Myers PSYCHOLOGY Seventh Edition in Modules Infancy and Childhood James A. McCubbin, Ph.D. Clemson University Worth Publishers

Brain Development In the womb: develop a quarter million nerve cells per minute (the developing brain overproduces brain neurons) The day you are born: you have the most brain cells you will ever have From 3-6: brain’s neural network forming rapidly in the frontal lobes which allows rational thinking

Infancy and Childhood: Physical Development Maturation biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior relatively uninfluenced by experience At birth 3 months 15 months Cortical Neurons

Infancy and Childhood: Physical Development We seldom have memories before our 3rd birthday due to The lack of neural connections when we are younger We organize our thoughts differently from 4 years old and on

Infancy and Childhood: Physical Development Babies only 3 months old can learn that kicking moves a mobile--and can retain that learning for a month (Rovee- Collier, 1989, 1997).

Motor Development A few exceptions, but motor development chiefly universal. In the U.S., 25% of babies walk by 11 months, 50% walk within a week of their first birthday, and 90% walk by 15 months Identical twins usually begin walking and talking on about the same day, which shows that genes play a major role in motor development.

Cognitive Development “Who knows the thoughts of a child?” Jean Piaget – became intrigued by children’s wrong answers Piaget saw intelligence at work – strikingly similar wrong answers made by children of the same age. Until Piaget, most people thought children “simply knew less, not differently, than adults.” (Their solutions to problems are illogical to adults.)

Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget Thought that the driving force behind the intellectual progression in children was the never ending struggle to make sense out of our experiences. Children are “active thinkers.”

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Typical Age Range Description of Stage Developmental Phenomena Birth to nearly 2 years Sensorimotor Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing) Object permanence Stranger anxiety About 2 to 6 years About 7 to 11 years About 12 through adulthood Preoperational Representing things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning Pretend play Egocentrism Language development Concrete operational Thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations Conservation Mathematical transformations Formal operational Abstract reasoning Abstract logic Potential for moral reasoning

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Schema a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information Assimilation interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas

Cognitive Development Schema or schemes is the maturing building concepts ranging from cats and dogs to our concept of love. Assimilation in children is when they categorize a dog into the four legged category, they then associate all four legged animals as dogs. Accommodate to fix the old schemas to fit into our new experiences

The Devil’s Tuning Fork (pg. 139) We have no schema for this impossible object (no category for it).

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Accommodation adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information Cognition all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

- A child may learn about a cow and make a schema for it. -If they see a moose and call it a cow, then that is assimilation. -If the child accommodates, they adapt their current knowledge of a cow to incorporate new information.

Note: All the following sides with just pictures serve to demonstrate Schema, Accommodation, and Assimilation For example: This is a car, but could also be categorized as a “sedan” or “four door” or “Ford” depending on how many categories you have – based on your experiences

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Object Permanence (Sensorimotor) the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived Occurs in infants older than 6 months http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKZ9IPRKkkU &feature=related

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Baby Mathematics (Sensorimotor) Shown a numerically impossible outcome, infants stare longer (they are not responding to a change in number but a greater or smaller mass of objects) (Wynn, 1992)

1. Objects placed in case. 2. Screen comes up. 3. Object is removed. 4. Impossible outcome: Screen drops, revealing two objects. 4. Possible outcome: one object.

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Conservation (Preoperational) the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B65EJ6gMmA4&feature=related

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Egocentrism (Preoperational) the inability of the preoperational child to take another’s point of view “Do you have a brother” “Yes” “What’s his name?” “Jim” “Does Jim have a brother?” “No” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgCL3GnmIfY&feature=related The child cannot see the situation from another’s point of view.

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Theory of Mind (Preoperational) people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict Autism(Preoperational) a disorder that appears in childhood Marked by deficient communication, social interaction and understanding of others’ states of mind

Is Autism Increasing? During the 1990’s, the number of children being treated for autism increased significantly. People with autism have trouble inferring others thoughts, feelings, etc.

