Developmental Psychology 6.
Infancy is a hazardous preview
CHAPTER 3A: INFANCY
A. Characteristics of Infancy
1. Infancy is the shortest of all
developmental periods
Note: Infancy is from birth to two weeks
3 criteria
1. Medical criteria- when the umbilical
cord falls (navel)
2. Physiological criteria- when the
infant had weight loss after birth
3. Psychological criteria- when the
infant begins to show signs of
progress in terms of behavior
Periods of Infancy
Period of Partunate – birth to 15-30 minutes
Period of Neonate – from the cutting and tying
of umbilical cord approximately the end of the
2nd week of postnatal life.
Note: once the umbilical cord is cut, the infant
is now independent and no longer connected
to the mother
2. Infancy is a time of radical adjustments
Birth is merely an interruption of the
development pattern that started at the
moment of conception. It is the graduation
from an internal to an external environment.
3.Time for major adjustments during
infancy
Rapid growth and development in prenatal
may stop for a moment once the child is born
4.Infancy is plateau of development
The halt or pause in development and growth
is due to the necessity for making radical
adjustment for postnatal environment and
resumes after
5.Infancy could be a preview of later
development
Newborn behavior is like a preface or table of
contents. It is not possible to predict the future
development of a child based on how the child
was born
Hazards that need to be fixed. If not, addition
of more hazards may happen
B. Major Adjustments of Infancy
1. Temperature Change- There is a
temperature of around 100 degrees F (37.7) in
the uterine sac.
2. Breathing- When the umbilical cord is cut,
infants must begin to breathe on their own.
3. Sucking or Swallowing- The infant must now
get nourishment by sucking and swallowing,
instead of receiving it through the umbilical
cord.
4. Elimination- The infant’s organs of
elimination begin to work soon after birth;
formerly, waste products were eliminated
through the umbilical cord. (anus/genital)
C. Condition Influencing Adjustment to
Postnatal life
Prenatal Environment
• Inadequate prenatal care of the mother
• Prolonged and intense maternal stress
• Maternal stress
Kind of Birth
Depending on how a baby is born, and its
difficulty, can endanger the life and health of
the child. For example, a child born with
deficiencies or disabilities can have a hard
time adjusting and developing.
- Neutral/Normal birth
- Breech position- ‘suhi’ in filipino
- Transverse
- Instrument birth- the size of the child
- Cesarian method
Parental Attitudes
- When parental attitudes are
unfavorable, they are reflected in
treatment of the infant that militates
against successful adjustments to
postnatal life.
- By contrast, parents whose attitudes
are favorable treat the infant in ways
that encourage good adjustment.
Postnatal Care • Some related to feeding
- They are the amount of attention infants - Rooting, sucking
receive to ensure that their needs will be met
satisfactorily and relatively promptly. • Some replaced by voluntary behaviors later

- ex: when you have a new born sibling, it is - Grasping, stepping

how you are going to take care of the new born • Indicate functioning of nervous/sensory
D. Hazards of infancy system

