Thought and Knowledge

Development

Five-year-old Tammy mistakenly believes that her short, wide glass contains less soda than her brother's tall, narrow glass. Actually, both glasses contain the same amount of soda. This illustrates that Tammy lacks the concept of:

conservation.egocentrism.assimilation.object permanence.Which of the following stages of development, in your opinion, presents the greatest challenges?

ChildhoodAdolescenceEarly adulthood: becoming a parentMiddle adulthood: midlife transitionLate adulthood: 65 and beyondPiagets Stages of Cognitive Development~ 0-2 Years Sensorimotor Stage

~ 2-7 Years Preoperational Stage

~ 7-11 Years Concrete Operational

~ 11 - adulthood Formal Operational4

Assimilation. Children use their mental schemas to interact with environment and assimilate objects in the environment into their schemas. Schemas can be built from reflexes such as suckling or grasping.

Accommodation. Experience with the environment produces changes in the schemas to accommodate that experience. This is reflected in differentiation.

Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development_________Mental patterns (ways of thinking) that children form at each stage of developmentEach of the four stages is characterized by a new set of schemas_______________The process through which a new experience is placed into an existing schemaSchema stays the same_______________The process through which a schema is adapted or expanded to incorporate a new experienceSchema changesAssimilation and Accommodation

Three-year-old Sara calls all four-legged animals kitties. Her tendency to fit all four-legged animals into her existing conception of a kitten illustrates the process of:

object permanence.conservation.assimilation.accommodation.

http://catmas.com/images/2006/12/lots-of-kitties-desktop.jpgSensorimotor Stage (0-2)Children at this stage experience the world through senses and actions_________ consists of motor actions toward objects and the sensory feedback gained from those actionsSucking reflex goes through processes of assimilation and accommodation

___________________ (~9 months) Notion that an object continues to exist even when it is hidden from viewOne of the key accomplishments of this stage8Sensory-Motor Intelligence. Birth- ~2 years

Object PermanenceA-not-B effect

Development of schemas during this period that will integrate different modalities (touch, vision, movement, etc) into one one framework.

Deferred Imitation. A child exhibits object permanence by imitating actions that occurred sometime in the past.

Object Permanence: TA-DA!

Preoperational Stage (2-7)Children at this stage can represent things with words and images (language development), but lack logical thinkingReasoning is based on immediate appearance, not logic

Children can think symbolically (pretend play)

Childrens thinking is ______________

10Pre-operational Period. 2- 7 Years of Age.

Operations on schemas produce ideas and independent thought. This emerges around age 7.

During the pre-operational stage, the acquisition of rules and experience for doing operations emerge.

Failure of Conservation of quantity and number.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11)Children at this stage can:think logically about concrete events. understanding concrete analogies. use arithmetical operations.

______________Reflects understanding that an action is reversible11Concrete Operations. 7- ~ 11

Children can do logic, but not with abstractions, only with concrete events.

Conservation

More on Conservation

Formal Operational Stage (11 +)Children at this stage can use abstract reasoning and abstract logicCan form a hypothesis and test it through deductive logicIn school, topics include algebra and the scientific method

14Formal Operations. 11 +

Children can think abstractly. They can imagine what might be.

Review of Piagets Model

More Review of Piaget

Five-year-old Tammy mistakenly believes that her short, wide glass contains less soda than her brother's tall, narrow glass. Actually, both glasses contain the same amount of soda. This illustrates that Tammy lacks the concept of:

conservation.egocentrism.assimilation.object permanence.What Are the Basic Units of Language?_________ is the most basic perceptual unit of speech.

__________ is the smallest unit of language that carries meaning.18The Structure of Language

How Do We Comprehend Language?Syntax (surface structure)

Semantics (deep structure)

Extralinguistic Cues or Context

Conversational Cooperation20SYNTAX: The rules that determine the ways symbols are combined within a given language.SEMANTICS: The rules for connecting the symbols to what they represent.Ex. When we recall something, we are likely to retrieve deep structure (the meaning) rather than the specific words.EXTRALINGUISTIC CUES OR CONTEXT: non-verbal communication such as posture, eye-contact, etc.CONVERSATIONAL COOPERATION: The common shared rules regarding turn taking, pauses. What Capacities Are Needed to Learn Language?Genetic Predisposition (nature)

