Unit 4.1: The First Two Years of Life (Part 1)

Question 1

When does perception occur?

Answer 1

when the brain processes a sensation and adds stored information

Question 2

Automated Otoacoustic emission (AOAE) test

Answer 2

newborn hearing test
small-soft tipped ear piece placed in baby’s ear and gentle clicking sounds played

Question 3

What could it mean if the AOAE test fails?

Answer 3

Baby was unsettled
There was background noise
baby has fluid or temporary blockage in the ear

Question 4

Does failing the AOAE test always predict permanent hearing loss?

Answer 4

no

Question 5

What can 4-month old infants already do, despite a lack of understanding?

Answer 5

attend to voices
develop expectations of language

Question 6

How well is vision developed at birth?

Answer 6

immaturely (20/600 vision, sees at 20ft what an adult sees at 600ft)

Question 7

Do babies already have binocular vision at birth?

Answer 7

no, eyes are used independently
-> nothing is far away enough in uterus to develop binocular vision

Question 8

How does vision develop in the first 4 months?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

How does visual acuity improve between 6-9 months?

Answer 9

6: 20/60 vision
adult sight (20/20) by 9 months

Question 10

What is depth perception?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

How can depth perception in children be studied?

Answer 11

the visual cliff

Question 12

The visual cliff

Answer 12

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)

Question 13

What is a limitation of the cliff study?

Answer 13

can only be done with babies that already crawl

Question 14

Posterior studies regarding reaching and defensive behaviors can be done with younger children. When does depth perception develop according to these studies?

Answer 14

2 weeks

Question 15

What is the preference technique?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

When is object constancy (alongside the appreciation of shapes, colors and luminosity) present?

Answer 16

at birth

Question 17

Externality effect

Answer 17

tendency of infants to direct attention primarily to the outside of a figure
deminishes after 1 month

Question 18

How does the perception of the human face develop in the first 6 months?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

When do all motor skills develop? How strong are a newborns motor skills compared to their sensory abilities?

Answer 19

fist 2 years
weaker

Question 20

How does motor control develop?

Answer 20

cephalo-caudal
proximo-distal

Question 21

What is voluntary motor control essential for?

Answer 21

interacting effectively with the environment

Question 22

Which coordination is required to execute voluntary movements?

Answer 22

brain areas communicating with skeletal muscles via spinal cord

Question 23

What does the development of motor control depend on?

Answer 23

innate reflexes maturing dependent on stimulation from the environment

Question 24

What does gross motor development involve and which direction (s) does it develop in?

Answer 24

large movements coordinating many parts of the body
cephalo-caudal and proximo-distal

Question 25

How does the motor control of the head change in the first 4 months?

Answer 25

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

Question 26

How is the position called, in which children are lying on their backs?

Answer 26

supine position

Question 27

How does the motor control of the hands develop in the first 15 months?

Answer 27

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

Question 28

How does locomotion develop?

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

What is important to know about children learning to sit upright?

Answer 29

children that don’t first learn to sit supported take longer to sit unsupported

Question 30

What does fine motor development include?

Answer 30

small body movements mainly involving increased control over hands and fingers

Question 31

Which movements related to fine motor movements are present at birth?

Answer 31

palmar grasp reflex (lacks control)
pre-reaching (poorly coordinated swiping)

Question 32

When does accurate visual guidance for reaching and grabbing develop?

Answer 32

between 4-6 months

Question 33

How do children initially grab objects, and how does this change by 9-10 months?

Answer 33

ulnar (palmar) grip: between fingers and palm
pincer grip: coordination of forefinger and thumb

Question 34

What is the main reason for fine motor development occuring?

Answer 34

myelinization (birth-adolescence)

Question 35

Which direction (s) does myelinization occur in?

Answer 35

cephalo-caudal and proximo-distal

Question 36

Piaget’s stages of development follow an invariant developmental sequence. What does that mean?

Answer 36

all children progress through them in same order
stages cant be skipped
-> each stage builds on previous one

Question 37

schema

Answer 37

organized pattern of thought or action constructed to interpret one’s experience

Question 38

How are schemas produced?

Answer 38

motor abilities interacting with the processing of sensory information

Question 39

What kind of transition do children undergo when looking at their way of acting on the environment?

Answer 39

reflexive to reflective

Question 40

What are the most important achievements of sensorimotor intelligence?

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Which are the substages of the sensorimotor period?

Answer 41

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)

Question 42

Phase 1: reflex activity (0-1month)

Answer 42

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

Question 43

Phase 2: primary circular reactions (1-4 months)

Answer 43

infants repeat actions (circular) learned in previous phase
-> directed at own body and with greater control
Frequency of repeating increases
-> more control and coordination

Question 44

Phase 3: Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months)

Answer 44

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

Question 45

Phase 4: Coordination of secondary schemas (8-12 months)

Answer 45

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

Question 46

Phase 5: Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months)

Answer 46

deliberate and systematic variations in behavior
experimentation with schemas
trial-and-error exploratory schemes reflect infant’s active curiosity

Question 47

Phase 6: Mental representations (18-24 months)

Answer 47

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

Question 48

object permanence

Answer 48

idea that objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible

Question 49

How does object permanence develop?

Answer 49

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

Question 50

When does an A not B error occur and what is it????

Answer 50

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)