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Module14:InfancyandChildhood

Topics

§  PhysicalDevelopment/matura5on,inc.brain§  Cogni5veDevelopment:Piaget,Vygotsky

§ Sensorimotor,Preopera5onal,ConcreteOpera5onal,FormalOpera5onalStages

§ Egocentrism,TheoryofMind§ Vygotsky:MindinSocialContext

§  SocialDevelopment§ AHachment:Origins,Styles,Depriva5on§ DayCare;Self-Concept;Paren5ngStyles

§  Inpsychology,“matura;on”referstochangesthatoccurprimarilybecauseofthepassageof;me.

§  Indevelopmentalpsychology,matura;onreferstobiologically-drivengrowthanddevelopmentenablingorderly(predictablysequen2al)changesinbehavior.

§  Experience(nurture)canadjustthe;ming,butmatura;on(nature)setsthesequence.

Matura;on

Forexample,infantbodies,insequence,willliftheads,thensitup,thencrawl,andthenwalk.

Matura;onininfancyandearlychildhoodaffectsthebrainandmotorskills.

Matura;on,thebiologicalunfolding,willbeseenin:§  braindevelopment.§  motordevelopment.

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BrainDevelopment:BuildingandConnec;ngNeurons

§  Inthewomb,thenumberofneuronsgrowsbyabout750,000

newcellsperminuteinthemiddletrimester.§  Beginningatbirth,theconnec6onsamongneurons

proliferate.Aswelearn,weformmorebranchesandmoreneuralnetworks.

§  Ininfancy,thegrowthinneuralconnec;onstakesplaceini;allyinthelesscomplexpartsofthebrain§  thebrainstemandlimbicsystem§  themotorandsensorystrips.àThisenablesbodyfunc5onsandbasicsurvivalskills.

§  Inearlychildhood,neuralconnec;onsproliferateintheassocia6onareas.àThisenablesadvancementsincontrollingaNen;onandbehavior(frontallobes)andalsointhinking,memory,andlanguage.

MotorDevelopment

§  Matura5ontakesplaceinthebodyandcerebellumenablingthesequencebelow.

§  Physicaltraininggenerallycannotchangethe5ming.

BabyMemory

§  Ininfancy,thebrainformsmemoriessodifferentlyfromtheepisodicmemoryofadulthoodthatmostpeoplecannotreallyrecallmemoriesfromthefirstthreeyearsoflife.§  Abirthdaypartywhenturningthreemightbeaperson’sfirstmemory.

Infan;leAmnesia

LearningSkills§  Infantscanlearnskills(procedural

memories).§  Thisthreemontholdcanlearn,and

recallamonthlater,thatspecificfootmovementsmovespecificmobiles.

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Cogni;veDevelopment

Cogni;onreferstothementalac2vi2esthathelpusfunc2on,including:

§  problem-solving.§  figuringouthowtheworldworks.§  developingmodelsandconcepts.§  storingandretrievingknowledge.§  understandingandusinglanguage.§  usingself-talkandinnerthoughts.

Cogni;veDevelopment:JeanPiaget(1896-1980)

o  Wedon’tstartoutbeingabletothinklikeadults.o  JeanPiagetstudiedtheerrorsincogni;onmadebychildren

inordertounderstandinwhatwaystheythinkdifferentlythanadults.Theerrorbelowisaninabilitytounderstandscale

(rela5vesize).

JeanPiagetandCogni;veDevelopment:Schemas

Aninfant’smindworkshardtomakesenseoftheirexperiencesintheworld

§  Anearlytooltoorganizethoseexperiencesisaschema§  Schemaamentalcontainerwebuildtoholdourexperiences§  Schemascantaketheformofimages,models,and/or

concepts

EG:Achildhasformedaschemacalled“COW”whichtheyusetothinkaboutanimalsofacertainshapeandsize.o  assimila;onreferstoincorpora5ngnew

experiencesintoourexis5ngschema/categories;o  accommoda;onreferstoadjus5ngourschemato

beHerfitourexperiences.

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TheCourseofDevelopment:Stages

JeanPiagetbelievedthatcogni5vedevelopment:1.   isacombina;onofnatureandnurture.

•  Childrengrowbymatura5onaswellasbylearningthroughinterac5ng/playingwiththeenvironment.

2.   isNOTonecon;nuousprogressionofchange.Childrenmakeleapsincogni5veabili5esfromonestageofdevelopmenttothenext.

Issue JeanPiaget’sVoteNaturevs.Nurture BothCon5nuityvs.Stages Stages

JeanPiaget’sStagesofCogni;veDevelopment

SensorimotorStage(FromBirthtoAge2)

Inthesensorimotorstage,childrenexplorebylooking,hearing,touching,mouthing,andgrasping.Coolcogni5vetricklearnedat6to8months,comingupnext:objectpermanence.

