Human Development: Cognitive Development How to people learn to think, reason, communicate & remember

Understanding Human Development Development – Continuity and change in human capabilities over a lifespan. Physical Cognitive Social Emotional

Issues in Developmental Psychology Details Nature/Nurture How do genetic inheritance (our nature) and experience (the nurture we receive) influence our behavior? Continuity/Stages Is developmental a gradual, continuous process or a sequence of separate stages? Stability/Change Do our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as we age. OBJECTIVE 1| State the three areas of change that developmental psychologists study, and identify the three major issues in developmental psychology.

Cognitive Development Theories of Cognitive Development: Stagelike vs. continuous development Stage Theorists - These psychologists believe that we travel from stage to stage throughout our lifetimes. Domain-general vs. domain-specific Physical exploration vs. social interaction Stagelike – sudden spurts of knowledge followed by periods of stability; vs. Continuous – gradual, incremental domain-general – changes in cognitive skills that affect all areas of cognition at once; vs. domain-specific – cog skills develop independently and at different rates for cog domains (language, reasoning, etc) physical exploration vs. social interaction (especially with linguistic communication)

Childhood Cognitive Development

The Piaget Revolution Until Jean Piaget came along, children were generally thought to be idiot versions of adults His studies (although they have undergone much scrutiny over the years) changed psychological theory Kids learn differently than adults

The Piaget Revolution Was intrigued by consistency in children’s wrong answers Child’s brain is not mini-adult’s brain Child development occurs through series of stages Motivation: allows child to make sense of experiences

but also by our active attempts to make sense of the world The Piaget Revolution Piaget believed that the driving force behind intellectual development is our biological development (maturation) amidst experiences with the environment. Our cognitive development is shaped by the errors we make . . . but also by our active attempts to make sense of the world OBJECTIVE 8| State Piaget’s understanding of how the mind develops, and discuss the importance of assimilation and accommodation in this process. Scale Errors 18-24monts

Schemas Schema: specific mental representation (molds) a personal develops from our experiences Theory or model of how world works Adjusted by: Assimilation Accommodation

Schemas Right now in your head, picture a model. Children view the world through schemas (as do adults for the most part). Schemas are ways we interpret the world around us. It is basically what you picture in your head when you think of anything. These 3 probably fit into your concept (schema) of a model. But does this one?

Assimilation and Accommodation The process of assimilation involves incorporating new experiences into our current understanding (schema). The process of adjusting a schema and modifying it is called accommodation. When you first meet somebody, you will assimilate them into a schema that you already have. If you see two guys dressed like this, what schema would you assimilate them into? Would you always be right?

Accommodation Changing an existing schema to adopt to new information. If I tell someone from the mid-west to picture their schema of the Bronx they may talk about the ghetto areas. But if I showed them other areas of the Bronx, they would be forced to accommodate (change) their schema to incorporate their new information.

Assimilation Assimilation: interpret our new experiences in terms of existing schemas Horse Horse

Accommodation Accommodation: adapt current understanding of schemas to incorporate new info Horse Horse “Lumpy Horse”

HORSE! Assimilation Accommodation ~ HORSE! Striped Horse!

Complex Classification Mental Reps OBJECTIVE 9| Outline Piaget’s four main stages of cognitive development, and comment on how children’s thinking changes during these four stages. Complex Classification

Piaget’s Stages: Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete Operational 2 YRS Preoperational 7 YRS BIRTH-2; 2-7; 7-11; 11 on They should be generally familiar with each of the stages, Concrete Operational 11 YRS Formal Operational

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Stages of Cognitive Development: Sensorimotor Stage CLICK Infant experiences world through movement & senses 0-2 Years (Roughly) Milestone: object permanence Objects continue to exist even if they are not visible Advance to next stage (more like 6 months) At about 2 years old, infants are able to understand object permanence – the understanding that an object continues to exist even when you can’t see it. This is also why young infants are more easily separated from a parent than are older babies – don’t have object permanence for parent yet, so don’t miss them when they are gone. By 8 mos or so, babies get stranger anxiety and are not as easily left with a babysitter, etc. When this is achieved, the sensorimotor period ends. Click Mom to see a baby with no object permanence.

Stages of Cognitive Development: Preoperational Stage Children learn to use language & represent things with symbols Around 2-7 Have object permanence Begin to use language to represent objects and ideas Egocentric: cannot look at the world through anyone’s eyes but their own. Use intuition, not logic Milestones: Animistic thinking Lack understanding of conservation Egocentric thinking Irreversibility Perceptually Bound Magical thinking Click

Preoperational Stage DeLoache (1987) showed that children as young as 3 years of age are able to use metal operations. When shown a model of a dog’s hiding place behind the couch, a 2½-year-old could not locate the stuffed dog in an actual room, but the 3-year-old did. Mental Representations are fully formed Hence language development and pretend play

Preoperational

The problem on the right probes such ability in children. Theory of Mind Preschoolers, although still egocentric, develop the ability to understand another’s mental state when they begin forming a theory of mind. The problem on the right probes such ability in children.

