CHAPTER 3 THE FIRST TWO YEARS BIOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 3 THE FIRST TWO YEARS: BIOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

BODY CHANGES �Body Size �Birth weight doubled by 4 th month �Birth weight tripled by 1 st birthday

BODY SIZE � Weight increase in the early months is fat �Provides insulation for warmth and nourishment � Nourishment keeps the brain growing �If teething or illness interfere with eating � When nutrition is temporarily inadequate, the body stops growing but not the brain �this is known as a phenomenon called Head Sparing �Brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition

SLEEP �New Babies Sleep about 17 Hours or More a Day �Sleep Patterns Affected By �Birth Order �First born typically receive more attention �Newborn Diet �Parents might respond to predawn cries with food, and/or play (babies learn to wake up night after night) �Child-Rearing Practices �Where should infants sleep? ” �Co-sleeping or bed-sharing

“Who Sleeps Where? ”

THE HUMAN SPARK: BRAIN MATTERS �http: //video. pbs. org/video/1390247671/ �The Secret Life of the Brain

BRAIN DEVELOPMENT �Newborn’s Skull is Disproportionately Large �Large Enough to Hold the Brain �At Birth, the Brain is 25% of the Adult Brain �By Age 2, the Brain is Almost 75% of the Adult Brain

BRAIN CONNECTIONS �Head Circumference �Provides a rough idea of how brain is growing �Medical checkups include skull measurement �Head typically increases about 35% with the 1 st year

THE NEURON

BRAIN DEVELOPMENT �At Birth - 100 Billion Neurons �Newborn Has Far Fewer Dendrites and Synapses than will eventually have �Proliferation / Transient Exuberance �The dramatic increase in neural connections that occurs in an infant’s brain over the first 2 years �Pruning �Transient exuberance is followed by pruning �Unused neurons and misconnected dendrites atrophy and die �Synapses, dendrites, and even neurons continue to form and die throughout life, though more rapidly in infancy than at any other time

- Two Experience-Related Aspects of Brain Development �Experience shapes the infant brain – how? ? �Experience-Expectant Brain Functions �Basic, common experiences must happen for normal brain maturation to occur, and they almost always do happen �The brain is designed to expect them and use them for growth �Brain functions that require certain basic common experiences �Examples? �Experience-Dependent Brain Functions �Brain functions that depend on particular, variable experiences �Dependent experiences might happen. Because of them, one brain differs from another �Examples? �Implications for caregivers?

BASIC BRAIN STRUCTURES �Necessary and Possible Experiences �Cortex �The last part of the brain to develop �The area for anticipation, planning, and impulse control �Virtually inactive in early infancy o telling an infant to stop crying is pointless o shaking a baby to stop crying, “shaken baby syndrome, ” is useless �Gradually becomes more efficient over the years of childhood and adolescence

A VIEW FROM SCIENCE �The effect of Social Deprivation on Brain Growth �Rat Studies �Enriched Environment �Impoverished Environment �Differences in Brains �Differences in Problem-Solving Ability �Older Rats?

A VIEW FROM SCIENCE �The Effect of Social Deprivation on Brain Growth �Romanian Orphans � 1980 s Dictator outlawed all birth control and abortion unless parents had 5 or more children �Many children placed in overcrowded state-run orphanages �Children experienced severe neglect and restriction of human interaction �Emotional Damage �Failure to Thrive �Delay in Physical and Cognitive Growth �Those who fared best were adopted before 6 months of age

MOVING AND PERCEIVING �Reflexes �Breathing Reflex �Sucking �Rooting �Babinski Reflex �Palmar Grasping Reflex �LEARNING? ?

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION �Sensation �The response of a sensory system when it detects a stimulus �Perception �The mental processing of sensory information when the brain interprets a sensation

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION �Vision �Hearing �Touch �Taste �Smell

SENSES

SURVIVING IN GOOD HEALTH � 10 billion children were born between 1950 – 2007 �About 3 billion died before age 5 �Deaths could be twice this if not for �Public Health Measures o. Advances in Childcare and Preventive Care o. Reduced Infant and Other Mortality Rates

SURVIVING IN GOOD HEALTH �Public Health Measures �Immunization �Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) �A seemingly healthy baby suddenly dies in his/her sleep �Education about SIDS has reduced the incidence �Prevention �Sleep on back �No smoking �Pacifier use �Fan in baby’s room �Avoid deep sleep �Breastfeeding

�What are the benefits of breast feeding?

