Infancy

PSY 309/SPRING 2020

EMA AN RANGOONWAL A
Outline
The Newborn
Infancy
◦ Physical development
◦ Cognitive development in infancy with reference to Piaget’s theory
◦ Language development in infancy
◦ Psychosocial development in infancy
The Newborn
infant
The Newborn infant

Interaction with the environment influence by

◦ State of arousal
◦ A continuum ranging from deep sleep to intense activity

Effect on interaction?
Effect of interaction?
States of Arousal

Sleep
◦ Total sleep time declines regularly during childhood and continues to decrease
throughout life
◦ Active sleep state – REM sleep (higher proportion as compared to adults)
◦ 50% (at birth) to 20% (by 3 or 4 years)
◦ Importance for normal development (such as visual system)
◦ Learning while sleeping
◦ Recognition of sounds
◦ Slumbering brains do not become as disconnected from external stimulation as in adults
Sleep

Sleep-wake cycles
◦ Changing patterns with time
◦ Impact on interaction with parents?
◦ Impact of cultural practices?
States of Arousal

Crying
◦ Sound – unpleasant
◦ Adaptive value
◦ Reasons
Do all newborns’
cries sound alike?
Crying

Within the first week after birth, mothers are able to distinguish
Differentially shaped by the sounds of the language in their environment
Nature of crying along with reasons
◦ Change with development
◦ More communicative
◦ Day/night patterns
Crying

Soothing practices
◦ Combination of multiple – effective
◦ Swaddling – wrapping tightly and restricting movement
◦ Touch – Skin contact

Response to distress
◦ Assessing the severity of the infant’s distress before responding
◦ Severe distress – quick response
◦ Learning to cope with less serious on own
Crying

Colic
◦ Inconsolable crying for no apparent reason during the first few months of life
◦ Causes unknown
◦ Typically ends by 3 mounts
◦ No ill effects
◦ Importance of seeking social support
◦ Stress
◦ Frustration
◦ Sense of inadequacy and incompetence
Low birth weight
Infancy
Infancy
0 – 2 years
Researchers have given this part of the lifespan more attention than any other period, perhaps
because changes during this time are so dramatic and so noticeable.
It was also, for a very long time, assumed that what happens during these years provides a
foundation for one’s life to come.
However, it has been argued that the significance of development during these years has been
overstated.
◦ But also some proof that it could be true
 Physical development
◦ Brain development:
◦ The brain has an overload of synapses – more than the baby needs
◦ 40% is eliminated
◦ What is eliminated is based on your early childhood experience (it “prunes” the connections you don’t
need)
◦ The capacity of the brain to be molded or changed by experience is referred to as plasticity.
◦ Some parts of your brain are molded by environmental factors that are “expected”, like visual and
auditory stimuli.
◦ If for some reason the experience that the developing brain is “expecting” for fine-tuning its circuits does
not occur, whether because of inadequate stimulation or impaired sensory receptors, development may
be compromised (see notes*).
◦ The brain is also sculpted by idiosyncratic experience through experience-dependent plasticity – stuff
that happens to you bc of your environment that shapes your brain in a specific way.
Physical Development
Sensitive vs critical periods
A time period in which the human brain is especially sensitive to particular kinds of external stimuli.
Like a window were temporarily opened, inviting environmental input to help organize the brain.
Gradually, the window closes.
The neural organization that occurs (or does not occur) during sensitive periods is:
◦ Probably irreversible (critical period)
◦ Maybe not irreversible but will take time (sensitive period)

Critical period: learning / development HAS to take place during this time.
Sensitive period: it is BEST and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for learning/development to take place
during this time. We can still learn outside this period, but learning is less efficient.
Sensitive Vs Critical Periods
Physical Development –
Normative
Some videos – typical vs
atypical physical development
2 month old : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH8HEu1YZlk
6 month old (WARNING: some baby genitals and buttocks may be visible – you may skip these
videos if you feel uncomfortable):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8SxtL4mNEI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz1R1VpW79U
 Overall Physical Growth
For the first few days of life, infants typically lose about 5 percent of their body weight as they
eliminate waste and get used to feeding. This often goes unnoticed by most parents, but can be
cause for concern for those who have a smaller infant.
This weight loss is temporary, however, and is followed by a rapid period of growth. By the time an
infant is 4 months old, it usually doubles in weight and by one year has tripled the birth weight.
By age 2, the weight has quadrupled, so we can expect that a 2 year-old should weigh between 20
and 40 pounds. The average length at one year is about 29.5 inches and at two years it is around
34.4 inches (Bloem, 2007).
 Infancy
Body Proportions: Another dramatic physical change that
takes place in the first several years of life is the change in
body proportions. The head initially makes up about 50
percent of our entire length when we are developing in the
womb. At birth, the head makes up about 25 percent of our
length, and by age 25 it comprises about 20 percent our
length.

