2. Development of the Brain and the Nervous System:
Synaptogenesis Synaptic pruning Myelinization
Reticular Formation
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
Medulla and midbrain are developed
at birth
Years one and two cortex develops
4. Behavioral States:
States of Consciousness
Deep sleep lighter sleep alert wakefulness fussing
Colic:
Intense bouts of crying (3+ hours per day)
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
CONT.
5. Motor Development
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
CONT.
Age
(Months)
Locomotor Skills Nonlocomotor Skills Manipulative Skills
1 Stepping reflex Lifts head slightly; follows slowly
moving objects with eyes
Holds object if placed in hand
2-3 Lifts head up to 90- degree angle
when lying on stomach
Begins to swipe at objects in sight
4-6 Rolls over; Sits with
support; moves on hands
and knees
Holds head erect while in sitting
position
Reaches for and grasps objects
7-9 Sits without support;
crawls
Transfer objects from one hand to the other
10-12 Pulls self up and walks
grasping furniture; then
walks alone
Squats and stoops; plays patty cake Shows some signs of hand preference; grasps a
spoon across palm but has poor aim when moving
food to mouth
13-18 Walks backwards,
sideways; runs
Rolls ball to adult; claps Stacks two blocks; puts objects into small
container and dumps them out
19-24 Walks up and down stairs,
two feet per step
Jumps with both feet off the ground Uses spoon to feed self; stacks 4 to 10 blocks
Note. Retrieved from Lifespan Development, Boyd, Johnson & Bee, 2009
6. Health and Wellness:
Research says breastfeeding should be sole source of
nutrition for babies unless they are preterm or the
mothers are drug abusers
Infants require immunizations to start at two months old
DTaP Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis
Hib Haemophilus influenza
PC Pneumoncoccal conjugate vaccine
MC Meningococcal conjugate vaccine
MMR Measles, mumps, and rubella
Hep B/V Hepatitis B
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
CONT.
7. Vision:
Visual Acuity
At birth visual acuity is 20/200 to 20/400 Improves rapidly
Color Vision:
Developed one month after birth
SENSORY DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
8. Early Visual Stimulation:
Early visual stimulation is critical in early infancy
Lack of stimulation limits visual capability in later years
Sleeper Effect
SENSORY DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
CONT.
9. Hearing
Auditory Acuity
At a general range of pitch and loudness infants can
hear just as well as humans
Smelling and Tasting
Newborns respond differently
to 5 different basic flavors
SENSORY DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
CONT.
10. Perceptual Skills
Young infants are able to make discrimination among
sight, sound, feelings, and respond to patterns.
Habituation a decline in attention that occurs because a
stimulus has become familiar
Dishabituation responding to a somewhat familiar stimulus as
if it were new
PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
11. Depth Perception in Infants:
Binocular Cue involves both eyes
Pictorial Information requires information from
only one eye
Kinetic Cue comes from your own motion or
motion of another object
PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANTS
CONT.
12. ERIKSON’S FIRST STAGE OF CHILD
DEVELOPMENT
Children learn from interaction
Helps educators:
Plan
Understand how infants up to adulthood age develop
13. RELEVANCY AND PERSONAL
IMPORTANCE
Future career goal
Gain a better
understanding of
how children
develop
Once educators
understand how
children develop, they
can plan
developmentally
appropriate activities
14. By understanding infant development:
Help me plan activities for children
Help educate children’s parents on the development
of their child
Example: If a child comes to my childcare organization
and has been crying for a majority of the day and the
mother is asking why, I will be able to
tell her it is Colic and that
often moving the babies legs
and rubbing the tummy will
help soothe the child.
PROFESSIONAL IMPORTANCE AND
APPLICATION
15. Boyd, D., Johnson, P., & Bee, H., (2015). Lifespan
Development (5th ed.). Ontario: Pearson Canada Inc.
REFERENCES