Infant Cognitive Development PDF

5/5/2024 In reality, infants remember some information. Infants remember...

5/5/2024 In reality, infants remember some information. Infants remember some information because without memory they would be unable to: INFANT: speak COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT recognize others show the enormous advances in cognitive development ► that routinely occur throughout infancy. Topic 6 Yet, it is still not fully clear how accurate are our earliest recollection, and when- and how- we form our earliest memories. 1 2 What shapes brain architecture?  You need to consider the work of Serve & return interactions shape brain developmental researchers who seek to architecture. understand how infants develop their When an infant or young child babbles, knowledge & understanding of the world. gestures, or cries, and an adult responds  Early experiences affect the development appropriately with eye contact, words, or a of brain architecture ~ which provides the hug, neural connections are built and foundation for all future: strengthened in the child’s brain that support learning the development of communication and behavior social skills. health. ► 3 4 Brain Architecture The development of a child’s brain architecture provides the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health.  Youneed to discuss the work of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget Children’s emotional development is built into the architecture of their brains. ► whose theory of developmental stages served as a highly All parents want their child to reach their influential movement for a full cognitive potential (but sometimes significant amount of work efforts to reach this goal take a bizarre on cognitive development. ► path). 5 6 1  5/5/2024  You need to look at the contributions Jean Piaget’s Approach & the limitations of this important to Cognitive Development developmental specialist. 7 8  Piaget suggests that: infants do not acquire knowledge from facts communicated by others infants learn by doing Piaget ~ Cognitive development occurs in an ► knowledge is the product orderly fashion ~ children pass through a of direct motor behavior. series of universal stages in a fixed order. Piaget ~ Quantity of information acquired in each ► state increases Quality of knowledge and understanding ► Learn grows too. 9 10 Piaget ~ Movement from one stage to the next occurs when: Please, watch this movie. a child reaches an appropriate level of physical maturation a child is exposed to relevant types of experiences. Without physical maturation & relevant types of experiences, children are assumed to be incapable of reaching their cognitive Susan Wiley potential. ► Bunny Walk ? 11 12 2  5/5/2024 Piaget believed that infants have mental structures called schemes. Schemes refer to mental patterns, operations, and systems.  Schemes are an organized pattern of sensorimotor functioning that adapt & change with mental development. Schemes refers to mental patterns, operations, and systems. 13 14 Scheme upon encountering the book ► Adult would use a different scheme upon Although at first, schemes are related to encountering the book. physical activity, as children develop, their schemes move to a mental level, reflecting  Adult would: thought. probably be drawn to the letters on the page. seeking to understand the book through the meaning of the printed words ► which is a very different to infants. Schemes refers to mental patterns, operations, and systems. 15 16 Schemes are displayed by the way in which an infant reacts when given a new In newborns, schemes are primarily cloth book. limited to reflexes (sucking & rooting).  Infant will: touch it  Schemes become more sophisticated as mouth it infants become more advanced in their try to tear it motor capabilities. bang it on the floor. # Piaget ~ Schemes is a signal of the # Piaget ~ Each of these actions may potential for more advanced cognitive represent a scheme. development. ► # Those activities are the infant’s way of gaining knowledge & understanding of the book. 17 18 3  5/5/2024 Assimilation The process in which people understand an experience in terms of their current stage of Piaget ~ 2 principles underlie the cognitive development & way of thinking. growth in children's schemes:  Assimilation occurs when a stimulus or Assimilation event is acted on, perceived, understood in Accommodation accordance with existing patterns of thought. An infant who tries to suck on any toy, in the same way, is assimilating the objects to his existing sucking scheme. 19 20 Accommodation A changes in existing ways of thinking that occur in response to meet with new stimuli or events.  When existing ways of behaving, thinking, and understanding become altered to fit or match new experiences, accommodation takes place. A child who meet a flying squirrel at a When a child modifies the way she sucks zoo & calls it a “bird” is assimilating on a toy according to the particular shape the squirrel to his existing scheme of of the toy, she is accommodating her birds. sucking scheme to the special Assimilation characteristic of the toy. 21 22 Accommodation vs. Assimilation A child who sees a flying squirrel & calls it “a bird with a tail” is beginning to accommodate new knowledge, modifying her scheme of “bird”. Accommodation 23 24 4  5/5/2024 The Sensorimotor Period: Piaget ~ the sensorimotor stage is the Early Cognitive Growth primary stage of cognitive development. It can be broken down into 6 substages. Substage 1: Simple Reflexes Jean Piaget’s Approach Substage 2: First Habits & Primary Circular to Cognitive Development Reactions Substage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions Substage 4: Coordination of Secondary Circular Reaction Substage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions Substage 6: Beginning of Thought. ► Sensorimotor Stage 25 26  At same time, some of the reflexes become Simple Reflexes modified as a result of the infant’s (First month of life) experience with the world.  During this period, the various reflexes ► Infant who is being breast-fed & also (that determine the infant’s interactions with receives supplemental bottles, may begin the world) are at the center of its cognitive to make modifications life. ► in how it sucks ~ depending on whether ► The sucking reflex causes the infant to the nipple it is sucking is on a breast or a suck at anything placed on its lips. ► bottle. Cognitive Development: Substage 1 - Simple Reflexes Cognitive Development: Substage 1 - Simple Reflexes 27 28 First Habits & Primary Circular Reactions (1 to 4 months)  Infantsdo not suddenly shift  At this age, infants begin to coordinate what from one stage of cognitive were separate actions into single, integrated development to the next. activities.  