Using the Habituation Technique to Evaluate a Piagetian Hypothesis

– to write a paper that evaluates the adequacy of the Piaget’s hypothesis using the habituation technique.   You will be helped when writing your paper if you first read the following journal article: McCrink, K., & Wynn, K. (2004).  Large-number addition and subtraction by 9-month old         infants.  Psychological Science, 15, 776-781.
– Also, please review Chapter 5 of the textbook: Developing Through The Lifespan
– Your paper should consist of five paragraphs corresponding to the 5 questions below.  DO NOT write an outlined paper: it needs to be in essay format.  Within each paragraph, please be clear on which letter you are answering by placing a bold letter in front of the sentences.  If you are answering “1a” place a letter “a” before the sentence/s.  (Here’s an example: The purpose of this paper is to use the habituation technique in young infants to evaluate one hypothesis derived from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.  I will compare 5-months olds in a task that involves possible and impossible outcomes.  Piaget’s theory specifies the cognitive competencies of children of this age.  1a. Children in the sensorimotor stage experience the world …) 
 
1.     Begin the first paragraph of the paper with these sentences: “The purpose of this paper is to use the habituation technique in young infants to evaluate one hypothesis derived from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.  I will compare 5-months olds in a task that involves possible and impossible outcomes.  Piaget’s theory specifies the cognitive competencies of children of this age.” 
a.     Describe how children in the sensorimotor stage experience the world.    (3 pts). 
b.     What is object permanence?  How would Piaget explain the absence of object permanence in young infants? At what age does object permanence emerge, according to Piaget?   Why does it emerge? (4 pts).
c.     What is stranger anxiety?  At what age does it emerge, according to Piaget?   Why might object permanence and stranger anxiety emerge at the same time?   (3 pts).
d.     McCrink and Wynn outline a theory of cognitive competency that is different from Piaget.  Describe their theory.  In what ways is their view opposed to Piaget’s view?   (6 pts)
 
2.     Begin the next paragraph with this sentence: “Habituation is a method that might be used to explore predictions of Piaget’s theory.” 
a.     Describe the habituation technique. What is habituation? What is dishabituation? How does habituation help researchers test the cognitive capacity of infants? (4 pts)
b.     Describe an alternative technique that could be used to test the cognitive capacity of infants. (4 pts)
c.     What are the advantages of using the habituation technique with infants over the alternative technique you described in 2b?  (4 pts)
 
3.     Begin the next paragraph with these sentences: “An experiment was performed to examine the age at which infants recognize certain outcomes as impossible.  Five-month old infants were tested in the procedure depicted in Figure 1.”  
a.     Copy, paste, and label Figure 1 into your document. In your own words, describe the 5 steps of the experimental procedure depicted in Figure 1.  (4 pts)
b.     How many different conditions does this experiment involve?  Which condition is most appropriately called the experimental condition?  Why?  Would the same or different infants be tested in each condition?  Why? Is a separate control group necessary?  Why or why not?  Identify a possible control group. (7 pts)
c.     How is the habituation technique used in this experiment? What is the independent variable in the experiment?  What is the dependent variable?  (4 pts)

4.     Begin the fourth paragraph with these sentences: “Figure 2 contains results from the experiment.  The results bear strongly on the experimental hypothesis.” 
a.     State the experimental hypothesis using Piaget’s theory and its alternative using McCrink and Wynn’s theory. (4 pts)
b.     Describe an outcome of the current experiment that would support the experimental hypothesis.  Explain why this outcome would support the experimental hypothesis. Describe an outcome of the current experiment that would support the alternative hypothesis.  Explain why this outcome would support the alternative hypothesis. (6 pts)
c.     Copy, paste, and label Figure 2 into your document. Describe the actual outcome of this experiment.  Which condition showed the greatest dishabituation in percentage terms?  What information would you need to determine whether the difference between conditions was statistically significant?  (7 pts)
d.     Were the results of the experiment consistent with the Piagetian hypothesis or the alternative hypothesis?  Explain. (4 pts)

5.     Begin the final paragraph with these sentences: “The results of the experiment were valuable in addressing the hypothesis under study.  However, future investigations may need to adopt techniques that improve upon those used here.”
a.     Assume the time between Step 4 and Step 5 in Figure 1 was 1 second.  Now suppose in a follow-up experiment that you lengthened this time to 10 seconds and observed the outcome depicted in Figure 3.  Copy, paste, and label Figure 3 into your document. How would you explain these new results?  Do they fit with the conclusion you made in 4d? How could both results (i.e., Figure 2 and Figure 3) be true?  (4 pts)
b.     Imagine that Piaget saw the results in Figure 3 and exclaimed “Mon Dieu!  Just as I expected. The infants lack any object permanence.”  Explain how these results might fit a Piagetian hypothesis.  Could Monsieur Piaget also explain the results in Figure 2 using his theory? (5 pts)
c.     Suppose that a critic made the following judgment about your study: “The researcher assumes that infants in this study are responding to a change in number.  An alternative explanation is that infants are responding only whether the objects in memory mismatch the objects presented visually.”  Describe the follow-up experiment of McCrink and Wynn and explain how it addresses the critic’s concern.  (7 pts)
 
·      The paper should not exceed 4 pages (excluding figures).
 ·       essay format and typewritten (double spaced) using Microsoft Word in .doc format.