Infancy And Childhood
Standards
IIIA-1.2 Examine the nature of change over the lifespan.
IIIA-1.3 Identify the complex cognitive structures found in the early development
of infants and young children. Standard
S
Physical Development
S Brain development
S Most brain cells you will ever had will be at birth
S Frontal lobe works the most the first few years to develop
rational
S Memory, thinking and language the last to develop
S Maturation
S Growth to enable orderly changes in behavior which is
uninfluenced by experience
Motor Development
S The more mature muscles and the nervous system become,
the more complex the skills it can perform
S Sit  Crawl  walk  run
S Child’s progression in learning to walk
S Genes are a large factor
Memory Development
S Memory does not mature till around our 3rd birthday.
S We do not remember memories the same from when we
were 3-4 compared to now
S Toddlers are gaining the sense of self and can store more
memory in their long term storage
S Ex: Try accessing a .DOCX file on Microsoft office 2000.
Cognitive Development
S
Jean Piaget believed that the brain develops and it is not just a smaller adult brain.
S
Brain develops in children in stages.
S
Schemas
S
S
S
Assimilation
S
S
Mental molds to which we pour our experiences
Ex: What features a dog has to make it a dog
Interpret new experiences and attach it to a schema
Accommodation
S
Adapt your schema to incorporate new information
30 Seconds to View.
Now Draw the image.
Try this one.
Piaget’s Stages of Development
Sensorimotor Stage
S From birth to 2 years old
S Looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, grasping
S Out of sight = out of mind
S Object Permanence
S Awareness that objects exist when not seen
S Are aware of of number of heads
Preoperational Stage
S Begins from ages 2-7 (Preschool till 2nd grade)
S Language development but cannot have concrete logic
S Lack the skill of conservation (think science!)
S Egocentrism
S Children cannot empathize with others and take another point
of view
Theory of Mind
S People’s ideas about their own and other’s mental state (feelings,
perceptions and thoughts)
S 3.5-4.5 years of age, children develop false beliefs
S Ex: You have a box of Band-Aids. You asked a child what is in the
box. What do you think he will respond? Knowing the new
information, you ask him what someone else would think, what
do you think he will answer?
S Begin to use words to solve problems and thinking with words.
Concrete Operational Stage
S From 7 to 11 years of age.
S Begin to grasp the concept of conservation
S Begin to grasp mathematical transformation
S 8 + 4 = 12 and 12 - 4 = 8
Formal Operational Stage
S From the age of 12 on
S Abstract thinking begins to happen
S Solve hypothetical problems
S Ex: If John is in school, Mary is in school. John is in
school. Where is Mary?
Which direction does the bus
go?
Exit ticket
Standard: IIIA-1.1 Describe physical, social, and cognitive
changes from the prenatal period throughout the lifespan.
Question: What are the different stages of gestation? What are
some issues that can hinder an infant from growing up?
Provide specific examples.
IIIA-1.3 Identify the complex cognitive structures found in the
early development of infants and young children.
Explain Piaget’s theory of development by explaining in detail
each stage. Provide an example of each stage.