CHAPTER 5 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY Learning Objectives

CHAPTER 5 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Learning Objectives LO 5 -1 What are the fundamental features of Piaget's theory of cognitive development? LO 5 -2 According to Piaget, how does children's understanding develop? LO 5 -3 How do infants process information? LO 5 -4 How is infant intelligence measured? LO 5 -5 By what processes do children use language? LO 5 -6 How do children influence adults’ language?

PIAGET’S APPROACH TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Key Elements of Piaget's Theory Action = Knowledge • Four universal stages in fixed order • Development = movement from one stage to the next • Stages based on physical maturation and exposure to relevant experiences • Basic building blocks of understanding are mental constructs called schemes • Schemes are organized patterns of functioning, that adapt and change with mental development.

Stages of Piaget's Theory • All children pass through a series of four stages • Fixed order from birth through adolescence: – – This Chapter Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete Operational Formal Operational.

Principles that underlie cognitive growth • Assimilation • process by which people understand an experience in terms of their current stage of cognitive development and way of thinking. • Accommodation • when child changes existing ways of thinking, understanding, or behaving in response to encounters with new stimuli or events. • Schemes • Organized patterns of functioning, that adapt and change with mental development.

Piaget's Six Substages of the Sensorimotor Stage

Earliest Stage of Cognitive Growth Sensorimotor Period • Initial of four stages • Contains six substages • Individual differences in rate • Transitions include characteristics of both stages

Cognitive Transitions

A Closer Look Substage 1: Simple Reflexes • First month of life • Various inborn reflexes • At center of a baby's physical & cognitive life • Determine nature of infant's interactions with world • At the same time, some of reflexes begin to accommodate the infant's experiences

A Closer Look Substage 2: First Habits and Primary Circular Reactions • 1 to 4 months of age • Beginning of coordination of what were separate actions into single, integrated activities. • Activities that engage baby's interests are repeated simply for sake of continuing to experience it • Circular reaction • This repetition of a chance motor event • Process that starts building cognitive schemes • Primary circular reaction – next slide

A Closer Look - two Substage 2: First Habits and Primary Circular Reactions • 1 to 4 months of age • Primary circular reaction • schemes reflecting an infant's repetition of • interesting actions or • enjoyable actions • just for the enjoyment of doing them • focus on the infant's own body

A Closer Look Substage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions • 4 to 8 months of age • Child begins to act upon outside world • Infants now seek to repeat enjoyable events in their environments that are produced through chance activities • Infant activity involves actions relating to the world outside

A Closer Look - again Substage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions • 4 to 8 months of age • secondary circular reactions • schemes regarding repeated actions that bring about a desirable consequence • Small variations on an activity theme

A Closer Look Substage 4: Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions • 8 months to 12 months • Beginning of goal-directed behavior • Several schemes are combined and coordinated to generate single act to solve problem • Means to attain particular ends and skill in anticipating future circumstances due in part to object permanence

A Closer Look Substage 4: Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions • 8 months to 12 months • Object permanence • Realization that people and objects exist even when they cannot be seen

Figure 5 -2 Object Permanence Before an infant has understood the idea of object permanence, he will not search for an object that has been hidden right before his eyes. But several months later, he will search for it, illustrating that he has attained object permanence. Why is the concept of object permanence important?

A Closer Look Substage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions • 12 to 18 months • Development of schemes regarding deliberate variation of actions that bring desirable consequences • Carrying out miniature experiments to observe consequences

A Closer Look Substage 6: Beginnings of Thought • 18 months to 2 years • Capacity for mental representation or symbolic thought • Mental representation • Understanding causality • Ability to pretend • Deferred imitation

A Closer Look Substage 6: Beginnings of Thought • 18 months to 2 years • Mental representation • An internal image of a past event or object • They can even plot in their heads unseen trajectories of objects, so if a ball rolls under a piece of furniture, they can figure out where it is likely to emerge on the other side.

