infancy physical and cognitive

Body growth

faster growth than at any other age occurs in spurts

newborn 20in 7.5lbs

end yr1 32in 22lbs 50%>at birth triple lbs

end yr2 36in 30lb 75%>at birth quadlbs

axon

long nerve fiber conducts impulses away from the cell body of a neuron

dendrite

branching fiber receives information and conducts impulses toward cell body of a neuron

synapses

gap between dendrites of one neuron and the axon of another, impulses flow

myelination

formation of fatty layer encasing axons of neurons

synaptogenesis

process making connections between nerve cells at synapses

pruning

process of synapses elimination

cerebral cortex

crinkled out layer of brain

largest brain structure surrounds rest of brain

frontal cortex

front part of cortex assists in planning self control self regulation

very immature in newborn

auditory cortex

hearing is accurate at birth

results of months of eaves dropping during fetal period

visual cortex

least mature sense at birth

fetus has nothing to see

electroencephalogram eeg/erp

eeg- record electrical activity generated by active neurons

erps event related potentials- records changes in the brains electrical activity in response to the presentation of a particular stimulus

good temporal resolution

poor spatial resolution

functional magnetic resonance imaging fmri

powerful magnet producing colorful images representing cerebral blood flow in different area of the brain

good spacial resolution

poor temporal resolution

positron emission tomography pet

uses radioactive material injected into the brain for diagnostic purposes

best measure for brain activity

requires injection of radioactive material

diffusion tensor imaging dti

type of magnetic resonance imaging enables measurement of restricted diffusion of water in tissue produces neural tract images

direct measure of white matter

newer technology expensive

Near-infrared spectroscopy

tracking blood flow within/between areas of the brain

measures oxygen levels by placement of diodes on surface of the scalp

non invasive tracks blood flow

newer technology largely untested

infants helpless at birth

X size of mothers pelvis X

metabolic cross over hypothesis-proposes that human pregnancy ends when the fetus can no longer continue growing inside its mother, constrained by the maternal-fetal-placental metabolism

Importance of experience

experience determines which of the brain synapses will be pruned and which will be maintained

synapses frequently activated, preserved, a process described neural Darwinism

william greenough

plasticity is the capacity of the brain to be affected by experience

critical periods

finite period which organism has heightened sensitivity to external stimuli that are compulsory for development of a particular skill

certain areas of cortex only capable of synapse formation during early stages of development

critical period elapsed individual have visual impairment

hubel and wiesal

sensitive periods

specific times when a biological event more sensitive to environmental stimuli

second language acquisition age 3-7

plasticity

changes in neural pathway and synapses due to change in behavior environment neural process thinking emotions and bodily injury

experience expectant

certain basic common experiences for normal development

experience dependent

particular variable experiences that may or may not develop in particular infant

brain damage and recovery

timing and plasticity play important roles

worst time to suffer brain damage- neurogenesis and neuron migration

time of greatest plasticity synapse generation and pruning

plasticity also

depends on age at time of injury severity of damage environmental supports for recovery

health regions assume functions of damaged areas

recovery from injury

greater for language than spatial skills

limited if widespread or in certain regions

benefits of breast milk INFANTS

physical and emotional benefits from skin/skin contact

lower risks of sids

nutritionally balances meals

protection against common childhood illness/infections

less chance of developing allergic diseases

benefits of breast milk MOTHER

improved postpartum weight loss

reduced risk of post partum depression

reduced risk for RA cardiovascular disease and cancer

strengthens mother-infant bonding

benefits of breast milk ECONOMIC

save hundreds $$$ per year on formula

fewer insurance claims filed and fewer medical services needed

fewer sick days taken by mother for infant issues

Breast Milk

maternal and infant infections stimulate a rapid leukocyte response in breastmilk

Breastfeeding may improve infant sleep- change in melatonin breastmilk throughout the day

Malnutrition

affects 2.1 million children annually, stunts growth of 1/3 all children under 5

marasmus- first year inadequate feeding

kwashiorkor-after weaning low-protein diet

longterm damage to brain and organs affects learning and behavior and disrupts development

19% us children

supplemental nutrition assistance program

electron cards for buying food.

