In general, children were encouraged to explore and use their environment to learn and discover things for themselves. They were shown the places that were tapu for them, such as cliff faces and reefs, in fact, anything that could be too difficult for them to cope with unaccompanied by adults.

Rangimarie Turuku Pere, Maori writer

Basic learning processes

Sensorimotor development

Mental representation

Memory

Theory of mind

Habituation

discriminates familiar from novel

shows surprise and expectancies

exps. = categorical speech perception, discriminating small quantities,

intermodal integration

Instrumental & operant conditioning

increase/decrease responding through positive or negative consequences

Classical conditioning

stimulus substitution based on contiguity

Contingency Awareness

controlling the environment vs

learned helplessness

Imitation

Innate??

learning novel responses

deferred imitation

Structures

Functions

Organization

Adaptation

Assimilation

Accommodation

Equilibration

Sensorimotor period - 0-2 yrs

Preoperational period - 2-6 yrs

Concrete operational period - 6-11 yrs

Formal operational period - 12-adult yrs

Maturation

Physical experience

Social experience

Equilibration

Exercising reflexes - 0-1month

Developing schemes- 1-4 months

Discovering procedures - 4-8 months

Intentional behavior - 8-12 months

Novelty & exploration - 12-18 months

Mental representation - 18-24 months

From To

reflexes --> controlled actions

nonverbal --> verbal

actions --> representations

discrete --> integrated

immediate --> deferred

trial & error --> hypothesis testing

repeated actions (primary circular reactions)

exploration of body

perceptual integration

eye-hand coordination

manipulates objects repeatedly

creep, crawl, climb to explore

visually-directed reaching

recognition memory helps establish:

object permanence

social attachment

communication by gesture & speech

stereotyped actions applied to new objects

A not B search error

self-awareness & self-recognition

intentionality shown by:

removal of obstacles to obtain goals

use of instruments as tools

exploration is systematic

greater focus on goal pursuit

uses tools in novel ways

greater use of symbols & signs

greater causal reasoning

inventive thinking shown by:

hypothesis testing

Insight

deception

mental representation

Symbolic play

Object concept

Decreasing egocentrism

Language use

Searching behavior

Deferred imitation

Recall memory

Traditional view = infantile amnesia

New view = recall memory at 12 months

Problem was methodological

Solution = elicited imitation of action sequences

Method

Infant and E opposite each other at table

Props on table

E models sequence of actions

Infant asked to perform actions

Measures = accurate imitation

11 month olds imitate 2 step sequences

20 month olds imitate 3 step sequences

30 month olds imitate 8 step sequences

Bauer presented action sequences to groups of 13, 16, & 20 month olds and tested

their recall 8 months later?

All infants had accurate imitation

Conclude: Good recall by 12 months and rapid improvement by age 2 years

short delays

familiar events

enabling sequences

more repetitions of model’s actions

participation rather than passive viewing

available cues as reminders

available vocabulary to encode actions

2-3 year olds do not easily discriminate what things look like from what

things actually are

problem is dual nature of object and conflicting information

occurs in many cultures

resists simple training

similar to level 1 & 2 visual perspective taking

From To

copy theory --> constructed theory

encounter --> represented world

repository --> transformed

object-centered --> subject-centered

Naïve physics

Naïve biology

Naïve psychology

3-5 year olds distinguish real from imagined objects (i.e., physical vs mental)

3-5 year olds are not "realists" as Piaget claimed

3-5 yr olds construct causal-explanatory theory of the world based on:

beliefs-desires-intentions

Exp: False Belief Tasks
Call & Tomasello (CD,1999)

Q: Do children understand deception?

Method: Hiding-finding game with 4&5yr olds

Procedure: One adult hides a sticker underneath one of two containers. Second adult places marker on top of correct container. Then 3 phases: Pretest, Control trials, False-belief test

Control trials: Insure that child can follow visible and invisible displacements and ignore false marker by second adult

Critical Test: When second adult left room, first adult switched containers. Child was asked,"Which container would second adult think contained the sticker?" i.e., Does the child know that the sticker is in one location but the second adult falsely believes it is in the other container?

Results: 4 yr olds did not understand that second adult would have a false belief but 5 yr olds did

Same results when task was given in verbal and nonverbal format

Then the nonverbal task was modified (food instead of sticker) and administered to 9 great apes, 4 orangutans and 5 chimps .

Do they understand deception?

No

Gelman: Do children form categories based on perceptual features or underlying similarities?

Task: Child sees 3 pictures such as: flamingo - bat - blackbird. Two look alike and two are conceptually alike

Child hears fact such as,"This bird gives its baby mashed-up food; this bat gives its baby milk."

Do children think the blackbird feeds its babies mashed-up food or milk?

4 year olds make inferences based on category membership, NOT perceptual similarity.

Effects found in 3 yr olds and without verbal labels and with many natural categories

Conclude: 3-4 yr olds establish categories for natural kinds and make inferences about them.

Piaget underestimated children’s knowledge

Recent research shows:

Causal reasoning about physical forces and perceptual expectancies

Understanding of the mental world, self and others’, and

Categories of natural kinds, not classes of perceptually-similar things

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