Infancy and Childhood
Developmental Psychology - study of changes that occur as
individuals mature.
Beginning of Life
•Reflexes
•Grasping reflex - an infant’s clinging response to a touch
on the palm of their hand.
•Stepping reflex - infant’s held upright with feet touching
the ground will attempt to walk.
•Rooting reflex - infant’s response in turning toward the
source of touching that occurs anywhere around the
mouth.
•Moro (startle) reflex - loud bangs or falling cause the
infant to spread arms and legs.
•Babinski (plantar) reflex - when a pointy object is run up
the center of the foot.
Infancy and Childhood
Intellectual Development
Developmental biologist - Jean Piaget
4 stages of cognitive development:
1. Sensorimotor - birth to 2 years. Everything is based on senses (sensori-) and
body movement (-motor). Thinking and action are directly connected.
0-2 months - reflex stage
2-4 months - primary circular reaction
4-8 months - secondary circular reaction
8-12 months - coordination of secondary reactions
12-18 months - tertiary secondary reactions
18-24 months - invention of new means through mental combinations
Infancy and Childhood
Intellectual Development
Developmental biologist - Jean Piaget
4 stages of cognitive development:
1. Sensorimotor - birth to 2 years. Everything is based on senses (sensori-) and
body movement (-motor). Thinking and action are directly connected.
2. Preoperational - 2 to 7 years. Begin using mental images and symbols to
understand. Language. Draw pictures. Can assign emotion to inanimate
objects. Little moral sense (other than authority saying “don’t do that”)
2-4 years - preconceptual stage
4-6 years - intuitive stage
Infancy and Childhood
Intellectual Development
Developmental biologist - Jean Piaget
4 stages of cognitive development:
1. Sensorimotor - birth to 2 years. Everything is based on senses (sensori-) and
body movement (-motor). Thinking and action are directly connected.
2. Preoperational - 2 to 7 years. Begin using mental images and symbols to
understand. Language. Draw pictures. Can assign emotion to inanimate
objects. Little moral sense (other than authority saying “don’t do that”)
3. Concrete Operational - 6-12 years. Organized, logical thought applied to
concrete objects. Principle of conservation (the amount of an object remains
the same though the shape changes). Concrete problem solving. Reversibility.
Multiple classifications. Ability to view things from another person’s
perspective.
4. Formal Operational - 12 to adulthood. Abstract problem solving. Algebra.
Alternate solutions to complex problems. Can think of causes of an event
without ever experiencing the event.
Conservation