Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
circumstances.
The Life-Span Perspective
Development The pattern of change that begins
at conception and continues through the life
span.
Life-span perspective The perspective that
development is lifelong, multidimensional,
multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and
contextual; involves growth, maintenance, and
regulation; and is constructed through biological,
sociocultural, and individual factors working
together. (Paul Baltes (1939–2006))
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LIFE-SPAN
PERSPECTIVE
- The traditional approach to the study of
development emphasizes extensive
change from birth to adolescence
(especially during infancy)
- The upper boundary of the human life
span (based on the oldest age
documented) is 122 years
- life expectancy in the United States is 78
years of age (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008).
Development Is Lifelong – there’s no age period
dominates development.
Development Is Multidimensional – whatever
your age, your body, your mind, your emotions,
and your relationships are changing and affecting
each other.
Development Is Multidirectional – throughout
life, some dimensions or components of a
dimension expand and others shrink.
Development Is Plastic – “Plasticity” means the
capacity for change.
Developmental Science Is Multidisciplinary –
Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists,
neuroscientists, and medical researchers all share
an interest in unlocking the mysteries of
development through the life span.
Development Is Contextual – families, schools,
peers, churches, cities, neighborhoods, university,
countries, etc. Each of these settings is influenced
by historical, economic, social, and cultural
factors. Contexts, like individuals, as a result of
these changes, contexts exert three types of
influences (Baltes, 2003):
1) normative age-graded influences – similar
for individuals in a particular age group.
biological processes such as puberty and
menopause. They also include
sociocultural, environmental processes
such as beginning formal education.
2) normative history-graded influences –
common to people of a particular
generation because of historical
3) nonnormative or highly individualized life
events – unusual occurrences that have a
major impact on the individual’s life.
Development Involves Growth, Maintenance,
and Regulation of Loss
- the mastery of life often involves conflicts
and competition among three goals of human
development: growth, maintenance, and
regulation of loss.
Development Is a Co-Construction of Biology,
Culture, and the Individual
SOME CONTEMPORARY CONCERNS
 Health and Well-Being
 Parenting and Education
 Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity
 Culture – behavior patterns,
beliefs, and all other products of a
group that are passed on from
generation to generation.
 Cross-cultural studies –
comparison of one culture with
one or more other cultures. These
provide information about the
degree to which development is
similar, or universal, across
cultures, and the degree to which
it is culture-specific.
 Ethnicity – ‘ethnic’ means ‘nation’
characteristic based on cultural
heritage, nationality
characteristics, race, religion, and
language.
 Socioeconomic status (SES) –
refers to the grouping of people
with similar occupational,
educational, and economic
characteristics. Implies certain
inequalities.
 Gender – characteristics of people
as males or females.
 Social Policy – government’s course of
action designed to promote the welfare of
its citizens. Values, economics, and politics
all shape a nation’s social policy.
The Nature of Development
Three Dimensions:
1. Biological processes – produce changes in
an individual’s physical nature.
2. Cognitive processes – refer to changes in
the individual’s thought, intelligence, and
language.
3. Socioemotional processes – Involve
changes in the individual’s relationships
 with other people, changes in emotions,
and changes in personality.
connection across biological, cognitive, and
socioemotional processes:
 Developmental cognitive neuroscience,
which explores links between
development, cognitive processes, and the
brain (Diamond, Casey, & Munakata,
2011).
 Developmental social neuroscience,
which examines connections between
socioemotional processes, development,
and the brain (Calkins & Bell, 2010; de
Haan & Gunnar, 2009)
PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT
- Developmental period, refers to a time frame
in a person’s life that is characterized by
certain features.
1. Prenatal period (conception to birth) –
Involves tremendous growth, and takes
place in approximately a nine-month
period.
2. Infancy (birth to 18–24 months) - a time of
extreme dependence upon adults. Many
psychological activities (language,
symbolic thought, sensorimotor
coordination, social learning) are just
beginning.
3. Early childhood (2–5 years) – “preschool
years.” Learns to become more self-
sufficient and to care for themselves,
develop school readiness skills, and spend
many hours in play with peers. First grade
marks the end of early childhood.
4. Middle and late childhood (6–11 years) –
fundamental skills of reading, writing, and
arithmetic are mastered. The child is
formally exposed to the larger world and
its culture. Achievement becomes a more
central theme of the child’s world, and
self-control increases.
5. Adolescence (10–12 to 18–21 years) –
rapid physical changes. Pursuit of
independence and an identity are
prominent. Thought is more logical,
abstract, and idealistic. More time is spent
outside the family.
6. Early adulthood (20s to 30s) – time of
establishing personal and economic
independence, career development, and
for many, selecting a mate
7. Middle adulthood (40s to 50s) – time of
expanding personal and social
involvement and responsibility; of
assisting the next generation in becoming
competent, mature individuals; and of
reaching and maintaining satisfaction in a
career.
8. Late adulthood (60s–70s to death) – time
of life review, retirement, and adjustment
to new social roles involving decreasing
strength and health. “Longest span”
Four Ages (Baltes, 2006; Willis & Schaie, 2006):
- First age: Childhood and adolescence
- Second age: Prime adulthood, 20s
through 50s
- Third age: Approximately 60 to 79 years
of age
- Fourth age: Approximately 80 years and
older
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AGE
 Age and Happiness
 Conceptions of Age
 Chronological age – Is the number
of years that have elapsed since
birth.
 Biological age – Is a person’s age in
terms of biological health.
 Psychological age – Is an
individual’s adaptive capacities
compared with those of other
individuals of the same
chronological age.
 Social age – refers to social roles
and expectations related to a
person’s age.
DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES
1) Nature-Nurture Issue – Refers to the
debate about whether development is
primarily influenced by nature or nurture.
Nature refers to an organism’s biological
inheritance, nurture to its environmental
experiences. The “nature proponents”
claim biological inheritance is the most
important influence on development; the
“nurture proponents” claim that
environmental experiences are the most
important.
2) Stability-Change Issue – Involves the
degree to which we become older
renditions of our early experience
(stability) or whether we develop into
someone different from who we were at
an earlier point in development (change).
- stability is due to heredity and possibly
early experiences.
- later experiences can produce change.
3) Continuity-Discontinuity Issue – Focuses
on the extent to which development
involves gradual, cumulative change
(continuity) or distinct stages
(discontinuity).
Theories of Development
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES
 - Describe development as primarily
unconscious and heavily colored by
emotion. Behavior is merely a surface
characteristic, and the symbolic workings
of the mind have to be analyzed to
understand behavior. Early experiences
with parents are emphasized.
Sigmund Freud – the pioneering architect of
psychoanalytic theory.
 Freud’s Theory
- problems were the result of experiences
early in life.
- the primary motivation for human
behavior is sexual in nature
- our basic personality is shaped in the first
five years of life
- viewed early experience as far more
important than later experiences,
- five stages of psychosexual development:
1) Oral Stage (Birth to 11⁄2 Years)
- Infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth.
- Infants develops sense of trust and
comfort.
2) Anal Stage (11⁄2 to 3 Years)
- Child’s pleasure focuses on the anus.
- Major conflict
- Toilet training.
- Child learns to control his/her needs.
- Sense of accomplishment and
independence.
3) Phallic Stage (3 to 6 Years)
- Child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals.
- Aware of gender.
- Oedipus, wanting to possess the mother
(boys). Electra, wanting to possess the
father (girls)
4) Latency Stage (6 Years to Puberty)
- Child represses sexual interest and
develops social and intellectual skills.
5) Genital Stage (Puberty Onward)
- A time of sexual reawakening; source of
sexual pleasure becomes someone
outside the family.
Erik Erikson (1902–1994) – recognized Freud’s
contributions but believed that Freud misjudged
some important dimensions of human
development.
 Erikson’s theory
- (primary motivation for human behavior)
is social and reflects a desire to affiliate
with other people.
- developmental change occurs throughout
the life span.
- emphasized the importance of both early
and later experiences.
- eight stages of development: (top-bottom)
1) Integrity vs Despair (Late
adulthood:60s onward)
- “final stage”. Person reflects on the past. If
the person’s life review reveals a life well
spent, integrity will be achieved; if not, it
likely will yield doubt or gloom—despair.
2) Generativity vs Stagnation (Middle
adulthood:40 - 50)
- primarily a concern for helping the
younger generation to develop and lead
useful lives. The feeling of having done
nothing to help the next generation is
stagnation.
3) Intimacy vs Isolation (Early
adulthood:20 - 30)
- Face developmental task of forming
intimate relationships. If young adults
form healthy friendships and an intimate
relationship with another, intimacy will be
achieved; if not, isolation will result.
4) Identity vs Identity Confusion
(Adolescence:10 - 20 years)
- If adolescents explore roles in a healthy
manner and arrive at a positive path to
follow in life, then they achieve a positive
identity; if not, then identity confusion
reigns.
5) Industry vs Inferiority (Middle and
late childhood: elementary 6 years
– puberty)
- direct their energy toward mastering
knowledge and intellectual skills. The
negative outcome is that the child may
develop a sense of inferiority—feeling
incompetent and unproductive.
6) Initiative vs Guilt (Early childhood:
preschool years, 3 - 5 years)
- encounter a widening social world, face
new challenges that require active,
purposeful, responsible behavior. Feelings
of guilt may arise, though, if the child is
irresponsible and is made to feel too
anxious.
7) Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
(Infancy:1 - 3 years)
- begin to discover their own behavior. Start
to assert their sense of independence or
autonomy, and realize their will.
- If infants/toddlers are restrained too
much or punished too harshly, they are
likely to develop a sense of shame and
doubt.
8) Trust vs Mistrust (Infancy: first
year)
- “first year of life”. Trust in infancy sets the
stage for a lifelong expectation that the
world will be a good and pleasant place to
live.
COGNITIVE THEORIES
- Emphasizes conscious thought.
Three theories:
Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory - States
that children actively construct their
understanding of the world and go through four
stages of cognitive development.
1) Sensorimotor stage – (birth to
about 2 years of age) infants
construct an understanding of the
world by coordinating sensory
experiences (such as seeing and
hearing) with physical, motoric
actions.
2) Preoperational stage – (2 - 7 years
of age), children begin to go
beyond simply connecting sensory
information with physical action
and represent the world with
words, images, and drawings.
3) Concrete Operational stage – (7 -
11 years of age), children can
perform operations that involve
objects, can reason logically.
4) Formal Operational stage – (11 -
15 and continues through
adulthood) individuals move
beyond concrete experiences and
think in abstract and more logical
terms. As part of thinking more
abstractly, adolescents develop
images of ideal circumstances.
Begins to entertain possibilities for
the future and are fascinated with
what they can be. In solving
problems, they become more
systematic, developing hypotheses
and then testing these hypotheses.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory
- Russian developmentalist Lev Vygotsky
(1896–1934) argued that children actively
construct their knowledge.
- gave social interaction and culture far
more important roles in cognitive
development than Piaget did.
- Vygotsky’s theory is a sociocultural
cognitive theory that emphasizes how
culture and social interaction guide
cognitive development.
The Information-Processing Theory
- theory emphasizes that individuals
manipulate information, monitor it, and
strategize about it.
- Robert Siegler (2006, 2007), leading
expert on children’s information
processing, states that thinking is
information processing. In other words,
when individuals perceive, encode,
represent, store, and retrieve information,
they are thinking.
BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORIES
- Behaviorism, essentially holds that we
can study scientifi cally only what can be
directly observed and measured.
- behavioral and social cognitive theories
emphasize continuity in development and
argue that development does not occur in
stage-like fashion.
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
- Social cognitive theory, holds that
behavior, environment, and cognition are
the key factors in development.
- B. F. Skinner (1904–1990)
- Rewarding and punishment. The child
must understand the cause/ reason of the
punishment or else the child may develop
resentment.
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
- Albert Bandura has been one of the
leading architects of social cognitive
theory.
- emphasizes that cognitive processes have
important links with the environment and
behavior.
ETHOLOGICAL THEORY
Ethology – Stresses that behavior is strongly
influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is
characterized by critical or sensitive periods.
- Konrad Lorenz (1903–1989), European
zoologist helped bring ethology to
prominence.
- Lorenz (1965) studied the behavior of
graylag geese. Lorenz called this process
imprinting, the rapid, innate learning that
involves attachment to the first moving
object seen.
- John Bowlby (1969, 1989) illustrated an
important application of ethological
theory to human development. He
stressed that attachment to a caregiver
over the first year of life has important
consequences throughout the life span.
ECOLOGICAL THEORY
- emphasizes environmental factors.
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
- Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005).
- development reflects the influence of
several environmental systems.
- five environmental systems:
1) Microsystem – the setting in which
the individual lives. (family, peers,
school, and neighborhood). Most
direct interactions with social
agents take place (with parents,
 peers, and teachers). The
individual is not a passive recipient
of experiences in these settings,
but someone who helps to
construct the settings.
2) Mesosystem – Involves relations
between microsystems or
connections between contexts.
(relation of family experiences to
school experiences school
experiences to religious
experiences, and family
experiences to peer experiences.)
3) Exosystem – consists of links
between a social setting in which
the individual does not have an
active role and the individual’s
immediate context.
4) Macrosystem – Involves the
culture in which individuals live.
5) Chronosystem – consists of the
patterning of environmental
events and transitions over the life
course, as well as sociohistorical
circumstances.
Chapter 2: BIOLOGICAL BEGINNINGS
The Evolutionary Perspective
Natural selection – Is the evolutionary process by
which those individuals of a species that are best
adapted are the ones that survive and reproduce.
Adaptive behavior – Is behavior that promotes
an organism’s survival in the natural habitat
EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
- emphasizes the importance of adaptation,
reproduction, and “survival of the fittest”
in shaping behavior.
- “Fit” in this sense refers to the ability to
bear offspring that survive long enough to
bear offspring of their own.
- natural selection favors behaviors that
increase reproductive success, the ability
to pass your genes to the next generation.
- David Buss, evolution shapes our physical
features (body shape and height) it also
pervasively influences how we make
decisions, how aggressive we are, our
fears, and our mating patterns.
Connecting Evolution and Life-Span Development
- (life-span developmentalist) Paul Baltes
(2003), the benefits conferred by
evolutionary selection decrease with age.
- selection primarily operates during the
first half of life, as older adults weaken
biologically
Evaluating Evolutionary Psychology
- Albert Bandura (1998), acknowledges the
important influence of evolution on
human adaptation.
Genetic Foundations of Development
Genetic foundations of development:
Chromosomes – threadlike structures that come
in 23 pairs, one member of each pair coming from
each parent. Chromosomes contain the genetic
substance DNA.
DNA – complex molecule that contains genetic
information.
Genes – units of hereditary information
composed of DNA. Genes direct cells to
reproduce themselves and manufacture the
proteins that maintain life.
Proteins – building blocks of cells as well as
regulators that direct…
GENES AND CHROMOSOMES
Mitosis – cellular reproduction in which the cell’s
nucleus duplicates itself with two new cells being
formed, each containing the same DNA as the
parent cell, arranged in the same 23 pairs of
chromosomes.
Meiosis – specialized form of cell division that
occurs to form eggs and sperm (or gametes).
Fertilization – stage in reproduction whereby an
egg and a sperm fuse to create a single cell, called
a zygote.
Zygote – single cell formed through fertilization.
Sources of Variability
 Identical twins (monozygotic twins)
develop from a single zygote that splits
into two genetically identical replicas.
 Fraternal twins (dizygotic twins) develop
from separate eggs and separate sperm,
making them genetically no more similar
than ordinary siblings.
 Mutated gene, which is a permanently
altered segment of DNA. Caused by a
mistake by cellular machinery, or damage
from an environmental agent such as
radiation.
 Susceptibility genes, those that make the
individual more vulnerable to specific
diseases or acceleration of aging.
  Longevity genes, those that make the Gene-Linked Abnormalities
individual less vulnerable to certain
diseases and be more likely to live to an
older age.
 Genotype, person’s genetic heritage; the
actual genetic material.
 Phenotype, the way an individual’s
genotype is expressed in observed and
measurable characteristics.
GENETIC PRINCIPLES

