7: conceptual development Flashcards
(36 cards)
concepts
general ideas that we use to group together objects, events, qualities, etc
they help us understand the world and anticipate new things based on old info
category hierarchy
children make hierarchies of things from general to specific.
3 main levels:
- superordinate level (general)
- basic level (in-between)
- subordinate level (very specific)
eg. human, asian, Chinese
they can only go from superordinate to subordinate if they can differentiate objects apart on the basic level
when do children have theory of people?
18 months
when do children have theory of plants?
3 years
perceptual categorisation
grouping objects of similar appearance together
there are many perceptual dimensions (color, size, movement).
they rely heavily on aspects of an object rather than the whole thing
around 1st bday: categorize based on function
2nd bday: based on shape
children categorise the world into…
inanimate objects, people and other animals
naive psychology
common sense level of understanding of other people and oneself
based on DESIRE, BELIEFS & ACTION
infant’s naive psychology (theory)
babies prefer human faces and bodies. they don’t imitate inanimate objects
they have emotions, therefore understand other’s behaviour (eg. the other crying baby might want they teddy bear)
theory of mind (what is it?)
a basic understanding of how the mind works and how it influences behaviour. it provides an understanding of how other’s intentions, desires, beliefs, emotions influence their behaviour
basic foundation: understanding and being interested in others
theory of mind (theory)
to develop a theory of mind, they must understand the relation between other’s intentions and their behaviour (develops around 1y).
2y- they understand that the desire leads to action but don’t know that beliefs affect behaviour as well
3y- show some understanding between beliefs and actions but cannot solve false-belief problems. they still reason egocentrically (everyone sees the world just like they do)
*TOM ability increases between 3-5y
false-belief problems
realising others can believe something that oneself know is false
Theory of mind module (TOMM)
few theories about this:
-nativists: “there are brain mechanisms devoted to understanding other people”
in autistic children, they have difficulty in social interactions due to their lack of tissue in the brain stem. their amygdala and hippocampus is also affected
- others: interaction is crucial for psychological understanding
- others: information-processing skills are crucial for psych. unders….
- matures over first 5 years
pretend play
- they act as if they are in other situations
- it has no other motivation than enjoyment
- they create symbolic relations
*those who engage in more pretend play= higher understanding of others’ emotions and thinking
object substitution
using objects to represent other objects
eg. broomstick as a horse
sociodramatic play
(around 2.5 y)
- acting in minidramas with other children or adults
eg. mother comforting baby - in elementary school, sociodramatic play becomes more complex, they argue about the rules and playing fairly
when can children distinguish between living and non-living things?
before 1y
understanding of biological processes (theory)
preschoolers understand the difference between psychological from physiological processes
eg. if i want to lose weight but i eat a lot then i will remain fat
(3-4y) knows nothing about DNA but know that some things are inherited from parents and is therefore determined by herdity
eg. a monkey raised by elephants is still a monkey
essentialism
children have misguided beliefs about heredity.
they think that living things have an essence inside them that makes them what they are
eg. inside a rabbit is ‘rabbitness’
when do children know that growth is a product of an internal process?
at preschool!
they know that living things can only grow bigger, whereas non-living things can grow bigger or smaller (eg balloon)
how do children learn biological knowledge?
nativist: children have innate ‘biological module’
- in evolution, children had to learn quickly about plants and animals due to survival
- children are just fascinated so they learn quickly
empiricists:
-they learn thru personal observations and info they learn from others
egocentric spatial representation
Piaget: happens in sensorimotor stage
coding of spatial locations relative to one’s own body, without regard to the surroundings
finding hidden objects
6m= use landmarks to find hidden objects 5y= use multiple landmarks
without landmarks, children and adults both have hard time forming spatial representations
Experiencing time
3m- have a sense of chronology
12m- can chronologically remember some events, have a sense of duration (able to tell short from long periods of time)
*time perception= subjective
reasoning of time
5y- children can reason that if events started at the same time but one ended first, the other event lasted longer
but they can only do so for straight forward events