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Hmm,abear,shouldIputitinmymouth?

ObjectPermanenceThroughgameslike“peekaboo,”kidslearnobjectpermanence--theideathatobjectsexistevenwhentheycan’tbeseen.

There’sagameI’velearnedtoplayallbymyself:

peekaboo!Sensorimotor Stage (From Birth to Age 2)

Preopera;onalstageages2toabout6or7

1.  Representtheirschema,andevensomefeelings,withwordsandimages.

2.  Usevisualmodelstorepresentotherplaces,andperformpretendplay.

3.  Pictureotherpointsofview,replacingegocentrismwiththeoryofmind.

4.  Useintui5on,butNOTlogicandNOTabstrac5onyet.

MaturingbeyondEgocentrism:Developinga“TheoryofMind”

(ages2-7)Theoryofmind

referstotheabilitytounderstandthatothershavetheirownthoughtsand

perspec2ve.

Withatheoryofmind,youcan

picturethatSallywillhavethewrongideaaboutwhere

theballis.

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ExamplesofOpera;onsthatPreopera;onalChildrenCannotDo…YetConserva;onreferstotheabilitytounderstandthataquan2tyisconserved(doesnotchange)evenwhenitisarrangedinadifferentshape.

Whichrowhasmoremice?

TheConcreteOpera;onalStage

§  beginsatages6-7(firstgrade)toage11§  childrennowgraspconserva5onandotherconcrete

transforma5ons§  theyalsounderstandsimplemathema5cal

transforma5onsthereversibilityofopera5ons(reversing3+7=10tofigureoutthat10-7=3).

FormalOpera;onalStage(Age11+)

Concreteopera;onsincludeanalogiessuchas“Mybrain

islikeacomputer.”

Formalopera;onsincludesallegoricalthinkingsuchas“Peoplewholiveinglasshousesshouldn‘t’throwstones”(understandingthatthisisacommenton

hypocrisy).

Includesarithme5ctransforma5ons:

if4+8=12,12–4=?

Includesalgebra:ifx=3yandx–2y=4,

whatisx?

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LevVygotsky:Alterna;vetoJeanPiaget

§  LevVygotsky(1896-1934)studiedkidstoo,butfocusedonhowtheylearninthecontextofsocialcommunica;on.

§  Principle:childrenlearnthinkingskillsbyinternalizinglanguagefromothersanddevelopinginnerspeech:“PutthebigblocksontheboHom,notthetop…”

§  Vygotskysawdevelopmentasbuildingonascaffoldofmentoring,language,andcogni;vesupportfromparentsandothers.

Strangeranxietydevelopsaroundages9to13months.o  Inthisstage,achildno5ces

andfearsnewpeople.

ExplainingStrangerAnxietyHowdoesthisdevelop?

§  Aschildrendevelopschemasfortheprimarypeopleintheirlives,theyaremoreabletono5cewhenstrangersdonotfitthoseschemas.

§  However,theydonotyethavetheabilitytoassimilatethosefaces.

SocialDevelopmentStrangerAnxiety

SocialDevelopment:ANachmentANachmentreferstoanemo5onal5etoanotherperson.§  Inchildren,aNachmentcanappearasadesireforphysicalclosenesstoacaregiver.

OriginsofANachment

ExperimentswithmonkeyssuggestthataHachmentisbasedonphysicalaffec5onandcomfortablebodycontact,andnotbasedonbeingrewardedwithfood.

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Depriva;onofANachment

§  Ifchildrenlivewithoutsafe,nurturance,affec5onatecaretaking,theymays5llberesilient,thatisbounceback,aHach,andsucceed.

§  Yet,ifthechildexperiencessevere,prolongeddepriva5onorabuse,heorshemay:§  havedifficultyformingaHachments.§  haveincreasedanxietyanddepression.§  haveloweredintelligence.§  showincreasedaggression.

Childhood:Hypothe;calParen;ngStyles

Style ResponsetoChild’sBehavior

Authoritarian“TooHard”

Parentsimposerules“becauseIsaidso”andexpectobedience.

Permissive“TooSog”

Parentssubmittokids’desires,notenforcinglimitsorstandardsforchildbehavior.

Authorita;ve“JustRight”

Parentsenforcerules,limits,andstandardsbutalsoexplain,discuss,listen,andexpress

respectforchild’sideasandwishes.

OutcomeswithParen;ngStyles§  Authorita5veparen5ng,morethantheothertwostyles,seemstobeassociatedwith:§  highself-reliance.§  highsocialcompetence.§  highself-esteem.§  lowaggression.

§  Butarethesearesultofparen5ngstyle,orareparentsrespondingtoachild’stemperament?Orarebothafunc5onofculture?Orgenes?