PL3104 Notes - Theories & Perspectives PDF

TOPIC 1: THEORIES & PERSPECTIVES STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT 1. Prenatal (Conception to Birth) 2. Infancy & Toddlerhood (Birth to 2 years) a. Expansion of motor, perceptual & intellectual capabilities b. Language...

TOPIC 1: THEORIES & PERSPECTIVES STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT 1. Prenatal (Conception to Birth) 2. Infancy & Toddlerhood (Birth to 2 years) a. Expansion of motor, perceptual & intellectual capabilities b. Language 3. Early Childhood (2 to 6 Years) a. Moral development 4. Middle Childhood (6 to 11 Years) a. Logical thinking 5. Adolescence (11 to 18 Years) a. Sexual maturity POINTS OF CONTENTION 1. Paths: Continuous vs Discontinuous a. Whether development of skills comes in stages (e.g suddenly develop an array of motor skills, then language etc) or whether it is there at the start and gradually grows 2. Culture: Universal vs Differentiated a. Effect of culture on when and how certain skills develop/present b. Different contexts can result in different paths of change 3. Effects of Nature vs Nurture a. Nature = Hereditary information passed down from generations b. Nurture = Influences from the physical and social world that shape who are are c. Stability (Remaining such a way for life) vs Plasticity (Change in response to influential experiences) d. Generally, nature alone is never enough. It’s usually a matter of all nurture, or if its a mixture of both PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVES Psychosexual (Freud) Psychosocial (Erikson) Child’s sexual & aggressive drives in primitive years are Ego makes a positive contribution to development crucial for healthy personality development for the individual to become an active &  - Must manage these drives well contributing member of society ID, Ego, Superego - Superego forms between 3 to 6 Constantly learning to balance (ego) years through interaction w/ parents. PSYCHOANALYTIC STAGES Age Psychosexual Psychosocial 0-1 Years Oral: Sucking through a Trust vs Mistrust: Needs to received bottle/breast warm & responsive care - Can turn into nail biting, smoking, overeating 1-3 Years Anal: Toilet training Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt: Want to - Can turn into extreme decide for themselves without orderliness/disorderliness punishment/being forced 3-6 Years Phallic: Oedipus & Electra conflict - Initiative vs Guilt: Sense of purpose Preference for the other sex and goals for who they want to be. parent, starts adopting Requires support from parents characteristics of the same-sex otherwise there is guilt parent 6-11 Years Latency: Stabilized Industry vs Inferiority: Negative experiences in school/home lead to feelings of incompetence Adolescence Genital: Sexual impulses Identity vs Role Confusion: Forming of personal identity, wondering what their future adult self might be Young Intimacy vs Isolation: Formation of Adulthood intimate relationships Middle Age Generativity vs Stagnation: Feeling accomplished by giving to the next generation (producing children) Old Age Integrity vs Despair: Feeling that their life was worth it  SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Modeling parents (Obsv. Learning), stressing the importance of cognition to understand abstract rules based on observed behaviors - Children develop personal standards and self-efficacy based on what others say Uses: Behavior modification -> Eliminates undesirable behaviors Limitations: Underestimates the role of children themselves in development, places too much emphasis on the roles of their environment PIAGET’S COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY “Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore the world” Age Stage Description Birth - 2 Years Sensorimotor Develop reflexes, thinking with their senses (eyes, ears, hands, mouth, nose) - Object permanence (8 months) 2 - 7 Years Preoperational Language development, egocentrism (and theory of mind), conservatism 7 - 11 Years Concrete Operational Logical thinking, likes structure and organization 11+ Years Formal Operational Abstract thinking and systemic reasoning Limitations: Discontinuous approach, underestimates capabilities of infants & preschoolers INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY Children are active, sense-making beings who modify their own thinking in response to environmental demands - Infant able to solve a bridge-building problem using counterweights (no prior exp) VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY Culture is transmitted from one generation to the next - Cognitive development is a socially mediated process where adults play a key role in how children learn and tackle challenges - Skills are developed based on the demands of the culture/country/context they are in, so people around the world development in extremely