PSY 238 Exam 2

1. Physical Growth and Development in Infancy

Patterns of Growth

• Cephalocaudal pattern: Growth starts at the head and moves downward.

• Proximodistal pattern: Growth starts at the center and moves outward to limbs.

Height & Weight

• Average newborn: 20 inches, 7.6 pounds.

• Growth rate: 1 inch per month in the first year.

• By 2 years: 26-32 pounds, 32-35 inches.

• Growth is episodic, occurring in spurts.

2. Brain Development

Basic Brain Structures

• Forebrain: Includes cerebral cortex, responsible for higher thinking.

• Four Lobes:

  • Frontal: Voluntary movement, thinking, personality.

  • Occipital: Vision.

  • Temporal: Hearing, language, memory.

  • Parietal: Spatial location, attention, motor control.

Neural Development

• Myelination: Fatty coating on axons that speeds up transmission.

• Synaptic connections: "Use it or lose it" principle—unused connections are pruned.

Early Experience & Plasticity

• Deprived environments (e.g., Romanian orphanages) can reduce brain activity.

• Brain plasticity: The ability to reorganize and recover from damage.

• Example: Michael Rehbein, who lost his left hemisphere, but his right hemisphere adapted.

3. Sleep in Infancy

• Newborns sleep ~18 hours/day.

• Sleep is important for brain plasticity and memory consolidation.

• SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome):

  • Higher risk for low birth weight infants, passive smokers, and bed-sharers.

  • Protective factors: Sleeping on the back, using a pacifier, and sleeping in a room with a fan.

4. Nutrition

• Infants need 50 calories per pound per day.

• Breastfeeding Benefits:

  • For baby: Fewer infections, lower SIDS risk, lower obesity and diabetes risk.

  • For mother: Lower breast and ovarian cancer risk, lower type 2 diabetes risk.

• Malnutrition: Can lead to cognitive deficits, attention problems, and long-term developmental issues.

5. Motor Development

Dynamic Systems Theory

• Motor development is not passive—infants actively develop motor skills by exploring.

• Development depends on:

  • Nervous system maturation

  • Body’s physical properties

  • Motivation and environmental support

Reflexes

• Rooting reflex: Infant turns head toward touch on cheek.

• Sucking reflex: Automatic sucking when object placed in mouth.

• Moro reflex: Startle reflex—flinging out arms and legs.

• Grasping reflex: Infant tightly grasps anything in palm.

Gross Motor Skills (Large Muscles)

• 1st Year Milestones:

  • 2-4 months: Lifts head

  • 4-6 months: Rolls over, supports weight on legs

  • 6-8 months: Sits without support

  • 8-10 months: Crawls

  • 10-12 months: Stands and walks with support

• By 2 years: Can walk quickly, run, balance, kick and throw a ball.

Fine Motor Skills (Small Muscles)

• Palmer grasp: Grabbing with the whole hand.

• Pincer grip: Using thumb and forefinger to grab small objects.

6. Sensory & Perceptual Development

Sensation vs. Perception

• Sensation: Receiving stimuli through eyes, ears, skin, tongue, nose.

• Perception: Interpreting what is sensed.

Vision

• At birth: Poor vision, can't see far.

• By 6 months: 20/40 vision.

• Infants prefer faces (especially attractive faces).

Depth Perception

• "Visual Cliff" experiment: Shows that infants can perceive depth.

Other Senses

• Hearing: Babies can hear in the womb.

• Touch & Pain: Newborns can feel pain.

• Smell & Taste: Infants can differentiate odors and prefer sweet tastes.

Intermodal Perception

• Ability to combine multiple senses (e.g., matching a voice to a face).

• Develops around 6 months.

7. Nature vs. Nurture in Perceptual Development

• Nativists: Perception is innate.

• Empiricists: Perception is learned through experience.

• Modern view: Both nature and nurture shape perception.

CHAPTER 5: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

1. Piaget’s Theory of Infant Development

• Cognitive development occurs in stages; infants actively construct their understanding of the world.

Key Concepts in Piaget’s Theory

• Schemes: Mental structures to organize knowledge.

  • Behavioral schemes (physical activities in infancy).

  • Mental schemes (thought-based in later development).

• Assimilation: Using existing schemes to understand new information.

  • Example: A child calls a zebra a "horse" because it fits their horse scheme.

• Accommodation: Adjusting schemes for new information.

  • Example: Learning that zebras and horses are different animals.

• Organization: Combining simple schemes into complex ones.

• Equilibration: Shifting from one cognitive stage to the next due to disequilibrium (cognitive conflict).

2. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth - 2 Years)

Infants learn through sensory experiences and motor actions.

Substages of Sensorimotor Development

1. Simple Reflexes (0-1 month)

   • Reflexive behaviors dominate (e.g., sucking, grasping).

2. First Habits & Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months)

   • Habits: Reflex-based actions occur without stimuli (e.g., sucking thumb for comfort).

