Infancy Development: Psychosexual, Cognitive, and Social Milestones

Freud's major stages of psychosexual development

Freud believed development happens through five stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital.

Oral stage

Birth to 1 year; pleasure comes from the mouth.

Anal stage

1-3 years; focus is on controlling elimination.

Phallic stage

3-6 years; focus is on the genitals.

Latency stage

6 years to puberty; sexual feelings are less noticeable.

Genital stage

Puberty through adulthood; sexual interests become mature.

Freud vs. Erikson similarities

Both believed development happens in stages and early experiences affect later development.

Freud vs. Erikson differences

Freud focused more on sexual drives and personality; Erikson focused on social relationships and challenges throughout the entire lifespan.

Behavioral perspective

Development happens through learning from the environment.

Classical conditioning

Learning by making an association between two things.

Operant conditioning

Learning because of rewards or punishments.

Piaget's theory of cognitive development

Children move through four stages of cognitive development and actively learn by exploring their environment.

Schema

A mental framework used to organize information.

Assimilation

Adding new information to an existing schema.

Accommodation

Changing an existing schema because the new information does not fit.

Information-processing perspective

Compares the mind to a system that takes in, stores, and uses information.

Longitudinal research design

Studies the same people over a long period of time.

Cross-sectional research design

Studies different age groups at the same time.

Sequential research design

Combines longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches.

Cohort

A group of people who were born around the same time.

Cohort effect

Differences between age groups caused by their different historical or cultural experiences rather than their age.

Prenatal period

Conception to birth.

Infancy & Toddlerhood period

Birth to 2 years.

Preschool period

2-6 years.

Middle Childhood period

6-11 years.

Adolescence period

11-18 years.

Young Adulthood period

18-40 years.

Middle Adulthood period

40-65 years.

Late Adulthood period

65+ years.

Preterm infant

Born before 37 weeks of pregnancy.

Post-term infant

Born after 42 weeks.

Common childbirth options

Hospital birth, birthing center, and home birth.

Baby's position at birth

Most favorable position is head-down with the baby's face toward the mother's back.

Reflex

An automatic response to a stimulus.

Infant reflexes

Rooting, sucking, Moro, Babinski, and palmar grasp.

Newborn vision

Newborns have limited vision and see best at close distances.

Touch, taste, and smell in newborns

Newborns are sensitive to touch, can distinguish tastes, and recognize different smells.

Habituation

When an infant's response to a repeated stimulus becomes weaker.

Major states of arousal

Regular sleep, irregular/REM sleep, drowsiness, quiet alertness, active alertness, and crying.

Four principles of physical growth

Cephalocaudal and proximodistal development.

Cephalocaudal development

Development happens from head to toe.

Proximodistal development

Development happens from the center of the body outward.

Proximodistal

Development happens from the center of the body outward. Example: Babies control their arms before their fingers.

Gross-to-fine

Large muscle movements develop before small, precise movements. Example: A baby learns to wave before picking up a tiny object.

Simple-to-complex

Simple abilities develop before more complicated abilities. Example: A baby first makes simple movements before learning coordinated movements.

Physical milestones during infancy

Major milestones include gaining control of the head, rolling over, sitting without support, crawling, pulling up and standing, walking, and developing better hand and finger control.

Neural development during infancy

The brain grows very quickly during infancy. Neurons form connections with other neurons, allowing the brain and nervous system to become more organized and capable.

Synaptic pruning

Synaptic pruning is the process of removing unused or unnecessary connections between neurons. It is beneficial because it helps the brain become more efficient by keeping useful connections.

Biological rhythms

Biological rhythms are regular patterns in the body's activities.

Auditory development

Infants can hear very well from an early age. They are especially responsive to human voices, particularly familiar voices and speech directed toward them.

Sensorimotor Stage

The Sensorimotor Stage is Piaget's first stage of cognitive development. Age: Birth to about 2 years. Infants learn mainly through their senses and physical actions.

Six substages of the Sensorimotor Period

1. Reflexes - infants use their natural reflexes. 2. Primary circular reactions - infants repeat actions involving their own bodies. 3. Secondary circular reactions - infants repeat actions that affect objects around them. 4. Coordination of secondary circular reactions - infants intentionally combine actions to reach goals. 5. Tertiary circular reactions - infants experiment with new actions to see what happens. 6. Mental representation - infants can think about objects and events mentally instead of only through physical actions.

Object permanence

Object permanence is understanding that an object still exists even when it cannot be seen. Piaget considered it a major achievement because it shows that infants are beginning to understand that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight.

Mental representation

Mental representation is the ability to form a mental image or idea of something that is not physically present. It allows children to think about objects, people, and events without directly interacting with them.

Information processing

The information-processing approach explains that infants gradually become better at paying attention, remembering information, and processing information.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a language.

Morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning in a language.

Syntax

The rules for how words are put together to form sentences.

Telegraphic speech

Telegraphic speech is early speech that uses only the most important words. Example: 'Mommy go store.'

Underextension

Using a word too narrowly. Example: A child uses 'dog' only for their own dog.

Overextension

Using a word too broadly. Example: A child calls every four-legged animal 'dog.'

Infant-directed speech

Infant-directed speech uses things like higher pitch, slower speech, repetition, and exaggerated sounds. It helps infants pay attention to speech and can help them learn language.

Attachment

Attachment is a strong emotional bond between an infant and caregiver. It is important because it helps infants develop security, trust, and healthy social relationships.

Stranger anxiety

Stranger anxiety is fear or discomfort around unfamiliar people. It usually begins to appear during the second half of the first year.

Separation anxiety

Separation anxiety is distress when a familiar caregiver leaves. It shows that the infant has formed a strong attachment.

Ainsworth's attachment styles

Secure: Uses caregiver as a secure base. Avoidant: Shows little reaction when caregiver leaves. Resistant/Ambivalent: Becomes very upset when caregiver leaves. Disorganized-Disoriented: Shows confused, contradictory, or unusual behaviors.

Harlow's monkey studies

Harlow's studies showed that infant monkeys preferred a soft cloth surrogate mother over a wire mother that provided food.

Contact comfort

Contact comfort—the warmth and comfort of physical contact—is very important in attachment.

Three types of babies

Easy babies: Generally calm. Difficult babies: More irritable. Slow-to-warm-up babies: Less active.

Goodness-of-fit

Goodness-of-fit means how well a child's temperament matches the expectations and environment around them.

Trust vs. Mistrust

Age: Infancy. Infants learn whether the world is a safe and dependable place based largely on how caregivers respond to their needs.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Age: Toddlerhood. Toddlers begin wanting to do things independently, such as feeding themselves and choosing things.