Conservation Conservation: properties such as mass, volume, & number remain same despite changes in form of object Exhibit centration Lack reversibility

Animistic thinking Animistic thinking: inanimate objects have lifelike qualities, such as thoughts, feelings, wishes, & intentions

Egocentrism Egocentric: difficulty taking another person’s point of view; lack theory of mind False belief task

Stages of Cognitive Development: Concrete Operational Think logically about concrete events; grasp concrete analogies & basic arithmetic operations Way the world appears isn’t necessarily the way the world is Can demonstrate concept of conservation. Learn to think logically Click

Concrete Operational Stage In concrete operational stage, given concrete materials, 6- to 7-year-olds grasp conservation problems and mentally pour liquids back and forth into glasses of different shapes conserving their quantities. Children in this stage are also able to transform mathematical functions. So, if 4 + 8 = 12, then a transformation, 12 – 4 = 8, is also easily doable.

Stages of Cognitive Development: Formal Operational Around age 12, our reasoning ability expands from concrete thinking to abstract thinking. We can now use symbols and imagined realities to systematically reason. Piaget called this formal operational thinking. Suppes et al (82’) showed that rudiments of such thinking begin earlier (age 7) than what Piaget suggested, since 7-year-olds can solve the problem below If John is in school, Mary is in school. John is in school. What can you say about Mary?

Formal operational Thinking transforms from concrete (about actual experience) to abstract (involving imagined realities & symbols) Solves non-physical problems If-then reasoning Conceptualization of love, freedom, etc.

Formal Operational Stage What would the world look like with no light? What is religion’s role? What way do you best learn? Abstract reasoning Manipulate objects in our minds without seeing them Hypothesis testing Trial and Error Metacognition Not every adult gets to this stage

Criticisms of Piaget Piaget believed children in the sensorimotor stage could not think, however, recent research shows that children in the sensorimotor stage can think and count. Some say he underestimates the abilities of children. Information-Processing Model says children to not learn in stages but rather a gradual continuous growth. Studies show that our attention span grows gradually over time. Develop skills earlier than he suggested Acquisition of these skills is much less abrupt Focused too much on interaction with physical environment; what about social environment?

Criticisms Children can also count. Wynn (1992, 2000) showed that children stared longer at the wrong number of objects than the right ones.

Reflecting on Piaget’s Theory Piaget’s stage theory has been influential globally, validating a number of ideas regarding growth and development in many cultures and societies. However, today’s researchers believe the following: Development is a continuous process. Children express their mental abilities and operations at an earlier age. Formal logic is a smaller part of cognition. OBJECTIVE 10| Discuss psychologists’ current views on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

Lev Vygotsky Focus on social/cultural influences Noted parental influence on learning Ideas remained hidden as they were controversial in Soviet Union Study of Play - through play the child develops abstract meaning separate from the objects in the world, which is a critical feature in the development of higher mental functions. Rejected previous theories (Construction, behaviorism, gestalt) Showed that through the assistance of a more capable person, a child is able to learn skills or aspects of a skill that go beyond the child’s actual developmental or maturational level. (ZPD) Head of Vygotsky Circle Scaffolding Parents provide initial assistance in children’s learning and gradually remove structure as children become able to do it on their own

Zone of Proximal Development Learning period where children benefit from assistance (make use of caregivers) Different zones for different skills Ex: learning to ski

Piaget vs. Vygotsky Piaget’s Theory Vygotsky’s Theory Stagelike or Continuous? Domain-General or Domain-Specific? Physical or Social Interactions? Vygotsky’s Theory

Cognitive Development Adolescence and Adulthood

Adolescent Cognitive Development The return of egocentrism Focused different, belief that others are preoccupied with him or her as the adolescent is changing Teen also believes they are unique and invincible Recent research suggest maybe not in all circumstances (death) Believe others observe them way more than is the case From pimples to performances.

Cognition in Adulthood Cognitive abilities believe to peak around same time as physical Realistic, Pragmatic Thinking sets in If you want to keep cognitive abilities, you got to keep them all in tune Perceptual speed decreases along with numerical ability Crystallized Intelligence (Vocab) and fluid intelligence (inductive reasoning) peak during middle adulthood. Memory declines in late adulthood as does speed processing Wisdom over practical aspects of life shows importance of experiences