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Lecture 5: New approaches to cognitive development (Symbolic development…
Lecture 5: New approaches to cognitive development
Symbolic development
Symbolic reasoning (Judy DeLoache)
Experimenter hides toy in scale model while child watches-->experimenter leaves hides toy in same place in big room
Results
3 yr old succeed, 2.5 yr failed, search at random
But with pictures: Both succeed cos photos are specific, 3D scale models are generic
Children introduced to scale model & big room, shown how model corresponds to big room
Scale errors
Children's understanding of their overall size doesn't transfer from earlier learning (eg. hand size)
Treating a miniature replica of object as though it were normal size
incredible shrinking room (DeLoache & Rosengren)
2.5 yr old succeeded
shows that they are able to understand symbols
Previous experiences led them astray where they treat the little room like a generic symbol
Performance improves as they gain more experience with models as specific symbols
Hid troll in scale model & enlarged room with machine
Showed children shrinking/enlarging machine & that it can enlarge an entire room
Conceptual development
Embedded concepts (Susan Carey)
by 4 yrs, never attribute animal properties to non-animals-->able to distinguish bet animal & non animal
Have diff concepts of animals than older children
10 yr old
Have a theory of what animals are
Theory based on biological properties eg. breathing, eating
4 yr old
Focus on having parts that are typical of animals they know
Only attribute animal behaviours to those typical animals but not to things they know less abt (eg. worms)
Based on appearance & behaviour
Little understanding of eating having babies as biological processes
interviewed 4,7,10 yr old abt concept of animals
Interviewed elementary-school children, analyse responses in terms of defining or characteristic features (Keil)
Defining features
eg. A Grandmother has a child who has a child
Characteristic features
A grandmother wears specs, grey hair, weak
younger kids focused more on characteristic; Use of defining features increases with age