COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Intro and Infancy
STUDYING THE BRAIN
Extremely important medical research area
 Research continues to show that a baby’s
brain capacity is even greater than we ever
imagined
 Our brains are stimulated through our
senses
 Brain function is due to the brain’s
capabilities as well as outside experiences
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COGNITIVE/BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
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At birth, the brain has billions of nerve cells called
neurons (born with all that you will have –are
developed throughout life)
Dramatic changes to neurons can happen
Babies’ brains begin to develop links between the
neurons called neural pathways
These pathways are how the brain is “wired” to
control different functions and thinking processes
STUDYING THE BRAIN
One of the first skills a
baby learns is to track
moving objects
 What experiences help
a baby to learn this
skill?
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SENSES AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION
How the brain develops in the first year has
profound effects on the rest of a baby’s life
 Babies experience sensory overload when
they first enter the world – sight, sound,
smell, touch, sound
 Use their senses to learn about the world
 Responses of newborns are reflexes – not
learned responses
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6 PARTS OF THE BRAIN
Cerebrum: Receives information from the
senses and directs motor activities.
Controls functions like speech, memory,
and problem solving
 Thalamus – Connects the spinal cord and
cerebrum. Controls the expression of
emotions.
 Cerebellum – Controls muscular
coordination, balance, and posture
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6 PARTS OF THE BRAIN
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Pituitary Gland: Secrets hormones that regulate
growth, metabolism, and sexual development
Brain Stem – Controls involuntary activities such
as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure
Spinal Cord – Transmits information from the
body to the brain and from the brain to the body.
Coordinates activities between the right and left
sides of the body.
6 PARTS OF THE BRAIN
STRUCTURE OF THE BRAIN
• Cortex
– One of the most important part of the brain
– Part of the cerebrum
– Far better developed after one year then at birth
• As babies experience more, their brain begins
to build on the experiences
LEARNING IN THE FIRST YEAR
• From birth, babies have many capabilities
including hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling,
and touching
• These senses become the building blocks of
learning
• Perception is a learned skill as the brain
develops and organizes
LEARNING IN THE FIRST YEAR
• 4 Main abilities develop:
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Remembering experiences
Making associations
Understanding cause and effect
Paying attention – attention span grows over
time. Generally bright babies have a short
attention span (in the infancy stage only)
JEAN PIAGET
• Great influence on what is known about how
children learn
• Died in 1980
• Identified four periods of development –
same order for all children, though exact
ages can vary
JEAN PIAGET
• Sensorimotor Period
– Learned based on their senses and actions
– Coincides with the time period that that neurons
are establishing pathways in the brain
– Learn object permanence – that objects still
exist even when the baby can not see them
– Sensory period can be broken down into 6
stages, with the first 4 taking place during the 1st
year
JEAN PIAGET - SENSORIMOTOR PERIOD
STAGE
APPROXIMATE AGES
CHARACTERISTICS
Stage 1
Birth to 1 month
Stage 2
1 to 4 months
•Combines two or more reflexes
•Develops hand-mouth coordination
Stage 3
4 to 8 months
•Acts intentionally to produce results
•Improves hand-eye coordination
Stage 4
8 to 12 months
•Begins to solve problems
•Finds partially hidden objects
•Imitates others
Stage 5
12 to 18 months
•Finds hidden objects
•Explores and experiments
•Understands that objects exist independently
Stage 6
18 to 24 months
•Solves problems by thinking through sequences
•Can think using symbols
•Begins imaginative thinking
•Practices inborn reflexes
•Does not understand self as separate person
JEAN PIAGET - SENSORIMOTOR PERIOD
Imaginative play – aka pretending –
becomes possible during stage 6
 Also a time of symbolic thinking – use of
words and numbers begins, as well as the
fundamentals for reading
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STIMULATING SENSES
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Senses can easily be stimulated
Young babies prefer focusing on people rather then
things
They focus on and follow moving objects – which
helps stimulate sight
Sensitive to sound
Respond to voices and noises they are familiar with
Become aware of their own voices
Begin to mimic sounds and tones they hear
Talking, reading, and singing are ways to stimulate
hearing
STIMULATING SENSES
Touch is an important way to communicate
with an infant
 Builds a sense of security and trust
 Cuddling, rocking and patting are ways to
reassure a baby
 Touch helps a baby gain sense of their own
body
 Crucial to developing motor skills
 Also to develop sense of space
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DEVELOPING CONCEPTS
As they continue to learn, they begin to
organize information
 Start to form concepts – general categories
of objects and information
 Learn words and concepts by 3 principles:
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 Labels
are for wholes, not parts
 Believe that labels apply to general groups
rather than individual objects
 An object can only have one label
ENCOURAGING LEARNING
Babies learn about the world from their
caregivers and those that they spend time
with
 It is important for caregivers to learn about
and recognize how children develop
 Give plenty of time and attention to children
 Provide positive feedback
 Express Love
 Talk, talk, talk
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ENCOURAGING LEARNING
Make sure to provide a safe environment by
childproofing and monitor children's
activities
 Recognize the importance of play
 Play is the work/job of a child
 Playtime is essential to intellectual
development
 Play helps social, cognitive, emotional and
physical development
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ENCOURAGING LEARNING
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Make sure toys and activities are age appropriate
Age Range
Toys/Activities
Birth – 3
Months
•Items to look at and listen to
•Bright colors, moving objects, interesting sounds
4 to 6
months
•Touch is important during this phase - handle, bang, suck, shake and
chew
•Make certain toys are small enough to handle but big enough that they
are not a choking hazard
•Teething rings, rattles, stuffed animals, cups, blocks. Etc.
7 to 9
months
•Still like to handle, pound, throw, bang and shake
•Anything that makes noises fascinates babies
•Blocks, balls, toys that move
•Household items can also become toys to entertain
10 to 12
months
•Items to crawl/chase after, push or pull
•Cups, baskets, boxes, blocks
ENCOURAGING LEARNING
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When choosing playthings, look for toys that
encourage participation and use
Toys specifically labeled as educational can be
expensive
Most toys can prove to be educational, as does the
experience of playing with them and who they play
with
COMMUNICATION
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Major task of an infant is to communicate with
others
All developmental areas apply
Begin communicating long before talking starts
Crying is first automatic form of communication
By the end of year 1, babies can effectively
communicate without words
Newborn is physically unable to speak because of
muscle development (or lack of)
Average first words come between 8 and 14 months
COMMUNICATION
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Begin using movements and gestures as communication
tools
Sounds become a form of communication including giggling
and cooing
Learns meaning of words before beginning to speak them
Listening to words help to build the speech centers of a
child’s brain
Begins to mimic sounds they hear
Begin with simple sounds/words
Newborn is physically unable to speak because of muscle
development (or lack of)
Average first words come between 8 and 14 months