week 2 Flashcards
areas of rapid growth and development in infancy:
physical perceptual cognitive language social and emotional
what are newborn reflexes
survival reflexes eg. breathing, eye blink, sucking
primitive reflexes eg. babinski reflex, grasping
what happens to newborn reflexes for motor development
they are often unlearned, involuntary responses to stimuli
survival reflexes are adaptive
primitive reflexes are less adaptive and typically disappear in early infancy
what is the babinski reflex
when you touch a baby’s foot their toes fan out instead of curl in
what is the grasping reflex
when you give a baby something eg. finger or pencil they will grip onto it
what is an indicator that there is a disruption to the nervous system for infants motor development
particular reflexes last longer than they should or they reamurge
what does the return of primitive reflexes indicate
central peripheral nervous system disruption
at what age should the babinski reflex disappear
by 12-18 months
if the Babinski reflex disappears within the first year of an infants life what does this indicate
normal neurological development
at what age does the grasping reflex disappear
within the first 3-4 months
what is the grasping reflex replaced by
voluntary grapsing
what does the grasping reflex disappearing within an infant’s first 3-4 months indicate
normal neurological development
what are the 2 trends for motor development in infants
cephalocaudal
proxmodistal
what is cephalocaudal motor development
head to tail
what is proximodistal motor development
near to far
what does cephalocaudal mean
that we tend to see control of the head before the arms or legs
what does proximodistal mean for motor development
we tend to see development in the trunk before the fingers
eg. things that are closer to the centre of the body develop quicker
what motor skills develop first
gross motor skills develop before fine motor skills
what is gross motor skills
movement of large muscles of arms, legs, and torso
example of proximodistal
an infant may be able to wack a toy with their arm but not be able to grab it with their fingers because the arm is closer to the centre of the body than the fingers
what are fine motor skills
movement of small muscles such as fingers and toes
how do we know what babies can see/perceive/know
habituation
preferential looking
evoked potentials
operant conditioning
what is habituation
the process of learning to be bored with a stimulus
eg. after repeated, presentation with the same visual stimuli, the infant becomes bored and looks away
habituation: what happens if the infant is presented a different stimulus and the infant regains interest
the researchers are able to conclude that the infant has discriminated between the two stimuli
when can habituation be used
to test for discrimination of stimuli by all the senses
what is preferential looking
we present the infant with 2 stimuli at the same time and measure the length of time the infant spends looking at each
preferential looking: if the infant prefers one stimuli over the other what does this tell us
they are able to discriminate between the two stimuli
preferential looking: the infant looks at both stimuli equally what does this tell us
the infant cant tell the difference between the two stimuli OR they are equally interested at both items
what is evoked potentials for assessing perception abilities
researchers can assess how an infants brain responds to stimulation by measuring its electrical conductivity
what is operant conditioning for assessing perception abilities
infants can learn to respond to a stimulus if they are reinforced for the response
eg. to suck faster or slower to get more milk
what is measured in evoked potentials
changes in cortical activity and neurons
how is operant conditioning used to assess perception abilities
we train a response to a particular stimulus. Once the response is established we change it slightly and can see if the infant can differentiate between the two
what is a newborns vision like
at birth infants have vision but lack acuity
- can see more clearly about 20-25cm
- objects at 6m as distinct as objects at 180m for adults
- improves steadily during infancy
what are infants visual preference
attracted to patterns that have light-dark transitions or contours
attracted to displays that are dynamic rather than static
what do young infants like to look at
whatever they can see well
what happens at 1 month regarding visual perception
focus on the outer contours of forms such as faces (a persons chin, hairline, top of the head)
what happens at 2 months for visual perception
infants begin to explore the interiors of figures thoroughly eg. facial feature
infants depth perception study
a visual cliff (table that turned clear) to examine depth perception in fants
study conducted by gibson and walk 1960
what did gibson and walk perception study find
infants can perceive the cliff by 2 months and tend to be curious rather than fearful (measured by a decrease in HR which means interested)
when infants reach crawling age (6-7months) they show fear of the visual cliff and will not crawl onto the deep/clear side in spite of coaxing (measured by increase in HR which meant fear)
infant hearing at birth
can hear better than they can see
can localise sounds
can be startled by loud noises
can turn towards sounds soflty
prefer relatively complex auditory stimuli
can discriminate among sounds that differ in loudness, duration, direction, and frequency/pitch
what is sensory experience vital to
determining the organisation of the developing brain
why does the visual system require stimulation early in life
to develop normally
early visual deficits eg. cataracts can affect later visual perception
what does exposure to auditory stimulation ealry in life affect
the architecture of the developing brain and influences auditory perception skills
substages to sensorimotor stage
- reflex activity (birth-1month)
- primary circular reactions (1-4 months)
- secondary circular reactions (4-8months)
- coordination of secondary schemes (8-12 months)
- tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months)
- beginning of thoughts (18-24 months)
what happens in the reflex activity substage of sensorimotor stage
active exercise and refinement of inborn reflexes
eg. accommodate sucking to fit the shapes of different objects
what happens in the primary circular reactions substage of sensorimotor stage
repetition of interesting acts centred on the childs own body
eg. repeatedly suck a thumb, kick legs or blow bubbles
what happens in the secondary circular reactions substage of sensorimotor stage
repetition of interesting acts on objects
eg. repeatedly shake a rattle to make an interesting noise or bat a mobile to make it wiggle
what happens in the coordination of secondary schemes substage of sensorimotor stage
combination of actions to solve simple problems
eg. bat aside a barrier to grasp an object
what substage in the sensorimotor stage is the first evidence of intentionality
- coordination of secondary schemes
what is the tertiary circular reactions substage of sensorimotor stage
experimentation to find new ways to solve problems or produce interesting outcomes
eg. explore bathwater by gently patting it then hitting it vigorously and watching the results
what is the beginning of thoughts substage of sensorimotor stage
first evidence of insight solves problems mentally using symbols to stand for objects and actions visualise how a stick could be used no longer limited to thinking by doing
what is object permenance
the idea something continues to exist even though we cant see it
what is the A not B error in object permanence
the child looks for toy in the spot it usually is, not in the new hiding spot
what age is out of sight out of mind
4-8 months
what age is the A not B error
8-12 months
what age is the A not B error overcome
by 1
what age is object permanence mastered
18 months
at what age do we now know babies can tell some object permanence
3 months
what age does joy and laugher develop
3-4 months
what age does wariness develop
3-4 months
what age does suprise develop
4 months
what age does fear develop
5-8 months
how do infants develop a sense of self
through their perceptions of their bodies and actions
what do babies discover they can do at 2-3 months old regarding sense of self
they can cause things to happen
at what age do infants realse they and other people are separate beings with different perspectives, ones that can be shared
6 months
how do we know babies understand they have a different perspective
joint attention
what is joint attention
when an infant sees something interesting they will check with their caregiver to see if they saw it too
what is the rouge test by Lewis and Brooks-Gunn and what did it discover
they gave babies a mirror to look at themselves. Then they put lipstick on the baby and looked at themselves in the mirror again. They found that babies at 6 months old didnt try to remove the lipstick off themselves but rather tried to wipe it off their reflection. At 18 months old babies could look in the reflection and try to remove it off their face.
what is attachment
a strong and enduring emotional bond that develops between an infant and a caregiver during the infants first years of life
what is attachment characterised by
characterised by reciprocal affection and a shared desire to maintain physical and emotional closeness
key figures in attachment theory
john bowlby
mary ainsworth
