4 Infancy Toddlerhood

Infancy & Toddlerhood
Book Chapters Papalia (4, 5, & 6) ; Santrock (4, 5, & 6)
Initial @02/01/2024
Progress Done
Physical Development
The Birth Process
Parturition → act or process of giving birth
typically begins about 2 weeks before delivery
uterine contractions begin typically about 266 days after conception and it is
characterized by the tightening of the uterus
more frequent, rhythmic, and painful, and they increase in frequency and intensity
Braxton-Hicks contractions
false contractions during the final months of pregnancy or even as early as the
second trimester, when the uterus tightens for up to 2 minutes
relatively mild and irregular
Stages of Childbirth
Stage 1 — dilation of the cervix
this is the longest, lasting 12-14 hours for a woman having her first child
this is shorter in subsequent births
regular and increasingly frequent uterine contractions (15-20 minutes apart) cause
the cervix to shorten and dilate, or widen
at the end of this stage, contractions are every 2-5 minutes
lasts until the cervix is fully open (10 cm or 4 inches)
Stage 2 — descent and emergence of the baby
Infancy & Toddlerhood 1

lasts up to an hour or two
begins when the baby’s head begins to move through the cervix into the vaginal
canal
ends when the baby emerges completely from the mother’s body
the baby is born but is still attached to the placenta by the umbilical cord → this
must be cut and clamped
Stage 3 — expulsion of the placenta
lasts between 10 minutes and 1 hour
the placenta and the remainder of the umbilical cord are expelled from the mother
Electronic Fetal Monitoring
used to track the fetus’s heartbeat during labor
uses sensors attached to the woman’s midsection and held in place with an electric belt
continuous EFM use in a healthy, low-risk pregnancy is associated with an increased

risk for mother and baby
it has a high false-positive rate—suggesting that fetuses are in trouble when they
are not
Vaginal vs Cesarean Delivery
cesarean delivery
performed when labor progresses too slowly, when fetus is in the breech (feet or
buttocks first) or transverse (lying crosswise in the uterus), or when the mother is
bleeding vaginally
benefit:
reduced risk of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse (weakened

muscles allow one or more of the pelvic organs to drop into or press out of the
vagina)
risks:
can lead to bleeding, uterine rupture, and heightened risks of problems in

future pregnanices

associated with placental abnormalities in subsequent pregnancies
deprive the baby of important benefits of normal birth
surge of hormones that clears the lungs of excess fluid, mobilization of

stored fuel to nourish cells, and the movement of blood to the heart and
brain
may put the child at risk for future obesity and asthma by negatively affecting
the stress response system
vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC)
for women who had a previous low transverse uterine incision and who were low
risk otherwise
associated with greater risk of complications
uterine rupture, unplanned hysterectomy, and maternal death
not recommended for home births or women who have conditions that make it less
likely to be successful
advanced age
obesity
diabetes
high blood pressure
very large baby
previous cesarian that was the result of a failure of the cervix to dilate
repeat cesarian deliveries
risks:
may cause postpartum endometriosis
uterine cells are found outside of the uterus
complications related to the use of anesthesia
bladder or bowel injury
hysterectomy

Medicated vs Nonmedicated Delivery
natural childbirth
seeks to prevent pain by eliminating the mother’s fear through education about the
physiology of reproduction and training in breathing and relaxation during delivery
prepared childbirth
method of childbirth that uses instruction, breathing exercises, and social support to
induce controlled physical responses to uterine contractions and reduce fear and
pain
Note: both aforementioned minimize or eliminate the use of drugs that may pose risks
for babies and enable both parents to participate in a natural, empowering experience
local (vaginal) anesthesia
also call pudendal block
given usually during the second stage of labor
analgesic
a painkiller
reduces the perception of pain by depressing the activity of the central nervous
system
may slow labor, cause maternal complications, and make the baby less alert after
birth
regional anesthesia
epidural
injected into a space in the spinal cord between the vertebrae in the lumbar (lower)
region
blocks the nerve pathways that would otherwise carry the sensation of pain to the
brain
high-dosage epidurals may slow the rate of labor, although lower doses do not
appear to be as disruptive
doula

experienced mentor, coach, and helper who can furnish emotional support and
information and can stay at a woman’s bedside throughout labor
The Newborn Baby
Size and Appearance
neonatal period → first 4 weeks of life
neonate → newborn
boys tend to be slightly longer and heavier than girls
in their first few days, neonates lose as much as 10% of body weight because of loss of
fluids
they gain weight at the 5th day and generally back to birth weight by the 10th to
14th day
distinctive features:
large head and receding chin
fontanels
areas on their heads where bones of the skill do not meet
covered by a tough membrane that allows for flexibility in shape
first 18 months of life, the plates of the skull gradually fuse together
pinkish cast
skin is so thin that it barely covers the capillaries through which blood flows
during the first few days, they are very hairy because some of the lanugo (fuzzy prenatal
hair) has not yet fallen off
almost all new babies are covered with vernix caseosa (cheesy varnish), an oily
protection against infection that dries within the first few days
“witch’s milk”
secretion that sometimes leaks from the swollen breasts of newborn boys and girls
around the 3rd day of life

whitish or blood-tinged vaginal discharge of some newborn girls
results from high levels of estrogen secreted by placenta just before birth and goes
away within a few days or weeks
a newborn, especially if premature, may have swollen genitals
Body Systems
upon birth, a newborn must start breathing for itself
not breathing within about 5 minutes may result to anoxia (lack of oxygen) or hypoxia
(reduced oxygen supply)
may occur as a result of repeated compression of the placenta and umbilical cord
with each contraction
can leave permanent brain damage, causing intellectual disability, behavior

problems, or even death
babies are born alert and have strong sucking reflex
they secrete meconium
stringy, greenish-black waste matter formed in the fetal intestinal tract
when bowels and bladder are full, the sphincter muscles automatically open; they do not
have full control of this yet
neonatal jaundice
skin and eyeballs look yellow
due to the immaturity of the liver and failure to filter out bilirubin → by-product of
breakdown of red blood cells
usually not serious and does not need treatment, and no long-term effects
Medical and Behavioral Assessment
Apgar Scale
Dr. Virginia Apgar
assessed one minute after delivery and 5 minutes after birth
five subtests:

appearance → color
pulse → heart rate
grimace → reflex irritability
activity → muscle tone
respiration → breathing
rated 0, 1, or 2 in each measure
7-10 → good to excellent condition
below 5 to 7 → baby needs help to establish breathing
below 4 → needs immediate lifesaving treatment
scores of 0 to 3 at 10, 15, and 20 minutes after birth
associated with cerebral palsy (muscular impairment) and other neurological

problems
Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale
used to assess neonates’ responsiveness to their environment, to identify strengths

and vulnerabilities in neurological functioning, and to predict future development
suitable for infants up to 2 months old
subscales:
motor organization → activity level
reflexes
changes in state → irritability, excitability
attention and interactive capacities → general alertness and response to visual

and auditory stimuli
indications of central nervous system instability → tremors and changes in skin

color
takes 30 minutes to administer
scores are based on a baby’s best performance
Neonatal Screening for Medical Conditions