Neoteny: This diagram shows that the

head becomes proportionately smaller
and the legs proportionately longer as
humans mature. Proportionately large
heads and proportionately short legs
are neotenous features for adults.
Cognitive development
According to the Piagetian perspective, infants learn about the world primarily through their
senses and motor abilities (Harris, 2005). These basic motor and sensory abilities provide the
foundation for the cognitive skills that will emerge during the subsequent stages of cognitive
development.
The first stage of cognitive development is referred to as the Sensorimotor Period and it occurs
through six substages.
Cognitive development
Piaget
◦ Sensorimotor stage
◦ Primary circular reactions
◦ Secondary circular reactions
◦ Tertiary circular reactions
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xscJbx6T7E8
 Object permanence
Object permanence is the understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists (Bogartz,
Shinskey, & Schilling, 2000). According to Piaget, young infants do not remember an object after it
has been removed from sight.
Piaget studied infants’ reactions when a toy was first shown to an infant and then hidden under a
blanket. Infants who had already developed object permanence would reach for the hidden toy,
indicating that they knew it still existed, whereas infants who had not developed object permanence
would appear confused.
Piaget emphasizes this construct because it was an objective way for children to demonstrate that
they can mentally represent their world. Children have typically acquired this milestone by 8
months. Once toddlers have mastered object permanence, they enjoy games like hide and seek, and
they realize that when someone leaves the room they will come back. Toddlers also point to pictures
in books and look in appropriate places when you ask them to find objects.
Stranger anxiety
In Piaget’s view, around the same time children develop object permanence, they also begin to
exhibit Stranger Anxiety, which is a fear of unfamiliar people (Crain, 2005). Babies may
demonstrate this by crying and turning away from a stranger, by clinging to a caregiver, or by
attempting to reach their arms toward familiar faces such as parents.
Stranger anxiety results when a child is unable to assimilate the stranger into an existing
schema; therefore, she can’t predict what her experience with that stranger will be like, which
results in a fear response.
Piaget - SCHEMES
◦ Schemes
◦ The human mind strives for equilibrium // “balance” – essentially our mind wants to have
all new incoming info organized in a meaningful way, a way that makes sense.
◦ This equilibrium is maintained via accommodation and assimilation

Assimilation: New experiences are reinterpreted to fit into, or assimilate old ideas.
Accommodation: Old ideas are restructured to include, or accommodate, new experiences.
Equilibration: Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information
through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new
information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation). Equilibration is the force which
drives the learning process as we do not like to be frustrated and will seek to restore balance by
mastering the new challenge (accommodation).
 Assimilation and
Accommodation – Examples
My 2 year old saw a man who was bald on top of his head and had long frizzy hair on the sides. He
gleefully shouted, ““Clown! Clown!” (it sounded more like “Kown! Kown!”).
I explained to my 2 year old that the man was not a clown and that even though his hair looked like a
clown’s, he was not wearing a funny costume and was not doing silly things to make people laugh.
1 year old Sumika saw a donkey with four legs and a tail and identified it as “dog woof woof”.
1 year old Aiman got scared of a piece of yarn because it was a “worm”.
1.5 year old Aiman now knows that worms move and are a different colour, while yarn doesn’t move
and is typically “fluffy”.
Language development/Communication
(Language is a part of cognitive
development)
Do newborns communicate?
Of course!
They do not, however, communicate with the use of oral language. Instead, they
communicate their thoughts and needs with body posture (being relaxed or
still), gestures, cries, and facial expressions. A person who spends adequate time
with an infant can learn which cries indicate pain and which ones indicate
hunger, discomfort, or frustration.
 Language development/Communication
(Language is a part of cognitive
development)
Newborns:
◦ recognize mums voice

0-2 month:
◦ Babies watch your face when you talk to them.
◦ Smile and laugh when other people smile and laugh.
◦ Make sounds to themselves, like cooing, gurgling and babbling.
2 – 6 months:
◦ Recognize their name and the names of familiar objects like ‘apple’ and ‘shoe
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0FGHFrMRXI
6-9 months:
◦ Listen carefully and turn to someone talking on the other side of the room.
◦ Babble strings of sounds, like ‘no-no’ and ‘go-go’.
◦ Understand that how you say words (happy or angry tone) means something.
Language development
(Language is a part of cognitive
development)
9-12 months:
◦ Make noises, point and look at you to get your attention.
◦ Show you objects to engage in conversation about the object.
◦ Take turns in conversations, babbling back to an adult.

