Developmental Stage of Infants- Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology

1. Infant: The First Six Months of Life and from Six Months to One Year UNIT-4

2. INFANTS The responsive behavior is critical to three-month-old babies. Babies become closely attached to those who come when he needs help or company , who notice when he smiles back, who hears when he talks and who listens and responds. All babies need at least one special person with whom to form a close b ond. Through this special, relationship they learn about people and the world. Babies who receive adequate physical care but who do not receive emotional responses will not develop as fast or as far as their innate drive and potential allow. Fathers and other family members play an important part in the early development of the baby . Different faces and ways of talking and playing are fresh and interesting to the baby. Even at this age, babies are capable of having and enjoying different kinds of relationships with those who are close to them.

3. GROWING AND CARING

4. Physical appearance and growth: From months one through six, babies will continue growing at the same rate they established during his first few week of life. Gain 0.7 to 0.9kgs and grow l to 1K inches (2.5cm to 4cm) each month. A consistent pattern of weight gain is more important than the amount of weight gained. With age, children grow both in weight and height. Their rate of growth is not uniform throughout the whole period of their childhood Growth in the first few years of life is very rapid, it slows down later. More babies double their birth weight at 5 months and treble it at 1 year . While the average length of the baby at birth is about 50 cm(20 inches), it raises to 75cm (30 inches) at 1 year .

5. Feeding: By two weeks of age, most babies have settled into smooth feeding patterns . Ideally, baby will continue on his diet of breast milk or formula without any additions from ages one month to four months. The amount the baby consumes at each feeding should gradually increase , to supply nutritional needs at this age. The increasing demands and pressures of caring for a new-baby , as well as all the other stresses and pressures placed on mothers affect the amount of milk produced Breast milk alone is the best possible food and drink for a baby in the first four to six months of life. All substitutes, including cow's milk, milk powder, solutions and cereals gruels, are inferior. Even in hot, dry climates, breast milk contains sufficient water for a young baby’s needs. Babies should not begin solid foods before four months of age. Breast- feeding should still continue after the introduction of supplementary feeding. When solid food is introduced, very small quantities are advised and should be fed along with the usual amount of milk. Solid foods are needed only for their calorific value . Breast milk provide almost all the protein, minerals and vitamins that are needed. Babies learn that hunger can be satisfied with foods other than milk and that these foods can be consumed in other ways than sucking.

6. Sleeping The new born baby drifts randomly in and out of sleep . At three four weeks of age, sleeping and feeding still go hand in hand. Babies wake up because they are hungry and go to sleep because they are full. By two months the baby will be more alert and social, and will spend more time awake during the day. This will make her a little more tired during the dark, quiet hours when no one is on hand to entertain her. By three months, most infants consistently sleep through the night (seven to eight hours without waking) babies should sleep soundly at night by now. In some cases, they may not have made a complete distinction between day and night behaviors. If she sleeps almost all day, she is bound to choose the evening or night for wakefulness.

7. Movement

8. MOVEMENT Babies are born with little control over their limbs or bodies Their posture is dominated by their over- heavy heads. Muscle control starts from the top and moves downward in an orderly sequence as babies gradually learn to support their heads with their weak neck muscles. The pattern of development is the same for all babies but the rate at which it occurs will vary. Some normal babies may be weeks behind other babies at the same age, while others may be weeks ahead. All these patterns are within a normal range. All babies learn their physical skills in the same order. For example, a baby may learn to sit early or late, but all babies learn to sit before standing. The achievements of various ”Milestones like rolling over, sitting, crawling, standing or walking should not be used to compare children. Each baby is unique and takes her own time to move along the developmental path.

9. One of the most important developments of these early months will be baby's increasing neck strength. If the baby is placed on her stomach, she will struggle to raise her head to look around. Even if she succeeds for only a second or two that will at least allow her to turn for slightly different view of the world. These momentary “exercises” will strengthen the muscles in the back or her neck. By four months , one will be able to hold up the head and chest as she supports herself on her elbows. At one month, if the baby is pulled by the arms to a sitting position , the baby’s head will flop backward, by four months, she will be able to hold it steady in all directions. By three or four months, she will be able to flex and strengthen her legs at will when she is lifted upright with her feet on the floor, she will push down and straighten her legs so that she will be virtually standing by herself( except for the balance provided by an adult). Then she will try bending her knees and discover that she can bounce herself.

10. The baby’s hand and arm movements will also develop rapidly during these three months. Once she is able to lift up her head, the baby will start pushing up on her arms and arching her back to lift her chest. This strengthens her upper body so she can remain steady and upright when sitting. At the same time the child can rock on her stomach, kick her legs, and swim with her. These abilities, which usually appear at about five months, are necessary for rolling over and crawling. By the end of this period she will be able to roll over in both directions. By six to eight months, one will be able to remain sitting without leaning forward on her arms. Now the child will manage to pick tip many things, and he will also transfer objects from hand to hand, turn them from side to side and twist them upside down. As the physical co-ordination improves , the baby discovers parts of her body that she never knew existed. Lying on her back, she can now grab her feet and toes and bring them to her mouth.

