Overall physical growth during infancy
- Average Newborn Size in US**: Weighs around 7.5 pounds, 20 inches long.
- Initial Weight Loss**: Babies lose about 5% of their weight in the first few days but regain
it quickly.
- Rapid Weight Gain**:
- 4 months: Weight doubles.
- 1 year: Weight triples.
- 2 years: Weight quadruples (about 20-40 pounds).
- Height Growth**:
- 1 year: About 30 inches.
- 2 years: About 34 inches.
- Body Proportions**: Babies are born with larger heads; over time, body growth balances it
out. The head initially makes up about 50 percent of our entire length when we are
developing in the womb. At birth, the head makes up about 25 percent of our length, and by
age 25 it comprises about 20 percent our length.
Describe the growth of the brain during infancy
During infancy, the brain undergoes remarkable growth and development. Babies are born
with about 85 billion neurons, but these cells are not yet fully developed. Over the first two
years, neurons begin rapidly forming connections in a process called synaptogenesis,
where each neuron develops thousands of connections. This intense growth phase, known
as “synaptic blooming,” is followed by “synaptic pruning,” where unused connections are
eliminated to make frequently used connections stronger, which helps the brain function
more efficiently. Another key process is myelination, where neurons are coated with
myelin—a fatty layer that speeds up communication between brain cells. This enhances
coordination, movement, and thought processes, laying a foundation for motor control
and cognitive skills. As the brain grows quickly in weight, reaching 55% of its adult size by
90 days, the cortex—the brain’s outer layer responsible for thinking and voluntary
actions—develops significantly. Different areas of the cortex, like the frontal, parietal,
occipital, and temporal lobes, each take on specific roles: from planning and judgment in
the frontal lobe to processing touch, vision, and sound in the others. Brain regions mature
at different rates, with motor areas developing earlier than sensory ones, and the
prefrontal cortex, crucial for self-control and planning, taking the longest to mature,
extending into adulthood. Additionally, the brain undergoes lateralization, where certain
functions become specialized on one side of the brain. The infant brain is also highly
adaptable due to neuroplasticity, meaning it can reorganize and form new connections in
response to experiences or injuries, making this early period critical for learning and
development.
Explain infant sleep
Infant sleep patterns and safety are important aspects of early development. Newborns
typically sleep around 16.5 hours per day, spread out over short periods both day and night
(called polyphasic sleep). As they grow, their sleep needs gradually decrease; by 6 months,
infants sleep about 14 hours, and by age two, they average closer to 10 hours per day.
Additionally, newborns spend around half of their sleep in the Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
phase, which is critical for brain development, but this reduces to 25-30% as they grow
older.
Unfortunately, around 3,500 Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) happen each year in
the U.S. These deaths include:
1. **Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)**, where a healthy infant dies unexpectedly
with no clear cause, often linked to breathing issues in the brainstem.
2. **Unknown Causes**, where the cause of death is unclear due to limited investigation.
3. **Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed**, where infants can suffocate on
bedding or become trapped between surfaces.
Infant reflexes
Newborn babies have natural reflexes that help them survive and start to explore the
world. Here are some key reflexes:
- **Sucking**: Babies will suck on anything that touches their lips, which helps them feed.
- **Rooting**: If you touch a baby's cheek, they turn their head toward that side, helping
them find food.
- **Grasp**: Babies automatically grab anything placed in their hand.
- **Babinski**: When you stroke the bottom of a baby's foot, their toes spread out and curl.
- **Moro**: If a baby hears a loud noise or feels like they’re falling, they’ll spread their arms
and legs out, then pull them back in.
- **Tonic Neck**: When lying down with their head to one side, a baby will extend the arm
and leg on that side and bend the opposite arm and leg (it looks like a "fencer pose").
- **Stepping**: If you hold a baby upright with their feet on a surface, they’ll make small
stepping movements.
Reflexes: Reflexes are involuntary movements in response to stimulation
Motor skills are the abilities that allow us to move our bodies and manipulate objects.
They can be divided into two main types:
- **Fine Motor Skills**:
- Involve small muscles, especially in fingers, toes, and eyes.
- Enable precise actions, like grasping, holding, and writing.
- At birth, infants wave arms but can’t grasp voluntarily.
- By 4 months, they begin reaching for objects, first with both arms, then one.
- Around 9 months, develop **Pincer Grasp** (thumb and forefinger), allowing for better
object control.
- Infants enjoy picking up small objects and placing them in containers.
- **Gross Motor Skills**:
- Focus on large muscles in head, torso, arms, and legs.
- Allow for bigger movements like crawling, walking, balancing, and jumping.
- Develop earlier than fine motor skills.
