Chapter 5 Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood How do we know what babies know o Habituation is the process of getting used to i e bored with a stimulus after repeated exposure o An infant shows it by looking away o If a new object appears and the infant reacts change in heart rate sucking it is assumed he recognizes the object as something different What is cognition o Cognition refers to thinking including language learning memory and intelligence o Jean Piaget born 1896 was a pioneer in studying cognitive development in humans o More recent research has both validated and extended Piaget s ideas about infant s cognitive abilities Piaget s Cognitive Development Theory o Piaget s first stage sensorimotor spans the first 2 years of life characterized by learning through senses and motor actions Process of Development o We build mental structures that help us adapt to the world o Adaptation involves adjusting to new environmental demands o Children actively construct their cognitive worlds Opposite view of a behaviorist How do children think about the world How change in thinking occur Processes children use to adapt to the world o Schemes As children seek to construct an understanding of their world the developing brain creates schemas Organized ways of making sense of experience called schemes change with age Action based behavioral schemes motor patterns physical activities at first Later move to a mental thinking cognitive activities level Building Schemes Knowledge is altered by experience o Adaptation Building rebuilding schemes their internal representation of the world their organization of concepts and actions that can be revised by new information about the world How do kids use and adapt schemas Assimilation using current schemes to interpret the external world Accommodation adjusting to schemes and creating new ones to better fit the environment o Organization To make sense of their worlds Piaget said kids cognitively organize their experiences Internal rearranging and linking of schemes Kids are continually refining the organization o What produces cognitive change Using Assimilation and Accommodation Disequilibrium experiencing cognitive conflict inconsistencies things that don t fit into schemes Use assimilation during equilibrium Disequilibrium prompts accommodation Old schemes are adjusted new schemes are developed Stage Theory o Cognitive development occurs in a fixed sequence of dev steps o Sensory Motor Period 0 2 o Thinking stems from coordination of the sensory information and motor activity o Infants learn through actions on environment looking listening touching sucking mouthing grasping o Sensorimotor Stage Birth to 2 years divided into 6 substages Building schemes through sensory and motor exploration Circular reactions a repetitive action Piaget s Stages of Sensorimotor Intelligence o Stage 1 Reflexive Schemes 0 1 month Simple reflexes Sensation and action are coordinated primarily through reflexive behaviors baby producing behaviors that resemble reflexes in the absence of the usual stimulus for the reflex Ex rooting o Stage 2 1 4 months First habits primary circular reactions Center of attention Infants body Ex hands are the infants first toys stimulus Ex thumb sucking Habit scheme based on a reflex that s completely separated from eliciting Primary circular reaction A scheme based on the attempt to reproduce an event that initially occurred by chance o Stage 3 Secondary circular reaction 4 7months Actions aimed at repeating interesting effects in the surrounding world Beyond self preoccupation object oriented By chance outcome Infant repeats action to get outcome again Also imitates some simple actions Ex baby talk physical gestures Not intentional or goal directed o Stage 4 Coordination of secondary circular reactions 7 10 months Must coordinate vision and touch Hand and eye Coordination of schemes More outward directed Intentionally goal directed behavior ex 2 hand manipulation
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