Developmental Psychology Developmental Psychology Graham Scott

Developmental PsychologyDevelopmental Psychology

Graham Scott

How do children work?How do children work?

Early Theories

• 18th Century Empiricists:

• Adults in training.

• Nativists:

• Adults in miniature.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

• First to suggest that children see the world differently to adults.

• First to develop methods to investigate this.

• First to offer a systematic theoretical account of the process of mental growth.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Stage 1: sensory-motor intelligence• Birth – 2 years

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive DevelopmentDevelopment

Stage 2: preoperational period• 2 – 7 years

Stage 3: concrete operations• 7 – 11 years

Stage 4: formal operations• 11 years +

Object PermanenceObject Permanence

• For infants, ‘Out of sight, out of existence’.

• 8 months – infants start to reach for a hidden toy.

• A-not-B effect.

The A-not-B effectThe A-not-B effect

• A-not-B effect

• The child still doesn’t understand that the object’s existence is entirely independent of his own actions.

• A-not-B effect

• The child still doesn’t understand that the object’s existence is entirely independent of his own actions.

• Understanding that objects exist on their own is a major accomplishment of the sensory-motor period.

Sensory-motor SchemasSensory-motor Schemas

• Infants start life with only a few reactions, and think of the world in terms of these reactions.

Sensory-motor SchemasSensory-motor Schemas

• Infants start life with only a few reactions, and think of the world in terms of these reactions.

• Piaget claimed 2 processes were responsible for all cognitive development:

• Assimilation: children use the mental schemas they have to interpret the environment.

• Accommodation: schemas change as the child gains experience of the world.

Beginnings of Representational ThoughtBeginnings of Representational Thought

• 18-24 months: children begin to conceive of objects which aren’t immediately present.

• Goes hand-in-hand with object permanence.

• Where is the evidence?

• Where is the evidence? At 18 months:

• Annoyance if toy is not in expected hiding place.

• Where is the evidence? At 18 months:

• Annoyance if toy is not in expected hiding place.

• Deferred imitation.

Failure of ConservationFailure of Conservation

• Conservation of Quantity.

• Conservation of number.

• Why the errors?

• Inability to interrelate the different dimensions of a situation.

• Why the errors?

• Inability to interrelate the different dimensions of a situation.

• Egocentrism.

EgocentrismEgocentrism

Concrete and Formal OperationsConcrete and Formal Operations

• Children can now transform their own mental representations to solve all the problems we have discussed.

• But they still lack in abstract thinking.

• E.g., they know:

• 4 + 1 = odd, 6 + 1 = odd, and 8 + 1 = odd, but fail to see the pattern.

• E.g., they know:

• 4 + 1 = odd, 6 + 1 = odd, and 8 + 1 = odd, but fail to see the pattern.

• The pendulum problem.

What Piaget AccomplishedWhat Piaget Accomplished

• Influenced the way people think about intellectual growth.

• Discovered phenomena.

• Provided insight.

• But his findings have been challenged . . .

Space and Objects in InfancySpace and Objects in Infancy

• The visual cliff

The Visual CliffThe Visual Cliff

• The effect of occlusion

The Effect of OcclusionThe Effect of Occlusion

• Habituation procedure

The Effect of OcclusionThe Effect of Occlusion

• Knowing about objects

Knowing About ObjectsKnowing About Objects

• Knowing about objects

• Object permanence and the search process

Number in InfancyNumber in Infancy

• Piaget argued that children had no concept of number, but . . .

• Habituation showed they grasped the concept of ‘threeness’.

Number in InfancyNumber in InfancyNumber in InfancyNumber in Infancy

• They seem to understand numerical equivalency.

• They can even add and subtract!

The Existence of Other MindsThe Existence of Other Minds

• Innate predisposition to faces.

• Follow their mother’s gaze.

• Try to comfort others.

End ofEnd ofPart 1Part 1

Language Development and AcquisitionLanguage Development and Acquisition

• Theoretical points of view

• “Nature” - language is innate; biological

predisposition

• “Nurture” - lang. learned via environmental

stimulation

Language Development and AcquisitionLanguage Development and Acquisition

• Points of debate:

• imitation & correction?• whole-object constraint• over-regularisation (‘goed’, ‘tooths’)• motherese• pidgin creole

• Conclusion: infants are immediately sensitive

to language, but need to interact to learn

Stages of Language Production (0-12m)Stages of Language Production (0-12m)

Age (mo)/Stage Behaviour

0-3 vegetative sounds burp, cough, suck,

swallow, cry.

Stages of Language Production (0-12m)Stages of Language Production (0-12m)

swallow, cry.

3-5 cooing and laughing sounds with intonation.

Stages of Language Production (0-12m) Stages of Language Production (0-12m)

swallow, cry.

5-12 babbling consonant-vowel sounds.

Stages of Language Production (0-12m) Stages of Language Production (0-12m)

swallow, cry.

5-12 babbling consonant-vowel sounds.

6-9 reduplicated ‘ba-ba-ba-ba’.

9-12 variegated ‘bi-du-ba’.

Stages of Language Perception (0-12m) Stages of Language Perception (0-12m)

Age Discrimination

45 mins round lips vs. tongue protrusion imitation.

Age Discrimination

1 week mother’s voice vs. other’s voice.

own language vs. foreign language.

sucking

Age Discrimination

1 week mother’s voice vs. other’s voice.

own language vs. foreign language.

sucking

2-4 mo all possible phoneme distinctions.

6-8 mo categorise phonemes across different voices.

lose non-native distinctions.

Stages of Language Production (1-5yrs)Stages of Language Production (1-5yrs)

Age (yr)/Stage Behaviour

1 holophrase ‘more’, ‘dada’, ‘gone’,

(1 word stage) ‘bye-bye’.

1.5 telegraphic ‘Allgone milk’, ‘She cold’,

(2 word stage) ‘Shut door’.

2-4 Short Sentence Stage Short sentences , negation

and sentence formation

Dada play?Play Dada?Can Dada play?

No/Not Dada playDada no/not playDada don’t play

2-4 Short Sentence Stage Short sentences , negation

and sentence formation

4-5 more complex forms,

over-regularisations

went goed went

Critical PeriodsCritical Periods

The notion of a ‘critical period’

• ‘Nurture’ help needed, but must come within the critical period.

• Learning is innately guided, but must come from responses to particular stimuli.

• This can be manipulated:

• Attachment in ducks.

• ‘Regional Dialects’ in bird song.

A Critical Period for Language Learning?A Critical Period for Language Learning?

• The case of ‘Isabelle’

• Hidden in attic by deranged mother.

• No exposure to language.

• Found at age 6.

• Normal language by age 7.

• The case of ‘Genie’

• Isolated from age 20 months, no exposure to

language.

• Found age 13.

• Language stayed in “pidgin” form.

• The case of ‘Chelsea’

• Born deaf and mistakenly diagnosed as retarded.

• Never exposed to spoken or sign language.

• Correctly diagnosed at age 31, hearing restored.

• Intensive language training.

• No progress beyond rudimentary 2 word

sentences.

Is there a Critical Period for Language Is there a Critical Period for Language Acquisition?Acquisition?• These cases suggest a critical period.

• Exposure before ~7 results in acquisition.

• Exposure after ~13 does not.

• Problems with evidence?

The EndThe End

Developmental Psychology Developmental Psychology Graham Scott

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