- Start with lifting the chin or chest when lying on the stomach.
- Babies may explore with their feet before using hands.
- Initial crawling might move them backward due to stronger arm muscles.
Contrast development of the senses in newborns
- **Vision**: Newborns have limited vision and can only see objects 8-10 inches away.
Their vision sharpens over time, with color perception developing fully by 5 months. By 3-4
months, they can track objects smoothly and start developing depth perception around 6
months.
- **Hearing**: Hearing is well-developed at birth, with infants recognizing and preferring
their mother’s voice. They can distinguish similar sounds within the first month and begin
favoring the sounds of their native language by 6-9 months.
- **Touch and Pain**: Newborns are sensitive to touch and temperature, as well as pain,
which can lead to increased heart rate and stress. Touch sensitivity helps infants respond
to physical contact for comfort and bonding.
- **Taste and Smell**: Newborns have distinct taste preferences, favoring sweet flavors.
They also recognize and prefer their mother’s smell, which aids in bonding and finding
comfort.
Describe the Proces of habituation/ How are Infants Tested:
Habituation procedure have increasingly been used to evaluate infants to study the
development of perceptual and memory skills.
Habituation is a process used to study infants’ perception and memory by observing their
responses to repeated stimuli. First, researchers measure an infant’s baseline sucking rate
on a pacifier equipped with sensors. They then introduce a new sound, like “da,” which
usually increases the sucking rate due to the infant's interest in the new stimulus. As the
sound is repeated, the infant becomes familiar with it, and their interest fades, causing the
sucking rate to return to baseline. This decrease, known as habituation, shows the infant is
getting used to the stimulus. If a new sound, such as “ma,” is introduced, the sucking rate
rises again, showing the infant can distinguish between the two sounds. Habituation is
significant because it reflects how infants process and remember information, and quicker
habituation often links to positive cognitive development. Infants who habituate slower
may be at risk for developmental delays, so researchers monitor this process, especially in
high-risk groups, to identify any need for early support.
Compare the Piagetian concepts of schema, assimilation, and
accommodation
Piaget’s concepts of schema, assimilation, and accommodation explain how we build and
adjust our understanding of the world.
A *schema* is a mental framework or category that organizes information and
experiences. It helps us make sense of what we know, like a set of rules for understanding
a concept, object, or event. For example, if a child learns about dogs, they might have a
“dog” schema that includes things like barking, four legs, and fur.
*Assimilation* is when we take new information and fit it into an existing schema. For
example, So if a child sees another animal with four legs and fur, they might also call it a
“dog” because it fits their “dog” schema. This process keeps the child’s understanding
relatively unchanged and simple by grouping similar things together.
*Accommodation*, on the other hand, involves changing or creating new schemas to
better fit new information. For example, if the child learns that the new animal is actually a
horse, not a dog, they’ll create a new “horse” schema instead of just adding it to their
“dog” folder.
According to the Piagetian perspective, infants learn about the world primarily
through their senses and motor abilities (Harris, 2005). These basic motor and sensory
abilities provide the foundation for the cognitive skills that will emerge during the
subsequent stages of cognitive development. The first stage of cognitive development is
referred to as the sensorimotor stage and it occurs through six substages.
Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage of cognitive development consists of six
substages that outline how infants learn and interact with their environment.
The first substage, **Reflexes** (birth to 1 month), involves infants exploring the world
through natural reflexes like sucking and grasping, which serve as the foundation for future
purposeful actions.
In the second substage, **Primary Circular Reactions** (1-4 months), infants begin to
repeat actions involving their own bodies, such as making sounds that they find
interesting.
The third substage, **Secondary Circular Reactions** (4-8 months), marks the transition
where infants start to intentionally engage with objects in their environment, such as
hitting a crib mobile to see it move.
In the fourth substage, **Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions** (8-12
months), infants coordinate actions to achieve specific goals and imitate behaviors they
observe in others, like crawling to retrieve a toy.
The fifth substage, **Tertiary Circular Reactions** (12-18 months), describes infants
experimenting through trial and error, similar to "little scientists," as they explore different
outcomes, such as dropping a toy and watching what happens.
Finally, in the sixth substage, **Beginning of Representational Thought** (18-24
months), infants develop the ability to use symbols and remember actions, enabling them
to solve problems and engage in pretend play, marking the transition to more complex
cognitive processes.
Development of Object Permanence
During the sensorimotor stage, a key milestone is the development of object permanence,
the understanding that objects exist even when out of sight, typically by 8 months. Piaget
demonstrated this by hiding a toy; infants who understood object permanence would
reach for it, while those who did not would seem confused. Once they grasp this concept,
children enjoy games like hide and seek and realize that people will come back after
leaving.
