Post on 16-Dec-2015
Janet Belsky’sExperiencing the Lifespan,
2e
Chapter 3:Infancy: Physical and
Cognitive Development
Meredyth Fellows, West Chester University of PA
Postpartum Depression
_______________________ Data from three states indicate that nearly
12% of women reported being moderately depressed after they delivered their baby, and 6% reported being very depressed after delivery. In addition to directly influencing the emotional wellbeing of mothers, postpartum depression (PPD) has been shown to affect marital relationships, mother–infant bonding, and infant behavior
The Expanding Brain:Blossoming and Sculpting
Brain Growth Following Birth Experiences fastest growth during
infancy Cerebral cortex comes “on-line” a few
months after birth Cerebral Cortex: outer folded mantle of
brain; responsible for thinking, reasoning, perceiving, and all conscious processes
In 20 years brain volume quadruples and growth is complete.
The Expanding Brain Recall during fetal period neurons
are formed After birth, _______________ -
proliferation of connections at the synapses Exuberant synaptogenesis and
__________ _________: formation of fatty layer
encasing axons Visual cortex myelinated by 1
year Frontal lobes, age 20 or beyond
Neural Pruning and Plasticity: Interaction of Nature and Nurture
_________: the brain is “plastic” (malleable) during early childhood before pruning is complete Following a brain injury or
insult, plasticity allows other brain regions to compensate
Following childhood the brain is less plastic
Rehabilitation following a brain injury will help to compensate for the injury (e.g following a stroke).
Basic Newborn States: Reflexes
Reflexes: Instinctive, automatic
responses Present at birth;
promote survival _____________________
_______________________________________
Nutrition: Breast Milk Breast Milk: recommended for 1st six months
Protects from diseases Correlational studies show that breast-fed babies:
are more alert during first two weeks experience fewer gastrointestinal problems and
ear infections are more resistant to day care diseases, colds
and flu are advanced in developmental tasks as
toddlers appear to be superior in later measures of
intelligence in elementary school (cautious assumption – next slide!)
Nutrition: Breast Milk Breast Milk Studies: must consider 3rd variable –
Social Class Mothers from higher SES may have more
opportunity to breast feed (lower SES mothers may have to work).
Health - premature babies may not have the opportunity
Health of the mother may deter breast feeding (HIV)
Social support and a culture that supports breast feeding are crucial factors in the choice to breast feed.
Crying: First Communication Signal
Crying: Lifetime peak at about 5 weeks Reflex dominated before the cortex is “on-line”
at 4 months Vital to survival (responsive parenting is a
must!) _________: frantic, continual crying during first 3
months Caused by immature digestive system Another expert’s suggestion: immature
nervous system May contribute to parental stress, but is
temporary!
Intervention: What Quiets a Young Baby?
Pacifier __________
Mirrors womb Kangaroo Care
Hold close to body in baby sling
Infant Massage Helps to calm infants
and contributes to growth in premature babies
Sleeping: Main Newborn State
Newborns, 18 hrs. a day
Note high % of sleep states: drowsy, quiet, and REM sleep
Unlike adult sleep cycle, newborns drop immediately into REM sleep
Newborns wake every 3-4 hours
6 months, may sleep 6 hrs. a night
1 year, 12 hrs. a night and naps during day
Sleep Cycles
Sensory and Motor Development Hearing
In the womb, fetuses can discriminate different tones
Smell Infants prefer smell of breast milk within the
first week Taste:
Infants stop sucking and wrinkle face in response to bitter, sour, salty tastes
Avidly suck on sweet solutions Pain management technique - have infant
suck on sweet substance
Focusing on Faces
Newborns prefer faces to other stimuli, especially mother’s face
Prefer attractive-looking people
Infants mimic facial expressions
Depth Perception: the Visual Cliff Experiment
When 8 month-old babies begin to crawl they perceive differences in depth and fear heights. Notice survival
response! Video Joe Campo
s
Cognitive Development: Piaget
Stage Approach Studied his
children Schemas Assimilation Accommodation Adaptation
Cognition Sensorimotor Stage: birth to 2
Explore world through senses _______________
Repetitive action-oriented schemas (habits)
Primary (body-centered), Secondary (environment), Tertiary (“little scientist”)
Through circular reactions, infant explores and incorporates new information into existing schemas
Sensorimotor Stage Stage 1: reflexes 0-1 month
Proficiency at sucking, grasping Lack ability to deliberately grasp or suck
Stage 2: primary circular reactions 1-4 months Repetition of pleasurable behavior which occurs by chance (involves own
body) Stage 3: secondary circular reactions 4 – 8 months
Repetition of pleasurable behavior which occurs by chance, but involves deliberate manipulation of object in environment
Stage 4: purposeful coordination of secondary schemes 8-12months Combinations of actions (leaning and grasping) (looking, crawling, grasping)
Stage 5: tertiary circular reactions 12 – 18 months Exploration using new or novel actions Formation of trial and error discovery
Stage 6: mental solutions 18 – 24 months Thinking about problems to develop solutions Internalization of trial and error Accompanied by language formation
Tracking Early Thinking: Sensorimotor Stage _____________: repeating an action
observed at an early time Means-end behavior: about 1 yr.,
performing a different action to reach a goal Flushing something down the toilet!
____________: even though a baby sees an object hidden in a 2nd hiding place, he/she goes back to the first hiding place to find it! Classic mistake in Sensorimotor stage Baby approaches 1 year (little-scientist stage)
Object-Permanence: Sensorimotor Stage
Understanding that objects exist even when we can no longer see them.
In the early Sensorimotor stage, an object does not exist unless the infant can see it!
Around 5-6 months, infants begin to look for hidden objects
About 8 months develops object-permanence (“little-scientist stage”)
Peek-a-Boo a favorite game!!
Sequence of Language Development
Prelinguistic Period◦ Crying at birth◦ _______(video) at 2 months◦ _________(video) at 6 months
Spoken Words- Video◦ Appears at about 10 months
Typically only a few words are known By 18 months between 3 to 50 words Two word utterances begin 18 to 24 months
◦ _________(Video) appear at about 2 to 4 years
Language: Basic Principles
_________ language abilities outpace expressive language skills
Infant-directed speech Higher pitched, elongated vowels,
exaggerated tones Attracts baby’s interest (heart rate
deceleration evidence of baby’s interest)