Swim ppt ch02

©2014 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 2
Birth to Thirty-Six Months: Physical
and Cognitive/Language
Developmental Patterns

Differences between Development and
Learning
• A controversy:
– Nature versus Nurture
– The best conclusion to date is that child
development is a very complex process occurring
through natural sequences and patterns that
depend on learning and experience, among other
processes

Development
• Cumulative sequences and patterns that
represent progressive, refined changes that
move a child from simple to more complex
physical, cognitive, language, social, and
emotional growth and maturity

Learning
• The acquisition of knowledge and skills
through systematic study, instruction,
practice, and/or experience
• Both overt behavior changes and internal
changes in perceptions occur during the first
three years of life
• Each child has an individual “map” for
development and learning

Patterns of Physical Development
• Brain Development
– Brain development results from complex interactions
between nature and nurture
– The newborn’s brain takes in information from the
environment, using all senses
– Infants and toddlers are in the process of forming
nerve pathways, the quality of which is affected by
nutrition and experiences

• Brain Development
– The brain is a complex system which is divided into
three main parts:
• Hindbrain (autonomic systems)
• Midbrain (connector)
• Forebrain (includes cerebral cortex), marks us as human
– Brain development during infancy is best promoted
when caregivers engage in DAP and create positive
relationships
– Responsive caregiving is a major factor in brain
development

• Neuron pathways
• Reflexes
• Physical growth: milestones for height,
weight, etc.
• Hearing and Vision Development
• Motor Development: milestones for gross
and fine motor control
– Stability, Locomotion, and Manipulation

Patterns of Cognitive and Language
Development
• Cognitive Development – Piaget’s theory of reasoning
—Newborns use all their senses—listening, seeing, tasting,
touching, and smelling—to learn about their world
—Central to Piaget’s theory is that there are stages of
cognitive development; that is, four-month-olds are
cognitively different from 24-month-olds. Piaget
contended that the sequence of development is the same
for all children. However, the age and rate at which it
occurs differs from child to child
—Piaget’s first two stages of cognitive development involve
children between birth and three years of age
—Sensorimotor
—Preoperational

Development
• Types of Knowledge
– Physical knowledge
• Movement of objects, changes in objects
– Logico-mathematical knowledge
• Relationships between objects
– Social-arbitrary knowledge
• Names of objects and rules

Development
• Play and Cognitive Development
–Play is the child’s laboratory for cognitive
trial and error and rehearsal for real-life
problem solving
–There are many types of exploratory and
pretend play for infants and toddlers

Development
• Cognitive Development – Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theory
– For Vygotsky, knowledge is co-constructed
through social interactions
– The most important tool for humans is language
– Higher cognitive processes develop from verbal
and nonverbal social interactions
– Scaffolding involves changing the support given a
learner in the course of teaching a skill or concept

Development
• Language Development
– Language is a tool for thinking
– When adults and children talk with infants and
toddlers, they provide examples of the four basic
components of language:
• Phonology
• Semantics
• Syntax
• Pragmatics
– Provide a language rich environment

Development
• Infants must learn strategies for sending
verbal and nonverbal messages to others:
– Eye contact
– Coo
– Babble
– Jargon
– Telegraphic Speech
– Baby signs

Early Intervention: Children with
Special Rights
• Taking a developmental perspective means
valuing all of the individual characteristics for
each infant and toddler
• IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
• Special Rights
– To value differences and potential
– The first source of information should be the child
and family, then specialists who provide ‘at-risk’
services.

Children with Special Rights
• Categories of special rights infants and toddlers
may have regarding physical and
cognitive/language development:
– Children with Motor Disabilities
– Biologically At-Risk Infants and Toddlers
– Children with Visual Disabilities
– Children with Hearing Disabilities
– Children who are Medically Fragile
– Children with Cognitive or General Development
Disorders
– Children with Language and Communication
Disorders

Spotlight on Research
• Cleft Lip/Palate and Socio-emotional
development
– It has been long assumed that children with cleft
deformities would suffer from a variety of social and
emotional outcomes
– The importance of early intervention is evident for
children with cleft lip/palate
– By age 7, children showed nearly equivalent levels of
adjustment (for those with early intervention)
– Interventions to facilitate positive mother-child social
interactions are particularly vital

Checkpoint Discussion Questions
• Explain how the growth of the brain
demonstrates the complex interaction between
nature (i.e., genetics or biology) and nurture (i.e.,
environmental factors).
• Describe how being born with a physical
deformity such as cleft lip/palate influences not
only physical development but also social and
emotional development.
• Name the major milestones for motor
development from birth to three years of age.

• Discuss Piaget’s stages of cognitive development in
terms of learning experiences for two-year-olds.
Include concepts such as assimilation,
accommodation, and disequilibrium in your answer.
• Provide a specific example of each of Piaget’s types
of knowledge.
• Use Vygotsky’s theory to explain how you would
scaffold a toddler with the skill of dressing, including
the concept of private speech.
• Explain the typical patterns of language development
ant the role adults play in the process.

• Why should infant and toddler educators think
about a child having special rights rather than
special needs?
• Explain three special rights very young children
might have in relationship to physical and
cognitive/language development. What would
you do if you suspected a child had one of those
special rights?

Swim ppt ch02

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Swim ppt ch02