Development of Thought & Language

Infant as an explorer

Infancy: first 18 – 24 months All sensory systems are functional at birth Exploration driven by…

Novelty seeking Control

Cognitive development

Piaget’s Theory Overview Features of the theory Sensorimotor stage Preoperational stage Concrete operations stage Formal operations stage

Problems with the theory Learning Outcomes

What is cognition?

Inner processes and products of the mind that lead to “knowing”

Includes all mental activity Attending, remembering, symbolizing, categorizing,

planning, reasoning, fantasizing etc…. Virtually everything we do involves thinking or cognitive

functioning Recalling a phone number Remembering a list Following directions

What is cognition?

Research focuses on What typical courses of development are Identifying individual differences Mechanisms of cognitive development

Piaget’s Theory

Stage theory 1) Sensorimotor stage

0-2 years 2) Preoperational stage

2-7 years 3) Concrete operational stage

7-11 years 4) Formal operation stage

11+ years Stages are invariant and universal

Piagetian Ideas

Cognitive development occurs through each child’s actions on the environment Allows us to begin making sense out of our

experiences Infants react toward events in the environment on

a reflexive level Gradually gain control of actions as they develop

SCHEMES, or mental representations of actions Begin with a few basic schema: cognitive

structure or concept used to identify/interpret info

Piaget’s Terminology

Scheme-mental blueprints for actions Most primitive schemes elicited by the presence of

an object/stimulus (sucking, grasping, smiling) Assimilation—process of incorporating new

experiences/info into existing schemes Adaptation- existing schemes expand/change in

order to accommodate the new info Modifying a scheme to fit new events, objects, etc.

Piaget’s Theory

4 Stages of Development Sensorimotor Pre-Operational Concrete Operational Formal Operational

Represent increasingly sophisticated ways of understanding the physical environment

1. Sensorimotor Stage

Represents development from birth to about 2 years

Thought and overt physical action are one in the same

Task 1: develop classes of schemes specific for different objects

i.e., determining what types of behaviours are appropriate and effective for influencing specific things around me

Task 2: develop object permanence

Trends in the Sensorimotor Stage

Rigidity flexibility Behaviour adapts to larger range of stimuli

Isolation coordination Series of different actions can be performed on an

object Reactivity intentionality

Progression to planned behaviour Overt actions mental representations

Objects and people are represented symbolically

Object permanence Objects are tied to infant’s awareness of them

“out of sight, out of mind” Hidden toy experiment

4 months: no attempt to search for hidden object

4-9 months: visual search for object 9 months: search for and retrieve hidden

object

2. Preoperational Stage

Ages 2 – 7 Now that child has mental representations,

begins to utilize symbols Can symbolize objects/events that are absent E.g, language, creative play By manipulating symbols, child is in effect

thinking in a way he/she would not be able to in the absence of props

2. Preoperational Stage

Egocentrism – thinks everyone experiences the world exactly as they do

Single view point Anamistic: Inanimate objects have lifelike

qualities just like themselves E.g., sun is angry at clouds and chased them

away 3 mountains task

2. Preoperational Stage

Lack of conservation Irreversibility

3. Concrete Operational Stage

Conservation Can do logical operations Understand reversibility

Formal Operations

Age 12 + years Capacity for abstract/hypothetical thought Hyptothetico-deductive reasoning

Start with general theory-deduce specific hypothesis

Propositional Thought Can reason contrary to experience

Imaginary Audience and Personal Fable consequences

Criticism of Piaget

Not enough attention to individual differences Underestimates abilities of some exceptional

children Children are more advanced cognitively, and

adults are less competent cognitively than Piaget believed

Information processing perspective

Piaget viewed the mind as a single entity I.P. perspective = mind is a set of interacting

components Computer analogy I.P. approach relies on our memory model

1. Attention mechanisms for gathering info

2. Working memory for “thinking”

3. Long term memory

Information processing perspective

Presumes that cognitive developmental improvements result from changes in these 3 systems.

Increased working memory and ability to (a) contemplate more information at one time, and (b) process that information more quickly

Evidence shows that attention, ability to encode and recall info into/from LT memory increases with age

Information processing perspective

Places heavy emphasis on importance of biological development and maturity as a precursor for cognitive growth

Also holds that cog development improves not only by improvements to the physical machinery, but also through acquisition of rules/strategies for problem solving.