 Dominant-Recessive Genes Principle – one

gene of a pair always exerts its effects; it is
dominant , overriding the potential
influence of the other gene, called the
recessive gene.
 Sex-Linked Genes – most mutated genes
are recessive. When a mutated gene is
carried on the X chromosome, the result is
called X-linked inheritance.
 Genetic Imprinting – occurs when the
expression of a gene has different effects
depending on whether the mother or the
father passed on the gene.
 Polygenic Inheritance – “gene-gene
interaction” is increasingly used to
describe studies that focus on the
interdependence of two or more genes in
influencing characteristics, behavior,
diseases, and development.
CHROMOSOMAL & GENE-LINKED
ABNORMALITIES
Chromosomal Abnormalities
Reproductive Challenges and Choices
PRENATAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTS
Ultrasound sonography – Is a prenatal medical
procedure in which high-frequency sound waves
are directed into the pregnant woman’s
abdomen. The echo from the sounds is
transformed into a visual representation of the
fetus’s inner structures. There is virtually no risk
to the woman or fetus in this test.
MRI – “Magnetic Resonance Imaging”, uses a
powerful magnet and radio images to generate
detailed images of the body’s organs and
structures.
Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) – Is a prenatal
medical procedure in which a small sample of the
placenta.
Amniocentesis – Is a prenatal medical procedure
in which a sample of amniotic fluid is withdrawn
by syringe and tested for chromosomal or
metabolic disorders.
* Both amniocentesis and chorionic villus
sampling provide valuable information about the
presence of birth defects.
INFERTILITY AND REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY

 Infertility, which is defined as the inability

to conceive a child after 12 months of
regular intercourse without contraception.
 In vitro fertilization (IVF), in which eggs
and sperm are combined in a laboratory
dish.
ADOPTION
Heredity and Environment Interaction: The
Nature-Nurture Debate
BEHAVIOR GENETICS
- Behavior genetics, is the field that seeks
to discover the influence of heredity and
environment on individual differences in
human traits and development.
- Twin study, a study in which the
behavioral similarity of identical twins is
compared with the behavioral similarity of
fraternal twins.
HEREDITY-ENVIRONMENT CORRELATIONS

Passive genotype-environment
correlations occur because biological
parents, who are genetically related to
the child, provide a rearing environment
for the child.
 Evocative genotype-environment
correlations occur because a child’s
characteristics elicit certain types of
environments.
 Active (niche-picking) genotype-
environment correlation occur when
children seek out environments that they
find compatible and stimulating. Niche-
picking refers to finding a setting that is
suited to one’s abilities. Children select
from their surrounding environment some
aspect that they respond to, learn about,
or ignore.
SHARED and NONSHARED ENVIRONMENTAL
EXPERIENCES
 Shared environmental experiences,
siblings’ common experiences, such as
their parents’ personalities or intellectual
orientation, the family’s socioeconomic
status, and the neighborhood in which
they live.
 Nonshared environmental experiences,
child’s unique experiences, both within
the family and outside the family, that are
not shared with a sibling.
Chapter 3: PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND BIRTH
Prenatal Development
THE COURSE OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
(3) Stages:
1. Germinal Period – (2 weeks after
conception) includes: the creation of the
fertilized egg (zygote) cell division, and the
attachment of the zygote to the uterine
wall.
 Blastocyst, inner layer of cells that
develops during the germinal period.
These cells later develop into the embryo.
 Trophoblast, outer layer of cells that
develops in the germinal period. These
cells provide nutrition and support for the
embryo.
2. Embryonic Period – (2 to 8 weeks after
conception) During embryonic period, the
rate of cell differentiation intensifies,
support systems for cells form, and organs
appear.
 Amnion, life-support system that is a bag
or envelope that contains a clear fluid in
which the developing embryo fl oats.
 Umbilical cord, life-support system
containing two arteries and one vein that
connects the baby to the placenta.
 Placenta, life-support system that consists
of a disk-shaped group of tissues in which
small blood vessels from the mother and
off spring intertwine.
 Organogenesis, Organ formation that
takes place during first 2 months of
prenatal development.
3. Fetal Period – (two months after
conception) last about seven months.
Growth and development continue their
dramatic course during this time.
 Brain, one of the most remarkable aspects
of the prenatal period is the development
of the brain.
 Neurons, nerve cells, which handle
information processing at the cellular level
in the brain.
TERATOLOGY AND HAZARDS TO PRENATAL
DEVELOPMENT
1. General Principles
 Teratogen, “tera” means “monster.” Any
agent that causes a birth defect. The field
of study that investigates the causes of
birth defects is called Teratology. Some
exposures to teratogens do not cause
physical birth defects but can alter the
developing brain and influence cognitive
and behavioral functioning, in which case
the field of study is called Behavioral
teratology.
influence (to both severity of the damage to
an embryo or fetus and the type of defect):
  Midwives
 Doulas – attends a childbearing woman.
 Dose – greater the dose of an agent, such
Greek word means “a woman who helps.”
as a drug, the greater the effect.
is a caregiver who provides continuous
 Genetic susceptibility – type or severity of
physical, emotional, and educational
abnormalities caused by a teratogen is
support for the mother before, during,
linked to the genotype of the pregnant
and after childbirth.
woman and the genotype of the embryo
or fetus. (Male fetuses are far more likely Methods of Childbirth:
to be affected by teratogens than female
 Medication – three basic kinds of drugs
fetuses).
that are used for labor are analgesia (used
 Time of exposure – Teratogens do more
to relieve pain), anesthesia (to block
damage when they occur at some points
sensation in an area of the body or to
in development than at others. Damage
block consciousness.), and
during the germinal period may even
oxytocin/Pitocin (used to stimulate
prevent implantation. In general, the
contractions).
embryonic period is more vulnerable than
 Natural childbirth, method attempts to
the fetal period.
reduce the mother’s pain by decreasing
2. Prescription and Nonprescription Drugs
her fear through education about
3. Psychoactive Drugs – drugs that act on
childbirth and relaxation techniques
the nervous system to alter states of
during delivery.
consciousness, modify perceptions, and
 Prepared childbirth, developed by French
change moods.
obstetrician Ferdinand Lamaze. Childbirth
 Caffeine
strategy similar to natural childbirth but
 Alcohol
includes a special breathing technique to
 Nicotine
control pushing in the final stages of labor
 Cocaine
and a more detailed anatomy and
 Methamphetamine physiology course.
 Marijuana
 Breech position, baby’s position in the
 Heroin uterus that causes the buttocks to be the
4. Incompatible Blood Types first part to emerge from the vagina.
5. Environmental Hazards
 Cesarean delivery, the baby is removed
6. Maternal Diseases from the mother’s uterus through an
7. Other Parental Factors: Maternal Diet
incision made in her abdomen.
and Nutrition, Maternal Age, Emotional
States and Stress, Paternal Factors ASSESSING THE NEWBORN

