Cognitive Development 2024 Lecture Slides PDF

8/11/24 Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Lecture 3: Piaget’s theories have had an enormous...

8/11/24 Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Lecture 3: Piaget’s theories have had an enormous impact on our thinking about children’s Cognitive Development intellectual growth continued Professor Rachel Zajac office: 413 William James Building phone: 479 3988 email: [email protected] 1 2 Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Piaget’s theories have had an enormous impact on our thinking about children’s intellectual growth But did Piaget have it right? Most criticisms assert that Piaget underestimated children’s abilities at various ages 3 4 Criticism 1 Babies don't seem to start with nothing 5 6 1  8/11/24 Space and Objects Space and Objects 7 8 Space and Objects Space and Objects The Visual Cliff The Visual Cliff – Children appear to be able to perceive depth around the time they can crawl – Even pre-crawling infants may be able to discriminate between the two sides of the cliff 9 10 Space and Objects Space and Objects The Effect of Occlusion 11 12 2  8/11/24 Space and Objects Space and Objects The Effect of Occlusion – Habituation Procedure – infants prefer to pay attention to novel things – over time they become accustomed to stimuli and pay less attention to them – the moment something “new” happens, they pay attention again – we can use this behaviour pattern to find out which of two stimuli infants perceive as more novel 13 14 Space and Objects Space and Objects The Effect of Occlusion – even 4-month-olds seem to understand the principle of occlusion 15 16 Space and Objects Space and Objects Understanding of Support Understanding of Support – develops gradually by 6 months 17 18 3  8/11/24 Space and Objects Space and Objects Object Permanence Object Permanence 19 20 Space and Objects Space and Objects Object Permanence – remember the “A not B error”? 21 22 Space and Objects Space and Objects 23 24 4  8/11/24 Space and Objects Space and Objects Object Permanence – remember the “A not B error”? – does the infant really think that the object is in Location A? 25 26 Space and Objects Mathematical Reasoning Object Permanence – remember the “A not B error”? – does the infant really think that the object is in Location A? – the error simply appears to represent difficulty overriding a motor habit 27 28 Mathematical Reasoning Mathematical Reasoning Piaget said that infants had no concept of number and couldn’t conserve number until they were around 6 years old But even 6-month-olds show some understanding of number 29 30 5  8/11/24 Social Cognition Social Cognition Newborn babies would rather look at faces than scrambled faces 31 32 Social Cognition Social Cognition Newborn babies would rather look at faces than scrambled faces At 3 weeks old, infants will attempt to imitate facial expressions 33 34 Social Cognition Social Cognition Newborn babies would rather look at faces than scrambled faces At 3 weeks old, infants will attempt to imitate facial expressions 9-month-olds will look in the direction of their mother’s gaze 35 36 6  8/11/24 Social Cognition Intentions 37 38 Social Cognition Intentions Criticism 2 – even 6-month-olds understood that the object being reached for is separate to the reach Cognitive development itself isn’t an “all or nothing” – infants of this age appear to understand actions in terms of intended goals phenomenon 39 40 Numerical Skills in Preschoolers 41 42 7  8/11/24 Numerical Skills in Preschoolers Numerical Skills in Preschoolers Counting Numerical Reasoning – Even when they don’t use the right numbers, toddlers understand what counting is all about 43 44 Numerical Skills in Preschoolers Social Cognition in Preschoolers Numerical Reasoning – Could Piaget’s assertion that children can’t conserve number be due to repeated questioning? – Children younger than 6 can generally conserve if the task is relevant 45 46 Social Cognition in Preschoolers Social Cognition in Preschoolers Egocentrism Egocentrism – Piaget thought that children were egocentric – Piaget thought that children were egocentric until they were around 7 years old until they were around 7 years old – even 3-and 4-year-olds can ‘pass’ a diorama task if it’s relevant – at 2 ½ to 3 ½ children will turn a book around so that an adult can see it, and bend down when talking to a younger child – children under 1 year will turn to see what their mother is looking at 47 48 8  8/11/24 Social Cognition in Preschoolers Social Cognition in Preschoolers Theory of Mind – a group of skills relating to the understanding of the existence of other people’s minds – for example: intentions beliefs likes and dislikes perspectives – Theory of Mind allows us to be effective in social situations 49 50 Social Cognition in Preschoolers Social Cognition in Preschoolers Others’ likes and dislikes True and false beliefs – broccoli versus crackers study – one aspect of Theory of Mind – 18-month-olds gave the experimenter what she – False Belief Task liked – 14-month-olds gave the experimenter what they liked 51 52 Social Cognition in Preschoolers True and false beliefs – one aspect of Theory of Mind – False Belief Task – On average, 4-year-olds pass and 3-year-olds don’t 53 54 9