11. The baby starts to understand the functions of each body part. At eight months baby can sit without support . As the muscles grow stronger she will also start leaning over to pick up toys. Eventually she will figure out how to roll down on to her stomach and get backup to a sitting position. She can turn over at her will now. All these activity strengthens muscles for crawling, a skill that usually is mastered between seven and ten months. Since the arm muscles are better developed than her legs, she may even push herself backward instead of forward. But with time and practice she will discover that, by digging with her knees and pushing off, she can propel herself forward across the room toward the target of her choice. The child will be able to explore her surroundings on her own and strengthen her body in preparation for walking. By nine months, baby begins to understand that his feet will help him move forward.

12. By ten months , the muscle control has moved downwards to his knees and feet . At last one can take his full weight and stand squarely on the floor, he will soon learn to pull himself up to a standing position while holding on. Most babies will do this before the end of the first year. Just as newly crawling babies may find it difficult to move forward rather than backwards, newly standing babies find it impossible to sit down again . But a little experience will soon give them the confidence to let go with their hands or lower themselves by sliding their hands down for support. Many of these adventures lead to falls, which hurt their confidence. Later on babies learn to put out their hands as soon as they feel themselves falling. Thus standing and eventually walking alone depend on the baby’s confidence and motivation and the level of muscle development and co-ordination. Although some babies will pull themselves up and toddle around before their first birthday, a majority will not get up on their two feet until the second year.

13. FINGER SKILLS By six months, babies have found their hands and can use them to wave, reach and grab objects. Fine hand control depends on the kinds of objects and opportunities the baby is given for practice. At six to seven months, the baby begins to understand that hands can be used to explore objects in ways other than grabbing, holding and putting them into his mouth. Large objects are tackled by using both hands together. During the seventh and eighth months , the baby begins to use his fingers and thumbs for grasping and holding objects By nine months , fine motor control is achieved so that an index finger can be used to point or poke.

14. Milestones in finger skills at 12 months During the last three months of the first year , the babies develop a more mature grasp and grip. One learns to use his forefinger and thumb to pick up small objects. This capacity is known as pincher grasp. In the tenth or eleventh month, the baby will practice letting things go. But the actual process of uncurling fingers in older to release an object is very difficult. Much early learning takes place through watching and imitating. baby observes how adults use their hands. Uses pincer grasp Bangs two cubes together Puts objects into container Takes objects out of container Lets objects go voluntarily Pokes with index finger Tries to Imitate scribbling.

15. USING THE SENSES

16. Seeing and Understanding During the first six months , babies begin to understand the things they see . They learn to distinguish one object from another and reach for things. Smiling, which starts about six weeks , shows that the baby recognizes those closer to them By three months , they not only smiles more readily at familiar things and people, but definitely knows and refers their caregivers. Before he reaches six months of age the baby is already showing signs of emotional attachment to specific individuals. The baby’s distance vision is also developing at this time. It is obvious that her good vision is playing a key role in her early motor and cognitive development. They can distinguish familiar objects from unfamiliar ones. Infants at three months of age can tell their parents faces from those of others . They can also see colours . Research has shown that by 6 months of age, most infants can discriminate between different emotional expression on the mothers face such as madness, fear, joy, alarm or surprise and they respond accordingly . If for example, her face shows alarm, the child also gets scared and may begin to cry. Being able to discriminate emotions and recognize people helps in social interaction.

17. Hearing and making sounds Infants love their mother’s voice because they associates it with warmth, food and comfort. By one month the child will be able to identify mothers’ voice even if she is in another room . The voice of the mother reassures comforts and entertains the baby. When the child smiles and gurgles back at her mother, she will see the delight on mothers face and realize that talk is a two — way process . This first conversation will teach her many of the subtle rules of communication, such as turn-taking, vocal tone, imitation and pacing and speed of verbal interaction. At about two months the infant can repeat some vowel sounds (an - ah - an, ooh-ooh-ooh), in response to adults talks. By four months the infant will babble routinely, often amusing herself for long periods by producing strange new sounds (mun- muh , bah-bah).

18. They will also be more sensitive to parents’ tone of voice and emphasis, is on certain words or phrases. They will also learn from mothers’ voice when she is going to feed her, change her diapers, go out for a walk, or put her down to sleep. Infants are also responsive to rhythm. They are soothed by rhythmic sounds such as ticking of the clock. Very loud sounds cause distress and they respond by throwing their arms and legs and crying. “Talking to the baby is very important. Babies who are talked to a great deal are more talkative, while those who are usually cared for in silence have much less to talk about”. It is very important to make sure that a baby gets plenty of social talking. During this first year, babies participate in the complex forms of social communication with adults without using words. Babies are born with a built in interest in the human voice and an innate tendency to produce babbling sounds‘ of their own .