PRENATAL CARE  Apgar Scale, widely used to assess the

health of newborns at one and five
NORMAL PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
minutes after birth.
Birth
THE BIRTH PROCESS
Stages of Birth:
1. Uterine contractions – 15 to 20 minutes
apart at the beginning and last up to a
minute. The intensity increases,
contractions dilate the cervix to an
opening of about 10 centimeters. Longest
of the three stages.
2. The baby’s head starts to move through
cervix and birth canal.
3. Afterbirth – placenta, umbilical cord, and
other membranes are detached and
expelled. Shortest among the three.
Childbirth Setting and Attendants:
  Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral
Assessment Scale (NBAS) A measure that
is used in the first month of life to assess
the newborn’s neurological development,
reflexes, and reactions to people and
objects.
 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) An “off
spring” of the NBAS, the NNNS provides
an assessment of the newborn’s behavior,
neurological and stress responses, and
regulatory capacities.
 Low birth weight infants, an infant that
weighs less than 5½ pounds at birth.
 Preterm infants, those born before the
completion of 37 weeks of gestation (the
time between fertilization and birth).
 Small for date infants, also called small for
gestational age infants, these infants’ birth
weights are below normal when the
length of pregnancy is considered. Small
for date infants may be preterm or full
term.
The Postpartum Period
- period after childbirth / delivery that lasts
for about 6 weeks or until the mother’s
body has completed its adjustment and
has returned to a nearly prepregnant
state. It is a time when the woman
adjusts, both physically and
psychologically, to the process of
childbearing.
PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS
EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENTS
 Postpartum depression, Characteristic
of women who have such strong
feelings of sadness, anxiety, or despair
that they have trouble coping with
daily tasks in the postpartum period.
BONDING
- formation of a close connection, especially
a physical bond, between parents and
their newborn in the period shortly after
birth.
CHAPTER 4: INFANCY
Introduction
Latonya
Newborn baby in Ghana
First days of life: bottle fed
Mother was persuaded to bottle fed rather than
breast fed
Mother: overdilutes the milk formula with
unclean water Her feeding bottles have not been
sterilized Died before her first birthday
Ramona
Born in Nigeria (has a “baby-friendly” program)
Nigeria:
babies are not separated from their mother
mothers are encouraged to breast feed mother
are told of the perils that bottle feeding can bring
because of unsafe water and unsterilized
bottles mothers are informed about the
advantages of breast milk
At 1 year of age, she becomes healthy.
Note:
 Maternity units in hospitals favored bottle
feeding and did not give mothers adequate
information about the benefits of breast feeding.
 In recent years, WHO and UNICEF have tried to
reverse
the trend toward bottle feeding of infants in
many
impoverished countries.
 Result of WHO and UNICEF effort = “baby-
friendly”
program
Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital
In Philippines
Saved 8 percent of their annual budget
Disadvantage of breast milk:
Passing HIV
Africa
30% of mothers have human immunodefiency
virus (HIV)
PHYSICAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN
INFANCY
First two years of life – most crucial period for an
infant
Newborn infants:
Heads are quite large
Little strength in their necks
Cannot hold their heads up
Have basic reflexes
In 12 months, infants are capable of:
Sitting
Standing
Stooping
Climbing
Walking
During the second year:
growth decelerates running and climbing
PATTERNS OF GROWTH
head – unproportional to the body
cephalocaudal pattern
- sequence of growth is from top to bottom birth, through
- shoulders, middle trunk infancy and later.
- head – top part of the head-eyes and brain- infant's head- should be protected
grow faster Shaken Baby Syndrome
than the lower parts, such as the jaw. - brain swelling and hemorrhaging
motor development – follows the cephalocaudal - affects hundreds of babies in US
pattern Perpetrators:
DEVELOPMENT DOES NOT FOLLOW A RIGID 1. fathers
BLUEPRINT. 2. child care provider
proximodistal pattern- sequence of growth starts 3. boyfriend of victim’s mother
at the center of Positon-emission tomography (PET)
the body and moves toward the extremities. - scans pose a radiation risk to babies
- uses radioactive tracer to image and analyze
blood flow
HEIGHT AND WEIGHT
and metabolic activity in the body’s organs.
20 inches and 7 pounds Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- newborn North-American - infants wriggle too much to capture accurate
18 to 22 inches long and weigh between 5 and images
10 pounds Electroencephalogram (EEG)
- 95% percent of full term newborns - measures the brain’s electrical activity
Figure 1 Charles Nelson
CHANGES IN PROPORTION OF HUMAN BODY
- making strides in brain development
DURING GROWTH.
Head becomes smaller in relation to the rest of
the body. THE BRAIN’S DEVELOPMENT
First several days of life:
Most lose 5 to 7 percent of their baby weight
Before they adjust by sucking, swallowing, and At birth: 25 PERCENT of its adult weight
digesting. Second birthday: 75 percent of its adult weight.
First month: BRAIN’S AREAS DO NOT MATURE UNIFORMLY.
Grow 5 to 6 ounces per week MAPPING THE BRAIN
Fourth month: forebrain- portion farthest from the spinal cord
Doubled their birth weight a. cerebral cortex- covers the forehead like a
First year: wrinkled cap.
Grow 1 inch per month
left hemisphere
Second year:
- location of logical and language thinking
Weighs approximately 26 to 32 pounds
- speech and grammar
Gained quarter to half a pound per month
Reached 1/5 of their adult weight right hemisphere
Average height: 32 to 35 inches - location of emotion and creative thinking
Reaches half of their adult height - humor and use of metaphors
Four main lobes: FOTP
1. frontal lobe
First several days Lose 5 to 7 percent of voluntary movement thinking personality
of life body weight
intentionality or purpose
Grow 5 to 6 ounces per
First month 2. occipital lobe
week
Doubled their birth vision
Fourth month
weight 3. temporal lobe
First year Grow 1 inch per month active role in hearing language processing
Weigh: 26 to 32 pounds memory
1/5 of their adult weight 4. parietal lobe
Second year
Height: 32 to 35 inches
registering spatial location attention motor
Half of adult weight
control
cerebral cortex- covers the forehead like a
THE BRAIN wrinkled cap.
Division of cerebral cortex:
Infant – single cell to 100 billion neurons
1. left hemisphere
Extensive brain development continues after
- location of logical and language thinking
- speech and grammar
2. right hemisphere
- location of emotion and creative thinking
- humor and use of metaphors
Note:
 Reading and performing music requires the
work of both
hemispheres.
 Complex thinking is the outcome of the
communication of
both hemispheres.
Lateralization – specialization of function in one
hemisphere of
the cerebral cortex
left hemisphere- has greater electrical activity in
the left
hemisphere when they are listening to speech
sounds.
CHANGES IN NEURONS
neurons- nerve cells that send electrical and
chemical signals
- nerve cell that handles information processing
a. The dendrites of the cell body receive the
information from other neurons, muscles, or
glands through the
axon.
b. Axons transmit information away from the cell
body.
c. A myelin sheath covers most axons and
dendrites and speeds information transmission
d. As the axons ends, it branches out into
terminal
2 types of fibers:
1. axons- carries the signals away from the cell
body
synapses- terminal buttons that are found at the
end of the axon
- tiny gaps between neuron fibers
- allows information to pass from neuron to
neuron through chemical interactions
terminal buttons – found at the end of an axon
- releases chemicals called
neurotransmitters
metaphor:
Think of the synapse as a river that blocks a road.
A grocery truck arrives at one bank of the rover,
crosses ferry and continues its journey to market.
Similarly, a message in the brain is “ferried”
across the synapse by a neurotransmitter, which
pours out information contained in chemicals
when it reaches the other side of the river.
2. dendrites- carries signals toward
myelin sheath – layer of fat cells, encases many
axons.
– insulates axons
– helps critical signals travel faster down
the axon.
myelination – involved in providing energy to
neurons and in communication
2 significant ways on how neurons change:
1. myelination – the process of encasing axons
with fat cells
- begins prenatally and continues after birth,
even into adolescence
2. expansion of dendritic connections
- facilitates the spreading of neural pathways
Synaptic connections:
 Nearly twice as many of these connections are
made as will ever be used.
 The connections that are used become
strengthened and survive, while the unused ones
are replaced by other pathways or disappear,
these connections will be
“pruned”
CHANGES IN THE REGIONS OF THE BRAIN
synaptic density – important indication of the
extent of connectivity between neurons.
Synaptic overproduction:
1. visual cortex – fourth postnatal month,
followed by a gradual retraction until the middle
to end of the preschool years.
2. hearing and language – later
3. prefrontal cortex – higher level of thinking and
self-regulation occur
- 1 year of age
- it is not until the middle to late adolescence that
the adult density of the synapses is achieved.
Pace of myelination (speeds up neural
transmission):
1. visual pathways – occurs after birth
- com: in the first six month
2. auditory – completed until the 4 or 5 years of
age
frontal lobes – immature in the newborns
NOTE:
 As neurons in the frontal lobes become
myelinated and interconnected during the first
year of life, infants
develop an ability to regulate their physiological
states.
 Prefrontal region of the frontal lobe has the
most prolonged development of any brain
region, with changes detectable at least into the
emerging adulthood.
cognitive skills - do not emerge until the first year
of life
EARLY EXPERIENCES AND THE BRAIN 1/5 in REM sleep 1/2 REM sleep
NOTE: REM sleep: one hour after Begin their life cycle with
 Children who grew up in a deprived non-REM sleep. REM sleep.
environment MAY have depressed brain activity. After REM : dreaming After REM: unknown
 Deprived environments are reversible
 The brain demonstrates both reversibility and Why do infants spends so much time in REM
resilience. sleep?
 Repeated experiences wires the brain. - REM sleep provides infants with added self-
stimulation
and promote brain development.
SLEEP SHARED SLEEP
United States and Great Britain
sleep – consumed more of an infants time - infants sleep in a crib, the same room or
18 hours a day – newborn’s sleep separate room.
10 to 21 hours – range of newborn’s sleeping Guatemala and China
time - infants share a bed with mother.
NOTE: INFANT’S BEDDING MUST PROVIDE FIRM
 Infants vary in their preferred times of sleeping SUPPORT AND
and their THAT CRIBS SHOULD HAVE SIDE RAILS.
patterns of sleep. Benefits of shared sleeping:
 Total amount of time (10 to 21 hours) is 1. promotes breastfeeding
consistent. 2. quicker response to baby’s cries
night walking – most common infant sleep- 3. allows mother to detect potentially dangerous
related problem breathing pauses
Factors of infant night walking: The American Academy of Pediatrics. Task Force
excessive parental involvement on Infant
intrinsic factors Positioning and SIDS
o daytime crying - thinks otherwise
o fussing Cons:
Extrinsic factors 1. promotes the risk that the sleeping mother will
o distressed roll over the baby
o separated from the mother 2. increases SIDS
o breastfeeding SIDS – SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME
o sleeping with parents in their bed SIDS – infant stop breathing, dies at night without
CULTURAL VARIATIONS INFLUENCE SLEEPING an apparent cause.
PATTERN - highest cause of infant death
- 2 to 4 months of age
sleep on their backs – reduce SIDS
Kipsigis culture,
United States - impairs the infant’s arousal from sleep and
Kenya
restricts infants ability to swallow effectively.
night:
9 RISK FACTORS OF SIDS:
sleep with mothers
nurse on demand 1. Less likely to occur in infants who use a pacifier
day: when asleep.
strapped to mother’s 2. Less likely to occur to infants who sleep in a
back bedroom with a fan.
8 or more hrs of 3. Low birth weight infants are 5 to 10 times more
3 hrs longest sleep
sleep likely to die of SIDS.
4. Infants who have siblings who died of SIDS. (2-
REM SLEEP 4x).
REM sleep – eyes flutter beneath the closed lids. 5. Infants with sleep apnea (temporary cessation
Non-REM sleep – eye movement does not occur of breathing in which the airways is completely
and sleep is blocked, usually for 10 seconds or longer).
more quiet. 6. Prone to African American and Eskimo infants.
7. SIDS is common in lower SE groups.
8. SIDS is more common to infants exposed to
ADULTHOOD INFANCY cigarette smoke.
9. SIDS occur more in infants with abnormal brain
stem functioning involving the neurotransmitter
serotonin.
NUTRITION
1 year of age – infants triple their weight and
length by 50
percent
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS AND EATING BEHAVIOR
50 calories per day for each pound
- required infant consume
Development of motor skills:
1. suck-and-swallow movements with breast milk
or formula
2. chew-and-swallow movements of semisolids
3. self-feeding: first year
NOTE:
Above 95th percentile of their age and gender
on a weight-for-height index: overweight
Between 85th and 95th percentile : at risk
Factors in increase of overweight infants:
1. poor dietary patterns
2. mother’s weight gain during pregnancy
3. an infants is breast fed or bottle fed
Breast feeding – reduces the risk of obesity
BREAST FEEDING VERSUS BOTTLE FEEDING
human milk or alternative formula
- baby’s source of nutrients and energy for the
first four to six months
American Dietetic Association and AAP
- endorse breast feeding throughout the infant’s
first year.
OUTCOMES FOR CHILD
1. gastrointestinal infections
2. lower respiratory tract infections
3. allergies
4. asthma
5. otitis media – middle ear infection
6. atopic dermatitis
7. overweight and obesity
8. diabetes
9. SIDS
OUTCOMES FOR MOTHER
1. breast cancer
2. ovarian cancer
3. type 2 diabetes
4. lower incidence of metabolic syndrome
Women who are likely to breast feed:
1. mothers who work full-time outside of the
home
2. mothers under age 25
3. mothers without a high school education
4. African American mothers
5. mothers in low-income circumstances
NOTE:
 Intervention increased the incidence of breast
feeding.
 No psychological differences between breast
feeding and bottle feeding.
breast pump – what mothers used to extract milk
that can be stored for later feeding of the infant
when they are not present.
Mothers should not breast feed:
1. when she is infected with HIV or any infectious
diseases that can be transmitted through her
milk.
2. has active tuberculosis.
3. taking any drugs that can affect the baby.
MALNUTRITION IN INFANCY
NOTE:
 Early weaning of infants from breast milk to
inadequate
sources of nutrients cause protein deficiency.
 Breast feeding is more optimal for mothers and
infants in developing countries, except for mother
with HIV/AIDS or those suspected of having
HIV/AIDS.
tapioca or rice – substitute for breast milk.
2 life-threatening conditions:
1. marasmus –
severe protein-calorie deficiency and
results in a wasting away of body tissues in
infant’s first yea. Infant becomes underweight
and muscles atrophy.
2. kwashiorkor
severe protein deficiency occur in 1 and 3 years of
age child’s abdomen and feet are swollen with
water, vital organ to collect the nutrients that are
present and deprive other parts of the body of
them. hair: thin, brittle, and colorless
behavior: listless
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
THE DYNAMIC SYSTEMS VIEW
maturation – development comes about through
the unfolding of genetic plan.
DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORY
Esther Thelen
Infants assemble motor skills for perceiving and
acting. Motor skills represents solutions to
infant’s goals. Universal milestones are learned
through this process of
adaptation: modulate their movement pattern to
fit a new task by exploring and selecting possible
configurations.
Motor development is not a passive process.
Nature and nurture are all working together.
Many converging factors:
1. development nervous systems
2. body's physical properties DEVELOPMENT OF POSTURE
3. possibilities for movement, the goal the child is posture – dynamic process that is linked with
motivated to reach, and the environmental sensory information
support for the skill. in the skin, joints, and muscles
NOTE: TIME TABLE:
 Infants explore and select possible solutions to Weeks
the demands of a new task. hold their heads erect
 They assemble adaptive patterns by modifying lift their heads
their current movement patterns. 2 months
Steps to mastering a motor skill: Sit while supported
1. infant is motivated by a new challenge. 6 to 7 months
2. Infants “tunes” the movement to make them Sit independently
smooth and more effective. 8 to 9 months
tuning – repeated cycles of action and perception Can pull themselves up and hold to a chair
of the consequences of that action 10 to 12 months
Stand alone
REFLEXES
LEARNING TO WALK
NOTE:
Reflexes  Locomotion and postural control are linked in
Built-in reactions to stimuli walking
Govern newborn’s movements upright.
Automatic and beyond the newborn’s control  Very young infants took more steps when they
Genetically carried survival mechanisms saw a visual treadmill moving beneath their feet.
Allow infants to respond adaptively to their o Perception + action in dynamic systems theory
environment. (assemble motor skills for perceiving and acting).
MOST IMPORTANT REFLEXES: (SURVIVAL)  The key skill in learning to walk appear to be
1. Rooting reflex stabilizing balance on one leg enough to swing
When the infant’s cheek is stroked or the side of the other forward and shifting the weight without
the mouth is touched. Infants turns it head falling.
towards the side that was touched to suck  When infants learn to walk, they typically take
2. Sucking reflex small steps because of the limited balance
When newborn automatically suck an object control and strength.
placed in their mouth. To get nourishment o Importance or perceptual-motor coupling in the
Self-soothing mechanism development of motor skills.
Self-regulating mechanism  Practice is important in the development of
OTHER REFLEXES: new motor skills
Success isn’t about winning. It is about staying in  Combination of strength and balancing
the game and not quitting, even if someone required to improve their walking skills.
makes you quit. THE FIRST YEAR: MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
1. Moro reflex MILESTONES AND VARIATIONS
Response to a sudden noise or movement NOTE:
Newborn:  The timing of these milestones may vary, and
Arches its back experiences can modify the onset of these
Throw back its head accomplishments.
Fling out its arms and legs  American infants never crawl on their belly or
Grabbing for support while falling on their hands and knees.
Survival value for primate ancestors  African Mali tribes: most infants do not crawl.
Rooting and Moro reflex – disappears: 3 to 4 DEVELOPMENT IN THE SECOND YEAR
months NOTE:
REFLEX TO COMPLEX, VOLUNTARY ACTIONS:  Toddlers become more motorically skilled and
1. Grasping reflex mobile.
When something touches the infant’s palms motor activity – vital to a child’s development
13 to 18 months
GROSS MOTOR SKILLS
Can pull a toy attached to a string
gross motor skills – skills that involve large-
Use their hands and legs to climb up a number of
muscle activites.
steps
18 to 24 months visual preference method – method used to
Walk quickly determine whether infants can distinguish one
Run swiftly stimulus from another by measuring the length of
Balance on their feet in squat position time they attend to different stimuli.
Walk backward without losing balance habituation – decreased responsiveness to a
Stand and throw a ball stimulus after repeated presentations of the
Jump in place stimulus.
African, Indian, and Caribbean cultures dishabituation – recovery of a habituated
- massage and stretch infants during daily baths response after a change in stimulation.
Jamaican and Mali mothers VISUAL PERCEPTION
- regularly massage infants and stretch their arms
and legs VISUAL ACUITY AND HUMAN FACES
Gusii culture of Kenya blooming, buzzing confusion
- encourage vigorous movements - Willliam James’ pov of the world
FINE MOTOR SKILLS 20/240 – newborn’s vision accdg. to Snellen chart
fine motor skills – - an object 20 feet away is only as clear ot the
Involve more finely tuned movements, such as newborn a it would be if it were 240 feet away
finger dexterity. Grabbing a toy from and adult with normal vision
Using a spoon 20/20 – normal vision for adults
Buttoning a shirt 20/40 – average vision of infants of 6 months of
2 types of grasps: age
1. palmer grasp Snellen chart – use for eyes examinations
Grip with the whole hand MILESTONES:
2. pincher grasp Infants show interest to human faces soon after
Grasp small objects with thumb and forefinger birth. Infants spend more time looking at their
Grip large objects with all of the finger of one mother’s face 12 hours after born.
hands or both hands. 3 months:
Four-month old – rely on touch to determine how Infants match voices to faces. Distinguish
they will grip an object. between male and female voices. Discriminate
Eight-month old – rely on vision to determine between faces of their ethnic grp.
how they will grip an object. 3 to 9 months of age:
Sticky mittens – mittens with palms that stuck to Infants focus more on faces in animated film and
the edges of toys and allowed to infants to pick less on salient background stimuli.
up toys. 2 to 3 week old:
Infants prefer to look at patterned displays rather
