Cognition And Development: Baillargeons Explanation Of Infant Abilties

Question 1

What is meant by ‘knowledge of the physical world’?

Answer 1

The extent to which we understand how the physical world works
- an example of this knowledge is object permanence

Question 2

What is ‘violation of expectation research’?

Answer 2

An approach to investigating infant knowledge of the world, the idea if children understand how the physical world operates, they will expect things to happen in certain situations

Question 3

What did Baillargeon propose in the 1980’s?

Answer 3

Infants may have a better understanding of the physical world than previously thought

Question 4

What is the violation of expectation (VOE) method?

Answer 4

A method to test infants understanding by showing expected and unexpected events

Question 5

How does the VOE method test object permanence

Answer 5

It shows objects pass in and out of sight, testing if infants expect objects to reappear

Question 6

What was the procedure in baillargeon and Grabers experiment

Answer 6

• 24 infants 5-6 months saw a tall and short rabbit pass behind a screen with a window
• in the possible condition the tall rabbit can be seen passing the window but the short rabbit cannot
• in the impossible condition, neither rabbit appeared at the window

Question 7

What did baillargeons and grabers findings suggest

Answer 7

• infants looked for an average of 33.07 seconds at the impossible event compared to 25.11 at the possible event
• researchers assumed Infants were surprised by the impossible event, indicating an understanding of object permanence

Question 8

What are occlusion studies in VOE

Answer 8

Studies where an object blocks another, used to test infant understanding of how objects interact in space (e..g object permanence)

Question 9

How else has VOE been used to test infant knowledge

Answer 9

• VOE has tested infants understanding of containment (objects remaining in containers) and support (objects falling or staying in place)

Question 10

What does baillargeon et al propose about infants physical reasoning

Answer 10

• humans are born with a physical reasoning system (PRS) ( a basic understanding of the physical world, and the ability to learn more easily)

Question 11

What concept is similar to baillargeons idea of ‘object persistence’

Answer 11

• ‘object permanence’ from Piaget, the idea that objects remain in existence and do not spontaneously alter in structure

Question 12

What do infants learn in the first few years of life regarding ‘event categories’ according to baillargeon

Answer 12

Infants begin to identify event categories, each corresponding to a way objects interact such as occlusion events where one object blocks the view of another

Question 13

How does baillargeon explain infant attention to ‘impossible events’

Answer 13

Infants physical reasoning system predisposes them to focus on new events, which helps them to develop a deeper understanding of the physical world

Question 14

What are the three evaluation points for baillargeons explanation of infant abilities

Answer 14

• better test of understand than Piaget
• hard to judge what an infant understands
  PRS explains why physical understanding is universal

Question 15

Outline ‘better test of understand than Piaget’ as an evaluation point for baillargeons explanation of infant abilities

Answer 15

• Piaget suggested when a child shifts their attention away from out of sight objects, this is because the child no longer knew it existed but it may be because they lost interest
• VOE method eliminates this confounding variable because simply loosing interest would not explain why some children look longer at impossible events- so more validity

Question 16

Outline ‘hard to judge what an infant understands’ as an evaluation point for baillargeons explanation of infant abilities

Answer 16

• baillargeons research shows infants look longer at scenes where objects violate physical laws
• two issues with this: we can’t know for sure how babies react to impossible events + longer looking may mean more interest not understanding
• raises doubt about validity of the VOE method for measuring infant understanding

Question 17

Outline ‘PRS explains why physical understanding is universal’ as an evaluation point for baillargeons explanation of infant abilities

Answer 17

• hespos and marle - we all have innate underlying of basic physical properties, like keys falling when dropped
• this universal understanding suggests existence of a physical reasoning system
• lack of cultural differences supports the idea that PRS is innate