A Closer Look Substage 6: Beginnings of Thought • 18 months to 2 years • Deferred imitation • a person who is no longer present is imitated later • Evidence for mental representation

Assessing Piagetian Theory PROS • Descriptions of child cognitive development accurate in many ways – Piaget was pioneering figure in field of development – Children learn by acting on environment – Broad outlines of sequence of cognitive development and increasing cognitive accomplishments are generally accurate CONS • Substantial disagreement over validity of theory and many of its specific predictions – Stage conception questioned – Connection between motor development and cognitive development exaggerated – Object permanence can occur earlier under certain conditions – Onset of age of imitation questioned – Cultural variations not considered

Assessing Piagetian Theory • Developmental improvement has gradual increments growing step-by-step in skill-by-skill manner. • Apparent inability of young infants to comprehend object permanence may reflect more about their memory deficits than their lack of understanding of the concept: – The memories of young infants may be poor enough that they simply do not recall the earlier concealment of the toy. – In fact, when more age-appropriate tasks were employed, some researchers found indications of object permanence in children as young as 3 1/2 months. • Facial imitation suggests that humans are born with a basic, innate capability for imitating others’ actions – a capability that depends on certain kinds of environmental experiences – but one that Piaget believed develops later in infancy.

INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACHES TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Often seen as “more modern” and therefore “better”.

Information-Processing • According to this approach, the quantitative changes in infants’ abilities to organize and manipulate information represent the hallmarks of cognitive development

What is information-processing? • Identifies the way that individuals take in, store, and use information • Involves quantitative changes in ability to organize and manipulate information • Increases sophistication, speed, and capacity in information processing characterizes cognitive growth • Focuses on types of “mental programs” used when seeking to solve problems

Information Processing Encoding—storage—retrieval The process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Information processing is the change (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. conversion of latent information into manifest information (Mc. Gonigle & Mastrian, 2 Latent and manifest information is defined through the terms of equivocation (remai dissipation (uncertainty of the sender what the receiver has actually received), and

Information Processing The process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. Note that by this def. Information can not be manipulated or created. It is inadequate Better: Information processing is the change (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an observer. Conversion of latent information into manifest information (Shannon).

How do you compute? Take a few minutes to write down an example of how you do each of the following: • Encoding • the process by which information is initially recorded in a form usable to memory. • Storage • the placement of material into memory. • Retrieval • the process by which material in memory storage is located, brought into awareness, and used.

Unexpected Expertise • Infants have the ability to learn subtle statistical patterns and relationships • These results are consistent with a growing body of research showing that the mathematical skills of infants are surprisingly good • Infants as young as five months are able to calculate the outcome of simple addition and subtraction problems Figure 5 -4 Mickey Mouse Math Researcher Dr. Karen Wynn found that five-month-olds like Michelle Follet, pictured here, reacted differently according to whether the number of Mickey Mouse statuettes they saw represented correct or incorrect addition.

Automatization • Degree to which activity requires attention • processes that require relatively large amounts of attention are controlled • Helps with initial encounters with stimuli through easy and automatic information processing • Frequency of encounters differentiates familiar from unfamiliar; • frequency of stimuli pairing permits understanding of concepts • Concepts, categorizations of objects, events, or people that share common properties. Gosh, I hope we get to revisit this in the chapters on Seniors…

Memory Capabilities in Infancy Getting a kick out of that! • Kicking research demonstrates increase with age in memory capacities • Infants who have learned the association between a moving mobile and kicking showed surprising recall ability when they were exposed to a reminder • It took only a few days for 2 -month-old infants to forget their training, but 6 -month-old infants still remembered for as long as 3 weeks. • When the babies saw a reminder—a moving mobile— their memories were apparently reactivated.

Is infant memory qualitatively different from that in older children and adults? • Information is processed similarly throughout life span • Kind of information being processed changes and different parts of brain may be used • processes that underlie memory retention and recall seem similar throughout the lifespan • but the quantity of information stored and recalled does differ markedly as infants develop.

