{"id":249,"date":"2014-09-25T21:51:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T21:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/lifespandevelopment1x1\/?post_type=chapter&p=249"},"modified":"2016-03-16T18:28:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T18:28:05","slug":"cognitive-development","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-lifespandevelopment2\/chapter\/cognitive-development\/","title":{"raw":"Cognitive Development","rendered":"Cognitive Development"},"content":{"raw":"

Piaget and Sensorimotor Intelligence<\/h2>\r\nRemember our discussion of\u00a0sensorimotor\u00a0development during the first two years of life.\u00a0Piaget describes intelligence in infancy as\u00a0sensorimotor\u00a0or based on direct, physical contact.\u00a0Infants taste, feel, pound, push, hear, and move in order to experience the world.\u00a0Let\u2019s explore the transition infants make from responding to the external world reflexively as newborns to solving problems using mental strategies as two year olds.\r\n\r\nStage One:\u00a0<\/strong>Reflexive Action:\u00a0(Birth through 1st\u00a0month)\r\n\r\nThis active learning begins with automatic movements or reflexes.\u00a0A ball comes into contact with an infant\u2019s cheek and is automatically sucked on and licked.\u00a0\u00a0 But this is also what happens with a sour lemon, much to the infant\u2019s surprise!\r\n\r\nStage Two:<\/strong>\u00a0First Adaptations to the Environment (1st\u00a0through 4th\u00a0month)\r\n\r\nFortunately, within a few days or weeks, the infant begins to discriminate between objects and adjust responses accordingly as reflexes are replaced with voluntary movements.\u00a0An infant may accidentally engage in a behavior and find it interesting such as making a vocalization.\u00a0This interest motivates trying to do it again and helps the infant learn a new behavior that originally occurred by chance.\u00a0At first, most actions have to do with the body, but in months to come, will be directed more toward objects.\r\n\r\nStage Three:<\/strong>\u00a0Repetition (4th\u00a0through 8th\u00a0months)\r\n\r\nDuring the next few months, the infant becomes more and more actively engaged in the outside world and takes delight in being able to make things happen.\u00a0Repeated motion brings particular\u00a0interest as the infant is able to bang two lids together from the cupboard when seated on the kitchen floor.\r\n\r\nStage Four:<\/strong>\u00a0New Adaptations and Goal-Directed Behavior (8th\u00a0through 12th\u00a0months)\r\n\r\nNow the infant can engage in behaviors that others perform and anticipate upcoming events.\u00a0Perhaps because of continued maturation of the prefrontal cortex, the infant become capable of having a thought and carrying out a planned, goal-directed activity such as seeking a toy that has rolled under the couch.\u00a0The\u00a0object continues to exist in the infant\u2019s mind even when out of sight and the infant now is capable of making attempts to retrieve it.\u00a0Here is an example of a lack of object permanence.\r\n\r\nWas Piaget correct?<\/strong>\u00a0 Infants seem to be able to recognize that objects have permanence at much younger ages (even as young as 3.5 months of age).\r\n\r\nDr. Rene Baillargeon explains in the following clip:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hwgo2O5Vk_g\r\n\r\nStage Five:<\/strong>\u00a0Active Experimentation of Little Scientists (12th\u00a0through 18th\u00a0months)\r\n\r\nInfants from one year to 18 months of age more actively engage in experimentation to learn about the physical world.\u00a0Gravity is learned by pouring water from a cup or pushing bowls from high chairs.\u00a0The\u00a0caregiver tries to help the child by picking it up again and placing it on the tray.\u00a0And what happens?\u00a0Another experiment!\u00a0The\u00a0child pushes it off the tray again causing it to fall and the caregiver to pick it up again!\u00a0A closer examination of this stage causes us to really appreciate how much learning is going on at this time and how many things we come to take for granted must actually be learned.\u00a0I remember handing my daughters (who are close in age) when they were both seated in the back seat of the car a small container of candy.\u00a0They struggled to move the pieces up and out of the small box and became frustrated when their fingers would lose their grip on the treats before they made it up and out of the top of the boxes.\u00a0They had not yet learned to simply use gravity and turn the box over in their hands!\u00a0This is a wonderful and messy time of experimentation and most learning occurs by trial and error.\r\n\r\nStage Six:\u00a0<\/strong>Mental Representations (18th\u00a0month to 2 years of age)\r\n\r\nThe child is now able to solve problems using mental strategies, to remember something heard days before and repeat it, to engage in pretend play, and to find objects that have been moved even when out of sight.\u00a0Take for instance, the child who is upstairs in a room with the door closed, supposedly taking a nap.\u00a0The\u00a0doorknob has a safety device on it that makes it impossible for the child to turn the knob.\u00a0After trying several times in vain to push the door or turn the doorknob, the child carries out a mental strategy to get the door opened-he knocks on the door!\u00a0Obviously, this is a technique learned from the past experience of hearing a knock on the door and observing someone opening the door.\u00a0The\u00a0child is now better equipped with mental strategies for problem-solving.\u00a0This initial movement from the \u201chands-on\u201d approach to knowing about the world to the more mental world of stage six marked the transition to preoperational intelligence that we will discuss in the next lesson.\u00a0Part of this stage involves learning to use language.","rendered":"