Recommended Uniform Screening Panel
35 core conditions and 26 secondary conditions for which it recommends

screening all newborns
States of Arousal
infant’s physiological and behavioral status at a given moment in the periodic daily
cycle of wakefulness, sleep, and activity
youngest babies sleep the most and wake up the most frequently
sleep alternates between quiet (regular) and active (irregular) sleep
active sleep accounts for up to 50% of a newborn’s total sleep time
Complications of Childbirth
Low Birth Weight
weight of less than 2500 grams (5 pounds) at birth
preterm (premature) infants → born before the 37th week of gestation
small-for-date infants
born at or around their due dates but are smaller than would be expected
weigh less than 90% of babies of the same gestational age
they are small most commonly because of inadequate prenatal nutrition, which
slows fetal growth
birth weight and length of gestation are the two most important predictors of an infant’s
survival and health
treatment and outcomes
feeding intravenously
administering surfactant to high-risk newborns for respiratory distress syndrome
placing in an isolette → an antiseptic, temperature-controlled crib
kangaroo care

method of skin-to-skin contact in which a newborn is laid face down between
the mother’s breasts for an hour or so at a time after birth
reduce stress on the central nervous system and help with self-regulation of
sleep and activity
Postmaturity
Postmature
fetus not yet born as of 2 weeks after the due date or 42 weeks after the mother’s
last menstrual period
tend to be long and thin because they have kept growing in the womb but have had
an insufficient blood supply toward the end of gestation
possibly due to aged placenta and less efficiency, providing less oxygen
mother risks cesarian delivery, perineal tears, and postpartum hemorrhage
neonate risks should dystocia → baby’s shoulders become stuck behind the
mother’s pelvic bone during delivery
other risks: meconium aspiration, low Apgar scores, brain damage, and death
Stillbirth
sudden death of a fetus at or after the 20th week of gestation
preventable with high-quality interventions and health care
rates are highest for women aged 40 and older
Survival and Health
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
crib death
sudden death of an infant under age 1
“triple risk” model
infant who is vulnerable
critical period during which an infant is at risk

exogenous stressor
summary: SIDS will only occur if a vulnerable infant is exposed to a stressor

during the critical period; all factors must co-occur
environmental trigger: babies sleeping on their stomachs during the critical first year of
age
risk reduction: sleeping in parent’s room, but on a separate surface, using breathing
monitors and pacifier, and avoiding tobacco smoke
Early Physical Development
Principles of Development
cephalocaudal principle
growth from the top down
infants learn to use the upper parts of the body before the lower parts
proximodistal principle
inner to outer
babies first learn to control their arms when reaching, then use their hands in a
scooping motion, then finally learn to use their thumb and pointer finger in a pincer
grip
Physical Growth
children grow faster during the first 3 years, especially during the first few months, than
they ever will again
a 3 year old is typically slender than a chubby, potbellied 1 year old
teething
begins around 3 or 4 months
infants begin grabbing almost everything in sight to put into their mouths
first tooth may not actually arrive until sometime between 5-9 months or even later
1st birthday → 6-8 teeth

2 1/2 years old → 20 teeth
Nutrition
Breastfeeding
benefits:
less likely to contract infectious diseases such as diarrhea, respiratory

infections, otitis media (infection of the middle ear), and staphylococcal,
bacterial, and urinary tract infections
have lower risk of SIDS and of postneonatal death
less likely to develop obesity, diabetes, or childhood cancer
perform better on IQ and cognitive tests
have fewer cavities
inadvisable if:
baby has been diagnosed with galactosemia → genetic metabolic disorder
mother is infected with HIV, Ebola, or any other infectious diseases
mother has been exposed to radiation
mother has been taking any drug that would not be safe for the baby
Solid Foods
babies should consume nothing but breast milk or iron-fortified formula for the first
6 months
iron-enriched solid foods must be introduced gradually during the second half of
the 1st year
water may be introduced at this time as well
children should be offered 2-3 healthy snacks a day and can be encouraged to feed
themselves and drink from a cup
Obesity
infants having a weight for height in the 95th percentile
Malnutrition

caused by factors such as poverty, low-quality foods, poor dietary patterns,
contaminated water, unsanitary conditions, insufficient hygiene, inadequate
healthcare, and diarrheal diseases and other infections
protein is important for growth
Building the Brain
Brain Anatomy and Development
beginning about 3 weeks after conception, the brain gradually develops from a long,
hollow tube into a spherical mass of cells
by birth, the growth spurt of the spinal cord and brain stem has nearly run its course
cerebellum grows fastest during the first year of life
lateralization
specialization of left and right hemispheres
left hemisphere → language and logical thinking
right hemisphere → visual and spatial functions
corpus callosum
joins the two hemispheres
giant switchboard of fibers connecting the hemispheres and allowing them to share
information and coordinate commands
four lobes:
occipital → smallest; visual processing
parietal → integrating sensory information with the body; helps us move our bodies
through space and manipulate objects in our world
temporal → interpret smells and sounds and is involved with memory
frontal → involved with a variety of higher-order processes
cerebral cortex → outer surface of cerebrum

regions that govern sensory information grow rapidly in the first few
months after birth and are mature by 6 months
regions that govern abstract thought, mental associations, remembering,

and deliberate motor responses grow very little during this period and
remain immature
Brain Cells
2nd month of gestation
estimated 250,000 immature neurons are produced every minute through mitosis
at birth, most of more than 100 billion neurons in a mature brain are already formed but
are not yet fully developed
most of the neurons in the cortex are in place by 20 weeks of gestation, ad the cortex’s
structure becomes fairly well-defined during the next 12 weeks
integration → neurons that control various groups of muscles coordinate their activities
differentiation → each neuron takes on a specific, specialized structure and function
cell death
begins during prenatal period and continues after birth
normal elimination of excess brain cells to achieve more efficient functioning
Myelination
begins about halfway through gestation
accelerates at 12 to 16 months and then slowing again from 2-5 years of age
at 5 years, the myelinated white matter volume in the brain is approximately 80 percent
of that found in adults
myelin development is proximodistal
sensory pathways → somatosensory, visual, and auditory pathways, are generally

myelinized before motor pathways
occipital pole (posterior end of the occipital lobe) is myelinized before the temporal
and frontal poles

projection fibers (nerve tracks that connect the cortex with lower parts of the brain
and spinal cord) are myelizined before association fibers (nerve tracts that connect
cortical areas within the cerebral hemisphere)
this sequence exists because before higher cortical areas can use information, they
must be able to access stable inputs
Early Reflexes
automatic, innate response to stimulation
controlled by the lower brain centers
Primitive Reflexes
related to instinctive needs for survival and protection
Moro
stimulation: baby is dropped or hears a loud noise
behavior: extends legs, arms, and fingers, arches back, draws back head
Darwinian (grasping)
stimulation: palm of baby’s hand is stroked
behavior: makes strong fist; can be raised to standing position if both fists
are closed around a stick
Tonic Neck
stimulation: baby is laid down on back
behavior: turns head to one side, assumes “fencer” position, flexes

opposite limbs
Babinski
stimulation: sole of baby’s foot is stroked
behavior: toes fan out, foot twists in
Rooting
stimulation: baby’s cheek or lower lip is stroked with finger or nipple
behavior: head turns; mouth opens; sucking movements begin

