Unit 4 Flashcards
Describe physical and motor skills development
Infants body rhythms such as waking, eating, sleeping, and eliminating waste—govern the infant’s behaviour and it takes some time for the infant to integrate these behaviours before the parents can get a decent night sleep
Describe cognitive development
Cognitive growth, improvements come from both hardware upgrades (brain maturation) and the use of more efficient programs that lead to increased speed and sophistication in the processing of information called Memory Capabilities such as Encoding (initial recording of information), Storage (information saved for future use), Retrieval ( recovery of stored information). The Duration of memory is a process of memory preservation and recall seems similar throughout one’s lifespan but for infants just how long; research shows that infantile amnesia—the lack of memory for experiences that occurred prior to three years of age. The Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory are two systems called explicit memory and implicit memory: explicit memory is memory that is conscious and that can be recalled intentionally; in comparison, implicit memory consists of memories of which we are not consciously aware, but that affect performance and behaviour such as motor skills, habits, and activities. However, explicit memory emerges in the second half of the first year in the cortex area of the brain and involves the hippocampus region that is the gateway of storing memory.
What are the key elements to Piaget’s theory?
Key elements of Piaget’s theory on cognitive development:
- Simple reflexes—first month of life.
- First habits and primary circular reactions—from 1 to 4 months.
- Secondary circular reactions—from 4 to 8 months.
- Coordination of secondary circular reactions—from 8 to 12 months.
- Tertiary circular reactions—from 12 to 18 months.
- Beginnings of thought—from 18 months to 2 years.
Describe social and personality development, including theories around attachment.
Social and personality development:
• Ainsworth Strange Situation: a sequence of staged episodes that illustrate the strength of attachment between a child and (typically) his or her mother.
• Secure attachment pattern: a style of attachment in which children use the mother as a kind of home base and are at ease when she is present; when she leaves, they become upset and go to her as soon as she returns.
• Avoidant attachment pattern: a style of attachment in which children do not seek proximity to the mother; after the mother has left, they seem to avoid her when she returns as if they are angered by her behaviour.
• Ambivalent attachment pattern: a style of attachment in which children display a combination of positive and negative reactions to their mothers; they show great distress when the mother leaves, but upon her return they may simultaneously seek close contact but also hit and kick her.
• Disorganized-disoriented attachment pattern: a style of attachment in which children show inconsistent, often contradictory behaviour, such as approaching the mother when she returns but not looking at her; they may be the least securely attached children of all.
In order to feel secure, an infant needs to know that his caregivers will provide an appropriate response to the signals he or she is sending (P. 131)
Irritable infants can be fussy and are difficult to soothe when they do begin to cry
Categorization of normal development, including cultural differences and environmental influences
Mothers of secure infants tend to provide the appropriate level of response. In fact, overly responsive mothers are just as likely to have insecurely attached children as under-responsive mothers. In contrast, mother’s whose communication involves interactional synchrony, which means, when a caregiver respond to infants appropriately and both caregiver and child match emotional states, are more likely to produce secure attachment.
• Fathers or secondary caregivers spend time with infants, often in play activities, and the father’s expressions of nurturance, warmth, affection, support, and concern are extremely important to their children’s emotional and social well-being.
• Cultural differences The Aboriginal peoples valued the sacredness of new life and the community collectively nurtured the infant through the stages of life through ceremony and holistic well-being which formed a positive identity of self-awareness. However, woman have the most significant roles in terms of maintaining this life force (temperament and personality).
What are western approaches and their categorizations of human growth and development.
First, the sensory reflexes are responses that occur automatically in the in the presence of certain stimuli. These behavioural patterns help protect them in their new surroundings. Secondly, the initial efforts (norms) start early as three months by rolling over, at the same period grasping a rattle; at around 5 months, sitting without support; at 7 months, standing while holding on to something for support; at around 8 months, grasping with thumb and finger; at around 11 months, standing alone at around 12 months and walking well; etc….
Describe the process of physical development in infancy and the developmental tasks that infants accomplish in this period
There are four principles of growth: first, the cephalocaudal principle the principle that growth follows a pattern that begins with the head and upper body parts and then proceed s down to the rest of the body. Second, the proximodistal principle the principle that development proceeds from the centre of the body outward. Third, principle of hierarchical integration the principle that simple skills typically develop separately and independently but are later integrated into more complex skills. Finally, principle of the independence of systems the principle that different body grow at different rates.
Describe the process of cognitive development in infancy, including Piaget’s sensorimotor stage and critiques of Piaget’s theory, as well as theories around intelligence and language acquisition.
First, the sensory reflexes are responses that occur automatically in the in the presence of certain stimuli. These behavioural patterns help protect them in their new surroundings. Secondly, the initial efforts (norms) start early as three months by rolling over, at the same period grasping a rattle; at around 5 months, sitting without support; at 7 months, standing while holding on to something for support; at around 8 months, grasping with thumb and finger; at around 11 months, standing alone at around 12 months and walking well; etc….
Piaget’s, shortcomings are underestimating the capabilities of younger infants and his claims that sensorimotor skills develop in a consistent fixed pattern such as his six sub-stages. Therefore, some researchers argue that Piaget’s claim that children’s transitions between stages are gradual; on the other hand, critics contend that that development proceeds in a much more continuous fashion. Paget’s theory that cognitive development is grounded in motor activities. In contrast, to his critic’s opinion that he overlooked the importance of the sensory and perceptual systems that are present from a very early age in infancy which new research has recently confirmed. Also, Piaget’s work suggests that younger infants did not appear to understand object permanence (people and objects exist even when they cannot be seen) in children. Piaget`s opponents argue that he knew little, of growth during infancy since so much of the research illustrates how sophisticated they are even in infancy. In addition, Piaget’s work also seems to describe children from developed Western countries better than those in non-Western cultures. For instance, some evidence suggests that some cognitive skills emerge on a slightly different timetable for children in non-Western cultures.
Learning Theory Approach, is language attainment follows the basic laws of reinforcement and conditioning, suggests that children learn to speak by being rewarded for making sounds that approximate speech. Through the process of shaping, language becomes more and more similar to adult speech. On the other hand, this does not seem to adequately explain how children acquire the rules of language as readily as they do. Even though a child might say, “why the dog won’t eat” which is incorrect, but one can understand and responded to incorrect language use. Leaning theory is hard to explain how children learn to speak properly. Furthermore, Chomsky’s nativist approach is from recent findings identifying a specific gene related to speech production. Further support comes from research showing that language processing in infants involves brain structures similar to those in adult speech processing, suggesting an evolutionary basis to language. On the other hand, the view that language is an inborn ability unique to humans also has its critics. For instance, some researchers argue that certain primates are able to learn at least the basics of language, an ability that calls into question the uniqueness of the human linguistic capacity.