Does your family have a special story about your early childhood? The more times a memory is retrieved, the more enduring the memory becomes.

How long do memories last? • Researchers disagree on the age from which memories can be retrieved – Early studies lead to belief in “infantile amnesia” – the lack of memory for experiences prior to age 3 – recent research shows infants do retain memories. – Older infants can retrieve information more rapidly and they can remember it longer. – Myers research finds clear evidence of early memory • Physical trace of a memory in brain appears to be relatively permanent – Memories may not be easily, or accurately, retrieved

So…do infants remember? • Theoretical possibility for interfered memories to remain intact from a very young • Most cases memories of personal experiences in infancy do not last into adulthood • Memories of personal experience seem not to become accurate before age 18 to 24 months

Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory Explicit • Advances in brain scan technology, as well as studies of adults with brain damage, suggest that there are two separate systems involved with long-term memory: explicit and implicit memory • Explicit memory is memory that is conscious and can be recalled intentionally. • Explicit and implicit memories emerge at different rates and involve different parts of the brain What we ordinarily think of as a “memory”.

Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory Implicit • Advances in brain scan technology, as well as studies of adults with brain damage, suggest that there are two separate systems involved with long-term memory: explicit and implicit memory • Implicit memory consists of motor skills, habits, and activities that can be remembered without conscious cognitive effort – motor cortex wiring • The earliest memories seem to be implicit, and they involve the cerebellum and brain stem What we ordinarily think of as “skill”.

Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory (continued) • The forerunner of explicit memory involves the hippocampus. • True explicit memory doesn't't emerge until the second half of the first year • When explicit memory does emerge, it involves an increasing number of areas of the cortex of the brain

What Is Infant Intelligence? Developmental specialists have devised several approaches to illuminate the nature of individual differences in intelligence during infancy

Do, Re, Me…. . Intelligence! Developmental Scales • Gesell: • Developmental quotient • Performance compared at different ages for significant variation from norms of given age • Four domains: motor skills, language use, adaptive behavior, personal-social

Do, Re, Me…. . Intelligence! Developmental Scales • Bayley: • Bayley Scales of Infant Development • Developmental Quotient • 2 to 42 months • Two areas • (See table in next slide)

Sample Items from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development

Are developmental scales useful? YES NO • Provide a good • Do not provide good snapshot of current prediction for future developmental level development • Provide objective assessment of e c n e ig l l behavior relative to e t n i o t d e t a l e norms r y l r a e l c Not Maybe?

Information Processing Approaches to Individual Differences in Intelligence • Using IP approach suggests relationship between information processing efficiency and cognitive abilities • Moderately strong correlation between early information processing capabilities and later IQ measures • Predicting child may do well on IQ tests later in life is not same as predicting child will be “successful” • More recent information processing approaches continuous manner from infancy to the later stages of life

Thinking about goals • How important is it for parents to predict infant “success”? • Why do people care about IQ? Either theirs or their kids? • What the heck is “success” anyway? – After getting to know some high IQ people I came to believe that success is getting to do what you want to do. – If that requires money then success is measured in $$. – If that requires mobility then it might be measured by stamps in your passport. – It depends on what YOU want out of life. – You have no idea what your infant child will want.

And so…what does IP research reveal? Relationship between information processing efficiency and cognitive abilities • Correlate moderately well with later measures of intelligence • Measures: • how quickly infants lose interest in stimuli that they have previously seen • responsiveness to new stimuli • More efficient information processing during the 6 months following birth is related to higher intelligence scores between 2 and 12 years of age and other measures of cognitive competence

What about the multimodal approach? Cross-modal transference • Ability to identify a stimulus previously experienced through only one sense by using another sense is associated with intelligence

Association between early IP capabilities and later measures of IQ must be qualified • • The correlation is only moderate in strength. Other factors important like environmental stimulation Do not assume intelligence is permanently fixed in infancy. Intelligence measured by traditional IQ tests relates to a particular type of intelligence that emphasizes abilities leading to academic, and certainly not artistic or professional, success • Predicting a child may do well on IQ tests later in life is not same as predicting the child will be successful later in life.