Postural Reflexes
reactions to changes in position or balance
Parachute reflex
instinctive attempt to break a fall (similar to Moro reflex)
Locomotor Reflexes
resemble voluntary movements that do not appear until months after the reflexes
have disappeared
Walking
stimulation: baby is held under arms, with bare feet touching flat surface
behavior: makes steplike motions that look like well-coordinated walking
Swimming
stimulation: baby is put into water face down
behavior: makes well-coordinated swimming movements
most early reflexes disappear during the first 6-12 months
reflexes that continue to serve protective functions remain
blinking, yawning, coughing, gagging, sneezing, shivering, and dilation of pupils in

the dark
disappearance of reflexes signal that motor pathways in the cortex have been partially
myelinated, enabling a shift to voluntary behavior
Brain Plasticity
range of modifiability of performance
molding of the brain through experience
plasticity enables learning
during the formative period of early life when the brain is most plastic, the brain is
especially vulnerable
Early Sensory Capacities

Touch and Pain
embryos will respond to touch as early as 8-9 weeks of pregnancy, however these
responses do not involve any conscious awareness
by 32 weeks of gestation, all body parts are sensitive to touch, and this sensitivity
increases during the first 5 days of life
infants show a decreased pain response when they are held or cuddled, especially with
skin-to-skin contact
Smell and Taste
flavors from food the mother has consumed are found in the amniotic fluid
from this, a preference for certain tastes and smells can be developed in the utero
flavors from foods that the mother eats are also transmitted via breast milk
newborns much prefer sweet tastes to sour, bitter, or salty tastes
newborns strongly dislike bitter tastes as a survival mechanism given the toxic nature of
bitter substances
Hearing
even in the womb, fetuses respond to sound
they respond differently to familiar vs unfamiliar faces, live vs recorded maternal voice,
and native vs nonnative language
by 4 months, infants’ brains are showing lateralization for language, as occurs in adults
Sight
vision is the least developed sense at birth, perhaps because there is so little to see in the
womb
retinal structures are incomplete and optic nerve is underdeveloped
neonate’s eyes focus best from about 1 foot away
they blink at bright lights
their field of peripheral vision is very narrow
binocular vision (use of both eyes to focus) usually does not develop until 4 or 5 months

infants prefer to look at and are able to discriminate between human faces more than
almost any other stimuli
infants should be examined by 6 months for visual fixation preference, ocular

alignment, and signs of eye disease
formal vision screening should begin by age 3
Motor Development
Milestones of Motor Development
systems of action → increasingly complex combinations of motor skills, which permit a

wider or more precise range of movement and more control of the movement
Denver Developmental Screening Test
used to chart progress between 1 month and 6 years and to identify children who
are not developing normally
test measures:
gross motor skills → those that use large muscles
fine motor skills → those that use small muscles
language development
personality and social development
Head Control
at birth → infants can turn their heads from side to side when lying on their backs
and when lying chest down, they can lift their head enough to turn them
2-3 months → they can lift their heads higher and higher—sometimes to the point
that they lose their balance
4 months → infants can keep their heads erect while being held or supported in a
sitting position
Hand Control
babies are born with a grasping reflex (Darwinian)
3 months → bat at objects and grasp an object of moderate size

4 months → keep their hands open the majority of the time and will deliberately
hold and shake a rattle
6 months → grasp objects with one hand and transfer them to the other
7-11 months → hands become coordinated enough to pick up a tiny object →

pincer grasp
Locomotion
3 months → roll over deliberately, instead of accidentally
6 months → can sit without support
8 months → can assume a sitting position
can crawl
crawling helps babies learn to better judge distances and perceive depth
learn social referencing → looking to caregivers for clues as to whether a

situation is secure or frightening
7 months → can stand while holding onto a helping hand or a piece of furniture
11 1/2 months → can stand alone well
all these developments lead up to the major motor achievement of infancy →

walking
Motor Development and Perception
depth perception
ability to perceive objects and surfaces in three dimensions
depends on several kinds of cues:
binocular coordination
motor control
kinetic cues → produced by movement of the object or by the observer
to find out whether an object is moving, a baby might hold their head still for a
moment, an ability that is well established by about 3 months
haptic perception

ability to acquire information by handling objects rather than just looking at them
babies born early as 28 weeks of gestation were bale to recognize and remember
features of objects that were placed in their hands
Theories of Motor Development
Ecological Theory of Perception
Eleanor and James Gibson
stemmed from the experiment involving a visual cliff
apparatus designed to give an illusion of depth and used to asses depth perception
in infants
in this approach, locomotor development depends on infants’ increasing sensitivity to

the interaction between their changing physical characteristics and new and varied
characteristics of the environment
instead of relying on new solutions that previously worked, with experience, babies
learn to continually gauge their abilities and adjust their movements to meet the
demands of their current environment
the process of “learning to learn” is an outcome of both perception and action
in here, the baby is somewhat like a small scientist testing out new ideas in each
situation
what worked at one time may not work now, and what worked in one environment
may not work well in another
Dynamic Systems Theory
Esther Thelen
behavior emerges in the moment from the self-organization of multiple components
infant and environment form an interconnected, dynamic system
takes into account the infant’s physical characteristics, motivation, energy level, motor
strength, and position in the environment at a particular moment in time
these all affect whether and how an infant achieves a goal

ultimately, a solution emerges as the baby explores various combinations of movements
and assembles those that most efficiently contribute to that end
the maturing brain is but one component of a dynamic process
no one factor determines the pace of development, and no predetermined timetable

specifies when a particular skill will emerge
Cognitive Development
Behaviorist Approach
Classical and Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
a person learns to make a reflex or involuntary response to a stimulus that

originally did not bring about the response
enables infants to anticipate an event before it happens
learning will become extinct if not reinforced by repeated association
Operant Conditioning
focuses on the consequences of behaviors and how they affect the likelihood of that
behavior occurring again
behaviors may be reinforced and become more likely to occur
behaviors may be punished and become less likely to occur
Psychometric Approach
Intelligence → enables people to acquire, remember, and use knowledge; to understand
concepts and relationships; and to solve everyday problems
intelligent behavior → presumed to be goal-oriented and adaptive
IQ tests → consist of questions or tasks that are supposed to show how much of the
measured abilities a person has by comparing that person’s performance with norms