   • Primary Circular Reactions: Repeating actions focused on own body.

3. Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months)

   • More object-oriented (e.g., shaking a rattle repeatedly for the sound).

4. Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8-12 months)

   • Intentional actions; using multiple schemes together (e.g., pushing a toy aside to grab another).

5. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months)

   • Experimenting to see results (e.g., dropping objects from different heights).

6. Internalization of Schemes (18-24 months)

   • Mental representation develops.

   • Example: A child can remember how to throw a tantrum they saw another child do earlier.

Key Achievement: Object Permanence

• Definition: Understanding that objects exist even when out of sight.

• Develops between 8-12 months.

• Piaget’s Test: Hiding a toy → Younger infants won’t search for it.

3. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory

• Criticism: Infants develop abilities earlier than Piaget suggested.

• A-not-B Error: Babies look for an object in its old hiding place (A) instead of the new one (B).

• Core Knowledge Approach: Babies are born with domain-specific innate knowledge (e.g., object permanence may be innate).

4. Learning, Attention, Memory, and Conceptualization

Learning

• Operant Conditioning (Skinner):

  • Behaviors followed by rewards are repeated.

  • Example: Kicking moves a mobile → Baby keeps kicking.

Attention

• Habituation: Decreased response after repeated exposure.

  • Example: A baby stops looking at a toy they’ve seen too often.

• Dishabituation: Renewed interest when a stimulus changes.

  • Example: A new toy grabs the baby’s attention.

• Joint Attention (9-12 months):

  • Two people focus on the same object/event.

  • Example: A baby follows an adult’s gaze to a toy.

Memory

• Implicit Memory: Unconscious recall (e.g., riding a bike).

• Explicit Memory: Conscious recall of facts/events (e.g., remembering a trip).

• Infantile Amnesia: No recall of experiences before age 3.

Imitation

• Deferred Imitation: Copying behavior hours/days later.

  • Example: A baby sees another baby clap and does it later.

Concept Formation & Categorization

• Concepts: Grouping objects/events mentally.

• Perceptual Categorization (3-4 months): Based on appearance.

  • Example: Grouping birds vs. airplanes by shape.

• Conceptual Categorization (later): Based on meaning.

  • Example: Grouping cats & dogs as "animals" instead of by shape.

5. Language Development

What is Language?

• Phonology: Sounds of language.

• Morphology: Units of meaning (e.g., "ing").

• Syntax: Sentence structure.

• Semantics: Word meanings.

• Pragmatics: Social use of language.

Stages of Language Development

1. Crying (From birth): Signals distress.

2. Cooing (2-4 months): Vowel sounds ("ooo," "ahh").

3. Babbling (4-6 months): Consonant-vowel sounds ("ba-ba," "da-da").

4. Gestures (7-15 months): Pointing, showing.

5. First Words (~12 months):

   • Receptive vocabulary (understanding) > Spoken vocabulary.

   • Vocabulary spurt (~18 months): Rapid word learning.

6. Two-Word Utterances (~18-24 months):

   • Examples: "More milk," "Mama go".

   • Telegraphic speech: Omitting unnecessary words ("Want cookie").

Common Language Errors

• Overextension: Using one word too broadly (e.g., calling all animals "dog").

• Underextension: Using one word too narrowly (e.g., calling only the family’s dog "dog").

6. Biological & Environmental Influences on Language

Biological Influences

• Broca’s Area (Left frontal lobe): Speech production.

• Wernicke’s Area (Left temporal lobe): Language comprehension.

• Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD):

  • Theoretical brain structure enabling language learning.

Environmental Influences

• Higher parental talking → Faster vocabulary growth.

• Child-Directed Speech (Infant-Directed Speech):

  • High-pitched, exaggerated tone that helps infants learn.

• Techniques to Improve Language Learning:

  • Recasting: Correcting a child’s sentence into a proper one.

  • Expanding: Adding details to a child’s sentence.

  • Labeling: Naming objects the child is interested in.

The Interactionist View

• Language develops through both biology & experience.

Key Takeaways for Your Exam

• Understand Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage & Object Permanence.

• Know the difference between assimilation & accommodation.

• Be familiar with learning concepts (operant conditioning, attention, memory, imitation, categorization).

• Know the stages of language development & key errors (overextension, underextension).

• Understand biological (Broca’s & Wernicke’s areas, LAD) & environmental influences on language.

CHAPTER 6: SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

1. Emotional Development

• Emotions: Feelings that reflect pleasantness/unpleasantness of experiences.

• Importance: Helps with communication & behavioral organization.

Types of Emotions

• Primary emotions (early-emerging, in humans & animals):

  • Joy, anger, sadness, fear, disgust.

• Self-conscious emotions (require self-awareness):

  • Jealousy, empathy, embarrassment.

Emotional Expression in Infancy

• Crying (first form of communication):

  • Basic cry: Rhythmic, brief silence.