Assessing the IP Approach PROS • Often uses more precise measures of cognitive ability • Critical in providing information about infant cognition CONS • Precision makes it more difficult to get overall sense of cognitive development

More Assessing the IP Approach • Piagetian and information-processing approaches are critical in providing an account of cognitive development in infancy. • Coupled with advances in the biochemistry of the brain and theories that consider the effects of social factors on learning and cognition, the two help to paint a full picture of cognitive development.

Taking the Einstein Out of Baby Einstein • Author has a strong negative bias against commercial endeavors. • While there is controversy over “educational” materials sold by various companies it is unclear whether such materials are of no real value, of value to certain children, or are generally helpful. • What IS clear is that ANYTHING that encourages parents to interact with their children is ultimately beneficial. • So, just skip author’s opinions. Decide for yourself.

THE ROOTS OF LANGUAGE

k e e w t x e n d e u n i t n o c e b o T

The Fundamentals of Language From sounds to symbols Phonology Morphemes Semantics Comprehension and production

Term Definitions • Language, the systematic, meaningful arrangement of symbols, provides the basis for communication. • Phonology basic sounds of language – Phonemes smallest unit – combined to produce words and sentences. – English has 40 phonemes – Language range 15 to 85 • Morphemes smallest language unit that has meaning. – Some morphemes are complete words, – others add information necessary for interpreting a word, such as endings “-s” and “-ed”

Comprehension Precedes Production

Early Sounds and Communication • Prelinguislic communication through sounds, facial expressions, gestures, imitation, and other nonlinguistic means. • Babbling Speech like but meaningless sounds starts 2/3 mos – 1 yr Starts w/ vowels adds consonants around 5 mos – Universal – Repetition of sounds – and best of all…spit bubbles!

Broca's Areas of the brain that are activated during speech, left, are similar to areas activated during the production of hand gestures, right.

See what I say… Infants with hearing impairments • Babble with hands instead of voices • IF exposed to sign language • Gestural and verbal babbling activate same neural centers • Implication is that spoken language evolved from gestural language

What comes after “ba-ba-ba-ba”? Progression from Simple to Complex • Exposure to speech sounds of particular language initially do not influence babbling – At 6 months babbling reflects of language of culture – Distinguishable from other language babbling • Combinations of sounds and gestures used to communicate

First Words Increase at rapid rate • 10 to 14 months = first word • 15 months = 10 words • 18 months = one-word stage ends • 16 to 24 months = language explosion equally 50 to 400 words • Disagreement over definition of “first word” • Clear consistent name person/event/object (effete def) • Sound close to adult word (the normal def)

The Top 50: The First Words Children Understand % Percentage refers to percentage of children who include this type of word among their first 50 words.

First Words • First words in children's early vocabularies objects and things, both animate and inanimate. • Most often refer to: – people or objects who constantly appear and disappear (“Mama”) – to animals (“kitty”) – or to temporary states (“wet”)

First Sentences First sentences • Created around 8 to 12 months after first words • Indicate understanding of labels and relationships between them • Often observations rather than demands • Comments • Observations • Labeling • Use order similar to adult speech with missing words

Children's Imitation of Sentences Showing Decline of Telegraphic Speech

Other Early Language Characteristics • • Underextensions using words too restrictively, common among children just mastering spoken language think word refers to a specific instance of a concept, instead of to all examples of the concept • • Overextensions using words too broadly Comes after underextension beginning to develop general categories & concepts.

