Unit 4.1: The First Two Years of Life (Part 1) Flashcards
When does perception occur?
when the brain processes a sensation and adds stored information
Automated Otoacoustic emission (AOAE) test
newborn hearing test
small-soft tipped ear piece placed in baby’s ear and gentle clicking sounds played
What could it mean if the AOAE test fails?
Baby was unsettled
There was background noise
baby has fluid or temporary blockage in the ear
Does failing the AOAE test always predict permanent hearing loss?
no
What can 4-month old infants already do, despite a lack of understanding?
attend to voices
develop expectations of language
How well is vision developed at birth?
immaturely (20/600 vision, sees at 20ft what an adult sees at 600ft)
Do babies already have binocular vision at birth?
no, eyes are used independently
-> nothing is far away enough in uterus to develop binocular vision
How does vision develop in the first 4 months?
2: stare at faces and smile in response
3: look closely at eyes and mouth, smile more in response to smiling faces than angry ones
2-4: binocular vision develops
How does visual acuity improve between 6-9 months?
6: 20/60 vision
adult sight (20/20) by 9 months
What is depth perception?
ability to judge the distance of objects from one another and from ourselves
-> important to understand the layout of the environment and guide motor activity
How can depth perception in children be studied?
the visual cliff
The visual cliff
Plexiglass-covered table with a “shallow” and a “deep” side
crawling babies crossed the shallow side but avoided the deep side
also used in social referencing studies (infants taking emotional cues from adults to act)
What is a limitation of the cliff study?
can only be done with babies that already crawl
Posterior studies regarding reaching and defensive behaviors can be done with younger children. When does depth perception develop according to these studies?
2 weeks
What is the preference technique?
presentation of two stimuli to infant at the same time
measured how long infant looks at each one
the one that takes up more time is inferred to be preferred
When is object constancy (alongside the appreciation of shapes, colors and luminosity) present?
at birth
Externality effect
tendency of infants to direct attention primarily to the outside of a figure
deminishes after 1 month
How does the perception of the human face develop in the first 6 months?
Newborns: no innate preference for the human face
under 2 months: areas around the face
over 2 months: internal features with preference for eyes
3 months: discrimination of mother’s face
4 months: eyes, nose and mouth
5 months: generalized facial scheme diversifies (infants can distinguish features of different people)
5 - 6 months: recognize facial expressions of emotions
When do all motor skills develop? How strong are a newborns motor skills compared to their sensory abilities?
fist 2 years
weaker
How does motor control develop?
cephalo-caudal
proximo-distal
What is voluntary motor control essential for?
interacting effectively with the environment
Which coordination is required to execute voluntary movements?
brain areas communicating with skeletal muscles via spinal cord
What does the development of motor control depend on?
innate reflexes maturing dependent on stimulation from the environment
What does gross motor development involve and which direction (s) does it develop in?
large movements coordinating many parts of the body
cephalo-caudal and proximo-distal
How does the motor control of the head change in the first 4 months?
birth: head can be moved
1-4 months: babies lift head when prone on stomach (tummy time)
4 months: almost all can sustain head when seated
How is the position called, in which children are lying on their backs?
supine position
How does the motor control of the hands develop in the first 15 months?
birth: palmar grasp reflex
3-4 months: can grab moderate sized objects, problems with small ones
7-11 months: coordination for lifting small objects
15 months: can build tower of blocks
How does locomotion develop?
3 months: can turn around
1-4 months: can sit supported
5 months: can drag themselves
5-9 months: can sit unsupported
5-11 months: can lift themselves to crawl on all fours, pull themselves to standing position
7 months: stand up with support
11-12 months: stand up without help
10-17 months: stand up and walk alone
18-30 months: run, jump, etc.
What is important to know about children learning to sit upright?
children that don’t first learn to sit supported take longer to sit unsupported
What does fine motor development include?
small body movements mainly involving increased control over hands and fingers
Which movements related to fine motor movements are present at birth?
palmar grasp reflex (lacks control)
pre-reaching (poorly coordinated swiping)
When does accurate visual guidance for reaching and grabbing develop?
between 4-6 months
How do children initially grab objects, and how does this change by 9-10 months?
ulnar (palmar) grip: between fingers and palm
pincer grip: coordination of forefinger and thumb
What is the main reason for fine motor development occuring?
myelinization (birth-adolescence)
Which direction (s) does myelinization occur in?
cephalo-caudal and proximo-distal
Piaget’s stages of development follow an invariant developmental sequence. What does that mean?
all children progress through them in same order
stages cant be skipped
-> each stage builds on previous one
schema
organized pattern of thought or action constructed to interpret one’s experience
How are schemas produced?
motor abilities interacting with the processing of sensory information
What kind of transition do children undergo when looking at their way of acting on the environment?
reflexive to reflective
What are the most important achievements of sensorimotor intelligence?
intentionality: child goes beyond level of simple bodily activities, discovered through repetitive execution of reflexes, etc.
permanence of the object: awareness that objects have an entity in themselves -> remain whether seen or not
-> incomplete until acquisition of symbolic function
Which are the substages of the sensorimotor period?
Reflexive schemes (birth-1month)
Primary circular reactions (1-4 months)
Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months)
Coordination of secondary circular reactions (8-12 months)
Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months)
Mental representations (18 months - 2 years)
Phase 1: reflex activity (0-1month)
earliest ability: sucking reflex
towards end: infants raise head and “seek” breast or bottle
behavior limited to exercising innate reflexes
very initial assimilation and accomodation
Phase 2: primary circular reactions (1-4 months)
infants repeat actions (circular) learned in previous phase
-> directed at own body and with greater control
Frequency of repeating increases
-> more control and coordination
Phase 3: Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months)
Quasi-intentional behaviors: discover that acts produce desirable results
-> not fully intentional, as result was discovered by chance
behavior directed at objects
-> differentiation between themselves and objects
Phase 4: Coordination of secondary schemas (8-12 months)
appearance of intentional and goal directed behaviors: combine actions into more complex behaviors
-> first anticipatory behaviors
schemas now coordinated (connection between actions and effects discovered)
ability to separate means from end
Phase 5: Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months)
deliberate and systematic variations in behavior
experimentation with schemas
trial-and-error exploratory schemes reflect infant’s active curiosity
Phase 6: Mental representations (18-24 months)
internalization of schemes to form mental images of how to achieve objects
mental experimentation (of consequences of behavior)
ability to make decisions without tangible examples put in front of them
symbolic/ semiotic function
object permanence
idea that objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible
How does object permanence develop?
in stages
1-4 months: no search for hidden objects
4-8 months: only retrieve partially concealed objects
8-12 months: A-not-B error
12-18: look for objects where they were last seen
18-24 months: understand invisible displacements
When does an A not B error occur and what is it????
8-12 months (potential exam question)
infants believe that their behavior determines where the object is found (look at location where they last found the object, not where they last saw it)