SENSORY AND PERCEPTUAL than nonpatterned.
DEVELOPMENT Bull’s eye or black-and-white stripes > circle
Normal face > scrambled features
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION? COLOR VISION
Sensation – information interacts with sensory 8 weeks:
receptors Infants can discriminate colors.
Sensory receptors – eyes, ears, tongue, nostrils, 4 months:
and skin Have color preferences
Perception – interpretation of what is sensed. Prefer saturated colors.
- designed for action PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY
ECOLOGICAL VIEW perceptual constancy – sensory stimulation is
Eleanor and James J. Gibson changing but perception of the physical world
Perceptual system can select from the rich remains constant.
information that the environment provides. perceptual constancy – allows infants to perceive
ecological view – perceive information that exists the world as stable
in the world around us. 2 TYPES:
ecological – connects the perceptual capabilities 1. Size constancy
to information available in the world of perceiver. Object remains the same even though the retinal
affordances – opportunities for interaction image of the object changes as you move toward
offered by objects that fit within our capabilities or away from the object.
to perform functional activities. Size as constant.
2. Shape constancy
Object remains the same shape even though its
orientation to us changes.
3 months:
Have shape constancy
Do not have shape constancy for irregularly
shaped objects, such as tilted planes.
PERCEPTION OF OCCLUDED OBJECTS
NOTE:
 INFANTS PERCEIVE WHAT IS VISIBLE.
 2 months of age:
Infants develop the ability to perceive the
occluded objects as a whole.
 Learning, experience, and self-directed
exploitation
via aye movement play key roles in the
development of perceptual completion in young
infants.
DEPTH PERCEPTION
depth perception – respond to differences in
some visual characteristics of the deep and
shallow cliff, with no actual knowledge of depth.
binocular cues – develop by abou 3 to 4 months
of age.
stereoacuity- fine-detail depth perception
OTHER SENSES
HEARING
NOTE:
 Last two months of pregnancy – fetus can hear
 Fetus can recognize mother’s voice
Changes in Hearing:
1. Loudness – cannot hear soft sounds
- stimulus must be louder to be heard
2. Pitch – perception of the frequency of a sound
- less sensitive to the pitch
- hear high-pitched sounds
3. Localization – determine the general location
from where the sound is coming from.
TOUCH AND PAIN
NOTE:
 Infants can feel touch and pain.
 Circumcision – third day after birth with no
anesthesia
SMELL
NOTE:
 Newborns can differentiate odors
 The expressions of their faces indicate what
they like and what they do not like.
TASTE
NOTE:
 Sensitivity to taste might be present even
before birth.
4 months of age:
Infants prefer salty taste.
INTERMODAL PERCEPTIONS
intermodal perception – ability to relate and
integrate information from two or more sensory
modalities, such as vision and hearing.
NATURE, NURTURE AND PERCEPTUAL
DEVELOPMENT
Nativists
Nature proponents
Perceive the world in a competent, organized way
is inborn and innate
Ecological view _ Eleanor and James J. Gibson
Empiricist
Emphasize learning and experience
Success isn’t about winning. It is about staying in
the game and not quitting, even if someone
makes you quit.
Piaget’s constructive view
Infancy must await the development of a
sequence of cognitive stage for infants to
construct more complex
perceptual tasks.
PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR COUPLING
perceptual-motor coupling
- distinction between perceiving and doing
Esther Thelen’s dynamic systems theory
- explore how people assemble motor behaviors
Ecological approach
- discover how perception guides action.
NOTE:
 Action can guide perception, and perception
can guide action. Action educates perception
CHAPTER 5: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN
INFANCY
Introduction
Jean Piaget
Swiss psychologist
Children: Lucienne, Laurent, Jacqueline
PIAGET’S THEORY OF INFANT
DEVELOPMENT
ADAPTATION
adjusting to new environmental demands
PIAGET
Biology + experience
Child construct
Environment feeds information
COGNITIVE PROCESSES
SCHEMES
Schemes - actions or mental presentations that
organize knowledge.
- structured simple actions.
ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMODATION
assimilation- use their existing schemes to deal
with new information
- adapt to their surroundings.
accommodation - adjust their schemes to take
new information and experiences into account.
- look for a common ground
ORGANIZATION
organization – grouping of isolated behaviors and
thoughts into a higher-order system
EQUILIBRATION AND STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
disequilibrium – cognitive conflict
- counterexamples to one’s existing schemes
and with inconsistencies
PIAGET: an internal search for equilibrium
creates motivation for change.
Equilibration – mechanism by which children shift
from one stage to another
NOTE:
 Cognitive is qualitatively different in one stage
compared
with another.
THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
Sensorimotor stage –
Birth to 2 years of age
Infants construct an understanding of the world
by
coordinating sensory experiences with physical,
motoric actions.
Beginning:
Newborn have more than reflexes with which to
work
End:
2 years-old can produce complex sensorimotor
patterns and use primitive symbols.
SUBSTAGES
SFSCTI : 1 – 4 – 8 – 12 – 18 – 24 MONTHS
1) SIMPLE REFLEXES
First month after birth
Coordination of sensation and action through
reflexive behaviors.
After, infants produces behaviors that resemble
reflex in the absence of usual stimulus for reflex
Rooting
Sucking
Grasping
Newborn suck reflexively when their lips are
touched.
2) FIRST HABITS AND PRIMARY CIRCULAR
REACTIONS
1 to 4 months
Coordination of sensation and two types of
schemes: habits and primary circular reactions
Habit – reflexes that have become completely
separated from its eliciting stimulus.
Circular reaction – repetitive actions
Primary circular reactions
- reproduction of an event that initially occurred
by chance
Infant’s body is the main focus
Sucking thumb
3) SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS
4 to 8 months
Infants become object-oriented, moving beyond
preoccupation with the self. Infant’s schemes are
repeated because of their consequences. Infants
repeat reactions for the sake of fascination.
Secondary circular reaction
- action repeated because of consequences
Infants imitate simple actions that he or she can
produce. Infants coos to make a person stay.
4) COORDINATION OF CIRCULAR REACTIONS
8 to 12 months
Infants must coordinate vision and touch, hand
and eye (intermodal perception). Actions are
outwardly directed.
Coordination of schemes and intentionality.
Second achievement – presence of intentionality.
Infants manipulate a stick in order to bring an
attractive toy within reach.
5) TERTIARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS, NOVELTY,
AND
CURIOUSITY.
12 to 18 months
Infants become intrigued by the main properties
of objects and by many things they can make
happen to object
They experiment with new behavior.
Tertiary circular reactions
Success isn’t about winning. It is about staying in the
game and not quitting, even if someone makes you
quit.
- schemes in which the infant purposely explores
new
possibilities with objects.
Marks the starting point for human curiosity and
interest in novelty.
A block can be made to fall, spin, hit another
object, and
slide across the ground.
6) INTERNALIZATION OF SCHEMES
18 to 24 months
Infants develop the ability to use primitive
symbols. Infants develop ability to form enduring
mental representations.
Symbols – internalized sensory image or word
that represent an event.
- allows the infant to manipulate and transform
the represent events in simple ways.
An infant who has never thrown a tantrum before
sees playmate throw a tantrum; the infants
retains in memory of the event, then throws one
himself the next day.
(deferred imitation)
OBJECT PERMANENCE
Object permanence – objects continue to exist
even when they cannot be seen, touched or
heard.
EVALUATING PIAGET’S SENSORIMOTOR RE INFOR FR
INFAN
STAGE CAN TAI MATI O THE
TS
A-NOT-B ERROR N ON M
A-not-B error – aka AB error EXPER
- infants continue to search for the initial location IENCE
of an object. OF
CAUSEs OF AB ERROR: BEING
CONDI
1. Due to failure in memory
TIONE
2. Infants tend to repeat a previous motor
D.
behavior.
condi unde ba
PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT AND Opera import
tioni – to rstan by
EXPECTATIONS nt ant
ng d ’s
intermodal perception – ability to coordinate perception
information from two or more sensory receptors. reinforcing stimulus – increases behavior
RESEARCH SUGGEST: ATTENTION
1. Infants develop the ability to understand how
to world works at a very early age. Attention – focusing of mental resources on
2. Infants develop expectations about future select information, improves cognitive processing
events. alternating sequence – L – R – L – R on many tasks
unpredictable sequence – L – L – R – L 4 months – infants attend to an object
parietal lobe – attention to an object or event.
3. Infants did not develop expectations about
orienting/investigative process
where a picture would be presented.
- process involves directing attention to where
4. 4 months: infants expect object to be solid and
and recognizing what
continuous. where – locations in the environment
substantial – objects cannot move through them what – objects and their features
permanent – exist even when it is absent. sustained attention – aka focused attention
5. 6 to 8 months: infants learned to perceive - allows infant to learn about and
gravity and remember characteristics of a stimulus as it
support. becomes familiar.
NATURE AND NURTURE ISSUE 3 years : 5 to 10 seconds of sustained attention
NATURE HABITUATION AND DISHABITUATION
Core Knowledge Approach Habituation
Infants are born with domain-specific innate Decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after
repeated presentation. Determines the extent to
knowledge systems. Influenced by evolution
which an infant can see, hear, smell, taste and
(core knowledge) Innate core knowledge domains
experience touch. Provides a measure of an
form a foundation around which more mature infant’s maturity and well-being
cognitive functioning and learning Say the same word several times in a row
develop. Space, Number sense, Object Dishabituation
permanence and knowledge. Increase in responsiveness after a change in
APPROACH SUGGEST: stimulation
1. Infants have sense of number. Sucking behavior
2. Infants can distinguish between different Heart rates
numbers of actions, objects and sounds. Length of time infant look at an object
temporal lobe – changes in types NOTE:
parietal lobe – changes in number  When an object becomes familiar, attention
CRITICISM: becomes shorter, and infants become more
vulnerable to distraction.
Infants are merely reacting to the changes in
JOINT ATTENTION
display that violated their expectations.
joint attention – individuals focus on the same
LEARNING, REMEMEMBERING AN object or event
CONCEPTUALIZING - occurs at 7 to 8 months
Lucienne’s feet – Piaget hung a doll ATTENTION REQUIRES:
Behavioral and social cognitive & information 1. Ability to track another’s behavior
processing approaches 2. Directing another’s attention
- development is gradual 3. Reciprocal interaction
JOINT ATTENTION INVOLVES:
CONDITIONING 1. Caregiver pointing
2. Turning the infant’s head BOY’S INTENSE INTEREST:
3. Snapping one’s fingers 1. Vehicles
4. Using words to direct attention 2. Trains
Gaze following – follow eye movements of 3. Machines
someone else. 4. Dinosaurs
- at 10 to 11 months 5. Balls
1 year old – capture adult’s attention
GIRL’S INTENSE INTEREST:
7 to 8 months Joint attention 1. Reading books
10 to 11 months Gaze following 2. Dress-ups
Capture adult’s
1 year old INDIVIDUALS DIFFERENCES AND
attention
FREQUENTLY ENGAGE IN ATTENTION: ASSESSMENTS
1. Infants say their words earlier MEASURES OF INFANT DEVELOPMENT
2. Develop a larger vocab Developmental quotient
MEMORY Arnold Gesell
memory - retention of information over time Help sort out babies with normal functioning
encoding – information gets into memory from ones with abnormal functioning
implicit memory – memory without conscious Useful to adaption agencies.
recollection Four categories:
- skills, routines 1. motor
explicit memory – conscious memory of facts and 2. language
experiences. 3. adaptive
NOTE: 4. personal-social
 Older infants showed more accurate and Bayley Scales of Infant Development
memory and required fewer prompts to Assess infant behavior and predict later
demonstrate their development
memory than younger infants. Current version: Bayley III
LINKED TO BABY’S MEMORY DEVELOPMENT: Five categories:
1. Maturation of hippocampus 1. motor
2. Maturation of frontal lobes 2. adaptive
infantile or childhood amnesia – remember little 3. language
from their first three years of life. 4. cognitive
NOTE: 5. socioemotional
Difficulty recalling event form their infant and 6 months:
early child years becomes prefrontal lobes of the 1. able to vocalize pleasure
brain are 2. search for out of reach
immature. 3. approach a mirror
IMITATION 12 months:
NOTE: 1. inihibit behavior
Infants can imitate a facial expression within the 2. imitate words
first few days after birth. Interplay between Fagan test of Infant Intelligence
learning by observing and learning by doing. Infant’s ability to process information in such
deferred imitation – imitation occurs after a ways as encoding the attributes of objects,
delay. Detecting similarities and differences between
CONCEPT FORMATION AND CATEGORIZATION objects forming mental presentations, retrieving
categories – group on the basis of common presentations
properties. PREDICTING INTELLIGENCE
concepts – ideas about what categories represent NOTE:
categories & concepts – help summarization IQ pay attention to verbal ability.
3 months of age - can group by appearance Measures habituation and dishabituation
NOTE: Success isn’t about winning. It is about staying in
Infants are more likely to look at a novel object the game and not quitting, even if someone
than a familiar object. makes you quit.
perceptual categorization – based on similar Habituation assessed at 3 or 6 months of age was
perceptual features. linked to verbal skills and intelligence assessed at
conceptual categorization – categorize by 32 months
of age.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT GESTURES
EXAMPLES: Showing and pointing – to draw attention
1. wild boy of Aveyron Pointing – important index
2. Genie FIRST WORDS
DEFINING LANGUAGE
5 months of age – recognize own name
Language – form of communication that is based
13 months – 50 words
on symbols
- spoken, written or signed 5 months Recognize own name
- highly organize and ordered 13 months 50 words
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS:
Receptive vocabulary
1. Infinite generativity – ability to produce an
– words the child understands.
endless
Spoken vocabulary – words the child uses.
number of meaning sentences using a finite set of
First words:
words and rules
1. Impo people Dada
2. Organizational rules – way language works
2. Familiar animals Kitty
LANGUAGE SYSTEMS
3. Vehicles Car
PMMSP
4. Toys Ball
FIVE SYSTEMS:
5. Food Milk
1. PHONOLOGY
6. Body parts Eye
Sound system of language
7. Clothing Hat
Provides a basis for constructing a lare and
8. Household items Clock
expandable set of words.
9. Greeting Bye
phenome – basic unit of sound
Vocabulary spurt - rapid increase in vocabulary
- smallest unit of sound that affects meaning
TIMING OF VOCABULARY SPURT VARIES
2. MORPHOLOGY
Overextension – tendency to apply a words to
Units of meaning involved in word formation
object that are inappropriate for the word’s
morpheme – minimal unit of meaning
meaning
- part of a word that cannot be broken into
Underextension - tendency to apply a word too
smaller meaningful parts.
narrowly
3. SYNTAX
TWO WORD UTTERANCES
Way words are combined to form acceptable
Two-Word Utterences:
phrases and sentences
1. Identification
THE MOUSE THE CAT THE KILLER CHASED KILLED
2. Location
ATE THE CAT
3. Repetition
4. SEMANTICS
4. Negation
Meaning of words and sentences
5. Possession
THE BICYCLE TALKED THE BOY INTO BUYING A
6. Attribution
CANDY BAR.
7. Agent-action
5. PRAGMATICS
8. Action-direct object
Appropriate of language in different contexts
9. Action-indirect object
HOW LANGUAGE DEVELOPS
10. Action-instrument
Frederick II – selected newborns and threatened
11. Question
caregivers to never talk to them.
Telegraphic speech – use of short and precise
RECOGNIZING LANGUAGE SOUNDS
words without grammatical markers.
THEY RECOGNIZE WHEN SOUNDS CHANGE, NO
BIOLOGICAL AND ENVI INFLUENCES
MATTER
BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES
WHAT LANGUAGE
100 YEARS AGO – humans acquired language
BABBLING AND OTHER VOCALIZATIONS
Broca’s area – speech production
1. CRYING
Wernicke’s area – language comprehension
signal distress
Aphasia – loss of impairment of language
2. COOING
processing
2 to 4 months
Language acquisitive device
gurgling sounds made in the back of the throat
- biological endowment
express pleasure
- detect certain features and rules of language
3. BABBLING
- theoretical
first year consonant-vowel combinations
ENVIRONMENTLA INFLUENCES
BEHAVIORIST: EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Language is a complex skill EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Criticism: WHAT ARE EMOTIONS?
Does not explain how people create novel Emotions – as feeling, or affect that occurs when
sentences. Children learn the syntax of their own a person is in state or and interaction that is
important to him or her.
language even if they are not reinforced
- involve an individual’s communication with the
Impo:
world.
 Particular language to be learned and the Classifications of Emotions:
context in which 1) Positive
learning takes places can strongly influence Enthusiasm
language Joy
acquisition. Love
 Language is not learned in a social vacuum. 2) Negative
 Child’s vocabulary development is linked to Anxiety
family’s SES Anger
and type of talk that the parents direct to the Guilt
children Sadness
BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES
 Mothers who spoke more often = high vocab
Brain stem, amygdala and hippocampus
 Parents should read book to and with their
- play a role in distress, excitement, and rage.
kids.
Gradual maturation of the frontal region of the
Interaction view of language cerebral cortex
- emphasizes that children learn language in - tied to the ability to regulate emotions
specific context Emotions – first language of communication
Child directed speech Social relationships – provide the setting for the
- language spoken in a higher piych than normal development of a rich variety of emotions.
with simple words and sentences. East Asian infants
STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE LANG. ACQUISITION: - display less frequent and less positive negative
1. RECASTING emotions.
Rephrasing what the child has said Japanese parents
Statements to questions - prevent their children form experiencing
negative emotions
2. EXPANDING
Non-Latino white mothers
Restating what the baby just said
- respond after their children become distressed.
3. LABELLING EARLY EMOTIONS
Identifying names of objects 2 classifications of emotions, accdg to Michael
INTERACTIONIST VIEW Lewis:
INTERACTIONIST VIEW 1) Primary emotions – emotions that are present
- both biological and experience contribute to in humans and other animals
language development - birth to six months.
Primary emotions:
 Surprise
CHAPTER 6: SOCIOEMOTIONAL  Interest
DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY  Joy
 Anger
Introduction
 Sadness
Darius
 Fear
17th month old
 Disgust
Mother is a landscape architect
2) Self-conscious emotions
Father is a writer
– require self-awareness that involves
Papa cares for him during the day
consciousness and sense of “me”
Spends one day a week at a child-care center
- 6 months to 24 months
because they wanted him to get some experience
Self-conscious emotions:
with peers and to give his father some time out
 Jealous – 18 months of age
from caregiving
- illustrates the complexity and difficulty in
NOTE:
indexing early emotions
 MANY AFTHERS ARE SPENDING MORE TIME
 Empathy
WITH
 Embarrassment
THEIR INFANTS TODAY THAN IN THE PAST.
 Shame - occurs at 2 months of age
 Guilt Duchenne marker and mouth opening
 Pride - occur in the midst of highly enjoyable
Other conscious emotions (involve the emotional interactions and play with parents
reactions of others when they are generated): - 6 to 12 months
 Embarrassment Second year – infants becomes aware of the
 Shame social meanings of smiles.
 Guilt Duchenne marker and
 Pride 6 to 12 months mouth
NOTE: opening
 The structural immaturity of the infant brain
make it unlikely that emotions which require Aware of social meanings
24 months
thought can be experience in the first year. of smiles
EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION AND SOCIAL Anticipatory smiling – communicate pre-existing
RELATIONSHIPS positive emotion by smiling at an object and then
NOTE: turning their smile toward an adult.
 Infants modify their emotional expression I FEAR
response to their parents emotional expressions - one of baby’s earlies emotions
Reciprocal – or synchronous - appears at about 6 months of age and peaks at
- interactions are mutually regulated about 18 months
Cries and smiles – first forms of emotional Abused and neglected infants
communication. - show signs of fear as early as 3 months
CRYING NOTE:
- most important mechanism  Infant fear is linked to guilt, empathy and low
- verifies that the baby’s lungs have filled with air aggression at 6 to 7 years of age.
- provide information about the health of the Stranger anxiety – infant shows a fear and
newborn’s CNR. wariness of strangers
3 types of cries: - emerges gradually
1. Basic cry - shows up at 6 months of age in the form
- rhythmic pattern that usually consists: 1- of a of wary reactions
cry, NOTE:
