Psy104 Developmental Psychology The First Two Years Biosocial Development What is Biosocial Development?

- The part of human development that includes physical growth and development as well as the family, community, and cultural factors that affect the growth and development. -Involve changes in body parts and socio cultural factors that may contribute in human development. PHYSICAL GROWTH AND HEALTH Size and Shape -Every medical check up in infancy begins with weighing and measuring for good reason. Except for prenatal development, infancy is the period of the most notable changes in size and proportion, when any slowdown is a cause for immediate concern. -Infants get taller or, more accurate, longer as well. In each of the first 12months, they grow almost an inch (2.5 centimeters) in length. By age one, the typical baby weights about 22pounds (10 kilograms) and measures almost 30 inches (75 centimeters). -Physical growth is lower in the second year, but it still is quite rapid. By 24 months most children weigh 30 pounds (13kilograms) and measure between 32 and 36 inches (81 and 91 centimeters), with boys being slightly taller and heavier than girls. In other words, typical two-year-olds have attained almost one-fifth of their adult weight and half their adult height. -As infant grows their body proportions change. Preventive Medicines -At any time an infectious disease-smallpox, whooping cough, polio diphtheria, measles, or any several others-might suddenly and rapidly spread from child to child, putting them all at risk for stunted growth, serious complications and death. Immunization- a process that stimulates the bodys own defensive (immune) system to defend against attack by a particular infectious disease. Immunization may occur in many ways: 1. Injection- (as when a person is vaccinated in the arm or leg) 2. Ingestion- (as when a child eats a sugar cube that has oral vaccine) 3. Inhalation- (as when a substance is breathed through the nostrils) Smallpox- the most lethal disease of all for children. Polio- a crippling disease that still affect many older adults with post polio syndrome. Measles- (which can be fatal in the early months of life, when it causes dehydration). Obviously, lack of complete immunization puts the child at risk; childhood illnesses are usually mild, but not always. Less obviously, lack of immunization jeopardizes the

well-being of others: infants too young to be immunized may die they catch a disease from an older child; pregnant women who contract rubella may transmit the virus to their fetuses, causing blindness, deafness and brain damage. World Life Expectancy of Birth The average life expectancy worldwide is about 20 years longer than it was 40 years ago. The reason is not primarily because older people are living longer (if a person reaches 30, his or her life expectancy is now only about 5 years longer than it was 50 years ago) but because fewer infants and children die. A century ago almost every family mourned the death of a young child. Now, of all the children who reach age 1, fewer than 1 in 1,000 dies before age 5. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome -typically kills infants who are at least two months old and seemingly completely healthy-already gaining weight, learning to shake a rattle, starting to roll over, and smiling at their care givers. The term sudden infant death (also called the crib death or cot death) is more a description after the fact than a diagnosis of cause. Despite decades of research, the root caused of SIDS is still unknown. The designation sudden infant death is assign when an autopsy finds that an infant unexpectedly stopped breathing and other possible causes, such as deliberate or accidental suffocation, are ruled out. Crib deaths sometimes provoke unfounded suspicions in neighbors and police, who mistakenly assume that the parents have done something wrong. BRAIN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT The brain develops most rapidly not only during the prenatal period but also during infancy. By age 2, the brain has attained about 75 percent of its adult weight, while the two-years-old body weight is only about 20 percent of what it will eventually be. It is, actually, imperative that the brain grow and develop ahead of the rest of the body, for it is the brain that makes all other development possible. Connection in the Brain Weight, of course, provides only a crude index of brain development. More significant are changes that occur in the brains communication systems and that greatly advance the brains functioning. These communication systems consist primarily of nerve cells, called neurons, connected by intricate networks of nerve fibers called axon and dendrites. Each neuron has a single axon and numerous dendrites; the axon of one neuron meets the dendrites of the other neurons at intersections called synapses. A neuron communicates by sending an electrical impulse through its axon to the dendrites of other neurons. Neurotransmitters- are chemical/electrical substances that are released by the terminals of one neuron and flow across the synaptic gap to the receptors of the next neuron.

