LIFESPAN PSYCHOLOGY CHAPTER5: INFANCY

- some infants are born pre and some post maturely. thus, display different levels of
development.

- CHARACTERISTICS OF INFANCY:

1. Shortest Developmental Stage:

• infancy is the shortest dev period.
• from birth to approx. 2 weeks old.

2. Time Of Radical Adjustment:

• time of most amounts of sudden & complete (radical) changes.

3. Plateau In Development:
• around birth, there is regression in development.
• the regression lasts for several days to a week.
• by the end of infancy, development is back to where it was at birth.

4. Preview Of Development:
• development in infancy gives a clue to how development in older stages will be.

5. Hazardous Period:
• physically hazardous ~ difficulty in adjusting to radical changes.
• high infant mortality rates.
• psychologically hazardous ~ the time when the attitudes of significant people towards the
infant are crystallized.

- MAJOR ADJUSTMENTS OF INFANCY:

- 4 major adjustments before development continues.
- if they do not make these adjustments, their lives are threatened.

1. Temperature Change:
• constant temperature of uterine sac ~ 100°F or 37°C.
• temperature in hospital or home can vary ~ around 70-80°F or 21-28°C.

2. Breathing:
• umbilical cord helps fetus breathe.
• when umbilical cord is cut, infant must breathe on its own.

3. Sucking & Swallowing:

• infant must learn to suck & swallow to get nutrition instead of thru umbilical cord.

4. Elimination:
• previously done thru umbilical cord.
• now they expel thru excretory organs which work soon after birth.

- INDICATIONS OF DIFFICULTY IN ADJUSTMENT:

1. Loss Of Weight:
• due to difficulty in sucking & swallowing.
• usually lose weight during first week of infancy.

2. Disorganized Behavior:
• includes: irregular breathing, frequent urination & defecation, wheezing, regurgitation etc.

3. Infant Mortality:
 • rate of infant mortality during first two days of postnatal life is v high.

- Conditions That Affect Parental Attitude Towards Infant:

• childbirth experience.
• concern about expenses.
• concern about work, privation etc.
• mother's physical condition.
• evidence of defects or deformities.
• infantile crying.
• infant's post-natal adjustment.
• concern about normality.
• concern about survival.