Chapter Six

The First Two Years:Cognitive Development

PowerPoints prepared by Cathie Robertson, Grossmont College

Sensorimotor Intelligence

• Sensoritmotor intelligence—active intelligence causing babies to think while using senses and motor skills

Stages 1 and 2: Primary Circular Reactions

• The feedback loop involving the infants own body; infant senses motion and tries to make sense of it

• Stage 1 = Reflexes • Stage 2 = First Acquired

Adaptations- adaptations of reflexes, i.e., sucking—

new information taken in by senses and responded to

• Assimilation and Accommodation– assimilation—taking in new information by

incorporating it into previous knowledge– accommodation— intake of new data to re-

adjust, refine, expand prior schema or actions

– babies eagerly adapt their reflexes and senses to whatever experiences they have

Stages 1 and 2: Primary Circular Reactions, cont.

• Sucking as a Stage-Two Adaptation– begin adapting at about one month– reflexive assimilation

Stages 1 and 2: Primary Circular Reactions, cont.

Stages 3 and 4: Secondary Circular Reactions• feedback loop involving people and

objects• Stage 3 = Making Interesting Events Last

- repetition - awareness

• Stage 4 = New Adaptation and Anticipation- goal-directed behavior- object permanence

• Feedback loop that involves active experimentation and exploration- involves creativity, action, and ideas

• Stage 5 = New Means Through Active Experimentation– little scientist

Stages 5 and 6: Tertiary Circular Reactions

• Stage 6 = New Means Through Mental Combinations– mental combinations—sequence of

mental actions tried out before actual performance

– deferred imitation—perception of something someone else does (modeling), then performing action at a later time

Stages 5 and 6: Tertiary Circular Reactions, cont.

Piaget and Modern Research• Habituation—process of getting used

to an object or event through repeated exposure to it

• fMRI—functional magnetic resonance imaging measuring technique for brain activity and neurological responses

• First three years are prime time for cognitive development

• Information-processing theory— perspective that compares human thinking processes to computer analysis of data, including sensory input, stored memories, and output

Information Processing

Affordances

• Affordances—opportunities for perception and interaction offered by environment

• How something is perceived and acted upon depends on– past experiences– current developmental level– sensory awareness of opportunities– immediate needs and motivation

Sudden Drops

• Visual cliff measures depth perception, which is based not on maturity level but affordance

- depends on prior experience

• Object Constancy- things remain what they are, despite

changes in perception or appearance- boundaries of three-dimensional

objects

Movement and People• Dynamic perception—1 of the 2 principles

explaining infant perception; namely, that from birth perception is primed to focus on movement and change

• 2nd principle explaining infant perception is that babies are fascinated by people

• Infants most interested in emotional affordances of their caregivers

• Certain amount of experience and maturation in order to process and remember experiences

• In first year infants have great difficulty storing new memories

• Older children often unable to describe events that occurred when they were younger

Memory

• Very early memories possible if– situation similar to real life– motivation high– special measures aid retrieval by acting

as reminders

Memory, cont.

Reminders and Repetition

• Reminder session—any perceptual experience that helps a person recall an idea or experience

A Little Older, A Little More Memory

• After 6 months infants capable of retaining information for longer periods of time with less reminding

• Deferred imitation apparent after end of first year

• By middle of the 2nd year, children capable of remembering and reenacting complex sequences

A Little Older, A Little More Memory, cont.

• Memory is not just single entity; distinct brain regions for particular aspects of memory; humans have a memory for– words– images– actions– smells– experiences– “memorized” facts

Language: What Develops in Two Years?

• Most impressive intellectual achievement of young child and also of all humans

• Children around the world have the same sequence of early language development but– timing and depth of linguistic ability

vary

The Universal Sequence of Language Development

First Noises and Gestures

• Baby talk—high-pitched, simplified, and repetitive ways adults talk to babies

• Vocalization– crying– cooing

• Babbling– deaf babies do it later and less frequently,

but are more advanced in use of gestures

• First word and sentences at age of 1 year

First Words

The Language Explosion and Early Grammar

• Naming explosion—sudden increase in infant vocabulary, especially nouns, beginning at 18 months

• Holophrase—single word that expresses a complete, meaningful thought

• Grammar—all the methods that languages use to communicate meaning

Theories of Language Learning• Even the very young use language

well• Three schools of thought

– infants are taught language– infants teach themselves– social impulses foster infant language

Theory 1: Infants are Taught• Skinner’s reinforcement theory:

quantity and quality of talking to child affects rate of language development (learned)– parents are good instructors– baby talk characterized by

• high pitch• simpler vocabulary• shorter sentence length• more questions and commands• repetition

• Chomsky and LAD (Language Acquisition Device)—hypothesized neurological (inborn) structure that prewires all children for language, including basic aspects of intonation, grammar, and vocabulary

– infants innately ready to use their minds to understand and speak whatever language offered to them

– they are experience expectant

Theory 2: Infants Teach Themselves

• Social-pragmatic—social reason for language: to communicate

• Infants seek to respond, which shows their being social in nature— and thus mutually dependent—by

- vocalizing- babbling- gesturing- listening- pointing

Theory Three: Social Impulses Foster Language

A Hybrid Theory

• Emergentist coalition—combination of valid aspects of several theories- cortex contains many language centers- nature provides several paths to learning language