CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT by DANUTA BUKATKO
CHAPTER 6 GUIDED NOTES
Infancy – Perception, Cognition and Language
Vocabulary
A/B search error
babbling
means / end behavior
developmental delay
child directed speech (parentese)
intersubjectivity
object concept (object permanence) overextension
recall / recognition memory
receptive / productive language
scaffolding
concepts
cooing
cognition
underextension
Define perception:____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Define cognition:_____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Perception
Which theory of infant perception holds that newborns come equipped with mental
mechanisms that help them make sense of sights and sounds?
Constructivist
or
Nativist
According to constructivist theory, how large are the roles played by nature and nurture in
cognitive development?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
According to nativist theory, how large are the roles played by nature and nurture in
cognitive development?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Do infants show a preference for looking at the human face? Explain your answer
briefly:__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
The ability to fuse 2 distinct images from our 2 eyes into a perception of a single object is
called ___________________________________.
By what age do infants use this ability to get clues to depth perception as effectively as adults
do? ____________________.
Newborns prefer looking at ____ dimensional objects over ____ dimensional figures.
The visual cliff experiments indicate that infants have an early perception of differences in
depth. Does this protect them from injury when they start crawling and walking? Y / N
Auditory Perception
Experiments involving playing music to infants have provided information about infants’
ability to recognize sound patterns. Fill in the blanks to describe one conclusion from such
research: At age ___________, infants can________________________________.
Researchers continue to be interested in how infants learn speech and language. Complete
this sentence: Until 6 month of age, infants are able to distinguish all important sounds from
____________________________________________________________.
One issue that has been debated is whether infants possess a “_______________”, an innate
capacity to process human language, or whether infants exploit general ____________
_______________.
Define in your own words and give an example: what is intermodal perception?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
A number of experiments suggest that infants do coordinate looking and listening, and
looking and touching. Briefly describe one of these
experiments:________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Cognition
The first stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is called ________________.
What does this name suggest about how Piaget thought infants obtain information about their
world? ____________________________________________________________
This stage covers ages ______________ to ______________________.
Since infants develop so much during this age span, this stage is divided into ______ substages.
What is object concept (also called object
permanence):_____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Piaget thought that children did not begin to fully grasp this concept until ______ months of
age. More recent research suggests that infants begin to grasp object concept at ______
months of age.
You decide: Based on the information on page 205, do you believe that infants DO or DO
NOT possess core knowledge? Explain your position:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
The debate over core knowledge is similar to a debate described earlier in this chapter. What
was that previous debate? _____________________________________________________
In Piaget’s theory, what is the A not B search error? ________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________ ___
Based on your reading in the text, why do you think babies make this error?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Concepts
Children as young as one-year old displayed early classification skills through a spontaneous
tendency to _________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2 year olds will match items based on _____________ _______________.
Infants also show a beginning awareness of quantity. Newborns can detect differences
between sets containing _____ objects and sets containing _____ objects. 6 month olds can
differentiate between _____ and _____ dots.
You decide: Is this apparent sensitivity to number another example of core knowledge?
Explain your answer: ______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Memory
Think of an example of recognition memory and one of recall memory:
Recognition________________________________________________________________
Recall_____________________________________________________________________
Name one technique researchers use to study infant memory: _________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Under the right conditions, even newborns seem to remember things for as long as________
hours. As infants mature, memory improves in several ways. Name one improvement in
infant memory: ______________________________________________________________
Name 2 areas of the brain that are involved in memory function:
1.
2.
Problem Solving
Can you remember seeing a real-life problem solving example involving an infant? Explain
__________________________________________________________________________
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Name a major difference between Piaget’s theory and that of Vygotsky:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Define scaffolding in your own words, or give a real life example:
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Define intersubjectivity in your own words:
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Language
The fundamental sound units and the rules for combining sound units make up a language’s
__________________. As well as learning the sounds of a language, infants must also learn
the meaning of words. This is called ____________. The smallest units of sound are the
basic building blocks of language; these are called _________________. When it comes to
language, what can the average 6 month old do better than the average adult?
___________________________________________________________________________
Where is parentese spoken? ___________________________________________________
What do babies seem to like about this form of speech?
___________________________________________________________________________
At what age do babies show a preference for the sounds of their own language?
______________ When are babies first exposed to the sounds of their own language? _____
Cooing is _______________________ and starts around age _____
Babbling is _________________________________ and starts around age ______. Babies
in all cultures begin to coo and babble at similar ages, as a result of ____________________
factors. They typically say their first word around age ___________________. In addition
to first words, babies also communicate by _________________________.