family must have less than 130% of the federal poverty line

no more than 2000 in resources

special supplement nutrition program for women infants and children

supplemental food and nutrition education for low income pregnant women and mothers with children under 5

family must be judged nutritionally at risk by health-care professional and earn below 185% poverty line

child and adult care food program

reimburses child-caree facilities, day-care providers, afterschool programs, and providers of various adult services for the cost of serving high quality meals

smallpox

most lethal

eradicated worldwide as of 1971

vaccination no longer needed

polio

rare crippling sometimes fatal

vaccines began 1955

elminated polio in most nations

measles rubeola

vaccine developed 1963

disease disappearing

rotavirus

causes diarrhea

killed half milly children 2005

vaccine not widespread in developing nations where most deaths occur

soothing crying infant

swaddling- wrapping baby tightly in blankie or garment, calming during infancy

increased carrying reduces infant crying

infant massage

newborn sleeping 24hr

alert awake

nonalert awake

drowsiness sleep-wake transition

quiet sleep

active sleep

fussing crying

cosleeping

child parent shares bed

sudden infant death syndrome

risks-mothers who smoked while pregnant, being inadvertently smothered

affect 1 in 1000 us babies top ranking cause of infant mortality

unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant often while sleeping first year of life

safe to sleep campaign

back to sleep

tummy time

infant crying

first method of communication

cry it out vs sensitive responding

peaks about 5 weeks after birth

continuously and cannot be soothed may be suffering from colic

colic

repeated bouts of excessive crying in a baby who is otherwise healthy

more 3hrs a day

more than three days a week

3 weeks

child 2 weeks - 4 months

habituation

predictable loss of interest that develops once a stimulus becomes familiar; used to explore infant sensory capacities and thinking

babies who quickly habituated to stimuli later preferentially looked at new stimulus when it was paired with an old one (recovery) had superior scores on elementary school intelligence tests

Violation expectancy

Baillargeon used this technique to establish infants young a 3.5 look longer at an “impossible” event than a possible event

preferential-looking paradigm

humans are attracted to novelty and look selectively at new things

newborn perception

infants prefer faces over bulleye scrambled face

newborns looked most at the face

infants prefer patterns over solids

visual acuity

infants visual acuity estimated by comparing how long baby looks at striped pattern vs plain grey circle

newborn vision acuity is 20/400

infant visual discrimination approaches that of adults by age 8 months reaches full sharpness at 6 yrs

patterns over high visual contrast bc they have poor contrast

cones different from adults in size shape and spacing

newborn infants have limited color vision 2-3 months of age infants color vision are similar to adults

visual scanning

1 month scan perimeters of shapes

2months scan both perimeters and the interiors of shapes

tracking

infants attracted to moving stimuli

infants cannot track slow moving objects until 2 or 3 months

Faces

infants develop preference for the type of face they see the most often

newborns look longer at faces that adults find more attractive than adults rate less attractive, and interact more positively with people with attractive faces.

Face Processing

becomes more selective over time

6months- easily discriminate both human and monkey faces

9month and adults have difficult time the monkey faces

pictorial representation

newborns can recognize 2d versions of 3d objects

but they must come to understand their symbolic nature

infants and toddlers attempt to treat pictures as though they were real objects

auditory perception

hearing does not approach adult levels until 5/6yrs

newborns turn towards sounds- auditory localization

infants proficient in perceiving subtle difference in human speech

newborn perception

fetuses discriminate different tones in the womb

prefer womens voices bc they are sensitive to high pitched tones

1 week babies recognize their mothers voice

1 month prefer infant directed speech

touch

infants learn about environment through active touch

oral exploration dominates first few months

4 months infant gain control over their hand and arm movements and manual exploration gradually takes precedence over oral exploration

feet first

toys held in front of babies hands and feet they reached with their feet early as 8 weeks a month or more before they reached with their hands

baby proofing

making home safe for newly mobile infant

cover electrical outlets

dangerous cleaning substances away

unplug appliances

take small objects off tables

pad furniture corners

motor milestones

grasp cube 3month 3 weeks

sit up alone 7 months mastered by 7 months

crawl 7 months

pulls to stand 8 month

plays patty cake 9 months 3 weeks

walks alone 11 months 3 weeks mastered by 17 months

scribbles vigorously 14 months

jumps in place 23 months 2 weeks mastered by 29 months

impact of culture on motor development

mothers in mali believe its important to exercise their infants to promote their motor development

kipsigis- kenya digging holes for babies to sit in

infants discouraged from ealry locomotion in modern urban china

ache nomads in paraguay infants carried around first 3 years

reaching

7 months infants gain ability to sit independently their reaching becomes quite stable

reaching shows signs of anticipation

10 months infants approach to an object is affected by what they intend to do with obejct

