w4

Question 1

What evidence suggests that some perceptual abilities develop early in infancy?

Answer 1

Von Hofsten & Fazel-Zandy (1984): 4.5-month-old babies show orientational hand adjustment appropriate to the target (e.g., baby with an overhead mobile).
Von Hofsten & Rönnqvist (1988): 9-month-olds begin grasp matching target size and anticipating holding objects.

Question 2

What is the perceptual development theory?

Answer 2

Perceptual development theory explains how infants and children learn to interpret and understand sensory information from their environment.

Question 3

What is Empiricism vs. Rationalism?

Answer 3

Empiricism: Knowledge comes primarily from experience through our senses.
Rationalism: Reason and innate ideas are the primary sources of knowledge.

Question 4

What is the Empiricism vs. Nativism debate in developmental psychology?

Answer 4

Empiricism: Emphasizes the role of environment and learning in shaping a child’s development (‘We learn from what we experience.’).
Nativism/Rationalism: Emphasizes the role of innate abilities and genetic predispositions in shaping a child’s development (‘We’re born with some knowledge.’).

Question 5

What is Idealism vs. Realism?

Answer 5

Idealism: Reality is fundamentally mental or dependent on our minds.
Realism: Reality exists independently of our minds.

Question 6

What is Developmental Integration vs. Developmental Differentiation in developmental psychology?

Answer 6

Developmental Differentiation: Perception starts as a unified whole and becomes more differentiated over time (like Idealism).
Developmental Integration : Perception starts with separate sensory experiences that become integrated over time (like Realism).

Question 7

What is Piaget’s constructionism?

Answer 7

A theory of cognitive development emphasizing how children actively construct their understanding of the world through their experiences.

Question 8

How does Piaget’s constructionism relate to the Empiricism vs. Nativism debate?

Answer 8

Children have Innate abilities = NATIVIST
Experience builds knowledge + Schemas modified by experience = EMPIRICISM

Question 9

What does Piaget mean by ‘sensorimotor’ development?

Answer 9

The first stage of cognitive development (from birth to about 2 years old) where infants learn about the world through their senses and motor actions.

Question 10

What are ‘qualitative shifts’ in Piaget’s theory?

Answer 10

Significant changes in how children think and understand the world, marking transitions from one stage of development to the next. The way a child understands the world fundamentally changes during these shifts.

Question 11

What is differentiation?

Answer 11

Differentiation is the ability to perceive an object and distinguish it by position, colour, and lightness.

Question 12

How do infants develop differentiation?

Answer 12

Infants initially fuse features together and gradually learn to differentiate objects and features at finer levels.

Question 13

What is integration?

Answer 13

Integration is the process of combining position, colour, and lightness to perceive an object as a whole.

Question 14

How do infants develop integration?

Answer 14

Infants link features together to form a coherent perception of objects.

Question 15

What’s the differentiation account of perceptual development?

Answer 15

According to Gibson’s theory, perceptual development is progressive discrimination rather than feature integration. Infants first detect amodal properties like rhythm and intensity.

Question 16

What methods were used in perceptual development?

Answer 16

1. Early observation techniques (Darwin, Piaget)
2. Looking time techniques
3. Developmental cognitive neuroscience techniques (e.g., imaging, marker tasks).

Question 17

What are the kinds of infant looking studies?

Answer 17

1. Visual preference and preferential tracking
2. Visual habituation
3. Violation of expectation
4. Eye tracking
5. 4D ultrasound.

Question 18

What are the limitations of behavioural methods?

Answer 18

1. Looking is limited
2. ‘Longer looking’ is ambiguous
3. Infant behavior is noisy
4. Behavior masks competence
5. Behavior is downstream
6. Experimenter bias.

Question 19

What are marker tasks?

Answer 19

Marker tasks are behavioral tests used to track infant brain development by comparing their performance to known adult brain differences.

Question 20

What is an infant EEG study?

Answer 20

An infant EEG study involves placing a cap with electrodes on an infant’s head to collect ERP and oscillation data. It has low spatial but high temporal resolution.

Question 21

What’s the difference between infant and adult EEGs?

Answer 21

1. Difficult to collect many trials
2. Harder to control movement artifacts
3. More expensive EGI system is used for faster application.

Question 22

What is Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)?

