Intellectual Development of the Infant 9 Intellectual Development of the Infant 2

Key Terms intellectual development stimuli binocular vision perception perceptual learning object identity object permanence depth perception vocabulary coo babble cognition sensorimotor stage imitating concept object constancy object concept monotone inflections reduplication babbling passive vocabulary active vocabulary continued

Key Terms object identity object permanence depth perception vocabulary coo babble monotone inflections reduplication babbling passive vocabulary active vocabulary 4

Objective Describe how and what infants learn.

How Infants Learn Intellectual development is how people learn, what they learn, and how they express what they know through language also called mental and cognitive development Stimuli are changes in the environment that affect sensory organs causing a person to react

Brain Development Supports Learning Motor center wiring begins at about two months development is a multi-year process learning of voluntary gross-motor movements begins wiring for fine-motor movements begins at two or three months continued

Brain Development Supports Learning Vision center very active in early infancy see objects at many distances very clearly by two or three months binocular vision is the goal approximately three months window of opportunity is brief activity in vision center peaks at eight months continued

Brain Development Supports Learning Binocular vision is necessary for recognizing how far away an object is continued

Brain Development Supports Learning Thinking and memory centers infants make sense of what is happening and then attempt to make something happen themselves continued

Brain Development Supports Learning research suggests activity begins at six months wiring continues for about 10 years need a rich environment for optimal development

What Do You Think? Brain development research has provided information suggesting a rich environment is needed to stimulate thinking and memory centers of babies’ brains. What are some examples of a rich environment for babies?

Perception Perception involves organizing information that comes through the senses how things are alike and different in size, color, shape, texture speed of organization reaction to different sensory experiences Perceptual learning is the process of developing mental images continued

Perception Changes in preferences

Cognition Cognition is the act or process of knowing or understanding Piecing together perceptions Theoretical foundation Jean Piaget Lev Vygotsky

Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Infants explore with their senses and motor actions Sensorimotor stage begins at birth, most children complete it in two years work through four substages in first year substages 1 and 2 involve baby’s own body substages 3 and 4 involve people and objects Basis for future mental development continued

Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Substage 1 (birth to 1 month) Practicing Reflexes Substage 2 (1 to 4 months) Primary Circular Reactions Substage 3 (4 to 8 months) Secondary Circular Reactions Substage 4 (8 to 12 months) Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions continued

Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Substage 1 find stimulation through inborn reflexes practices reflexes making them strong and more efficient Substage 2 uses voluntary actions from reflexes adapt basic actions continued

Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Substage 3 notice responses to actions practice action/response sequences begin imitating actions of others continued

Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage Substage 4 begin to have goals example: want to hear a rattle make noise problem-solve by combining two or more actions example: pick up rattle, shake it use tools to attain goals example: use handle of rattle, pull closer

Vygotsky’s Basic Theory Child’s culture and his or her social environment determine how a child will think Children learn by imitating and/or working on projects with an adult or more accomplished peer scaffolding continued

Vygotsky’s Basic Theory Adults should follow lead of children continued

Vygotsky’s Basic Theory Adults must work in a child’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) shows respect for what the child is learning and for child’s interests following the child’s lead Adults must find the child’s ZPD children can be challenged, without feeling overwhelmed finding the match

What Would You Do? If you were advising a child care provider on infant development, how would you suggest scaffolding a nine-month-old child’s learning? Give two specific examples.

What Infants Learn A concept is an idea formed by combining what is known about a person, object, place, quality, or event continued

What Infants Learn Concepts change from simple to complex concrete to abstract incorrect to correct Concepts are different for each person During the first year, infants form many concepts continued 26

Perceptual Concepts Object constancy is knowing that objects remain the same even if they appear different begins during the first year not fully developed until the second or third year continued

Perceptual Concepts Object concept is the understanding that the world of objects, people, and events are separate from one’s interactions with them continued

Perceptual Concepts Object concept has two parts object identity is knowing that an object stays the same from one time to the next object permanence is knowing that people, objects, and places still exist even when they are no longer seen, felt, or heard begins to develop as early as a month or two of age continued

Perceptual Concepts Depth perception is the ability to tell how far away something is Requires the development of binocular vision Needed for safety purposes Rather well developed by seven to nine months of age

Objective Explain how infants express what they know through language.

