PSY 375 W3 Infancy Developmental Stage Worksheet

INFANCY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHEET

Introducing

Development in infancy refers to the various aspects of growth that takes place . It refers to the physical , psychological and social changes that the infant goes through . Growth in infancy is marked by milestones , which are specific changes in mental , social and physical abilities that signify the end of one developmental period and that starting of another period . Therefore milestone indicates a transition stage , which is influenced by biological and environmental factors (Patterson , 2008

Milestone related to physical development in infancy

Physical development is the growth

in stature and weight . In infancy this is marked development in motor , sensor , and perceptual skills that enable them to achieve physical milestones . Development of motor skills involves large-muscle activities . During infancy some of the milestones related to motor skills include development of posture , crawling learning to walk , and others . Fine motor skills influence reaching and grasping , size and shape of object matters and others . The experience during childhood affects perception and vision . There is development in sensory and perceptual skills . Sensation occurs when information contacts sensory receptors while perception is the interpretation of the sensation (Patterson , 2008

Milestone in cognitive development in infancy

Cognitive development describes the mental growth . As infants learn and interact with the environment , they create new connections between their brains and their bodies . At this period infants do not really think about what they are doing but they follow their instincts to get what they want . As they grow they engages in goal directed behaviors and they begin to think about what they want to do . They develop object permanence which gives them the ability to understand that something still exist even when it is not there . During this stage the two milestones that are evident are goal-oriented behavior and object permanence (Patterson , 2008

Piaget helps us to understand this development through his first stage of cognitive development that is the sensori-motor period . Piaget explained that development of spatial abilities and a general understanding of the world mark this period . The sensori-motor period is marked by development of milestones like reflexes , habits , coordination between vision and apprehension , and object permanence

Milestone related to socio-emotional development in infancy

When infant are born , they don 't seem to have fear or any kind of preferences to contact any person . They don 't recognize the deference existing between people . But as they grow they start to form attachments with those who are very close to them . In particular they become very close to their mother and form a strong attachment . At 8 to10 months infants begin to fear those who are not closely associated to them and they become distressed when separated from those close to them or when approached by a stranger . For example infants will cling to their mothers or show distress when their mother leaves them (Patterson 2008

Also infants will show engagement in social exchanges through reciprocal matching process . In this case infants try to match the adults or copy them by approximations like...