Infants - Intellectual
Development
Intellectual Development
I.D. is how people learn, what they learn and
how they express what they know through
language
• Happens as quickly as physical development
• From birth, use all sense organs
• By age one, infants know many words and
may even be able to say a few words
How do infants learn?
• Brain development research suggests the
following three factors
– Baby’s physical development (mainly brain)
– Baby’s environment
– The interaction of the first two factors; using
the windows of opportunity
• As motor skills develop, infants are able to
move toward many sights, sounds, and
other learning experiences.
Motor Center
• Cognitive development aids in motor
development!
– They learn that their movements are voluntary
and they are responsible.
• Reach/touch objects
Vision Center
• Very active in early infancy
• Maturing eyes and brain wiring helps them
look at people’s faces and objects
• 2-3 Months = can see objects at a
distance very clearly
• 8 Months = Vision Peaks! They begin to
inspect everything!!!
• Binocular Vision = necessary to recognize
how far away an object is.
– Eyes guide how far the must reach or how far
down the step might be
Thinking and Memory Centers
• They try to figure out what is happening and
how to make things happen!
– Make a ball roll, etc.
• Important for new environments/experiences
– Interesting things to see, hear, and touch
Perception
• Organizing information that comes through
the senses
• Infants notice how things are
– alike and different
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Size
Color
Shape
Texture
Perceptions come through
the senses about:
•Form
•Space
•Weight
•Numbers
Perception
• Perception also involves how fast the brain
organizes information
Perception
• Perception involves the way a person
reacts to different sensory experiences
– Example: child in a crowded room vs. alone
with mom playing with blocks
• What do children usually do?
Cognition
• Cognition- the act or process of knowing
or understanding
The Sensorimotor Stage – Piaget
• Birth to age 2
• Infants use senses and motor skills to
learn and communicate
– Practicing Reflexes and Repeating New
Learnings
– Beginning to Control
– Solving Problems
– Imitating
Perceptual Concepts
• Object Constancy or Sameness -airplane
• Object Concept- separate from one’s
interactions with them
– Object Identity – same bear, Daddy/clothes
– Object Permanence
• Depth Perception
– Why might depth perception be important?
Beginnings of Language!
How do babies communicate?
• Crying and Cooing - babies do not have
control over the sounds they make
– 1st Month = cries
– 2nd Month = coos (light, happy sounds)
• Babbling – Important pre-talking skill!
– 4th and 5th month (ba, da, gi)
• First Words – (consistently refer to object
or person as that word)
– 9th Month+
First Words
Before first words, babies must do the following:
– Understand object permanence
– Understand that people, objects, places and
events have names
– Remember words that go with people, objects,
places and events
– Have the ability to make the sounds
– Realize that talking is important
• Reduplication babbling– “da-da-da-da”
– Adult should make connection
• Point, confirm and repeat!
• By age 1 = 3 words
• 2nd year = Spoken Vocab