Child Psychology 560 Cognitive Development 3 Did Piaget Underestimate babies Yes But why Stage 1 Sensorimotor 0 2 years Start with here and now reflexes Learn by acting on the world scientific problem solving Development of object permanence Out of sight is NOT out of mind Evidence that babies represent unseen objects o Kellman Spelke Stick behind the block rod study Babies continue to represent what they cannot see Baillargeon p 207 3 4 month olds motor limited Use visual preferences rather than reaching to study objective concept Violation of expectation method o o More looking at impossible events that violate their expectations Habituate 180 Then place box Test Drawbridge rotates possibly 90 or impossibly 180 If believe box IS there look longer at 180 Results 3 5 months old looking more at impossible Knew invisible box was there Would Piaget have predicted this 02 27 2014 More on hidden objects o What does this study show Disappearing baby Baby physics Do objects require support gravity o o By three months they learn that unsupported things should fall Knowledge comes in gradations o Younger babies have a less sophisticated view of support than older babies More on support Gradations p 208 Knowledge comes gradually getting bits and pieces over time Change over age Why Not stage like incremental change Infant Math Wynn p 291 o Beyond object permanence o o o o Number of objects 5 month olds Addition and subtraction Sequence of events 1 1 2 bunnies Possible outcome 2 bunnies Impossible outcome 1 bunny Results Looked longer at the impossible event 1 1 2 Similar method for subtraction Again babies look longer at the impossible event Is this really math Understanding intentions of objects p 210 If blob moves and vocalizes contingently 12 15 month olds follow its gaze But NOT if blob s behavior is not contingently related Humanness comes from contingent responding Attributing intention to objects helpers vs hinderers p 210 o Babies will see puppet shows where objects interact with each other in different ways help vs hinder Upward of 80 of babies choose the puppet that was helpful versus hindering If babies know so much about objects how do they fail A B test o Piaget limits on object concept o Why DO babies fail A B o knowledge is based on actions fragile representation Info processing approach Limited working memory focus on prior successes Limited inhibition hard to avoid reaching to A Developmental Cognition Neuro Prefrontal cortex immature Primate lesion studies C vs P Evidence Error occurs with transparent cover Error occurs without covers Looking more accurate than reaching Suggests motor factors matter Importance of methodology Was Piaget right Not so much o o Infants are more competent than he thought Why did he miss this Theory is based off his 3 children didn t do experiments because he didn t have access to that back then But Piaget wasn t all wrong o o o Emphasis on qualitative change Emphasis on child as scientist Asked the right given his observations o Limits of observational methods Action does matter E g self locomotion the visual cliff Self locomotion Object Performance Self locomotion led to more performance by 10 month olds than being carried 02 27 2014 02 27 2014