Testing Infants and Toddlers
development tests
assess infants’ behavior on tasks and compare their performance with norms
established on the basis of what large numbers of infants and toddlers can do at
particular ages
delayed → child is unable to perform a task that the “average baby” can do by a
particular age
ahead of the curve → child performs better than same-age peers
Bailey Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (Bailey-III)
developmental test designed to assess children from 1 month to 3 1/2 years
scores indicate a child’s competencies in each of five developmental areas
cognitive
language
motor
social-emotional
adaptive behavior
separate scores, called developmental quotients (DQs) are calculated for each scale
DQs are used to detect emotional disturbances and sensory, neurological, and
environmental deficits
Assessing the Early Home Environment
Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)
trained observers interview the primary caregiver and rate on a yes-or-no checklist
the intellectual stimulation and support observed in a child’s home
six subscales:
number of books and appropriate play materials in the home
parents’ involvement with the child
parental emotional and verbal responsiveness

acceptance of the child’s behavior
organization of the environment
opportunities for daily and varied stimulation
scores are significantly correlated with cognitive function, language ability, and
academic achievement
Early Intervention
systematic process of planning and providing therapeutic and educational services for
families that need help in meeting infants’, toddlers’, and pre-school children’s
developmental needs
programs involve full-day, year-round early childhood education from infancy through
the preschool years as well as family-oriented social services, early childhood
education, medical care and services, and family education on child development
participants show positive outcomes on cognitive developmental outcomes, including

reading, math scores, IQ, and school progress
Piagetian Approach
Substages of the Sensorimotor Stage
sensorimotor stage
first of four cognitive stages of development
infants learn about themselves and their world through their developing sensory
and motor activity
six substages that flow from one to another as the baby’s schemes become more
elaborate
during the first five substages → coordinate input from senses and organize
activities in relation to the environment
during the sixth substage → progress to using symbols and concepts to solve
simple problems
circular reactions

an infant learns to reproduce events originally discovered by chance
repetition of behavior produces pleasure, which motivates the baby to do it yet

again
Substages
Substage 1 — Use of Reflexes
birth to about 1 month
practice their reflexes
example:
infants suck by reflex when their lips are touched
they soon learn to find the nipple even when they are not touched
infants modify and extend the scheme for sucking
they do not coordinate information from their senses
Substage 2 — Primary Circular Reaction
1-4 months
learn to purposely repeat a pleasurable bodily sensation first achieved by

chance
activities focus on the body rather than the external environment
Substage 3 — Secondary Circular Reaction
4-8 months
intentionally repeats an action not for its own sake, but to get rewarding results
beyond the infant’s own body
examples:
cooing repeated because it makes the parent smile
rattling the toy because it produces a pleasurable sound
actions are intentional but not goal-directed
Substage 4 — Coordination of Secondary Schemes

8-12 months
built upon the few schemes they were born with
behavior is more intentional and purposeful, and they can anticipate events
learned to generalize from past experiences to solve new problems
they try out, modify, and coordinate previous schemes to find one that works
marks the development of complex, goal-directed behavior
Substage 5 — Tertiary Circular Reactions
12-18 months
babies begin to experiment to see what will happen
vary a behavior to see what might happen
by trial and error, toddlers try behaviors until they find the best way to attain a
goal
Substage 6 — Mental Combinations
18 months to 2 years
transition to the preoperational stage of early childhood
representational ability
capacity to store mental images or symbols of objects and events
ability to mentally represent objects and actions in memory, largely

through symbols such as words, numbers and mental pictures
it frees toddlers from immediate experience
they can thinking about actions before taking them and try out solutions in
their mind
they no longer have to go through trial and error in the real world
Object Concept
object permanence → realization that something continues to exist when out of sight
18 to 24 months

babies understand that objects have independent existences and will reliably search
for hidden objects
two-step sequence of actions
methods only based on babies’ looking behavior eliminate the need for
coordination with motor activity
example: they just look for the object (one step) but not grasp them (two step)
A-not-B error
infants continue to look for an object in the place where they first found it after
seeing it hidden, even if they were later shown the object being moved to a new
location
Imitation
visible imitation
uses body parts such as hands or feet that babies can see
develops first
invisible imitation
involves parts of the body that babies cannot see (e.g. mouth)
follows after visible imitation
deferred imitation
more complex ability requiring long-term ability which children under 18 months
cannot engage in
reproduction of an observed behavior after the passage of time
requires that a stored representation of the action be recalled
children could not engage in deferred imitation because they lacked the ability to
retain mental representations
the ability to hold material in memory over a longer time span increases with age,
so does the ability to remember a sequence of steps in order
toddlers are more likely to imitate conventional actions (cuddling a teddy bear) over
unconventional actions (cuddling a photo of a teddy bear)

children’s imitation depends on their goals
when trying to communicate similarly or forge social bonds → imitate other

children
when trying to learn → imitate adults
overimitation
tendency to copy any action performed by an adult, even if that action is clearly
purposeless or inefficient
Symbolic Development
pictorial competence
ability to understand the nature of pictures
example: suns are represented in books or drawings as a circle with radiating spires.
the child understands that the drawing or graphic is representative of a big ball of
light in the sky (real sun)
infants are still unable to apply real-world knowledge to a symbolic representation
15 months → use hands to explore pictures as if they were real objects — do not
understand it is a representation
19 months → able to point at a picture while saying its name — understanding that
a picture is a symbol of something else
as children’s ability to recognize and understand visual features improves, so too

does their ability to draw those same features
scale error
momentary misperception of the relative sizes of objects
example: sitting in a miniature chair that is too tiny to hold them
dual representation hypothesis
an object has two potential representations:
an object in its own right (a miniature chair)
symbol for a class of things (chairs—for sitting)

it is difficult for toddlers to simultaneously mentally represent both the actual
object and the symbolic nature of what it stands for
Information-Processing Approach
Habituation
type of learning in which repeated or continuous exposure to a stimulus reduces

attention to that stimulus
researched by presenting repeatedly a stimulus and monitoring responses
example:
when presented with a new sound, a baby will stop sucking or slow down their
sucking as opposed to initially vigorous sucking
when the stimulus is presented repeatedly (it loses its novelty), the baby
generally resumes sucking vigorously
dishabituation
response to a new stimulus
example:
a new sound is presented to the baby which is different from the initial sound
the baby repeats behavior of stopping or slowing down sucking
this is dishabituation because the baby shifted their attention to another