Piaget and Sensorimotor Intelligence<\/h2>\n

Remember our discussion of\u00a0sensorimotor\u00a0development during the first two years of life.\u00a0Piaget describes intelligence in infancy as\u00a0sensorimotor\u00a0or based on direct, physical contact.\u00a0Infants taste, feel, pound, push, hear, and move in order to experience the world.\u00a0Let\u2019s explore the transition infants make from responding to the external world reflexively as newborns to solving problems using mental strategies as two year olds.<\/p>\n

Stage One:\u00a0<\/strong>Reflexive Action:\u00a0(Birth through 1st\u00a0month)<\/p>\n

This active learning begins with automatic movements or reflexes.\u00a0A ball comes into contact with an infant\u2019s cheek and is automatically sucked on and licked.\u00a0\u00a0 But this is also what happens with a sour lemon, much to the infant\u2019s surprise!<\/p>\n

Stage Two:<\/strong>\u00a0First Adaptations to the Environment (1st\u00a0through 4th\u00a0month)<\/p>\n

Fortunately, within a few days or weeks, the infant begins to discriminate between objects and adjust responses accordingly as reflexes are replaced with voluntary movements.\u00a0An infant may accidentally engage in a behavior and find it interesting such as making a vocalization.\u00a0This interest motivates trying to do it again and helps the infant learn a new behavior that originally occurred by chance.\u00a0At first, most actions have to do with the body, but in months to come, will be directed more toward objects.<\/p>\n

Stage Three:<\/strong>\u00a0Repetition (4th\u00a0through 8th\u00a0months)<\/p>\n

During the next few months, the infant becomes more and more actively engaged in the outside world and takes delight in being able to make things happen.\u00a0Repeated motion brings particular\u00a0interest as the infant is able to bang two lids together from the cupboard when seated on the kitchen floor.<\/p>\n

Stage Four:<\/strong>\u00a0New Adaptations and Goal-Directed Behavior (8th\u00a0through 12th\u00a0months)<\/p>\n

Now the infant can engage in behaviors that others perform and anticipate upcoming events.\u00a0Perhaps because of continued maturation of the prefrontal cortex, the infant become capable of having a thought and carrying out a planned, goal-directed activity such as seeking a toy that has rolled under the couch.\u00a0The\u00a0object continues to exist in the infant\u2019s mind even when out of sight and the infant now is capable of making attempts to retrieve it.\u00a0Here is an example of a lack of object permanence.<\/p>\n

Was Piaget correct?<\/strong>\u00a0 Infants seem to be able to recognize that objects have permanence at much younger ages (even as young as 3.5 months of age).<\/p>\n

Dr. Rene Baillargeon explains in the following clip:<\/p>\n