developmental (JG) Flashcards
1
Q
What is Development (Ontogeny) in the context of developmental psychology?
A
Development refers to how an organism changes from birth, becoming “bigger” (physical changes) and “wiser” (psychological changes).
2
Q
What is Evolution (Phylogeny) and how does it relate to development?
A
Evolution is the change of organisms over time, leading to the diversity of species. It relates to development because the evolutionary process shapes how developmental stages unfold across species.
3
Q
What is the Scala Naturae fallacy in understanding evolution?
A
-The Scala Naturae fallacy is the incorrect belief that humans are the “pinnacle” of evolution, with other species evolving to become more like humans.
- In reality, humans and other primates share common ancestors but evolved separately.
4
Q
How are evolution and development (Evo/Devo) intertwined?
A
Evolution and development are interconnected because natural selection acts on all stages of an organism’s development, from embryo to adulthood.
- For example, infancy and childhood stages are extended in humans due to adaptive advantages.
5
Q
What does the Evo/Devo perspective suggest about AI and neural networks?
A
Neural networks in AI must “develop” or learn through interaction with their environment (Devo),
and different architectures are “selected” or optimized (Evo) to improve learning and problem-solving capabilities.
6
Q
What is Morphogenesis in developmental psychology?
A
Morphogenesis refers to the emergence of new forms, both physically in biological development and cognitively or behaviourally in the development of new skills, thoughts, and behaviours.
7
Q
What are the three mechanisms of evolution proposed by Darwin?
A
1) Competition - Organisms compete for resources.
2) Variation - There are individual differences among organisms.
3) Heritability - Adaptive traits are passed from parents to offspring.
8
Q
What role does variation play in evolution?
A
Variation allows for individual differences within populations.
- These differences can be genetic or phenotypical, which help populations adapt to changing environments and avoid extinction.
9
Q
Give an example of morphological evolution.
A
Darwin’s finches on the Galapagos Islands evolved different beak shapes to adapt to available food sources.
-Larger beaks were more successful in environments with harder seeds, leading to a change in population characteristics.
10
Q
What is the relationship between tool use in birds and humans from an evolutionary perspective?
A
Birds, apes, and humans all show tool-using behavior, but they might differ in understanding causal properties of tools.
This suggests different levels of cognitive development and evolutionary adaptations.
11
Q
How does growth differ from morphogenesis in human development?
A
Growth refers to the progressive increase in size of existing forms, while morphogenesis refers to the emergence of new behaviors and cognitive processes, especially noticeable during childhood.
12
Q
What are two main tasks in developmental psychology?
A
Describing - Charting developmental changes (What develops).
Explaining - Understanding how and why developmental changes occur.
13
Q
What is an example of individual differences in developmental trajectories?
A
In learning to walk, most infants go through a crawling stage, but some may “shuffle” instead,
Highlighting individual differences in developmental paths.
14
Q
How does constructivism explain cognitive development?
A
Constructivism posits that cognitive skills are built through dynamic interactions between
innate abilities and environmental factors, rather than being purely innate or learned through experience alone.
15
Q
What is the difference between domain generality and domain specificity in cognitive development?
A
Domain generality suggests that a single type of intelligence handles all aspects of the world.
Domain specificity argues that different cognitive mechanisms (or modules) handle different types of knowledge.
16
Q
what are figures supported nativism/rationalism … in the nature vs nurture debate
A
plato & descartes
17
Q
what figures supported empiricism/ associationism/ behaviourism
A
- aristotle
- locke & hume
- B.F. skinner
18
Q
what figures supported constructivism
A
- Kant
- Piaget
19
Q
What is the age range for the Sensorimotor Stage in Piaget’s theory? and what sort of intelligence develops?
A
0-2 years
Practical intelligence, where infants learn through sensory experiences and manipulating objects.
20
Q
What is the age range for the Preoperational Stage? and what sort of intelligence develops
A
3-6 years.
Symbolic intelligence, where children begin to use language, symbols, and images to represent objects and experiences, but struggle with logical operations.
21
Q
: What is the age range for the Concrete Operations Stage? what sort of reasons develops in this stage
A
7-11 years
Internalized logical operations and reasoning about concrete things, where children can think logically about objects and events that are tangible.
22
Q
What is the age range for the Formal Operations Stage? and what type of reasoning develops here?
A
12+ years
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning and abstract reasoning, allowing adolescents to think logically about abstract concepts and hypothetical situations.
23
Q
What is Piaget’s theory of development based on?
