EDU 530: THE CHILD AND hands and fingers (proximodistal

ADOLESCENT pattern).
LEARNERS AND LEARNING During infancy, the greatest growth
PRINCIPLES always occurs at the top – the head –with
physical growth in size, weight, and
CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN future differentiation gradually working its
DEVELOPMENT FROM LIFE-SPAN way down from top to bottom (cephalo-
APPROACH caudal pattern).
Paul Baltes (Santrock,
2002) 1. Development is B. Development takes place gradually
lifelong. b. Cognitive Processes – involves
It does not end in adulthood. changes in the individual’s thought,
2. Development is plastic. intelligence, and language.
Plasticity refers to the potential for c. Socioemotional Processes – include
change. changes in the individual’s
Development is possible throughout relationships with other people,
the lifespan. changes in emotions, and changes in
“No one is too old to learn.” 3. personality.
Developmental is multi-dimensional.
Development consists of biological, 4. Developmental is contextual.
cognitive, and socio-emotional Individuals are changing beings in a
dimensions. A. Developmental is changing world.
relatively orderly Individuals respond to and act on
Nash and Ken will learn to sit, crawl contexts.
then walk before they can run. The These contexts include the
muscular control of the trunk and the individual’s biological makeup, physical
arms comes earlier as compared to the environment, cognitive processes,
historical, social, and cultural context
• DEVELOPMENT – encompasses
• Development - is the pattern overall changes, qualitative,
of movement or change that improvement in
begins at conception and circumstances, lifelong process
continues through the life span.
The scientific study of human • GROWTH - increase in size and
development seeks to number, quantitative, physical
understand and explain how or aspect, limited to a
why people change throughout definite age
life. This includes all aspects of
human growth, including Main factors that govern all growth
physical, emotional, intellectual, and development:
social, and personality • Hereditary factors – are innate
development. characteristics with which the child
is equipped at birth.
• Growth - refers to quantitative • Environmental factors – include
changes in an individual as he the environment where the child
progresses in chronological age. lives, family atmosphere, methods
It may refer to increases in size, of child training, the family
weight, or height. constellation, the total social
community, maternal nutrition,
Terms associated with: and socioeconomic factors.
 PRINCIPLES OF GROWTH AND learn how to crawl first before
DEVELOPMENT: learning how to walk, then learning
1. Development is a product of the how to run (in sequence or order),
interaction of the organism and but they differ only in speed or pace
its environment. due to individual differences. Some
• “What is innate should be learn how to walk in just few weeks,
nurtured, for development to others learn it for months.
take place.” Example: The
family of Rosita is known as DEVELOPMENTAL
painters and artists. Rosita STAGES
inherited that talent, but in order 1. Prenatal Period (conception to
to fully develop that skill, that birth) – it involves tremendous
talent should be nurtured. She growth -- from a single cell to an
should be given opportunities to organism complete with brain and
develop that skill, materials, behavioral capabilities.
time, and support from family 2. Infancy (birth to 18-24 months) –
and environment where she A time of extreme dependence on
lives. adults. Many psychological
2. Developmental patterns show activities are just beginning ---
wide individual differences. language, symbolic thought,
• The development of one person sensorimotor coordination, and
is not the same with other social learning.
persons. No two persons are 3. Early childhood (end of infancy
exactly alike. to 5-6 years) – These are the
3. Development proceeds from the preschool years. Young children
simple to the more complex. learn to become more
• Example: The child will learn first selfsufficient and to care for
letters of the alphabet before themselves, develop school
learning to read words and readiness and spent many hours
phrases. in play with peers.
