Intellectual Development During the First Year Chapter 10 Intellectual Development During the First Year

Learning in the First Year Five senses are the building blocks of learning Baby’s brain is fed by experiences Perception – babies’ ability to learn from the senses

Four Signs of Intellectual Development Remembering – information from senses can be interpreted in light of past experiences (2 or three month old stops crying when someone enters the room because they remember that this means they will be picked up) Making Associations – baby connects one thing to another (As above adult entering means comfort is next)

Four Signs continued: Understanding cause and effect. The idea that one action results in another action or condition (If baby closes eyes it gets dark; sucking causes milk to flow if baby stops so does the milk. By 7 to 8 months they have a better understanding of this concept: pulling toy, dropping bowl on floor over and over reassures her this will happen every time; instead of getting frustrated parents need to remember they are simply learning about their world and repeated actions strengthen connections between nerve cells in the brain.)

Cause and Effect

Four Signs continued: Paying attention – baby’s attention span (length of time one can concentrate on a task without getting bored) increases. Bright babies have short attention span and lose interest sooner than average or below average babies this is the opposite beyond infancy, where children with above average intelligence have longer attention spans)

Piaget Swiss psychologist found intellectual development followed a pattern. Children learn to master one thinking skill before they can master another Children who don’t get chance to apply their developing skills may never reach full potential Learning stages appear in same order in all children but age at which it develops may vary

Four Major Periods Sensorimotor Period – Birth to about 2 Primarily learn through senses and their actions Object permanence – about 10 months realize objects continue to exist even when out of sight

Six Stages of Sensorimotor Period Stage 1 - birth to one – practice inborn reflexes; does not understand self as separate person Stage 2 – 1 to 4 months – Combines two or more reflexes; develops hand-mouth coordination Stage 3 – 4 to 8 months Acts intentionally to produce results; improves hand-eye coordination Stage 4 – 8 to 12 months – Begins to solve problems; Finds partially hidden objects; imitates others Stage 5 - 12 to 18 months – finds hidden objects; explores and experiments; understands that objects exist independently Stage 6 – 18 to 24 months – Solves problems by thinking through sequences; can think using symbols; begins imaginative thinking

Four Major Periods Continued Preoperational – Two to seven years – think in terms of their own activity and what they perceive at the moment. Begin to understand abstract terms: love, beauty Concentration limited to one thing at a time. Children may believe moon follows them around May pretend to solve problems May not be sure what is real or make believe

Four Major Periods Continued Concrete Operations Period – Seven to eleven years – Children can think logically but still learn best through experience When problem solving children still rely on actually being able to see or experience problem Understand that pouring water from one container to another does not change the amount of water Understand operations can be reversed: subtraction undoes addition Can classify information

Four Major Periods Continued Formal Operations Period – 11 years through adulthood – children become capable of abstract thinking; problem solving by thinking; infer meaning; form ideals Can think what might have been the cause of an event without experiencing that cause

Piaget Some argue the boundaries of his stages are too rigid; children have shown ability to understand concepts before the stage set Piaget showed young children learn in their own ways, not as adults do. Older children use symbolic thinking – using words and numbers to stand for ideas Younger children rely on concrete experiences I have three blocks means nothing to a young child. Young children need lessons presented with objects or activities – verbal instruction is a minor role

After reading article on Spears: If you were Jamie Lynn’s friend and you knew she was thinking of becoming physically intimate with Casey, what advice would you give her?

10-2 Helping Babies learn Babies learn about their world by the care they receive: Events: discomfort =crying=cuddling + being fed Repeated patterns = connections and learning

Encourage learning Provide experiences that are age appropriate Give: time, attention, positive feedback, love, and don’t forget to talk, talk, talk Which of the above do you think would be hardest for you to give?

Best Learning Environment Allow the baby as much freedom of movement at home as possible; in order to do this the environment must be safe In your journals with the room you selected, write 4 safety concerns that room might have for your child once they are mobile?

The Importance of Play For children work is play as well as pleasure Toys are tools Tasks strengthen muscles Refine motor skills Learn about world

Appropriate Toys Birth to 3 mos. – Bright colors and interesting sounds to stimulate development of senses Mobiles, interesting wallpaper, pictures etc. 4 – 6 mos. – sense of touch focus – small enough to handle but too large to swallow- teething rings, cups, rattles, plastic toys 7-9 mos. – things to handle, throw, pound, bang, and shake – blocks, balls, roly-poly toys, pots and pans 10 – 12 mos. – things to crawl after, push, or pull – like to put things into other things, picture books

Developing Communication Skills Skill requires physical, emotional, social , and intellectual Crying 1st means of communication Crying – pause for response – resume crying Different cries for different problems 2nd Body movements send messages: wiggling = baby not wanting to get dressed; pushing away a bowl = I’ve had enough to eat; clinging with both arms to parents leg = fear or shyness 3rd Baby communicates making special sounds – giggles, shrieks, grunts Play sound clips of crying as warm up

Learning to Speak Must learn to associate meanings with words Requires caregiver talking to baby even when baby doesn’t understand – builds brain Physically baby can’t speak – physical changes over 1st year make it possible Babbling, repeating syllables and sounds is preparatory for saying actual words Recognizable words evident between 8 to 15 mos. Combining words usually after 12 mos.

Milestones of Language 1 to 6 mos. – experiments making sounds: coos, gurgles, squeals 7 to 12 mos. – more sounds, responds to name, add actions to words bye bye (waving) 13 to 18 mos. – slow vocabulary growth 18 to 24 mos. – rapid growth 12 words a day; by 2 yrs. Express feelings with words 2 to 2 ½ years – 3 to 4 word sentences 2 ½ to 3 years – longer sentences with rules of grammar for tense (past & present) order affects meaning

Review Physical Development - head to foot; near to far; simple to complex; weight, height, proportion, sight, hearing, smell & taste, voice; motor skills Emotional Development – process of learning to recognize and express one’s identity as a unique person. Child with healthy emotional development = a self confident adult who can handle stress and shows empathy toward others Social Development – process of learning to interact with others and to express oneself to others Healthy social development = adult who can communicate well with others, listens to other points of view, is more tolerant of others Intellectual Development – process of learning from senses (perception) signs –remembering, making associations, understanding cause and effect, & paying attention Play

Assessment on Development While watching the following power point: Determine what type of development the activity is assisting and how that type of development is being assisted. There may be more than one type of development. Adequately support your answer.

True /False Positive Feedback Physical, Social Emotional, intellectual Babble Children learn differently from Adults Sensorimotor Logically then abstractly 6 to 9 months Birth to 3mos 7 to 9 mos. 19 to 24 mos. 5 to 6 months Simple Security she’s full / wants something else Patience Recall Talking Preoperational How children learn Crying Physical, Social, Object permanence Cause and effect Objective thinking Association Perception Formal operations Attention span memory Symbolic thinking He’s hungry Classification Can’t concentrate on more than one thing at a time Experiences and with their senses 1 ½ inches 3 inches Work Concrete operations