ADEQUATE NUTRITION-THE BENEFITS OF BREASTFEEDING � The Miracle Food! � Prevents almost every infant illness and allergy � Contains more iron, vitamins C and A than cow’s or goat’s milk � Correct ratio of fat to protein, changes with need � Easy to digest � Good for brain development � Stronger jaws, fewer cavities � Advanced breathing reflexes (Less SIDS) � Later puberty, less prone to teenage pregnancy � Less likely to become obese � Benefits for the Mother � Easier bonding � Reduced risk of breast cancer � No formula to prepare, always sterile

ADEQUATE NUTRITION-THE BENEFITS OF BREASTFEEDING �Doctors world wide �Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 4 to 6 months �Thereafter for a year or more �American Academy of Pediatrics �Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months �Thereafter for as long as desired by mother and child

INFANT COGNITION � Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development -Sensorimotor Stage �Active Learners, Adapt to Experience �Adaptation is the Essence of Intelligence �Adaptation �Schema – A mental representation �Assimilation – New experiences is incorporated into old concepts and perceptions � Bottles, toys, blankets are put into the baby’s mouth and sucked �Accommodation – Changing one’s perceptions and assumptions to adjust to new experiences � Suck bottle when hungry and pacifiers when in need of comfort �Circular Reaction � Feedback Loop �Milestones �Object Permanence – 8 months �Deferred Imitation – 18 - 24 months

INFORMATION-PROCESSING THEORY | Output

INFORMATION-PROCESSING MODEL �Modeled after computer functioning, including input, memory, programs, calculation, and output �How might infants show they have memory of something (output)?

LONG-TERM MEMORY �Mobile Experiment with 3 -Month Old Infants �Taught to Make a Mobile Move by Kicking Their legs �Results One Week Later? �Two Weeks Later? �Reminder Session Needed

LONG-TERM MEMORY � Memory Is Not Just One Thing �Brain-imaging techniques reveal many distinct brain regions devoted to particular aspects of memory �Implicit Memory o Memory for routines and memories that remain hidden until particular stimulus bring them to mind o Examples? �Explicit Memory o Memory that can be recalled on demand o Provide an example of a test that would measure explicit memory?

LANGUAGE LEARNING �The Universal Sequence �Around the world children follow the same sequence of early language development

LANGUAGE LEARNING

LANGUAGE LEARNING �First Words? �First Two-Word Sentence? �Telegraphic Speech

EARLY COMMUNICATION �Listening and Responding �Newborns prefer speech over other sounds �Newborns prefer to listen to higherpitched, simplified adult speech �Child-Directed Speech / Motherese / Baby Talk �The high-pitched, simplified, and repetitive way adults speak to infants

HYPOTHESES ABOUT LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT �Theories of Language Learning �There are 3 theories of how infants learn language: �They are taught (view of B. F. Skinner) �They teach themselves (view of Noam Chomsky) �Social impulses foster learning

HYPOTHESIS 1: INFANTS NEED TO BE TAUGHT �Behaviorism/Learning Theory – Infants Learn Language �Classical Conditioning �Learning Associations �Operant Conditioning �Positive Reinforcement �Social Learning/Observational Learning/Modeling �Baby imitates caregiver �Caregiver responds � How will caregiver respond? �Caregiver response acts as ___?

HYPOTHESIS 2: INFANTS TEACH THEMSELVES �Language Learning Is Innate �Noam Chomsky �Language Acquisition Device (LAD) �Hypothesized mental structure that enables humans to learn language, including the basic aspects of grammar, vocabulary, and intonation

HYPOTHESIS 3: SOCIAL IMPULSES FOSTER LANGUAGE LEARNING �Social-Pragmatic Theory – Social Need for Communication �Infants communicate in every way they can because humans are social beings, dependent on one another for survival, wellbeing, and joy

Do babies need to hear or experience language in order to learn language?

FACILITATING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION �Babies need to hear language, so you can assist in their language development by talking and singing to them �How else can we facilitate language acquisition in a baby?

FACILITATING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION �Read to Infant �Talk to Infant �Play Games with Infant (e. g. , patty cake) �Sing to Infant �Describe What Baby is Looking at