TOOLS FOR EXPLORING THE WORLD

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TOOLS FOR EXPLORING THE WORLD

• Chapter Three

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LECTURE OVERVIEW

• The Newborn
• Reflexes, Assessment, Temperament
• Early Physical Development
• Growth, Nervous System
• Early Motor Skills
• Perception
• Smell, Taste, Touch, Pain, Hearing, Seeing
• Self-Awareness

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INTRODUCTION

• Big differences in development during early life
• Exploring the world gain information that helps
  later learning
• Early experience can have long-term effects
• early stress
• early learning
• early parenting

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THE NEWBORN
http//www.theperfectpear.com/baby.asp
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NEWBORN REFLEXES

• Reflexes unlearned responses to specific
  stimulation
• Necessary early survival skills
• Nutrition
• Protection
• If proper reflexes are not exhibited
• damage can be identified

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Cont.

• Babinski
• toes fan out when foot is stroked
• Blink
• eyes close to bright lights or loud noise
• still seen in adulthood
• Moro
• arms out then in in response to noise or head
  falling

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Cont.

• Palmar
• grasps object put in palm
• Rooting
• stroking of cheek causes turning of head and
  opening of mouth
• Stepping
• when held upright and moved forward, steps in
  walking-like motion

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Cont.

• Suckling
• sucks when object is placed in mouth
• Withdrawal
• withdraws foot when pricked
• Respiration
• initiated through chemical, sensory, and thermal
  stimuli

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CAPACITIES OF THE NEWBORN

• Habituation
• Orientation
• Self-quieting ability
• Auditory capacity
• Olfactory capacity
• Taste and Suckling
• Tactile capacity

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ASSESSING THE NEWBORN

• Deciding baby is healthy
• ex. heart rate and breathing Apgar score
• ex. muscle tone, presence of reflexes, skin tone
• Score of 0, 1, or 2 ( 2 being optimal)

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Cont.

• Average birth weight 7 lbs 8 oz
• low birth weight is correlated with development
  ex. cognitive abilities, etc.
• Average length 50 cm
• Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale (NBAS)
• Brazeltons Neonatal Behavioural Assessment

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THE NEWBORNS STATES

• Crying
• basic cry vs. mad cry vs. pain cry
• determine why baby is crying instrumental
  response
• mothers show more sympathy toward cries than
  non-mothers maternal hormones?

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Cont.

• Sleeping
• sleep 16 to 18 hours a day
• cycles approximately every 4 hours
• gradually begins to correspond to day-night cycle
• Rapid-Eye-Movement (REM) sleep
• body is quite active (ex. rapid eye movement)
• state of dreams
• half of newborns sleep decreases with age

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Cont.

• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• healthy baby dies for no apparent reason
• contributing factors
• premature birth and/or low birth weight
• parents smoke
• sleeps on stomach
• more likely in winter (overheated?)

disrupted reaction to physiological stress?
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TEMPERAMENT

• Emotionality
• strength of emotional response to a situation
• ease response is triggered and balanced
• Activity
• tempo and vigour of activity
• Sociability
• preference for being with others

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Cont.

• Genetic and Environmental Influences
• GENETIC
• Twins MZ more alike in temperament than DZ twins
• ENVIRONMENTAL
• parenting styles can contribute

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Cont.

• Stability of Temperament
• ex. fearful preschoolers tend to be inhibited
  older children and adolescents
• Not perfect correlations however
• predispositions that can be altered by
  environment
• even if unstable can still shape later
  development

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
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GROWTH OF THE BODY

• more rapid than in any other period
• double birth weight by 3 months and triple by
  first birthday
• great variations in height and weight
• average height and weight do not perfectly covary
• height depends on heredity

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Nutrition and Growth

• due to rapid growth
• must consume large amounts of calories relative
  to weight
• breast feeding vs. bottle feeding
• contains proper amounts of carbohydrates,
  protein, and fat
• contains antibodies
• less prone to constipation and diarrhea
• cannot be contaminated

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Cont.

