PSY 240 1st Edition Lecture 11Understanding “Why?” (Causality)causality: Understanding of why physical/psychological events occur~the cement of the universe (David Hume)nativist & empiricist approaches: difficult to have any worldly understanding without cause evidence of causal thinking from early age. early understanding of causality: Constant exposure to causal processes > learnedOakes & Cohen (1995):6-10 MO -by 19/14 MO, remember & imitate to cause things to happen-By 2YO indirect causal understantingSobel & Kirkham (2006): IV: show 19/24 MO a “Blicker detector” (plays music when “ blicker” is on it)-place object A and object B on detector  music plays-object A alone no musicDV: turn on the blicker detector24 mo: consistenly choose object B19 mo: choose objects A and B equally oftenChen & Siegler (2000): These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.IV: ½ YO reach or out of reach toy, using provided tools~DV: success at reaching toy2YO: higher success rate > choose proper toolscausality during preschool: By 5 YO: interest in magic-funny, interesting, unexpected, etc… (growth of causal understanding)magical thinking: belief that thoughts can influence events-Subbotsky (1993): tell 4YO that magic box makes drawings into real things disappointment-So kids have causal understanding, but also believe in magic? (negative correlation)-Does magical thinking go away?-superstitions!-Rasmussen (2011): 31% of US adults believe in ghosts-Subbotsky (2005): 0% of college students willing to allow a “witch” to “cast an evil spell” on themUnderstanding “Where?” (Space)spatial thinking: ability to process information about space and what it containsnativist & empiricist approaches:4 beliefs they share:1. basic spatial concepts present early (left, right, above, below)2. self-locomotion promotes spatial awareness3. certain brain structures fundamental to spatial understanding4. geometric info. (line, shape, angle) key to spatial understandingspace relative to yourselfegocentric spatial representations: coding of spatial relations to yourself (regardless of surrounding)-Piaget: put toy to child’s left reposition child  still looks left Lew (2011): put toy next to distinctive landmark> better/earlier understandingrole of self-locomotionBertenthal et al. (1994): : crawling, walking infants = better memory for object location, better depth perception-like riding vs. driving in carRieser et al. (1994): 5YO tested in own kitchen-stand still: imagine walking from desk to front of classroom  where is pencil sharpener? Where is teacher’s desk?-poor performance-walk around kitchen recreating classroom walk-better performancedoing puzzles:Levine et al. (2012):spatial understanding in the blindrole of other senses: identify location by sound, touch etc.LeGrand et al. (2001, 2003): role of cataracts-foggy lens in the eye blurry visionspace relative to external environment:use of landmarks: begins ~6 MO (needs to be obvious, lone landmark near hidden object)-1YO: distinguish between different landmarks-5YO: use multiple landmarks-Still varies in adultsKearins (1981): effects of culture-Australian children: aboriginal vs. urban-better spatial awareness among aboriginals (nomadic tribe)(nurture)Understanding “When?” (Time)time: understanding of temporal sequence of things Time= past + present +futureTime=Memory + Awareness +Expectationtime as order: Adler et al. (2008): 3MO shown pictures, alternating on left and right sides-within 20 seconds: anticipation  lean which side to look to Lewkowicz (2004): 4 MO habituate to 3 falling objects in constant order-dehabituate to changed ordertime as duration of event:Brannon et al. (2007): when comparing duration of events, all about ratios (vs. raw difference)-6MO: discriminate at 2:1 ratio (2minutes vs. 1 minute), but not at 1.5: 1 ration (1.5 min vs. 1 min)-10 MO: discriminate at 1.5:1 (but not 1.33:1)longer periods of time?Friedman (1991): experiment week of VDay-asked what was first VDay or Xmas? (kids just had a Vday classroom celebration)-kids know it is Vday that was the firsttiming as the future:Friedman (2000): confusion about past vs. future-often estimate next Vday is closer than next Xmas (6YO get it right)Zakay (1992): attention & expectations matter-8 YO: prize after 2 minutes makes time seem longer…thinking about time: remember centration? (focusing on just one aspect of something)-time inferences easier if straightforwardex. 2 dolls fell asleep at same time, A wakes up before B  B slept longerex. 2 trains travel in same direction, A gets farther than B  A traveled longer! (ignoring start, stop times)Understanding “How Many?” (Number)numerical equality: all sets of X objects have something in common (“twoness”)van Loosbroek & Smitsman (1990): 5 MO dishabituate when number of objects changesWynn (1995): 6MO dishabituate whn puppet that Brannon (2002): 6MO discriminate at 2:1 ratio (10Vs 5 beeps), but not 4:5:1Wood & Spelke (2005): 9 MO can do 1:5:1infants’ arithmeticWynn (1992): Huttenlocher et al. (1994): last study (Wynn, 1992) only works with 3 or fewer objects-cannot progress beyond until 3-4 YO; are they subitizing?subitizing: perceptual process of looking at a few objects and immediately knowing how many, without conscious countingcounting-most 3 YO can count 10 objects5 counting principles most preschoolers understand:1. one-one correspondence: every object gets single number word2. stable order: numbers always in same order3. cardinality: # of objects= last number stated4. order irrelevance: objects can be counted in any order5. abstraction: intangible things can be counted tooFrye et al. (1995): 4-5 YO notice when puppet violates counting principles (ex. Counting something twice)-count in unusual, but correct way  no problem!culture & counting:Miller et al. (1995): Chinese 5 YO better at counting to 100+ than American 5YO-more regularity to Chinese (ex. Teens = 10+ number; like our 205, 305, etc)Relationship Between Space, Time, & NumberLourenco & Longo