Infant Reflexes. Areas of Development. Human Development. Infant Attachment. Ainsworth s Strange Situation. Four Styles of Attachment

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1 Infant Reflexes Human Development Rooting Sucking Babinski Moro Grasping Cuddling 1 2 Areas of Development Attachment Theory Infant Attachment Language Development Cognitive Development: Piaget s theory Gender Development Emotional bond between infant and caregiver Obstacles lead to anxiety 3 Ainsworth s Strange Situation Mother-child pairs were observed in a playroom in four stages: Initial mother-child interaction Friendly stranger enters playroom Mother leaves infant with stranger in playroom Mother returns and greets child Four Styles of Attachment 1) Secure 2) Avoidant 3) Ambivalent 4) Disorganized 1

2 How does language develop? Language: the jewel of the crown of cognition - Steven Pinker 6 months = cooing, vowels, babbling citizens of the world 12 months = spoken language sounds only, first words months = telegraphic (two-word) speech By age 6 = understands most grammar rules of language (implicitly!) Can the citizens of the world window be lengthened? Using audiotapes of other languages? Videos of other languages? Humans exert relational force upon each other- and are reinforced for it. Critical Period for Language Best language learning occurs before age 6. During this period, we are especially sensitive to environmental influences After this period, environment has little effect. Critical Period for Language How well can a second language be learned past the critical period? Evidence: Children in isolation do not learn rules of grammar Recovery after brain damage much more likely earlier rather than later Phonology: the earlier the better Vocabulary: age is not related to size of vocabulary Grammar: can be more difficult but education may be key Brain activation (Hirsch, 1997) Early bilinguals- same area activated Later bilinguals- adjacent area activated 2

3 Theories of Language Development Learning theory- Skinner: Operant conditioning is key to language learning Exposure to language improves and quickens language development Piaget s Stages of Cognitive Development A child s capacity to understand certain concepts is based on the child s developmental stage Chomsky s Universal Grammar: Children worldwide develop in similar way around the world Language Acquisition Device = An innate ability to learn language is prewired Piaget s Four Stages Believed that all children develop according to four stages based on how they see the world. 1. Sensorimotor (birth 2 years) 2. Preoperational (~2-7) 3. Concrete operational (~7-11) 4. Formal operations (~12-15) Sensorimotor Stage (0-2) The child will: Explore the world through senses & motor activity Gain object permanence (around 6 months old) Begin to understand cause & effect Preoperational Stage About 2 to about 7 Egocentric Errors in Conservation understanding that something doesn t change even though it looks different, shape is not related to quantity Concrete Operational Stage From about 7 to about 11 Abstract reasoning ability increases Understands conservation 3

4 Formal Operations From about 12 to about 15 Be able to think about abstract ideas and hypothetical situations Form & test hypotheses Problems with Piaget s Theory Children often grasp ideas earlier than what Piaget found Cognitive development across domains is more continuous and inconsistent Studies have shown that development can to some degree be accelerated Interpreting gender differences Gender Development Because we cannot randomly assign gender, we can never do a true experiment on differences Why there is a difference is unknown due to confounds. E.g. boys are stronger than girls THEORIES OF GENDER DEVELOPMENT Social learning theory emphasizes how children learn gendered behavior from their environment (Mischel, 1966, 1970) Reinforcement when a behavior is followed by desirable consequences Imitation copying someone else s behavior Observational learning watching others behavior and storing it for later use THEORIES OF GENDER DEVELOPMENT Gender schema theory the gender schema is learned very early, and it guides the individual in becoming gender-typed (Bem, 1981) Gender-schematic highly gender-typed; a welldeveloped gender schema and the reliance on it to make sense of the world Gender-aschematic less gender-typed; a lessdeveloped gender schema and less reliance on it to make sense of the world 4

5 Parents Influence on Gender 1. Modeling 2. Treatment of boys vs. girls Interactions Behavior monitoring 3. Opportunities provided/encouraged Toys Play activities Household chores Peers ~3 years old- children show same-sex preferences for play, increases over time Boys- rough, competitive, separation from adults, hierarchical Girls- relational, verbal, domestic Peers police gender violations in appearance and behavior 5