different ways  - Emphasis that children strive for social connection, to acquire culturally valued practices and participate in social activities ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY Relationships are bidirectional (Child ⇔ Environment) E.g A sweet boy will illicit kind and sweet responses from his parents, reinforcing his behavior Microsystem Child’s immediate surroundings - Parents, school, playgroup Mesosystem How the microsystems interact w/ one another - A child who watches his parents fight with each other might see a decline in his performance in school, or be withdrawn in social settings Exosystem Social settings that don’t directly involve children (Father’s workplace) - Father getting fired at work might lead to sense of frustration in the household and more conflict Macrosystem Cultural values and laws - Countries w/ good education laws allow children to prosper better Chronosystem Temporal dimension of the Ecological Systems model, showing how changes might occur throughout the child’s lifetime DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORY Mind, body, physical and social systems of a child work in an integrated system to guide the mastery of new skills. Any change in any of the system will result in new modifications being formed EVOLUTIONARY THEORY Children develop adaptive behaviors (especially during sensitive periods) to thrive in their environment and context SUMMARY OF THEORIES/PERSPECTIVES TOPIC 2: RESEARCH STRATEGIES DATA COLLECTION 1. Observations a. Natural: Cannot control conditions but very reflective of everyday behavior b. Structured: Controlled setting (equal conditions), might not be representative c. Systematic Observations: Recording of events i. Event sampling: Record all events/occurrences in a given period ii. Time sampling: Record whether time period had an occurrence  d. Limitations: Observer influence (Reacting in unnatural ways knowing they are being watched) 2. Self-Reports a. Clinical and structured interviews b. Limitations: Inaccurate reporting due to distortion 3. Case Study a. Follow one individual and study extensively - Might be skewed by theoretical preferences of researchers b. Limitations: Subjective collection of information makes it prone to bias 4. Neurobiological a. Study physical changes/processes in response to stimuli (Blood samples, fMRI/brain imaging, heart rate etc) 5. Ethnography a. Observe a distinct culture/social group, to capture unique values and social processes STUDY DESIGNS Cross-Sectional Different groups of people (ages) are studied at the same time to determine the differences in development of certain qualities at the point of study Pros: Able to describe age-related trends Cons: Does not provide evidence about individual development (only can compare across ages), and is still susceptible to cohort effects (since groups were still raised in different eras) Longitudinal Participants studied repeatedly at different ages, noting changes as time passes Pros: Able to denote how changes occur overtime Cons: Might have biased sampling, and is heavily affected by attrition. Cohort effects may happen (2010 kids might develop differently compared to 2000 kids) Sequential Combines cross-sectional and sequential approaches Pros: Checks for cohort effects by comparing longitudinal samples of the different age groups, and can make cross-sectional comparisons Cohort Observational study of a group of individuals, can be prospective (follow for multiple years) or retrospective (look back in time using available data). It is a form of longitudinal design. Individuals were raised in the same environment or share characteristics Correlational Gathering information from natural circumstances without interference to alter their experiences. Cannot infer causal relationship Experimental (RCT) Randomly assigning people to different conditions and groups, allowing researchers to infer a cause and effect Quasi-Experiments Providing treatment without random assignment (Groups are chosen to be as alike as possible to minimise effect of other factors) EXAMPLE: Testing whether the a new teaching method works - Group A (Children enrolled in schools w/ this new method) vs Group B (Children enrolled in other schools) - Compare changes in test scores - Try to ensure that Group A and B are as similar backgrounds as possible (or do matching) TOPIC 3: PRENATAL & BIRTH FERTILIZATION & CONCEPTION DNA -> Genes -> Chromosomes - Genes are segments of DNA along a chromosome Formation of sex cells (gametes) - Chromosomes in body cells pair up and copy themselves (to form the X shape) - Crossing over occurs (exchanging segments) which causes new gene combinations - Meiosis occurs with crossed over pairs to form gametes - Gametes only contain half of the DNA (23 chromosomes) Fertilization - Formation of a zygote with 23 pairs of chromosomes - Monozygotic twins come