Chapter Five: Inf/Bio Learning Objectives
Vocabulary: Norm, wasting, stunting, independence of systems* cephalocaudal* & proximodistal*
development, REM sleep, neuron, axon, dendrite, synapses, overgrowth “transient exuberance” & dieback
“pruning” of neurons* mylenization*, plasticity, sensation, perception, binocular vision, haptic perception*,
intermodal perception*, various reflexes, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, immunization, SIDS, marasmus,
kwashiorkor, undernutrition, non-organic failure to thrive*,
*Presented during lecture
Learning Objectives: (not "due", use to guide studying)
1. Describe the infant’s height and weight, including how they change during the first two years and how
they compare with those of an adult.
2. Discuss why infants sleep so much, and describe how sleep patterns change through infancy.
3. Discuss the attitudes of different cultures about where infants sleep.
4. Describe the ways in which the brain changes or matures during infancy.
5. Discuss the role of experience in brain development.
6. Distinguish among sensation, perception, and cognition.
7. Describe the extent and development of an infant’s sensory and perceptual abilities in terms of the
senses of hearing, vision, taste, smell, and touch.
8. Describe the basic reflexes of the newborn, and distinguish between gross motor skills and fine motor
skills.
9. Describe the basic pattern of motor-skill development, and discuss variations in the timing of motorskill acquisition.
10. Identify key factors in the worldwide decline in childhood mortality over the last century, and discuss
the importance of childhood immunizations.
11. Identify risk factors and discuss possible explanations for ethnic group variations in the incidence of
sudden infant death syndrome.
12. Describe the nutritional needs of infants.
13. Discuss the causes and results of malnutrition in the first years.
Chapter Six: Inf/Cog Learning Objectives
Vocabulary: adaptation, assimilation, accommodation, goal-directed behavior, object permanence, mental
representation, deferred imitation, Habituation, information-processing theory, affordance, infantile amnesia,
babytalk/motherese/infant-directed speech, babbling, holophrase, underextension, overextension, grammar,
phoneme, morpheme, syntax, semantics, telegraphic speech*, UG/Universal Grammar, LAD/Language
Acquisition Device
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify and describe Piaget’s first two stages of sensorimotor intelligence.
2. Identify and describe stages three and four of Piaget’s theory of sensorimotor intelligence.
3. Explain what object permanence is, how it is tested in infancy, and when it develops.
4. Identify and describe stages five and six of Piaget’s theory of sensorimotor intelligence.
5. Describe some major advances in the scientific investigation of infant cognition.
6. Explain the information-processing model of cognition.
7. Explain the Gibsons’ contextual view of perception, focusing on the idea of affordances, giving
examples of affordances perceived by infants.
8. Discuss research findings on infant memory.
9. Identify the main features of child-directed speech, and explain its importance.
10. Describe language development during infancy, and identify its major hallmarks.
11. Differentiate three theories of language learning, and explain current views on language learning.
Supplemental Notes on Piaget’s substages:
In general, this relies on a progression from innate reflexes (unlearned), to a use of accommodation and
assimilation involving the infant’s own body, to interaction with the external world to prolong positive feedback
(deliberate action), to the emergence of goal–directed behavior and object permanence when interacting with the
world, to active experimentation to assess the consequences of one’s actions, and finally to the ability to
mentally represent the outer world.
Chapter Seven: Inf/Soc Learning Objectives
Vocabulary: stranger wariness, separation anxiety, temperament (easy, difficult, slow-to-warm), goodness of
fit, synchrony, social referencing, self-awareness, emotional self-regulation*, oral stage, anal stage, fixation,
trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, attachment, secure attachment, insecure attachment (avoidant and
resistant/ambivalent), disorganized attachment, Strange Situation
Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the basic emotions expressed by infants during the first days and months.
2. Describe the main developments in the emotional life of the child between 6 months and 2 years.
3. Discuss the links between the infant’s emerging self-awareness and his or her continuing emotional
development.
4. Describe Freud’s psychosexual stages of infant development.
5. Describe Erikson’s psychosocial stages of infant development.
6. Contrast the perspectives of behaviorism and cognitive theory regarding the importance of caregiver
behavior in the first two years of life.
7. Discuss the epigenetic theory explanation of the origins, characteristics, and role of temperament in the
child’s psychosocial development.
8. Discuss the sociocultural view regarding the influence of culture on development, focusing on the
different parenting practices.
9. Describe the synchrony of parent–infant interaction during the first year and the still-face technique for
measuring it, and discuss the significance of synchrony for the developing person.
10. Define attachment, explain how it is measured and how it is influenced by context, and identify factors
that predict secure or insecure attachment.
11. Discuss the concept of social referencing, noting the difference in how the infant interacts with mother
and father.
12. Discuss the impact of nonmaternal care on young children, and identify the factors that define highquality day care.