  • Anger cry: More forceful.

  • Pain cry: Loud, sudden cry, followed by breath-holding.

• Smiling:

  • Reflexive smile (not due to external stimuli, seen in sleep).

  • Social smile (response to a face, appears ~2 months).

• Fear:

  • Stranger anxiety (peaks at 6-9 months).

  • Separation protest (crying when caregiver leaves).

Emotion Regulation & Coping

• Infants learn to minimize emotional reactions.

• Caregivers help regulate emotions (soothing = trust & attachment).

• Depressed mothers interact less, making regulation harder for infants.

2. Temperament

• Definition: Individual differences in emotional & behavioral responses.

Temperament Classifications

1. Chess & Thomas’ Categories:

   • Easy child: Positive mood, adapts easily.

   • Difficult child: Negative, irregular routines, dislikes change.

   • Slow-to-warm-up child: Low activity, negative, adjusts slowly.

2. Kagan’s Behavioral Inhibition:

   • Inhibited children: Shy, subdued, fearful of new situations.

   • Uninhibited children: Sociable, bold.

3. Rothbart & Bates' Model:

   • Extraversion/Surgency: Active, happy, seeks stimulation.

   • Negative Affectivity: Easily distressed, fearful, sad.

   • Effortful Control: Self-regulation, ability to focus & shift attention.

Biological & Environmental Influences on Temperament

• Genetics influence temperament, but it changes with experience.

• Cultural differences:

  • Chinese parents value inhibited, shy behavior.

  • North American parents encourage bold, independent behavior.

Goodness of Fit

• Match between child’s temperament & environment = better outcomes.

3. Personality Development

Erikson’s Stages

1. Trust vs. Mistrust (0-1 year):

   • If caregivers are responsive & caring, infants develop trust.

   • If neglected, infants develop mistrust.

2. Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (1-2 years):

   • Infants strive for independence.

   • Overly restrictive parents → shame & doubt instead of confidence.

Development of Self

• Self-recognition (mirror test) appears around 18 months.

• By 2 years, most toddlers recognize themselves.

4. Social Orientation & Understanding

• Face-to-face play (2-3 months): Babies respond to facial expressions & voices.

• By 1 year: Understand social intentions & make appropriate responses.

• Social referencing: Infants "read" caregivers’ emotional cues to react properly.

5. Attachment

• Definition: Emotional bond between infant & caregiver.

Theories of Attachment

• Freud: Attachment based on feeding.

• Harlow: Contact comfort is more important than food (monkey experiment).

• Erikson: Trust develops from consistent care.

Bowlby’s Attachment Stages

1. (0-2 months): Babies attach to any human.

2. (2-7 months): Attachment focuses on primary caregiver.

3. (7-24 months): Specific attachments form.

4. (2 years+): Infants become aware of others' emotions & goals.

Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (Attachment Styles)

• Secure Attachment:

  • Infant uses caregiver as a secure base.

  • Upset when parent leaves, happy when they return.

• Insecure-Avoidant:

  • Avoids caregiver, little distress when they leave.

• Insecure-Resistant:

  • Clings to caregiver, resists comfort.

• Insecure-Disorganized:

  • Confused, fearful, mix of avoidance & resistance.

Factors Influencing Attachment

• Sensitive caregivers → Securely attached infants.

• Neglectful/inconsistent caregivers → Insecure attachment.

• Abuse/neglect → Disorganized attachment.

6. Social Contexts of Development

Family

• Family system: Interactions between marital relationship, parenting, and child development.

• Reciprocal socialization: Parents & children influence each other.

• Scaffolding: Parents help infants take turns in interactions.

Mother vs. Father Roles

• Mothers: Focus on child care (feeding, bathing, changing diapers).

• Fathers: More play-focused interactions.

• Fathers can be just as sensitive caregivers as mothers.

7. Child Care & Societal Influences

• Many infants have multiple caregivers.

• Parental leave policies vary by country:

  • Europe: ~16 weeks paid leave.

  • U.S.: 12 weeks unpaid leave.

Effects of Child Care

• High-quality child care: Better cognitive & social skills.

• Low-quality child care: Behavioral & developmental issues.

• Factors affecting quality: Caregiver-to-child ratio, safety, stimulation.

Parenting Strategies for Child Care

1. Monitor child’s development.

2. Choose quality child care.

3. Interact & engage at home to supplement child care.

Key Takeaways for Your Exam

• Know key emotional developments (primary vs. self-conscious emotions, stranger anxiety, social smile, crying types).

• Understand temperament classifications (Easy, Difficult, Slow-to-Warm-Up, Rothbart’s model).

• Recognize Erikson’s stages (Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt).

• Memorize Bowlby’s attachment stages & Ainsworth’s attachment styles.

• Know how caregiving styles influence attachment.

• Understand family roles, reciprocal socialization, & father-mother differences.

• Be familiar with child care quality & effects.