from a single zygote that split up  - Dizygotic twins come from two separate eggs fertilized by two separate sperms - 23rd pair of chromosomes are the sex chromosomes Conception & Implantation: The zygote multiplies and forms a blastocyst, then gets implanted into the uterine lining - Placenta permits food and oxygen to reach the developing organism and for waste products to be brought away, through the umbilical cord GENETIC INTERACTIONS Alleles (versions of genes) determine genotypes, which are displayed as phenotypes - Homozygous = Same allele, heterozygous = Different alleles - Look at dominant vs recessive alleles - Bb genotype people can be carriers (assuming the allele of the condition is recessive) X-Linked Diseases: Disease is attached to an X-Chromosome and is typically recessive - Females with the “dirty” gene can be carriers, but males will develop the condition because they don't have a dominant X to cancel it out Chromosomal Abnormalities: Down syndrome Dominant Diseases Recessive Diseases X-Linked Diseases Huntington’s PKU Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Marfan Sickle Cell Anemia Hemophilia Diabetes Insipidus STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT Week 1 Zygote multiplies into a blastocyst (Zygote) Week 2 Implantation occurs, and supporting organisms form to feed and protect the zygote and eventual embryo: - Amnion (Sac) - Chorion - Placenta & Umbilical cord Week 3-4 Neural tube (primitive brain & spinal cord) appears (Embryo) Weeks 5-8 External body structures (face, arms, legs etc) and internal organs begin to form. Production of neurons begin at Week 7, so embryo can respond to touch and can move Weeks 9-12 Rapid increase in size, and behavioral capacities increase as (Fetus) nervous system gets connected and organized By week 12, external genitals are formed so sex of the fetus can be detected Weeks 13-24 A white, cheese-like substance (vernix) covers the skin and white hair (lanugo) covers the body to help vernix stick to the skin - The vernix prevents the skin from drying out Fetal movements can be felt + they are sensitive to light and sound Cortex of brain begins to show infolding, and myelination begins Weeks 22-26 Age of viability (Point at which, if the baby is born then, has a good chance of survival) Weeks 25-38 Cerebral cortex enlarges, resulting in rapid brain development Development of personality (fetal activity linked to temperament) Antibodies are transmitted from mother to fetus to protect against disease Greater responsiveness to external stimulation (e.g sound) Week 34: Distinct patterns of sleep/wake activity SENSITIVE PERIODS Zygotic period: Likely death Embryonic period: Serious defects are most likely to occur - Coincides with periods of foundations of organs/structures forming Fetal period: Damage is likely minor Teratogens: Environmental agents that cause damage/birth defects - Disease, pollutants, substance abuse  - Look at timing of exposure, dose, number of teratogens & genetics - Genetically, some mothers may be more resistant to teratogenic effects, or how fraternal twins may have different reactions to the a teratogen Use of Alcohol: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) - Leading preventable cause of intellectual disabilities - FAS: Distinguished by with slow physical growth, 3 facial abnormalities (short eyelids, indentation from bottom of nose to top of lip, and brain injury) - pFAS only requires 2 of the 3 symptoms in FAS, and ARND only involves neurological impairment without physical symptoms Use of Tobacco: Dangerous chemicals are brought to the fetus, and reduces the amount of oxygen available, impairing crucial organ development - Nicotine constricts blood flow - Carbon monoxide damages the CNS of the fetus - Presents as low birth weight, and higher risks of learning disabilities/disorders PRENATAL COMPLICATIONS Preeclampsia involves high blood pressure, weight gain and swelling of the body, and typically occurs in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters Complications increase after age 40 Low birth weight significantly increases the risk of death/complications after birth - Associated with drug use and tobacco use Emotional stress of mother: “Fight or flight” systems might reduce supply of blood to the uterus, redirecting it to other areas like extremities/muscles - Constant oxygen deprivation of fetus could lead to disorders TOPIC 4: SENSORY & PERCEPTION Neonatal Reflexes Primitive reflexes to support neonates’ survival, which eventually get inhibited, instead forming the basis of complex motor development Weak reflexes or lack of disappearance could signal brain damage  Sleep & Arousal State Description Duration Regular Sleep (NREM) At full rest, slow breathing and regular heart rate + 8-9 hours brain wave activity Irregular Sleep (REM) Occasional stirring and limb movements, irregular 