Infant Cognition (plus finish perception) Results from Test Results from Survey First part of Paper due on Tuesday Visual Cliff/depth perception/constancies Themes of Infant cognitive development Piaget’s 6 stages of infant cognition René Ballargeon’s studies Categorization Causality Infant Number concepts Memory Development in Infancy Individual differences in Infant Cognition

Test Scoring and Results Score = # multiple choice *2 + # fill in the blank *2 + essay scores (10 pts. For essay) + 6 point curve Distribution – A – 16 – B – 26 – C – 31 – D – 27 – F – 23

Results from Questionnaire N = 113 Much to fast 6 A little too fast 52 About right 46 A little too slow 9 Much too slow 0 Average is right between a little too fast and about right. Many complaints about the room and size of class. Many would like more interactive activities in class, videos of actual child behavior, and group activities. Some appreciated the connection between lectures and the text and others failed to see the connection Several would like more specificity in the study guide for the the test.

Depth/Distance Perception Visual Cliff (Walk and Gibson) 6-7 months Campos (1978) – Notice at 2 months (orienting response) – Fear after they can crawl Looming (Yonas, et al) – Blink at 1 month – Defensive response at 3 months Pictorial depth cues between 5 to 7 months

Size and Shape constancy Some skill at birth Skill improves by 3 to 5 months

Themes of Infant Cognition 1.The orderly nature of cognitive development. 2.Infants are active participants in their own development. 3.Infant cognitive development is marked by both advances and limitations.

First two years Advances achieved during infancy include: basic understanding of physical world ability to use basic cognitive tools such as understanding categorization & number ability to combine actions into sequences increasingly powerful & flexible memory Limitations until late in infancy include: emphasis on perception & action absence of language & symbolic abilities limited flexibility in emerging cognitive abilities limited memory capacity

Piaget’s Theory and the Nature of Infants Infants ’ understanding of the world is limited to what they know through sensory awareness and motor acts. Infants actively construct an understanding of the world a8c f a4720

Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Processes of Developmental Change AdaptationThe process by which children change in order to function more effectively in their environment. AssimilationApplying an existing capability without modification to various situations. AccommodationModifying an existing strategy or skill to meet a new demand of the environment. SchemesCognitive structures that can be applied to a variety of situations. EquilibrationA self-regulatory process that produces increasingly effective adaptations. Key Terms in Piaget ’ s Theory

Piaget’s 6 Stages of Sensorimotor Development Stage 1: Reflexes, 0-1 month Stage 2: Primary Circular Reactions, 1-4 months Stage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions, 4-8 months Stage 4: Coordination of Schemes, 8-12 months Stage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions, months Stage 6: Beginnings of Representational thought, months.

The Object Concept Stages 1 & 2: Infants respond to objects with interest but seem not to understand object permanence. Stage 3: A partial view of something is now enough to remind them of the whole object. Stage 4: Infants search for hidden objects, making the A, not-B error. Stage 5: No longer make the A, not-B error, but may get upset when object isn ’ t at location B. Stage 6: At last acquire mature understanding of object permanence.

Video of Object Permanence OE OE HdA Research with primates HdA René Ballargeon YXc YXc

Categorization Distinction of kinds (Mandler, 1998) – Distinction between natural and artificial

Number Concepts Starkey & Cooper (1980) – Discriminating 2 and 3 but not 4 vs 6 – Disagreement about whether it is really number or amount

Causality Michotte and the perception of causality Infants discriminate between some causal and non-causal events /causality-Basics.html – Leslie (1984) brick pushing another brick – Baillargeon and supported versus non-supported box

Memory Piaget and effecting an Mobile Rovee-Collier– under what conditions do infants remember

Individual differences in Infant memory How complex a figure can they habituate to How long to habituate Correlation to later IQ moderate after 18 months.