Language: Brain Development Research Language is closely related to mental development Brain development research shows language wiring begins at birth, if not before first wiring has to do with sounds of language, which are needed to understand speech and to speak continued

Language: Brain Development Research Sequence of brain development continued

Language: Brain Development Research Vocabulary consists of the words a person understands and uses infants speaking vocabularies lag behind what they understand Relationship between language and social and emotional growth language used to express feelings or emotions before language is developed, infants express feelings physically

Objective Identify the order in which infants learn.

How Babies Communicate Crying and cooing Babbling First words

Crying and Cooing Newborns do not have control over the sounds they make During first month, babies communicate by crying Between the sixth and eighth week, most babies begin to coo coo more when others talk to, smile at, and touch them

Babbling Babies babble by making a series of vowel sounds with consonant sounds slowly added to form syllables continued

Babbling Important pretalking skill Practice all sounds of the world’s languages around one year, babies make only the sounds needed to speak languages they hear Babies babbling is not monotone (at a single pitch), but with inflections express happiness, requests, commands, questions

First Words Babies can begin to talk within the last three months of the first year Same sounds must be used each time to refer to a specific person, object, place, or event to be classified as a word continued

First Words Before talking, babies must understand object permanence understand that people, objects, places, and events have names remember words that go with people, objects, places, and events have the ability to make sounds realize that talking is important continued

First Words First words often come from babbling Reduplication babbling is the repetition of the same syllable over and over

Passive Versus Active Vocabulary Passive vocabulary includes the words that people understand, but cannot say or write Active vocabulary includes the words used in talking or writing Babies’ passive vocabulary far exceeds their active vocabulary

Baby Signing Baby Signs is a formal sign language for hearing babies 100 plus gestures come from American Sign Language (or ASL, the sign language for people who are deaf) some baby-friendly modifications of ASL gestures Parents should begin signing when the baby is six or seven months old babies begin signing about two months later

Did You Know? ASL is a complete language. You communicate using hand shapes, direction and motion of the hands, and facial expressions. ASL has its own grammar, word order, and sentence structure. You can share feelings, jokes, and complete ideas using ASL.

Glossary of Key Terms active vocabulary. Words a person uses in talking or writing. babble. Making a series of vowel sounds with consonant sounds slowly added to form syllables. binocular vision. Type of vision that involves fusing an image so it appears as one image using both eyes. cognition. Act or process of knowing or understanding.

Glossary of Key Terms concept. Idea formed by combining what is known about a person, object, place, quality, or event. coo. Light, happy sound babies begin to use to communicate between six and eight weeks after birth. depth perception. Ability to tell how far away something is. imitating. Copying the actions of someone else. inflections. Changes of pitch.

Glossary of Key Terms intellectual development. How people learn, what they learn, and how they express what they know through language. monotone. Sounds all in a single pitch. object concept. Ability to understand that an object, person, or event is separate from one’s interaction with it.

Glossary of Key Terms object constancy. Ability to understand that objects remain the same even if they appear different. object identity. Ability to understand that an object stays the same from one time to the next. object permanence. Ability to understand that people, objects, and places still exist even when they are no longer seen, felt, or heard.

Glossary of Key Terms passive vocabulary. Words a person understands, but does not say or write. perception. Organizing information that comes through the senses. perceptual learning. Term used to describe the process of developing mental images. reduplication babbling. Repeating the same syllable over and over again.

Glossary of Key Terms sensorimotor stage. First of Piaget’s stages of cognitive (intellectual) development in which children use their senses and motor skills to learn and communicate with others. stimuli. Changes in the environment, such as sound or light, that affect the sensory organs causing the person to react. vocabulary. Words a person understands and uses.