8-9 hours breathing, heart rate and brain wave activity Drowsiness Oh so seepy Varying Quiet Alertness Body is inactive but eyes are open and attentive, 2-3 hours breathing is even Waking Bursts of uncoordinated activity, crying may occur, 1-4 hours very irregular breathing As infants develop, we observe a steady decrease in REM, even though it is responsible for the bulk of CNS development. From 3-5 years, REM is similar to adulthood. Cultural Differences in sleep patterns Parent-infant co-sleeping (sharing the bed) ○ Higher risk for SID (Sudden Infant Death) ○ Western cultures: Separation into their own crib to promote independence Individualistic culture ○ Non-Western: Proximal infant care and contact Collectivistic culture Learning & Conditioning Classical Conditioning: Utilises infant reflexes (e.g sucking when breast milk is secreted) by pairing a neutral stimuli (e.g stroking of head) with it - End result: Stroking of head leads to sucking (to stimulate feeding) - After a while of extinction (stroking in absence of breastmilk), infant will unlearn this pattern Operant Conditioning: Learning about how behaviors will elicit certain positive responses Kicking makes the mobile toy turn, pressing the lever starts the train set (instrumental learning)  Performance in these tasks also have an indication of memory => Remember that doing something leads to a reward Habituation When the infant sees something for a long time, they will eventually get “bored” and pay less attention to it, giving novel images more attention (eye contact/gaze) Familiarity preference occurs when the infant, typically after a long time, prefers to stare at an old image which is accessed from Long-term memory! Other measurements like heart rate, respiration rate can be measured, especially with modern technology Motor Development Gross development generally develops from top-bottom: Head/neck movement down (lifting head/neck) to leg movement (walking) Fine development develops from center-outward: Reaching and palmar grasp to finger pincering Touch, Hearing, Taste & Smell Age Touch Hearing Taste and Smell Birth Responds to touch & pain Prefers complex sounds over Prefers sweet tasting food, pure tones, their mother’s and smell of amniotic fluid + voice, and native language mother’s breast 1-6 Months Exploratory mouthing Prefers human speech, and Prefers salty to plain taste, sensitive to syllable starts forming lifelong flavor stress/emphasis preferences 7-12 Months Exploring with hands Able to distinguish non-native (turn, poke, feeling) languages, and speech units to understand language OVERALL Improves overtime Peaks at birth, slowly declines Improves overtime overtime Vision Is the least developed of the senses at birth, as visual components in the eye and brain are not fully formed  Newborns see fuzzy and blurry images, and are not proficient in discriminating colour Seems to able to grasp concept of 3D imagery, as shown by Grasping task (Image vs 2D drawing) Increased grasping behavior for coloured images compared to B&W Infants can distinguish among monkey (novel) and human (familiar) faces => Adult cannot distinguish monkey (novel) faces Depth Perception Able to judge the distance from one object to another Visual Cliff experiment (infants were hesitant in crossing over the deep side) ○ Demonstrated caregiver effects (facial expression of mother provided an indication of danger) Able to respond to motion and binocular depth cues ○ Looks longer at “impossible” cube, which showed an impossible setup of overlapping lines Pattern Perception As visual acuity is poor, infants are not able to distinguish patterns among small contrasting squares ○ Able to tell a 3x3 chessboard much better than an 8x8 chessboard Face Perception Preferred to look at photos of face-like features, which has a face in an upright and natural position Looked longer at attractive faces Object Perception Object permanence is achieved at around 8 months (Piaget’s theory) Object unity (Rod & occluding block experiment) ○ Concluded that infants displayed greater sense of object unity when occluded object is in motion contrary to occluding block Size & Shape constancy TUTORIAL READINGS / EXPERIMENTS Ahmed & Ruffma (1998): A not B Search Errors VOE Paradigm for non-search tasks  Infants make the search errors, but in non-search tasks they are able to stare at the unexpected event longer ○ Demonstrates ability to understand where objects are => So why do they still search at A even when it shifted to B? Response perseveration => Repeating previously learned responses Lacking refined motor skills (this is one step too far) Kellman & Specke (1983): Rod occlusion study Habituation paradigm Infants can perceive one surface going behind another object Infants can also perceive object unity only if the parts are moving together behind a stationary occluder Do not seem to understand