PSY 111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: John Bowlby, Jean Piaget, Primitive Reflexes
13 Mar 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSY 111 Chapter 9 Part 2: Developmental Psychology
Motor Development
• Newborns first motor movement are primarily motor reflexes
o Reflexes: specific patterns of motor response that are triggered by specific
patterns of sensory stimulation. They’re automatic and innate
o Examples
▪ The rooting reflex causes infants to move their mouths toward any
object that touches their cheek
▪ The sucking reflex causes babies to suck any object that enters
their mouth
More sophisticated motor movements
• The development of controlled motor behaviors follows two general rules
o Cephalocaudal rule (a): “top-to-bottom” rule that describes the tendency
for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet
▪ Ability to lift head and chest when still having little control over legs
o Proximodistal rule (b): “inside-to-outside” rule that describes the tendency
for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery
▪ Infants learn to control their trunks before their elbow and knees,
which they learn to control before their fingers and toes
o Babies motor skills do not emerge on a strict timetable, but they do
emerge in a strict sequence
Cognitive Development: emergence of the ability to think and understand
• Jean Piaget (1896 – 1989) suggested that children go through four stages of
cognitive development and learn
o How the physical world works
o How their minds represent it
o How other minds represent it
Piaget’s Cognitive Development
• Stage 1
o Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years): infants acquire information about the
world by sensing it and moving around within it
▪ During the sensorimotor stage, infants explore with their hands and
mouths, learning important lessons about the physical world such
as, “If you whack Jell-O hard enough, you can actually wear it”
▪ Children start developing schemas (knowledge categories)
• Schemas are theories about how the world works. Schemas
are built through a series of assimilations and
accommodations
o Assimilations: process by which infants apply their
schemas in novel situations
o Accommodation: process by which infants revise their
schemas in light of new information
• Development of object permanence
o Object permanence: knowing that objects continue to
exist even when they are not visible
o Develops around 6 months
o Young babies enjoy peek a boo because the lack
object permanence; they think you truly disappear!
• Stage 2
o Preoperational stage (2 – 6 years): children have a preliminary
understanding of the physical world
▪ Child acquires motor skills but does not understand conservation of
physical properties
▪ Conservation: ability to realize that quantitative properties of an
object are invariant despite changes in the object’s appearance
• A preoperational child lacks conservation
▪ Child begins this stage by thinking egocentrically but ends with a
basic understanding of other minds
• Egocentrism: failure to understand that the world appears
different to different observers; observed during
preoperational stage
o Test: three mountain experiment
• Perceptions and beliefs
o Preoperational kids fail to realize that other people
don’t know what they know. They lack “theory of
mind”
o Test: false belief experiment
• Stage 3
o Concrete operational stage (6 – 11 years): children learn how various
actions or operations can affect or transform concrete objects
▪ They can conserve
▪ Have theory of mind (they play without violating rules of the game
and driving others crazy!)
▪ Have logical thought (hence it’s easier to have a discussion with
them)
Document Summary
Psy 111 chapter 9 part 2: developmental psychology. Motor development: newborns first motor movement are primarily motor reflexes, reflexes: specific patterns of motor response that are triggered by specific patterns of sensory stimulation. They"re automatic and innate: examples, the rooting reflex causes infants to move their mouths toward any object that touches their cheek, the sucking reflex causes babies to suck any object that enters their mouth. When a 12-month-old infant interacts with an adult who then looks at an object, the infant will typically look at the same object- but only when the adult"s eyes are open. Bowlby"s attachment theory: john bowlby (1907 1990) argued that infants innately channel their signal to primary caregivers to form attachment, attachment: emotional bond that forms between newborns and their primary caregivers, people have different attachment styles. May or may not be distressed when the parent leaves but expresses clear pleasure when parent returns.
