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Infant Cognition

Infant Cognition. What do babies know about the world?. Piaget’s Theory. Jean Piaget (1896-1980) Swiss psychologist Father of modern cognitive developmental psychology. Infant Cognition : Piaget’s Claims. Out of sight, out of mind No concept of object permanence Senses are uncoordinated

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Infant Cognition

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  1. Infant Cognition What do babies know about the world?

  2. Piaget’s Theory Jean Piaget (1896-1980) Swiss psychologist Father of modern cognitive developmental psychology

  3. Infant Cognition: Piaget’s Claims • Out of sight, out of mind • No concept of object permanence • Senses are uncoordinated • No intermodal perception

  4. Object Permanence • Objects continue to exist when they are out of sight

  5. Piagetian Search Tasks Show infants a toy, and as they reach for it, hide the toy under a cloth 0 - 8 months: No search 8 - 12 months: A-not-B error 12 - 18 months: Invisible displacement 18 - 24 months: Object permanence

  6. A-not-B Error Video Clip Malena May 19, 2006 age: 9 months, 27 days

  7. Why do babies make the A-not-B error? • Poor memory • Task is easier if locations are very distinct • Can’t resist the first location • Reach to A even when object is visible at B • Babies look to B first, but reach to A

  8. Tests of Object Permanence:Eliminating the need for a motor response • Present infants with an event that violates object permanence • Are babies surprised by such an event?

  9. Baillargeon’s Test of Object Permanence 3.5-month-olds Baillargeon, 1987

  10. Baillargeon Video Clip“It’s a Kid’s World”hosted by Alan Alda

  11. Amazing Infant Cognition • Object Permanence • Baillargeon: rotating screen; two “Minnies” • Support / Gravity • Baillargeon: box on platform • Physical Causality • Spelke: object contact makes things move

  12. Physical CausalityThe Role of Contact 6-month-olds Habituation Event:

  13. Physical CausalityThe Role of Contact Test Events: Impossible Possible

  14. Physical CausalityThe Role of Contact If infants understand contact as a mechanism for cause and effect, they should look longer at (dishabituate to) the ________________ event. Results: 6-month-olds look longer at impossible event. impossible

  15. Intermodal Perception • Integrating information from two or more senses when perceiving an object or event • e.g., the coordination of sight and sound

  16. Video A Video B Drumbeats Speaker Peek-a-boo Playing drum Baby Intermodal PerceptionIntegrating Sight and Sound(Spelke, 1976) Where does baby look?

  17. Intermodal PerceptionSight and Sound: Findings • 4-month-olds can integrate sight and sound • Wide range of phenomena • Emotion (facial expressions with voice) • Gender (male voice with male face) • Speech sounds (vowel sounds with mouth movements) • Speech synchrony (soundtrack with mouth movements) • Number (items in a display with number of drumbeats)

  18. Intermodal PerceptionIntegrating Sight and Touch(Meltzoff & Borton, 1979) Infants suck bumpy or smooth pacifier for 90 seconds (without seeing it). Then they see pictures of two spheres: bumpy & smooth 1-month-olds can integrate sight and touch (newborns can do it: Kaye & Bower, 1994)

  19. Intermodal PerceptionIntegrating Sight and Proprioception(Meltzoff & Moore, 1977, 1989, 1994) Imitation at birth: Newborns can make their own facial expressions match those of another person.

  20. Summary • Knowledge about the physical world appears early and develops rapidly • Infant perception and cognition are coordinated and active

  21. Piaget’s Stages • Sensorimotor (birth - 2 years) • Preoperational (2 - 7 years) • Concrete Operational (7 - 11 years) • Formal Operational (11 years - adult)

  22. Limitations of Preoperational Thought • Centration • Egocentrism • Appearance as reality • Transductive reasoning

  23. Centration • Focusing on one aspect of a problem, ignoring other relevant aspects • Examples • Conservation • Class inclusion

  24. Conservation of Number

  25. Conservation of Liquid

  26. Class Inclusion Are there more apples or more fruit?

  27. Egocentrism • Thinking everyone sees things the same way you do • Difficulty taking another’s perspective • Examples • Three-mountains task • Egocentric speech

  28. Three Mountains Task Child is asked to pick the picture that shows what the diorama looks like from the partner’s point of view.

  29. Egocentric Speech • Child and partner - separated by a barrier - have identical sets of cards • Child has to describe one card to the partner “It’s the dinosaur!” “The one with a tail.”

  30. Appearance as Reality • Tendency to confuse what something looks like with what it really is • Example • Fear of Halloween costumes

  31. Appearance as Reality

  32. Transductive Reasoning • Reasoning from one particular to another • Indifference to cause-and-effect relations • Example • Unconventional connections “I haven’t had a nap, so it isn’t afternoon.”

  33. Strengths of Preoperational Thought • Symbolic representation • Pretend play

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