Human Development:Cognitive Development

How to people learn to think, reason, communicate & remember

Understanding Human Development

Development – Continuity and change in human capabilities over a lifespan.› Physical› Cognitive› Social› Emotional

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Issues in Developmental Psychology

Issue Details

Nature/Nurture

How do genetic inheritance (our nature) and experience

(the nurture we receive) influence our behavior?

Continuity/StagesIs developmental a gradual,

continuous process or a sequence of separate stages?

Stability/Change

Do our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as

we age.

Cognitive Development

Theories of Cognitive Development:› Stagelike vs. continuous development

Stage Theorists - These psychologists believe that we travel from stage to stage throughout our lifetimes.

› Domain-general vs. domain-specific › Physical exploration vs. social interaction

Childhood Cognitive Development

The Piaget Revolution

Until Jean Piaget came along, children were generally thought to be idiot versions of adults

His studies (although they have undergone much scrutiny over the years) changed psychological theory

Kids learn differently than adults

The Piaget Revolution

Was intrigued by consistency in children’s wrong answers

Child’s brain is not mini-adult’s brain

Child development occurs through series of stages

Motivation: allows child to make sense of experiences

The Piaget RevolutionPiaget believed that the driving force behind

intellectual development is our biological development (maturation) amidst experiences

with the environment. Our cognitive development is shaped by the errors we

make . . . but also by our active attempts to make sense of

the world

Scale Errors

18-24monts

Schemas Schema: specific mental representation (molds)

a personal develops from our experiences› Theory or model of how world works› Adjusted by:

Assimilation Accommodation

Schemas• Children view the

world through schemas (as do adults for the most part).

• Schemas are ways we interpret the world around us.

• It is basically what you picture in your head when you think of anything.

Right now in your head, picture a model.

These 3 probably fit into your concept (schema) of a model.

But does this one?

Assimilation and Accommodation

•The process of assimilation involves incorporating new experiences into our current understanding (schema). The process of adjusting a schema and modifying it is called accommodation.•When you first meet somebody, you will assimilate them into a schema that you already have.

If you see two guys dressed like this, what schema would you assimilate them into?•Would you always be right?

Accommodation Changing an

existing schema to adopt to new information.

If I tell someone from the mid-west to picture their schema of the Bronx they may talk about the ghetto areas.

But if I showed them other areas of the Bronx, they would be forced to accommodate (change) their schema to incorporate their new information.

Assimilation Assimilation: interpret our new experiences in

terms of existing schemas

Horse

Horse

Accommodation

Accommodation: adapt current understanding of schemas to incorporate new info

Horse

Horse

“Lumpy Horse”

HORSE!

~

HORSE!

Striped Horse!

Accommodation

Assimilation

• Complex Classification

• Mental Reps

Piaget’s Stages:

Sensorimotor

Preoperational

Concrete Operational

Formal Operational

2 YRS

7 YRS

11 YRS

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Stages of Cognitive Development:Sensorimotor Stage

Click Mom to see a baby with no object permanence.

Infant experiences world through movement & senses 0-2 Years (Roughly) Milestone: object permanence

› Objects continue to exist even if they are not visible› Advance to next stage (more like 6 months)

CLICK

Stages of Cognitive Development:Preoperational Stage

Children learn to use language & represent things with symbols• Around 2-7• Have object permanence• Begin to use language to represent objects and ideas• Egocentric: cannot look at the world through anyone’s eyes but their own.• Use intuition, not logic

Milestones:• Animistic thinking• Lack understanding of conservation• Egocentric thinking• Irreversibility• Perceptually Bound• Magical thinking

Click

Preoperational Stage

DeLoache (1987) showed that children as young as 3 years of age are able to use metal operations. When shown a model of a dog’s hiding place behind the couch, a 2½-year-old could not locate the stuffed dog in an actual room, but the 3-year-old did.Mental Representations are fully formedHence language development and pretend play

Preoperational

Theory of Mind

Preschoolers, although still

egocentric, develop the ability to understand

another’s mental state when they begin forming a theory of mind.

The problem on the right probes such ability in children.

