Which of the following are possible explanations for why infants make a-not-b errors?

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    1. Table \(\PageIndex{1}\): Substages of Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage2

      SubstageAgeDescription
      Substage One: Simple Reflexes Birth to 1 month This active learning begins with automatic movements or reflexes. A ball comes into contact with an infant’s cheek and is automatically sucked on and licked.
      Substage Two: Primary Circular Reactions 1 to 4 months The infant begins to discriminate between objects and adjust responses accordingly as reflexes are replaced with voluntary movements. An infant may accidentally engage in a behavior and find it interesting such as making a vocalization. This interest motivates trying to do it again and helps the infant learn a new behavior that originally occurred by chance. At first, most actions have to do with the body, but in months to come, will be directed more toward objects.
      Substage Three: Secondary Circular Reactions 4 to 8 months The infant becomes more and more actively engaged in the outside world and takes delight in being able to make things happen. Repeated motion brings particular interest as the infant is able to bang two lids together from the cupboard when seated on the kitchen floor.
      Substage Four: Coordination of circular reactions 8 to 12 months The infant can engage in behaviors that others perform and anticipate upcoming events. Perhaps because of continued maturation of the prefrontal cortex, the infant becomes capable of having a thought and carrying out a planned, goal-directed activity such as seeking a toy that has rolled under the couch. The object continues to exist in the infant’s mind even when out of sight and the infant now is capable of making attempts to retrieve it.
      Substage Five: Tertiary Circular Reactions 12 to 18 months The infant more actively engages in experimentation to learn about the physical world. Gravity is learned by pouring water from a cup or pushing bowls from high chairs. The caregiver tries to help the child by picking it up again and placing it on the tray. And what happens? Another experiment! The child pushes it off the tray again causing it to fall and the caregiver to pick it up again!
      Substage Six: Internalization of Schemes and Early Representational thought 18 months to 2 years

      The child is now able to solve problems using mental strategies, to remember something heard days before and repeat it, to engage in pretend play, and to find objects that have been moved even when out of sight. Take for instance, the child who is upstairs in a room with the door closed, supposedly taking a nap. The doorknob has a safety device on it that makes it impossible for the child to turn the knob. After trying several times in vain to push the door or turn the doorknob, the child carries out a mental strategy learned from prior experience to get the door opened-he knocks on the door! The child is now better equipped with mental strategies for problem- solving.

      Which of the following are possible explanations for why infants make a-not-b errors?
      Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): An infant sitting in a highchair. (Image by holycalamity is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

      Abstract

      Eight- to 12-month-olds might make A-not-B errors, knowing the object is in B but searching at A because of ancillary (attention, inhibitory, or motor memory) deficits, or they might genuinely believe the object is in A (conceptual deficit). This study examined how diligently infants searched for a hidden object they never found. An object was placed in A twice, and then in B. In a different task the object was placed beside A twice, and then in B. Infants made more A-not-B errors in the former task, and perseverating infants searched diligently in A rather than in B. Infants seemed to believe the object was in A, suggesting that both a conceptual deficit and ancillary deficits account for A-not-B errors.

      Journal Information

      As the flagship journal of the Society for Research in Child Development, Child Development has published articles, essays, reviews, and tutorials on various topics in the field of child development since 1930. Spanning many disciplines, the journal provides the latest research, not only for researchers and theoreticians, but also for child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, specialists in early childhood education, educational psychologists, special education teachers, and other researchers.

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      What is A

      The A-not-B error occurs when infants search for a hidden toy at the incorrect location when presented with two possible locations (Piaget, 1954). The toy is repeatedly hidden at location A. After a short delay, infants are then allowed to reach for and retrieve the toy.

      What affects children's performance on the A

      From a neuropsychological perspective, the cognitive skills of working memory, inhibition, and attention and the maturation of the frontal lobe are requisites for successful A-not-B performance on both the looking and reaching versions of the task.

      What is the main finding in rovee Collier's experiment of infant memory?

      In contrast to the predictions of both Freudian and classic Piagetian theorists, Rovee-Collier found that infants as young as 2 months showed some memory for the mobile.

      In which of Piaget's sensorimotor stages are infants delighted by making things happen?

      Substage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions. The infant becomes more and more actively engaged in the outside world and takes delight in being able to make things happen.