depth perception

developed the same time they learn to crawl

independent locomotion

crawling provokes more interest in objects at distances

early crawlers more attuned to caregivers facial expressions

get more upset when parent leaves room

crawling linked to changes in parent-child bond

visual cliff

table appears to drop off at midpoint used to test infant depth perception

12 months infants seek out and use facial expressions to disambiguate situations

walking dynamic systems

control parameter- variables move system/you into new attractor state

catalysts participating in change in motor behavior, strengths of legs

sensorimotor stage

Piaget believed infants and toddlers think with their senses

believed they were unable to carry out activities inside their heads

object permanence understanding objects continue to exist when out of sight mastered end of first year

a not b error

standing instead of sitting for b trial made prior experience of searching in location a less salient

scale errors

occurs when toddlers try to do something with mini replica object that is too small for action to be completed

core system 1- approximate representation of numerical magnitude

5months- after seeing 3 dots on a screen they look preferentially at a screen showing four dots

6months- infants can discriminate items differing by a 2/1 ratio but not a 3/2 ratio

10 months- infants succeed both at 2/1 and 3/2 ratio

core system 2 precise representations of distinct individuals

10-12 months infants chose between two quantities of hidden crackers

infants watched experimenter hide one cracker on the left and 1+1=2 crackers on the right

infants chose larger quantity

however 3 vs ¾ 2 vs 4/3 vs 6 infants chose randomly

social cognition

any skill related to understanding feelings and negotiating interpersonal interactions

imitating intentions

18 month old sees person try and fail to pull ends off dumbbell they imitate pulling ends, what the person intended to do

they do not imitate a mechanical device at all

understanding intentions

infants see human arm repeatedly reach for object in same location assume that the action is directed toward object not place

they looked longer when the hand went to new object in the old place than when it reached for the old object it had reached to before

joint attention

baby looks at an old object an adult is pointing to or follows a persons gaze

social referencing

seeking info about how to react to an unfamiliar or ambiguous object or event by observing someone else’s expressions and reactions

social interactionist view

approach to language development that emphasizes its social function

specifically that babies and adults have a mutual passion to communicate

language development

2-4 months cooing

5-11 months babbling

12-17 months holophrases

18-24 months telegraphic speech

comprehension precedes production

production issues:

under extension applying label to objects too narrowly

over extension applying word to a wider collection of objects and events than is appropiate

infant directed speech

simplified exaggerated high-pitched tones adults and children use to speak to infants that function to help teach language

lang dev Nativist

Noam Chomsky believed humans are biologically programmed to make language

language acquisition device LAD chomsky’s terms for hypothetical brain structure that enables our species to learn and produce language

lang dev Empiricist

language is a product of more general brain process and is learned

statistical language acquisition

chunking

Piaget schemes

organized ways of making sense of experience

adaptation- building schemes through direct interaction with the environment

assimilation, accommodation

Happy or content

6weeks- social smile

3months-laughter curiosity

4months-full, responsive smiles

Angry Sad

4-8months anger

angry healthy response to frustration

sadness- indicates withdrawal

Fearful

8-14 months- with strangers, stranger and separation anxiety

12months- fear of unexpected sights and sounds

pride shame

18 months self awareness pride shame embarrassment

emotional self-regulation

emerges as motor and language skills develop

improves rapidly during first few years due to brain development and caregiver support

caregivers teach socially approved ways of expression

end of year 2, vocabulary forms for talking about emotions, but unable to manage them and tantrums occur

social learning

learning by observing other, both what they do and how other people react to their behavior

importance of social interaction

iq

brain structure

attachment

psychiatric diagnosis

physical differences

working model

cognitive theory, set of assumptions that the individual use to organize perceptions and experiences

attachment

powerful bond of love between caregiver and child

to form- child needs primary attachment figure, closest person in child’s life

Ainsworth attachment clinic

circle of security- parent attending to childs needs

secure base- support exploration watch me delight in me help me enjoy with me-welcome my coming to you-always be bigger stronger wiser kind- protect comfort-organize my feelings- safe haven

strange situation

parent baby introduced to playroom

parent sits while baby plays with toys

stranger enters is seated talks to parent

parent leaves stranger offers comfort if baby upset

parent returns greets baby offers comfort if necessary stranger leaves

parent leaves

stranger enters, offers comfort

parent returns greets baby offers comfort if necessary, tries to reinterest baby in toys

insecure avoidant attachment

playroom- child plays happily

mother leaves- child continues playing

mother returns- child ignores her

10-20%

secure

in playroom- child plays happily

mother leaves- child pauses, is not happy

mother returns- child welcomes her returns to play

50-70%

insecure resistant- ambivalent

in playroom- child clings is preoccupied with mother

mother leaves- child unhappy may stop playing

mother returns- child angry, may cry hit or cling

10-20%