Instead, there is a period of transition, in ► An infant might combine: which some behavior reflects one stage, & grasping an object with other behavior reflects the more advanced sucking on it stage. staring at something with ► touching it. ► Cognitive Development: Substage 1 - Simple Reflexes Cognitive Development: Substage 2 - First Habits & Primary Circular Reactions 29 30 5  5/5/2024 Secondary Circular Reactions Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (4 to 8 months) (8 to 12 months)  In this period, infants take major steps in  In this stage, infants begin to use more shifting their cognitive horizons beyond calculated approaches to producing events themselves & begin to act on the outside coordinating several schemes to generate ► world. a single act. ► A child who repeatedly up a rattle in her grip  They achieve object permanence during this & shakes it in different ways to see how the stage. sound changes ► Object permanence is the realization that ► is demonstrating her ability to modify people & objects exist even when they her cognitive about shaking rattles. ► cannot be seen. ► Cognitive Development: Substage 4 - Coordination of Secondary Circular Cognitive Development: Substage 3 - Secondary Circular Reactions Reactions 31 32 ► An infant will push one toy out of the A 5-month-old infant named Mei (who has yet to way to reach another toy that is lying, learn the idea of object permanence), react when partially exposed, under it. ► his father, who has been shaking a rattle ball in front of her, takes the rattle ball & places it under a blanket. To Mei, who has not mastered the concept of Calculated Approaches object permanence, the rattle ball no longer exists, & she will make no effort to look for it. Cognitive Development: Substage 4 - Coordination of Secondary Circular Cognitive Development: Substage 4 - Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions Reactions 33 34 Tertiary Circular Reactions (12 to 18 months) Some months later, when Mei is in substage 4, the  Here, infants develop what Piaget regards as story is quite different. This time, as soon as her the on-purpose variation of actions that bring father places the rattle ball under the blanket, desirable consequences. Mei tries to toss the cover aside, eagerly searching ►Rather than just repeating enjoyable for the rattle ball. activities as in substage 4, infants appear to Mei clearly has learned that the object continues carry out miniature experiments to observe to exist even when it cannot be seen. the consequences. Cognitive Development: Substage 4 - Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions Cognitive Development: Substage 5 -Tertiary Circular Reactions 35 36 6  5/5/2024 Beginning of Thought (18 months to 2 years) ► A child will drop a toy repeatedly,  Major achievement of substage 6 is the varying the position from which capacity for mental representation or he dropped it symbolic thought. ►carefully observing each time  Piaget ~ only at this stage can infants to see where it fell. imagine where objects that they cannot see might be. ► On-purpose Cognitive Development: Substage 5 -Tertiary Circular Reactions Cognitive Development: Substage 6 - Beginning of Thought 37 38 Mental Representation  A mental representation is an internal image of a past event or object.  Children can even plot in their head unseen direction of objects  Piaget ~ by this stage infants can imagine ►so that if a ball rolls under where objects might be that they cannot a piece of furniture, they see. can figure out where it is  Because of children’s new abilities to likely to emerge on the create internal representations of objects, other side. ► their understanding of causality also Imagine becomes more sophisticated. Cognitive Development: Substage 6 - Beginning of Thought Cognitive Development: Substage 6 - Beginning of Thought 39 40 Piaget description of his son Laurent’s What can you do to promote infants’ efforts to open a garden gate. cognitive development? Laurent tries to open a garden gate but cannot push it  Certain things can be done to promote forward (because it is held back by a piece of furniture). cognitive development in infants. He cannot reason either visually or by any sound for the cause that prevents the gate from opening, but after ► The following suggestions (based on having tried to force it, he suddenly seems to findings of developmental researchers) understand… offer a starting point (Schuilman, 1991). He goes around the wall, arrives at the other side of the gate, moves the armchair which holds it firm, & opens it with a winning expression. Cognitive Development: Substage 6 - Beginning of Thought 41 42 7  5/5/2024  Provide infants the opportunity to explore  Be responsive to infants, on both a verbal & the world. a nonverbal level.  Piaget ~ Children learn by doing.  Try to speak with babies ► They need the opportunity to explore (as opposed to at them). & investigate their environment.  Ask questions, listen to their responses  Make sure that the environment & provide further communication. ► contains a variety of toys, books, & other sources of stimulation. 43 44  Keep in mind that you do not have to  Read to your infants. be with an infant 24 hours a day.  Although they may not understand the  Just as infants need time to explore meaning of your words, they will respond their world on their own, parents & to your tone of voice & the intimacy other care-givers need time off from provided by the activity. child-care activities.  Reading together also begins to create a lifelong reading habit. ► 45 46  Do not push infants & do not expect Infants are born ready to learn. too much too soon. They learn through cuddling with a caregiver, listening to language, experimenting with  Your goal should not be to create a sounds, moving their bodies, reaching for genius. objects, tasting foods, & exploring their ►It should be to provide a warm, environments. nurturing environment that will allow Infants’ thinking skills grow as they interact an infant to reach his/her potential. with the world & people around them. The key to healthy brain development is through nurturing & responsive care for a child’s body and mind. Infant: Cognitive Development 47 48 8