2- followed by a briefer silence,  Infants how less stranger anxiety when they
3- then a shorter whistle that is somewhat are in familiar settings.
higher in pitch than the main cry,  When infants feel secure, they are less likely to
4- then another brief rest before show stranger anxiety.
5- the next cry  Infants are less fearful of child strangers than
- hunger incites the cry adult
2. Anger cry strangers
- variation of basic cry in which more excess air is  They are also less fearful of friendly, outgoing,
forced through the vocal chords. smiling strangers than of passive, unsmiling
3. Pain cry strangers.
- sudden long, initial loud cry followed by a breath Separation anxiety – fear and wariness of
holding strangers
- no preliminary moaning is present - appears at second half of the first
- high-intensity stimulus stimulates the pain cry year’s life
SMILING Separation protest – distressed crying when the
- critical as means of developinh a new social skill caregiver leaves
- a key social signal - appear at 7 to 8 months, and peaks
- John Bowlby captured th power of infant’s at 13 to 15 months
smiles. EMOTIONAL REGULATION AND COPING
2 types of smiling: NOTE:
1. Reflexive smile  Infants put their thumbs in their mouths to
- a smile that does not occur in response to soothe
external stimuli themselves.
- appears during the first month after birth  Infants mainly depend on caregivers to help
- appears during sleep them
2. Social smile soother their emotions.
- a smile that occurs in response to external  Caregivers help modulate their emotion and
stimuli, which in early development is typically a reduce the level of stress hormone
face.  Caregivers should soothe an infant before the
infants gets into an intense, agitated, Continuity was demonstrated for both inhibition
uncontrolled state. and lack of inhibition
 Infants redirect their attention or distract ROTHBART AND BATES’ CLASSIFICATION
themselves, in order to reduce their arousal. Mary Rothbart, John Bates argues that three
 2 years of age : toddlers use language to broad dimensions best represent what
define their feeling states and the context that is researches have to characterize the structure of
upsetting them. temperament: extraversion/surgency, negative
 Contexts can influence emotional regulation. affectivity, and effortful control (self-regulation).
Infants are often affected by fatigue, hunger, time 3 dimensions:
of day, which people are around them, and where 1. Extraversion
they are. Aka surgency
 New demands appear as the infant becomes Includes positive anticipation, impulsivity,
older and activity level, and sensation seeking
parents modify their expectations. 2. Negative affectivity
TO SOOTHE OR NOT OT SOOTHE: Includes fear, frustration, sadness, and
Caregiver’s quick, discomfort
comforting response is Children are easily distressed
Caregiver’s quick,
an important May fret and cry often
soothing
ingredient in the Kagan’s inhibited children
response to crying
development of a 3. Effortful control
increased
strong bond between aka self-regulation
crying.
the infant and Includes attentional focusing and shifting,
caregiver. inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity and
 Mothers who responded quickly when they low intensity pleasure
cried at 3 months of age cried less later in the first NOTE:
year of life.  Children should not be pigeon-holed as having
 Parents should soothe a crying infant to only one temperament dimension.
develop a sense of trust and secure attachment  A good strategy is thinking that
to the caregiver. TEMPERAMENT AS
TEMPERAMENT CONSISITING OF MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS.
Temperament – involves individual differences in  The development of temperament capabilities
behavioral styles, emotions, and characteristic allow individual differences to emerge.
ways of responding. BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS AND EXPERIENCES
DESCRIBING AND CLASSIFIYING TEMPERAMENT NOTE:
CHESS AND TOMAS’ CLASSIFICATION  Children inherit a physiology that biases them
Alexander Ches to have a particular type of temperament.
Stella Thomas  Through experience they may learn to modify
3 basic types: their temperament to some degree.
1. Easy child BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES
- in positive mood temper i associ wi UNI
- quickly establishes a regular routines in infancy Inherited a
ament s ated th QUE
- adapts easily to new experiences.
2. Difficult child
- reacts negatively PHYSIOL
- cries frequently OGICAL
- engages in irregular routines PATTERN
- slow to accept change S that
3. Slow-to-warm-up child includes:
- has low activity level
- somewhat negative
- displays a low intensity of mood. High
KAGAN’S BEHAVIORAL INHIBITION stable
1.
Jerome Kagan heart
Focuses on the differences between a shy, rate
subdued, timid
child and a sociable, extraverted bold child 2. High level of cortisol
Inhibition to the unfamiliar 3. High activity in the frontal lobe of the brain
4. Excitability of the amygdala
– broad temperament category for shyness
- 7 to 9 months of age Amygdala – plays a role in fear and inhibition
Inhibition is stable from infancy through early Temperament – biologically based but evolving
childhood. aspect of behavior
GENDER, CULTURE AND TEMPERAMENT observes and detect whether nose touching
Gender- influences the fate of temperament increases
NOTE: WHY IMPORTANT?
 Mothers were more responsive to the crying Increased nose touching indicated that the infant
of irritable girls than to the crying of irritable recognizes the self in the mirror and is trying to
boys. touch or rub of the rogue because the rogue
 The cultural differences in temperament were violates the infant view of self.
linked 2 years old – children recognized themselves in
to parent attitude and behaviors. the mirror
China – behavioral inhibition Self-recognition – infants develop such by 18
GOODNESS OF FIT AND PARENTING months of age
Goodness of fit – refers to the match between a - self-understanding
child’s temperament and the environmental INDEPENDENCE
demands the child must cope with. Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
Adjustment problems – can be produced when Important issue in the second year of life
there is lack of fit Key developmental theme of the toddler years
u Infants wants to do thing and learn things on
Parenti strateg t o rela t child
s their own. It is important for parents to
ng ies o n tion o ren’s
e recognize the motivation of toddlers to do what
temper they are capable of doing at their own pace.
ament: Has important implications for the individual’s
Attenti future development.
on and Autonomy – builds as the infant’s mental and
respec motor abilities develop
1.
t for
individ SOCIAL ORIENTATION/ UNDERSTANDING
uality. & ATTACHMENT
2. Structuring the child’s environment.
SOCIAL ORIENTATIONS & UNDERSTANDING
3. The “difficult child” and packaged parenting
8 Relevant biological and cognitive factors:
programs.
SLIGCS
Caregivers should be:
1. Social orientation
1. Sensitive to the individual characteristics of the
2. Locomotion
child.
3. Intention
2. Flexible in responding to these characteristics.
4. Goal-directed behavior
3. Avoid applying negative labels to the child.
5. Cooperation
PERSONALITY DEVELPOMENT
6. Social referencing
Personality – enduring personal characteristics of
SOCIAL ORIENTATION
an individual.
Face-to-face play – caregiver-infant interactions
TRUST
when the infant is about 2 to 3 months of age.
Trust vs Mistrust
- focus includes vocalizations, touch,
First stage of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory
and gestures
Infants learn trust when they are cared for in a
- part of mothers’ motivation to create a positive
consistent and warm manner
emotional state in their infants
Is not resolved once and for all in the first year of
NOTE:
life.
 Frequency of face-to-face play interaction
Example
decreases after 7 months of age as infants
Children who leave infancy with a sense of trust
become more mobile.
can still have their sense of mistrust activated at a
Still-face paradigm – caregiver alternates
later stage, perhaps if their parents are separated
between engaging in face-to-face interaction
or divorced under conflicting circumstances.
with the infant and remaining still and
THE DEVELOPING SENSE OF SELF
unresponsive.
mirror technique – ingenious strategy to test
NOTE:
infants’ visual
 Between 18 to 24 months of age, children
self-regulation
markedly
MIRROR TECHNIQUE EXPERIMENT:
increased their imitative and reciprocal play.
1. An infant’s mother first puts a dot of rouge on
 Coordinated actions of 1-year-old appear to be
the infant’s nose.
coincidental
2. Then an observer watches to see how often the
 Coordinated actions of 2-year-old appear to be
infant touches its nose
more active cooperation to reach a goal.
3. The infant is placed in front of a mirror, and
LOCOMOTION ERIKSON
Gross motor skills- is the result of a number of Physical comfort plays a role.
factors including the development of the nervous Physical comfort and sensitive care are key to
system, the goal the infant is motivated to reach, basic trust infants.
and the environmental support for the skill. Infants’ sense of trust is the foundation for
Locomotor skills- allow the infant to attachment and sets the stage for a lifelong
independently initiate social interchanges on a experience that the world will be a good place to
more frequent basis. live.
INTENTION AND GOAL-DIRECTED BEHAVIOR BOWLBY
NOTE: Newborn is biologically equipped to elicit
 Joint attention and gaze following help the attachment behavior.
infant to understand people have intention. FOUR PHASES: 2 – 7 – 24 - on
Joint attention – caregiver and infant focus on 1. Phase 1
the same object Birth to 2 months
7 to 8 months Joint attention Infants direct their attachment to human figures.
2. Phase 2
10 to 11 months Follow caregiver’s gaze
2 to 7 months
Direct the caregiver’s Attachment becomes focused on one person,
attention to objects usually the primary caregiver.
12 months
that capture their Baby learns to distinguish familiar from
interest. unfamiliar people
SOCIAL REFERENCING 3. Phase 3
Social referencing – “reading” emotional cues in 7 to 24 months
others to help Specifc attachment develops.
determine how to act in a particular way. Baby actively seek contact with regular
- better at social referencing in the caregivers.
second year of life. 4. Phase 4
A mother’s facial 24 months and on
expression influences Children become aware of others’ feelings, goals
whether an infant will and plans and begin to take these into account in
First year
explore an forming their own actions.
unfamiliar Birth to 2
environment. 1 Human figures
months
Infants become better
Second year at social 2 2 to 7 months One figure
referencing.
INFANTS’ SOCIAL SOPHISTICATION AND INSIGHT 3 7 to 24 months Specific
NOTE:
24 months and
 The sophistication and insight is reflected in 4 Aware of others
so on
infants perceptions of others’ actions as
intentionally motivated and goal-directed and Internal working model
their motivation to share and participate in that – a simple mental model of the caregiver, their
intentionality by their first birthday. relationship, and the self as deserving of
ATTACHMENT AND ITS DEVELOPMENT nurturant care.
attachment – close emotional between two - plays a pivotal role in the discovery if the links
people between the attachment and subsequent
FREUD emotional understanding,
Infants become attached to the person or object conscience development, and self-concept.
that provides oral satisfaction INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN ATTACHMENT
HARLOW Strange Situation – observational measure of
Infant monkeys from their mothers at birth; for infant attachment in which the infant
six months they were reared by surrogate experiences a series of introductions,
(substitute) “mothers”. One surrogate mother separations, ad reunions.
was made of wire, other of cloth. - provide information about the infants’
Harlow frightened the monkeys, those “raised” by motivation and the degree to which the
the cloth mother ran to the mother and clung to caregiver’s presence provides the infant with
it; those raised by the wire mother did not. security and confidence.
BOTTOMLINE: According to SS, babies are:
Feeding is not the crucial element in the Securely attached babies
1
attachment process and that contact comfort is Use caregiver as a secure
.
important. base
caregiver in the room
Babies explore the room and examie the toys in it
caregiver out the room
Mildly protest
caregiver returns
Reestablish positive interaction
Resume playing with the toys inside the room
2. Insecure avoidant babies
Avoids the caregiver
If contact is established, baby leans away
caregiver in the room
Engage in little interaction with the caregiver
caregiver out the room
Are not distressed caregiver returns
Do not reestablish contact
May turn their back on the caregiver
3. Insecure resistant babies
Cling to the caregiver
Resist her by fighting against the closeness
caregiver in the room
Cling to the caregiver
Will not explore the room caregiver out the room
Cry loudly
caregiver returns
Pushes away if she tries to comfort them
4. Insecure disorganized babies
Disorganized and disoriented
Babies appear dazed, confused and fearful
Babies must show strong patterns of avoidance
and resistance.
EVALUATING THE STRANGE SITUATION
NOTE:
 It may be culturally biased
 German infants are more likely to show an
avoidant attachment pattern because the
caregivers encourage them to be independent.
 Japanese babies are resistant because their
mothers rarely let anyone unfamiliar with the
babies care for them.
 Classification in every culture is secure
attachment.
INTERPRETING DIFFERENCES IN ATTACHMENT
Secure attachment – provides foundation for the
psychological development
Early secure attachment – linked with positive
emotional health, high self-counselors and
romantic partners in adolescence.
THREE TYPES OF INSECURE ATTACHMENT:
1. Avoidant
2. Insecure resistant – negative predictor of
cognitive
development in elementary school
3. Disorganized attachment – linked with
externalizing problems(aggression, hostility,
opposition problems)
Insecure attachment – at 18 was the occurrence
of parental divorce
Secure attachment and subsequent experiences
- linked with children’s later behavior and
adjustment
CRITICISM:
 Too much emphasis was place on the
attachment bond in infancy.
 Infants are highly resistant and adaptive.
 Genetic characteristics and temperament play
more important roles in a child’s social
competence.
 It ignores the diversity of socializing agents
and contexts that exists in an infant’s world.
o Infants in agricultural setting tend to form
attachment to older siblings.
 Researchers recognize the importance of
competent, nurturant caregiving in an infant’s
development
Short version of the 5-HTTLPR
- disorganized attachment style in infants
develop.
5-HHTLPR - serotonin transporter
gene-environment interaction
- occur when mothers showed a low level of
responsiveness towards infants
secure attachment – it reflects positive parent-
infant relationship
- provides the foundation that supports
healthy socio-emotional development
CAREGIVING STYLES AND ATTACHMENT
Securely attached babies - have caregiver who
are sensitive top their signals and are consistently
available to respond to their infants’ needs
Insecurely attached babies – caregivers tend to
be unavailable and rejecting
Resistant babes – inconsistently available and are
not very affectionate
Disorganized babies – caregivers often neglect or
physically abuse their babies.
Securely attached Sensitive to signals
babies Consistently available
Insecurely attached
Unavailable and rejecting
babies
Inconsistently available
Resistant babies
Not very affectionate
Neglect
Disorganized babies
Physically abuse babies
Maternal sensitivity - linked to attachment
security in United
States and Colombia
SOCIAL CONTEXTS
THE FAMILY
Family – constellation of subsystem – a complex
whole made up of interrelated, interacting parts
– defined in terms of generation, gender and role.
Subsystem – a complex whole made up of
interrelated, interacting parts
- have reciprocal influences
HAVE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS ON EACH
OTHER:
1. Marital relations
2. Infant behavior and development
3. Parenting
Example of direct effect:
Influence of parent’s behavior on the child.
Example of indirect effect:
How the relationship between the spouses
mediates the way a parent acts toward the child.
Marital conflict
Marital conflict – reduces the efficiency of
parenting
THE TRANSITION TO PARENTHOOD
Parents face disequilibrium when they go
through:
1. Pregnancy
2. Adoption
3. Separating
Baby- places new restrictions on partners
NOTE:
 Late pregnancy – 3 ½ years old
o Couples enjoyed more positive marital relations
before the baby was born.
 There was an increase in marital satisfaction.
 Being parents enhanced their sense of
themselves and gave them a new, more stable
identity as a couple.
Bringing Home Baby project
- workshop for new parents that emphasizes
strengthening the:
 couples’ relationship,
 understanding and becoming acquainted with
the baby,
 resolving conflict, and
 developing parenting skills.
RECIPROCAL SOCIALIZATION
Reciprocal socialization
- socialization is bidirectional
- children socialize parents, just as parents
socialize children
mutual gaze – aka eye contact
- engagement in variety of behavior increases
BEHAVIORS OF MOTHERS AND INFANTS
INVOLVE:
1. substantial interconnection
2. mutual regulation
3. synchronization
parent-infant synchrony
- temporal coordination of social behavior
- 3 to 9 months of age: children were linked to
self-regulation
scaffolding – parents time interactions so that
infant experience turn-taking with the parents.
- caregivers provide a positive reciprocal
framework in which they and their child interact.
- involves parental behavior that supports
children’s efforts, allowing them to be more
skillful
joint attention – peek-a boo, turn-taking games
MATERNAL AND PATERNAL CAREGIVING
NOTE:
 Stay-at-home fathers were as satisfied with
their marriage as traditional parents, although
they indicated that they missed their daily life in
the work field.
Aka pygmy culture – Africa
- fathers spend as much time interacting
with their infants
maternal interaction – center on child-care
activities
paternal interaction – center on rough- and
tumble play
FATHERS ARE MORE INVOLVED IN CAREGIVING
WHEN:
1. They worked fewer hours
2. Mothers worked more hours
3. Mother and fathers were younger
4. Mothers reported greater marital intimacy
5. Children were boys
CHILD CARE
PARENTAL LEAVE
FIVE TYPES OF PARENTAL LEAVE FROM
EMPLOYMENT:
Maternity leave
1.
Pre-birth leave is compulsory
6- to 8-week leave following birth
14-week maternity leave – EU : 1922
2. Paternity leave
Briefer than maternity leave
Important when a second child is born and the
first
child requires care
3. Parental leave
Gender-neutral leave
Follows a maternity leave
Allows either women or men to share the leave
policy or choose which of them will use it.
1998 – EU mandated a three-month parental
leave
4. Child-rearing leave
Variation of parental leave
Supplement to a maternity leave
Longer than maternity leave
Paid at a much lower level
5. Family leave
Covers reason other than birth
Can allow
o Time off from employment to care for an ill
child or other family mother
o Time to accompany a child to school for the
first time
o Time to visit a child’s school
14-week maternity leave – EU : 1922
E 16 weeks of unpaid
EU leave
U 12 weeks of unpaid
US leave
Denmark – unemployed mothers are eligible for
extended parental leave related to childbirth
Germany – child-rearing leave is available to Preschool years – boys and girl’s bodies lengthen
almost all parents End of preschool years – lost their top-heavy look
Nordic countries – Denmark, Norway and Sweden Fatty tissue – girls
- have extensive gender-equity, family Muscle tissue – boys
leave policies for childbirth that emphasizes the Note:
contributors of both men and women  Growth patterns differ individually.
VARIATIONS IN CHILD CARE
 Variation is due to heredity.
NOTE:
 Increase in the number of child-care
IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO HEIGHT
assignments
were linked to an increase in behavioral problems DIFFERENCES:
and a 1. Ethnic origin
decrease in prosocial behavior 2. Nutrition
 Child-care quality makes a difference. The Brain
 Infants from low-income families were more 3 years of age – three-quarters of adult size
likely to 6 years of age – 95% of adult size
receive the lowest quality of care. Myelination – axons are covered and insulated by
 Higher quality of childcare was linked to fewer a layer of fat cells that increases the speed and
child problems. efficiency of travelling information.
HQ CHILD-CARE: EHRE 4 years of age – hand-eye coordination
1. Encourage the children to be actively engaged. 3 to 15 years of age – brain undergoes dramatic
2. Have frequent, positive interactions.
anatomical changes
3. Respond properly to the child’s questions or
4 years – brain experience spurt of growth
request.
NOTE:
4. Encourage children to talk about their
experiences, feelings and ideas.  Overall size of the brain does not show
5. Providing children with a safe environment dramatic growth in the 3- to 15- year age
6. Access to age-appropriate toys. range.
7. Participation in age-appropriate activities. 3 to 6 years of age – rapid growth in frontal lobe
8. Low caregiver-child ratio. Frontal lobe:
HOW DOES QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF CHILD 1. Voluntary movement
CARE 2. Thinking
AFFECT CHILDREN: 3. Personality
1. Patterns of use 4. Purpose
2. Quality of care Occipital lobe:
3. Amount of child care 1. Vision
4. Family and parenting influences. Temporal lobe
STRATEGIES PARENTS CAN FOLLOW IN REGARD
1. Hearing
TO CHILD CARE:
2. Memory
1. Recognize that the quality of your parenting is
3. Language processing
a key factor in your child’s development.
Parietal lobe:
2. Monitor your child’s development.
3. Take some time to find the best child care. 1. Spatial location
2. Motor control
3. Attention
CHAPTER 7: PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