this concept if rod is stationary TOPIC 5: COGNITION Pre-Cognitive Revolution Experiments / Behaviorism Behaviorism before the CR comprised of theories by John Watson and BF Skinner Children’s behavior can be molded by adults by controlling stimulus-response associations Reinforcers and punishment can affect the frequency of a behavior Little Albert Classical Conditioning Teaching Albert, an 11 month old infant, to be afraid of Experiment rats by pairing the rat with a loud startling sound Skinner’s Box Operant Conditioning Reinforcement of food and punishment of shocks, based on behaviors the rats do Assumes that humans have cognitive capacity to draw connections between reward/punishment and specific behaviors, and are motivated to pursue/avoid them Piaget’s Theory Children will discover and construct knowledge through their own experience Do not start as cognitive beings, instead, through sensorimotor experiences (perceptual and motor activities), their cognitive structures build up Capacities move through 4 distinct stages: Sensorimotor, Pre-operational, Concrete operational, Formal operational ○ Birth - 2 years: Sensorimotor ○ 2 - 7 years: Preoperational  ○ 7 - 11 years: Concrete Operational ○ 11+: Formal Operational Stages are invariant and universal (meaning always occurs at specific times, and is not affected by culture) ○ Very strongly biologically rooted Sensorimotor Stage: Infants gain voluntary control over their actions Reflexes => Primary, Secondary, Tertiary circular reactions => Mental representations ○ Primary Circular reactions are things that are accidentally discovered, but infants will repeat them over and over ○ Secondary and tertiary are the same but more goal-oriented Formation of schemas and mental representations to make sense of experiences ○ Assimilation (New information to add to schemas) and accommodation (new information which causes us to adjust schemas a little) Object permanence using eye-tracking Deferred Imitation: Copying/mimicking actions after some time ○ Facial imitation occurs as early as 6 weeks ○ Displays representational ability Preoperational Stage: Make-believe play and understanding categorization Egocentrism is reduced as play gradually becomes less self-centered ○ Doll-mountain experiment Gains in social competence, language skills and complex mental representations (e.g understanding societal roles) Conversation: Understanding that changes in appearance ≠ change in fundamental properties ○ Centration => Inability to focus on other aspects of the object ○ Reversibility => Ability to imagine steps in forward and backward directions Concrete Operational Stage: Increase in logical, flexibility and organization Classification, inference skills, spatial and scale reasoning However, development might be affected by culture ○ E.g drawing road maps => Indian child draws city features, American street names Formal Operational Stage: Abstract, systematic and scientific thinking  Imaginary audience: Feeling that the world is watching them (center of attention) Personal fable: Inflated views about their own importance Idealism and Criticism: Imagining alternate realities and grand visions of the world, sometimes leading to active civic behavior However, infants exhibit capacities earlier than Piaget’s predictions, indicating that they might have in-built cognitive mechanisms (perhaps through evolution) Core Knowledge Theory Infants are born with innate, core domains of thought and knowledge Each domain contains evolutionary origins Innate domains allow infants to have rapid grasps of new, related information Views infants as naive theorists => Come up with their own models of how things work Tested infants understanding of numeracy using VOE event of disappearing toys However, this theory does not clearly explain what children do to revise those innate core domains, and what experiences are most important in each individual domain Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory Emphasizes effects of social and cultural effects on children’s development, and interactions with their peers Cognition is inherently social and language-based ○ Language development is the gateway for social dialogues with more knowledgeable individuals Learning is most effective through interactions with other people Zone of Proximal Development: Distance between our actual (current) development level and potential level is determined through problem solving under guidance/collaboration Scaffolding: Building up with guides then retracting/decreasing guidance overtime for the child to handle problems independently ○ Asian parents tend to directly provide instructions, while western parents provide hints for the child to discover on their own  Reciprocal Teaching: Teacher is grouped with the students, work together to solve the problem taking up different roles (prompter, summariser, clarifier, extender) Cooperative