Speaking in style and stylish speaking Referential style primarily to label objects Americans Expressive style primarily to express feelings and needs Japanese Cultural differences appear: US moms label objects more frequently Japanese moms talk about social interactions

THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Learning Theory Approaches: Language as a Learned Skill • Language acquisition follows the basic laws of reinforcement and conditioning • Through the process of shaping, language becomes more and more similar to adult speech Possibly affects later stages and older children

Counter-Arguments to Learning Theory Approach • Does not adequately explain how children readily learn rules of language • Does not account for how children move beyond specific heard utterances to produce novel phrases, sentences, and constructions • Does not explain how young children can apply linguistic rules to nonsense words

Nativist Approaches: Language as an Innate Skill • Genetically determined, innate mechanism that directs the development of language • Children are born with innate capacity to use language, which emerges, more or less automatically, due to maturation • Chomsky hypothesized universal grammar and Language Acquisition Device Earlier stages and younger children

Assessing Chomsky's Approach PRO CON • Specific gene related • Uniqueness of speech to speech production countered by primate identified researchers • Language processing • Even with genetic in infant brain priming, language use structures similar to still requires those in adult speech significant social processing experience to be used effectively

Interactionist Approaches: Language as a Social Device • language development produced through combination of – genetically-determined predispositions – environmental circumstances • Specific course of language development determined by – the language to which children are exposed – reinforcement they receive for using language in particular ways • Social factors are key to development

“Baby talk” Infant-Directed Speech Style of verbal communication directed toward infants Short, simple sentences Higher pitch, increased range, varied intonation Repetition of words and restricted topics Sometimes amusing sounds that are not even words Little formal structure, similar to telegraphic speech “Dog talk”

How does this speech change? • Infant-directed speech changes as children become older – Around the end of the first year, takes on more adultlike qualities – Sentences become longer and more complex, although individual words are still spoken slowly and deliberately – Pitch used to focus attention on important words

Does Cootsy-Coo Work? Infant-directed speech plays an important role in infants’ acquisition of language • Occurs all over the world, – though there are cultural variations • Preferred by newborns • Babies who are exposed to a infant-directed speech early in life seem to begin to use words and exhibit other forms of linguistic competence earlier

Developmental Diversity Do people everywhere say “ba-ba-boo” to their infants? • Words differ but ways spoken are similar • Basic similarities across cultures and in some facets of language specific to particular types of interactions • Quantity of speech differ by cultures

Infant Directed Speech - Culture 6 of 10 most frequent major characteristics common to both English and Spanish: • exaggerated intonation • high pitch • lengthened vowels • Repetition • lower volume • heavy stress on certain key words

Infant Directed Speech – Culture cont. • Mothers in United States, Sweden, and Russia – all exaggerate and elongate the pronunciation of the three vowel sounds of “ee, ” “ah, ” and “oh” – despite differences in the languages • Even deaf mothers use a form of infant-directed speech: When communicating with their infants – use sign language at a significantly slower tempo – they frequently repeat the signs.

What then do these similarities in infantdirected speech mean?

More Infant Directed Speech • Characteristics of infant-directed speech activate innate responses in infants. • Infants seem to prefer infant-directed speech over adultdirected speech – suggesting that their perceptual systems may be more responsive to such characteristics. • infant-directed speech facilitates language development – provides cues as to the meaning of speech – before infants have developed the capacity to understand the meaning of words.

Boys will be boys and girls will be…sweethearts? Gender differences: Parental language varies by child gender Boys Girls • More firm, clear, and direct responses • More diminutives • More warm phrases • More diversionary responses

Do you think men and women use different sorts of language? How many of you guys think so? How many of you women think so? It is not known if these differences are a reflection of early linguistic experiences, such findings are certainly intriguing

Infant cognitive development may be promoted by: • Providing infants the opportunity to explore the world • Being responsive to infants on both a verbal and a nonverbal level • Asking questions, listening to their responses, and providing further communication • Reading to infants • Not pushing infants and don't expect too much too soon • Keeping in mind that you don't have to be with an infant 24 hours a day