Conservation Conservation: properties

such as mass, volume, & number remain same despite changes in form of object› Exhibit centration› Lack reversibility

Animistic thinking Animistic thinking: inanimate objects have

lifelike qualities, such as thoughts, feelings, wishes, & intentions

Egocentrism

Egocentric: difficulty taking another person’s point of view; lack theory of mind› False belief task

Think logically about concrete events; grasp concrete analogies & basic arithmetic operations› Way the world appears isn’t necessarily the way

the world is Can demonstrate concept of conservation. Learn to think logically

Stages of Cognitive Development:Concrete Operational

Click

Concrete Operational StageIn concrete operational stage, given concrete materials, 6- to 7-year-olds

grasp conservation problems and mentally pour liquids back and forth into

glasses of different shapes conserving their quantities.

Children in this stage are also able to transform mathematical functions. So, if 4 + 8 = 12, then a transformation, 12 – 4

= 8, is also easily doable.

Around age 12, our reasoning ability expands from concrete thinking to abstract thinking. We can now use symbols and imagined realities to systematically reason. Piaget called this formal operational thinking.

Suppes et al (82’) showed that rudiments of such thinking begin earlier (age 7) than what Piaget suggested, since 7-year-olds can solve the problem below

If John is in school, Mary is in school. John is in school. What can you say about Mary?

Stages of Cognitive Development:Formal Operational

Formal operational Thinking transforms from

concrete (about actual experience) to abstract (involving imagined realities & symbols)› Solves non-physical problems› If-then reasoning› Conceptualization of love,

freedom, etc.

Formal Operational Stage

What would the world look like with no light?

What is religion’s role?

What way do you best learn?

Abstract reasoning Manipulate objects

in our minds without seeing them

Hypothesis testing Trial and Error Metacognition Not every adult gets

to this stage

Criticisms of Piaget Piaget believed children in the

sensorimotor stage could not think, however, recent research shows that children in the sensorimotor stage can think and count. • Some say he underestimates the

abilities of children.• Information-Processing Model says

children to not learn in stages but rather a gradual continuous growth.

• Studies show that our attention span grows gradually over time.

Develop skills earlier than he suggested Acquisition of these skills is much less

abrupt Focused too much on interaction with

physical environment; what about social environment?

Criticisms

Children can also count. Wynn (1992, 2000) showed that children stared longer at the wrong number of objects than the right ones.

Reflecting on Piaget’s Theory

Piaget’s stage theory has been influential globally, validating a number of ideas regarding growth and development in many cultures and societies. However,

today’s researchers believe the following:

1. Development is a continuous process.2. Children express their mental abilities

and operations at an earlier age.3. Formal logic is a smaller part of

cognition.

Focus on social/cultural influences› Noted parental influence on learning› Ideas remained hidden as they were controversial in

Soviet Union › Study of Play - through play the child develops abstract

meaning separate from the objects in the world, which is a critical feature in the development of higher mental functions.

Rejected previous theories (Construction, behaviorism, gestalt) Showed that through the assistance of a more capable person, a child is able to learn skills or aspects of a skill that go beyond the child’s actual developmental or maturational level. (ZPD)

Head of Vygotsky Circle Scaffolding

› Parents provide initial assistance in children’s learning and gradually remove structure as children become able to do it on their own

Lev Vygotsky

Learning period where children benefit from assistance (make use of caregivers)

Different zones for different skills

Ex: learning to ski

Zone of Proximal Development

Piaget’s Theory› Stagelike or Continuous?› Domain-General or Domain-Specific?› Physical or Social Interactions?

Vygotsky’s Theory› Stagelike or Continuous?› Domain-General or Domain-Specific?› Physical or Social Interactions?

Piaget vs. Vygotsky

Cognitive Development

Adolescence and Adulthood

Adolescent Cognitive Development

The return of egocentrism › Focused different, belief that others are

preoccupied with him or her as the adolescent is changing

› Teen also believes they are unique and invincible Recent research suggest maybe not in all

circumstances (death)› Believe others observe them way more than is

the case› From pimples to performances.

Cognition in Adulthood

Cognitive abilities believe to peak around same time as physical

Realistic, Pragmatic Thinking sets in If you want to keep cognitive abilities, you got to keep

them all in tune Perceptual speed decreases along with numerical

ability Crystallized Intelligence (Vocab) and fluid intelligence

(inductive reasoning) peak during middle adulthood. Memory declines in late adulthood as does speed

processing Wisdom over practical aspects of life shows

importance of experiences