stimulus
Tools of Infant Research
visual preference
tendency to spend more time looking at one sight rather than another
used by researchers to ask babies which of the two objects they prefer
novelty preference
infants prefer new sights to familiar ones

because the novel stimulus is new and babies like new things, it is more interesting
and thus warrants a better look than the previously seen, more boring, stimulus
visual recognition memory
ability to distinguish a familiar visual stimulus from an unfamiliar one when show
both at the same time
depends on the capacity to form and refer to mental representation
Perceptual and Attentional Processes
generally assessed by how quickly infants habituate to a new stimulus and how well
they remember previously encountered stimuli
joint attention
shared attentional focus, typically initiated with eye gaze or pointing
when babies follow an adults’ gaze by looking or pointing in the same direction
Cross-Modal Transfer
ability to use information gained from one sense to guide another
ex. navigating through the dark by feeling the location of familiar objects
if the objects used as stimulus were either smooth or nubby (differently textured
objects), the infants could transfer vision to touch and touch to vision equally well
Information Processing and Piagetian Abilities
Categorization
newborns distinguish between closed and open shapes but are unable to categorize
different types of closed shapes until about 3-4 months
example:
babies can distinguish a triangle from a cross, but cannot distinguish and
isosceles triangle to an equilateral one
at 3-4 months, they can distinguish between a dog and a cat or between a chair and
a bed (specific categorizations within broad ones) by looking longer at items in a
new category

infants at first seem to categorize on the basis of perceptual features, such as shape,
color, and pattern
12-14 months → categories become conceptual, based on real-world knowledge,

particularly of function
example: they recognize that chairs with zebra-print are furniture—not animals
Causality
principle that one event causes another
4-6 months → they begin to recognize that they can act on their environment but
they did not yet know that causes must come before effects and that forces outside
of themselves can make things happen
8 months → infants make causal attribution for simple events even when they
cannot see the actual moment of contact between the two objects
Object Permanence
violation-of-expectations
begins with a familiarization phase in which infants see an event happen

normally
after habituation, the event is changed in a way that conflicts with normal
expectations
the baby tends to look longer at the changed event, meaning additional interest
Cognitive Neuroscience Approach

examines the hardware of the central nervous system to identify what brain structures are
involved in specific areas of cognition
implicit memory
remembering that occurs without effort or even conscious awareness
pertains to habits and skills
more automatic and early appearing, little affected by culture

explicit memory
declarative memory
conscious or intentional recollection, usually of facts, names, events, or other things that
can be stated or declared
involves a conscious and deliberative process and thus is subject to cultural influences
working memory
short-term storage of information the brain is actively processing or working on
appears relatively late in development and may be responsible for the slow development
of object permanence
Social-Contextual Approach
influenced by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
interested in how cultural context affects early social interactions
guided participation
mutual interactions with adults that help structure children’s activities and bridge the
gap between a child’s understanding and an adult’s
occurs in shared play and in ordinary, everyday activities in which children informally
learn the skills, knowledge, and values important to their culture
Language Development
language
communication system based on words and grammar
Language Milestones
Birth → perceive speech, cry, make some response to sound
2 months → makes sounds other than crying
4 months → responds to sound, coos, and turns head towards others’ voices

6 months → blows raspberries and makes squealing noises
9 months → babbling
12 months → calls parents “mama” or “papa” or other special names; understands “no”
15 months → uses 1-2 words other than mama or papa, follows directions with gesture
and words, looks at familiar objects, points to ask for help
18 months → follows directions without gestures
24 months → says at least 2 words together
30 months → says around 50 words; says at least 2 words with one action word
36 months → talks in conversations with at least 2 back-and-forth exchanges
Nature vs Nurture
Skinner
language learning is based on experience and learned associations through operant

conditioning
babies utter sounds at random which caregivers reinforce when they make sounds
that resemble adult speech
infants repeat reinforced sounds and language is gradually shaped
Social Learning Theory
babies imitate the sounds they hear adults make and are reinforced for doing so
Naom Chomsky
nativism
human brain has an innate capacity for acquiring language; babies tend to talks as
naturally as they learn to walk
language acquisition device (LAD)
inborn mechanism that programs children’s brains to analyze the language they
hear and to figure out its rules
almost all children master their native language in the same age-related sequence
without formal teaching

does not tell us why some children acquire language more rapidly and efficiently
than others, why children differ in linguistic skill and fluency, or why speech
development appears to depend on having someone to talk with, not merely on
hearing spoken language
language depends on an intertwining of nature and nurture
children have an inborn capacity to acquire language, which may be activated or

constrained by experience
Sequence of Early Language Development
prelinguistic speech
forerunner of linguistic speech
utterance of sounds that are not words
includes crying, cooing, babbling, and accidental and deliberate imitation of sounds
without understanding their meaning
Early Vocalization
crying
a newborn’s first means of communication
cooing
starts between 6 weeks and 3 months
squealing, gurgling, and making vowel sounds
babbling
repeating consonant-vowel strings
between ages 6 and 10 months
often mistaken for a baby’s first word
it is language-general until about 9 months
although initially nonsensical, becomes more wordlike over time
Perceiving Language Sounds and Structure

infants’ brains seem to be preset to discriminate basic linguistic units, perceive
linguistic patterns, and categorize them as similar or different
6-7 months → learned to recognize the phonemes used in their native language
8 months → lose sensitivity to phonemes not used in their native language
end of 1st year → lose sensitivity to sounds that are not part of the language or
languages they usually hear spoken
hypotheses:
infants mentally compute the relative frequency of particular phonetic

sequences in their language and learn to ignore sequences they infrequently
hear
early language experience modifies neural structures, facilitating detection of

word patterns in the native language while suppressing attention to nonnative
patterns that would slow native language learning
between 6-12 months → begin to become aware of the phonological rules of their
language
Gestures
by using gestures, babies show an understanding that symbols refer to specific

objects, events, desires, and conditions
12 months → learned some conventional social gestures
waving bye bye and shaking head for “no”
13 months → use more elaborate representational gestures
holding out empty cup to indicate thirst
symbolic gestures (blowing for “hot”) often emerge around the same time that
babies say their first words
gesture-word combinations serve as a signal that a child is about to begin using

multiword sentences
First Words
linguistic speech

verbal expression that conveys meaning
average baby says their first work between 10 and 14 months
13 months → understand that a word stands for a specific thing or event, and they
can quickly learn the meaning of a new word
may use a simple syllable to mean more than one thing depending on the
context
entire sentence expressed with one word → holophrase
10 months to 2 years → shift from simple associations to following social cues
10 months → assume a new word they hear refers to whatever object they find
interesting, whether or not it is correct
12 months → pay attention to cues from adults; still learning words only for
interesting objects
18-24 months → follow social cues in learning words, regardless of intrinsic

interest
24 months → quickly recognize the names of familiar objects in the absence of

