Freud - ontogeny of personality

Piaget - ontogeny of intelligence

• Development of intelligence (vs. measurement)

• Knowledge is the result of sensory input and action

• Schema: unit of organization of knowledge

• Schemata are undergoing constant revision

• Genetic (developmental) epistemology– Neither nature nor nurture are sufficient

explanations of knowledge

Contrast Between Piaget’s Views of Knowledge and Those of Other Thinkers

• KANT: Children born with basic categories of time, space, number, and causality.

• BORING: Intelligence is what an intelligence test measures.

• PIAGET: Sought to discover how concepts of time, space, number. causality and intelligence develop.

Schema: Structure that adapts

• Organization of knowledge changes with experiences.

• Relationships between schema change.

• The basic unit of knowledge.

• Knowledge neither innate (cf. Chomsky) nor the aggregate of different behaviors (e.g., Skinner).

Schemata change continuously by:

• Adaptation: modification of schemas by experience.

• Assimilation: quantitative enrichment (generalization), e.g. calling a goat a “doggie.”

• Accommodation: qualitative enrichment (discrimination), e.g. calling a dog an “animal”.

• Equilibrium: process whereby schemata minimize conflict between assimilation (responding to new stimulus in old way) and accommodation (changing response in accordance with demands of new input).

Schema of Sucking Reflex

• At birth:• Turning of the head when cheek is stimulated• Opening mouth when lips are stimulated• Sucking when inside of mouth is stimulated• Swallowing when liquid reaches throat

• After a few weeks:• Searching for the breast when child is against

mother's body• Sucking movements in anticipation of feeding• Non-nutritive thumb sucking• Sucking on spoons and blocks

Development Of Imitative Schemata

• Pseudo-imitation: Parent imitates child who continues activity in question

• Partial imitation: Parent opens and closes eyes. Child only opens eyes.

• Full imitation: Child attempts to perform all features of activities modeled by adult, e.g., dancing, athletics.

Stages of Cognitive Growth A shift from perception of the here and now to abstract

reflection about the world.

• Sensory-Motor Period: (0-2 years)– Integration of sensory information, separate motor

movements• Preoperational Period: (2-7 years)

– Development of representational strategiese.g., by addition of counting

• Concrete Operational Period: (7-11 years)– Emergence of specific problem solving skills

e.g., multiplication skills• Formal Operational Period: ( 11 years and

onward)– Emergence of general problem solving skills

e.g., set theory

Sensory-Motor Period William James: "bloomin, buzzin,

confusion"

• Unintegrated sensations and movements

• No object constancy

– no distinction between stable and changing objects.

– no object permanence. Has to learn to search for a previously present object.

• No (or poor) differentiation of self from others.

Cognitive development at end of Sensory-Motor period:

• Object permanence

• Complex instrumental behavior

• Simple imitation

• Ability to generate images

• Beginnings of language

• Representational Ability: Child could previously interact with environment only through direct sensory contact; now she can carry aspects of world in her head.

Pre-operational Period

• Pre-operational intelligence is intuitive; child cannot make logical statements

• Ego-centric thought-Can only take one point of view-Child can only respond to one dimension at a

time (that which it perceives)• No operations - Child responds solely on basis of

perceptions and representations • Magical demonstrations convincing - child a prisoner of

her immediate perceptual experience. • No conservation (length, liquid volume, solid volume)

– Can’t say “clay is thinner but wider”• Animistic view of world

– Cloud, streams, bicycles are alive– Walls, trees, tables are not

• Name of a thing an intrinsic property (cf. Romeo: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”)

• Moral judgments don’t allow for intent

Pre-operational Period

• Pre-operational intelligence is intuitive; child cannot make logical statements

• Ego-centric thought-Can only take one point of view-Child can only respond to one dimension at a

time (that which it perceives)• No operations - Child responds solely on basis of

perceptions and representations • Magical demonstrations convincing - child a prisoner of

her immediate perceptual experience. • No conservation (length, liquid volume, solid volume)

– Can’t say “clay is thinner but wider”• Animistic view of world

– Cloud, streams, bicycles are alive– Walls, trees, tables are not

• Name of a thing an intrinsic property (cf. Romeo: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”)

• Moral judgments don’t allow for intent

Pre-operational Period

• Pre-operational intelligence is intuitive; child cannot make logical statements

• Ego-centric thought-Can only take one point of view-Child can only respond to one dimension at a

time (that which it perceives)• No operations - Child responds solely on basis of

perceptions and representations • Magical demonstrations convincing - child a prisoner of

her immediate perceptual experience. • No conservation (length, liquid volume, solid volume)

