Development in Infancy

Question 1

Development in Infancy

Answer 1

• Infancy – begins at birth ends around the second birthday
• When compared to the other parts of the lifespan infancy is characterised by more (rapid) growth and more discontinuity
• The developmental changes in infancy are the most predictable of the lifespan, both in timing and nature

Question 2

Touch

Answer 2

Reflexes are present prenatally and responsive to touch, so the newborn’s acute touch and pain sensitivities are no surprise

Question 3

Smell

Answer 3

Newborns olfactory (smell) sensitivity is highly acute. They can distinguish the smell of their own mother’s milk from that of other nursing mothers

Question 4

Taste

Answer 4

Foetuses have a keen sense of taste and swallow more amniotic fluid if it is sweetened; after birth, a preference for sweet flavours remains

Question 5

Hearing

Answer 5

Foetuses have acute hearing. At birth there is temporary decline owing to fluid in the inner ear, but this is usually clears in a few days. One-month-olds can distinguish fine sound contrasts such as ‘bah’ versus ‘pah’

Question 6

Vision

Answer 6

The newborn’s visual organs and muscles are immature, precluding gaze control and focus. Visual acuity reaches the adult (20/20) level at age 6 months

Question 7

Survival: Breathing Reflex

Answer 7

Repetitive inhalation and expiration
Permanent, although become partly voluntary
Provides oxygen and expels carbon dioxide

Question 8

Survival: Rooting Reflex

Answer 8

Turning of cheek in direction of touch
Weakens and disappears by 6 months
Orients child to breast or bottle

Question 9

Survival: Sucking Reflex

Answer 9

Strong sucking motions with throat, mouth, and tongue
Gradually comes under voluntary control
Allows child to drink

Question 10

Survival Swallowing Reflex

Answer 10

Swallowing motions in throat
Permanent, although become partly voluntary
Allows child to take in food and avoid choking

Question 11

Primitive: Micro Reflex

Answer 11

• In response to loud noises, child throws arms outward, arches back, then brings arms together as if to hold something
• Arm movements and arching disappear by 6 months but startle reaction persists for life
• Indicates normal development of nervous system

Question 12

Primitive: Grasping Reflex

Answer 12

• Curling fingers around any small object put into palm
• Disappears by 3 months; voluntary grasping appears by about 6 months
• Indicates normal development of nervous system

Question 13

Primitive: Stepping Reflex

Answer 13

• If held upright, infant lifts leg as if to step
• Disappears by 8 weeks, but later if practiced
• Indicates normal development of nervous system

Question 14

Motor Development in Infancy: Motor Skills

Answer 14

Motor skills – voluntary movements of the body or parts of the body

Question 15

Motor skills: Gross motor skills

Answer 15

o Gross motor skills – movement of large muscles of arms, legs and torso

Question 16

Motor skills: Fine motor skills

Answer 16

o Fine motor skills – movement of small muscles such as fingers, toes

Question 17

Motor development follows 2 trends

1) Cephalocaudal

Answer 17

o	Cephalocaudal (head to tail)
REMEMBER THIS

Question 18

Motor development follows 2 trends

2) Proximodistal

Answer 18

o Proximodistal (near to far)

Question 19

Fun fact

Answer 19

Aboriginal babies reach milestones much quicker than anglo saxon babies

Question 20

Cognitive Development in Infancy

Answer 20

• Broader definition of thinking (or cognition)
  o No language
  o Non-verbal signs of thinking (e.g. redirecting gaze, change in heart rate)
• Cognitive development is continuous process, that starts in infancy, not something that emerges suddenly later in life
  o Visual thinking
  o Object perception
  o Anticipation of visual events
  o Depth perception (& social referencing): visual cliff experiment

Question 21

Assessment of Piaget’s theory

Answer 21

• New research indicates that infants display cognitive understandings at a much earlier age than Piaget suggested
  o May confuse lack of motor skills with cognitive limitations
  o Memory limitations impact on performance
• These findings do not contradict the order of development as suggested by Piaget
• New research suggests more continuity than change in cognitive development

Question 22

Psychosocial Development in Infancy

Answer 22

• Babies are born with a large repertoire of social-perceptual skills (e.g. detecting animacy, gaze following, social referencing, understanding others’ intentions and goals)
• They adapt their behaviour according to social cues given by trusted others: visual cliff experiment
• They are extremely reactive to social interaction and their behaviours are shaped by social feedback they receive: still face experiment
• They soon realise they and other people are separate beings with different perspectives, ones that can be shared: shopping card experiment

Question 23

Attachment

Answer 23

• Harlow’s monkey experiments
• Strong and enduring emotional bond that develops between an infant and a caregiver during the infant’s first years of life
• Characterised by reciprocal affection and a shared desire to maintain physical and emotional closeness
• Basis for forming internal working models

Question 24

Bowlby: Pre-attachment

Answer 24

0 to 2 months

Generalised sociability; indiscriminate social responsiveness

Question 25

Bowlby: Attachment in the making

Answer 25

3 to 7 months

Maturation of readiness for attachment through visual face recognition, person permanence, stranger weariness etc.

Question 26

Bowlby: Clear-cut attachment

Answer 26

8 to 24 months

Differential proximity seeking, separation protest, clinging to attachment target(s) more than to other people

Question 27

Bowlby: Goal-directed partnership

Answer 27

2 years onwards

Relationships are mutual: child is sensitive to parent’s needs

Question 28

Three Patterns of Attachment

Answer 28

o Secure attachment (65-70%)
o Anxious-resistant (10%) -
o Anxious-avoidant (20%) –

Question 29

Additional category of attachment

Answer 29

o Disorganised-disoriented attachment: indicates the greatest degree of insecurity
• The children do not have a strategy to deal with problems