PHYSICAL CHANGES

BODY GROWTH AND CHANGE

Height And Weight

2 ½ inches and 5 to 7 pounds 3 Three quarters adult size
– average child growth a year 6 95% adult size
4 Hand-eye coordination
 Brain – spurt of growth 17 months of age – anxiousness
3 to 15 Dramatic anatomical changes 3 to 8 years – adolescent problems
3 to 6 Frontal lobe
NUTRITION AND EXCERCISE
Nutrition
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Gross Motor Skills Saturated and trans fat – raise cholesterol and
increase heart disease
3 years of age – simple movements: hopping, 430 calories – 1/3 of calorie intake recommended
jumping and running for 4 to 8 years old
- pride and accomplisment Note:
4 years of age – athletic prowess, adventuroues  Eating behavior is influenced by caregiver’s
5 years of age – stunts, races, climbing objects behavior.
Improves children’s eating behavior:
3 Simple movements 1. Predictable schedule
Hopping 2. Model eating healthy food
Jumping 3. Make mealtimes pleasant occasion
Running 4. Engage in certain feeding styles.

Sensitive responsive caregiver:

Pride and accomplishment 1. Caregiver is nurturant
4 Adventurous 2. Provide clear info wat is expected
Athletic prowess 3. Responds to child’s cues
5 Stunts Restrictive feeding style
Races 1. Forceful
Climbing object 2. Restrictive
3. Not recommended
Fine Motor Skills Body mass index (BMI) – determines the
3 years of age – pincer grip category for obesity, overweight, and at risk
4 years of age – put things perfectly of being overweight computed by a formula
5 years of age – intermodal perception that takes into account the weight and height
of a child
3 Pincer grip 97th percentile – obese
4 Perfectionist 95th percentile – overweight
5 Intermodal perception 85th percentile – at risk of overweight
Sleep
10 to 13 hrs – sleep NOTE:
NOTE:  Overweight at 3 years of age are at risk of
 Amount of sleep and uninterrupted sleep is being overweight at 12 years of age.
important.  Weight at 5 years of age is linked to weight
 Bedtime resistance associated with at 9 years of age.
conduct problems and hyperactivity.  Prevalence of being overweight persist to 4
 Sleep duration linked to overweight. to 11 years of age.
SLEEP PROBLEMS: Childhood obesity – most common
1. Narcolepsy – extreme daytime sleepiness Type 2 diabetes – linked with obesity and low
2. Insomnia – difficulty in going to sleep and level of fitness in children as young as 5 years of
staying asleep age.
3. nightmares
Sleep problems show: Exercise
1. depression 2 hrs:
2. anxiety  1 hr structured play
 1 hr free play
5 months of age – difficult temperament
3 to 5 years old - outdoor: inactive 4. inadequate access to health care
Physical activities – influenced by family 5. unsafe water
3 to 5 years old – incorporation of move and 6. lack of security
learn increases activity level HIV/AIDS – common death

Malnutrition in Young Children From Low-

Income Families COGNITIVE CHANGES

Anemia – failure to eat inadequate amounts of Piaget’s PREOPERATIONAL STAGE

quality meat and dark green vegetables Sensorimotor stage – organize and coordinate
sensation and perceptions with physical actions
ILLNESS AND DEATH and movements
The United States Preoperational stage – 2 to 7 years of age
Death: - second stage
1. Motor vehicle accident - represent world with words,
2. Cancer images, and drawings
3. Cardiovascular diseases - egocentrism, magical beliefs
4. Accidental deaths: Preoperational – child does not yet perform
a. Drowning operations
b. Falls Operations – reversible mental actions
c. Burns - adding and subtracting numbers
d. Poisoning
Parental smoking – develop wheezing symptoms Preoperational thought – ability to reconstruct in
and asthma thought what has been established in behavior.
Secondhand smoke exposure:
1. Sleep problems The Symbolic Function Stage
2. Sleep-disoriented breathing Symbolic function substage
6 years of age - lead poisoning – first substage, 2 to 4
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF LEAD POISONING: - ability to represent an object that is not
1. lower intelligence present
2. lower achievement - expands mental world
3. ADHD - scribbles, language and pretend play
4. elevated blood pressure limitations:
Children in poverty, higher rates of: 1. egocentrism
5. death  inability to distinguish between
6. accidents one’s own perspective and
7. asthma someone else’s perspective
The State of Illness and Health of World’s  THREE MOUNTAIN TASK: children
Children pick their view rather than the doll’
UNICEF – The State Of The World’s Children  Preschool children show ability to
Under-5 mortality rate is cause by these factors: consider other’s perspective
1. immunization
2. dehydration 2. animism
3. availability of maternal and child health  belief that inanimate objects have
4. income life-like qualities and are capable of
5. food availability action
6. clean water availability
 example:
7. safe sanitation
The three pushed the leaf off,
8. security
and it fell down.
1 of every 5 nations in the world:
1. hunger
3. symbolism
2. malnutrition
 Drawings are fanciful and inventive
3. illness
  Simple but strong, abstractions
found in modern art.

