1. Infancy & Childhood Development
Stage 2 of Development
Infancy & Childhood Development

2. Cognitive (Mental) Development
Jean Piaget’s Stage Model
Sensorimotor stage – (birth – 2 years)
sensorimotor = sensation (collecting info. from environment) + motor (movement)
goal = to master senses and gain ability to move
object permanence – understanding that an object always exists even when out of sight
child has to work to understand that a toy under a blanket still exists
games like peek-a-boo and where is it help to teach object permanence
infants must learn to control their senses and understand the physical world
separation anxiety – child dislikes being separated from parent

3. Writing Prompt
What is the connection between object permanence and separation anxiety?

4. Cognitive (Mental) Development
Jean Piaget’s Stage Model cont’d
Preoperational stage – (2-7 years)
child refines skills from stage one
object permanence fully understood
goal = acquire language and communication skills
work on proper speech, writing, and math skills
developing concepts of reversibility and conservation
reversibility – relationship between objects can go two ways
a girl with an older brother can identify that he is her brother, but struggles to name who his sister is

5. Cognitive (Mental) Development
Jean Piaget’s Stage Model cont’d
preoperational stage – (2-7 years) cont’d
developing concepts of reversibility and conservation cont’d
conservation – some properties of an object can change, but the nature of the object remains the same
four quarters is better than one dollar because 4 is better than 1
despite watching you pour the soda from a can, a child would say that there is more soda in a cup, if the cup is taller the can, than was originally in the can
egocentric – can only see the world from their point-of-view
me, myself, I, mine, etc
“I was playing with that!”
lack logic skills and have limited reasoning skills
can’t have a rational conversation with a child

6. Moral Development Lawrence Kohlberg’s Model
Preconventional level – (6 years & under)
outside figure(s) establishes standards of right and wrong
parents, teachers, TV!!
“My mom lets me do that.” So it must be OK.
child reacts to reward/punishment system (conditioning)
telling the truth gets you rewarded, and lying gets you punished
truth = good, lying = bad

7. Writing Prompts
How does Piaget’s cognitive development relate to Kohlberg’s moral development?
If children are in capable of determining whether something is right or wrong, is it fair to punish them?