Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Infancy and Toddlerhood Physical, Cognitive, and Language Development Chapter 4 4

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Infancy and ToddlerhoodPhysical, Cognitive,

and Language Development

Chapter 4

4


Infancy and Toddlerhood Physical, Cognitive, and Language Development

• The Developing Brain

• The Neonatal Period

• Physical and Motor Development

• Sensory and Perceptual Development

• Cognitive Development

• Language Development


Physical Development

• During first two yeas of life—the periods known as infancy and toddlerhood— developmental change is more rapid and more dramatic than during any other 2-year period in the lifespan

• Neurological functioning underlies much of infant development


The Developing Brain

• The brain governs every aspect of our existence

• We are born with most of the neurons we will have for the rest of our lives

• Neurons get dedicated to certain functions and make connections with other neurons in order for development to occur

• Brain experiences a growth spurt between birth and age 3

• By age 3, the brain is 90% of its adult weight


Video Clip

Shaken baby syndromehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulLr3RZb9gY


Video Clip

Sudden Infant Death awareness videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oORfiQSjxw


Brain Development

• The infant brain has plasticity

– Functions can be reassigned to other brain areas

– But plasticity makes brain vulnerable to environmental assaults

– Early experiences have profound consequences on brain and thus later cognitive development


The Neonatal Period• The first month of life is referred to as the

neonatal period• Babies must recover from the birth process and

adjust to the functioning of their bodies’ organ systems

• Neonates experience 6 behavioral states:– waking

– crying

– alert inactivity

– drowsiness

– regular sleep

– irregular sleep


Neonatal Stage

• Learning and Habituation– Learning is readily observable from birth

– Infants habituate to their surroundings

– Habituation is also used as a research technique

• Neonatal Assessment– Hospitals perform evaluations to assess neurological

and behavioral functioning

– The Newborn Behavioral Observation system (NBO)

– Parents who observe the assessment become more aware of their newborn’s individuality


Physical and Motor Development

• The Gesell Scales summarize the physical and motor capabilities of average children at different ages

• Environmental influences can impact on the timing and rate of development

• Physical growth and motor development are linked to brain, cognitive, and social development


Growth in Height and Weight


Growth Trends



• First Four Months

– Physical growth is rapid

– Weight doubles

– Bodies begin to length

– By 4 months, skin has lost its newborn look

– Vision and hearing have improved

– Teeth begin to emerge at 4 months



• From 5 months to 8 months

– Development of fine motor skills, used to perform tasks that require coordination and dexterity (grasping, for instance)

– Gross motor skills develop, as large muscles develop and strengthen

– Most 8-month-olds can sit without support and can stand with support



• From 9 months to 12 months– By 12 months, they are 3 times heavier than

at birth

– They begin to walk

– Cognitive and perceptual development progresses

– They are leaning to play social games, like “hiding”

– They can manipulate their environment, getting into things like cabinets



• From 13 to 18 months– At 18 months, they weigh up to four times

their birth rate

– They are not yet able to climb stairs or kick a ball

– They begin to feed themselves and can partly undress themselves

– They try to repeat what they see others doing, like reading, talking on phone, even sweeping the floor



• From 19 to 24 months

– They weigh over four times their birth rate

– By 24 months, then can pedal a tricycle, jump, climb steps, throw a ball

– They can dress or undress with assistance.

– They can begin to scribble


Physical Development: Overview of the First Two Years

• 0-4 Months– Activities: Eyes can focus, reflexes become

voluntary– Milestones: Discovery of hands and fingers,

beginning of social smiling

• 5-8 Months– Activities: First tooth, fine and gross motor

skill development, social games– Milestones: Visually guided reach, sitting up,

creeping/crawling



• 9-12 Months– Activities: Self-feeding, drinking from cup– Milestones: Standing and walking,

development of “pincer grasp”

• 13-18 Months– Activities: Stacking blocks, dress self, uses

crayons, “imitation” games– Milestones: Walk without support, climbing

stairs



• 19-24 months– Activities: pedal tricycle, can jump, can throw

a ball– Milestones: High interest in exploring

environment


Nutrition and Malnutrition

• For being a wealthy and obese nation, it is hard to believe that 20 to 24% of U.S. children suffer from nutritional deficiencies, a lot of it the result of eating empty calories

• Nearly 1/3 of the world’s children suffer growth stunting as a result of malnutrition

• Half of the deaths of children under the age of 5 are due to malnutrition

• The effects of malnutrition in early years are long-lasting

• Brain size suffers, leading to deficits in attention and information processing


Nutrient Deficiencies and Their Effects


Nutrition and Malnutrition• Kwashiorkor is a condition caused by protein

insufficiency, especially common in famine-plagued Africa

• Marasmus is a condition of wasting away of the muscles caused by insufficient quantity of food