The Intuitive Thought Substage

Intuitive thought substage
– 4 to 7 years of age
- use primitive reasoning
- always asks questions
5 years old – asks “why” questions
Intuitive – young children are sure about their
their knowledge and understanding yet are VGOTSKY’S THEORY
unaware of how they what they know. Children - describes as social creatures
Centration and the Limits of Preoperational Cultural context – shape their mind
Thought Social interaction – develop their way of
Centration – centering of attention on one understanding and thinking
characteristics to the exclusion of all others Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Conservation – awareness that altering an
object’s or a substance’s appearance does not
change its basic properties.
CONSERVATION TASK:

ZPD – range of tasks that are too difficult for the

Children are presented with two identical
beakers, each filled with the same level of
liquid.
They are asked if the two beakers had the same
amount of liquid, they said yes.
Then the liquid from one beaker is transferred
to another beaker, taller and narrower.
They are asked if the two beakers had the same
amount of liquid, they said no.
Because of the differing heights and width.
Conservation –of-liquid-task – sign that children
are at the preoperational stage
FAILURE SHOWED:
1. Centration
2. Inability to perform operations
NOTE:
 Child might be able to conserve volume but
not number.
Rochel Gelman – attentional training in one
dimension influences another dimension
child to master alone but can be learned with the
guidance of a more knowledgeable other
Lower limit – level of skills reached by the child
working independently
Upper limit – level of additional responsibility
that the child can accept with the assistance of an
able instructor
Skills – can be accomplished only with assistance
of a more skilled person
- “buds” – aka “flowers” of development
“fruits” of development – child can accomplish
independently
Scaffolding
Scaffolding – changing the level of support
- adjusting the amount of guidance to fit the
child’s current performance
NOTE:
 As competence increases, less guidance is

given.
Language and Thought child can accept with the assistance
Use of dialogue – role of language in child’s of an able instructor)
development  offer just enough assistance
Speech – to communicate and solve tasks  encourage
Language – to plan, guide, and monitor their
behavior 3. Use more-skilled peers as teachers
Private speech - for self-regulation
 egocentric 4. Place instruction in meaningful context
 immature  Provide opportunities to experience
 tool of thought during the learning in a real-world setting
early childhood
 early transition in becoming 5. Transform the classroom with Vgotskian
more socially communicative ideas.
 Private speech:  Kamehameha Elemetary Education
o when tasks are difficult Program (KEEP) in Hawaii
o made errors  20 minutes of “Center One”
o not sure how to proceed  scaffolding improves literacy skills
o are more attentive Evaluating Vgostky’s Theory
o improve their performance Evaluation:
more 1. development fits with the current belief
3 to 7 years old – transition from external to that it is important to evaluate the
internal speech contextual factors in learning
- involves talking to oneself social constructivist approach – emphasizes
Inner speech – internalized egocentric speech social contexts of learning and that knowledge is
- act without verbalizing mutually built and constructed
- thoughts
Self- talk – egocentric VGOTSKY PIAGET
 reflects immaturity Sociocultural Strong Little emphasis
NOTE: context emphasis
 All mental functions have external, social Constructivis Social Cognitive
origins. m constructivis constructivist
 Children who use more private speech are t
more socially competent. Stages No general Strong
 Private speech: stages of emphasis on
o When tasks are difficult developmen stages (SPCF)
o Made errors t proposed
o Not sure how to proceed Key processes Zone of Schema
o Are more attentive proximal Assimilation
o Improve their performance more developmen Accommodatio
Teaching Strategies t n
VGOTSKY’S theory incorporated in classrooms: Language Operations
1. Assess the child’s ZPD Dialogue Conservation
 the skilled helper presents the child Tools of Classification
with tasks of varying difficulty to culture
determine the best level at which to Role of A major role Has a
begin instruction language Langauge miniminal role
plays a Cognition
2. Use the child’s ZPD in teaching powerful directs
 teaching should begin toward the role in language
zone’s upper limit (level of shaping
additional responsibility that the thought
 View on Education Education erely 2 WAYS A CHILD’S TO CONTROL ATTENTION IS
education plays a refine the DEFICIENT:
central role, child’s 1. salient versus relevant dimensions
helping cognitive skills  children pay attention to stimuli that
children that have stand out (salient)
learn the emerged  6 to 7 years old – attend more
tools of the efficiently to stimuli that are relevant
culture
Teaching Teachers is a Teachers is a 2. planfulness
implications facilitator facilitator and a  preschool children – use haphazard
and a guide, guide, not a comparison strategy (not examining
not a director all details before making a
director judgement)
Provide  elementary school age – use
Establish support for systematically comparison strategy
many children to (compare details one at a time)
opportunitie explore their
s to learn in world and
a real-world discover
setting knowledge
Criticism:
 not specific enough about age-related

changes
 did not adequately describe how changes

in socioemotional capabilities contribute to

cognitive development
Hungary – provide activities that improve
 overemphasize the role of language in
attention
teaching
Computer exercises – develop attention
INFORMATION PROCESSING
Activities (4 to 6 years old)
Information processing approach
1. use a joystick
 illuminates how children process
2. working memory
information during the preschool years
3. resolution of conflict
Attention
preschool children – sustained attention is
Attention – focusing of mental resources on
related to school readiness (achievement and
select information
language skills)
- improves during preschool years
Memory
2 ASPECTS OF ATTENTION:
Memory – retention of information over time
1. executive attention
2 TYPES:
 action planning
1. implicit memory
 allocating attention to goals
2. explicit memory
 error detection
FORMS OF EXPLICIT MEMORY:
 compensation
1. short term memory
 monitoring progress on tasks
 retain information for 30 seconds, if
 dealing with novel or difficult there is no rehearsal of information
circumstances rehearsal – repeating information after it has
been presented
memory-span task – way to assess a short term
2. sustained attention memory
 extended engagement with an object, - hear a shot list of stimuli
task, event, or other aspect of the presented at a rapid pace then, you
environment are asked to repeat the digits.
Note:
 Short term memory increases during
childhood.
 Memory span varies from one
individual to another.
 Speed improves dramatically across
the childhood years.
2. long term memory
 memory becomes more accurate
Factors that influence accuracy:
1. There are age differences in
susceptibility to suggestion.
 preschoolers are more
susceptible
2. Emotions
Child can distinguish between positive
(happy) and negative (sad) emotion.
3. Desires
Toddler recognizes that if people want
something, they will try to get it.
Recognizing we have different desires
18 months old – food preferences may
not match others
3 to 5 years old – false beliefs (beliefs that are
not true)
- Band aids box

2. There are individual difference in

susceptibility.
 ability to produce a high quality
narrative was linked to their
resistance to attention

3. Interviewing techniques can produces

˂ 4 years old – do not understand false belief.
distortions in children’s report about
5 to 7 years old – deepening appreciation of the
highly salient events.
mind
Strategies and Problem Solving
Ambiguous line drawing – a drawing that can be
Strategies- deliberate mental activities to
perceived in two different ways
improve the processing of information
TWO TYPICAL STRATEGIES:
1. Rehearsing
2. Organizing information
3 to 4 years old – cannot understand that a single
stimulus can be describe in incompatible ways
˂ 7 years old – there is only right answer, and it
from two different perspectives
was not okay to have two different opinions
“rule of color” ˃ the “red one” ˃ the rabbit
Early adolescence – can have ambivalent
4 years old – concept of perspectives : allows
feelings: person can both feel happy or sad about
them to appreciate that a single stimulus can be
the same event
described in two different ways
- can have recursive thinking:
The Child’s Theory of Mind
thinking what other people are thinking
Theory of mind – awareness of one’s own
about.
mental process and mental process of others
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES….
- view children as “a thinker who is
Executive function – describes several functions
trying to explain, predict, and understand
(inhibition and planning) that are important for
people’s thoughts, feelings and utterances.”
flexible, future-oriented behavior
DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES….
Autism:
18 months to 3 years:
 Better at reasoning tasks
1. Perceptions
 Not a homogenous grp
2 years of age – recognizes that we
 Some have less severe social and
have different perceptions
communication problems
 Weaknesses in executive functioning may
3 years of age – child realizes that
relate to theory of mind tasks
looking leads to knowing what’s
inside the container
  Process information in a detailed, almost
obsessive way
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
UNDERSTANDING PHONOLOGY AND
MORPHOLOGY
PHONOLOGY – more sensitive to sounds of
spoken words
KNOWLEDGE ON MORPHOLOGY RULES:
1. Use of plural nouns
2. Use of possessive nouns
3. Put appropriate ending on verbs
4. Use prepositions
5. Use articles
6. Use verb to be
7. OVERGENERALIZATION OF THE RULES
CHANGES IN SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS
SYNTAX
WH- QUESTIONS ˃ AUXIALIARY VERB ˃ SUBJECT
Where is going daddy?
auxiliary-inversion rule
WH- QUESTIONS ˃ AUXIALIARY VERB ˃ SUBJECT
Where is daddy going?
SEMANTICS
 dramatic vocabulary development
18 to 6 years of age – one word per hour
14, 000 – words known by Grade 1
ADVANCES IN PRAGMATICS
Pragmatics
 engage in extended discourses
 talk to things that are not here
 change speech style to suit situation (4 to
5 years old)
YOUNG CHILDREN’S LITERACY
Important home literacy experiences:
1. literacy experience
2. quality of mother’s engagement with the
child
3. provision of learning materials.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
VARIATIONS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Child-centered kindergarten
Child-centered kindergarten – emphasizes the
education of the whole child and concern for his
or her physical, cognitive and socioemotional
development
The Montessori Approach
Montessori approach – educational philosophy in
which children are given considerable freedom
and spontaneity in choosing activities and are
allowed to one from one activity to another as
they desire.
- EQ ˃ IQ
Developmentally Appropriate and Inappropriate
Education
Developmentally appropriate approach –
education that focuses on the typical
developmental patterns of children (age-
appropriateness) and the uniqueness of each
child (age-appropriateness)
Desired outcomes:
 thinking critically
 working cooperatively
 solving problems
 developing self-regulatory skills
 enjoying learning
EDUCATION FOR YOUND CHILDREN WHO ARE
DISADVANTAGED
Curriculum Controversy
child-centered, constructivist approach
vs
academic, direct-instruction approach
Universal Preschool Education
NOTE:
 Quality preschool program increase the
likelihood that they will be retained in a
group or drop-out.
 Bring considerable cost savings.
CONTROVERSIES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION
Head Start Program - a government-funded
program that is designed to provide children
from low0income families with the
opportunity to acquire the skills and
experiences important for school success.
- serve children from birth to 3
years
Chapter 8:
Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood
1
EMOTIONAL & PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
THE SELF
Initiative vs. Guilt
Initiative vs guilt – convinced that they are
persons of their own
- discover what kind of person
they will become
- identify intensely with their
parents
Initiative – children at this age exuberantly move
out into a wider social world
Conscience – great governor of initiative
Guilt – lowers self-esteem
Self-Understanding and Understanding of Others
SELF-UNDERSTANDING…
Self-understanding – representation of self, the
substance and the content of self-conceptions
Self-recognition – distinguish themselves through
body attributes, maternal possessions and
physical activities.
4 to 5 years of age – use psychological traits and
emotion terms
Optimism – don’t distinguish between desired
competence and actual competence
- confuse ability and effort
UNDERSTANDING OTHERS…
4 to 5 years of age – use psychological traits and
emotion terms
3 years of age – children mistrust others by a
single error
- recognizes joint commitment
4 years of age – consider a relative frequency of
errors before mistrust
NOTE:
 CHILDREN ARE NOT EGOCENTRIC.
Emotional Development
NOTE:
 Growing awareness of self is linked to the
ability to feel and expanding range of
emotions.
Expressing Emotions
Self-conscious emotions – children must be able
to distinctly refer to themselves from others.
- 18 months of age
Understanding Emotions
NOTE:
 Increased understanding of emotion
 Emotion knowledge was positively related
to 3- to 5-year-olds’ social competence and
prosocial behavior.
 Emotion knowledge was negatively related
to 3- to 5-year-olds’ internalizing and
externalizing problems.
2 to 4 years of age – increase number of terms
they use to describe their emotions
- learn about causes and
consequences of feelings
4 to 5 years of age – ability to reflect on emotions
- ability to understand that a
same event can elicit different feelings in
different people
5 years of age – determine emotions
2 to 4 years of Terms to describe emotions
age Causes and consequences of
feelings
4 to 5 years of Reflect on emotions
age Different feelings
5 years of age Determine emotions
Regulating Emotions
Emotion regulation – ability to manage the Moral Reasoning
demands and conflicts they face in interacting
with others Distinct stages according to Piaget:
1. Heteronomous morality
 4 to 7 years of age
EMOTION-COACHING AND EMOTION-  Justice and rules as unchangeable
DISMISSING PARENTS… properties
Emotion-coaching parents
– monitor their children’s emotions, 2. Transition
- view their children’s negative emotions as  7 to 10 years of age
opportunities for teaching,
- assist them in labeling emotions, and 3. Autonomous morality
- coach them in how to deal effectively with  10 years old and older
emotions.  laws and rules are created by people
- use more scaffolding and praise  consider intentions and
- interact in a less rejecting manner consequences
- focus their attention better  intentions ˃ consequences

Emotion-dismissing parents – deny, ignore, or immanent justice – if a rule is broken,

change the negative emotions. punishment will be melted out immediately

NOTE:
REGULATION OF EMOTION AND PEER  Older children : punishment occurs only if
RELATIONS… someone witnesses the wrongdoing and
 Ability to modulate one’s emotion is an
that, punishment is not inevitable.
important skill that benefits children in their  Changes in moral reasoning occur in
relationship with peers. mutual-give-and-take-relations
 Parent-child relations are less likely to
advance moral reasoning.
MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Moral development – involves the development Moral Behavior

of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding
rules and conventions about what people Moral behavior – processes of reinforcement,
should do in their interactions with other punishment and imitation explain the
people. development.

