Table of Contents
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION, PERCEPTION, ACTION, AND LEARNING IN INFANCY ..................................... 3
Chapter 5: perception, action, and learning in Infancy ............................................................................. 3
Perception ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Motor development ........................................................................................................................... 6
Learning and memory ........................................................................................................................ 8
WEEK 2: BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR .................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 3: biology and behavior........................................................................................................... 10
Nature and nurture .......................................................................................................................... 10
Behavior genetic .............................................................................................................................. 13
Brain development .......................................................................................................................... 14
WEEK 3: COGNITIVE AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................................... 17
Chapter 4: Theories of Cognitive Development ..................................................................................... 17
Piaget’s theory ................................................................................................................................. 17
Core-knowledge theories ................................................................................................................. 21
Sociocultural theories...................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 7: Conceptual Development ................................................................................................... 22
Development of concepts ................................................................................................................ 22
Understanding oneself and other people .......................................................................................... 24
The growth of play............................................................................................................................ 25
Distinguishing between living and non-living things ........................................................................... 26
WEEK 4: EMOTIONS AND ATTACHMENT............................................................................................. 27
Chapter 10: Emotional Development ................................................................................................... 27
The development of emotions .......................................................................................................... 27
Emotional regulation ....................................................................................................................... 29
Temperament .................................................................................................................................. 30
Chapter 11: Attachment to Others and Development of the Self ............................................................ 31
Attachment theory (Bowlby) ............................................................................................................. 31
Measurement of attachment security ............................................................................................... 31
WEEK 5: INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC SKILLS................................................................................ 33
Chapter 8: Intelligence and Academic Skills ......................................................................................... 33
What is Intelligence?........................................................................................................................ 33
Measuring Intelligence ..................................................................................................................... 35
IQ Scores as Predictors of Important Outcomes ................................................................................ 36
Genes, Environment, and the Development of Intelligence ................................................................ 36
Alternative Perspectives on Intelligence ............................................................................................ 38
, Acquisition of Academic Skills ......................................................................................................... 39
WEEK 6: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.................................................................................................... 41
Chapter 6 – Development of Language and Symbol Use ........................................................................ 41
Language development.................................................................................................................... 41
The components of language ........................................................................................................... 41
What is required for language? ......................................................................................................... 41
The Process of Language Acquisition ................................................................................................ 42
Theoretical Problems in Language Development ............................................................................... 44
WEEK 7: BRONDENBRENNER’S MODEL, FAMILY, PEERS ..................................................................... 45
Chapter 9: Theories of Social Development .......................................................................................... 45
The Bioecological Model .................................................................................................................. 45
Chapter 12: The Family ....................................................................................................................... 45
Family Structure .............................................................................................................................. 45
Family Dynamics ............................................................................................................................. 46
Parenting Styles ............................................................................................................................... 47
Di\erences in Mother’s and Father’s Interactions with their Children ................................................. 48
Sibling Relationships ....................................................................................................................... 48
Chapter 13: Peer Relationships ............................................................................................................ 49
Friendships ..................................................................................................................................... 49
Developmental Changes in Friendship ............................................................................................. 50
The Role of Technology in Friendships............................................................................................... 50
E\ects of Friendships on Psychological Functioning and Behavior ..................................................... 50
The Potential Cost of Friendships and Negative Peer Interactions ....................................................... 51
Status in the Peer Group .................................................................................................................. 52
The Role of Parents in Children’s Peer Relationships.......................................................................... 54
2
,WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION, PERCEPTION, ACTION,
AND LEARNING IN INFANCY
Chapter 5: perception, action, and learning in Infancy
Reasons why we focus on infancy when talking about perception, action, and
learning:
1. Extremely rapid change occurs in all these areas during the first two years of a
child’s life.
2. Development in these domains is particularly intertwined: the minirevolutions
that change one part of a child’s behavior and experience in one domain leads
to minirevolutions in others.
Perception
Perception – the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information about the
objects, events, and spatial layout of the world around us.
Sensation – the processing of basic information from the outside world by the sensory
receptors in the sense organs (eyes, ears, skin, etc.) and brain.
VISION
Babies don’t see as clearly as adults, but their vision improves rapidly in the first few
months.
