Normal development of Brain and Socialization

Normal development of brain function is vital for a healthy children in the aspect of psychiatry. Any developmental delay or error can be psycopathological and cause childhood psychiatry illness such as autism and ADHD.

1. Normal development
Infancy, toddlerhood, preschool years, childhood, adolescence
Reference: Guerra NG, Williamson AA, Lucas-Molina B. Normal development: Infancy, childhood, and adolescence. In Rey JM (ed), IACAPAP e-Textbook of
Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Geneva: International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions 2012

2. Aspects of development

Motor Cognitive Social-emotional Behaviour
-Physical changes -Growth in internal
mental processes
-Eg: Concrete &
abstract thinking,
reasoning,
memorizing
-Linguistic
development
-Development of
relationships
-Learning social
norms
-Identify & understand
one’s feelings
-Development of age
appropriate
behaviour
-Follow rules
-Regulate deviant
behaviour
Psychological

3. Infancy
Cognitive & Linguistic milestones: Social
stimulation & interaction
Social-emotional & Behavioral
milestones: Attachment relationships
Birth to six months
-Use sensory perceptions
to facilitates cognitive
and linguistic growth as
well as social interaction
with primary caregivers

-Start differentiating external stimuli
(colour, sound, familiar faces)
-Preference to be held by familiar people
by 6 months
-Improve memory and attention skills
-Cry to communicate discomfort &
express basic needs
-Cooing (2m) & babbling (4m)
precursors to language development
-Critical period to develop
attachment relationship with
primary caregiver.
-Early behavioral and emotional
self-regulation based on
establishment of regular
activities and routines (e.g.,
eating, sleeping, etc.)
-Sleep cycles become more
predictable(8 weeks)
-Gaze aversion- self-regulation
to overstimulation and arousal
-Multiple displays of emotions by
age six months
Reference: Guerra NG, Williamson AA, Lucas-Molina B. Normal development: Infancy, childhood, and adolescence. In Rey JM (ed), IACAPAP e-Textbook of
Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Geneva: International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions 2012

4. Infancy
Cognitive & Linguistic milestones: Social
stimulation & interaction
Social-emotional & Behavioral
milestones: Attachment relationships
7 months to 1 year


-Growing perceptual and sensory
capabilities.
-Develop object permanence. (8m)
-Infants may babble or make noises
to suggest they want something.
-Point at objects around age 1
-Respond to their own name.

-Development of attachment
relationships
-Secure attachment: Cry when
the primary caregiver is absent,
but allow themselves to be
comforted upon the caregiver’s
return
-Separation anxiety: Normal
until toddlerhood
-Disruption in infant-caregiver
bond: Insecure attachment
-Eg: Avoidant, resistant,
disorganised attachment
-Social referencing
Reference: Guerra NG, Williamson AA, Lucas-Molina B. Normal development: Infancy, childhood, and adolescence. In Rey JM (ed), IACAPAP e-Textbook of
Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Geneva: International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions 2012

5. Infant
Cognitive & Linguistic milestones: Social
stimulation & interaction
Social-emotional & Behavioral
milestones: Attachment relationships
13 months to 18 months


-Expand their repertoire of earlier
cognitive skills
-Object permanence improve, look for
object more than one location
-Game like hide - and - seek possible
-Advancement of memory storage and
retrieval
-Store prior experiences in memory and
aware of different situations than pre -
existing expectations
-Typically say their first word
-Vocabulary will grow to 200 words

-Imitate others
(Eg : Put cup on head while observing
father doing it)

6. Infancy
Cognitive & Linguistic milestones: Social
stimulation & interaction
Social-emotional & Behavioral
milestones: Attachment relationships
19 months to 2 years


-Cognitive advances in memory, problem
solving, attention:
1.Development and execution of action
plans
2.Pretend or make-believe play (20
months)
-Advanced linguistic skills:
1.Combining two or more words
2.Vocabulary growth

-Use of language and other
behavior to relate emotion.
-Growing awareness of others
-Emergence of more complex
emotions (e.g. embarrassment,
guilt, shame, etc.)
-Lower intensity of separation
anxiety
-First sign of self-control: Able to
delay engagement in an
enjoyable task
-Play: Imitation of others, use of
language and play choices based
on gender stereotypes

7. NORMAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATE TODDLERHOOD AND
PRESCHOOL: AGE 2-5
Cognitive and linguistic milestones:
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development: preoperational stage (capacity to represent events or stories mentally, but
remains egocentric, or self-focused, in his thinking)





Learning of early literacy and
numeracy skills
@ 36 months: identify shapes, compare
two items, and count to three.
@ 48 months: count to four, identify
four colors, and understand
opposites.
@ 5 yo: count to ten accurately, recite
the alphabet repetitively, and
recognize up to 2000 words.

