Cognitive Development in Infants What is cognitive development? What are some examples of cognitive development?

Cognitive Development Thought process Remembering Problem solving Decision making Language

Sensorimotor Stage Stage 1 Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory

Sensorimotor Stage 0-2 years Children are learning about their world through the use of their senses + motor activities. Ex: watching an object move + reaching to grasp it. Which of the senses does a baby use? What motor action does a baby use ? Explains why infants & toddlers are hands on They are always getting into things!

Advances in sensorimotor stage 1. babies transition from reflexive behavior to intentional behavior 2. develop object permanence

Use the power points to answer the observation questions 6 Substages of Sensorimotor Development Substage 1: Simple reflexes (0-1 month) Substage 2: First Habits & Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months) Substage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months) Substage 4: Coordination of Secondary Schemes (8-12 months) Substage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months) Substage 6: Mental Representations (18-24 months) Use the power points to answer the observation questions

Substage 1: Simple reflexes (0-1 month) Cognitive activity is based on neonatal (newborn) reflexes Ex: sucking, rooting, grasping, stepping Babies are learning from these reflexive behaviors Reflexes are schemes (how we organize, process and interperit information) Schemes are the building blocks of knowledge Ex: grasping an object, naming animals, doing algebra, understanding numbers

Substage 2:First Habits & primary circular reactions (1-4 months) Less reflexive & more intentional behavior by the infant Ex: infant accidentally puts hand in his mouth & starts sucking on it. He enjoys the feeling & starts to intentionally put hand in his mouth repeatedley. Primary= infant’s own body Circular=once it’s discovered, it’s repeated

Substage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months) Repetition of movements that occurred by chance Ex: baby accidentally kicks toy and it light up & makes a sound. Baby enjoys the light & sound so she repeated the action. Secondary= outside of baby’s body Circular=once it’s discovered, it’s repeated

Substage 4: Coordination of secondary schemes (8-12 months) Baby has goals in his behavior He wants to do something Can coordinate his schemes in order to accomplish his goal Ex: baby wants a toy. Crawls to the toy, pushes the ball aside, grabs the toy

Substage 4: Coordination of secondary schemes (8-12 months) Observation 1 Question 19 Object permanence: objects & people continue to exist even if we can’t see them Having object permanence= having mental representations Infants less than 4 months do not look for an object Infants 4-8 months look briefly to see where object went 8-12 months= put an object under blanket, infant will lift it to find it A-not-B error

Substage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months) “little scientists” Toddlers intentionally try out behaviors to see the effects Ex: flushing toilet over & over Ex: using a sponge

Substage 6: mental representations (18-24 months) Toddlers think about the possibilities then select the actions that will get them what they want Mental representations: having a mental picture in your mind Deferred imitation: ability to repeat actions observed earlier Ex: Sydney was observed feeding her baby doll and burping it. She has a baby brother and has seen her mother feed and burp him. Mental representations can be seen in: Play Language: word we use are mental representations of objects, people, actions, ideas 3. Art

Let’s review Piaget’s Sub stages Stage 1: Sensorimotor 6 sub stages Let's Watch

Piaget & Modern research Piaget formed his theory by observing his 3 children Modern research uses innovative statistics, research designs, sample sizes & strategies Advanced cameras can accurately measure and rewind observations Evidence of object permanence before 8 months fMRI can measure brain activity by showing parts of brain that have blood flow as infant is exposed to stimuli

Habituation Habituation-Dishabituation Technique Technique used to test infant perception. Infants are shown a stimulus repeatedly until they respond less (habituate) to it. Then a new stimulus is presented. Habituation The tendency of infants to reduce their response to stimuli that are presented repeatedly. Dishabituation The recovery or increase in infant’s response when a familiar stimulus is replaced by one that is novel.