visual cues
receptive vocabulary
what infants understand
continues to grow as verbal comprehension gradually becomes faster and more

accurate and efficient
expressive vocabulary → spoken
nouns are the easiest type of word to learn while verbs are more difficult
First Sentences
next important linguistic breakthrough → toddler puts two words together to

express one idea
happens between 18-24 months
first sentences typically deal with everyday events, things, people, or activities
telegraphic speech → consists of only a few essential words to form sentences

children show implicit understanding of the fundamental rules for putting sentences
together → syntax
20-30 months → children show increasing competence in syntax
become increasingly aware of the communicative purpose of speech and of

whether their words are being understood
age 3 → speech is fluent, longer, and more complex
code mixing
in bilingual children
using elements of both languages in the same utterance
code switching
ability to shift from one language to another
overregularization
occurs when children inappropriately apply a syntactical rule
“Daddy goed to the store” “I drawed that”
underextension
use words in too narrow a category
restricting the word “doggy” to one’s own pet
overextension
using words in too broad of a category
calling a stray “Cholo” (as in the child’s pet’s name) because his dog is black
and an aspen, all dogs of the same nature can be called “Cholo”
Influences of Early Speech
Brain Development
brain activation in left temporal and parietal lobes in toddlers with large
vocabularies
brain activation is scattered for those with small vocabularies
Social Interaction and the Linguistic Environment

interaction with a live communicative partner
Child-Directed Speech
a.k.a. parentese, motherese, or baby talk
form of speech often used in talking to babies or toddlers
includes slow, simplified speech, a high-pitched tone, exaggerated vowel

sounds, and much repetition
Psychosocial Development
Early Emotional Development
Emotions → subjective reactions to experience that are associated with physiological and
behavioral changes
Crying
primary way in which infants communicate their needs and is considered to be an

honest signal of need
adults find the sound of crying unpleasant and are wired to respond with caregiving
behaviors
crying is related to their physiological state
a higher pitch and a more monotonic vocalization is associated with autonomic system
activity during stressful procedures in infants
cries of preterm infants who generally have higher needs
as children age, they begin to realize that crying serves a communicative function
5 months → they monitor caregivers’ expressions
if ignored will first cry harder and then stop crying if still unsuccessful in getting
attention
Smiling and Laughing
social smiling → when newborn infants gaze and smile at their parents begins in the
2nd month

12 weeks → smile at others more or less frequently depending on the responses of
adults around them
laughter
smile-linked vocalization
becomes more common in 4-12 months
it may signify the most intense positive emotion
clowning
silly, nonverbal behaviors that parents do to elicit laughs from young children
anticipatory smiling
rises between 8-10 months
infants smile at an object and then gaze at an adult while continuing to smile
among the first types of communication in which the infant refers to an object or
experience
Self-Conscious Emotions
self-awareness
cognitive understanding that they have a recognizable identity, separate and

different from the rest of their world
gives rise to self-conscious emotions → embarrassment, empathy, and envy
emerge between 15-24 months
necessary before children can be aware of being the focus of attention, identify with
what other “selves” are feeling, or wish they had what someone else has
age 3 → demonstrating self-evaluative emotions → pride, guilt, and shame
Altruistic Helping and Empathy
altruistic behavior → acting out of concern with no expectation of reward
1, 3, 6, and 9 months → respond to the cries of other infants with cries of their own and
facial expressions of distress

6 and 12 months → respond to other infants’ expressions of anger and distress with
pupillary dilation—sign consistent with emotional arousal
12 months → spontaneously will help an adult reach for or find a toy that has fallen out
of reach
15 months → expectations about fairness as illustrated by their tendency to stare longer

at an unfair distribution of goods than an equal distribution
2 years → likely to help others, share belongings and food, and offer comfort at the
distress of others
reflect empathy → ability to imagine how another person might feel in a particular
situation
mirror neurons
may underlie empathy and altruism
these fire when a person does something but also when they observe someone else
doing the same thing
Collaborative Activities and Cultural Transmission
collaborative activities increase during the 2nd year of life as toddlers become more
adept at communication
they have the ability and motivation to engage in socially coordinated actions with
shared goals
overimitation
out universal propensity to overimitate accounts for our impressive creation of

cultural artifacts and institutions
Temperament
early-appearing, biologically based tendency to respond to the environment in predictable

ways
Temperament Patterns and Development
types:
easy children → generally happy, rhythmic in biological functioning, and accepting

of new experiences

difficult children → more irritable and harder to please, irregular in biological
rhythms, wary of new experiences, and more intense in expressing emotion
slow to warm up children → mild but slow to adapt to new people and situations
stable in temperament from 2-13 months of age is quite high
temperament is relatively stable individual differences, perhaps because it is largely

inborn and strongly influenced by genetics
does not mean that temperament is fully formed at birth
develops as various emotions and self-regulatory capacities appear, and it can change in
response to parental treatment and other life experiences
Goodness of Fit
match between temperament and the environmental demands and constraints the child
must deal with
if temperament does not match the environment, tensions may occur
easy child is expected to sit still for long periods
difficult child constantly taken away from absorbing projects
slow to warm up children constantly pushed into new situations
Behavioral Inhibition
how boldly or cautiously a child approaches unfamiliar objects and situations
most clearly seen when babies are presented with novel stimuli
high → physiologically aroused and may even be overaroused that would be

unpleasant for them
they have an unusually excitable amygdala
low → relaxed; show little distress or motor activity; often calmly stare at new
stimuli, sometimes smiling at it
behaviorally inhibited children are more likely to outgrow their inhibition if parents do
not completely shield them from new situations and instead provide gentle support and
encouragement during anxiety-provoking situations

Gender
what it means to be male or female
Sex Differences in Infants and Toddlers
Physical
boys are a bit longer and heavier and may be slightly stronger and more active, but
are physically more vulnerable from conception on
girls are less reactive to stress and more likely survive infancy
boys’ brains at birth are about 10% larger than girls’
Empathy
girls are more likely than boys to cry, and cry longer when they hear another baby
crying
girls show more concern and are more likely to respond prosocially to the distress
of others
Aggression
illustrated within the context of play
boys are more likely to express anger than girls
boys as young as 17 months tend to play more actively and aggressively than girls
girls play with girls and boys play with boys, not because they necessarily want to
to but because most children enjoy playing with someone who plays like they do
Gender-typed toy preferences
emerge at 3 months before infants could have formed an understanding of

masculine or feminine conceptual categories
testosterone levels in infancy predict later gender-typed toy preferences
socialization influences such as family, peers, and media can have a strong effect on
children’s toy preferences
Visual information
boys show an advantage for spatial information

boys are better at recognizing mirror image of a previously presented stimulus
boys are more likely to be able to predict the path of an object hidden behind a
screen
boys are better at using the geometry of a room as a cue to orient themselves when
other information is not available
Parental Influences on Gender Differences
gender-typing → process by which children learn behavior their culture considers