A
Piaget’s theory is constructivist (development is a result of interaction between the individual and the environment)
and domain general (each stage of intelligence affects all areas of knowledge).
24
Q
what are the piagets stages of cognitive development
A
Piaget’s stages are cognitive phases in child development that occur progressively, not suddenly, with new forms of intelligence emerging through interaction between a child’s existing abilities and their environment.
25
What does "operation" refer to in Piaget's theory?
"Operation" refers to mental activities organised according to a logical structure, central to Piaget's understanding of cognitive development.
26
What is the concept of "conservation" in Piaget's theory?
Conservation refers to the understanding that certain properties (e.g., quantity, number, volume) remain the same despite changes in form or appearance. Children develop this concept gradually.
27
What do preoperational children typically struggle with in conservation tasks?
Preoperational children (under 6-7 years old) often incorrectly believe that the quantity of liquid changes if the container's shape changes (e.g., taller vs. wider).
28
What is the "Clinical Method" in Piaget's research?
the Clinical Method involves a dialogue with children, focusing not just on correct answers but on understanding how children think and explain their reasoning behind answers.
29
What is the significance of the "Seriation Task" in Piaget's theory?
The Seriation Task assesses a child's ability to order objects (e.g., rods of different lengths) from shortest to longest, reflecting their understanding of the concept of order and sequence.
30
What are some cognitive abilities that develop during the concrete operational stage?
Abilities include conservation, classification, seriation, number, measuring, perspective coordination, causality, space, time, and moral reasoning.
31
What is the process of "Assimilation" and "Accommodation" in Piaget’s theory?
Assimilation: is incorporating new information into existing cognitive structures
accommodation: involves changing cognitive structures to fit new information.
32
How did Piaget's view on formal operations evolve?
initially, Piaget believed formal intelligence was abstract and independent of task familiarity, but later acknowledged that individual differences and education, such as scientific training, influence cognitive performance.
33
What does "qualitative changes in intelligence" refer to in Piaget's theory?
This refers to the changes in the type of intelligence that occur as children grow, which is driven by a combination of brain maturation, teaching by adults, and individual experiences, all interacting.
34
How did Piaget and Arnold Gesell differ in their views of infant development?
Gesell :believed development was driven by **maturation** (nature)
Piaget: proposed development emerged from the interaction between infants and their environment, emphasizing **constructivist mechanisms.**
35
What was Gesell’s main explanation for developmental progressions in infants?
- Gesell explained development as a result of **maturational mechanisms**,
- where behaviour naturally grows in infants without influence from external factors like the environment.
36
What methodology did Piaget use to study infant development?
Piaget conducted **longitudinal studies** of his own children from birth to age 2, observing and experimenting to develop a theory of how intelligence evolves in infancy
37
What is sensorimotor intelligence, according to Piaget?
Sensorimotor intelligence refers to the development of practical intelligence in infants, which is based on their actions and interactions with the environment, forming the foundation for later symbolic and logical thought.
38
What are the first three sub-stages of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
Associative blind trial and error
A) **Reflexes** – Newborns start with independent reflex reactions.
B) **Acquisition of habits** (1-4 months) – Infants build a repertoire of habits in separate domains.
C) **Coordination of reactions** – Infants begin to coordinate these habits into more complex behaviours and schemes.
39
What are secondary circular reactions?
Simple intelligence (4-8 months)
Secondary circular reactions (Stage 3 of the sensorimotor stage) involve infants repeating actions that have interesting effects, thereby building up a repertoire of schemes through interaction with objects.
40
What characterises Stage 4 of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage?
Stage 4 (8-12 months)
is marked by **means-ends/goal-directed** behaviour, where infants begin using known actions as means to achieve goals, such as moving an obstacle to reach a toy.
41
What developments occur during Stage 5 and Stage 6 of sensorimotor intelligence?
Stage 5: Infants create new actions through trial and error to solve problems. (12-18 months)
Stage 6: Infants develop insight, using mental representation to solve problems and use tools in an intelligent way. (18-24 months
42
What are tertiary circular reactions?
Tertiary circular reactions (Stages 5 and 6) involve infants systematically experimenting with new actions and observing the effects on different objects, reflecting early problem-solving abilities.
43
How did Piaget resolve the debate between behaviourism and Gestalt psychology?
Piaget integrated both views by proposing that **blind trial and error** and **insight emerge** at different stages of cognitive development, representing different learning mechanisms in infants.
44
What is Piaget’s view on the role of action in cognitive development?
