Lecture 3 - Human Development-Part II-AGB-2023.pptx

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Part II 1 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE EARLY YEARS 2 The Neonate O A newborn child is called a Neonate O A neonate is a baby who is 4 weeks old or younger. O Most of the behaviors of the neonate are reflexive: simple, unlearned, involuntary reactions to stimuli. 3 THE MOTOR DEVE...

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Part II 1 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE EARLY YEARS 2 The Neonate O A newborn child is called a Neonate O A neonate is a baby who is 4 weeks old or younger. O Most of the behaviors of the neonate are reflexive: simple, unlearned, involuntary reactions to stimuli. 3 THE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT O Motor Behaviour: O bodily motion that occurs as a result of self-initiated force that moves the bones and muscles O Motor development is the progressive change in movement throughout the life cycle. O Motor development becomes more sophisticated as the child gets older and they become steadier and more flexible in their movements Which better explains motor development, nature or nurture? 4 Nature or Nurture? O Cross-cultural research has shown that early moving opportunities and a stimulating environment contribute to motor development. O Different child-rearing practices may change a baby’s moving opportunities and environment and therefore affect motor development. O Motor patterns could also be seen as being innately programmed and become activated at specific times. 5 Motor Development 6 Motor Development: STAGE 1: INFANTHOOD - 0-2 YEARS O The first stage is marked by extremely rapid growth and development, as is the second stage. O By the age of 2 years old, this development has begun to level out somewhat. 7 Motor Development: STAGE 2- EARLY CHILDHOOD- 2-6 YEARS O This is characterized as the period of the most rapid development of motor behaviors Skills that appear are: O Basic locomotor O Ball-handling O Fine eye-hand coordination O Walking leads to running, jumping, hopping, galloping, and skipping O Climbing evolves from creeping. 8 Motor Development: STAGE 3- LATER CHILDHOOD- 6-12 YEARS The final stage does not have any marked new developments, rather it is characterized by the mastering and development of the skills achieved in the first two stages. The following characteristics are evident: By 9 years eye-hand coordination has developed to being very good Growth is relatively slow This stage is terminated by the onset of puberty Motor skills are perfected and stabilized 9 SENSORY AND PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT 10 SENSORY DEVELOPMENT O Vision takes longer to develop than other senses O When the newborn first opens his eyes, his/her visual focus is relatively fixed at about 9 inches from the cornea, which is approximately the distance between him and his mother’s face during nursing. O Eye muscles are weak; hence eye coordination is poor. 11 SENSORY DEVELOPMENT O Hearing: begins prior to birth and is mature at birth. The infant prefers frequencies of the human voice. Neonates can hear nearly as well as adults. O A neonate can discriminate the sound of their mother’s voice as early as 3-days old. O Touch, taste, and smell are mature at birth; prefers sweet taste. O Can distinguish the smell of their mothers from the smell of an unfamiliar woman. 12 PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT Perception: the higher-order process of integrating, recognizing, and interpreting complex patterns of sensations Perceptual development is an active process: the infant actively participates in acquiring and interpreting perceptual information. Maximum perceptual development takes place between the ages of three and a half and seven years of age. Infants learn through perceptual experience: perception leads to new knowledge, which in turn influences future perception 13 DEPTH PERCEPTION O Depth perception seems to develop by 6 – 8 months at the same time that the infant begins to crawl. O To determine the existence of depth perception in children a device called a visual cliff was developed by two Cornell University psychologists in the late 1950s. Are humans born to be afraid of heights? 14 Visual Cliff 15