• Breast feeding is encouraged because it provides children the proper blend of nutrients, is sterile, and provides better immunity

• Culture determines when children are weaned: as early as 3 or 4 months or as late as 2 to 3 years


Video Clip

Describes research findings on the benefit of breastfeeding just after birthhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvR0a0WQ8TY


Video Clip

UNICEF video on the promotion of breastfeeding in Tajikistanhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeq2zB2Puh4


Percentage of Babies Being Breastfed in Developing Nations


Sensory and Perceptual Development

• Vision and Visual Perception

– Born with blurry vision

– Focusing ability develops by 3 to 4 months

– Ability to discriminate between colors improves by 6 months

– Infants engage in selective visual attention, and are especially drawn to pictures of their mothers and other human faces

– Depth perception develops by about 6 months, according to the visual cliff research paradigm



• Hearing and Auditory Perception

– Acuity of hearing improves so that by 6 months they have well-developed auditory perception

– Infants can localize the sources of sounds within the first days of life

– Infants are especially attentive to human speech, preferring their mother’s voice



• Touch, taste and smell are fully operational at birth

• They discriminate among sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes

• They can distinguish the smell of their mother by 4 months

• Touch is well developed, even in newborns

• Newborns also feel pain



• Infants gradually integrate sensory perceptions—sensory integration

• They can match a film to its matching soundtrack by 4 months

• Sensory integration becomes better refined as development proceeds

• For instance, they can recognize something risky and avoid the danger


Cognitive Development

• Cognitive development refers to the growth and refinement of the intellectual processes of thinking, learning, perceiving, remembering, and understanding

• Infants may be born with the ability to perceive the world in categories

• Piaget believed that infants construct their world through schemes


Piaget’s Sensorimotor Period

• Ages 0 to 24 months

• Children adapt to their environment and adjust their mental schemes by assimilation and accommodation. Together, they represent what Piaget called adaptation to the environment

• They learn about the world through their senses and bodies and through the manipulation of objects

• By 8 months, they develop object permanence, the ability to have a mental conception of an object when it is not present


Cognitive Development• Children begin to imitate behavior or others by 6 or 7

months

• Any earlier than that, their seeming imitation may be reflexive

• Only at 18 months did Piaget believe children could engage in deferred imitation

• By 11 or 12 months, children can begin to engage in symbolic representation—thinking about something that is not present, pretending


An Overview of Sensorimotor Development


Language Development• Language development includes learning to

speak or produce oral language, learning the meaning of words, the rules of language, and learning to read and write

• Receptive language – understanding spoken or written words

• Productive language – producing language through speech and writing


Linguistic Terminology


Words and Sentences

• Most children speak their first words at the end of their first year

• Their vocabulary rapidly grows

• They employ overextensions, referring to all animals as dogs, for instance

• Before they use several words at a time, they use one word—holophrases—to convey complex ideas


Examples of Overextensions of Words


Language Development

• By 21 months, children begin to acquire vocabulary at a fast rate

• They become sensitive to the ways words are used

• They begin to put words together into short sentences, known as telegraphic speech

• Language development is a complex interaction between biology and environment


Summary

• During the first two years of life, change is more rapid than at any other period during the life span

• One of the most important developmental changes in infancy and toddlerhood is the brain

• The brain develops by adding new connections among neurons and pruning away connections that are not needed

• At this early age, the brain is very plastic and can adapt to the environment. This poses great opportunity as well as risk


Summary

• During the first month of life—the neonatal period—the child has to adjust from the birth process

• During the first four months of life, physical growth is rapid

• Fine motor skills begin to develop at 5 to 8 months of age

• At about 12 months, 50% of infants are standing and taking their first steps, and beginning to feed themselves and play social games

• By the age of 2 years, they can pedal a tricycle, throw a ball, and begin to dress themselves


Summary

• Sensory and perceptual development at this stage involve attainment of binocular vision, improvement of their hearing, and the integration of several sensory perceptions at one time.

• Cognitive development is closely linked to the development of sensation and perception.

• Piaget believed that infants possess mental structures (schemes) that function like categories of thought.

• Their schemes are bases on their sensations and perceptions, in what Piaget called the sensorimotor stage.


Summary

• Language development is an important part of infancy and toddlerhood. Babies learn language, and learn to use language, in stages.

• The stages begin with babbling, proceed to the one-word stage, and then to telegraphic speech.

• It is believed that humans are born with the neurological capacity for language, but language must develop in the context of communication with others.

• As in most important aspects of human development, language development involves biological, environmental, and cultural factors.

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Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Infancy and Toddlerhood Physical, Cognitive, and Language Development Chapter 4 4