PSY 213 1nd Edition Lecture 11 Outline of previous lecture I The birth process II The transition from fetus to newborn III Low birth weight and preterm infants IV Bonding V The postpartum period Outline of Current Lecture I Physical growth and development in infancy II Motor development III Sensory and perceptual development IV Cognitive development V Language development Current Lecture I Physical growth and development in infancy a The average American newborn is 20 inches long and weighs 7 pounds b Most of the newborns are 18 to 22 inches long and weigh between 5 and 10 pounds Grow about 1 inch per month during the first year c By 2 years of age infants weigh approximately 26 to 32 pounds Average 32 to 35 inches in height d The brain Contains tens of billions of nerve cells at birth Brain has two halves left and right hemisphere i Lateralization Specialization of function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other ii Shaken baby syndrome Brain swelling and hemorrhaging e Environmental stimulation very important Children in deprived environment may have depressed brain activity f Brain demonstrates both flexibility and resilience g Typical newborn sleeps 16 to 17 hours a day h REM sleep Rapid eye movement sleep Infants spend about half of their sleep time in REM sleep Often begin sleep cycle with REM sleep rather than non REM sleep These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute i Sudden infant death syndrome SIDS Occurs when an infant stops breathing usually at night during the first year of life Suddenly dies without an apparent cause Occurs mostly in infants with abnormal brain stem functioning involving serotonin i More likely to occur In low birth weight infants In African American and Eskimo infants In infants passively exposed to cigarette smoke When infants sleep in a bedroom with a fan j Breast feeding is better than bottle feeding k Benefits of breast feeding Outcomes for the child i Appropriate weight gain ii Lowered risk of childhood obesity iii Fewer gastrointestinal infections iv Fewer lower respiratory tract infections l Benefits of breast feeding Outcomes for the mother i Lower incidence of breast cancer ii Reduction in ovarian cancer m Failure to Thrive nothing wrong with baby physically but baby still does not gain weight or grow II Motor development a Infants assemble motor skills for perceiving and acting Perception and action are coupled together b Motor skill is developed by i Development of the nervous system ii Body s physical properties and its possibilities for movement iii Goal the child is motivated to reach iv Environmental support for the skill c Reflexes built in reactions to stimuli Govern the newborn s movements Genetically carried survival mechanisms that are automatic and involuntary d Rooting reflex Occurs when the infant s cheek is stroked or the side of the mouth is touched EX Turns his or her head in an effort to find something to suck e Sucking reflex Occurs when newborns automatically suck an object placed in their mouth Enables newborns to get nourishment before they have associated a nipple with food f Moro reflex Occurs in reaction to a sudden intense noise or movement Believed to be a way of grabbing for support while falling g Grasping reflex Occurs when something touches the infant s palms Responds by grasping tightly h Gross motor skills involve large muscle activities such as moving one s arms and walking i Newborn infants cannot voluntarily control their posture Locomotion and postural control are closely linked especially in walking upright j Development in the second year Toddlers become more mobile are motor skills are honed k By 13 18 months toddlers can pull a toy or climb stairs l By 18 24 months toddlers can walk quickly balance on their feet walk backward and stand and kick a ball III IV m Fine motor skills involve more finely tuned movements EX Grasping a toy using a spoon buttoning a shirt or anything that requires finger dexterity n Infants need to exercise their fine motor skills EX Pincer grip Sensory and perceptual development a Sensation Occurs when information interacts with sensory receptors eyes ears tongue nostrils and skin b Perception Interpretation of what is sensed c Ecological view i Directly perceives information that exists in the world around us d Studying the infant s perception i Visual preference method Studying whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another by measuring the length of time they attend to different stimuli e Habituation Name given to decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations of the stimulus f Dishabituation Recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation g Newborn s vision is least developed of the senses at birth h Intermodal perception Involves integrating information from two or more sensory modalities Vision and hearing Most perception is intermodal Cognitive development a Piaget s theory on the processes of development i Schemes Actions or mental representations that organize knowledge An organizational process Behavioral scheme mental scheme ii Assimilation Using existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences iii Accommodation Adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences Noticing differences and making a new category iv Sensorimotor stage Lasts from birth to about age 2 V v Object permanence Understanding that objects and events continue to exist when they cannot directly be seen heard or touched b Evaluating Piaget i A not B error Tendency of infants to reach where an object was located earlier rather than where the object was last hidden Older infants are less likely to make the A not B error because their concept of object permanence is more complete ii Core knowledge approach States that infants are born with domainspecific innate knowledge systems c Operant conditioning If an infant s behavior is followed by a rewarding stimulus the behavior is likely to recur d Attention Focusing of mental resources on select information Habituation and dishabituation closely linked e Joint attention Requires ability to track another s behavior one person s directing another s attention f Memory involves retention of information over time i Implicit memory Without conscious recollection ii Explicit memory Conscious remembering of facts and experiences iii Childhood amnesia Most adults can