Child Development L3

Question 1

What do most critics of Piaget’s theories on child development assert?

Answer 1

He underestimated children’s abilities at various ages

Question 2

What’s the first critic of piaget’s theories?

Answer 2

Babies don’t seem to start with nothing

Question 3

What are the three broad categories that indicate that babies don’t seem to start with nothing?

Answer 3

1. Space and object
2. Number and mathematical reasoning
3. Social cognition

Question 4

What are the things under the category of space and objects that indicate babies don’t start with nothing?

Answer 4

• The Visual Cliff
• The Effect of Occlusion
• Understanding of Support
• Object Permanence

Question 5

What is the visual cliff, how does it indicate that babies don’t start with nothing?

Answer 5

• Experimental procedure where have a solid cliff and then glass
• Children appear to be able to perceive depth around the time they can crawl (6-9 months roughly)
• Even pre-crawling infants may be able to discriminate between the two sides of the “cliff”

Question 6

What is the effect of occlusion, how does it indicate that babies don’t start with nothing?

Answer 6

• Understand that even if something is behind something else (occluded) that it still exists)
• Proven by the habituation procedure: infants prefer to pay attention to novel things
• Over time they become accustomed to stimuli and pay less attention to them
• The moment something “new” happens they pay attention again
• We can use this behaviour pattern to find out which of two stimuli infants perceive as more novel
• The picture that doesn’t obey the occlusion principle will be looked at longer therefore indication infants as young as 4 months grasp the concept

Question 7

What is an understanding of support, how does it indicate that babies don’t start with nothing?

Answer 7

• Tested by a experiment where a hand holds blocks in different positions. Only one has the block supported by something and thus when the hand lets go the block won’t move the rest would see the block fall
• Infants have the ability to recognize this as it develops gradually over 6 months

Question 8

What specific aspect of object permanence indicates that babies don’t start with nothing?

Answer 8

• The A not B error i.e infants search in the last place they found the object rather than when last saw it
• However, if look closely the infants gaze is actually directed to the right place
• It seems that they don’t really think that the object is in the place they search for it
• The error simply appears to represent difficulty overriding a motor habit

Question 9

How does number and mathematical reasoning indicate that infants don’t start with nothing?

Answer 9

• Piaget said that infants had no concept of number and couldn’t conserve number until they were around 6 years old
• But even 6-months old show some understanding of number

Question 10

What experiments were used to show that infants have an understanding of number?

Answer 10

• Form of the habituation task, if infants have been habituated to see of set of three things they will look longer at a set of 2 things (as novel) indicating they understand the difference
• Show set of 3 objects and a set of 2 objects. Speaker booms twice will look at set of 2 (opposite if speaker booms three times)

Question 11

What is social cognition?

Answer 11

Having an understanding of people

Question 12

Would babies rather look at normal faces or scrambled faces, what does this indicate?

Answer 12

Normal, indicates they are born with some social understanding.

Question 13

What is second way that babies show some social cognition?

Answer 13

At 3 weeks old, infants will attempt to imitate facial expressions, piaget said this would not occur until age 2

Question 14

What is a habit that indicates babies are not as egocentric as piaget thought?

Answer 14

9-month-olds will look in the direction of their mother’s gaze

Question 15

What experiment shows that infants have an understanding of intentions?

Answer 15

• Habituate babies to the reach for the objects you want (iPhone). Then swap position of objects.
• 6 month old’s understood that the object being reached for is separate to the reach itself as they find it weirder if you keep the reach rather than the intention of getting the iPhone
• Infants of this age appear to understand actions in terms of intended goals

Question 16

What is the second main critic of piaget’s theories behind development?

Answer 16

Cognitive development isn’t an all-or-nothing phenomenon it is more continuous (rather than discontinuous stages)

Question 17

What are the two sub categories that show cognitive development is not and all-or-nothing phenomenon?

Answer 17

1. Numerical skills in preschoolers

2. Social cognition in preschoolers

Question 18

What two things under numerical skills indicate that cognitive development is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon?

Answer 18

• Counting

- Numerical reasoning

Question 19

How is counting proven to be a continuous progression of skill?

Answer 19

• Even when they don’t use the right numbers, toddlers understand what counting is all about
• Gradually they begin to understand more about what the objects represent

Question 20

How is numerical reasoning proven to be a continuous progression of skill?

Answer 20

• Could Piaget’s assertion that children can’t conserve number be due to repeated questioning as they feel the pressure to change their minds
• Children younger than 6 can generally conserve number if the task is relevant

Question 21

What are the four things under social cognition that indicate cognitive development as not an all-or nothing skill?

Answer 21

• Egocentrism
• Theory of mind
• Others’ likes and dislikes
• True and false beliefs

Question 22

What did piaget think regarding egocentrism?

Answer 22

Piaget thought that children were egocentric until they were around 7 years old

Question 23

What is actually found when we redo some of piaget’s test surrounding egocentrism?

Answer 23

Even 3- and 4-year-olds can ‘pass’ a diorama task if it’s relevant

Question 24

What are some other things that young children are not as ego centric as piaget thought?

Answer 24

• At 2 ½ to 3 ½ children will turn a book around so an adult can see it, and bend down when talking to younger children
• Children under 1 year will turn to see what their mother is looking at
• Lying: they understand that people have differing perspectives to them and try to create a new one/ influence these views
• Empathy towards others e.g. cry when others cry

Question 25

What is theory of mind? What does it allow us to do?

Answer 25

- A group of skills relating to the understanding of the existence of other people’s minds (their intentions, beliefs, likes and dislikes, perspectives, etc.) - Theory of mind allows us to be effective in social situations

Question 26

What famous study shows that infants have an understanding of the likes and dislikes of other people?

Answer 26

- Broccoli versus crackers study - 18 month olds gave the experimenter what she liked - 14 month olds gave the experimenter what they liked - Indicates a continuous progression

Question 27

How do true and false belief tasks indicate a progression rather than cognitive development being all or nothing?

Answer 27

- False belief task involves presenting information that doesn't seem correct to a group and then members of that group understanding that any new person will hold the false beliefs they initially had - On average, 4-year-olds pass and 3-year-olds don’t

Question 28

What are true and false beliefs an aspect of?

Answer 28

Theory of mind