2. Intellectual Development of the Infant9
Intellectual Development of the Infant 2

3. 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

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

5. Objective
Describe how and what infants learn.

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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

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

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

12. 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?

13. 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

14. Perception
Changes in preferences

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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

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

20. 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

21. 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

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

23. 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

24. 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.

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

26. 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

27. 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

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

29. 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

30. 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

31. Objective
Explain how infants express what they know through language.

32. 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

33. Language: Brain Development Research
Sequence of brain development
continued

34. 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

35. Objective
Identify the order in which infants learn.

36. How Babies Communicate
Crying and cooing
Babbling
First words

37. 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

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

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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

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

43. 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

44. 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

45. 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.

46. 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.

47. 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.

48. 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.

49. 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.

50. 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.

51. 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.