– Can’t say “clay is thinner but wider”• Animistic view of world

– Cloud, streams, bicycles are alive– Walls, trees, tables are not

• Name of a thing an intrinsic property (cf. Romeo: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”)

• Moral judgments don’t allow for intent

Pre-operational Period

• Pre-operational intelligence is intuitive; child cannot make logical statements

• Ego-centric thought-Can only take one point of view-Child can only respond to one dimension at a

time (that which it perceives)• No operations - Child responds solely on basis of

perceptions and representations • Magical demonstrations convincing - child a prisoner of

her immediate perceptual experience. • No conservation (length, liquid volume, solid volume)

– Can’t say “clay is thinner but wider”• Animistic view of world

– Cloud, streams, bicycles are alive– Walls, trees, tables are not

• Name of a thing an intrinsic property (cf. Romeo: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”)

• Moral judgments don’t allow for intent

Pre-operational Period

• Pre-operational intelligence is intuitive; child cannot make logical statements

• Ego-centric thought-Can only take one point of view-Child can only respond to one dimension at a

time (that which it perceives)• No operations - Child responds solely on basis of

perceptions and representations • Magical demonstrations convincing - child a prisoner of

her immediate perceptual experience. • No conservation (length, liquid volume, solid volume)

– Can’t say “clay is thinner but wider”• Animistic view of world

– Cloud, streams, bicycles are alive– Walls, trees, tables are not

• Name of a thing an intrinsic property (cf. Romeo: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”)

• Moral judgments don’t allow for intent

Pre-operational Period

• Pre-operational intelligence is intuitive; child cannot make logical statements

• Ego-centric thought-Can only take one point of view-Child can only respond to one dimension at a

time (that which it perceives)• No operations - Child responds solely on basis of

perceptions and representations • Magical demonstrations convincing - child a prisoner of

her immediate perceptual experience. • No conservation (length, liquid volume, solid volume)

– Can’t say “clay is thinner but wider”• Animistic view of world

– Cloud, streams, bicycles are alive– Walls, trees, tables are not

• Name of a thing an intrinsic property (cf. Romeo: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”)

• Moral judgments don’t allow for intent

Pre-operational Period

• Pre-operational intelligence is intuitive; child cannot make logical statements

• Ego-centric thoughtCan only take one point of view-Child can only respond to one dimension at a

time (that which it perceives)• No operations - Child responds solely on basis of

perceptions and representations • Magical demonstrations convincing - child a prisoner of

her immediate perceptual experience. • No conservation (length, liquid volume, solid volume)

– Can’t say “clay is thinner but wider”• Animistic view of world

– Cloud, streams, bicycles are alive– Walls, trees, tables are not

• Name of a thing an intrinsic property (cf. Romeo: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”)

• Moral judgments don’t allow for intent

Pre-operational Period

• Pre-operational intelligence is intuitive; child cannot make logical statements

• Ego-centric thought-Can only take one point of view-Child can only respond to one dimension at a

time (that which it perceives)• No operations - Child responds solely on basis of

perceptions and representations • Magical demonstrations convincing - child a prisoner

of her immediate perceptual experience. • No conservation (length, liquid volume, solid volume)

– Can’t say “clay is thinner but wider”• Animistic view of world

– Cloud, streams, bicycles are alive– Walls, trees, tables are not

• Name of a thing an intrinsic property (cf. Romeo: “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”)

• Moral judgments don’t allow for intent

Egocentric Thought

What does the doll see?

Conservation of Liquid

Conservation of Amount

Which row has more pennies?

Are both sticks the same length?

Do both blobs have the same amount of clay?

Conceptual Ability

Put together those items that are alike.

“Sticks in Order”

Concrete Operational Period

• Child cannot grasp logical operations.

• Child understands concrete (but not abstract) rules that apply to specific situations.

• Concrete child can:– adopt perspective of viewer– alternate thoughts about two or more dimensions of

an object– understand conservation of length, volume, etc.– sort by category (concretely, not abstractly)

Concrete vs. Formal Operations

Build a new tower on the floor that is as high as the tower on the table

Formal Operations

• Child generates hypotheses

• Can think about thinking

• Concerned with beliefs - values

• Can argue if A is true, then B must follow.

• Can argue “other things being equal”.

Will a falling ball stop in midair?

Will a falling ball pass through a solid object?

(Liz Spelke)

“Magic Show”:

How many Mickey Mouse dolls does the infant expect?

1 + 1 = 3 causes more looking time than 1 + 1 = 2.

(Karen Wynn)

“Magic Show”:

How many pieces of eggplant does the monkey expect?

1 + 1 = 3 causes more looking time than 1 + 1 = 2.

(Marc Hauser)