Alongside this, they experience stranger anxiety, a fear of unfamiliar people, which arises
when they can't fit the stranger into their existing knowledge, leading to confusion and fear.
Critique of Piaget
Piaget thought that children learn about objects, like understanding that things still exist
when out of sight, slowly as they grow and gain experiences. But modern researchers
believe he underestimated young kids’ abilities. Studies show that even babies as young as
3 months old understand that solid objects can't pass through each other. This means they
grasp concepts about objects much earlier than Piaget believed, indicating that very young
children have a better understanding of the world than he thought.
Infant memory
Infant memory is usually short and fragile because babies' brains are still developing,
which leads to *infantile amnesia*, where people can’t remember events from their early
years. This might be because parts of the brain needed for memory, like the hippocampus,
aren’t fully mature yet. Babies also lack language skills, making it hard for them to
represent and remember experiences.
However, research by Carolyn Rovee-Collier shows that infants can remember things they
learned, like how to shake a mobile by kicking their legs. For example, three-month-olds
could remember this after a week but often forgot it after two weeks without reminders.
Babies’ memories also depend on the situation; they remember better when things are
similar to their original experience. By six months, babies can remember for longer and
need fewer reminders, and by twelve months, they can keep memories for a month without
needing to practice.
Language
Language is a complex system of communication made possible by our intelligence, using
symbols to convey meaning. Unlike other species, humans have developed a
sophisticated language with various components:
1. **Phoneme**: The smallest sound unit that affects meaning in a language. For example,
the word "bit" has three phonemes. Different languages have different numbers of
phonemes; English has about 45, while Hawaiian has only 5 vowels and 7 consonants.
2. **Morpheme**: The smallest unit of meaning, which can consist of one or more
phonemes. Examples include prefixes like "re-" (meaning "again") and suffixes like "-est"
(meaning "maximum").
3. **Semantics**: The rules for deriving meaning from morphemes. For instance, adding “-
ed” to a verb changes it to past tense.
4. **Syntax**: The rules for constructing sentences. Different languages have different
syntactical structures. In English, the order of words can change the meaning of a
sentence, such as “The man bites the dog” versus “The dog bites the man.”
5. **Pragmatics**: The social aspects of language use, including effective
communication, turn-taking, and appropriate tone. Meaning can also depend on context,
such as nonverbal cues like gestures and facial expressions, which help in understanding
language beyond the words themselves.
Language Developmental Progression
Language development in children follows a consistent progression across cultures,
beginning before birth. Here’s a simplified overview of how children acquire language:
1. **Pre-Birth Recognition**: Babies recognize their mother’s voice and can distinguish
between languages even before birth.
2. **Newborn Communication**: Newborns communicate using body language, cries, and
facial expressions rather than spoken words. Caregivers learn to interpret different cries,
like those for hunger or discomfort.
3. **Intentional Vocalizations**: Babies start cooing almost immediately, producing
sounds that mimic their native language's tones. This helps them practice vocalization.
4. **Babbling Stage**: Around 7 months, infants begin to babble with repeated consonant-
vowel combinations (e.g., "ma-ma"). This practice helps them learn sounds characteristic
of their language.
5. **Gestures**: Before they can speak, children use gestures to communicate. Deaf
babies also babble in sign language, showing the rhythm and pattern of communication.
6. **Understanding Language**: By 10 months, babies can understand more words than
they can say. They start to recognize their name and simple words.
7. **Holophrasic Speech**: At about 12 months, children use their first words, often single
words that convey a complete thought, like "ju" for "juice."
8. **Language Errors**: Early speech includes many simplifications and errors, like
confusing sounds or applying words too broadly (overextension) or too narrowly
(underextension).
9. **First Words and Culture**: The first words vary by culture. English-speaking children
often start with nouns, while children learning verb-heavy languages may begin with verbs.
10. **Two-Word Sentences**: As toddlers, children start combining words into two-word
sentences, like "baby bye-bye," focusing on essential words without grammatical
completeness.
11. **Infant-Directed Speech**: Adults often use a special style of speech when talking to
babies, characterized by exaggerated sounds and a higher pitch. This helps grab the
infant's attention and aids in language learning.
Do new born communicate?
Yes, newborns do communicate, but they don’t use words like adults do. Instead, they
show what they want or feel through their body movements, gestures, cries, and facial
expressions. If someone spends enough time with a baby, they can learn what different
cries mean—like which ones show that the baby is hungry, in pain, or uncomfortable.