Babies use gestures to get the adult’s ________________ or to get the adult to ________
___________________.
From about 12 – 20 months, most children speak only one word at a time. What type of
word is most often used? ________________ .
Children develop a vocabulary spurt around age _________________. Initially young
children make some mistakes in their use of words. Label the types of error in the examples
below:
 A 12 month old only uses the word “doggie” for his family’s pet, not for other canines
he sees in the neighborhood. _____________________
 An 11 month old calls all the four-legged animals pictured in her book
“kitty”.________________________
Define:
Receptive language __________________________________________________________
Productive language__________________________________________________________
Which one always develops in advance of the other? ________________________________
Much of language learning seems to be biologically based, and progresses the same way in
all peoples around the world. There is wide individual variation within the normal pattern of
development. Some children fall behind the normal range of developmental variation; these
children are said to have a __________________ _______________. About ___% of
children under age 3 display this delay.
Name 2 possible causes: 1. ________________________ 2. __________________________
Give a brief overview of what is done for a child with a developmental delay:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Name 3 things parents and caregivers can do to support the language development of infants
and toddlers:
1.
2.
3.
CHAPTER 6 KEY
Infancy – Perception, Cognition and Language
Define perception:____________________________________________________________
Process of organizing and interpreting sensory information___
Define cognition:_____________________________________________________________
Processes involved in thinking and mental activity such as attention, memory and problem
solving
Perception
Which theory of infant perception holds that newborns come equipped with mental
mechanisms that help them make sense of sights and sounds?
Constructivist
or
Nativist
According to constructivist theory, how large are the roles played by nature and nurture in
cognitive development?
Nurture plays a bigger role______________________________________________
According to nativist theory, how large are the roles played by nature and nurture in
cognitive development?
____Nature plays a bigger role_______________________________________
Do infants show a preference for looking at the human face? Explain your answer briefly
They like to see the contrasts, the outer contours andthen they like to focus on eyes and lips
The ability to fuse 2 distinct images from our 2 eyes into a perception of a single object is
called _____Steropsis__________.
By what age do infants use this ability to get clues to depth perception as effectively as adults
do? ___6 months________.
Newborns prefer looking at _3___ dimensional objects over _2___ dimensional figures.
The visual cliff experiments indicate that infants have an early perception of differences in
depth. Does this protect them from injury when they start crawling and walking? Y / N
Auditory Perception
Experiments involving playing music to infants have provided information about infants’
ability to recognize sound patterns. Fill in the blanks to describe one conclusion from such
research: At age ___8 months________, infants can__recognize changes in short
melodies________
Researchers continue to be interested in how infants learn speech and language. Complete
this sentence: Until 6 month of age, infants are able to distinguish all important sounds from
_____unimportant or white noise_________________________________.
One issue that has been debated is whether infants possess a “_speech module________”, an
innate capacity to process human language, or whether infants exploit general auditory
capacities
Define in your own words and give an example: what is intermodal perception?
___Using senses to gain information about the
world____EX…______________________________________________________________
____
A number of experiments suggest that infants do coordinate looking and listening, and
looking and touching. Briefly describe one of these
experiments:________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Cognition
The first stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is called
__Sensorimotor______________. What does this name suggest about how Piaget thought
infants obtain information about their world? ___use senses and motor skills to gain
information or learn about the world
This stage covers ages ____newborn__________ to ____2 years__________________.
Since infants develop so much during this age span, this stage is divided into __6____ substages.
What is object concept (also called object permanence):____realization that objects continue
to exist even when they are not in view
Piaget thought that children did not begin to fully grasp this concept until __8____ months of
age. More recent research suggests that infants begin to grasp object concept at __12____
months of age.
You decide: Based on the information on page 205, do you believe that infants DO or DO
NOT possess core knowledge? Explain your position:
______Use own example and
description__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
The debate over core knowledge is similar to a debate described earlier in this chapter. What
was that previous debate? __nature vs. nurture______________________________
In Piaget’s theory, what is the A not B search error? ________________________________
___When an object is hidden at position A at first is moved to position B, even with the child
looking, the child continues to look for it in position A_____________________________
Based on your reading in the text, why do you think babies make this error?
