Human Development: The First 2 1/2 Years

Cognitive Development

Cognition -- process by which humans acquire and use knowledge

Habituation -- weaning of a response to a continuously presented stimulus

Dishabituation -- changed physiologic responses with awareness of a new stimulus

Habituation and dishabituation demonstrate 3 capabilities:

1. detecting changes in the environment

2. discriminating between stimuli

3. remembering a stimulus

Perception

* the cognitive process of receiving and analyzing information provided by 5 senses

* all five senses are functional in infants at birth

* infants demonstrate a perceptual bias -- an inborn preference for certain sensory stimuli

6 phases in the process of learning to learn

1. random manipulation

2. gross exploration

3. minute examination

4. practice

5. experiment

6. use information

Object Permanence - objects or people continue to exist even when out of sight

* according to Piaget, infants develop this skill around 8-9 months of age

* may be due to improved memory

recognition or receptive memory - confronted with stimulus, recognize it

recall or expressive memory - has mental image of missing object

Problem Solving

Piaget=s sensorimotor stage -- infants from 0-2 understand world through sensory and motor interactions

Substage 1 (birth -1 month) Substage 4 (8-12 months)

Substage 2 (1-4 months) Substage 5 (12-18 months)

Substage 3 (4-8 months) Substage 6 (18-24 months)

Facilitating Cognitive Development

* be sensitive * allow child to participate in give-and-take relationship

* engage child in reciprocal play and speech * provide a variety of stimulation

* provide regularity in environment