Answer 22

fNIRS is like an fMRI but smaller, using infrared light to measure blood oxygenation.

Question 23

What is temporal resolution?

Answer 23

Temporal resolution refers to how often data is collected (e.g., how frequently brain scans are taken).

Question 24

What is spatial resolution?

Answer 24

Spatial resolution refers to the level of detail in data regarding location.

Question 25

How do imaging methods compare for infant participants?

Answer 25

EEG/ERP: High temporal, low spatial, easy for infants. MEG: High temporal, moderate spatial, moderately tolerable. fNIRS: Moderate temporal, low-moderate spatial, low-moderate tolerance. fMRI/DTI: Moderate temporal, high spatial, high tolerance. PET: Moderate-low temporal, moderate spatial, high tolerance.

Question 26

Why use brain imaging with infants?

Answer 26

1. Limited behavioral measures (infants don’t speak) 2. Helps resolve interpretation disagreements 3. Gives access to early cognitive processing 4. Aids in understanding developmental processes.

Question 27

What did Fantz (1961) discover about infant visual preferences?

Answer 27

Fantz (1961) found that week-old infants prefer looking at faces over other stimuli.

Question 28

What study suggests infants perceive objects like us?

Answer 28

Slater et al. (1983) habituated infants to a shape and tested their ability to discriminate new shapes, showing they perceive objects similarly to adults.

Question 29

What is fixed trial familiarisation?

Answer 29

A method where infants are repeatedly shown a stimulus a set number of times to reduce responsiveness to specific aspects of the stimulus.

Question 30

What did Slater (1991) demonstrate regarding form constancy in infants?

Answer 30

Slater (1991) showed infants recognize a shape (e.g., an obtuse/acute angle) as the same despite orientation changes, demonstrating form constancy.

Question 31

What did Slater, Mattock, and Brown (1990) reveal about size constancy in infants?

Answer 31

Slater, Mattock, & Brown (1990) found infants recognize objects as the same size despite retinal size differences due to varying distances.

Question 32

What are the limitations of visual constancy in infants?

Answer 32

Infants gradually develop visual constancy for lightness and surface reflectance. Yang et al. (2014) found 3-4 month-olds detect light changes but not glossiness, while 7-8 month-olds detect glossiness but not light changes.

Question 33

What did Kellman and Spelke (1983) demonstrate about object perception in infants?

Answer 33

Kellman & Spelke (1983) showed 4-month-olds perceive a partially occluded rod as a single object, supporting innate object unity perception.

Question 34

What did Baillargeon, Spelke, & Wasserman (1985) demonstrate about the violation of expectations in infants?

Answer 34

Baillargeon et al. (1985) found 3.5-month-olds looked longer at 'impossible' events where objects appeared to pass through each other.

Question 35

What is the core knowledge account?

Answer 35

Spelke proposed that humans have innate neural systems providing core knowledge about numerosity, object permanence, and solidity.

Question 36

What is the evidence of the core knowledge account?

Answer 36

Spelke et al. (1992) found 2.5-month-olds understand solidity by looking longer at events violating it.

Question 37

What is the shelf error?

Answer 37

Infants mistakenly reach through a visible barrier to grasp an object, revealing difficulties in understanding object permanence and solidity.

Question 38

What does the shelf error suggest about infant cognition?

Answer 38

It suggests a gap between infants' visual understanding and their ability to act on that understanding, persisting even in 2-year-olds.

Question 39

What is the crossmodal binding problem for infants?

Answer 39

Integrating sensory inputs is challenging due to differences in processing, but infants show early multisensory abilities.

Question 40

What does infant pacifier preference reveal about multisensory perception?

Answer 40

Infants (1.5 months) look longer at a pacifier matching the texture they orally explored, showing early tactile-visual integration.

Question 41

What are Amodal properties?

Answer 41

Features shared across senses, such as rhythm, tempo, or duration (e.g., a bouncing ball’s motion matching its sound).

Question 42

What is Redundant stimulation?

Answer 42

When multiple senses receive the same information, such as seeing and hearing a clap simultaneously.

Question 43

What is Modality-specific features?

Answer 43

Features unique to one sense, like shape (visual) or pitch (auditory).

Question 44

What is the evidence for the intersensory redundancy hypothesis?