learning: Small group working towards common goals ○ Most effective when working together in groups with someone of higher caliber/level Information Processing Systems Stimulus => Sensory Register (Memory) => STM => LTM Sensory memory to STM if attention is paid to it STM to LTM during storage (usually after repetition) ○ LTM back to STM during retrieval Retrieval done using associations and network systems (rather than just plucking it) Central Executive controls all three systems => Conscious part of coordinating and controlling Working memory is the RAM while Central Executive is the CPU Improve in various cognitive capabilities overtime 1. Speed of Processing: Measuring mean retrieval time 2. Working Memory: Verbal & Spatial memory task a. N-back task 3. Selective Attention (Executive function): General age related improvements for both auditory and auditory-visual distractors a. Tower of London task 4. Inhibition (Doing the opposite of what is “instinctive”) a. Suppressing the usual response , to follow the set rules b. Day & Night Moon/Sun task c. Gains from 3 to 7 year olds Neo-Piagetian Theory Progress from one stage to another requires notable increases in the efficiency of utilizing limited working memory capacity 1. Brain (Biological) Development: Myelination, synaptic growth & pruning 2. Practice with schemes: Becoming automatic after constant retrieval, freeing up space in working memory 3. Forming central and general conceptual structures  Important to note that development is still in stages, but is marked by biological developments rather than pure self-discovery (which is abit vague) Piaget Constructivism - Child’s Invariant and universal Development occurs in stages Child can learn alone self-discovery is most important (active learning) Core Knowledge Biological trademarks for innate Invariant and universal Development is uneven and Child can learn alone skills domain-specific Vygotsky Teaching and language are most Development paths are Development is continuous Child cannot learn alone important roles (passive learning) diverse due to cultures Information Child’s brain acts like a giant Not specified, likely to be Not specified Child can learn alone Processing computer to learn information invariant and universal too Neo-Piagetian Development is due to increases in Invariant, other than Development occurs in stages Child can learn alone working-memory capacity developmental disorders Different Theories of Intelligence General Intelligence, Crystallized Intelligence, Fluid Intelligence Crystallized => Depends on accumulated knowledge & expertise (e.g Chess) ○ Will be different based on what the culture values more Fluid => Basic information processing skills, transient across different cultures Triarchic Theory of Intelligence Analytic Intelligence ○ Applying strategies and task-relevant cognitive knowledge Creative Intelligence ○ Solving novel problems ○ Freeing working memory for complex thinking by making processing skills automatic Practical Intelligence ○ Adapting to and selecting environments to meet demands of everyday life Being good at one probably means you aren’t great at the other ones Work to achieve a balance instead Multiple Intelligence Different sets of ways to process operations  ○ E,g Musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal etc => Kinda like everyone has their own strengths Dismisses the idea of general intelligence, and assumes independent performance in each domain Similar to core knowledge theory! Intelligence Scales Stanford-Binet: Used to detect children who might be developmentally disadvantaged Fluid reasoning ⇔ Quantitative ⇔ Visual-spatial processing ⇔ Knowledge ⇔ Working memory WISC-IV (Wechsler’s Intelligence): Cross-culturally validated intelligence test for 6-16 y/o Verbal reasoning Working memory Perceptual and spatial reasoning Processing speed Variability of Intelligence Heredity vs Environmental factors Studied using adoption studies (same nurture, different nature) and twin studies (same nature, different nurture) ○ Correlation in IQ decreases in fraternal twins in adolescence Influence of non-shared environment or genes? ○ Adoption Studies: When adopted at a young age, IQs matched up with their adoptive parents and same-age peers. Correlation observed Missing heritability: There is no specific gene that determines intelligence Ethnic and SES Variations => Group based Variations in intelligence Communication styles & Parenting practices Culturally-valued knowledge (specializations) for crystallized intelligence Environmental stimulation (e.g early exposure to schooling) Stereotype threat ○ Thinking that one’s cognitive performance could confirm existing negative stereotypes ○ “Oh man, if I don’t do well in CS1010 people will really think FASS sucks at math” ○ High cognitive load caused by such thinking results in