The technique of preferential-looking – a method for studying visual attention in
infants that involved showing infants two images simultaneously to see if the infants
prefer one over the other (indexed by longer looking)
This would suggest that the infant:
1. Can distinguish between two stimuli
2. Has a preference
è Babies rather look at something (screen with stripes) than nothing (plain
screen)
Habituation – the decrease in response to a stimulus after it has been repeatedly
presented
3
, Child gets repeatedly exposed to visual stimulus -> habituation: child lost
interest -> spends less time looking at it -> new stimulus! -> child looks at new
stimulus -> child dishabituates (response increases) -> conclusion: child can
discriminate between old and new stimuli.
Visual acuity – the sharpness and clarity of vision. The preferential viewing method
can be used to assess visual acuity by having babies distinguish varying patterns.
Because infants have poor contrast sensitivity – the ability to detect diUerences in
light and dark areas in a visual pattern – they prefer patterns with strong contrast.
Reason for poor contrast sensitivity:
The immaturity of the cone cells, the light-sensitive neurons that are highly
concentrated in the fovea and are involved in seeing fine details and colors.
Only around 2 months of age can babies recognize diUerent colors. They prefer
unique hues rather that hue combinations.
Babies are attracted to moving stimuli, but they have trouble keeping up with them
because their eye movements are jerky (up until 4 months). Smooth pursuit eye
movements – visual behavior in which the viewer’s gaze shifts at the same rate and
angle as a moving object – is needed for this. Visual scanning is important because it
is one of the few ways that infants actively determine what they observe and learn.
Perceptual constancy – refers to our perception of a constant shape and size, even as
things move further or closer, thus changing the retinal image. Babies can distinguish
between the 2 cubes.
Object segregation – the perception of the boundaries between objects. Infants
consider the independent motion of objects to signal separate entities.
Common motion – the fact that the two segments always move together in the same
direction and at the same speed. Newborns do not appear to make use of common
motion as cue to object identity (emerges around 2 months)
Object permanence – notion that when an object disappears from sight, it also
disappears from the child’s mind. Piaget believed this was why young infant’s
4
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION, PERCEPTION, ACTION, AND LEARNING IN INFANCY ..................................... 3
Chapter 5: perception, action, and learning in Infancy ............................................................................. 3
Perception ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Motor development ........................................................................................................................... 6
Learning and memory ........................................................................................................................ 8
WEEK 2: BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR .................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 3: biology and behavior........................................................................................................... 10
Nature and nurture .......................................................................................................................... 10
Behavior genetic .............................................................................................................................. 13
Brain development .......................................................................................................................... 14
WEEK 3: COGNITIVE AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................................... 17
Chapter 4: Theories of Cognitive Development ..................................................................................... 17
Piaget’s theory ................................................................................................................................. 17
Core-knowledge theories ................................................................................................................. 21
Sociocultural theories...................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 7: Conceptual Development ................................................................................................... 22
Development of concepts ................................................................................................................ 22
Understanding oneself and other people .......................................................................................... 24
The growth of play............................................................................................................................ 25
Distinguishing between living and non-living things ........................................................................... 26
WEEK 4: EMOTIONS AND ATTACHMENT............................................................................................. 27
Chapter 10: Emotional Development ................................................................................................... 27
The development of emotions .......................................................................................................... 27
Emotional regulation ....................................................................................................................... 29
Temperament .................................................................................................................................. 30
Chapter 11: Attachment to Others and Development of the Self ............................................................ 31
Attachment theory (Bowlby) ............................................................................................................. 31
Measurement of attachment security ............................................................................................... 31
WEEK 5: INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC SKILLS................................................................................ 33
Chapter 8: Intelligence and Academic Skills ......................................................................................... 33
What is Intelligence?........................................................................................................................ 33
Measuring Intelligence ..................................................................................................................... 35
IQ Scores as Predictors of Important Outcomes ................................................................................ 36
Genes, Environment, and the Development of Intelligence ................................................................ 36
