Alexa Stumpe
PSYC 474 – Spring 2017
Article Review 1:
How Infants Process Addition and Subtraction Events
Within the field of developmental psychology, arithmetical knowledge and numerical understanding displayed by infants has become an extremely intriguing and controversial topic. Previous studies, such as that by Wynn (1992), have pointed to discovery of infants innately possessing true numerical concepts based on a looking-based, violation of expectation paradigm involving a small set size of objects. With such strong nativist claims of advanced cognitive capability in infancy, several questions arise – is true addition and subtraction a skill possessed by these young babies? If so, to what degree? If not, what lower-order cognitive
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Overall, the main focus of their research resides in the concept of infant processing of addition and subtraction, as well as roots of numerical knowledge in infancy. They wanted to use a systematical, empirical approach to address previous claims by Wynn (1992) and others that numerical/arithmetical ability is innate, and that young infants show profound numerical capacities in terms of addition and subtraction at only 5 months of age. Across three experiments, Cohen and Marks were able to explore three separate, but plausible, explanations to the claim of young infants inherently possessing the ability to add and subtract. The first explanation is directional, that infants can understand that when objects are added to the environment, the outcome should be greater (or fewer for subtraction). However, infants may not truly know how much more or less. The second explanation is one of familiarity preference, that infants simply react stronger to familiar than novel scenarios. The third explanation is computational, meaning that an actual computation takes place in which infants truly add and subtract using mathematical …show more content…
While Cohen does suggest that infants do possess some form of an innate information processing system, careful considerations were taken to describe their results in a way that did not over-interpret infant ability, nor did they infer their results to indicate higher-level cognitive processing – both of which Marshall Haith would approve of according to his list of misdemeanors and felonies regarding infant research (Haith, 2000). Instead, the researchers concluded that Wynn’s claims were relatively unsound and far-fetched, but made the distinction that further research is necessary to fully understand the development of numerical knowledge in
Seefeldt, C., & Wasik, A. (n.d.b). Education.com - print. Education.com - print. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www.education.com/print/cognitive-development-preschoolers/
Formal operations (beginning at ages 11-15) – Conceptual reasoning is present and the child’s cognitive abilities are similar to an adult’s (Atherton, 2010).
Baillargeon, R. (1994). How do infants learn about the physical world? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 3, 133-140.
To begin, my observation was at Webster Elementary School, a school placed in the city surrounded by houses and other schools. The specific classroom I am observing is full of Kindergarten students who seem to very advanced than I had imagined. The classroom walls are brick and white, but the classroom teacher Mrs. O'Brien does an amazing job keeping the space use for both an upbeat and educational vibe, especially for environmental print. Everywhere you look there are educational posters, numbers, and mental state vocabulary words, as well as, students completed work. To add, students sit in medium sized tables with 4-6 other students when they aren’t having whole group instruction on either
Mathematics has become a very large part of society today. From the moment children learn the basic principles of math to the day those children become working members of society, everyone has used mathematics at one point in their life. The crucial time for learning mathematics is during the childhood years when the concepts and principles of mathematics can be processed more easily. However, this time in life is also when the point in a person’s life where information has to be broken down to the very basics, as children don’t have an advanced capacity to understand as adults do. Mathematics, an essential subject, must be taught in such a way that children can understand and remember.
“Cognitive development refers to how a person perceives, thinks, and gains understanding of his or her world. Cognitive development is the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood.”(Cog.) J is in Jean Piaget’s preoperational stage of development because he is still learning how to conserve. I observed this when I completed my math interview with J. When I showed him two clay balls he agreed that they were the same size, but when I flattened one of the balls he believed they had a different mass because they looked different. He shows some signs of being close to understanding of conservation of numbers. I set up two equally spaced rows of counter and J told me that the two rows were the same. Then I spread out one row to look longer. At first, J said that the longer row contained more counter, but when I asked him how he come to that conclusion he counted each row and realized that they had the same amount. J was able to show me his thought process and solve the problem by applying math skills that he already
... young children with a simpler task to examine whether they can produce useful notations and if they are capable of using them.”((Eskitt & Lee 2006) The questioned why many of the younger children did not produced notations, could be found in a study that found children before the age of Grade 4 are not very accurate at predicting their performance for memory task (Flavell, Friedrichs, & Hoyt, 1970; Yussen & Levy, 1975).
Children’s from this stage remain egocentric for the most part but to begin to internalize representations. (Piaget, 1999). Concrete operational stage is children to age seven to eleven. They develop the ability to categorize objects and how they relate to one another. A child’s become more mastered in math by adding and subtracting. If a child eat one brownie out of a jar containing six. By doing the math there would be 5 brownies left by counting the remaining brownies left in the jar because they are able to model the jar in their
The preoperational stage last from two to seven years. In this stage it becomes possible to carry on a conversation with a child and they also learn to count and use the concept of numbers. This stage is divided into the preoperational phase and the intuitive phase. Children in the preoperational phase are preoccupied with verbal skills and try to make sense of the world but have a much less sophisticated mode of thought than adults. In the intuitive phase the child moves away from drawing conclusions based upon concrete experiences with objects. One problem, which identifies children in this stage, is the inability to cognitively conserve relevant spatial
Entering formal education in 1991 I was taught by means of the revised version of
1. Identify your beliefs: State what beliefs you hold about teaching and learning mathematics for each of the following:
This representation is called preverbal number knowledge, which occurs during infancy. Preverbal number knowledge occurs when children begin representing numbers without instruction. For instance, children may be familiar with one or two object groupings, but as they learn strategies, such as counting they can work with even larger numbers. As stated in Socioeconomic Variation, Number Competence, and Mathematics Learning Difficulties in Young Children “Thus only when children learn the count list and the cardinal meanings of the count words, are they able to represent numbers larger than four” (Jordan & Levine 2009, pp.61). Typical development occurs along a continuum where children develop numerical sense, represent numbers and then begin to understand the value of the numbers. These components are required when differentiating numbers and
Research has shown that ‘structured’ math lessons in early childhood are premature and can be detrimental to proper brain development for the young child, actually interfering with concept development (Gromicko, 2011). Children’s experiences in mathematics should reflect learning in a fun and natural way. The main focus of this essay is to show the effectiveness of applying learning theories by Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner and their relation to the active learning of basic concepts in maths. The theories represent Piaget’s Cognitivism, Vygotsky’s Social Cognitive and Bruner’s Constructivism. Based on my research and analysis, comparisons will be made to the theories presented and their overall impact on promoting mathematical capabilities in children. (ECFS 2009: Unit 5)
middle of paper ... ... (1958), as cited in ‘Children’s Cognitive and Language Development, Gupta, P and Richardson, K (1995), Blackwell Publishers Ltd in association with the Open University. Light P and Oates, J (1990) ‘ The development of Children’s Understanding’ in Roth, I (Ed) Introduction to Psychology, Vol 1, Hove, East Sussex, Psychology Press in association with the Open University.
Before taking this course I already had a prior knowledge on infant and toddler development being a child development and family relations major. I have worked hands on with children in this age range and from previous courses know a lot about their physical growth and development. I knew that baby’s had poorly developed muscles in the beginning stages of life, but I didn’t know how long it took to get the muscles to develop. When holding a child we were always taught to support the neck and never let it just flop around. It was interesting to find out that even though a baby might be able to lift its head at one month its neck muscles are not fully developed until three months. By the time a child reaches two years of age their baby fat will start to disappear and be replaced by muscle from their constant movement like running and jumping.