Language Exposure (nurture)21Language acquisition represents the unfolding of a biologically primed process within a learning environment. (p.319)Facts that suggest a biological basis for language acquisition: Human children begin to master language early in life without any formal instruction;All adult languages throughout the world including sign languages for the deaf that have developed independently in different parts of the world seem to have a common underlying deep structure. Infants vocalize the entire range of phonemes found in the worlds languages. At about 6 months they begin to make the sounds of their native tongue and discard those of other languages. What Brain Regions Are Involved in Language Acquisition?Language acquisition depends on motor and sensory system development

Motor = Motor Cortex (and connections with _____________)

Sensory = Auditory Cortex (and connections with ______________)

22Sensory = Auditory Cortex (and connections with Wernickes Area). Motor = Motor Cortex (and connections with Brocas Area ).Dependent upon Motor and Sensory System Development.

Language and the Brain

Language Development_______________________The idea that there are biologically determined time periods when a child must be exposed to some stimuli (e.g., language) in order to achieve normal developmentCritical periods sometimes referred to as sensitive periods

Environmental input is important for the development of language, but biology determines when such input is needed in order to make use of it________________________Evidence for the Importance of Exposure to LanguageLate exposure to a first language results in poorer language skills.

Learning a second language after the age of ________ results in poorer language skills.25Sound Discrimination is Associated With Language Acquisition:By 4 days of age, babies can discriminate one language from another.The developing brain comes equipped with a sensitivity to discriminate sounds and associate them with meaning.

Age at Immigration and Language Skills

Cross-Tab Label0/0Children who spend their early years isolated from human contact and the sound of adult language are unable to develop adult language skills despite extensive training efforts later. This phenomenon provides evidence for the notion that:

there is a critical period in language development.children are born with a language acquisition device.there are no fixed stages in language development.language skills are hereditary.27Social Development: AttachmentAttachmentA strong emotional connection that persists over time and across circumstancesJohn Bowlby argued that infants have an innate repertoire of behaviors that motivate adult attentionAttachment is adaptive, in an evolutionary senseMeasuring Attachment: The Strange Situation Test

29The most common method for measuring the quality of attachment in children between the ages of 1-2 years is the Strange Situation, developed by Mary Ainsworth. The idea is that if attachment has progressed well, the child should use the parent as a secure base from which to explore a new environment. Also if the parent leaves, the securely attached child should display separation anxiety and should not be comforted by the presence of a stranger.Attachment StylesWhen Mom leavesWhen Mom returnsSECURE (70%)AVOIDANT (20%)AMBIVALENT (10%)Factors that Affect AttachmentInfant CharacteristicstemperamentParent CharacteristicsMental health statusEnvironmentSocioeconomic status (SES)Chemical FactorsoxytocinParenting Styles - BaumrindWarmColdControlNo ControlResearch about parenting styles has found an association between authoritative parenting and positive outcomes in children. The key limitation to such studies is:they are not based on representative samples.they had too many control groups.they are based on correlations and correlation does not mean causation.parents never tell the truth.

Abstract Reasoning

Social Thinking -Adolescent Egocentrism personal fable imaginary audience

Adolescence: Cognitive Development

34Adolescents can more easily think about abstract and hypothetical issues (I.e., scientific questions, the meaning of life, etc.)Personal fable~ overestimation of the uniqueness of their feelings and experiences (no one has it as bad as me).Imaginary audience~ Everybodys going to notice or Always on stage.Adulthood: PhysicalMost adults reach the peak of physical functioning at 25-30 yrs. Vision Muscle strength & flexibility Basal metabolic rate

Happy 40th. Ill take the muscle tone in your upper arms, the girlish timbre of your voice, your amazing tolerance for caffeine, and your ability to digest french fries. The rest of you can stay. The New Yorker Collection, 1999Adulthood: CognitiveInformation Processing & Memory Perceptual speed Memory for Factual information Recall Verbal ability

Death & DyingElisabeth Kbler-Ross 5 Stages of DyingDABDA38People dont always experience these stages in the order listed abovePeople may spend different amounts of time in each stageDenial~ Denies anything is wrong, or that they are in fact dying.Anger~ Why me?Bargaining~ If you let me live, Ill be a changed man (usually with Dr.s or a higher power). Depression~ Reality sets in along with a sense of powerlessness and hopelessness.Acceptance~ Resigned to their fate, and accepts it.