Alternative Perspectives on Intelligence ............................................................................................ 38
, Acquisition of Academic Skills ......................................................................................................... 39
WEEK 6: LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.................................................................................................... 41
Chapter 6 – Development of Language and Symbol Use ........................................................................ 41
Language development.................................................................................................................... 41
The components of language ........................................................................................................... 41
What is required for language? ......................................................................................................... 41
The Process of Language Acquisition ................................................................................................ 42
Theoretical Problems in Language Development ............................................................................... 44
WEEK 7: BRONDENBRENNER’S MODEL, FAMILY, PEERS ..................................................................... 45
Chapter 9: Theories of Social Development .......................................................................................... 45
The Bioecological Model .................................................................................................................. 45
Chapter 12: The Family ....................................................................................................................... 45
Family Structure .............................................................................................................................. 45
Family Dynamics ............................................................................................................................. 46
Parenting Styles ............................................................................................................................... 47
Di\erences in Mother’s and Father’s Interactions with their Children ................................................. 48
Sibling Relationships ....................................................................................................................... 48
Chapter 13: Peer Relationships ............................................................................................................ 49
Friendships ..................................................................................................................................... 49
Developmental Changes in Friendship ............................................................................................. 50
The Role of Technology in Friendships............................................................................................... 50
E\ects of Friendships on Psychological Functioning and Behavior ..................................................... 50
The Potential Cost of Friendships and Negative Peer Interactions ....................................................... 51
Status in the Peer Group .................................................................................................................. 52
The Role of Parents in Children’s Peer Relationships.......................................................................... 54
2
,WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION, PERCEPTION, ACTION,
AND LEARNING IN INFANCY
Chapter 5: perception, action, and learning in Infancy
Reasons why we focus on infancy when talking about perception, action, and
learning:
1. Extremely rapid change occurs in all these areas during the first two years of a
child’s life.
2. Development in these domains is particularly intertwined: the minirevolutions
that change one part of a child’s behavior and experience in one domain leads
to minirevolutions in others.
Perception
Perception – the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information about the
objects, events, and spatial layout of the world around us.
Sensation – the processing of basic information from the outside world by the sensory
receptors in the sense organs (eyes, ears, skin, etc.) and brain.
VISION
Babies don’t see as clearly as adults, but their vision improves rapidly in the first few
months.
The technique of preferential-looking – a method for studying visual attention in
infants that involved showing infants two images simultaneously to see if the infants
prefer one over the other (indexed by longer looking)
This would suggest that the infant:
1. Can distinguish between two stimuli
2. Has a preference
è Babies rather look at something (screen with stripes) than nothing (plain
screen)
Habituation – the decrease in response to a stimulus after it has been repeatedly
presented
3
, Child gets repeatedly exposed to visual stimulus -> habituation: child lost
interest -> spends less time looking at it -> new stimulus! -> child looks at new
stimulus -> child dishabituates (response increases) -> conclusion: child can
discriminate between old and new stimuli.
Visual acuity – the sharpness and clarity of vision. The preferential viewing method
can be used to assess visual acuity by having babies distinguish varying patterns.
Because infants have poor contrast sensitivity – the ability to detect diUerences in
light and dark areas in a visual pattern – they prefer patterns with strong contrast.
Reason for poor contrast sensitivity:
The immaturity of the cone cells, the light-sensitive neurons that are highly
concentrated in the fovea and are involved in seeing fine details and colors.
Only around 2 months of age can babies recognize diUerent colors. They prefer
unique hues rather that hue combinations.
Babies are attracted to moving stimuli, but they have trouble keeping up with them
because their eye movements are jerky (up until 4 months). Smooth pursuit eye
movements – visual behavior in which the viewer’s gaze shifts at the same rate and
angle as a moving object – is needed for this. Visual scanning is important because it
is one of the few ways that infants actively determine what they observe and learn.
Perceptual constancy – refers to our perception of a constant shape and size, even as
things move further or closer, thus changing the retinal image. Babies can distinguish
between the 2 cubes.
Object segregation – the perception of the boundaries between objects. Infants
consider the independent motion of objects to signal separate entities.
Common motion – the fact that the two segments always move together in the same
direction and at the same speed. Newborns do not appear to make use of common
motion as cue to object identity (emerges around 2 months)
Object permanence – notion that when an object disappears from sight, it also
disappears from the child’s mind. Piaget believed this was why young infant’s
4
