Memory in Infants

How do you study memory in an infant? By using the orienting response & habituation Orienting Response = tendency to respond to new

stimulation by becoming more alert (shows recognition that stimulus has changed)

Habituation = When stimulus becomes familiar, infant responds less to it (this can be interpreted as demonstrating memory)

Development of Infant Memory

Three sequential phases in development of memory: Neurons fire when a new stimulus is presented and

stops with habituation Around 3 months infants actively look and search and

show recognition for things Around 8 months infants can remember categories of

things such as “fuzzy things” and “toys”

Intellectual Achievements

The Object Concept – learning to think beyond the “here and now.”

Modifying schemas (assimilation) versus creating new schemas (accommodation) – equilibration

Intention and imitation Learning new behaviors through observation

Cognitive Development in Infancy

Cognitive Development

I. Basics of Piaget Children ACTIVELY construct their cognitive world Two processes:

Organization and adaptationPiaget says we adapt in two ways:

Assimilation Accommodation

More Basics

Schema

4 forces that shape development for Piaget Equilibration Maturation Active Experience Social Interaction

Sensorimotor Period

Birth-2 years No object permanence

1. Exercising Reflexes 0-1 mos.

2. Primary Circular reactions (repetitive actions) 1-4 mos.

3. Secondary Circular Reactions (Actions with people and objects) 4-8 mos.

4. Purposeful Coordination (goal directed actions) 8-12 mos.

5. Tertiary Circular Reactions (experimentation) 12-18 mos.

6. Mental representation (symbolic representation) 18-24 mos.

What is Language?

A system of symbols that are used to communicate with others

The Influence of Biology Evolution Critical Period (18 mos - puberty)-Genie LAD (Language Acquisition Device)-Chomsky

Stages of Language Development

1st stage: crying, cooing, gurgling

-echoing, labeling from parents

2nd stage: 3-6 month

-babbling

-universal adaptability/universal linguist

3rd stage: 12 months, 1 -word stage

-holophrase hypothesis

-overextension/underextension

-24 mos, 2- word stage, telegraphic speech

Social and Emotional Development in Infancy

Focus Questions: How do infants influence caregivers? Are all infants the same in terms of emotional reactions

and personality? Are mother-infant bonds biological or learned? What happens when infants are separated from

caregivers? What do “average, normal, and exceptional” mean?

Contextual Model

Family relationships impact members in a reciprocal fashion Second order effects

Influence father has on mother Relationship between mother and infant Effect of child on marital relationship Economic changes

II. Attachment & Temperament

What is Attachment? Harry Harlow’s Studies Differences in Attachment Styles

Separation Anxiety

Ainsworth – strange situation Setting designed to evaluate the infant’s reaction at being

separated from, and later reunited with, a caregiver. Used to assess infant attachment Can minimize fear reactions by having many familiar people

and objects around

Stranger Anxiety

Unusual prior to 6 months of age Peaks at about 9 to 15 months Uneasy or fear response to something that is non-familiar Incongruity hypothesis – child is developing a familiarity

(and sense of predictability) with environment that stranger challenges

Attachment

Mary Ainsworth Strange Situation

Attachment Styles

At first, 3 Attachment Styles Secure (60%) Insecure

anxious-avoidant (20%)Anxious-ambivalent/resistant (12%)

Then…Disorganized/Disoriented (8%) (Main & Solomon, 1990)

Types of Attachment

Securely attached – use mother as base of exploration – warm contact upon reunion

Insecure-avoidant – display negative behavior at reunion Insecure-resistant – may appear to want held and then push

mother away Disorganized-disoriented – range of behaviors such as crying

and then running from parent

Figure 6.3 Types of infant attachment. Source: Based in part on Ainsworth et al. (1978). Patterns of Attachment. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum; and on M. Main & J. Solomon (1986). Discovery of an insecure, disorganized/disoriented attachment pattern: Procedures, findings, and implications for the classification of behavior. In M. Yogman & T. B. Brazelton, eds., Affective development in infancy. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.

Temperament

What is temperament? 3 Basic types or clusters

Infant Temperament

Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1970) Activity level Rhythmicity Approach-withdrawal Adaptability Sensitivity to stimuli Intensity of reaction

Chess & Thomas, 19911. Easy (40%)2. Difficult (15%)3. Slow-to-warm-up (10%)4. Varying Mixtures/Unclassified (35%)

Figure 6.1  Infant temperaments. What sort of infant were you? Ask your mother, your father, a sibling, or someone else who can tell you. Do you see any relationship between who you are now and what you were like as an infant? Source: Based on classifications used by Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1968, 1970, 1981) in the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS).

Buss & Plomin, 1987

1. Emotionality

2. Sociability

3. Activity Level

Crying

Infants don’t cry because they want to – they cry because they have to

It expresses a need, a fear, a frustration, a relief Peak period for infant crying is around 6 weeks Persistent crying is sign of a serious problem

Kinds of Cries

Wolff analyzed tape recording of infant cries Identified 4 distinct cries

Rhythmic cry – typical cry that seems non-serious Angry cry – protracted loudness Pain cry – long wail followed by breath holding Hunger cry – parents usually readily respond

Smiling and Laughing

Reflex smiling – brainstem response. Social smiling – in response to auditory and visual stimuli. Selective social smile – occurs in response to social stimuli

with which the child is familiar.