Studies the basic mechanics of learning; concerned with how behavior changes in response to experience
Psychometric approach
Measures quantitative differences in abilities that make up intelligence by using tests that indicate or predict these abilities
Piagetian approach
Looks at changes, or stages, in the quality of cognitive functioning; concerned with how the mind structures its activities and adapts to the environment
Information-processing approach
Focuses on perception, learning, memory, and problem solving; how children process information from the time they encounter it until they use it
Cognitive neuroscience approach
Seeks to identify what brain structures are involved in specific aspects of cognition
Social-contextual approach
Examines the effects of environmental aspects of the learning process, particularly the role of parents and other caregivers
Classical Conditioning
A person learns to make a reflex, or involuntary, response to a stimulus that originally did not bring about the response
Operant Conditioning
Focuses on the consequences of behaviors and how they affect the likelihood of that behavior occurring again
Reinforcement
Increasing a behavior
Punishment
Decreasing a behavior
Early procedural knowledge and perceptual knowledge are not the same as the later explicit, language-based memories used by adults
At 2 months, baby can remember conditioned response for 2 days; at 18 months, they remember for 13 weeks
Marilu Henner can recall past events in almost photographic detail thanks to a highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM), a rare condition that has been identified in only about 100 people in the world
Intelligent Behavior
Presumed to be goal oriented and adaptive to circumstances and conditions of life, meaning it exists for the purposes of attaining a goal
Psychometric tests
Score intelligence by numbers
Goals of psychometric testing
To measure quantitatively the factors that are thought to make up intelligence
To predict future performance (e.g., school achievement)
IQ (intelligence quotient) tests
Consist of questions or tasks that are supposed to show how much of the measured abilities a person has by comparing that person's performance with norms established by a large group of test-takers who were in the standardization sample
Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development
Developmental test designed to assess children from 1 month to 3½ years
Scores on the Bayley-III indicate a child's competencies in each of five developmental areas
Cognitive
Language
Motor
Social-emotional
Adaptive behavior
Behavior Rating Scale
Optional; done by the examiner, in part on the basis of information from the child's caregiver
Developmental Quotients (DQs)
Most commonly used for early detection of emotional disturbances and sensory, neurological, and environmental deficits and can help parents and professionals plan for a child's needs
Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)
Trained observers interview the primary caregiver and rate on a yes-or-no checklist the intellectual stimulation and support observed in a child's home
HOME assesses the quality of the home environment with six subscales
Number of books and appropriate play materials
Parent's involvement with the child
Parental emotional and verbal responsiveness
Acceptance of the child's behavior
Organization of the environment
Opportunities for daily and varied stimulation
HOME inventory gives credit to the parent of an infant or toddler for caressing or kissing the child during an examiner's visit
Early Intervention
A systematic process of planning and providing therapeutic and educational services for families that need help in meeting infants', toddlers', and preschool children's developmental needs
Characteristics of the most effective early interventions
Start early and continue throughout the preschool years
Highly time-intensive
Center-based, providing direct educational experiences, not just parental training
Comprehensive approach, including health, family counseling, and social services
Tailored to individual differences and needs
Schemes
Organized patterns of thought and behavior
Circular Reactions
Process when an infant learns to reproduce events originally discovered by chance
Representational Ability
The ability to mentally represent objects and actions in memory, largely through symbols such as words, numbers, and mental pictures
Substages of Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage
Use of Reflexes
Primary Circular Reactions
Secondary Circular Reactions
Coordination of Secondary Schemes
Tertiary Circular Reactions
Mental Combinations
Imitation
Invisible imitation develops around 9 months; deferred imitation begins after development of mental representations in the sixth substage (18–24 months)
Types of Imitation
Visible Imitation
Invisible Imitation
Deferred Imitation
By 9 months, more than 40 percent of infants can reproduce two steps, such as dropping a toy car down a vertical chute and then pushing a car with a rod to make it roll to the end of a ramp and turn on a light
By 14 months, infants show preferences about whom they imitate from (more likely to imitate from people who speak the same language they do)
By 15 months, infants show a bias toward imitating a peer; however, this switches to a bias toward imitating an adult at 24 months
By 4 years, children are more likely to imitate those who are the same gender they are
Object Permanence
The realization that something continues to exist when out of sight
Symbolic Development
The growth of pictorial competence [the ability to understand the nature of pictures]
12- to 18-month old children were better able to imitate an adult's actions when they saw an adult performing the action in front of them than when they saw a video of the same thing
Scale Error
A momentary misperception of the relative sizes of objects; caused by lack of impulse control