The phenomenal increase in the neural connection over the first two years has been called transient exuberance, a label that actually highlights two key aspect of early brain development. Exuberance refers to the sheer magnitude of the growth in neural connections. Transient refers to the fact that the rate of growth of neural connections slows down as the child grows older. The functioning of the brain communication networks is also enhanced by a process in which axons become coated with myelin, a fatty insulating substance that speeds the transmission of the neural impulses. This process, called myelination proceeds most rapidly from birth to age 4 and continuous through adolescence. Myelination allows children to gain increasing neurological control over their motor functions and sensory abilities, and this control facilitates their intellectual functioning. Brain Growth and Brain Function Different areas of the brain mature at different times and at different rates, affecting the childs behaviors and abilities accordingly. Frontal lobe Motor activities Parietal lobe Sensation Occipital lobe Visual Temporal lobe Perception The Role of Experience in the Brain Development Brain development in early years does not stem solely from biological maturation. At least a minimal amount of experience is essential for neural pathways to develop and become permanent. This is true not only for the development of particular learned abilities but even for the full development of the brain structures that make seeing, hearing, touching, and other functions possible. A Cats Eye For example, if kittens are blindfolded for the first several weeks of life, they never acquire normal vision, even though the anatomy of their eyes appears to be normal. This handicap develops because, without visual experience, the neural pathways that transmit signal from the eye to the visual cortex of the brain will atrophy, or fail to develop. If only one eye is temporarily blinded and the other remains normal, the kitten will be able to see well with one eye but will never acquire binocular vision, the ability to focus two eyes together on a single object. Regulation of Physiological States An important function of the brain throughout life is the regulation of physiological states, or conditions of body functioning. The four distinct are: Quiet sleep, in which breathing is regular and relatively slow (about 36 breaths per minute) and muscles seem relaxed Active sleep, in which the facial muscles move and breathing is less regular and more rapid (48 or more breaths per minute)

Alert wakefulness, in which the eyes are bright and breathing relatively regular and rapid Active crying, in which the infant produces a long, loud exhaling noise, then pauses for deep grasping breath, and then produce a loud exhaling noise again MOTOR SKILLS Developmental biodynamics- maturation of the developing persons ability to move through, and with, the environment, by means of crawling, running, grasping, and throwing. Reflexes Involuntary responses to stimuli. Three sets of reflexes that are critical for survival and become stronger as the baby matures are: Reflexes that maintain oxygen supply. The breathing reflex begins in normal newborns even before the umbilical cord, with its supply of oxygen is cut. Reflexes that maintain constant body temperature. When infants are cold, they cry, shiver, and tuck in their legs close to their bodies, thereby helping to keep themselves warm. When they are hot, they try to push away blankets and then stay still, as well as plain water if its offered. Reflexes that manage feeding. The sucking reflex, which is crucial to their taking in nourishment, causes newborns to suck anything that touches their lips-fingers, toes, blankets, and rattles, as well as natural and artificial nipples of various textures and shapes. The rooting reflex causes baby to turn their mouths toward anything that brushes against their cheeks-a reflexive search for a nipple- and start to suck. Other reflexes are not necessary for survival but are important signs of normal brain and body functioning. Among them are the following. Babinski reflex. When infants feet are stroked, their toes fan upward. Stepping reflex. When infants are held upright with their feet touching a flat surface, they move their legs as if to walk. Swimming reflex. When they are held horizontally on their stomachs, infants stretch out their arms and legs. Palmar grasping reflex. When something touches an infants palms, they grip it tightly. Moro reflexes. When someone bangs on the table they are lying on, infants fling their arms outward and then bring them together on their chest, as if to hold something, while crying with wide open eyes. Gross Motor Skills Which involve large body movements, emerge directly from reflexes.