___brains have learned a new thing to look for the object but they can’t grasp the fact that it
has changed. Basically they are not able to adjust the information
easily______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Concepts
Children as young as one-year old displayed early classification skills through a spontaneous
tendency to ____group objects that seem to be similar,
together.____________________________
2 year olds will match items based on ____thematic relations_________ _______________.
Infants also show a beginning awareness of quantity. Newborns can detect differences
between sets containing _small numbers of____ objects and sets containing _____ a larger
number of objects. 6 month olds can differentiate between __8___ and __16___ dots.
You decide: Is this apparent sensitivity to number another example of core knowledge?
Explain your answer: ______________________________________________________
____they instinctively notice a difference but they can’t really tell what the difference
is____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
Memory
Think of an example of recognition memory and one of recall memory:
Recognition________________________________________________________________
Recall_____________________________________________________________________
Name one technique researchers use to study infant memory: _________________________
___habituation, operant conditioning____________________________________________
Under the right conditions, even newborns seem to remember things for as long as________
hours. As infants mature, memory improves in several ways. Name one improvement in
infant memory: ___they store information more rapidly____________________________
Name 2 areas of the brain that are involved in memory function:
1. hippocampus
2.temporal and prefrontal cortex
Problem Solving
Can you remember seeing a real-life problem solving example involving an infant?
Explain____________________________________________________________________
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Name a major difference between Piaget’s theory and that of Vygotsky:
___Vygotsky gives more credit to nurture and Piaget believes that most abilities are inherent
or nature based_______________
Define scaffolding in your own words, or give a real life example:
____help provided by another person to assist learning. So helping a person with lesser skills
to solve a problem etc. (support)______ __________________________________
Define intersubjectivity in your own words:
___________________________________________________________________________
____________two people share attention and participate in learning about a topic.
Language
The fundamental sound units and the rules for combining sound units make up a language’s
___phonology__. As well as learning the sounds of a language, infants must also learn the
meaning of words. This is called _semantics___. The smallest units of sound are the basic
building blocks of language; these are called ___phonemes__. When it comes to language,
what can the average 6 month old do better than the average adult? __readily distinguish
between phonemes. Even the ones not used in own language. Ex. People who don’t speak say
Chinese or Hindi can’t distinguish phonemes form that language________________
Where is parentese spoken? ___almost everywhere__________________________
What do babies seem to like about this form of speech?
______simple, repetitive, high pitched sound_____________________________________
At what age do babies show a preference for the sounds of their own language? 6-9
mos_____ When are babies first exposed to the sounds of their own language? __before
birth___
Cooing is __breif vowel like utterrances___ and starts around age __6-8 weeks___
Babbling is _vowel, consonant combinations___________ and starts around age __3-6
mos____. Babies in all cultures begin to coo and babble at similar ages, as a result of
___biological factors______ factors. They typically say their first word around age ___1
year_________. In addition to first words, babies also communicate by ___gestures_____.
Babies use gestures to get the adult’s ___attentin_____ or to get the adult to do something ex.
point to bottle to get milk
From about 12 – 20 months, most children speak only one word at a time. What type of
word is most often used? ___simple such as mom dad __ .
Children develop a vocabulary spurt around age ___18 months_____. Initially young
children make some mistakes in their use of words. Label the types of error in the examples
below:
 A 12 month old only uses the word “doggie” for his family’s pet, not for other canines
he sees in the neighborhood. ___underextension__
 An 11 month old calls all the four-legged animals pictured in her book
“kitty”.___overextension_____
Define:
Receptive language ____ability to comprehend speech__________
Productive language_____meaningful language spoken or otherwise produced by an
individual_________________________
Which one always develops in advance of the other? ____receptive__________________
Much of language learning seems to be biologically based, and progresses the same way in
all peoples around the world. There is wide individual variation within the normal pattern of
development. Some children fall behind the normal range of developmental variation; these
children are said to have a developmental delay________. About _5__% of children under
age 3 display this delay.
Name 2 possible causes: 1. ___birth defect________ 2. ____neglect___________
Give a brief overview of what is done for a child with a developmental delay: ____screening
ex. Peabody picture screening test, Bayley’s scales of infant and toddler development, Shows
the developmental index and rating scale for behavior so assessment is done to see
developmental level.
Individual family service plan, early intervention and support
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Name 3 things parents and caregivers can do to support the language development of infants
and toddlers:
1. provide scaffolding by turn taking, turnabout ( request response from child)
2. recast to correct errors and expansion to add more complex words
3.joint attention such as reading a book together