4. Growth and development 4. Middle and late childhood (6-
proceed from general to specific. 11 years of age/elementary
• Example: The infant will pick the school years)
object with the whole hand - The fundamental skills of
(palmar grasp) before learning to reading, writing, and arithmetic are
pick it up with fingers. mastered. The child is formally
5. Growth and development are exposed to the larger world and its
continuous process. culture. Achievement becomes a
• As long as a person lives, more central theme of the child’s
development continues to take world and self-control increases.
place, may not physically but 5. Adolescence (10-12 of age
emotionally, socially and even ending up to 18-22 years of age)
intellectually. - Begins with rapid physical
6. Development depends on changes – dramatic gains in height
maturation and learning. and weight, changes in body contour,
• Aside from growth, maturation and the development of sexual
and learning also play at one’s characteristics such as enlargement
development. of the breasts, development of pubic
7. Development is sequential and and facial hair, deepening of the
orderly. voice. Pursuit of independence and
All children follow the same identity are prominent. Thought is
sequence or order of more logical, abstract, and idealistic.
development. All normal children
 More time is spent outside of the in the earlier maturation of muscular
family. control of the trunk and arms,
6. Early adulthood (from late followed by that of the hands and
teens or early 20’s lasting fingers.
through the 30’s) Height and Weight:
- It is a time of establishing * In general, an infant’s length increases
personal and economic by about 30% in the first five months.
independence, career * A baby’s weight usually triples during
development, selecting a mate, the first year but slows down in the
learning to live with someone in second year of life. Brain
an intimate way, starting a family development:
and rearing child. At birth, the newborn’s brain is about
7. Middle adulthood (40-60 25% of its adult weight. By the second
years of age) – It is the time of birthday, the brain is about 75% of its
expanding personal and social adult weight.
involvement and responsibility;
Depressed brain activity can be found
of assisting the next
in children who grew up in
generation in becoming
depressed environment. Motor
competent and mature
development:
individuals; and of reaching
*Infants and toddlers begin from
and maintaining satisfaction in
reflexes, to gross motor, then fine
a career. motor skills.
8. Late adulthood/old age (60s
*the newborn has some basic reflexes
and above) – It is the time for
which are automatic and serve as
adjustment to decreasing
survival mechanism before they have
strength and health, life
the opportunity to learn.
review, retirement, and
Reflex – an immediate, innate, and
adjustment to new social roles.
involuntary response to something.
(example: automatic removal of hands from
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF a hot surface)
INFANTS and TODDLERS
The CEPHALOCAUDAL trend is Most common reflexes that babies
the postnatal growth from have:
conception to 5 months when the 1. Sucking Reflex - is initiated
head grows more than the body. when something touches the
This cephalocaudal trend of roof of the infant’s mouth
growth that applies to the
2. Rooting Reflex - is most
development of the fetus also
evident when an infant cheek is
applies in the first months after
stroked, the baby responds by
birth.
turning his/her head in the
Infants learn to use their upper direction of the touch and
limbs before their lower limbs. opening their mouths
The same pattern occurs in the for feeding.
head area because top parts of 3. Gripping Reflex - babies will
the head - the eyes and the brain grasp anything that is placed in
- grow faster than the lower parts their hands.
such as the jaw. 4. Startle/Moro Reflex - infants
The PROXIMODISTAL trend is will respond to sudden sounds
the pre-natal growth from 5 and movements by throwing
months to birth when the fetus their arms and legs out.
grows from the inside of the body 5. Curling Reflex – when the inner
outwards. This also applies in the sole of the baby's foot is stroked,
first months after birth as shown the infant responds by curling
 his toes. When the outer sole novelty, and curiosity; and from a
of the baby's foot is stroked, thinking that is purely
the infant will respond by sensorimotor to a symbolic one.
spreading out their toes. • Acquiring the sense of object
6. Galant Reflex – is shown permanence is one of the
when an infant's middle or infant’s important
lower back is stroked next to accomplishments.
the spinal cord. The baby will
respond by curving his/her OBJECT PERMANENCE is the
body toward the side which is understanding that the object still
being stroked. continue to exist even when they cannot
7. Tonic neck Reflex – is be seen, touched, or
demonstrated in infants who heard. Before the infant’s acquisition of
are placed on their abdomens. sense of object permanence, the principle
Whichever side the child's that applies is “out of sight, out of mind”.
