Developmental Psychology Chapter 7: Cognitive Development

Developmental Developmental PsychologyPsychologyChapter 7: Cognitive Development

Language DevelopmentLanguage DevelopmentPhonemes

◦Smallest unit of sound in a language◦44 in the English language

More than the alphabet Why?

_____________◦Smallest unit of meaning in a

language Single words like “help” “boat” Or prefixes and suffixes

Theories of Language Theories of Language DevelopmentDevelopment

Biological Theory◦Predisposition to learn language at a

certain age◦Language Acquisition Device

Mechanism that allows children to listen to speech and to imitate sound and sound patterns Phonemes at 6 months Words after the 1st year Sentences by age 2 Without exposure to language it cannot be learned

Flaws? Does not explain origins of language just

mechanisms

Theories of Language Theories of Language DevelopmentDevelopment

Learning Theory◦Language is learned just as other

behavior is learned. Imitation Conditioning Association Reinforcement

◦Flaws?? Spontaneous creations

Theories of Language Theories of Language DevelopmentDevelopment

Cognitive Theory◦Language develops out of mental

images A direct result of cognitive development Coincides with Piaget’s stages of

cognitive development Language accelerates during the preoperational

stage as symbolic representation increases

◦Flaws? Assumes cognitive understandings prior

to language development

Theories of Language Theories of Language DevelopmentDevelopment

_____________ Theory◦Emphasizes interaction of both

biological maturation and the role of the environment in language development Consistent with contemporary view of

language

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Sequence of Language Sequence of Language DevelopmentDevelopment

Prelinguistic Period◦Crying at birth◦Cooing(video) at 2 months◦Babbling(video) at 6 months

Spoken Words- Video◦Appears at about 10 months

Typically only a few words are known By 18 months between 3 to 50 words Two word utterances begin 18 to 24 months

◦Sentences(Video) appear at about 2 to 4 years

When Your Child Uses Bad When Your Child Uses Bad LanguageLanguage

Video –Warning Language is Offensive

How does a parent deal with this type of language?◦ 1) parents need to avoid using

inappropriate language◦ 2) parents should avoid reinforcing the

language with extra attention and shock◦ 3) allow use of descriptive words like penis,

vagina, anus, urinate◦ 4) parents need to express their disapproval

of this type of language. Parents need to explain the meaning and express why they are disapproving

◦ What would you do to curb this behavior?

Bilingualism and Bicultural Bilingualism and Bicultural CompetencyCompetency

How many people speak another language?

What are some of the languages you speak?◦Russian◦Farsi◦Spanish◦Tagalog

Those are my guesses!!When did you learn these languages?Do you think in another language?Class Activity

Piagetian PerspectivePiagetian Perspective_____________Swiss Philosopher

(1896-1980)◦Great contributions

to child education◦Known as the father

of child psychology◦4 stages of cognitive

development◦Video

Typical Age Range

Description of Stage

Developmental Phenomena

Birth to nearly 2 yearsSensorimotorExperiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing)

•Object permanence•Stranger anxiety•Imitation

About 2 to 6 years

About 7 to 11 years

About 12 through adulthood

PreoperationalRepresenting things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning

•Pretend play•Egocentrism•Language development

Concrete operationalThinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations

•Conservation •Mathematical transformations•Classification

Formal operationalAbstract reasoning

•Abstract logic•Potential for moral reasoning

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive DevelopmentDevelopment

Piagetian PerspectivePiagetian PerspectiveSensorimotor Stage

◦ The task is learning to coordinate sensorimotor sequences to solve simple problems.

Sensorimotor StageSensorimotor Stage Stage 1: reflexes 0-1 month

Proficiency at sucking, grasping Lack ability to deliberately grasp or suck

Stage 2: primary circular reactions 1-4 months Repetition of pleasurable behavior which occurs by chance (involves own body)

Stage 3: secondary circular reactions 4 – 8 months Repetition of pleasurable behavior which occurs by chance, but involves deliberate

manipulation of object in environment

Stage 4: purposeful coordination of secondary schemes 8-12months Combinations of actions (leaning and grasping) (looking, crawling, grasping)

Stage 5: tertiary circular reactions 12 – 18 months Exploration using new or novel actions Formation of trial and error discovery

Stage 6: mental solutions 18 – 24 months Thinking about problems to develop solutions Internalization of trial and error Accompanied by language formation

Infancy and Childhood: Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive DevelopmentCognitive Development

_____________Video the awareness that things continue

to exist even when not perceived

Pre Operational StagePre Operational Stage

The child begins to deal with the world symbolically.

Mental images of the world◦Symbolism

Symbolic play Video Pretend Play Video Stars Wars Revealed

Concrete Operational Concrete Operational StageStage

Children show a greater capacity for logical reasoning

Increase use of hierarchies and classifications

Concrete Operational Concrete Operational StageStage

4 concrete operations◦1) Combinativity

Combining two or more classes into one larger more comprehensive class Eg. All men and all woman equals all adults

◦2)_____________ Every operation has an operation that

reverses it Eg. All adults except woman equals all men

◦3)Associativity Reaching goals in various ways

(3+6)+5 =14 and (6+5)+3=14◦4)Nullibility

When an operation is combined with its opposite it results in no change Give 3 and take away 3 gives you nothing

Preoperational vs Preoperational vs Concrete Operational Concrete Operational

ChildChild _______________- Video

the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

Infancy and Childhood: Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive DevelopmentCognitive Development

L.S. VygotskyL.S. VygotskySocial contributions to

cognitive development.

________________________________________

Language as the primary tool of cognitive development

1896-1934

Video 1Video 2Video 3

IntelligenceIntelligenceAlfred Binet (1857-1911)

◦One of the first to approach the measurement of intelligence Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

Mental Age- Chronological Age

David Wechsler Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

(WISC)Raymond Catell

______________ Intelligence Knowledge, skills, vocabulary, general information

______________ Intelligence Thinking, reasoning, perceiving relationships,

problem solving