19. In the middle of the first year, most babies carry on long babbling conversations with adults . Through their conversations, babies learn the rules of taking —tunes, a pattern that includes making a sound pausing in order to allow the other person to reply and then answering back again. Most of these early vocalizations are single syllable coo-like sounds, such as Paa and Maaa and Booo . During the seventh month, the baby become increasingly alert to speech sounds. Cooing become repetitive and includes sounds that resemble two syllabus words. The baby becomes increasingly pleased by his own sound- making and will go on entertaining himself with these new Skills. By the eighth month, babies want to participate actively in adult conversation and will often show for attention as if they want to join in the conversation: In the ninth month, several exciting speech development seem to occur all at once . The babies speech suddenly become more elaborate. Most babies are able to produce their first words by the tenth or eleventh month. Word production comes slowly, at first, but the baby’s ability to understand words proceeds at rapid pace.

20. Language milestone at one year Pays increasing attention to speech Responds to simple verbal requests Responds to ‘no Uses simple gestures, such as shaking head for ’no’ Babies with infection Says’ dada’ and ’mama’ Use exclamations, such as ohwh !. Tries to inmate words As the child grows, these senses become more finely tuned and is able to detect and respond to more subtle differences in the stimuli. Smell, Taste and Touch

21. PLAYING AND LEARNING

22. Play is the natural part of a child’s life, and is necessary to development . Play provides a basis for a child’s learning and through play activities he acquire skills such as holding and using objects, controlling his body, developing his ability to communicate and his understanding of how things work. Play should be pleasurable and rewarding, giving the child plenty of opportunity to explore a variety of toys. Child needs parents interest and assistance as much as he needs toys. Parents love and praise add enormously to his enjoyment. The child is very aware of his environment from birth and responds to brightly-colored moving objects, to sounds, and above all to the human face and voice. Right from the start, baby can see, hear and feel and he is learning all the time. Objects that match a baby’s developmental stage offer just the right amount of challenge and novelty are practically pleasurable. They learn about cause and effect. They like the outcome produced by their own action.

23. During play an eight month old is curious about everything , but has a very short attention span . He will move rapidly from one activity to the next . Two to three minutes are the most he will spend with any one object. His observations at this time also help him to understand that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight. This concept is called “ objects permanence ”. At eight months, when an object is hidden under a cloth, he will search for the object under the cloth. By 12 months, he will be willing to sit for as long 15 minutes with a particularly interesting object, but most of the time he will still be a child in active motion. Ordinary household objects seem to hold particular attractions. Babies at this age are especially interested in things that differ just a bit from what they already know. Small changes in familiar objects help them detect small differences between the familiar and the unfamiliar . As soon as babies begin to crawl, they are off ‘in search of new things to conquer. They will never get tired of dropping, rolling, throwing, submerging or waving objects to find out how they behave . This is the child way of finding out how the world works. As the first year comes to an end; the child becomes increasingly conscious that things not only have names but particular functions as well.

24. SOCIO- EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

25. The quality of the adult-infant contact is crucial for the development of ’basic trust ” Bonding and attachment between adult and infant sometimes need patience and effort on the part of adults. Synchronicity or a mutually satisfying effect is essential in this relationship. By the time the infant is 8 to 9 months old he develops a special attachment to his most consistent caregiver and exhibits stranger anxiety when unfamiliar adults approach him, especially parents or caregiver are absent Stranger anxiety is, generally outgrown by the end of the first year , with increased, exposure and awareness of the people and faces. Separation anxiety is another consequence of attachment, but it lasts longer , often extending into toddlerhood. It is distress experienced when the child is left by a caregiver with unfamiliar persons in new surroundings. As the months pass by , the child’s self concept becomes more secure , he will have less trouble meeting strangers and- separating from mother. Infant will also become more assertive. The baby also becomes afraid of objects and situations . At this age, fears of the dark, thunder, and loud appliances like mixer grinder, crackers are common. The fears can be subdued by talking to them about them . The only solution is to eliminate the source of fears as much as possible. E.g.Adults can reassure her every time she hears a clap of thunder.

26. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: The EMERGENCE OF THOUGHT This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

27. Cognition Cognition or intellect references to the higher mental process, that is, to the functions involved in knowing, comprehending, reasoning and judging . It deals with perception, language, concept formation, abstraction, problem solving, thinking and intelligence . According to Jean Piaget, a Swiss Psychologist , the child acts on the world and builds up ideas from his or her own, occurs in stages , and each stage is qualitatively different from the others. Thus, babies do not respond and organize the world in the same way that toddlers or older children do, and older children differ from adolescents and adults. Cognition deals with the development of thought and knowledge . Thinking or cognition has to do with how we receive and interpret information and how we use it to guide further actions. The development of cognition enables the individual to adapt to surroundings and situations. With the development of thought, the person is able to understand and handle situations with greater effectiveness

28. CONCEPTS Concepts are ways of organizing information. They help us to group or categories information . A concept develops out of characteristics that are common to a set of objects, actions or thoughts . For example, we have a concept of living and non- living things we may further categorize living things as human beings, animals, birds, insects and so forth. Symbolizing means representing an event, object, action, quality or concept by something else i.e., the symbol. The symbol stands for that particular event or object . For example, The Red Cross symbolizes hospitals. When the pre schooled pretends that the chair is a car, and plays with it; she is symbolizing Words are symbols that stand for actual objects and events. SYMBOLS

29. THOUGHT IN THE FIRST YEAR Jean Piaget researches and theorizing of intellectual development are based on observations of his own children . Piaget believes mental development is a process that begins the day, the infant is born and intellectual behavior at any age evolves directly from prior levels of behavior. The roots of all intellectual development are in early sensory- motor behavior. Piaget divides the entire period of intellectual development into four basic stages . Sensory — motor period (0-2 years). Pre operational period (2-7 years) - a) Pre conceptual (2-4) b) Intuitive (4-7) Concrete operations (7-11 years) Formal operations (12 +) It may appear from this categorization that the stage are specific. But Piaget uses the term “stage” or “period” in adore wider sense and for ease of recognition. The age specifications_ are not fixed boundaries rather these are approximations. It simply suggests that all stages of development subsequent to the initial stage incorporate all, previous stages.

30. SENSORY MOTOR STAGE Piaget uses the term Sensory-motor to describe this period because it involves co-ordination of sensory perceptions and motor movements . The child perceives, then acts. During this stage an infant’s motor responses are largely innate reflex actions. The infant repeats reflexive behaviors and become skilled at them. Grasping, crying, movement of arms, trunk, head also appear regardless of stimuli The infant assimilates all stimuli through reflex activities. At birth the child has no awareness about the permanence of objects. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

31. The primary circular reactions stage (second and third months)- R epetition of simple acts for their own sake. Sucking, fingering a blanket, opening and closing of the hands. In this stage the infant co-ordinates an activity while using two senses - for example, vision and hearing, a baby who hears a loud noise turns to see what is causing it. During this time the infant begins to develop a concept of coherent world. In the first two stages- T he child’s own actions are the focus or his or her attention. The child acts - kicks legs, plays with fingers for the sake of the activity, not to accomplish anything . In subsequent stages, activity is directed outward toward the environment. In the third or secondary circular reaction stage (four to eight months)- T he child repeats an act to observe change in the environment . The baby kicks a mobile to make it go, or reaches to move an object. Each act is not organized with a, purpose; rather, the goal is discovered accidentally in the process of activity. In the fourth co-ordination of secondary reactions stage (eight to twelve months)- T he child uses responses to solve a problem and achieve some goal For example, to reach a matchbox, the child brushes away the father’s hand, which is an obstacle. The child knows what she or he wants and uses action go get it.

32. During the first year of life, the infant comes to understand the permanence of objects. This is a major occurrence and is essential to the development of the concept of a coherent world . Only gradually infants able to recall an object or person. Piaget believes babies and children have natural desire to approach the world and interact, to explore and learn. Babies enjoy learning for the sake of mastering a task - and as soon as they can do it, they lose interest. To gauge the infant’s intelligence, we have to look at the development of her senses and motor skills. The child intelligence can be seen in everything it does; focusing, following a moving object, reaching for objects, kicking, banking, squeezing, and thumping play objects. How well the child anticipates events is also an aspect of intelligent functioning.

33. THE ROLE OF THE CAREGIVER Talk to the child during dressing, bathing, feeding, playing, walking using adult talk check with pediatrician if the baby does not respond to sound. Be attentive to baby’s rhythms and moods — Respond to her when she is upset as well as when she is unhappy. Encourage the child to play with blocks and soft toys, which helps the child to develop eye-hand co-ordination, fine motor skills and a sense of competence. Provide a stimulating, safe environment where the baby can begin to explore and roam. Give consistent physical contact, hugging, to establish the child’s sense of security and well being. Read to the child everyday. Avoid subjecting the child to stressful or ’traumatic experiences, physical or psychological. Play games like peekaboo- to stimulate baby’s memory skills. Introduce the child to other children and parents . Provide age and developmentally appropriate toys there are safe and inexpensive. Respect, the child’s periodic discomfort around people who may not be her primary care givers. Spend time on the floor playing the child everyday . Choose quality childcare that is affectionate, responsive, educational and safe.