appropriate for each sex
delivered implicitly through the ways in which parents interact with baby boys and
girls
gendered differences in parental treatment
girls are generally allowed a bit more latitude in the expression of negative
emotions
fathers treat boys and girls more differently than mothers do
fathers talk more and spend more time with sons than with daughters
fathers, overall, play with their children more than mothers do and play more
roughly with sons and show more sensitivity to daughters
mothers talk more, and more supportively, to daughters than to sons
Developmental Issues in Infancy
Developing Trust
Basic Trust vs Mistrust
Erik Erikson
successful → develop a sense of reliability of people and objects in our world;

feeling safe and loved
risk → develop sense of mistrust and feel that those around us cannot be counted
on in times of need
begins in infancy and continues until about 18 months

babies develop a balance between trust and mistrust
trust predominates → develop hope → belief that they can fulfill their needs
and obtain their desires
too much trust → maladaptation of sensory distortion (being gullible)
mistrust predominates → view the world as unfriendly and unpredictable and

have trouble forming quality relationships
too much mistrust → malignancy of withdrawal
Developing Attachments
attachment → reciprocal, enduring emotional tie between an infant and a caregiver,

each of whom contributes to the quality of the relationship
Harry Barlow
rhesus monkey experiment where there were two “surrogate” mothers:
plain, cylindrical wire mesh → offered food
terry-cloth → offered nothing but a cuddly figure to cling to
baby monkeys spent majority of their time clinging to the terry-cloth mother
conclusion:
feeding is not the only, or even the most important, thing babies get from their
mothers
mothering includes the comfort of close bodily contact and the satisfaction of
an innate need to cling
John Bowlby
attachment styles are the result of repeated interactions with a caregiver
every time a baby cries, the mother responds quickly and sensitively to that bid of
comfort → over time the baby comes to expect it
if a mother responds inconsistently to crying, babies form a different set of

expectations
set of expectations → working models

because the working model emerges as a result of interactions between both
partners in the relationship, babies can have different working models (and
attachment styles) with different people
Stages of Attachment
Asocial or Pre-attachment Stage
Birth to 3 months
stage that baby is forming bonds, but relationship with objects and humans
are similar
Indiscriminate Attachment
6 weeks to 7 months
babies display more observable social behavior
preference for people over objects
prefer familiar adults, however do not show stranger or separation anxiety
Specific or Discriminate Attachment
7-11 months
stage where majority of babies display stranger anxiety and separation

anxiety from one particular adult
Multiple Attachments
24 months above
attachment to one adult usually extend to multiple attachments with other

adults who they regularly spend time with
Stranger and Separation Anxiety
John Bowlby believed this was an adaptive process
stranger anxiety → wariness of a person they do not know
separation anxiety → distress when a familiar caregiver leaves them
Studying Patterns of Attachment
Strange Situation

Mary Ainsworth
laboratory-based technique designed to assess attachment patterns between an

infant and an adult
consists of three sequence of episodes and takes less than half an hour
episodes are designed to trigger the emergence of attachment-related behaviors
mother twice leaves the baby in an unfamiliar room, the first time with a
stranger
second time, mother leaves and the stranger comes back before the mother
does
mother then encourages the baby to explore and play again and gives comfort
if the baby seems to need it
what the baby does during the caregiver’s absence is not diagnostic of attachment
categorization, but what the babies do when the caregiver returns
secure attachment
flexible and resilient in the face of stress
sometimes cry when caregiver leaves, but quickly obtain comfort once they return
some are comfortable being with a stranger for a short period of time
they clearly indicate they prefer the caregiver to the stranger in the reunion
episode, often smiling at, greeting, or approaching the caregiver
avoidant attachment
outwardly unaffected by a caregiver leaving or returning
generally continue to play in the room and frequently interact with the stranger
upon return of the caregiver, they ignore or reject them, sometimes deliberately
turning away
tend to show little emotion, either positive or negative
ambivalent (resistant) attachment
generally anxious even before the caregiver leaves, sometimes approaching the
caregiver for comfort when the stranger looks at or approaches them for interaction

extremely reactive to the caregiver’s departure from the room and generally
become very upset
upon return, they tend to remain upset for long periods of time
they show a mix of proximity-seeking and angry behaviors and are very difficult to
settle
disorganized-disoriented attachment
Main & Solomon
seem to lack a cohesive strategy to deal with the stress of the Strange Situation
show contradictory, repetitive, or misdirected behavior
seeking closeness to the stranger instead of the mother or showing a fear

response upon the caregiver’s entry
they seem confused and afraid
occur in babies whose mothers are insensitive, intrusive, or abusive
who are fearful
who have suffered unresolved loss or have unresolved feelings about their
childhood attachment to their own parents
more common in infants who have undergone major or repeated separations form
primary caregivers
Mutual Regulation
ability of both infant and caregiver to respond appropriately and sensitively to each other’s
mental and emotional states
they have high interactional synchrony
both unconsciously coordinate their behavior and affect in a rhythmic back and forth
manner, responding appropriately and effectively to each other’s signals in an
interactive dance
infants take an active part in this by sending behavioral signals that influence the way
caregivers behave toward them

in 2-9 months, it is measured using still-face paradigm
mother interacts in a normal fashion in order to establish a baseline of behaviors
in a still-face episode, the mother suddenly becomes stone-faced, silent, and

unresponsive, avoiding eye contact
the baby attempts to draw the mother’s attention and express more negative affect
in essence, they become dysregulated
when interaction is highly synchronous, the baby tends to be joyful or interested
when a mother or caregiver is not synchronous in her interaction with the baby, the baby
becomes stressed or physiologically aroused
from this process, babies learn how to send signals and what to do when their signals
are not effective
Social Referencing
children look at their caregivers on encountering an ambiguous event
seeking emotional information to guide behavior
one person forms an understanding of how to act in an ambiguous, confusing, or unfamiliar

situation by seeking and interpreting another person’s perception of it
as children age, their use of social referencing becomes more sophisticated, and they become
less dependent on facial expression
12 months → toddlers can use either a facial expression or vocal tone as a cue to the
safety of an action but respond more quickly to voice
while younger infant tend to check in with adults regardless of what type of stimulus they
encounter, older infants tend to check in only when a stimulus or situation is ambiguous
Developmental Issues in Toddlerhood
Emerging Sense of Self
self-concept → sense of self; describes what we know and feel about ourselves and
guides our actions