Piaget believed that action drives the development of intelligence, linking changes in infant behaviour to changes in cognitive structures and concepts.
45
What are the fundamental categories of knowledge that are constructed during the sensorimotor stage, according to Piaget?
object
casuality
space
time
46
How did Piaget differ from Kant regarding the fundamental categories of knowledge?
- Kant believed these categories were innate
- while Piaget proposed they are **progressively constructed** during the sensorimotor stage.
47
What is "Object Permanence"?
The understanding that objects exist independently of oneself and persist even when not seen or touched.
48
How does Piaget describe the infant's initial perception of the world?
Initially, the infant's world is a collection of separate, inconsistent "scenes" that appear and disappear without permanence.
49
At what stage do infants begin to visually track objects, and what does this indicate about object permanence?
Stage 2 (around 4 months), indicating a *primitive form* of object permanence.
50
What happens in Stage 3 of sensorimotor development regarding object permanence?
Infants lack object permanence, meaning if an object is out of view, they do not understand that it still exists **(out of sight, out of mind).**
51
What is the A-not-B error in object permanence development?
Infants search for an object in a location (A) where they previously found it, even after seeing it moved to a new location (B).
52
When is the A-not-B error overcome, and what cognitive development is still lacking at that stage?
Stage 5 (12 months),
- but infants still lack understanding of *invisible displacements*
53
At what stage do infants solve invisible displacements, and what cognitive milestone does this mark?
Stage 6 (around 20 months)
marking the transition to *symbolic representation * and the beginning of the **pre-operational stage.**
54
What is the universality of sensorimotor development in human infants?
Studies in non-Western cultures show that all human infants go through the same stages of sensorimotor development.
55
How does Piaget’s theory apply to primates and other species in terms of object permanence?
Apes, such as chimpanzees and gorillas, complete all object permanence stages like human babies.
56
What is "heterochrony" in the context of sensorimotor development?
changes in the age of onset and the speed of development of one sensorimotor system relative to another.
57
Give an example of heterochrony in humans compared to apes.
Autonomous locomotion is delayed in humans compared to apes, while tool use develops earlier in humans than in apes or monkeys.
58
What is convergent evolution in the context of practical intelligence?
Similar complex sensorimotor skills (e.g., tool use) may evolve independently in different species, such as in birds and primates.
59
What are some examples of tool use in primates and birds?
Primates may:
- break twigs
- use stones to crack nuts,
while some bird species, like corvids, also use tools, showing sophisticated sensorimotor intelligence.
60
How does Piaget's work on sensorimotor intelligence revolutionise the understanding of cognitive development?
Piaget provided innovative tasks, empirical findings, and a sophisticated theory of cognition, greatly advancing the study of early infant development.
61
// What was a potential problem with Piaget's reliance on infant actions to determine their knowledge?
Very young infants may know *more* about objects than they can demonstrate through actions due to other limitations.
62
What modern research method is used to probe infant knowledge without relying on their actions?
** Looking-time methods,**
where infants' knowledge is inferred based on how long they look at certain stimuli.
63
What is the habituation/dishabituation paradigm?
Infants are shown a stimulus until they get bored **(habituation)**,
and if they look longer at a new stimulus **(dishabituation)**, it indicates they notice the difference.
64
What did the 1981 studies by Kellman and Spelke reveal about infants' perception of objects at 4 months?
infants expect a complete object even if it is partially occluded,
- but *only* when the occluded parts move together.
65
How does the 7-month-old infant's understanding of occluded objects differ from that of a 4-month-old?
By 7 months, infants expect a whole object even without movement
- indicating a more developed object perception.
66
What did Renée Baillargeon’s 1985 study show about infants' understanding of object permanence?
Infants as young as 3.5 to 5 months understand that objects continue to exist even when out of sight, **contradicting Piaget’s timeline.**
67
How does the drawbridge study (Baillargeon, 1985) demonstrate infant knowledge of object permanence?
Infants look longer at the "impossible" event,
showing they expect the object to still exist behind the screen and understand solidity principles.
68
What new era in infant developmental psychology was heralded by Baillargeon’s findings?
Studies began to show evidence of sophisticated knowledge of objects in infants before they could perform visually guided grasping.
69
What did the 4.5-month-old infants understand in the Tall and Short Carrot experiment?
They understood the principle of occlusion, expecting the tall carrot to be visible through a window, but not the short one.
70
What physiological marker is associated with object permanence at 6 months, according to Kaufman, Csibra, and Johnson (2003)?
