Infancy and Childhood Exam 2

The eager mind

infant is motivated to acquire information

Piaget’s Sensorimotor Intelligence

Term for the way infants think-by using their senses and motor skills-during the first period of cognitive development

-Infants adapt reflexes through information from repeated responses

Infants are active learners; adaptation is the core of intelligence; cognition develops in six stages

Sensorimotor Intelligence

Circular reactions and primary circular reactions

Stage one (birth to 1 month): stages of reflexes

Stage two (1 to 4 months): first acquired adaptations or habits

Primary circular reactions

infants responses to their own body

Circular reactions

interaction of sensation, perception and cognition

Sensorimotor Intelligence stages three and four

Secondary circular reactions, object permanence, goal pursuing

Stage three (4 to 8 months): attempts to make interesting things last

Stage four (6 to 12 months): new adaptation and anticipation; means to the end

Object permanence

the realization that objects (including people) still exist when they can no longer be seen, touched, or heard.

Secondary circular reactions

infants response to objects and people

Sensorimotor Intelligence Stages five and six

Tertiary circular reactions; stage 5 toddler is “little scientist”

Stage five (12 to 18 months): new means through active experimentation

Stage six (18 to 24 months): new means through mental combinations

tertiary circular reactions

The cognitive processes of the 1-year-old, who gathers information from experiences with the wider world and then acts on it, lead to further understanding

Language newborn to 6 months

Newborns have reflexive communication

By two months, babies make meaningful noises

By 3 to 6 months, babies make new sounds, including vowel sounds

Babbling

involves repetition of certain syllables such as ba-ba-ba; begins between 6 and 9 months

gesturing

some caregivers teach “baby signs” to 6 to 12 month olds

Early gestures precede more sophisticated responses such as pointing

First words

start at about a year with a few words gradually increases

babies understand 10x more than they can say

words start as labels but become holophrases (single word to express entire thoughts)

Naming explosion

Spoken vocab builds rapidly once the first 50 words are mastered

Early emotions

high emotional responsiveness

reactive pain and pleasure to complex social awareness

Social smile

6 weeks, evoked by viewing human faces

laughter

3-4 months, often associated with curiosity

Anger

first expressed at around 6 months

is healthy response to frustration

sadness

correlates with maternal depression

too much sadness is a troubling sign of later emotional problems

fear

begins with unexpected events but soon involves human interaction

seperation anxiety

Distress occurs when a familiar caregiver leaves

if strong after age 3, it may be considered an emotional disorder

Stranger wariness

infant no longer smiles at any friendly face but cries or looks frightened when an unfamiliar person moves too close

Temperament

inborn differences between one person and another in emotions, activity, and self-regulation

biologically based

makes later life easier or more difficult for people

not the same as personality

Dimensions of temperament

effortful control, negative mood, exuberance

Synchrony

Coordinated, rapid, and smooth exchange of responses between a caregiver and an infant

aids cognition; becomes a mutual dance; parents and infants engage in ‘social games’, routines passed down from adult to infant

How infants show attachment

proximity seeking, contact-maintaining

Attachment types

secure attachment (type b), insecure-avoidant attachment (type a), insecure-resistant/ambivalent attachment (type c), disorganized attachment (type D)

psychodynamic theory

freud

oral stage (first year) the mouth is primary source of gratification

anal stage (second year) the anus is source of main pleasure

conflicts: oral fixation or anal personality

Psychodynamic theory

erikson: trust and autonomy stages

trust vs mistrust

autonomy versus shame and doubt

behaviorism

emotions and personality molded during early years as adults reinforce or punish children

social learning: infants learn from observation

proximal parenting, distal parenting

Cognitive theory

working model: set of assumptions that the individual uses to organize perceptions and experiences

evolutionary theory

emotions for survival

allocare: care of child by people other than biological parents

Who should we care for infants?

gender stereotypes in childcare influenced by cultural differences and personal experiences

early day care does not diminish attachment

day care not found to increase behavior problems

Growth patterns

children become slimmer as the lower body lengthens

from age 2 through 6, each year well-nourished children add almost 3 inches in height and gain about 4 ½ lbs

BMI is lower at ages 5 and 6 than any other time

Brain growth

by age 2 a child’s brain weighs 75% of its adult weight

myelination

Gross motor skills

improve markedly during early childhood

mastered quickly with practice and age

combination of brain maturation and peer experience

play is crucial

fine motor skills

are more difficult to master

involve small hand and finger movements

influenced by practice and maturation

develop quicker in girls than in boys

Avoiding injury

describing prevention: children will get hurt sometimes but injury control/harm reduction i sneeded

primary (overall conditions that affect likelihood of harm), secondary (more targeted, averting harm in high-risk situations or for vulnerable individuals) and tertiary (begins after an injury has occured, limiting damage)

Child maltreatment

intentional harm to or avoidable endangerment of anyone under 18 years of age

child abuse

Deliberate action that is harmful to a child’s physical, emotional, or sexual well-being

child neglect

Failure to meet a child’s basic physical, educational, or emotional needs

reported maltreatment

harm of endangerment about which someone has notified the authorities

substantiated maltreatment

harm or endangerment that has been reported, investigated and verified

Executive function

The cognitive ability to organize and prioritize the many thoughts that arise from the various parts of the brain, allowing the person to anticipate, strategize, and plan behavior

Combines three essential abilities: memory, inhibition and flexibility

Theory-theory

children’s theory

children attempt to explain everything they see and hear

Children develop theories about intentions before they employ their impressive ability to imitate.

theory of mind

children’s theory

Involves a person’s theory of what other people might be thinking

Is slow to develop but typically begins in most children at about age 4

can be seen when child tries to escape punishment by lying

Piaget preoperational intelligence

Piaget’s term for cognitive development between the ages of about 2 and 6

Includes language and imagination (which involve symbolic thought), but logical, operational thinking is not yet possible at this stage

piaget symbolic thought

Allows a child to think symbolically, including understanding abstract terms and symbols

Helps explain animism

Animism

Involves belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive

Piaget centration

A young child focuses (centers) on one idea, excluding all others; may include egocentrism

Piaget appearance-focus

a thing is whatever it appears to be

piaget static reasoning

the world is stable and unchanging

piaget irreversible reasoning

children do not recognize that reversing a process might restore whatever existed before

piaget conservation

The principle that the amount of a substance remains the same when its appearance changes.

concept understood at 6 or 7

Vigostky social learning

every aspect of children’s cognitive development is embedded in the social context

children learn because mentors present challenges, offer assistance, add crucial info, encourage motivation

Vigotksy zone of proximal development

skills that a person can exercise only with the assistance, not yet independently

Vygotsky scaffolding

Temporary support that is tailored to a learner’s needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process

vygostky overimitation

When a person imitates an action that is not a relevant part of the behavior to be learned.

Overimitation is common among 2- to 6-year-olds when they imitate adult actions that are irrelevant and inefficient.

Vygostky private speech

The internal dialogue that occurs when people talk to themselves (either silently or out loud)

less audible with maturation

aids cognition and self-reflection

vygotsky social mediation

Human interaction that expands and advances understanding, often through words that one person uses to explain something to another

Language learning

pivotal to every cognition

two year olds use telegraphic sentences, 5 yr olds can say almost anything

early childhood is sensitive period to master vocab, grammer, pronunciation

vocab explosion: 200 words at 2, 5,900 words at 6

Homes and schools

child’s mind can bloom or wither according to their environment

child-centered stress child’s inclination to learn through play

teacher-directed stress academic subjects taught by teacher to entire class