• introduce one food at a time
• formula tends to be much the same as breast milk
• tend to develop allergies
• can be dangerous in some situations
• become finicky eaters by 2 years
• protective alert to allergies and for increasing
  independence

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Malnutrition

• over 30 of children under age 5 are malnourished
• both in developing and industrialized countries
• develop less rapidly than peers
• can have same height and weight
• lower I.Q. scores, attention difficulties,
  increased fatigue
• irreversible brain damage

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NERVOUS SYSTEM

• Neuron basic unit of the nervous system

http//www.utexas.edu/research/asrec/synapse_m.htm
l
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THE BRAIN
http//www.rci.rutgers.edu/uzwiak/UPhysioPsych/NP
SpringLect3.html
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THE CORTEX

• Frontal Cortex executive functions (judgements,
  planning, organizing, etc.), attention, learning,
  stress
• Parietal Cortex sensorimotor functions
• Occipital Cortex visual system
• Temporal Cortex auditory system

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SUBCORTICAL AREAS
http//web.bvu.edu/faculty/ferguson/BioPsych/Chpt4
_Neuroanatomy.html
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http//www.rci.rutgers.edu/uzwiak/UPhysioPsych/NP
SpringLect3.html
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http//web.bvu.edu/faculty/ferguson/BioPsych/Chpt4
_Neuroanatomy.html
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Cont.

• A few important areas
• Hippocampus
• Amygdala
• Brocas and Wernickes Area

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http//web.bvu.edu/faculty/ferguson/BioPsych/Chpt4
_Neuroanatomy.html
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http//www.rci.rutgers.edu/uzwiak/UPhysioPsych/NP
SpringLect3.html
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Cont.

• 4. Nucleus Accumbens
• 5. Hypothalamus
• 6. Thalamus

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http//web.bvu.edu/faculty/ferguson/BioPsych/Chpt4
_Neuroanatomy.html
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Cont.

• 7. Corpus Callosum
• 8. Cerebellum
• 9. Midbrain
• 10. Pons
• 11. Brainstem

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http//web.bvu.edu/faculty/ferguson/BioPsych/Chpt4
_Neuroanatomy.html
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Cont.

• 12. Spinal Chord
• 13. Ventricles

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http//web.bvu.edu/faculty/ferguson/BioPsych/Chpt4
_Neuroanatomy.html
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NEUROTRANSMITTERS

• Chemical messengers between neurons
• Action potentials pass along neuron to cause
  release of NTs

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MAIN NEUROTRANSMITTERS

• Basic neurotransmitters of interest
• Serotonin (5-HT)
• mood, sleep, sensory, aggression, impulsivity
• found mostly in brain stem and thalamus
• Epinephrine/Norepineprine (Epi/NE)
• - arousal, learning, stress, respiration,
  metabolsim
• - from midbrain (locus coeruleus) found in
  cortex and limbic system

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Cont.

• 3. Acetylcholine (ACh)
• - muscles, learning and memory, Alzheimers,
  sleep
• - found in various areas prominent in muscles
• 4. Dopamine (DA)
• - reward, learning, attention, thought
  disorders, motor disorders, pain, addiction
• - found in midbrain, frontal cortex, limbic
  system

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Cont.

• 5. GABA
• - inhibitory NT
• - found all over brain and body
• 6. Glutamate
• - excitatory NT
• - found all over brain and body

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EMERGING BRAIN

• 3 weeks after conception neural plate
• At 4 weeks begins to form spinal chord
• ends fuse and form small region
• 10 to 28 weeks production of neurons
• Neurons migrate to specific sites
• Fourth month acquire myelin
• After birth rapid growth and eventual synaptic
  pruning

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STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

• How do we study the developing brain?
• Brain damage
• Electroencephalogram (EEG)
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (f-MRI)
• Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

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BRAIN PLASTICITY

• Neuroplasticity flexibility of systems
• Experience can shape the brain
• Ability to overcome damage
• Not completely plastic
• Certain functions and areas are always in same
  region of brain

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EARLY MOTOR SKILLS
http//www.gocollect.com/catalog/product.aspx?id2
6563
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LOCOMOTION

• Milestones of locomotion
• 1. Fetal posture
• 2. Chin up
• 3. Chest up
• 4. Reach and miss
• 5. Sit with support
• 6. Sit on lap grasp object

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Cont. milestones

• 7. Walk when led
• 8. Creep
• 9. Stand holding furniture
• 10. Stand with help
• 11. Sit alone
• 12. Sit in high chair and grasp dangling object

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Cont. milestones

• 13. Pull to stand
• 14. Climb stairs
• 15. Stand alone
• 16. Walk alone
• Dynamic systems theory distinct skills that are
  organized and reorganized to complete specific
  tasks

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POSTURE AND BALANCE

• due to top-heavieness, initial problems with
  balance
• visual and vestibular cues
• continually adjusting posture with new cues and
  skills
• development of muscle groups

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BEYOND WALKING

• greater independence
• more complex environment
• increasingly complex movement

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FINE MOTOR SKILLS

• Reaching and grasping
• Initially inaccurate and hesitant
• Arm, hand, and finger coordination
• Visual acuity
• Increased dexterity with age
• drawing and writing
• dressing one self
• eating

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Cont.

• Handedness
• Majority are right-handed
• In babies not handed initially
• Preference for one hand is seen in toddlers and
  preschoolers
• Difficult to reverse by 5 years of age
• Heredity plays a role, but environment favours
  right handedness

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PERCEPTION
http//www.babycenter.com/refcap/6501.html
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OLFACTION SYSTEM

• Newborns good sense of smell
• Facial expressions in response to odours
• Adaptive characteristic avoiding anything toxic
• Recognize familiar odours
• Mothers odour
• Own odour

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GUSTATORY SYSTEM

• Newborns also good sense of taste
• Differentiate between salty, sour, bitter, and
  sweet tastes
• Also sensitive to change in mothers diet
• Through changes to breast milk
• Adaptive avoid anything toxic

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TACTILE SYSTEM

• Newborns sensitive to touch
• Respond to tactile stimulation with reflexes
  (Remember earlier in lecture)
• Do they experience pain?
• Pain is very subjective
• Nervous system is capable of transmitting pain
• Behavioural reactions
• High-pitched cry that is not easily soothed

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AUDITORY SYSTEM

• Fetus in late gestation can hear
• Not as good as adult abilities
• Best at hearing high pitched sounds
• Locate objects making sounds
• Development learn to differentiate sounds and
  recognize words
• also part of speech/language development

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VISUAL SYSTEM

• Spend a lot of time looking around
• but.. are they actually seeing anything?
• Visual system is structurally well developed at
  birth
• Visual acuity clarity of vision
• smallest pattern able to be distinguished
• by 1st birthday acuity is same as adults

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Cont.

• Colour
• Colour circuits (ex. cones) begin to function by
  first month
• Newborns perceive few colours
• By 3rd or 4th month perceive colours like adults
• despite visual acuity not being at adult levels

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Cont.

• Depth
• Third dimension objects are near or far
• Retinal disparity and motion
• ex. Visual Cliff Experiment
• showed developmental profile of depth perception
• not willing to crawl across cliff
• increased heart rate on deep side of cliff

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Cont.

• Perceiving Objects
• recognizing that features go together to form an
  object
• perception of objects limited in newborn
• importance of human face
• different cues to identify objects
• motion, colour, texture, aligned edges

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INTEGRATING SENSORY INFORMATION

• Sensory systems work together
• Infants can integrate sensory information
• visual and auditory information for same object
• Intersensory redundancy simultaneous
  presentation of different sensory information for
  same stimuli
• infants can identify redundancy

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BECOMING SELF-AWARE
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ORIGINS OF SELF-CONCEPT

• Being aware that one exists
• Recognizing self in mirror
• or just an interesting stimulus?
• By 15 months will understand that image in
  mirror is reflection of self
• Photographs of self vs. others
• Interaction with unfamiliar peer
• importance of possessions

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THEORY OF MIND

• Understanding others relation between thoughts
  and behaviour
• Wellman three phases
• Aware of desires and link to behaviour
• Distinguish mental and physical worlds
• Mental states take centre stage beliefs, etc.

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Cont.

• False belief tasks
• false beliefs until age 4
• earlier if have older siblings
• tests if children can tell what others are
  thinking
• Understanding the world around them
• better predictability of behaviour of others
• essential for learning

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CONCLUSION
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CONCLUSION

• Rapid growth and development during first year
• Development in several systems
• Nervous system
• Motor system
• Perceptual systems olfactory, tactile, auditory,
  visual, etc.

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Cont.

• Some systems develop more rapidly than others
• but interaction between systems is important for
  development of skills/abilities
• Children become self-aware and aware of others in
  a robust developmental pattern
• learning about world around them
• Some instinctive protection (ex. smell, taste,
  depth) and some learning (ex. self-awareness)