Lecture

• A change due to learning is relatively permanent
• Habituation is when you recognize something that has been experienced before; less and less attention directed to the repeated stimuli and is considered highly adaptive.
• Classical conditioning examples are Pavlov's dog and Little albert experiment
• Negative reinforcement: remove something from the situation to increase the probability of recurrence; seatbelt alert until the seatbelt is put on
• By 5 years old, its easier for children to learn via operant conditioning
• A kid must be able to imitate others to participate in observational learning
• Sensation is info received by sensory organs and perception is the interpretation of the info
• Perception is a product of evolution
• The way we study infant perception is thru: observable infant behavior's, which includes vitals, looking and suckin
• Methods of studying perception in infants: preference, habituation/dishabituation and operant conditioning technique
• Preference technique(in context of visuals): A technique that involves using a visual to show the preference of one option over another. Examples are Fantz' looking chamber, video coding and eyetracking.
• Preference technique(sounds): which sound is preferred by the listener and it's still uses visual tracking in order to measure how much the listener is paying attention to the sound
• In preference techniques, check whether the infant prefers novelty or familiarity
• Habituation/Dishabituation technique tests the ability of infants to discriminate between certain objects
• sight is the last sense to reach full maturity
• The senses of touch, taste and smell are already pretty mature at birth
• Hearing is the 2nd last sense to reach maturity
• Taste is already developed in utero and is influenced by the mother's diet
• Smell is a sense that is very linked to taste; it's also tested by facial expressions when exposed to the stimulus
• Touch sensation develops around the mouth first and then the palm/soles.
• For the senses of touch, smell and taste, changes that occur are more about sensory preference rather than maturity
• Infants that develop hearing can grasp the rhythm of things well despite being in amniotic fluid and not being able to hear clearly
• The mozart effect: the idea that having babies listen to classical music will improve their intelligence
• Babies see the best from the 6 to 8 inch distance
• Babies are born with some ability to see colour but aren't adultlike until they're 4 months old; only the medium and long cones in the retina work until later on
• Depth perception in babies is tested by checking if a baby crawls towards its mother over a potential drop or heart rate is measured if the baby is too young
• Perceptual narrowing: perceptual systems move from general to specific with experience.
• Babies can discriminate between all types of faces by 6 months and then by 9 to 12 months they're very specialized