Increased EEG gamma activity
when infants notice the unexpected disappearance of an object.
71
What is Elizabeth Spelke's Core Knowledge hypothesis (1992)?
Infants are born with *innate core knowledge*, allowing them to represent and reason about objects, consistent with basic physical principles.
72
How does Renée Baillargeon’s view differ from Spelke’s in terms of infant knowledge?
Baillargeon suggests that infants have innate predispositions to quickly learn about objects,
but they still need to acquire concepts like object permanence.
73
What is Elizabeth Spelke’s updated interpretation of core knowledge (2023)?
Core knowledge systems may be innate but are not the same as adult explicit knowledge;
they are ancient, *domain-specific,* and consistent across species.
74
How can Piaget’s description of object permanence development be reinterpreted in light of modern findings?
The development of object permanence could reflect the ability to use perceptual knowledge in actions, rather than the acquisition of object knowledge itself.
75
Why do babies not manually search for hidden objects until 8 months if they understand object permanence at 3.5 months?
It may be due to motor immaturity, inability to plan actions, or limited working memory,
**rather than a lack of object knowledge**.
76
What is the A-not-B error, and what hypothesis has been suggested to explain it?
The A-not-B error occurs when infants search for an object in a previous location (A) even after seeing it moved to a new location (B).
- A possible explanation is a conflict between *motor memory* (previous location) and *perceptual memory* (current location), requiring inhibition.
77
What did Diamond’s longitudinal study (1985) reveal about the A-not-B error?
The delay required to produce the error increases with age,
- indicating that motor memory of the previous location competes with the correct perceptual memory of the new location.
78
What is the key challenge in explaining the A-not-B error according to Munakata (2001)?
Object representations may vary from weak to strong, and early infant representations are weak and isolated, evolving into more complex, integrated representations over time.
79
What is the current consensus on the A-not-B phenomenon?
There is no accepted explanation; research continues to explore why infants commit the error and how perceptual and action representations interact.
80
What did Piaget’s findings about object permanence demonstrate, and how are they challenged by modern research?
Piaget's sequence of manual search development is still valid,
but modern findings suggest infants have more sophisticated *perceptual knowledge* of object permanence than Piaget believed.
81
What is crossmodal or intersensory coordination in infants?
The understanding that the same object can be touched, seen, heard, smelled, and tasted.
82
What was Piaget's answer regarding when babies start coordinating separate schemas for different senses?
After **4 or 5 months,**
when they begin coordinating their initially separate schemas.
83
What did Streri & Spelke (1988) find about tactual-visual coordination in infants?
it is well-established by 4 months, based on studies using the habituation paradigm
84
How did the babies in Streri & Spelke's study indicate crossmodal coordination?
They looked longer at the visual stimulus that did not match what they were holding in their hands.
85
What did Meltzoff and Borton (1979) find about crossmodal integration in 1-month-old infants?
Infants preferred to look at the picture of a dummy that matched the one they were feeling in their mouths.
86
What did Meltzoff and Borton's study suggest about crossmodal integration in the primate brain?
It may be an innate ability,
- as even macaque monkey infants showed similar behaviour at 1 week old.
87
What did the Streri lab discover about newborns (40 hours old) and tactual-visual integration?
Newborns can recognize visual images of objects they have touched, but not vice versa (tactual-to-visual only).
88
What is the general conclusion about crossmodal integration in infants?
Crossmodal integration of sensory modalities likely precedes coordination of overt behaviors and **may be innate.**
89
What did Starkey, Spelke, & Gelman (1983) find about early number understanding in 6-month-old babies?
Infants could detect changes in the *number of objects* using the habituation paradigm.
90
How did 6-month-old babies show primitive number sense in Starkey, Spelke, & Gelman's experiment?
They looked longer at slides with a different number of objects, showing discrimination between 2 and 3 objects.
91
What was the main finding from Wynn's (1992) study on infant arithmetic?
5-month-old infants looked longer at impossible outcomes, suggesting they have basic arithmetic expectations.
92
What method did Wynn (1992) use to test infant arithmetic understanding?
The violation of expectation paradigm, measuring infants' surprise at unexpected or impossible events.
93
What was the result of the Mickey Mouse experiment by Wynn (1992)?
5-month-old infants looked longer at incorrect changes in the number of dolls behind a screen, indicating surprise.
94
What did the Elmo and Ernie experiment test in relation to object individuation?
Whether infants could track both the identity and location of different objects.