underperformance Effects of Intelligence and IQ Predicting adult occupational attainment and could predict attaining high prestige jobs Moderate correlation with emotional and social adjustment Mechanisms behind IQ and conduct problems are unclear ○ Could be affected by third variables like family background Look at sample size of data and any flaws in research methods Early Intervention Project Head Start Provided at-risk children with 1-2 year preschool, nutrition and health support Benefitted poverty-stricken children, but gains quickly declined after the project ended Perry Preschool Project For African American preschool children to receive a cognitively enriching 2-year preschool program Sustained benefits in school adjustments Factors which contribute to long-term EI impacts Small class sizes for personalized & close learning Intensive intervention, and parental involvement Focusing on holistic development, not just academic skills TUTORIAL READINGS / EXPERIMENTS Gelman & Markmans: Categorical Inferences Shown typical bird, atypical bird, typical dino, atypical dino ○ Atypical dino looks like a typical bird ‘Does this live in a nest’ rather than is this a bird ○ Labelled and non labelled Kids performed better on typical compared to atypical Splitting into labelled subgroups, it didnt affect the typical group, but labelling helped them answer atypical groups much better ○ Switched labels to unrelated adjectives (sleepy, wide awake etc). Results still largely stayed the same Tendency to answer based on category for labelled, but answer based on perception/looks for unlabeled Onishi & Baillaregon (2005): False Belief Understanding  Yellow vs Green box trial => Looking at how an agent will act Stared longer when agent correctly guesses where toy was (even though she should not have known) ○ Indiciated false belief understanding, expected agent to still think it’s in the old box Doll & Skunk conditions: Agent choose their favourite toy, then experimenter places them inside misleading boxes ○ Skunk is placed in box w/ wig attached, misleading the gent to believe it's the doll box ○ If infants are able to identify that the box is misleading, then they grasped the concept of false perception Two piece penguin condition: Infants expect agent to believe that the two piece penguin is inside the opaque cover ○ In reality, the ‘one piece’ under the transparent cover is the two piece penguin reassembled ○ If infants are surprised that the agent reached for the transparent, they do not demonstrate false belief of identity Why do they fail at elicited response? ○ Required response selection and inhibition, much more complex ○ Current false belief tasks only measure eyesight, to demonstrate understanding develops at a young ag TOPIC 6: LANGUAGE How do children acquire a vast and intricate language system in such a short period? Do they acquire language in a similar manner? What are the components of language? ○ Phonology (speech sound) ○ Semantics (vocabulary and meaning) ○ Grammar ○ Pragmatics (Rules for engaging in communication) Nativist Perspective Similar to core knowledge theory => Innate language abilities Uniquely human skill Rules for language are impossible to just be “learnt” Innate Language Acquisition Device (LAD) system ○ Universal grammar  ○ Activated once we have sufficient vocabulary, for us to combine words into consistent & logical pieces Evidence supporting Nativist Perspective 1. Animals cannot learn language, to form a rule-based sentence structure after years of training 2. Specific languages areas in the brain: Broca’s and Wenicke’s a. Language is lateralized 3. Sensitive period for language development a. Education level associated with self-rated English Proficiency b. The later you learn, the less confident you are in picking up language Challenges 1. Universal grammar (regardless of language) has not yet been identified 2. Innate grammatical learning contradicts observations of children showing piecemeal (segmented) learning 3. Fails to consider pragmatic aspect of language a. How social/cultural aspects shape learning conversational norms Interactionist Perspective Similar to Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory => Emphasizing interactions between cognitive capacities and environmental influences Artificial Neural Network Model Exposing the system to linguistic inputs, providing feedback about response accuracy and estimate how well it captures the process of language acquisition patterns Simulates learning of language Social Models Desire to be understood by others, combined with a rich language environment with some native capacity Prelinguistic Development Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) Parents adjust the way they use language in front of infants Short, high-pitched sentences, exaggerated expression and clear pronunciation => Parentese Joint Attention: Child & adult focuses on the same thing Initiating and responding to joint attention (looking at something I’m pointing toward) Predicts vocabulary learning Deficits in children with ASD Phonological Development Ability to attend to sound sequences, produce sounds, and combine phonics into coherent words and phrases Starts with easiest sounds sequences and repeating it (Mama, Dada) Looked longer at object when word was mispronounced Utilizing phonological strategies to simplify adult words Replacing hissing (s-) with stop (t-) consonants Reducing clusters into a single consonant Also depends on culture-specific errors Milestones < 1 Year: Coos & Babbling 1-2 years: Recognising correct pronunciation 6-10 years: Phonological awareness to phonemes, learning that stress patterns signal differences in meaning Semantic Development Word comprehension in the middle of the first year Comprehension (Wernicke) develops ahead of production (Broca) ○ Recognition of words vs recalling (brain + mouth) By age 6, children understand about 10000 words Affected by quantity of caregiver-child conversation, richness of adult’s vocabulary, SES and styles of language learning Lower SES is correlated with lesser parent words & involvement Referential (objects) vs expressive (social formula) style ○ Photo of someone running vs act of running Milestones < 1 Year: Listens to mother’s voice and native language 1-2 years: First words, vocabulary grows to >100 words 3-10 years: Understands metaphors, humor, double-meanings Grammar and Pragmatic Development Telegraphic speech (two-word utterances) Agent-action (I eat) vs Action object (dink oiter) Subject-verb-object (S-V-O) sequencing ○ Habituation test on two scenarios (Duck is gorping the bunny) ○ Rises sharply at 3.5 to 4 years Milestones < 1 year: ABA vs ABB patterns, joint attention developed 1-2 years: Telegraphic speech, morphemes (-s, -ed, -ing) 3-5 years: Illocutionary intent (opinion, promise, order etc) Bilingualism Either acquiring both simultaneously in early childhood, or learning a second language after mastering the first Monolinguals have a larger vocabulary bank compared to bilinguals Bilinguals might show advantages in a Stroop Task which requires inhibition and executive function ○ Effects of bilingualism depends on age (greater difference if you are old) Code Switching: Mixed language sentences (without violating the grammar) Could be due to limited vocabulary / retrieval TUTORIAL 1 DISCUSSION Group Presentation: 20 mins presentation + 10-15 min discussion Don’t need to present everything (not all results and methods, some are just changes) Focus on main hypothesis, and whether results support the hypothesis Is the methodology appropriate? How can it be improved? Generalisability of findings (look at sample demographic, socio-cultural context etc) Are there alternative explanations for results? Individual Reaction Essay: 1000 word limit including in-text citation Choose a paper from any non-presenting week Summarize the takeaways, provide critical thoughts/questions and extensions of future studies Due one week after that tutorial cycle (e.g Week 4 paper due in Week 5) Ahmed & Ruffman (1998) A-not-B search error: Infants search in Location A > Object moved to Location B > Infants still searched in Location A Piaget’s reason: No concept of object permanence ○ Competition between two memory traces (A vs B), infants fail to prioritise current information => Proven unlikely by non-search task results ○ Cannot inhibit a previously learned response (reaching at A), under-developed pre-frontal cortex ○ Lack refined motor skills to reach for the new location Non-search task: Using violation-of-expectation paradigm Event that violates infant’s expectations result in a longer gaze time (trying to make sense of impossible event) ○ Used to reveal whether infant is aware of object’s location Mixed factorial design: Using both a between-subject and a within-subject design Between: Compare the different delay times, and whether they got a possible/impossible outcome for non-search task Within: Compare results through all levels of tasks Kellman & Spelke (1983) Object Unity: Objects will continue in a definitive way where they are hidden and occluded Gestalt Theory: Innate ability to perceive whole objects via principal cues and grouping (similar colors and textures should belong to the same entity) Piaget Theory: Perception is refined through learning Study Hypothesis: Partially hidden objects are perceived by analyzing arrangements and movements Habituation Procedure: Habituate to the initial design (Experimental/Control) => Shown two possible configurations (Complete / Broken) If infants have concepts of object unity, they should dishabituate (look longer) towards the broken rods as they should be a new concept/design Study 4 Variation: Changing the figure and keeping it stationary (non movement)