Increasingly sophisticated and efficient

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

1896-1934 Largely unknown b/c Stalin banned his work

after his death Didn’t find it’s way to Western scientists until

fall of communism Sociocultural environment is most important

element in cognitive development

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Child still manipulates his/her world, but culture and social influences dramatically effect child’s cognition—socially formed mind

Cognitive processes (e.g., language, thought, reasoning) develop through social interaction

These develop first 2 yrs with direct environmental contact

Development is a product of Culture

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Emphasized the role of Social interaction Instruction

Zone of Proximal Development The discrepancy between level of actual

development and potential development

Vygotsky – Make believe play

Form of proximal development where children advance themselves as they try out a wide variety of skills

Vygotsky – Role of Language

Piaget’s view: language is just another mental representation, under-developed until age 6-7

Simply one consequence of other developmental processes

Vygotsky: Language essential to cognitive development

Cog development the product of social interaction, and subsequently, language

Vygotsky – Role of Language

Private speech – children talk to themselves Adults give instructions to children (social speech) Kids start to use parents instructions to direct their

own behaviour (private speech) Private speech becomes internalized as thought

processes (silent statements) Internalized speech used to plan and guide

behaviour == Cognitive Development

Summary of Vygotsky

Culture and social interaction very important for cognitive development

Social interactions with knowledgeable others moves development forward (ZPD)

Language is central to cognitive development Social speech –> Private Speech -

Thought

Theory of mind

We are all psychologists in our every day lives

Understanding of mental states (e.g., feelings, intentions), and their causal role in behavior Crying person described as “sad” Person drinking is thirsty Develops by approximately age 3

Autism

Suppose you were oblivious to the minds of other people.

Wouldn’t feel self conscious or embarrassed No concern of their thoughts of you Wouldn’t ask about others thoughts, or share

own No social connections – people are just a

means to an end at best, and scenery at worst

Autism

Severe deficits in social interaction Language acquisition deficits Repetitive behaviors Narrow focus of interest Self stimulating tendencies Early signs

Failure to sustain eye contact, share visual attention, or synchronize emotional expression

Autism

Elly Learned words curve, triangle and heptagon Couldn’t learn love, friend, good, bad, think,

see, etc. Problems with pronouns (e.g., I, you)

Autism

Kids with other developmental disabilities engage in imaginative play

Rain man

Section Summary

Piaget – mind consists of schemes (mental blueprints for actions)

Cognitive growth occurs when kids assimilate/accomodate new experiences into existing schemes

4 Stages of Mental Development

1. Sensorimotor: thought inseparable from physical action

2. Preoperational: can symbolize objects/events that are absent

3. Concrete Operational: know that certain actions (operations) are reversible, and principles of conservation

4. Formal Operational: abstract understanding, hypothetical thoughts

Info Processing Perspective Summary

Mind like a computer Reasoning ability improves with age as result

of increased processing speed and capacity

Sociocultural PerspectiveSummary

Vygotsky Key to mental growth is acquisition of

language Language permits learning from others and

provides foundation for verbal thought Children are apprentice-like Zone of proximal development

Autism

….?

Development of Language

3000 languages in world All fundamentally similar, but distinct enough

that one makes no sense to another Linguists cannot explain all the rules of

English language Language is represented by symbols Every person, object, concept can be

represented as a symbol

Language

Communication system in which a limited number of symbols that can be combined according to agreed upon rules to produce an infinite number of messages

Process of mastery

1. Learning basic sounds

2. Combining sounds to form words

3. Combining words to form statements

4. Understanding of statements

First sounds

Burps, grunts, sneezes – exercise vocal chords

First sounds create dialogues between infant & caregiver

6-8 weeks “cooing” begins Repeated, drawn out vowels (oooooh, eeeeeh)

First sounds

• 4-6 Months: cooing becomes babbling• Repeated consonant and vowel sounds (paa-

paa-paa, do-do-do)• Cooing and babbling occur most when hapy• Vocal play serves as exercise for fundamental

muscle movements

First Words

First Yearo Holophrases: single wordso Intonation: question, request, demando Nouns first: names of familiar things 18 Months: vocabulary spurt (30-50 words) 24 Months: 180+ words Significant individual differences

First Mistakes

2 year olds Overextension: Too broad Under-extension: Too narrow Over-regularization: Misapplication of rules

E.g., “foots” or “go-ed”

2 Year Olds

2+ word utterances Functional grammar Context important Rules inferred from adult speech

2-5 Years

Adult-like speech First grade: 10,000 words Early adolescence: understand on conceptual

level, can define words, notice incorrect grammar, etc.