocentrism the inability of the preoperational child to take another’s point of view Example in Child’s answers: Why does the sun shine? To keep me warm. Why is there snow? For me to play in. Why is the grass green? Its my favorite color. Have a 4 year old close her eyes and ask her if you can still see her. Her answer? How many siblings? vs. how many kids do your parents have? Child must develop theory of mind to go beyond this egocentric perspective.

Social Development Health, happiness, and even survival depends on forming meaningful, effective relationships with family peers, and later, on the job (Zimbardo, 2007) Nature brings our 1st step in this direction – a biological predisposition to smile. Smile Reflex – infant smile triggered by voices at 3 weeks, faces at 5-6 weeks. Showing teeth is positive to humans (unique among mammals – what does it mean when a dog shows teeth?)

Social Development: Temperament Temperament – An individual’s characteristic manner of behavior or reaction Assumed to have a strong genetic basis. 10-15% babies “born shy”, 10-15% “born bold” Nature / Nurture connection – which temperaments encourage interaction? Lev Vygotsky – social-cognitive development theory includes “zone of proximal development” Zone of proximal development is the difference between what the baby can do with help and what the baby can do without any help or guidance. Baby can develop cognitively and socially at both ends of this spectrum, but if social development lags (I.e. baby is not appreciated due to “bad” temperament), cognitive development will also lag.

Social Development Attachment an emotional tie with another person shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and displaying distress on separation Develops in phases over 1st 24 months. Once attachments are formed, fears and anxieties also appear. Attachment is the basis of social interaction. First attachment is usually with mother, can be father or another significant caretaker. Autistic children can also show attachment to an object.

Social Development Stranger Anxiety Separation Anxiety fear of strangers that infants commonly display beginning by about 8 months of age Separation Anxiety Distress the infant shows when object of attachment leaves Peaks between 14 and 18 months

“The Strange Situation” Mary Ainsworth – Attachment studies Displays attachment Secure Attachment (Ideal) – 60% Children show some distress when parent leaves, seek contact at the reunion, explore when parent gone, play and greet when parent present. Insecure Attachments lack 1 or more of these traits Behaviorists: What should the parent do in this scenario (assuming its real)? Point out Strange Situation appendix on back of notes – explains the experiment procedures, as well as additional information regarding secure and insecure attachments. If the parents are leaving the child somewhere (child care) and it starts crying, coming back reinforces the tantrum behavior.

Social Development 20 40 60 80 100 3.5 5.5 7.5 9.5 11.5 13.5 29 Percentage of infants who cried when their mothers left Age in months Day care Home Groups of infants left by their mothers in a unfamiliar room (Kagan, 1976).

Origins of Attachment Critical Period Imprinting – Konrad Lorenz an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development Imprinting – Konrad Lorenz the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life 2 main keys to attachment” Familiarity – displayed by Lorenz imprinting Body contact – displayed by Harlow’s monkeys. Imprinting – 1st moving thing a goose sees is normally mother (are you my mother?) Found that birds imprint to many things (although own species works best) – box on wheels, a bouncing ball Once formed, imprinting is difficult to reverse. Does not work in the same way with humans, but children do prefer familiarity Mere Exposure Effect – humans develop fondness for that which they’ve known.

Origins of Attachment Harlow’s Surrogate Mother Experiments Monkeys preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing wire mother Demonstrates facets of attachment: -provides a base to explore – children with secure attachments leave parent better to explore the world around them, knowing they can go back. -provides a safe haven to seek comfort if exploration results in anxiety.

Social Development Monkeys raised by artificial mothers were terror-stricken when placed in strange situations without their surrogate mothers.

Social Development Basic Trust (Erik Erikson) Self-Concept a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers Self-Concept a sense of one’s identity and personal worth Introduce Erik Erikson – covered in depth later, his 1st stage is appropriate to mention here. Trust vs. Mistrust has lasting effects on social development. Infancy’s major social achievement is attachment. Childhood’s is the development of a self-concept. Self awareness – mirror images fascinate children from 6 months – only after 18 months do they know it is “me” Dab lipstick on the face experiment – child is aware when she reaches for her own face.

Social Development: Child-Rearing Practices Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect obedience “Don’t interrupt.” “Why? Because I said so.” Permissive submit to children’s desires, make few demands, use little punishment Authoritative both demanding and responsive set rules, but explain reasons and encourage open discussion Neglectful

Social Development: Child-Rearing Practices