95
What was the key finding from the Elmo and Ernie experiment with 5-month-old infants?
nfants were surprised only when both the identity and number of objects were wrong, showing a developing sense of object individuation.
96
What are the two systems for object individuation in infants?
- **Spatio-temporal information** (tracking based on location)
- **property/kind information **(tracking based on object features).
97
At what age do infants use spatio-temporal cues to individuate objects, and at what age do they begin using featural information?
spatio-temporal cues at **10 months**
featural information at **12 months.**
98
What did Xu & Carey's (1996) experiment show about object individuation in 10-month-old infants?
They do not expect two objects unless spatio-temporal cues are present; they rely on these cues to individuate objects.
99
What develops earlier in infants: spatio-temporal or featural (property-based) object individuation?
Spatio-temporal object individuation develops earlier at 10 months,
while featural object individuation develops by 12 months.
100
What is the “indexing” interpretation of object individuation?
Infants mentally index the presence of objects based on spatio-temporal information at 10 months and later also use property information at 12 months.
101
How might language acquisition influence featural property coding in infants?
Language may direct attention to object properties and features, triggering featural property coding around 12 months.
102
What does research suggest about how monkeys and apes individuate objects?
They can encode objects using both featural and spatio-temporal information,
despite lacking language.
103
What do post-Piagetian studies suggest about early infant cognitive development?
Babies understand complex aspects of the world, but they still need to integrate perception and action systems, as well as different perception systems.
104
/What is the negative characterization of Piaget's preoperational stage?
The absence of conservations, logical understanding, and number sense in young children.
105
How does Piaget's clinical method potentially mislead young children during number conservation tasks?
Children might think they answered wrong if questions are repeated, and the tasks may feel too formal and serious for them.
106
What modification increased pre-schoolers' success in number conservation tasks?
Introducing a *"naughty teddy bear" * and accidental transformations made children more likely to give correct answers.
107
What pragmatic problem might occur with Piagetian tasks according to research?
Children may misunderstand adult questions due to how the tasks are structured, leading to incorrect responses.
108
What did De Neys, Lubin, and Houdé (2014) find about 6-year-olds in number conservation tasks?
What did De Neys, Lubin, and Houdé (2014) find about 6-year-olds in number conservation tasks?
109
How did Lozada and Carro (2016) improve conservation task performance in pre-schoolers?
Children performed better when they physically enacted the transformations themselves rather than watching the experimenter.
110
What class inclusion problem did Piaget highlight with preschoolers?
Pre-schoolers typically fail to understand class inclusion, especially with questions about "part vs whole" relationships, like counting flowers.
111
What question arises about children's understanding of class inclusion?
Do collection terms facilitate genuine understanding, or do they simply prompt a particular response?
112
What is egocentrism according to Piaget's theory?
The inability to understand that others may have different perspectives, often tested with the 3-mountains task.
113
How do casual observations challenge Piaget’s idea of egocentrism in pre-schoolers?
Young children demonstrate perspective-taking in everyday activities, such as showing pictures in the correct orientation or pointing to objects.
114
What was the key finding in Hughes and Donaldson's "naughty teddy bear" task?
Many 4-5 year-olds passed this practical version of the perspective-taking task, suggesting they aren’t as egocentric as Piaget claimed.
115
What is the difference between procedural and explicit knowledge in pre-schoolers?
**Procedural knowledge** refers to knowing how to do something without being able to explain it
**explicit knowledge** involves understanding and explaining the process.
116
What is U-shaped development?
A pattern where initial competence declines as children develop partial, incomplete theories, before later achieving more advanced understanding.
117
How did 4-year-olds succeed in Karmiloff-Smith & Inhelder's (1975) balancing blocks task?
By using a procedural, hands-on approach, feeling when blocks were balanced rather than relying on a conceptual theory.
118
What was the performance of 6-year-olds in the balancing blocks task?
They struggled with asymmetrical blocks because they tried to apply a theory that all blocks should balance at their midpoint.
118
How did 8-year-olds succeed in the balancing blocks task?
They developed a more complex theory, understanding that weight distribution affects balance.
118
What does research on U-shaped development suggest about learning?
Development can involve temporary declines in performance due to partial or incomplete theories before reaching a higher level of understanding.
118
What did research on chimpanzees suggest about their understanding of object statics?
Chimps rely on proprioceptive and procedural understanding rather than using visual statics or developing explicit theories of object physics.
119
How did Köhler's chimpanzees approach box stacking problems?
They used their body to stabilize boxes but showed little anticipation of correct positions based on visual information.
120
