Human Development

Chapter 5 gp 1-3
 GP 1 What are the 6
approaches to the study of
cognitive development?
• 1. The behaviourist approach Behaviourism is a
tenet based on the idea that behaviour can be
learned without involvement of the mind. (we will
look at both classical and operant conditioning as an
example of this later in the presentation)
 2. The psychometric approach
• In this century the
psychometric approach
has been the primary
method of studying
intelligence . This method
is based on the
presumption that
intelligence is a
measurable (quantifiable)
factor, and thus the IQ
test was born.
 3. The Piagetian Approach
• Piaget emphasized that children
cannot learn something until
maturation gives them certain
prerequisites. The ability to
learn any cognitive content is
always related to their stage of
intellectual development.
Children who are at a certain
stage cannot be taught the
concepts of a higher stage.
 4. The Info-Processing
Approach
• Like a computer, the
human mind takes in
information, performs
operations on it to
change its form and
content, stores and
locates it and
generates responses
to it.
 The Cognitive Neuroscience
Approach
• Deals with the actual
brain and nervous
system and seeks to
understand what
parts of the brain are
involved in learning,
memory,
understanding etc.
The social contextual Approach
• Examines the effects
aspects of
environment (parents
caregivers etc) for
understanding
behavioral change
2. How do infants learn and how
long can they remember?
1. How do infants learn and how
long can they remember?
3. Can infants’ and toddlers’
intelligence be measured,
and how can it be improved?
• An IQ test measures
how much
intelligence a
person has against
standardized norms.
Norms are obtained
from the scores of a
large representative
sample of people.
3. Can infants’ and toddlers’
intelligence be measured,
and how can it be improved?
• Validity refers to the
ability of the test to
measure what is
being tested.
Reliability means
that the tests are
consistent from one
time to another.
3. Can infants’ and toddlers’
intelligence be measured,
and how can it be improved?
• Measuring an infant’s IQ is
difficult since they cannot
answer questions and it is
usually not really
necessary unless there is
a developmental delay the
parents are concerned
about. The Bayley Scales
of Infant Development is a
test that can give a
reasonably accurate
measure of an infants’
development. See table 5.1
on page 158