Language development
➔ speak in increasingly complex
sentences and grammatically
➔ can say what they’re thinking,
tell stories and express
emotions

8. Sociodramatic play (by 3 yo):
Pretend play skills emerge, they create their own
imaginary world, imaginary friend!
➔ will imitate others and will become much
more imaginative
➔ Make-believe play with peers begins at age
two or 2½
➔ The play scenarios become more complex
with themes and storylines
➔ Role-play skills develop.
➔ Playing with game rules and obedience to
those rules.


Develop problem-solving skill:
➔ greater ability to sustain attention
➔ planning behaviors
➔ use cognitive scripts of prior behavior and
experiences
➔ Encourage private speech

Boost working memory : can
follow a group of directions
Eg. put away their toys, wash their
hands, and then take out their
snacks
Develop cooperation and
sharing skills:
engages more in interactive play
eg. play with peers, with
turn-taking play and joint goals.


Memory span
can grow to
up to 4X !

9. Develop dual representation by 3 / 4 yo:
To use a symbolic object such as a model, map,
or picture
Eg. a photograph or model of a train station, is
both an object and a symbol of a family
member or a train.

"WHY" period
Continuously search for logical
explanations

10. Social-emotional and behavioral milestones:
Toddler and preschooler transition through a time of increased, and then decreased aggression and temper tantrums,
and make overall gains in their understanding of emotions—in both their own emotional expression and that of
others.


NORMAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATE TODDLERHOOD AND
PRESCHOOL: AGE 2-5
Normative temper tantrums:
➔ Appears between 1 yo - 3 yo, but decreases
along with physically aggressive behavior eg.
biting and hitting during 4- 5 yo
➔ Related to language and self-regulation skills
achievement

Decreased reactive aggression
(in response to an external event)
and increased verbal and
instrumental
(goal-oriented) aggression during
3-4yo
More complex behavioral and
linguistic expressions of emotion,
eg. empathy and
sympathy
Emotional
display
rules

11. Growth of children’s capacity to describe
mental states and characteristics of others:

★ 2-3 yo: descriptions will rely on physical
attributes
★ 4-5 yo: emotions, attitudes and
characteristics
Develop moral emotions.
Feel ashamed or guilty when they
do something wrong


Develop the understanding between
right and wrong.
They look to their parents for limits and
rules and often test these limits.
Gender constancy:
★ Gender cannot be changed
★ becomes more aware of
gender-stereotyped behavior at
5-6 yo
Development of first
friendships.

More competent in
feeding ownself and
learn toileting
continuing growth in
self-awareness
may become more
curious about, and
begin to explore
themselves sexually

12. CHILDHOOD (6-11 YEARS OLD)
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

- FINE MOTOR // GROSS MOTOR

FINE MOTOR
- Precise use of muscles in the hands and fingers. They
are essential for tasks requiring detailed hand-eye
coordination.
- Include stacking small blocks, drawing, cutting with
scissors, and manipulating buttons or zippers.
- These skills are critical for self-care and for developing
independence in tasks like feeding and dressing.

GROSS MOTOR
- Involve larger muscle groups and are key to activities
that require whole-body movement. These include major
milestones like sitting, standing, walking, running, and
jumping. They also involve skills necessary for playing
sports, navigating playgrounds, and participating in
physical activities. Developing these skills is essential for
a child’s overall fitness, balance, and coordination.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
●Continued emotional development,
with a growing understanding of
emotions in self and others.
●Development of emotional
regulation skills.
● Emotions develop in conjunction with
neural, cognitive, and behavioral
changes
● Emotional development occurs within a
socio-cultural context.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

● Social development refers to the process by
which a child learns to interact with others
around them. As they develop and perceive
their own individuality within their community,
they also gain skills to communicate with
other people and process their actions.
●Development of social skills,
including cooperation and conflict
resolution.
● Formation of peer groups.
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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
● Cognitive development in early childhood means how children
think, explore and figure things out. It is the development of
knowledge, skills, problem solving and dispositions, which help
children to think about and understand the world around them.
● Eg.
- Attention and response
- Language learning
- Memory
- Thinking
Piaget’s theory is the most comprehensive theory of cognitive development
in children. The theory says that we can learn as much about children’s
intellectual development from their incorrect answers to test questions as
we can from their correct answers. It describes four distinct stages in
cognitive development in children: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete,
and formal.

13. Adolescence (12 - 18 years old)
Physical Cognitive Emotional Social
-Height, weight,
body composition
-Secondary sexual
characteristics
-Refinement of
motor skills
-Development of
fine motor skills
& hand-eye
coordination
-Formal
operational
thoughts (Piaget)
-Refinement of
cognitive abilities
-Development of
Metacognition
(thinking about
one’s own
thinking)
-Exploration of
identity & self
concept
-Development of
romantic and
intimate
relationship
-Heightened
emotional
intensity &
variability
-Exploration of
independence &
identity
-Development of a
more complex
social network
-Increased peer
influence and
importance of
peer relationships