PSY 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Mendelian Inheritance, Object Permanence, Primitive Reflexes
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Chapter 10: Cognitive Development
At the end of this Chapter you should be able to:
• Understand the steps of Physical Development
• Understand what Cognitive Development is
Physical Development
•Obvious aspect of our growth
•Longer span of time – 16 to 17 years just to achieve full height – for physical growth than in
any other species
•What influences bear on this? Why so slow?
Prenatal and Neonatal Growth
•In-uterus: cell division first does not increase size of cellular mass; then becomes an embryo
• Embryo differentiates in cell types - grows to about one inch by 8 weeks of age
•By 7 months: good chance of survival if born, with many reflexes developed, including:
• Crying
• Sucking
• Breathing
• Swallowing
Growth patterns
•In most ways, human infant quite helpless
• Especially if compared to other species’ infants
•Brain continues to show a tremendous amount of growth in neural connectivity
•Overall physical growth also continues
• Growth spurts occur around ages of 2, 6, 10, and 14
• Up to two decades of some degree of parental care is usual in humans
Sensorimotor Capacities of the Newborn
•Capacity for organized interaction with own body and with environment:
• Physical reflexes predominate at first
• Grasping reflex
• Rooting reflex
• Infantile reflexes replaced later by more conscious control over head, arms, legs, and
trunk
• Sensory abilities more advanced
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Document Summary
At the end of this chapter you should be able to: understand the steps of physical development, understand what cognitive development is. Sensorimotor capacities of the newborn: capacity for organized interaction with own body and with environment: Physical reflexes predominate at first: grasping reflex, rooting reflex. Infantile reflexes replaced later by more conscious control over head, arms, legs, and trunk. Genetic roots of cognitive capacities: cognitive capacities bear genetic imprint, when comparing adopted children to biological children: genetics are powerful, beyond the environment in which one was raised, genes strongly influence intellectual development. Prenatal environment: neural and cellular neighbors influence how nearby cells develop, hormones in uterine environment affect expression of genes in constructing male/female organism. Post-natal environment: experience, age both affect how the child develops or continues to develop. Cognitive development: major figure: jean piaget, swiss psychologist (1896 - 1980) First to propose that a child"s thinking was qualitatively different from that of adults.
