Infancy II

Language Acquisition Stages

The three general stages of language production in infancy.

Babbling

The first attempts at language, consisting of cooing and gurgling sounds.

Cooing Stage

A stage from 2 to 4 months where infants produce gurgling sounds that express pleasure.

Gesturing

The ability of infants around 1 year to use gestures to communicate their needs.

Baby Signing

A communication approach that teaches babies keywords in sign form to communicate before they can verbalize.

Receptive Vocabulary

The words that an infant understands before they can produce them.

Telegraphic Speech

The two-word utterances made by toddlers that convey meaning but lack grammatical structure.

Secure Attachment

A healthy attachment style where infants use their caregiver as a secure base to explore their environment.

Insecure Avoidant Attachment

An attachment style where infants ignore or avoid their caregiver upon return after separation.

Insecure Resistance Attachment

An attachment style where infants cling to their caregiver but resist closeness when reunited.

Stranger Anxiety

Fear and wariness of strangers that typically appears around 6 months of age.

Infant Directed Speech

A speech pattern used by adults that is characterized by a high pitch and exaggerated intonation when speaking to infants.

Joint Attention

The shared focus of two individuals on an object, which helps infants learn the meanings of words.

Cognitive Development in Infancy

The process through which infants learn to understand and use language, influenced by various factors including environment and biology.

Primary Emotions

Emotions that are inherent and appear within the first 6 months, such as happiness and distress.

Self-Conscious Emotions

Emotions that involve self-awareness, such as jealousy, pride, and guilt, which develop later in infancy.

Colic

A condition characterized by excessive crying in infants, often occurring without an obvious cause.

Vocabulary Spurt

A rapid increase in spoken vocabulary typically observed around 18 months of age.

Environmental Factors in Language Learning

Elements such as caregiving style and exposure to language that affect how quickly infants learn to speak.

SES and Language Development

Research indicates that children from higher SES backgrounds are exposed to more words and tend to develop language skills more rapidly than those from lower SES backgrounds.

Attachment Theory

Theoretical perspective that explores the bond between infants and caregivers, which influences their emotional and social development.