CHAPTER 7

Cognitive Development in Infancy

PIAGET’S THEORY OF INFANT DEVELOPMENT

The Stage of Sensorimotor Development – birth to tow years – progression of infant to organize and coordinate sensations with physical

movements and actions.

Sub-stages – Characterized by different schemes (i.e, sucking, rooting, blinking).

Germinal period – creation of the zygote – one week after conception – 100/150 cells.

Embryonic period – support systems for cells – 2/8 weeks after conception.

Fetal period – begins at two months, lasts for seven – period of organ growth.

Object Permanence – The infant comprehends that objects continue to exist even when not directly seen, heard, or touched. Research on object permanence

reveals a wide range of comprehension by the infant to

objects in motion.

Evaluating Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage – Extended research on his theories has appreciably

increased information regarding them.

Perceptual development – Perceptual abilities are highly developed early in infancy with coordination of two sensory modalities – seeing and hearing.Cognitive development – Infants have more sophisticated perceptual abilities than Piaget envisioned (i.e., recognizing familiar toys and seeking them).

LEARNING AND

REMEMBERING

Conditioning – classical and operant conditioning – Resulting from research by Pavlov and Skinner that have far-

reaching effects on nurturing.

Habituation and Dishabituation – The infant loses interest in an action

repeatedly presented and regains interest when a novel aspect is added.

Imitation – Some researchers believe that infants in the first days of life are capable of

imitation, while others believe these are merely automated responses to stimuli.

Memory – Researchers disagree about whether infants can actually recall information

or are merely responding to implicit researchers agree the explicit memory occurs

in the second half of the first year.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN INTELLIGENCEKnowing whether the infant is progressing at a “normal” rate

of development is important but difficult. Gesell’s developmental quotient consists of four categories of

behavior; motor, language, adaptive, and personal-social.

The Bayley Scales of Infant Development assess infant development along three scales: mental, motor, and behavioral.The Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence assesses the infant’s ability to process information such as encoding the attributes of objects.Overall, infant habituation and dishabituation are important in determining later child intelligence, in that infants in their first six months who show greater amounts of attention in the dishabituation situation reflect more efficient information processing.

EARLY ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON INFANT

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Nutrition – Although good nutrition provides optimum physical growth, it can also influence

cognition. Studies of malnourished children find lower scores on the Bayley test. Other studies on children given protein supplement indicate higher

cognitive development.

Poverty – Children born into poverty are more susceptible to conditions that will negatively affect

cognitive growth. Intervention programs that educate parents on enriching practices and

improving quality of life have important positive effects on cognitive growth.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Languages have common characteristics throughout the world; they have generativity, ability to produce meaningful sentences, and

organizational rules.

How Language Develops – Babies begin linguistic acquisition through crying, cooing, babbling, and gestures.

Recognizing language sounds – As language is composed of phonems, in which certain sound sequences occur.First words – Usually those related to people and things in the baby’s immediate environment. Once the first word is spoken, a naming explosion leads to a rapid increase in vocabulary. The first word usually occurs at 13 months.Two-word utterances – 18 to 24 months – rely heavily on gesture, tone, and context. Toddlers rely on telegraphic speech, in which short word utterances convey large meaning.Language production/comprehension – There is a difference between words that are used and those that are understood by the child. Their comprehensive words exceed their productive vocabulary.

Biological Influences – Conditions under which children

throughout the world begin to talk indicates a biological influence. In cultures where adults do not speak to their infants, the infants still

begin speaking at approximately the same age as those whose parents speak to them.

Biological evolution – Language acquisition by humans is estimated at 100,000 years old. Physically adapted to speak, language gives humans an advantage over other animals.

Brain’s role in language – The speech center of the brain is considered to be the left frontal lobe, known as Broca’s area, and Wernicke’s area in the left hemisphere is believed to be where comprehension occurs. Studies on brain-injured patients have revealed a great deal of information on the brain’s involvement in speech.

Biological pre-wiring – Famed linguist Noam Chomsky believes humans are equipped with a language acquisition device that aids the child to sequence and process phonology, syntax, and semantics. The uniformity of language acquisition across cultures supports this finding.

Behavioral and Environmental Influences – Behaviorists believe that language is a responsive action to stimuli in the environment; however, critics argue that the orderliness of

language defies this explanation.

Children who are not exposed to rich verbal environments still acquire the grammatical orderliness of language, but do not develop a sophisticated level of vocabulary and articulation.Maternal influence is a key factor in language acquisition.Infant-directed speech is a manner in which parents speak to their infants that has a higher pitch with simple words and phrases.Techniques such as echoing, expanding, and labeling are natural devices parents use to encourage speech in their children.