4: Theories in Cognitive Development

Question 1

Piaget… why is he important?

Answer 1

• founder of the study of cognitive development

- insight that children are actively contributing to or “constructing” their development

Question 2

Piaget

Answer 2

• The child is a ‘scientist’ and ‘problem solver’, and uses the above processes to construct knowledge and understanding through active experience and engagement with environment
• As a result, the child’s mental model (i.e., scheme, or way of thinking) of the world changes as new experiences occur. Development proceeds as the child’s mental model of the world increasingly resembles reality
• Development occurs in stages: certain ways of thinking predominate in a given stage, then a qualitative shift occurs and the child operates under a new way of thinking at a new stage

Question 3

assimilation

Answer 3

• the incorporation of new information into already existing ways of thinking about the wold (schemes)
• taking info that is compatible with what one already knows

Question 4

accommodation

Answer 4

new information is not incorporated into existing schemes

• existing schemes are modified to adapt to and better fit new information
• changing existing knowledge based on new knowledge

Question 5

equilibration

Answer 5

• the attempt to keep existing schemes in balance, and avoid disequilibrium, which is the feeling that current schemes do not fit with reality.
• force that drives assimilation and accommodation, and is the key mechanism of development according to Piaget
• feeling of imbalance

Question 6

disequilibrium can be restored by

Answer 6

• ignoring : new info is discarded, existing schema is not altered
• assimilation
• accommodation

Question 7

how does cog. dev. actually occur according to Piaget

Answer 7

• when equilibration forced accommodation developmental change occurs
• new way of thinking is formed = dev, change

Question 8

object permanence

Answer 8

the ability to continue thinking about an object that is no longer in view (out of sight but NOT out of mind)

Question 9

how do we test object permanence and what are the findings

Answer 9

• infants play with object
• experimenter hides object under a blanket
• infants in stage 3 do not search for object hidden :out of sight out of mind
• infants in stage 4: do search for objects once hidden, out of sight, but NOT out of mind

Question 10

how might Piaget explain the transition from failing to passing obj. perm tasks

Answer 10

• Infant is in equilibrium in stage 3: “things I can’t see don’t exist!”
• Infant interacts with the world, begins to become more mobile, crawl around, bump into/trip on objects that are covered or not initially visible.
• new experience doesn’t fit with scheme of “things I can’t see don’t exist” child is in disequilibrium
• Infant can only ignore this experience and attempt to assimilate ill-fitting existing schemes for so long… eventually, must accommodate scheme account for this new experience
• Infant adjusts scheme (accommodation) to restore equilibrium: “things I can’t see DO still exist!”
• This new scheme offers a globally new way of thinking that extends across multiple contexts (domain-general). Infant now in stage 4!

Question 11

looking time measures

Answer 11

• show baby an initial event until they habituate to it (become bored with it and look away)
• show baby other events, similar to habituation event, but with some critical differences
• compare looking times
• similar looking time to initial habituation event = baby didn’t notice a difference btw events
• longer looking time= baby noticed difference

Question 12

Baillargeon & DeVos research question and method

Answer 12

• Do very young infants have object permanence (do they think that objects continue to exist even when out of sight?)
• short carrot and tall carrot pass through barrier = babies habituated to expect to not be able to see it
• tall carrot pass through barrier with window, when they don’t see the tall carrot they look longer bc they expect to be able to see it though the window

Question 13

Baillargeon & DeVos results and conclusions

Answer 13

• infants look longer when a tall object that disappears behind a windowed barrier does not appear in the window
• Even infants as young as 3.5 months seem to understand object permanence (well before the age at which object permanence first appears, according to Piaget)

Question 14

Piagetian Theory summarize

Answer 14

Equilibration (Assimilation & Accommodation)

-Child interacts with world to discover new information and construct new knowledge and new ways of thinking

Question 15

Biological Theory summarized

Answer 15

• Cognitive phenomena caused by neurological/biological processes
• As the brain matures and develops, it can support new cognitive achievements

Question 16

A-not-B error

Answer 16

continuing to search for an object in the place where the infant was last successful in retrieving it

-perseverating on the place the infant last acted to find the object

Question 17

A-not-B task…how do we test it

Answer 17

• Infant plays with object
• On initial trials, Experimenter hides object in location A (A Trials)
• Short delay, then infant allowed to search
• Infant searches in A and finds object
• Then, on subsequent trials experimenter hides object in location B (B Trials)
• Short delay, then infant allowed to search
• Infant still searches in A: A-not-B Error!

Question 18

overcoming the A-not-B error

Answer 18

• Over 8-12 months, babies overcome A-not-B error
• This demonstrates a transition from weak to strong Obj. Perm.
• More advanced object permanence is indicated by correct searches in B even after very long delays.

Question 19

A-not-B error…what cognitions are developing and what part of the brain is being used

Answer 19

• working memory
• inhibit the urge to search the A this time = inhibitory control

-frontal lobe = executive functions

Question 20

Bell & Fox research question and method

Answer 20

• Are there differences in frontal lobe activity across 7-11 months that predict differences in A-not-B performance at 12 months?
• examined infants’ resting EEG (not associated with any task, just a measure of brain activity and organization) at monthly intervals starting at 7 months, and looked for changes in the patterns of EEG activity in frontal lobe that differentiated behavioral performance on the A-not-B task at 12 months.

Question 21

Bell & Fox findings

Answer 21

-No change in fontal EEG activity
over 7-12 months for infants that failed A-not-B at 12 months.

-Substantial change in fontal EEG activity over 7-12 months for infants that passed A-not-B at 12 months!