Theory of Mind

Formal and Concrete Stages Concrete operational stage In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events. Formal operational stage In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Social Development Stranger Anxiety Attachment fear of strangers that infants commonly display beginning by about 8 months of age Attachment an emotional tie with another person shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and displaying distress on separation

Stranger Anxiety

CHILD ATTACHMENT

Social Development Harlow’s Surrogate Mother Experiments Monkeys preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing wire mother

Social Development Monkeys raised by artificial mothers were terror-stricken when placed in strange situations without their surrogate mothers.

Pictures Showing Harlow’s Experiment

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Baby Holding Program The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Baby Holding Program operates under the premise that nurturing is critical to infant survival. In conjunction with the NICU nursing staff and the Child Life Team, volunteers go through a formal full day training session to prepare for their assignment. Classes are held once a year. Upon completion of the course, the volunteer has received sufficient training to hold and nurture babies in the NICU, under the supervision of a nurse. This service is used, in the absence of a parent, to hold a baby, and provide warmth and comfort. The program has been well-received since its inception in 1997. http://www.humed.com/volunteers/what.shtml

Social Development- Familiarity Critical Period an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development Imprinting the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

Konrad Lorenz “What would ducklings do if he [Lorenz] was the first moving create they observed?” Everywhere he went, the ducks would follow. Once formed, the attachment was difficult to reverse. Children do not imprint, but instead they become attached to what they know (familiarity).

Social Development 20 40 60 80 100 3.5 5.5 7.5 9.5 11.5 13.5 29 Percentage of infants who cried when their mothers left Age in months Day care Home Groups of infants left by their mothers in a unfamiliar room (from Kagan, 1976).

Social Development-Responsive Parenting Secure attachment 60% of infants Happily explore new environment Distressed when mom leaves, and seek contact when she returns Insecure attachment Less likely to explore surroundings May cling to mothers Either cry and upset when mom leaves or are indifferent about her leaving and returning

Mary Ainsworth Securely attached babies had moms that noticed what their babies were doing and responded appropriately Insecurely attached babies had mothers that ignored them at times and attended to their babies when they felt like it

Social Development Basic Trust (Erik Erikson) Self-Concept a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers Self-Concept a sense of one’s identity and personal worth

Deprivation/Disruption of Attachment Adoption- if children placed in a more positive environment, most infants recover Children between 6 and 16 months initially have trouble eating, sleeping, etc. When these children were again studied at age 10, there were very little visible effects remaining

Erik Erikson With his wife, attributed basic trust to early parenting Infants blessed with sensitive, loving caregivers, form a lifelong attitude of trust rather than fear. Secure attachment Trusting attachment Insecure attachment Anxious or avoidance attachment

Deprivation/Disruption of Attachment One study of 1100 kids in 10 cities, found that kids who had earlier spent the most time in daycare were advanced in thinking and language skills but had an increased rate of aggression and defiance

Social Development: Child-Rearing Practices Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect obedience “Don’t interrupt.” “Why? Because I said so.” Permissive submit to children’s desires, make few demands, use little punishment Authoritative/Democratic both demanding and responsive set rules, but explain reasons and encourage open discussion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qn6mWQiD- w&p=46259BE484D582E7&playnext=1&index=18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W3SrIrysLQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwlbEABpcz0

This is permissive parenting because the mom bird keeps punishing her baby bird but he is still misbehaving due to little punishment This is authoritative parenting because they are explaining to each other the rules of the house and reasons why the child got punished This is Authoritarian parenting by making his child go to his room; being demanding and the child is being obedient

Social Development: Child-Rearing Practices Uninvolved http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o9yVngy0VA&feature=related The parents needs and desires come before the child’s. The parents are unresponsive as well as undemanding of their child (which makes it hard to encourage them to do good, sometimes this type of parenting ends up in neglect of the child).

Social Development: Child-Rearing Practices