Theories of Language Development
Language development theories differ in their emphasis on nature (genetics) and nurture
(environment). Researchers believe that language acquisition is influenced by both. The
main theories include:
1. **Nativism:** Noam Chomsky proposed that humans are born with a Language
Acquisition Device (LAD), a part of the brain that contains universal grammar principles
shared by all languages. Children are thought to be pre-programmed to learn language, as
long as they are exposed to it. However, some researchers argue against the idea of
universal grammar, noting that not all languages share the same features.
2. **Brain Areas for Language:** Language is primarily managed by the left hemisphere of
the brain in most right-handed people. Key areas include Broca’s area (for speech
production) and Wernicke’s area (for understanding language). There is evidence of a
critical period for language learning, generally from infancy to puberty, during which
exposure to language is crucial. Cases like "Wild Child" Victor and Genie illustrate the
challenges faced by children deprived of language during this period.
3. **Learning Theory:** Language development can also occur through learning principles
such as association, reinforcement, and imitation. Children learn the language they hear
and improve their skills through practice and feedback. However, the rapid pace at which
children learn new words and the creative use of language (like saying "swimmed") suggest
that language development is not solely based on imitation.
4. **Social Pragmatics:** This view highlights the social aspects of language. Language is
seen as a tool for communication and connection. Children use gestures and other pre-
linguistic skills to convey their needs and help others, indicating that language
development is also rooted in social interaction.
Temperament is an infant's natural way of behaving, which includes mood, activity
level, and emotional reactions. It's visible from birth and makes each child unique. A
classic study by Chess and Thomas identified three main types of temperament in
children:
1. Easy Child (40%) - Adapts well, calm, positive mood, easy to soothe.
2. Difficult Child (10%) - Struggles with routines, reacts negatively, often cries,
negative mood.
3. Slow-to-Warm-Up Child (15%) - Takes time to adjust, low activity, cautious with
new situations, sometimes negative mood.
Not every child fits these categories perfectly. Recognizing a child’s temperament helps
caregivers to interact better, adjusting their approach to suit each child's needs. For
example, a difficult child may need extra time to release energy, while a slow-to-warm
child benefits from gradual introductions to new situations.
Parenting is **bidirectional**—both parents and children influence each other. A child’s
temperament affects parenting styles: an easy-going baby may make parents feel more
effective, while a fussy baby can lead to frustration and less patience over time. Difficult
temperaments may even strain parents' relationships and work-life balance. While
temperament tends to stay stable as we grow, we learn to manage it. Personality, however,
evolves from a mix of temperament and life experiences, shaping our consistent patterns
of thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Infant Emotion
Infants start with two main emotional response: **attraction** to pleasant things and
**withdrawal** from unpleasant ones. At around 2 months, they begin social smiling, and
by 3-5 months, they laugh. By 6-8 months, emotions like **fear, sadness, and anger**
become more specific. Fear of strangers and separation anxiety appear between 6 and 15
months.
Emotions are divided into:
1. **Basic emotions** (e.g., happiness, sadness, fear).
2. **Self-conscious emotions** (e.g., pride, shame), which develop as self-awareness
grows and vary by culture.
Infants use **social referencing**, reading caregiver facial expressions to decide how to
respond to new situations, like a “visual cliff” experiment showed. **Emotional self-
regulation** develops over time, starting with caregiver help, then progressing as infants
learn to shift attention and communicate their needs for support.
Development of sense of self
Around 15 to 24 months, children start recognizing themselves in the mirror, showing
**self-awareness**—understanding that they are separate from others. In an experiment
by Lewis and Brooks, children with a spot on their nose touched their own nose when
looking in a mirror, indicating self-recognition. With self-awareness, they begin to
experience social emotions like guilt, shame, empathy, and sympathy.
Attachment
Attachment is a strong bond between infants and caregivers, providing them with security
and shaping their future relationships and self-confidence. Three main theories explain
attachment:
1. **Freud's Theory** - Freud thought infants form attachments because their caregiver
(usually the mother) satisfies their need for oral pleasure, like feeding.
2. **Harlow's Research** - Psychologists Harry and Margaret Harlow showed that baby
monkeys preferred a soft, comforting surrogate mother over a wire one that provided food.
This demonstrated that infants need physical closeness and comfort, known as **contact
comfort**, which is essential for attachment.
3. **Bowlby's Theory** - John Bowlby expanded on this, defining attachment as an
emotional bond with a caregiver, giving children a "secure base" to explore from. A healthy
attachment depends on a caregiver who meets the child’s needs and enjoys mutual
interactions. Bowlby also noted that infants' distress at separation is natural and serves an
evolutionary purpose, as staying close to caregivers improves survival chances.