NOTE:
Moral Feelings  What children do in one situation is often
only weakly related to what they do in other
Feelings of anxiety and guilt – central to the situations
account of moral development  Ability to resist temptation is tied to self-
control.
Superego – moral element of personality  Self-control is a result of delayed
gratification
Empathy – responding to another person’s
feelings with emotions that echoes the
other’s feelings Conscience

Perspective taking – ability to discern another’s Conscience – internal regulation of standards of

inner psychological states. right an wrong that involves an integration of
 all three component of moral development:
moral thought, feelings, and behavior.
NOTE:
 Young children’s willingness to embrace the
values of their parents that flows from a
positive, close relationship.
Relativist – doing whatever makes you happy.
Parenting and Young Children’s Moral
Development
Aspects that contribute to children’s moral
development:
1. Relational quality
2. Parental discipline
3. Proactive strategies
4. Conversational dialogue
NOTE:
 Mutually responsive orientation and a
decrease in parents’ use of power assertion
in discipline a young child is linked of an
increase in child’s internalization an self-
regulation
Proactive strategies – using diversion, such as
distracting or moving them to alternative
activities. (younger)
Conversational dialogue – talking to them about
values they deem to be important (older)
GENDER
Gender - characteristics of people as male or
female
Gender identity - sense of being male or female
which most children acquire by the age of 2 ½
years old.
Gender role – sets of expectations that prescribe
how female or male should think, act and feel
Gender typing – refers to the acquisition of
traditional masculine or feminine role
Biological Influences
CHROMOSOMES AND HORMONES…
XX – female
XY - male
2 Main classes of sex hormone:
1. Estrogen (estradiol)
 released by ovaries
 influence development of female
physical sex characteristics
2. androgen
 released by testes
 influence development of male
physical sex characteristics
NOTE:
 low level of androgen = normal
development of female sex organs
EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY VIEW…
evolutionary psychology – adaptation during
human evolution produced psychological
differences in male and females
NOTE:
 Natural selection favored males who
adopted short-term mating strategies.
 Female:
o Improved when they secured
resources that ensured that their
offspring would survive
Criticism:
 Hypothesis backed by speculations
 Little attention to cultural and individual
variations
Social Influences
SOCIAL THEORIES OF GENDER…
1. Social role theory
 gender differences result from
contrasting roles of male and female
 social hierarchy and division of labor
are important causes of differences in
power, assertiveness, and nurturing.
9 DIFFERENCES:
 a. women ˃ men 3 years Same-sex playmates
nonverbal old
conform grp pressures 4 to 12 increases
perform better
life satisfaction 2. group size (5 years onward)
Boys Girls
b. men ˃ women clusters (6 children) dyads or triads
leaders organized group
helpful games
aggressive
3. interaction in same sex group
2. Psychoanalytic theory of gender (PHALLIC Boys Girls
: 3 to 6) Rough-and- Collaborative
 preschool develops sexual attraction tumble play discourse
towards the opposite-sex parent competitive - talk and act in a
 Oedipus and Electra Complex Conflict reciprocal manner
Ego displays
3. Cognitive theory of gender Risk taking
(LAWRENCE KOHLBERG) Dominance
 children observe and imitate
behavior and through being rewarder
and punished for gender-appropriate Cognitive Influences
and gender-inappropriate behavior
Mechanisms by which gender develop:
STAGES: 1. imitation
a. gender identity 2. rewards
b. gender stability (4 to 6) 3. punishments
c. gender constancy (6 to 7)
gender schema theory – gender-typing emerges
as children gradually develop gender schemas
of what is gender-appropriate and gender-
PARENTAL INFLUENCES… inappropriate in their culture.
MOTHER FATHER
More obedient More involved with schema – cognitive structure, a network of
More responsible the promotions of associations that guide individual’s perceptions
More restrictions intellectual
development gender schema – organizes the world in terms of
More attentive female and male
Engage in more - fuels gender-typing
activities

PEER INFLUENCES…
Peers – extensively reward and punish gender
behavior
- greater pressure for boys to conform to
their traditional male role
2
FAMILIES

Aspects of peer relations:

PARENTING
1. gender composition
Baumrind’s Parenting Styles
Four types of parenting styles:
1. authoritarian
- restrictive, punitive style in which
parents encourage their children to
follow their directions and respect
their work and effort.
- places firm limits and controls on the
child
- allows little verbal exchange
- associated with children’s social
competence
o delinquency
4. indulgent parenting
- parents are highly involved with their
children but place few demands or
control on them
- associated with social competence,
especially a lack of self-control
Children:
orarely respect
o difficulty in controlling their behavior

and peer relation

Children: o domineering

o unhappy o egocentric

o fearful o noncompliant

o anxious about comparing themselves Accepting, Rejecting,

with others responsive unresponsive
o fail to initiate activity Demanding, Authoritative Authoritarian
o weak communication skills controlling
Undemanding, Indulgent neglectful
2. authoritative uncontrolling
- parent encourage their children to be
independent but still place limits and Factors of correlation:
controls on their actions 1. authoritarian parents
- extensive verbal-give-and-take is 2. aggressive children
allowed 3. share genes
- patents are warm and nurturant
- associated with children’s social
competence Parenting Styles in Context

Children: Asian-American parents – continue aspects of

o cheerful
o self-reliant
o self-controlled
o achievement oriented
o tend to maintain healthy relations
with peers
o cope well with stress
o neglectful parenting
o indulgent parenting
3. neglectful parenting
- parent is very uninvolved in the
child’s life
- associated with social competence,
especially a lack of self-control
traditional Asian child-rearing practices as
authoritarian
Latino – positive, and encourage development of
self
African-American – use physical punishment
Why do African-Americans enforce physical
punishment?
- To enforce rules in dangerous environment
in which they are most likely to thrive
Punishment

Children: Corporal (physical) punishment – necessary and

o low self-esteem even desirable method
o immature - most likely to
o alienated from family remember
o truancy
Physical punishment was linked with: Child maltreatment - does not have the same
1. Antisocial behavior emotional impact and can include diverse
a. cheating conditions
b. telling lies
c. being mean to others
d. bullying Types of Child Maltreatment
e. getting into fights
f. disobedient Types of Child Maltreatment:
1. Physical abuse
- infliction of physical injury
Physical punishment was associated with: - parent may not intend to hurt the
1. higher levels of immediate compliance and child
aggression - injury resulted from excessive
2. lower levels of moral internalization physical punishment
3. mental health
4. adolescent depression 2. Child neglect
5. externalized problems - failure to provide the child’s basic
needs
Reasons for avoiding spanking: - can be physical (abandonment),
1. Parents present out-of-control models for educational (child truancy), or
handling stressful situations. Hence, emotional (inattention).
children may imitate their aggressive, out- - most common form of maltreatment
of-control behavior.
2. Punishment can instill fear, avoidance, or 3. Sexual abuse
rage. - fondling a child’s genitals,
3. Punishment tells children what not to do intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy,
rather than what to do. exhibitionism, and commercial
4. Punishment can be abusive. exploitation through prostitution or
the production of pornographic
Time out – child is removed from a setting that materials
offers a positive reinforcement
4. Emotional abuse
- acts or omissions by parents or other
Physical punishment must be: caregivers that have cause, or could
1. Mild cause serious behavioral, cognitive, or
2. Infrequent emotional problems.
3. Age-appropriate
4. Used in context of a positive parent-child
relationship The Context of Abuse

NOTE:
Coparenting  No single factor causes child maltreatment.
 Parents are involved in an
Coparenting – support that parents provide one intergenerational transmission of abuse.
another in jointly raising a child

Developmental Consequence of Abuse

CHILD MALTREATMENT
Consequences:
Child abuse – refers to both neglect and abuse 1. poor emotion regulation
2. attachment problems
3. problems in peer relations
4. difficulty in adapting to school
 5. psychological problems  lack of self-control
6. difficulty in maintaining healthy intimate  self-centered behavior
relationships
7. violent romantic relationship
8. sexual risk taking THE CHANGING FAMILY IN A CHANGING SOCIETY
9. substance abuse
Working Parents
institutional neglect – foster children who were
neglected NOTE:
 Overworking parents tend to be irritable at
TREATMENTS EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING CHILD home.
MALTREATMENT:  Children of working member engage in less
1. home visitation gender stereotyping and have more
2. parent-infancy psychotherapy egalitarian views.

SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS AND ORDER Children in Divorced Families

Sibling Relationships NOTE:

2 to 4 years of age – conflict every 10 minutes
Parents react in three ways:
1. intervene or try to help them resolve the
conflict
2. admonish or threaten them
3. do nothing at all
Characteristics of sibling relationships:
1. emotional quality of relationship
2. familiarity and intimacy of the relationships
3. variation in siblings relationship
 Children from divorced families show
poorer adjustment that nondivorced
families.
 Acrimonious relationships have negative
effects.
 Poorer adjustment due to divorce
 Gender differences are less pronounces
and consistent than was previously
believed
 Joint custody family was better adjusted
than children in sole-custody families.
 Boys adjust better in father-custody
families.

Birth Order Gay and Lesbian Parents

First born: NOTE:

 most intelligent  There are only few differences between
 achieving children growing up with heterosexual
 adult-oriented parents and gay and lesbian parents.
 helpful  No differences are found in adjustment and
 conforming mental health of children.
 self-controlled
 conscientious
CULTURAL, ETHNIC, AND SOCIOECONOMIC
Later-born: VARIATIONS
 agreeable
 liberal Cross-Cultural Studies
 rebellious Positive:
 Openness

Only child:
 spoiled brat Ethnicity
acculturation – cultural changes that occur when
one culture comes in contact with another Friend – someone to play with

Preschool children – has friends of different

SES ethnicity and gender
Lowes SES:
 More concerned with their children’s
expectations The Connected Worlds of Parent-Child and Peer
 Create a home atmosphere Relations
 Use physical punishment
 More directive NOTE:
 Less conservational  Lifestyle decisions by parents determine
the child’s pool of friends.
Higher SES:  In times of stress, children turn to parents
 More concerned with developing for support.
children’s initiative
 Delay of gratification Linked to social competence and social
 Home in equal participants acceptance:
 Less likely to physical punishments  Warmth
 Less directive  Advice giving
 More conservational  Provision of opportunities

Social competence – prosocial behavior, low

aggression

Social acceptance – well liked by peers and

teachers

Child’s peer relations ˃˃ attachment security and

marital quality

3 PLAY
PEER RELATIONS, PLAY, AND TELEVISION
PEER RELATIONS
peer – children at about the same age or maturity
level
Peer Group Functions
Withdrawn children – rejected by peers or are
victimized and feel lonely are at risk for
depression
Aggressive – risk for developing a number of
problems, including delinquency and dropping
out of school
Friends
Play – pleasurable activity in which children
engage for its own sake, and its function and
forms vary.
Play’s Functions
Functions:
1. master anxieties and conflicts
2. cope with problems
3. work off excess physical energy
4. release pent-up tensions
5. important for cognitive development
6. a child’s work
7. permits to practice their competencies and
acquire skills
8. symbolic and make-believe plays
play therapy – allow children to work off
frustrations and to analyze children’s conflicts Social Play:
and ways of coping with them Social play – involves social interactions with
peers
NOTE:
 Parents should encourage imaginary play STAGES:
because it advances creative thought. 1. unoccupied behavior
- no play
play – exciting and pleasurable - no objective
- satisfies our exploratory drive
2. solitary play
exploratory drive – involves curiosity and desire - egocentrism
for information about something new or - play different toy on his own
unusual
3. unlooked behavior
Social interactions the benefit literacy skills: - suggest
1. negotiation - no interaction
2. discussion - observation

4. parallel paly
Types of Play - immature to mature
- mimic other kid
A. Sensorimotor and Practice Play:
1. sensorimotor play 5. associative play
- derive pleasure from exercising their - play with the same toy
sensorimotor schemes - no teamwork
- 6 months
6. cooperative
2. practice play - self-identification
- repetition of behavior when new skills - with teamwork
are being learned or when physical or
mental mastery and coordination of
skills are required for games or sports Constructive Play:
- throughout life Constructive play – play that combines
sensorimotor and repetitive activity with
symbolic representation of ideas
B. Pretense/Symbolic Play: - occurs when children engage in
Pretense/symbolic play – child transforms the self-regulated creation or construction of
physical environment into a symbol product of a solution
- 18 months of age - manipulate objects
- peaks at 4 to 5 years of - focus: fingertips
age - sandbox
- preschool years – “golden
age”
Games:
18 months – pretend play – siya lang Games – activities engaged in pleasure that
include rules and often competition with one
3 to 5 years old – role play or more individuals
- socio-dramatic play
- town with fire Example: card game
- extinguish fire
- imagine with other kids
TELEVISION
POSITIVE INFLUENCES:
1. motivating educational programs
2. increasing their information about the
world beyond their immediate
environment
3. providing models of prosocial behavior

Effects of TV on Child’s Aggression

NOTE:
 Exposure to TV violence caused the
increased aggression in the children in
this investigation
 Playing violent games Is linked to
aggression in both sexes.

Effects of TV on Child’s Prosocial Behavior

NOTE:
 SESSAME STREET --- IMITITATE POSTIVE
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR