1. • Dr. Susan M. Hansen
Psy250 Lifespan Development
The First Two Years
Language
Piaget Review
Surviving in Good Health

2. Jean Piaget’s Stages of Sensormotor Development
Making
Interesting
Sights Last
4 to 8 mo.
Becomes more responsive to people and objects in
the environment; they learn to repeat specific
actions that have elicited pleasing responses.
THREE
Reflexes Birth to 1 mo. Sucking, grasping, staring, listeningONE
First Acquired
Adaptations 1 to 4 mo.
Starts to adapt its reflexes to the environment and to
coordinate two actions (for example, grabbing a
bottle to suck it).
TWO
Adaptation &
Anticipation
8 – 12 mo.
Infants become more purposeful in responding to
people and objects, anticipating events, and
engaging in goal-directed behavior.
FOUR
Active
Experimentation
12 - 18 mo.
The little scientists become more active and creative
in their exploration of, and trial-and- error
experimentation with, the environment.
FIVE
Mental
Combinations
18-24 mo.
By using mental combinations, toddlers begin to
anticipate and solve simple problems. This skill
enables the toddler to remember better, to anticipate
future events, to pretend, and to use deferred
imitation.
SIX

3. Tertiary circular reactions
Stage 6 (18 – 24 months)
Stage 5 (12 – 18 months)
tertiary circular
reactions:
Infants explore a range
of new activities,
varying their responses
as a way of learning
about the world.
Stage 2 (1 – 4 months)
Primary circular reactions
Stage 1 (birth – 1 month)
Secondary circular
reactions
Stage 4 (8 – 12 months)
Stage 3 (4 - 8 months)
primary circular
reactions: When the
infant senses motion,
sucking, noise, and
other stimuli, and tries
to understand them.
secondary
circular
reactions: Infants
respond to other
people, to toys, and
any other object they
can touch or move.
(circular reactions) In Piaget's terminology, processes by which an infant
learns to reproduce desired occurrences originally discovered by chance.
sensorimotor intelligence: Piaget’s term for the
way infants think—by using their senses and motor
skills.

4. primary circular
reactions: When the infant
senses motion, sucking,
noise, and other stimuli,
and tries to understand
them.
How do infants adapt as they learn to suck
a thumb?
4
Primary Circular Reactions

5. Basic reflexes
exercise.
5
Primary Circular Reactions

6. secondary circular reactions: Infants respond to other
people, to toys, and any other object they can touch or
move.
object permanence: The realization that objects
(including people) still exist when they can no longer
be seen, touched, or heard.
Where are you? Where is it?
6
Secondary Circular Reactions

7. 7
What is Doll Play?
tertiary circular
reactions:
Infants explore a
range of new
activities, varying
their responses as a
way of learning
about the world.
Stages Five and Six

8. Schemas
An infant’s mind works hard to make sense of our
experiences in the world.
An early tool to organize those experiences is a
schema, a mental container we build to hold our
experiences.
Schemas can take the form of images, models,
and/or concepts.
This child has formed a schema called “COW” which he
uses to think about animals of a certain shape and size.
“Cow!
”
“Cow!
”
Jean Piaget

9. Assimilation and Accommodation
How can this girl use her “dog” schema when encountering a cat?
 She can assimilate the experience into her schema by
referring to the cat as a “dog”
or
 she can accommodate her animal schema by separating the
cat, and even different types of dogs, into separate schemas.
Jean Piaget

10. We don’t start out being able to think like adults.
Jean Piaget studied the errors in cognition made by
children in order to understand in what ways they think
differently than adults.
The error below is an inability to understand scale
(relative size).
Jean Piaget

11. Four Theories About Language Learning
Theories of Language Learning
Infants need to be taught
 Based on behaviorism (for example: baby says
“ma-ma-ma”; mother reinforces by smiling,
repeating the sound, praising/rewarding the
baby)
 Parents are expert teachers
 Frequent repetition of words is instructive
 Well-taught infants become well-spoken children
 Infants communicate in every way they
can because humans are social beings
 Early communication focuses on
emotional messages of speech and not
the words
Infants teach themselves
Language Acquisition Device (LAD):
A hypothesized mental structure
that enables humans to learn
language, including basic aspects of
grammar, vocabulary, and
intonation.
Hybrid theory
 Some aspects of language may be
explained by one theory at one age
and another theory at another age.
 How language is learned depends
on the age of the child as well as on
the particular circumstances.
11
Social-pragmatic
Theories of Language Learning

12. 12
What Develops in the First Two Years?

13. Environment Spoken language heard
Genes
Brain Mechanisms for
understanding and
producing language
Behavior Mastery
of native language
design provides input to
13
How do we learn our native language?

14. 14
Newborn
The Universal Sequence: From Birth Through 24 Months
2 months old
3 months old 6 months old
child-directed speech:
The high-pitched, simplified,
and repetitive way adults
speak to infants.
babbling: The extended
repetition of certain
syllables, such as ba-ba-ba.
child-directed
speech:
The high-pitched,
simplified, and
repetitive way adults
speak to infants.
babbling: The
extended repetition of
certain syllables, such
as ba-ba-ba.

15. 15
The Universal Sequence: From Birth Through 24 Months
Newborn 2 months old
3 months old 6 months old
child-directed
speech:
The high-pitched,
simplified, and
repetitive way adults
speak to infants.
babbling: The
extended repetition of
certain syllables, such
as ba-ba-ba.

16. 16
3 months old
The Universal Sequence: From Birth Through 24 Months
Newborn 2 months old
6 months old
child-directed
speech:
The high-pitched, simplified,
and repetitive way adults
speak to infants.
babbling: The extended
repetition of certain
syllables, such as ba-ba-ba.
child-directed
speech:
The high-pitched,
simplified, and
repetitive way adults
speak to infants.
babbling: The
extended repetition of
certain syllables, such
as ba-ba-ba.

17. 17
6 months old
Newborn 2 months old
3 months old
child-directed speech:
The high-pitched,
simplified, and repetitive
way adults speak to
infants.
babbling: The extended
repetition of certain
syllables, such as ba-ba-ba.
Universal Sequence: From Birth Through 24 Months
child-directed
speech:
The high-pitched,
simplified, and
repetitive way adults
speak to infants.
babbling: The
extended repetition of
certain syllables, such
as ba-ba-ba.

18. The Universal Sequence: From 9 Months Through 24 Months
9 months old
18
12 months old
18 months old 24 months old
holophrase: A
single word that is used
to express a complete,
meaningful thought.
(For example: “Dada!”)
naming
explosion: A sudden
increase in an infant’s
vocabulary, especially
in the number of nouns,
which begins at about
18 months of age.

19. The Universal Sequence: From 9 Months Through 24 Months
12 months old
19
9 months old
18 months old 24 months old
holophrase: A
single word that is used
to express a complete,
meaningful thought.
(For example: “Dada!”)
naming
explosion: A sudden
increase in an infant’s
vocabulary, especially
in the number of nouns,
which begins at about
18 months of age.

20. The Universal Sequence: From 9 Months Through 24 Months
18 months old
20
9 months old 12 months old
24 months old
holophrase: A single word
that is used to express a
complete, meaningful
thought. (For example:
“Dada!”)
naming explosion: A
sudden increase in an
infant’s vocabulary,
especially in the number
of nouns, which begins at
about 18 months of age.
holophrase: A
single word that is used
to express a complete,
meaningful thought.
(For example: “Dada!”)
naming
explosion: A sudden
increase in an infant’s
vocabulary, especially
in the number of nouns,
which begins at about
18 months of age.

21. The Universal Sequence: From 9 Months Through 24 Months
holophrase: A single word
that is used to express a
complete, meaningful
thought. (For example:
“Dada!”)
naming explosion: A
sudden increase in an
infant’s vocabulary,
especially in the number
of nouns, which begins at
about 18 months of age.
24 months old
21
9 months old 12 months old
18 months old
holophrase: A
single word that is used
to express a complete,
meaningful thought.
(For example: “Dada!”)
naming
explosion: A sudden
increase in an infant’s
vocabulary, especially
in the number of nouns,
which begins at about
18 months of age.

22. 22
The Universal Sequence: From 9 Months Through 24 Months

23. 23
When can you catch a ball?
affordance:
An opportunity for perception
and interaction that is offered
by a person, place, or object
in the environment.
dynamic perception:
Perception that is primed to
focus on movement and
change.
Affordances
An affordance is a quality of an
object, or an environment, which
allows an individual to perform an
action. For example, a knob affords
twisting, and perhaps pushing, while a
cord affords pulling.

24. 24
Little Scientist
exercise
Stages Five and Six

25. 25
Affordances – Visual Cliff

26. 26
Memory

27.  Some aspects of language may be
explained by one theory at one age
and another theory at another age.
 How language is learned depends
on the age of the child as well as on
the particular circumstances.
27
Controversial Parent – Infant Interaction Program

28.  Some aspects of language may be
explained by one theory at one age
and another theory at another age.
 How language is learned depends
on the age of the child as well as on
the particular circumstances.
28
Controversial Parent – Infant Interaction Program

29.  Some aspects of language may be
explained by one theory at one age
and another theory at another age.
 How language is learned depends
on the age of the child as well as on
the particular circumstances.
29
Controversial Parent – Infant Interaction Program

30. binocular vision: The ability to focus the two eyes in a coordinated
manner in order to see one image.
30
Temperament

31. How do nations compare in terms of deaths of young children?
Afghanistan 257
Deaths of Children Under Age 5 in Selected Countries
*Reduced by at least one-
third since 1990.
+Reduced by half or more
since 1990.
Source: UNICEF, 2009.
Sierra Leone 194
Nigeria 186
India 69*
Philippines 32*
Brazil 22+
China 21+
Mexico 17+
United Kingdom
Australia
Spain
Italy
Japan
Sweden
Iceland
Singapore
Vietnam
Russia
United States
Canada
6*
6*
4+
4+
4*
3+
3+
3+
6*
13+*
8+
14+
Country Number of Deaths per 1,000
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Surviving in Good Health

32. 32
What are some diseases that have been largely
eradicated due to childhood immunization?
Immunization

33. What happens to children who are malnourished?
Nutrition
stunting: The failure of children to grow to normal height
for their age due to severe and chronic malnutrition.
wasting: The tendency for children to be severely
underweight for their age as a result of malnutrition.
33

34. What did the 1994 Back to Sleep program do to help reduce the incidence of SIDS?
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
34
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome): Phenomenon of baby (2- to 4-months)
going to sleep healthy but never awakening.

35. Why is breastfeeding important?
Nutrition
35

36. World Health

37. 37
Malnutrition

38. World Health - Breastfeeding