CHAPTER 5
Perception, Action, and
Learning in Infancy
,MARY STEVENSON CASSATT (1844–1926), Mother and Child (oil on canvas, 1900)
,Perception
Motor Development
Learning and Memory
THEMES
NATURE AND NURTURE
THE ACTIVE CHILD
CONTINUITY/DISCONTINUITY
MECHANISMS OF CHANGE
THE SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Four-month-old Benjamin, perched on the kitchen counter in his
infant seat, is watching his parents wash the dinner dishes. What he
observes is two people who move on their own, as well as a variety of
glass, ceramic, and metal objects of differing sizes and shapes that
move only when picked up and manipulated by the people. Other
elements of the scene, like the sink and table, never move. Distinctive
sounds emanate from his parents’ moving lips, and different sounds
occur as they deposit cutlery, skillets, and glasses on the counter. He
sees objects disappear as they are moved behind other objects, or
placed into the sink, but he never sees one object pass through
another. The objects that are placed on the counter stay put, until
Benjamin’s father precariously places a crystal goblet on the edge of
the counter. The crashing sound that follows startles all three people
in the room, and Benjamin is further startled when the two adults
, begin emitting sharp, loud sounds toward one another. When
Benjamin begins crying in response, the adults rush to him, patting
him and making especially pleasant sounds.
This everyday example illustrates the enormous amount of
information that is available for infants to perceive and learn from.
Like most infants, Benjamin avidly explores everything and everyone
around him, using every tool at his disposal: looking, listening,
tasting, smelling, and touching. His explorations will gradually
expand as he becomes capable first of reaching for objects, then
manipulating them. Never will Benjamin explore so voraciously or
learn so rapidly as in the first few years of his young life.
Perception, Action, and
Learning in Infancy
,MARY STEVENSON CASSATT (1844–1926), Mother and Child (oil on canvas, 1900)
,Perception
Motor Development
Learning and Memory
THEMES
NATURE AND NURTURE
THE ACTIVE CHILD
CONTINUITY/DISCONTINUITY
MECHANISMS OF CHANGE
THE SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Four-month-old Benjamin, perched on the kitchen counter in his
infant seat, is watching his parents wash the dinner dishes. What he
observes is two people who move on their own, as well as a variety of
glass, ceramic, and metal objects of differing sizes and shapes that
move only when picked up and manipulated by the people. Other
elements of the scene, like the sink and table, never move. Distinctive
sounds emanate from his parents’ moving lips, and different sounds
occur as they deposit cutlery, skillets, and glasses on the counter. He
sees objects disappear as they are moved behind other objects, or
placed into the sink, but he never sees one object pass through
another. The objects that are placed on the counter stay put, until
Benjamin’s father precariously places a crystal goblet on the edge of
the counter. The crashing sound that follows startles all three people
in the room, and Benjamin is further startled when the two adults
, begin emitting sharp, loud sounds toward one another. When
Benjamin begins crying in response, the adults rush to him, patting
him and making especially pleasant sounds.
This everyday example illustrates the enormous amount of
information that is available for infants to perceive and learn from.
Like most infants, Benjamin avidly explores everything and everyone
around him, using every tool at his disposal: looking, listening,
tasting, smelling, and touching. His explorations will gradually
expand as he becomes capable first of reaching for objects, then
manipulating them. Never will Benjamin explore so voraciously or
learn so rapidly as in the first few years of his young life.
