Infancy and

Childhood

Healthy Newborns
Turn head towards
voices .
See 8 to 12 inches
from their faces.
Gaze longer at
human like objects
right from birth.

Reflexes
Click on pictures to
see clips of reflexes.

Inborn automatic
responses.
Rooting
Sucking
Grasping
Moro
Babinski

The Brain and Infancy

Although the
brain does not
develop many
new cells, the
existing cells
begin to work
more efficientlyforming more
complex neural

Maturation
Biological growth
processes that enable
orderly changes in
behavior, relatively
uninfluenced by
experience.
To a certain extent we all
maturate similarly, but
the time can vary
depending on the
person.

Maturation and
Motor Development
Sequence is the same- but once
again timing varies.
First learn to roll over, sit up
unsupported, crawl, walk etc

Walking
Walking- in US 25% learn by 11
months, 50% within a week of 1st
birthday, 90% by 15 months.
Varies by culture- if the culture
emphasizes walking then babies can
walk at younger ages (NURTURE).
But identical twins tend to learn to
walk on the same day (NATURE).

Toilet Training
NO MATTER WHAT,
THE BABY NEEDS THE
PHYSICAL
MATURATION TO
HOLD HIS OR HER
BLADDER OR BOWEL
MOVEMENTS BEFORE
TOILET TRAINING.
NO TRAINING WILL
WORK IF THE CHILD
IS NOT PHYSICALLY
READY.

Schemas
Children view the
world through schemas
(as do adults for the
most part).
Schemas are ways we
interpret the world
around us.
It is basically what you
picture in your head
when you think of
anything.

Right now in your

head, picture a
model.

These 3
probably fit
into your
concept
(schema) of
a model.
But does this
one?

If I teach a 3 year
that an animal
with 4 legs and a
tail is a dog.

Assimilation

Incorporating new
experiences into
existing schemas.

What schema would you

assimilate this into?
Or this?
What
would
he call
this?

Assimilation in High School

When you first meet
somebody, you will
assimilate them into
a schema that you
If you see two guys dressed like
have.
this, already
what schema
would you
assimilate them into?
Would you always be right?

Accommodation (change)

Changing an
existing
schema to
adopt to new
information.

If I tell someone from the mid-west to picture

their schema of the Bronx they may talk about
the ghetto areas.

But if I showed them other areas of the Bronx, they would be

forced to accommodate (change) their schema to incorporate
their new information.

Accommodation (change)

Changing an
existing
schema to
adopt to new
information.

If I tell someone from the mid-west to picture

their schema of the Bronx they may talk about
the ghetto areas.

But if I showed them other areas of the Bronx, they would be

forced to accommodate (change) their schema to incorporate
their new information.

Attachment
The most important
social construct an
infant must develop is
attachment (a bond
with a caregiver).
Lorenz discovered
that some animals
form attachment
through imprinting.

Attachment
Harry Harlow and his monkeys.
Harry showed that monkeys
needed touch to form
attachment.
Critical Periods: the optimal
period shortly after birth
when an organisms exposure
to certain stimuli or
experiences produce proper
development.
Those who are deprived of
touch have trouble forming
attachment when they are
older.
Click the monkey to see a video of Harlows
experiment.

Types of Attachment
Mary Ainsworths
Strange
Situation.
Three types of
attachment:
1. Secure
2. Avoidant
3. Anxious/ambivale
nt
Click picture to see clip of Ainsworths experiment.

Self - Concept

A sense of ones identity and self-worth.

Children with a positive self concept are more confident,
independent, optimistic, assertive, and sociable.

When does self-awareness

Gender Development
Psychodynamic
perspective:
Competition for
opposite sex parent.
Social-Cognitive
Perspective : Gender
Schema Theory
Behavioral
Perspective: Social
Learning Theory

Gender Roles
Our culture shapes our gender roles
expectations of how men and
women are supposed to behave.
Gender Identity means how a
person views himself or herself in
terms of gender.

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Gender Roles: Theories

1. Gender Schema Theory suggests that
we learn a cultural recipe of how to
be a male or a female, which
influences our gender- based
perceptions and behaviors.
2. Social Learning Theory proposes that
we learn gender behavior like any
other behaviorreinforcement,
punishment, and observation.

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