Thursday, April 7, 2011

Language Development in Infancy

Tomorrow we will play a game that will help us learn how humans develop language. The idea for the game really comes from the notebooks of philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein. He was a philosopher who, among other things, tried to figure out if the way we understand language can tell us something about the way we ought to address philosophical questions.

  • What are phonemes? Phonemes are basic units of sound in a language.

  • Whole Object Constraint: One thing that facilitates children's world learning is the bias (ex: assumption) they have when they hear new words. Children behave according to a whole object constraint where they assume that a new word refers to the entire object they are paying attention to rather than about a part or quality of the object.

  • Language Explosion: As children approach two years of age, they experience a language explosion. They learn about 10 to 20 new words each week. Most of those words are nouns.

  • Over-extension & Under-extension: An over-extension is to refer to use a word to refer to more than its intended referent. An under-extension is to use a word to refer to less than its intended referent.

  • Pragmatics: The ability to use background knowledge and context to understand language is called pragmatics.

  • Language Development Theories: Nativism, Interactionism, Connectionism

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Theories of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget concludes that cognitive development is related to age and maturity. He found that there are four main periods of cognitive development.

  1. Sensorimotor (Birth to 2 years) Object permanence, imitation, some symbolic thinking (associations)

  2. Peroperational (2 to 6/7 years) Think symbolically and logically, egocentric (focus on self), cannot master conservation problems

  3. Concrete operational (6/7 to 11 years) Masters conservation problems, categorizes, cannot think abstractly

  4. Formally operational (11 years upward) Think abstractly and hypothetically

Vocabulary:


Sensorimotor period: is characterized by reflexes, permanence in thinking, a rough idea of cause and effect, the ability to imitate, and limited symbolic thinking or making associations.


Schemata: (Singular schema) are mental representations or sets of rules that define a particular behaviour, categorize people, objects, and nature; or that help in understanding current and future experiences.


Assimilation: is the process by which new information about the world is incorporated into existing schemata.


Accomodation: is the process by which an existing schemata is changed by a new experience.


Sensorimotor Stage - 6 steps



  1. Step 1 - Birth to 1 month: reflexes: sucking, grasping, staring, listening

  2. Step 2 - 1 to four months: acquired adaptations, assimilation, and coordination of reflexes

  3. Step 3 - 4 to 8 months: awaremess of things, responding to people and objects

  4. Step 4 - 8 to 12 months: new adaptation and anticipation

  5. Step 5 - 12 to 18 months: active experimentation

  6. Step 6 - 18 to 24 months: mental combinations, considering before acting

Piaget vs. Vygotsky - Difference in theories of cognitive development


Piaget - Active learning, Egocentrism, Structure, Symbolic though


Vygotsky - Guided participation, Apprenticeship to thinking, Scaffolding, Proximal development


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Sensory and Perceptual System Development in Infants

A Newborn's World:
The newborn's world is not a confusion. Newborns can see and may be able to differentiate red and white, but an adult-like colour system does not appear until 2 months. Infants two days old looked longer at patterned stimuli, such as faces, than at single colour discs. All three perceptual such as size, shape, and brightness are present in infants three months of age. Infants as young as six months old have depth perception. Infants develop expectations about future events in their world by the time they are about three months old.

What is Perception?
Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us. It involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Perception not only creates our experience of the world around us; it allows us to act within our environment. Perception includes the five senses; touch, sight, taste, smell and hearing.

What is the Perceptual Process?
The perceptual process allows us to experience the world around us. Take a moment to think of all the things you perceive on a daily basis. At any given moment, you might see familiar objects in your environment, feel the touch of objects and people against your skin, smell the aroma of a home-cooked meal or hear the sound of music playing in your next door neighbor's apartment. All of these things help make up our conscious experience and allow us to interact with the people and objects around us.

The Visual Cliff - Exploring depth perception

Assignment: The Visual Cliff (Response)

Gross and Fine Motor Skill Development in Infancy

What changes occur in the infancy stage?

  • Proximodistal and Cephalocaudal trend

  • In the first year infants triple their weight and increase their length by 50%

  • Three main reflexes of infants include: reflex to maintain oxygen, reflex to maintain body temperature and reflex to manage feeding

You categorized information using the article on Infancy in Ages and Stages into the following sections:



  • Cephalocaudal trend

  • Proximodistal trend

  • Sensory

  • Perceptual

  • Gross Motor Skills

  • Fine Motor Skills

  • Cognitive

  • Socioemotional
Welcome to Psychology 30! Use this blog to check for updates on the class, notes, extra resources and information related human development as it is studied in psychology. We have discussed the following questions:

  • What roles do nature and nurture play in the development of an infant? (Hereditary/inherited and environmental factors)

  • How do various domains influence development during infancy? (Physical, Cognitive, Social and Emotional)

  • What are the sociocultural influences on human development?

Physical Development:



  • What are the innate capacities of a newborn child? (Reflexes)

  • What is the process of physical development in infancy? (Cephalocaudal trend, proximodistal trend)

  • What influence does nutrition play in the healthy development of the infant?

  • What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)