12-18 months:
◦ Use up to 20 simple words, like ‘cup’, ‘shoe’ and ‘daddy’.
◦ Understand simple instructions like ‘kiss mummy’, ‘kick ball’ and ‘give me’
◦ Point to things when asked, like familiar people or objects.
◦ Start to enjoy simple pretend play, e.g. pretending to talk on the phone.
◦ Copy lots of the things that adults say and gestures they make.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdewP3tCPEA
 Language development
(Language is a part of cognitive
development)
18-24 months
◦ Toddlers understand between 200 and 500 words.
◦ Understand simple questions and instructions: ‘where’s your shoe?’ and ‘show me your eyes’.
◦ Use a limited number of sounds in their words - often these are p, b, t, d, m and w (“r” missing, “L”
missing, “h” missing)
◦ Often miss the ends of words off.
◦ More receptive to simple stories with pictures.
◦ Start to put short 2-3 word sentences together: ‘bye mummy’, ‘more juice’.

2 year old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hnmfi-8df0

Same child at 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dov46foOlLA
Same child at 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljHEOjm0uew
Same language and interaction skills?
 Language Development in
Infancy
A considerable body of evidence suggests that, in fact, the early years constitute a critical period during
which language develops readily. After this period (which ends sometime between age 5 and puberty),
language acquisition is much more difficult and ultimately less successful – normative?
“There are several reports of children who barely developed language at all after being deprived of early
linguistic experience. The most famous case in modern times is Genie, who was discovered in appalling
conditions in Los Angeles in 1970. From the age of approximately 18 months until she was rescued at age
13, Genie’s parents kept her tied up and locked alone in a room. During her imprisonment, no one spoke
to her; when her father brought her food, he growled at her like an animal. At the time of her rescue,
Genie’s development was stunted—physically, motorically, and emotionally—and she could barely speak.
With intensive training, she made some progress, but her language ability never developed much beyond
the level of a toddler’s: “Father take piece wood. Hit. Cry” (Curtiss, 1977, 1989; Rymer, 1993).”
Critical Period of Language
Development
This is also why it is important to determine quickly if a child is deaf,
and to communicate in sign language immediately. Deaf children
who are not exposed to sign language during their early years will
likely never learn it (Mayberry, Lock, & Kazmi, 2002). The concept of
critical periods highlights the importance of both nature and nurture
for language development
 Infant-directed speech
“Why is a horse a “horsie”? Have you ever wondered why adults tend to use “baby talk”
or that sing-song type of intonation and exaggeration used when talking to children?
This represents a universal tendency and is known as Infant-directed Speech. It involves
exaggerating the vowel and consonant sounds, using a high-pitched voice, and
delivering the phrase with great facial expression (Clark, 2009). Why is this done?
Infants are frequently more attuned to the tone of voice of the person speaking than to
the content of the words themselves, and are aware of the target of speech. Werker,
Pegg, and McLeod (1994) found that infants listened longer to a woman who was
speaking to a baby than to a woman who was speaking to another adult. It may be in
order to clearly articulate the sounds of a word so that the child can hear the sounds
involved. It may also be because when this type of speech is used, the infant pays more
attention to the speaker and this sets up a pattern of interaction in which the speaker
and listener are in tune with one another.”
 Psychosocial development in infancy
What did Freud say about this age group / the emotions and social interactions at this stage?
What about Erikson?
“Indeed, current research in cognitive and affective neuroscience suggests that a remarkably large
proportion of human behavior stems from unconscious processes. According to this research, we
are, to a surprising degree, “strangers to ourselves,” often acting on the basis of unconscious
processes and only later constructing rational accounts of our behavior (T. D. Wilson, 2002).”
“Our behavior is also influenced by implicit attitudes of which we are unaware, attitudes that are
often antithetical to what we consciously believe. For example, many individuals who believe that
they lack racial prejudice nevertheless unconsciously associate members of some racial groups
with a variety of negative characteristics (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995; Nosek & Banaji, 2009). Even
children as young as 6 years of age exhibit implicit racial biases (Baron & Banaji, 2006).
Psychosocial development in
infancy
Bandura, Watson/Pavlov, and Skinner’s applicability?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-euQU-WcJY - How does this relate to their ideas?
Imitation
Psychosocial development in
infancy – Other factors to
consider
Temperament
Theories of attachment
◦ Strange situation technique

(more on this next time)

In essence
The way a child’s physical, language, social, and emotional skills and
abilities develop have a lot to do with their environment, including
their culture.