head is facing, the limbs on
that side will straighten while Stages of Language Acquisition (L1):
the opposite limbs will curl. 1. Cooing
2. Babbling
COGNITIVE AND LANGUAGE 3. Holophrastic (one-word utterance)
DEVELOPMENTS OF INFANTS and
4. Telegraphic (two-word utterance)
TODDLERS
5. Basic Adult sentence
• The Sensorimotor Stage is
Cooing
the first stage in Jean Piaget’s
• Express satisfaction and pleasure; 2-4
Cognitive Development theory.
months ; Vowel sounds; Ex. “aaaaaa”,
This stage is applicable for
infants and toddlers. In this “oooooooh”
stage: Babbling;
• infants construct an • Repetitive CV patterns ; Starts at
understanding of the world by around 3-4 and continues around age
coordinating sensory one year; Ex. “bee-bee-bee” ma-
experiences (such as seeing mama”
and hearing) to physical and One-word utterances (Holophrastic
motoric actions. Stage)
• infants gain knowledge of the • Generally spoken at around 10-14
world from physical actions they months but may occur as early as 9
perform on it. months; first words (holophrases): one
word speech that stand for the whole
• infants progresses from
idea/sentence; Ex. “mama” = I want
reflexive, instinctual action at
my mother; Dede “I want to drink milk
birth to the beginning of
Two-word utterances (Telegraphic
symbolic thought toward the
Stage)
end of the sensorimotor stage.
• comes around 18 months; children use
• Cognitive development of
two-word combinations to express
infants evolves in the
themselves (telegraphic speech); called
orientation from becoming
telegraphic because many words are
focused on themselves to
omitted and only the important
becoming object or
parts of the sentence are usually
worldoriented; from the one
present; Ex. “eat bread”,
that is action-based to the one
“Princess play”
that is mentally-based; from
Basic adult sentence structure
one that does not involve much
of coordination of schemas to
the one involving intentionality,
 • Grammatical or functional structures reflection of his individual
emerge with continuing vocabulary temperament.
acquisition; Present at about age 4 • Social Skills. Socialization of
SOCIO-EMOTIONAL emotion begins in infancy. It is
DEVELOPMENTS OF thought that this process is
INFANTS and TODDLERS significant in the infant's acquisition
of cultural and social codes for
Socio-emotional development has emotional display, teaching them
something to do with the development of how to express their emotions, and
a person’s ability to master one’s the degree of acceptability
emotions and the ability to relate to associated with different types of
others. It necessarily includes emotional behaviors.
temperaments, attachments, and social • Another process that emerges during
skills. this stage is social referencing.
The elements that have something to Infants begin to recognize the
do with the wholesome socio- emotions of others, and use this
emotional development of children: information when reacting to new
• Attachment. It is an emotional situations and people. As infants
bond characterized by a tendency explore their world, they generally
to seek and maintain closeness to rely on the emotional expressions of
a specific figure.The beginnings of their mothers or caregivers to
attachment occurs within the first determine the safety and
6 months of a baby’s life with a appropriateness of a particular
variety of built-in signals that baby endeavor.
uses to keep her caregiver
engaged.
• Infants 7 to 12 months experience
separation anxiety. They may
cry in fear if
the mother or caregiver leaves
them in an unfamiliar place/people.
• In infancy, children rely largely on
adults to help them regulate their
emotional states, if they are
uncomfortable, they communicate
by crying. In toddlerhood,
children begin to develop skills in
regulating their emotions with the
emergence of language providing
an important tool to assist in this
process.
• Temperament. Temperament is a
word that “captures the ways that
people differ, even at birth, in such
things as their emotional
reactions, activity level, attention
span, persistence and ability to
regulate their emotions”. Every
baby expresses personality traits
we call temperament. How a
child responds emotionally to
objects, events, and people is a