Early Childhood

Reminders and Repetition

The Universal Sequence

Aspects of Memory

•Rovee-Collier found that infants could remember after 2 weeks if they had a reminder session

–any experience that helps one remember an event, thing or idea

•Repeated reminders (repetition) are better than single reminders

•Child-directed speech:the high-pitched, simplified, and repetitive way adults speak to infants (called baby talkor motherese)

•Babbling: the extended repetition of certain syllables, such as ba-ba-ba, that begins when babies are between 6 and 9 months old

•Implicit Memory: remains hidden until a stimulus brings it to mind

–stored via habits, emotional responses, etc.

•Explicit Memory: can be recalled on demand, usually with words

–consciously learned words, data & concepts

Piaget and Modern Research

Information Processing

Measuring the Brain

Affordances

•The environment affordsopportunities for

interactions with what is perceived

Habituation

•The process of getting used to an object or event through repeated exposure to it

•Evidence of habituation is loss of interest

•By using habituation and then introducing a new stimulus, we can find more of what babies know and learn

Information-processing Theory

•Modeled on computer functioning

•Information-processing theorists believe that

a step-by-step description of the mechanisms

of thought adds insight to our understanding

of cognition at every age.

•Contrast with Piaget’s stages

•Brain research shows that babies can think before they can talk

•Techniques Used to Study the Brain:

–fMRI: used to locate neurological responses to stimuli

–EEG: measures electric activity in cortex

–ERP (event related potential): notes amplitude and frequency of electrical activity

–PET: like fMRI but requires injection of dye

•Stage 5: new means through active experimentation

–“Little scientist” active and creative exploration using trial and error

•Stage 6: anticipate and solve problems by using mental combinations

–Deferred Imitation: when infants copy behavior they noticed hours or days earlier

Primary Circular Reactions

Affordances

•The first of three types of feedback loops in sensorimotor intelligence

•Involves the infant’s responses to its body

•Stage 1: stage of reflexes (i.e. sucking)

•Stage 2: stage of first habits (i.e. grabbing a

bottle to suck it)

•Developmentalists now agree that very

young infants can remember if the following

conditions are met:

–Experimental conditions are similar to real life.

–Motivation is high.

–Special measures aid memory retrieval.

Movement and People

•Dynamic Perception: focuses on movement and change

–Babies work to master the next motor skill

•People Preference: an innate attraction to other humans

–Babies recognize regular caregivers and expect certain affordances from them (i.e. comfort, food, etc.)

•The visual cliff was designed to provide

the illusion of a sudden drop-off between

one horizontal surface and another.

•Mothers were able to urge their 6-month-olds

to wiggle forward over the cliff, but

10-month-olds fearfully refused.

The First Two Years:

Cognitive Development

Secondary Circular Reactions

Sensorimotor Intelligence

•Piaget’s term for the way infants think—by using their senses and motor skills—during the first

period of cognitive development.

•Begins at birth and ends at about 24 months

•The second type of feedback loop

•Involves responses to people and objects

•Stage 3: making interesting events last

–i.e. clapping hands when told to

•Stage 4: new adaptation and

anticipation

–i.e. putting mother’s hands together

in order to make her

start playing patty-cake

Object permanence

•Object permanence: the realization that objects (including people) still exist when they can no longer be seen, touched, or hear.