Physical Hazards - Eyeblink, Babinski, Moro, tonic neck

• Unfavorable Prenatal Environment

• Difficult and Complicated birth
• Multiple birth
• Post maturity
• Prematurity
• Infant Mortality- sudden death
Psychological Hazards
• Traditional beliefs about Birth- if the birth
delivery was difficult, the child would grow as
a bad person. If the birth delivery was easy,
the child would be kind
• Helplessness- about how they will take care
of the child
• Individuality of the Infant
• Developmental Lag
• Plateau in Development
• New parent Blues
•Unfavorable attitudes on the part of
Significant People
• (Names)
E. Infant Reflexes
Reflexes – Involuntary movements in
response to stimulation. Reflexes offers the
pediatrician an insight into the health of the
nervous system of infants.
Note: Reflexes that persist longer than they
should can infeed development. Those with
neurological impairments, some of the
reflexes may be absent. If present, they may
persist longer than in neurologically healthy
infant
 Developmental Psychology Developmental Task of babyhood
CHAPTER 3B: TODDLERHOOD • Learning to take solid foods
(BABYHOOD) • Learning to walk
• Learning to talk
• Learning to control the elimination of
CHILD TEMPERAMENT body wastes
• Learning sex differences and sexual
Temperament is the innate characteristics of
modesty
the infant, including mood, activity level, and
emotional reactivity, noticeable soon after • Getting ready to read
birth. • Learning to distinguish right and wrong
and beginning to develop a conscience
1. Easy Child
Physical Development
Is able to quickly adapt to routine and new
situations, remains calm, is easy to soothe, • Weight
and usually is in a positive mood. • Height
• Physical Proportions
2. Difficult Child • Bones
Reacts negatively to new situations, has • Muscles and Fat
trouble adapting to routine, is usually negative • Body Builds
in mood, and cries frequently. • Teeth
• Nervous System
3. Slow-To-Warm-Up Child
• Sense Organ Development
Has a low activity level, adjusts slowly to new
Physical development milestones
situations and is often negative in mood.
• Enjoys crawling, walking around
BABYHOOD
furniture, & standing
(2 weeks To 2 years Old) • Can pick up tiny objects (uses thumb
and fingers well)
Characteristics of babyhood
• Sits without support and alone by 8
1. Babyhood is a age of rapid growth & change months (possible around 6 months)
2. Babyhood is an age of decreasing Very oral - everything goes in mouth
dependency
- Develops arm and hand control
- Negativisim - Enjoys taking off clothes, climbing up
and onto furniture, & crawling up stairs
3. Babyhood is the age of increased
individuality Speech Development
4. Babyhood is the beginning of socialization a. Comprehension
5. Babyhood is the beginning of sex-role • facial expression, tone of voice,
typing gestures
6. Babyhood is an appealing age b. Learning to speak
7. Babyhood is the beginning of creativity • used of pre-speech forms
8. Babyhood is a hazardous age * Pre-speech forms
- Physical Hazards • crying, babbling, cooing (creation of
sounds without meaning)
- Psychological Hazards
Note: Baby’s first word usually comes between
10 and 15 months.
DEVELOPMENT IN SOCIALIZATION Value of Play
Social Development • Provides opportunity for many forms of
learning
- the type of behavior babies’ show in social
situations affects their personal and social • Gives babies information about the things in
adjustment their environment
- capable of establishing or forming friendships • Gives enjoyment
- starts with parenting. Parenting is • Encourages creativity
bidirectional meaning, both of them will
develop or learn something from one another Development of Understanding

Beginning of Interest in Play -Acquire through Maturation and Learning

• No rules or Regulation How Understanding develops:

• More often Solitary than Social Note: Through Sensory Exploration

• Depends on babies Pattern of Development Exploratory Behaviors:

• Play is much REPETITION and LESS • Concept of Space

VARIATION • Concept of Weight

• Concept of Time

Play development follows a pattern • Concept of Self

• Sex-Role Concepts
• Concepts of Beauty
Beginnings of Morality
Role of DISCIPLINE
- to TEACH children what is right and
wrong. How to act paired with the
knowledge of discipline learned
DECISION/JUDGEMENT
What is right and Wrong (In terms of Pleasure
and pain)
- Beginnings of Sex-role typing
- Emphasis to the SEX
- Clothes
- Blankets
- Toys
- Room
- Treatment of the parents/Significant
person
FAMILY RELATIONSHIP
Changes in Family Relationship
- Degree of dependency
- Child-training methods
- Maternal overwork
- Arrival of new sibling
- Relationship with other sibling
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT ILLNESSES
Freud- oral stage While it is true that many deaths during the
first few months of postnatal life are due to
Erickson- trust vs. mistrust such illnesses as gastrointestinal or
Piaget- sensorimotor respiratory complications

Bowlby- attachment theory ACCIDENTS

For healthy attachment: MALNUTRITION

- caregiver must be responsive to the FOUNDATION OF OBESITY

child’s need physically, socially and Physiological Habits (Routinary)
emotionally
- caregiver and the child must engage in - Eating habits
mutually enjoyable interaction - Sleep habits
- Habits of elimination
Critical Period in Personality Development
Emotional Hazards
- Emotional deprivation has revealed that
personality changes are almost - Stress
inevitable. - Emotional deprivation
- Mother-child relationship - Too much affection
- Sex differences in personality begin to - Dominant emotions
appear as early as the first year of life.
- Patterns established early in life remain Family-Relationship Hazards
unchanged. - Separation from mother
Quantitative Change - Failure to Develop Attachment
Behavior
- There is a strengthening or weakening - Deterioration in family relationships
of a trait already present. - Over protectiveness
- Inconsistent training
Qualitative change - Child abuse
- Socially undesirable traits are replaced HAPPINESS IN BABYHOOD
by one that is socially more desirable
ex: attention span and eating pattern Happiness
Hazards in Babyhood - Breastmilk quality and quantity
- Guided learning
Physical hazards - Human interaction
- Mortality - Care and safety
- Crib death - Play
- Illnesses Measuring Infant/Toddler Development
- Accidents
- Malnutrition The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler
- Foundation of Obesity Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III)
comprehensively assess children within the
MORTALITY age range of 1 to 42 months
Death of an infant in the first year of life
CRIB DEATH
normal, healthy babies are sometimes the
victims of sudden and unexpected death
Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler
Development, 3rd Edition (Bayley-III)