Cognitive & Language Development

1. Cognitive & Language Development Behavioral Science Lecture 8

2. Outline of Lecture • General Theories of Cognitive Development • Piaget’s Stage Theory • Information Processing • Theory-theory Approach

3. Piaget’s theory • Children’s thinking viewed as qualitatively different from adults • General form of reasoning at each of four different stages • Progression from “illogical, magical thinking to scientific reasoning • Child “constructs” a model of reality

4. Piaget’s 4 Stages • Sensorimotor Stage • 0 - 2 years • Preoperational Stage • 2 - 7 years • Concrete Operational Stage • 7- 12 years • Formal Operational Stage • 12 + years

5. Sensorimotor Stage • Emphasis on learning through motor actions on objects • Thought limited to here and now, no mental representation • Key developments • Emergence of symbolic thought • Seen by: • Language • Object Permanence • Deferred imitation

6. Language Development • Speech Perception • Natural Preferences for high pitched vocalizations • Discriminations of speech sounds • can discriminate sounds not used in own language • Speech Production • Babbling e.g,. Baba, mama, papa • all infants babble even deaf infants, but deaf infants begins like normal infants, but then drops off rather than increases

7. Language Development • Comprehension always exceeds productions • BE CAREFUL TALKING IN FRONT OF CHILDREN!!!! • First Word-around 1 years, by age 6 vocabulary of about 10,000 words (about 5 words per day) • Individual Differences, range 8-18 months • females earlier than male • Language delay • Multiple causes - often difficult to determine cause • Ottis Media

8. Language Development • One-Word stage (Holophrastic stage) • wide-range of ideas expressed with one-word sentence • Two-Word stage (telegraphic stage) • e.g., “Go car”, “more cookie” • Gradual increase in length of sentences • Language mostly mastered by age 5

9. Characteristics of Pre-Operational Thought • centration- • focus on most salient dimension, ignore others • because of this child fails conservation tasks • egocentrism • animism

10. Concrete Operational Stage • Logical reasoning, • but limited to: • concrete problems, • here & now • problems that are not too complex • Often leave out steps / fail to fully complete the problem • Failure to consider all possible solutions • Success on conservation Problems

11. Formal Operational Stage • abstract, scientific thought, if then…reasoning • Piaget believed we would all reach this stage, • actually only 30-40% of American teenagers in formal operations • not universal cross cultures, some cultures no evidence of formal operations • related to formal education in science & logic

12. Information Processing Approaches • Cognitive Dev more continuous • Information processing capabilities are limited • By processing speed • Due to maturation of brain • By memory • Due to maturation of brain • Knowledge acquisition • including acquisition of more effective strategies

13. Digit Span Increases with Age • Can be increased by: • Familiarity with info • Practice • Use of strategies • Rates of forgetting are similar for children and adults

14. Use of Strategies • Prior to school age children don’t: • Often use strategies spontaneously • Use strategies effectively • Strategy use increases with age • Really begins around school age • Use of more effective strategies increases with age • When faced with unfamiliar task children use less sophisticated strategies

15. Children’s strategy use Children at a particular age do not use only one type of strategy More of a shift in probabilities of use Not a shift towards always using the most effective

16. Performance on a given cognitive task is influenced by 3 types of constraints • Organismic • Factors within the child • Genetic factors • Age / Maturation / Knowledge & Past Experience • Environmental • Nutrition / Health Care • Enriched / Impoverished environment • Task • Specific task demands • Familiarity with the task • Emotional valence of the task

17. Some Implications Children’s performance is highly variable Across similar tasks Across days Across children of same age Even in the same day over time Siegler, 1996, 2001,2003

18. Implications of Cog Dev: Children as witnesses • Children do not remember as much • But may remember different things than adults • Children are most accurate in the initial interview • Anatomically correct dolls / dolls in general lead to more INACCURATE recall of events • Children are highly suggestible • Decrease in suggestibility with age • BUT ADULTS ARE ALSO SUGGESTIBLE

19. Knowledge / Expertise is Domain Specific • Children tend to be universal novices • Reasoning looks most similar across domains that are equally familiar (unfamiliar) • Adult abilities vary greatly by domain as well • But do have better problem solving skills that can be applied more broadly

20. Knowledge Effects can Over-ride Age Effects • Child chess experts outperform adult novices in learning and memory tasks involving chess • Chronically ill children may become experts in their disease, medical procedures, hospital practices etc.,

21. Theory - Theory Approach • Emphasis on competence • Children conceptualized as little scientists • Approach world in a systematic and logical fashion

22. Theory-theory approach • We have evolved to search for causality in the world • Children start with some foundational theories • Naïve Physics - • Reasoning about objects • Naïve Psychology - Theory of Mind • Reasoning about what makes people do things • Naïve Biology • Reasoning about living things

23. Reasoning about objects (Baillargeon et al, 1985) • By 5-months infants look longer at the impossible event • Infant represents the box as continuing to exist • Infant surprised that an object can pass through the space it occupies • Other studies show that infants can do this even by 3 ½ months • especially if they are fast habituaters

24. Children’s thinking • Not purely constructed from observations of the world • Observations are combined with information that is taught • Often leads to • “misconceptions” • “alternative models”

25. Scientific Model Synthetic Models Initial Model Vosniadou & Brewer

27. Synthetic Model Scientific Model Initial Model

28. Children’s conception of Illness • How do people get colds? • “From outside” • How do they get them from outside? • They just do, that’s all. They come when someone else gets near you.” • How? “I don’t know, by magic I think.” • How do people get colds? • “You’re outside without a coat and you start sneezing. Your head would get cold, the cold would touch it, and then it would go all over your body.”

29. What is a cold? • “You sneeze a lot, you talk funny, and your nose is clogged up.” • How do people get colds? • “In winter, they breathe in too much air into their nose, and it blocks up the nose.” • How does this cause colds? • “The bacteria gets in by breathing. Then the lungs get too soft, and it goes to the nose.” • How does it get better? • “Hot fresh air, it gets in the nose and pushes the cold air back.” • from R. Bibace & M.E. Walsh (1981). Children’s conceptions of illness.

30. By age 4 children have some understanding of subconcepts of death • Death is universal for living things • Death is inevitable for living things • Death is brought about by certain causes • Death is irreversible • But many misconceptions persist • Misconceptions can often be viewed as synthetic models derived from child’s knowledge/ experience and cultural inputs

31. A 4.5 year-olds view of death • If you are dead does your heart beat? • No • Do dead people eat? • No • Do dead people breathe? • No • Do dead people sleep • Yes, they’re in deep sleep

32. Children’s thinking is also influenced by the culture

34. Magical beliefs in children and adolescents related to obsessive-compulsive behavior, anxiety • Bolton et al., 2002 • Evans et al., 2002

35. Adults aren’t so scientific….

36. Beliefs in Magic • Vary by age • Seem to peak around 3 - 6 years • Vary by culture • Vietnamese-Americans (both children and adults) more likely to use magical explanations to explain illness and disease • Nguyen & Rosengren, 2004

37. Children’s conception of Doctors Study of 4-5 year olds • What do doctors do? • 46% “They give shots.” • 46% “They make you well.” • How do you get to be a doctor? • 46% “You get a white coat and a stethoscope” • 23% “You ask your teacher” • 31% “You go to school”

38. How are doctors paid? • 45% “doctors are not paid” • 15% “ nurses pay doctors” • 23% “ stores pay doctors” • 8% “parents pay” Haight, Black, & Dimatteo, 1985