3 months → infants pay more attention to their mirror image than to images of
others
4 months → begin to show more interest in images of others than themselves
recognition of own vs other-race faces is not just a perceptual process but is linked
with emotional content and gradually refined over time
the emergence of self-awareness builds on the dawning of perceptual distinction

between self and others
a sign of self-recognition is the use of first-person pronouns, such as me and mine,

usually at 20-24 months
between 19-30 months, children begin to apply descriptive terms (big, little) and
evaluative terms (good, naughty) to themselves
they demonstrate self-understanding through acknowledging objects that belong to them

and those that belong to others
Development of Autonomy
autonomy vs shame and doubt
18 months to 3 years
shift from external control to self-control
virtue → will
malignancy (too much shame and doubt) → impulsivity
maladaptation (too much autonomy) → compulsivity
toilet training is an important step toward autonomy and self-control
toddlers need adults to set appropriate limits, and shame and doubt help them
recognize the need for those limits
Moral Development and Socialization
socialization → process by which children develop habits, skills, values, and motives
that make them responsible, productive members of society
compliance with parental expectations can be seen as a first step toward compliance
with societal standards

socialization rests on internalization of these standards
children no longer obey rules or commands just to get rewards and avoid
punishment, but because they believe them to be right and true
Developing Self-Regulation
self-regulation → control of behavior to conform to a caregiver’s demands or

expectations, even when the caregiver is not present
it is the foundation of socialization
cognitive awareness is not enough; it also requires emotional control and

understanding as children continually absorb information about what conduct their
parents approve of
before then can control their own behavior, children need to be able to regulate
their attentional processes and to modulate negative emotions
attentional regulation enables children to develop willpower and cope with

frustration
Developing a Conscience
conscience → eventual goal of socialization is for the development of a conscience
involves both the ability to refrain from certain acts as well as to feel emotional
discomfort for failing to do so
situational compliance → children need the extra assistance provided by their

parents’ reminder and prompts to complete the task
committed compliance → children are committed to following requests and could

do so without their parents’ direct intervention
tends to increase with age, whereas situational compliance decreases
receptive cooperation → child’s eager willingness to cooperate harmoniously with

a parent, not only in disciplinary situations but also in a variety of daily
interactions, including routines, chores, hygiene, and play
constructive conflict (one that involves negotiation, reasoning, and resolution) over
a child’s misbehavior can help children develop a conscience by enabling them to
see another point of view

Relationships with Other Children
Siblings
earliest, most frequent, and most intense disputes among siblings are over property
rights or access to the mother
despite the frequency of conflict, prosocial and play-oriented behaviors are more
common than rivalry, hostility, and competition
because older siblings tend to dominate younger ones, the quality of the relationship is
more affected by the emotional and social adjustment of the older child than the
younger one
quality of sibling relationships tends to carry over to relationships with other children
siblings are generally a secondary attachment and babies prefer the attention of a
primary caregiver when in distress
Peers
preschoolers usually like to play with children of the same age, sex, and gender
they also prefer prosocial playmates who can provide them with positive experiences
and who are advanced in theory of mind (knowledge that others’ beliefs, desires,
intentions, emotions, and thoughts may be different from one’s own)
they reject disruptive, demanding, intrusive, or aggressive children
Child Maltreatment
forms:
physical abuse → injury to the body through punching, beating, kicking, or burning
neglect → failure to meet a child’s basic needs, such as food, clothing, medical care,
protection, and supervision
sexual abuse → any sexual activity involving a child and an older person
emotional maltreatment → including rejection, terrorization, isolation, exploitation,

degradation, ridicule, or failure to provide emotional support, love, and affection

sex trafficking → recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a
person for the purpose of a commercial sex act
Maltreatment in Infancy and Toddlerhood
nonorganic failure to thrive
experienced by babies who do not receive nurturance and affection or who are
neglected
slowed or arrested physical growth with no known medical cause, accompanied by

poor developmental and emotional functioning
symptoms:
lack of appropriate weight gain
irritability
excessive sleepiness and fatigue
avoidance of eye contact
lack of smiling or vocalizing
delayed motor development
can result from a combination of inadequate nutrition, difficulties in breastfeeding,

improper formula preparation or feeding techniques, and disturbed interactions with
parents
shaken baby syndrome
found mainly in children under 2 years old, most often in infants
because the baby has weak neck muscles and a large, heavy head, shaking makes
the brain bounce back and forth inside the skull
this causes bruising, bleeding, and swelling and can lead to permanent and severe
brain damage, paralysis, and even death
damage is typically worse if the baby is thrown into bed or against a wall

4 Infancy Toddlerhood

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4 Infancy Toddlerhood

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Infancy & Toddlerhood

Book Chapters Papalia (4, 5, & 6) ; Santrock (4, 5, & 6)

Parturition → act or process of giving birth

typically begins about 2 weeks before delivery

relatively mild and irregular

Stage 1 — dilation of the cervix

this is shorter in subsequent births

at the end of this stage, contractions are every 2-5 minutes

lasts until the cervix is fully open (10 cm or 4 inches)

Stage 2 — descent and emergence of the baby

Infancy & Toddlerhood 1

Stage 3 — expulsion of the placenta

lasts between 10 minutes and 1 hour

Electronic Fetal Monitoring

used to track the fetus’s heartbeat during labor

continuous EFM use in a healthy, low-risk pregnancy is associated with an increased

Vaginal vs Cesarean Delivery

reduced risk of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse (weakened

can lead to bleeding, uterine rupture, and heightened risks of problems in

Infancy & Toddlerhood 2

deprive the baby of important benefits of normal birth

surge of hormones that clears the lungs of excess fluid, mobilization of

vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC)

associated with greater risk of complications

uterine rupture, unplanned hysterectomy, and maternal death

high blood pressure

very large baby

repeat cesarian deliveries

may cause postpartum endometriosis

uterine cells are found outside of the uterus

complications related to the use of anesthesia

bladder or bowel injury

Infancy & Toddlerhood 3

local (vaginal) anesthesia

also call pudendal block

given usually during the second stage of labor

Infancy & Toddlerhood 4

The Newborn Baby

Size and Appearance

neonatal period → first 4 weeks of life

boys tend to be slightly longer and heavier than girls

large head and receding chin

areas on their heads where bones of the skill do not meet

covered by a tough membrane that allows for flexibility in shape

Infancy & Toddlerhood 5

a newborn, especially if premature, may have swollen genitals

upon birth, a newborn must start breathing for itself

can leave permanent brain damage, causing intellectual disability, behavior

babies are born alert and have strong sucking reflex

they secrete meconium

stringy, greenish-black waste matter formed in the fetal intestinal tract

skin and eyeballs look yellow

Medical and Behavioral Assessment

Dr. Virginia Apgar

assessed one minute after delivery and 5 minutes after birth

Infancy & Toddlerhood 6

pulse → heart rate

grimace → reflex irritability

activity → muscle tone

rated 0, 1, or 2 in each measure

7-10 → good to excellent condition

below 5 to 7 → baby needs help to establish breathing

below 4 → needs immediate lifesaving treatment

scores of 0 to 3 at 10, 15, and 20 minutes after birth