psych 5 infancy

From ages 3 to 6, the most rapid growth was in your frontal lobes, which enable rational planning

—those linked with thinking, memory, and language—are the last cortical areas to develop

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience. (p. 140)

25 percent of all babies walk by age 11 months, 50 percent within a week after their first birthday, and 90 percent by age 15 months

early memory as 3.5-4 years

the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. (pp. 142, 291)

• A half–century spent with children convinced Piaget that a child’s mind is not a miniature model of an adult’s
• children reason differently, in “wildly illogical ways about problems whose solutions are self-evident to adults”
• child’s mind develops through a series of stages, in an upward march from the newborn’s simple reflexes to the adult’s abstract reasoning power

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information. (p. 143)

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas. (p. 143)

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information. (p. 143)

in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities. (p. 144)

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived. (p. 144)

in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language butdoes not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic. (p.

the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects. (p.144)

in Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view. (p. 145)

people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict. (p. 145)

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events. (p. 146)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind. (p. 146)

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts. (p. 148

The sequence, but not the timing, is universal.

egocentric

concrete operational stage.

Piaget’s “stages” begin earlier and development is more continuous than he realized

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age. (p. 149

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation. (p. 149)

The infants much preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing mother

an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development. (p. 150)

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life. (p. 150)

In their mother’s presence they play comfortably, happily exploring their new environment. When she leaves, they are distressed; when she returns, they seek contact with her.

They are less likely to explore their surroundings; they may even cling to their mother

mothers who attended totheir babies when they felt like doing so but ignored them at other times—had infants who often became insecurely attached

according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers. (p. 152)

Such findings help explain why young children terrorized through physical abuse or wartime atrocities (being beaten, witnessing torture, and living in constant fear) may suffer other lasting wounds—often nightmares, depression, and an adolescence troubled by substance abuse, binge eating, or aggression

• Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect obedience: “Don’t interrupt.” “Keep your room clean.” “Don’t stay out late or you’ll be grounded.” “Why? Because I said so.”
• Permissive parents submit to their children’s desires. They make few demands and use little punishment.
• Authoritative parents are both demanding and responsive. They exert control by setting rules and enforcing them, but they also explain the reasons for rules. And, especially with older children, they encourage open discussion and allow some exceptions to rules.

From the very first weeks of life, infants differ in their characteristic emotional reactions, with some infants being intense and anxious, while others are easygoing and relaxed. These differences are usually explained as differences in