Early cognitive development

Early cognitive development

1. Object permanence

   • Interactionist
     • Piaget
       • Sensori-motor stage
       • By 8 or 9 months look for disappeared objects
       • Between 6 m. and 9 m. would obtain if partially visible
       • Bad: could be due to lack of co-ordination req. to grasp
   • Nativist
     • Expectation - trains - Bower et al. (1971)
     • Violation of expectations - Baillargeon and various others
       • Drawbridge, car, occulusion
     • Hood and Willatts (1986) - searching in the dark
   • Perseveration error

2. Imitation

   • Piaget - development of imitation meant development of memory
     • Early imitation - only if movement already known
       • 12-18 months imitation of novel movements
   • Nativist - Meltzoff and Moore, Jacobson (1979)

3. Representation

   • Objects, emotions, thoughts and concepts
   • Procedural and declarative
   • Children 3 plus - able to understand models - interactionist