Erikson Trust vs mistrust
Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial development, Trust vs. Mistrust,
focuses on building trust in infancy. In the first 1-1.5 years, infants rely on
caregivers to meet their needs for comfort, contact, and stimulation. When
caregivers consistently fulfill these needs, infants develop a sense of trust,
believing the world is safe and reliable.
However, if caregivers are absent, unprepared, or unable to care properly
(e.g., due to stress or if the child is unwanted), infants may develop mistrust,
impacting their ability to form positive relationships and feel secure in life.
Erikson: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
As toddlers begin to walk and talk, they seek independence, which Erikson calls
**Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt**. Allowing toddlers to explore freely within safe
boundaries helps them build independence, confidence, and self-esteem. However, if
caregivers are overly anxious or restrictive, children may feel ashamed or doubt their
abilities. The advice for parents is to keep toddlers safe but encourage them to learn by
exploring.
Mary Ainsworth's **Strange Situation Technique** is a method for understanding how
infants form attachments with their caregivers. The experiment places a child in an
unfamiliar room filled with toys, where the child experiences a cycle of being left alone,
interacting with a stranger, and then being reunited with the caregiver. This setup, often
stressful for the infant, reveals different attachment behaviors based on how the child
reacts when the caregiver leaves and returns. Ainsworth identified four main attachment
styles from this experiment:
1. **Secure Attachment** (about 65% of children in the U.S.): Children with secure
attachment feel confident to explore their environment when the caregiver is nearby. They
show distress when the caregiver leaves but are easily comforted upon their return. This
style indicates trust in the caregiver and suggests a strong, reliable bond.
2. **Ambivalent (or Resistant) Attachment** (10-15%): Children with ambivalent
attachment tend to be overly clingy, often staying close to the caregiver rather than
exploring. They become extremely distressed when the caregiver leaves and, when the
caregiver returns, show mixed responses—sometimes seeking comfort yet still appearing
anxious or resistant. This attachment style suggests the caregiver’s responses may have
been inconsistent, leading the child to be uncertain about the caregiver’s availability.
3. **Avoidant Attachment** (20%): Children with avoidant attachment seem indifferent to
the caregiver’s presence and often show minimal reaction when the caregiver leaves or
returns. They avoid close interactions and may act as if the caregiver and the stranger are
equally unfamiliar. This response may develop if the child has learned that the caregiver is
emotionally unavailable or unresponsive.
4. **Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment** (5-10%): Children with disorganized
attachment show unpredictable behavior, such as approaching the caregiver and then
suddenly freezing or avoiding them. This style is often linked to confusing or inappropriate
caregiving responses, such as when a caregiver has inconsistent emotional responses or if
the child has experienced abuse or trauma.
### Cultural Influences on Attachment
Different cultures influence attachment styles. For example, German parents encourage
independence, leading to a higher frequency of avoidant attachment. Japanese caregivers
are often closely involved with their children, leading to more ambivalent attachment.
Despite these differences, secure attachment is still the most common type worldwide,
showing that children generally respond positively to consistent care across cultures.
### Importance of Caregiver Consistency and Sensitivity
A secure attachment typically forms when caregivers provide regular, sensitive, and
responsive care. Children feel safe and learn to trust that their caregiver will meet their
needs. However, when caregivers are inconsistent, preoccupied, or emotionally
unavailable—due to stress, personal issues, or lack of resources—children may develop
insecure attachment styles. They become anxious or uncertain about whether their
caregiver will be there for them, which can impact their ability to trust others and manage
emotions in the future.
### Effects of Social Deprivation on Attachment
Children deprived of consistent, nurturing care, such as those in low-quality institutional
settings, can experience severe emotional and attachment issues. This lack of secure
attachment can lead to developmental problems like **Reactive Attachment Disorder
(RAD)**. Children with RAD may struggle with forming stable bonds, have trouble
managing emotions, and may either withdraw from others or show indiscriminate
friendliness, seeking attention from any adult. Children in such environments are at a high
risk of non-organic failure to thrive, where they don’t grow or develop typically without a
known physical cause, often due to neglect or inadequate caregiving.
### Resilience and Attachment
Not all children with challenging circumstances develop attachment issues. Some
children are naturally resilient due to their easygoing temperament or because they receive
support from others, such as extended family or community members. This resilience
helps them adapt even in difficult situations. Studies also show that when caregivers
receive training in responsive caregiving, the likelihood of children developing secure
attachments increases. For example, a study found that babies whose mothers were
trained to be more responsive showed a higher rate of secure attachment than those
whose mothers did not receive such training. This shows that, along with a child’s
personality, the quality and consistency of care play a crucial role in healthy attachment
formation.
