1. Stage
Span
Infancy
Newborn to toddler
Childhood
Toddler to teenager

2. 46.1 – Describe some developmental changes in brain and motor abilities during infancy and childhood.
Maturation: the growth of an organism that occurs on its own based on a predetermined timetable and without the aid of the environment.

3. 46.1 – Describe some developmental changes in brain and motor abilities during infancy and childhood.
Brain Development
-from infancy on, brain and mind – neural hardware and cognitive software develop together.
-on the day that you were born, you had the most brain cells you would ever have.
-after birth, the branching neural networks eventually enabled you to walk, talk, and remember had a growth spurt.
-from 3 to 6, the most rapid growth was in your frontal lobes, which enable rational planning.
-the association areas – those linked with thinking, memory, and language – are the last cortical areas to develop.
-a use-it-or-lose-it pruning process shuts down unused links and strengthens others.

4. 46.1 – Describe some developmental changes in brain and motor abilities during infancy and childhood.

5. 46.1 – Describe some developmental changes in brain and motor abilities during infancy and childhood.
Motor Development – experience has little effect on this sequence – muscular and neural maturation is necessary
Cephalocaudal Development
The head develops before the arms & trunk
The arms & trunk develop before the legs
Proximodistal Development
The head, trunk and arms develop before the hands & fingers
***Applies to both prenatal development AND development during the first two years

6. 46.1 – Describe some developmental changes in brain and motor abilities during infancy and childhood.
Motor Milestones
Raising head & chest (2-4 months)
Rolling over (2-5 months)
Sitting up with support (4-6 months)
Sitting up without support (6-7 months)
Crawling (7-8 months)
Walking (8-18 months)

7. 46.2 – Describe how an infant’s developing brain begins processing memories.
Brain Maturity and Memory
The earliest age of conscious memory is around 3 years (infantile amnesia). A 5-year old has a sense of self and an increased long-term memory.