Answer 44

Studies (Gogate & Bahrick, 1998; Bahrick & Lickliter, 2000) show infants learn better when amodal properties are shared across senses.

Question 45

What is a contrasting account of multisensory development?

Answer 45

Molyneux’s Question (Locke, 1690) suggests senses develop separately rather than being naturally integrated.

Question 46

What is the modern answer to Molyneux’s Question?

Answer 46

Held et al. (2011) found cataract patients initially couldn't match touch to vision but learned within a week, suggesting early amodal learning ability.

Question 47

When does face perception begin in infants?

Answer 47

Pascalis et al.: Newborns can distinguish human and ape faces but specialize in human faces by 10 months. Johnson et al. (1991): 30-minute-old babies track faces. Newborns prefer direct eye contact.

Question 48

What is perceptual narrowing?

Answer 48

The reduction in sensitivity to task-irrelevant domains; a signature of developing specialization.

Question 49

Do face preferences exist before birth?

Answer 49

Reid et al.: 4D ultrasound shows fetuses track face-like stimuli in utero. 39 fetuses oriented more toward upright than inverted faces.

Question 50

What is interactive specialisation?

Answer 50

The brain specializes in response to experiences, guided by innate architecture.

Question 51

How does face perception develop in infants?

Answer 51

Preferential tracking of faces is present at birth (Johnson et al., 1991) and possibly before (Reid et al., 2017). Face preference (looking longer at faces) emerges around 2 months (Maurer & Barrera, 1981).

Question 52

What brain systems are responsible for face perception in infants?

Answer 52

Johnson & Morton (1991) propose two systems: 1. Subcortical (SC/Pulvinar; ConSpec): Mediates early tracking. 2. Cortical (FFA; ConLearn): Develops later for face preferences.

Question 53

How does face specialisation in the brain change with age?

Answer 53

fMRI studies show face-processing areas develop beyond infancy and become specialized through childhood and adolescence.

Question 54

What evidence is there that auditory perception develops in utero?

Answer 54

Before birth, fetuses react to loud sounds. DeCasper & Fifer (1980): Newborns (≤3 days old) recognize their mother's voice using non-nutritive sucking. DeCasper & Spence (1986): Newborns prefer stories heard in the womb.

Question 55

When does olfactory learning begin in babies?

Answer 55

Olfactory and taste sensitivity develop in utero. Schaal et al. (1998): Newborns prefer their mother’s amniotic fluid scent.

Question 56

What is the transnatal chemosensory continuity hypothesis?

Answer 56

Schaal (2015): Infants’ exposure in utero shapes postnatal preferences through chemosensory experiences.

Question 57

How does olfactory learning in utero affect postnatal preferences?

Answer 57

Schaal et al. (1998): Newborns accept anise if their mother consumed it during pregnancy. Menella et al. (2001): Infants prefer cereal with carrot juice if their mother drank it during pregnancy.

Question 58

Do babies experience touch in utero?

Answer 58

Castiello et al. (2010): Twin fetuses interact intentionally by 14-18 weeks gestation, touching more gently and deliberately.

Question 59

What social-cognitive ability do infants show through eye-tracking?

Answer 59

Southgate et al. (2007): 2-year-olds anticipate where an adult with a false belief will search, showing early theory of mind.

Question 60

What is haptic perception?

Answer 60

The process of recognizing objects through touch.

Question 61

What is manual preference?

Answer 61

A tendency to use one hand more than the other, linked to handedness development.

Question 62

What is habituation?

Answer 62

A form of learning where a decreased response occurs after repeated exposure to a stimulus.

Question 63

How is auditory perception studied in infants?

Answer 63

Conditioned head turn procedure: Measures phoneme discrimination. Eimas et al. (1971): Infants (1-2 months) can distinguish phonemes like /b/, /d/, /g/.

Question 64

What is perceptual narrowing in speech perception?

Answer 64

Werker & Tees (1984): 6-month-olds discriminate phonemes across languages, but by 12 months, they lose this ability for non-native sounds.

Question 65

How does face perception specialize in infancy?

Answer 65

Newborns recognize faces, possibly even before birth. Over the first year, face recognition specializes for human, upright faces. Johnson’s model: An innate face-orienting mechanism (subcortical SC) guides experience-driven cortical specialization.