Conceptual Development (W9, L2) Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is intuitive cosmology?
Children form intuitive theories, not scientific or correct theories.
What is gravity bias?
A tendency in children under the age of 4 to believe that dropped objects go directly down.
Why is it valuable to study children’s thoughts and beliefs?
How do children use cues to judge whether something is alive?
What is animism according to Piaget?
Children attribute psychological motivations to inanimate objects.
What is egocentrism in children’s thinking?
Children assume objects and animals think and feel as they do.
What did Piaget believe about children’s logical limitations?
At what age can infants discriminate between human movement and object movement?
By 7 months old.
What was tested using looking behavior in infants?
Discrimination between human movement and object movement.
What do 3-4 year olds understand about objects and animals moving on their own?
They tend to be correct about objects but unsure about living things.
What concept of growth do children understand by age 3?
They understand that living things grow and heal, while non-living things do not.
What do children prioritize when forming biological inferences?
Biological categories over physical appearance.
What is the concept of inheritance as understood by children by age 4?
Living things come from other living things and inherit traits from their species and parents.
What does ‘like begets like’ mean in children’s understanding?
Children understand that dogs cannot have kittens but only puppies.
What is essentialism in children’s beliefs about living things?
The belief that living things have an ‘inner essence’ crucial for their outer properties.
How do 6-year-olds judge natural kinds versus artifacts?
They believe natural kinds are resistant to change, while artifacts are not.
What is Hume’s perspective on causality?
We learn about cause and effect through sense data and experiences.
What principles does Hume propose for understanding causality?
- Closeness in time and space * Correlation
What is Kant’s argument regarding causality?
There is a mental ability needed to make sense of observed data.
What principles does Kant propose for understanding causality?
- Mechanisms creating correlation * Reasons behind observations
What do 3-5 year olds understand about cause and effect?
They understand that a cause is necessary for an effect.
What was the finding from the A & B balls and jack in the box test?
Children link events as cause and effect even with time separation.
What correlation did Madole & Cohen (1995) find regarding toy cars?
Both 14 and 18 month olds made correlations between parts and functions.
What did the 14 month olds notice in the ‘Part other part function’ condition?
They noticed differences when correlations were violated.