5 months They are able to use their arms and legs. 6months Belly-crawl Between 8 and 10 months Crawl or creep in all directions 10 month-old Bear walk 12 months Can walk without assistance In recognition of their accomplishment of walking, infants at this stage are given the additional name toddler, for the characteristics way they move their bodies, toddling from side to side. Fine Motor Skills Are skills that involve small body movements (usually of the hands and fingers), are more difficult to master than gross motor skills because require the precise coordination of complex muscle groups. These skills develop step by step, unlike some gross motor skill, such as standing up, which seem to emerge quite suddenly. Successful Grabbing The best example of an early fine motor skill is grabbing. First 2 months 3months of age 4 months of age 6 months of age Babies excitedly stare and wave their arms at an object dangling within reach. They can usually touch it. They sometimes grab. With a concentrated stare and deliberation, most babies can reach for, grab at, and hold onto (usually successfully) almost any object that is of the right size.

Fingering and Holding Once grabbing is possible, infants explore everything within reach mastering other fine motor skills while learning about the physical properties of their immediate world. Several weeks before 1 year of age, this system becomes sufficiently develop that the infant can hold an object in one hand and finger it with the other, and turn it around while examining it. SENSORY AND PERCEPTUAL CAPACITIES Sensation- occurs when a sensory system detects a stimulus. Perception- occurs when the brain tries to make sense out of that stimulus. Research on Infant Senses Habitation- the process of becoming so familiar with a particular stimulus tha it no longer elicit he physiological responses I did when it was originally experienced. Vision At birth vision is the least develop of the senses, with distance vision particularly blurry. Newborns focus most readily on

object between 4 and 30 inches away. The distance vision is about 20/400which means a baby sees an object ha is 20feet away no better than an adult with 20/20 vision sees the same object at 400feet away. Distance vision develops rapidly, however, reaching 20/40 by the age of 6months and by 20/20 by 12 months.

Hearing Newborns can distinguish their mothers voices from the voices of the other mother soon after birth, because even in the womb they listen. Early Hearing Loss (Otitis Media) Since hearing is the most acute sense of the newborn, deafness is usually to the parents and pediatrician in the first few months. Newborn hearing can be tested, and testing is mandated by some states; It finds that 1 in 1,000 infants is profoundly deaf. In many cases, hearing aid or surgery can ameliorate the deafness. If not the caregiver needs to learn sign language, because the neurons and dendrites that apply to language develop rapidly. Otitis media- a middle ear infections that can impair hearing temporarily and can impede language development and socialization if it continuous too long in the first years of life. NUTRITION Good nutrition is foundation for all development. As you saw newborns usually double their birth weight in the first four months, a growth that requires feeding at least 3 to 4 hours, day and night. The actual feeding schedule varies considerably from child to child and culture to culture. Some experts in some regions advocate a rigid pattern of feeding every 4 hours at birth, soon increasing to every 6 hours; others recommend feeding at first whimper, which can sometimes mean every half of hour or so. The Ideal Diet At first, infants are unable to eat or digest solid food, but their rooting, sucking, swallowing, and breathing reflexes are design to ensure that they consume large quantities of liquid nourishment. What should the small human eat? Breast milk is always sterile and at the body temperature; it contains more iron, vitamin C, and vitamin A than cows or goats milk it provides antibodies to protect against any disease that the mother is

immunized against, either through vaccine or through having had the illness herself. Nutritional Problems Nutritional problems of every sort, including obesity and other life-threatening vitamin deficiencies, can occur throughout the lifespan. Protein-calorie malnutrition- occurs when a child does not consume sufficient nourishment to thrive. Marasmus- a condition in which a growth stops, body tissues wastes away, and the infant eventually dies. Kwashiorkor- a condition that is caused by a deficiency of protein, and in which the childs face, legs, and abdomen swell with water.