• Chapter 6 focuses on the cognitive development of the infant, while the video lesson 6, “The First Two Years: Cognitive Development,” traces sensorimotor development, and illustrates individual differences in the infant’s capacities to act, learn, and remember. It is clear that children actively try to understand their world, striving to organize and interpret their experiences. The video also focuses on language development during the first two years. Web Links for Ch. 6 includes sites on Piaget. In Chapter 2 there is a discussion of Piaget’s model of cognitive adaptation. (This is a critical concept that we return to often in psychology – for example, in a different context we might call schema “stereotypes.”)

  1. Describe the six stages of Piaget’s sensorimotor development. Explain what is meant by feedback loops and “circular reactions.” In what ways was Piaget mistaken about infant development?
  2. What are “schema?”  Describe and discuss the processes of adaptation to new information.
  3. Describe the information-processing theory of cognition, and discuss how changes in the areas of affordances, categorization, and memory abilities have contributed to our understanding of infant cognition.
  4. Compare and contrast Skinner’s and Chomsky’s theories of language development. What is the current thinking about the processes of language development?

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