Chapter 6 Infancy: Cognitive Development

Infancy: Cognitive Development Truth or Fiction? For 2-month-old infants, “out of sight” is “out of mind,” A 1-hour-old infant may imitate an adult who sticks out his or her tongue.

Infancy: Cognitive Development Truth or Fiction? Psychologists can begin to measure intelligence in infancy. Infant crying is a primitive form of language.

Infancy: Cognitive Development Truth or Fiction? You can advance children’s development of pronunciation by correcting their errors. Children are “prewired” to listen to language in such a way that they come to understand rules of grammar.

Cognitive Development Jean Piaget

Cognitive Development – Jean Piaget Focus on development of children’s way of perceiving and mentally representing the world Schemes Concepts Assimilate “Fit” new ideas into existing schemes Accommodate Modify schemes to accept new ideas

What is the Sensorimotor Stage of Cognitive Development? Development through sensory and motor activity Birth through 2 years Progress from reflex responses to goal oriented behavior Form mental representations Hold complex pictures of past events in mind Solve problems by mental trial and error

What are the Parts or Substages of the Sensorimotor Development? Simple Reflexes Birth to 1 month Modify reflexes based on experience Primary Circular Reactions 1 to 4 months Primary = focus on infant’s own body Circular = repeated behaviors Secondary Circular Reactions 4 to 8 months Secondary = focus on objects or environmental events Track moving objects until they disappear from view

What are the Parts or Substages of the Sensorimotor Development? Coordination of Secondary Schemes 8 to 12 months Coordinate schemes to attain specific goals Begin to imitate others Tertiary Circular Reactions 12 to 18 months Deliberate trial and error behaviors Invention of New Means Through Mental Combinations 18 to 24 months External exploration is replaced by mental exploration.

Lessons in Observation: Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Describe Jean Piaget’s sensorimotor period of cognitive development. How do sensory and motor activities interact in the development of cognitive skills, according to Piaget? Describe the behaviors of 1-week old Aiden and 2-month-old Giuseppina. Are their behaviors purposeful? Discuss differences in their behaviors with regard to Piaget’s concept of the circular reaction.

Lessons in Observation: Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Describe the behaviors of 6-week-old Aislynne and 5-month-old James. Do their behaviors illustrate primary or secondary circular reactions? Why?

Lessons in Observation: Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Which infant presented in the video illustrates Piaget’s concept of the coordination of secondary schemes? Describe the infant’s behavior. How old is the infant? Which infant illustrates a tertiary circular reaction? Describe the infant’s behavior. Approximately how old is this infant?

Lessons in Observation: Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Outline the development of object permanence by describing the behaviors of 2-month-old Giuseppina, 6-month-old Anthony, and 20-month-old Tess with respect to hidden objects. What do their behaviors indicate regarding their mental representation abilities? Which of them has developed object permanence?

How Does Object Permanence Develop? Neonates show no response to objects not within their immediate grasp 2 month - show surprise when a screen is lifted after an object was placed behind a screen and now is not there 6 month - try to retrieve a preferred object partially hidden 8 to 12 month - try to retrieve objects completely hidden Commit A not B error After 12 months no longer show A not B error More recent research – object permanence in some form as early as 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 months

Figure 6.2 Object Permanence Before 4 Months of Age? Figure 6.2 Object Permanence Before 4 Months of Age? Renee Baillargeon (1987) used the technique shown here to demonstrate that knowledge of object permanence may exist prior to 4 months of age. Figure 6.2 Object Permanence Before 4 Months of Age?

What are the Strengths of Piaget’s Theory? Comprehensive model Confirmation from research of others Pattern and sequence appear cross culturally

What are the Limitations of Piaget’s Theory? Stages are more gradual than discontinuous Underestimate infants’ competence Emergence of object permanence Deferred imitation Computational concepts

Counting in the Crib? Findings from a “Mickey Mouse” Experiment A Closer Look Counting in the Crib? Findings from a “Mickey Mouse” Experiment

Information Processing

What are Infants’ Tools for Processing Information? Memory Neonates show memory for previously exposed stimuli By 12 months dramatic improvement in encoding and retrieval Rovee-Collier (1993) studies of infant memory

What are Infants’ Tools for Processing Information? Imitation Deferred imitation – 9 months Neonates imitate adults who stick out their tongue Not present in older infants May indicate reflexive response

Individual Differences in Intelligence Among Infants

How do we Measure Individual Differences in the Development of Cognitive Functioning? Scales of infant development or intelligence Bayley Scales of Infant Development 178 mental-scale items 111 motor-scale items behavior rating scale based on examiner observation Screening for handicaps Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale Denver Developmental Screening Test

How Well do Infant Scales Predict Later Intellectual Performance? Overall infant scale scores do not predict school grades or IQ of schoolchildren Visual recognition memory – ability to discriminate previously seen objects from novel objects Good predictive validity for IQ and language ability

Language Development

What are Prelinguistic Vocalizations? Prelinguistic vocalizations do not represent objects or events Examples of prelinguistic vocalizations Crying Cooing – vowel-like, linked to pleasant feelings Babbling – combine vowels and consonants Echolalia – repetition of vowel/consonant combinations Intonation – patterns of rising and falling melody

Developing in a World of Diversity Babbling Here, There, and Everywhere

How Does Vocabulary Develop? Receptive vocabulary outpaces expressive First word – typically 11 to 13 months 3 or 4 months later – 10 to 30 words First words generally nominals general (class nouns) and specific (proper nouns) 18 to 22 months rapid increase from 50 to more than 300 words

Teaching Sign Language to Infants A Closer Look Teaching Sign Language to Infants

Styles in Language Development Referential language style Use language to label objects Expressive language style Use language as means for engaging in social interactions Overextensions Extend meaning of one word to refer to things or actions for which the word is not known

How do Infants Create Sentences? Telegraphic speech Brief expression with the meanings of sentences Mean length of utterance (MLU) Average number of morphemes used in sentence Holophrases Single words used to express complex meanings Two word sentences 18 to 24 months telegraphic two word sentences begin Demonstrate syntax

Figure 6.6 Mean Length of Utterance in Three Children Figure 6.6 Mean Length of Utterance for Three Children. Some children begin speaking earlier than others. However, the mean length of utterance (MLU) increases rapidly once speech begins. Figure 6.6 Mean Length of Utterance in Three Children

Developing in a World of Diversity Two-Word Sentences Here, There, and…

How do Learning Theorists Account for Language Development? Imitation Children learn from parental models Does not explain utter phrases that have not been observed Reinforcement Sounds of adults’ language are reinforced Foreign sounds become extinct Use of shaping

Developing in a World of Diversity Talking to Infants

Language Development The Nativist View

What is the Nativist View of Language Development? Innate or inborn factors cause children to attend to and acquire language in certain ways Psycholinguistic Theory Interaction between environmental influences and inborn tendency to acquire language

Language Acquisition Device The inborn “prewired” tendency to acquire a language Evidence for LAD Universality of language abilities Regularity of early production of sounds, even among deaf children Invariant sequences of language development, regardless of language Chomsky – children are “prewired” to perceive and use a “universal language”

What Parts of the Brain Are Involved in Language Development? Key structures for most people are based in left hemisphere Broca’s area Wernicke’s area Aphasia – caused by damage in either area Broca’s aphasia – slow laborious speech with simple sentences Wernicke’s aphasia – impairment comprehending speech of others and expressing their own thoughts Angular gyrus Translates visual information into auditory sounds Impairment can cause reading difficulties and dyslexia

Figure 6.7 Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas of the Cerebral Cortex Figure 6.7 Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas of the Cerebral Cortex. Broca’s area and Wernicke’s areas of the (usually left) hemisphere are most involved in speech. Damage to either area can produce an aphasia – an impairment in the ability to understand or produce language. Figure 6.7 Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas of the Cerebral Cortex

What is Meant by a Sensitive Period in Language Development? Plasticity of brain provides a sensitive period of learning language Begins about 18 to 24 months and continues through puberty Left hemisphere injuries Children recover good deal of speech, utilizing right hemisphere Case studies Genie Simon and ASL

A Closer Look Motherese