Physical Development in Infancy

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Chapter 5
Child Development 3/e by Robert Feldman

• Physical Development in Infancy

Created by Barbara H. Bratsch
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• How do the human body and nervous system develop
• Does the environment affect the pattern of
  development
• What developmental tasks must infants undertake
  in this period
• What is the role of nutrition in physical
  development
• What sensory capabilities do infants possess

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Physical Growth

• The average newborn weighs just over 7 pounds
• By 5 months the average infants birthweight has
  doubled to around 15 pounds
• By the first birthday the infants weight has
  tripled to 22 pounds
• By the end of the second year the childs weight
  has quadrupled since birth

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Physical Growth
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Principles of Growth

• Cephalocaudal principle states that growth
  follows a pattern that starts with the head and
  upper body then proceeds to the rest of the body
• Proximodistal principle states that growth
  proceeds from the center of the body outward
• Principle of hierarchical integration states that
  simple skills typically develop separately and
  independently
• Principle of the independence of systems suggests
  that different body systems grow at different
  rates

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Principles of Growth
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Nervous System and the Brain

• Neurons are the basic cells of the nervous system
• Synapses are the gaps between neurons through
  which communication occurs
• Myelin is the fatty substance that acts like
  insulation to assist speed of neural impulses
• Cerebral cortex is the upper layer of the brain
• Plasticity refers to the degree which a
  developing structure or behavior is modifiable
  due to experience
• Sensitive period is a specific and limited time
  in an organisms life when it is particularly
  susceptible to environmental influences relating
  to a facet of development

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Nervous System and the Brain
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Integrating Bodily Systems Life Cycles of
Infancy

• Awake states
• Alertness
• Nonalert waking
• Fussing
• Crying
• Transition states between sleep and waking
• Drowsiness
• Daze
• Sleep-wake transition
• Sleep states
• Active sleep involves intermittent REM (Rapid
  Eye movement)
• Quiet sleep
• Transitional sleep state
• Active-quiet transition sleep

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• Rhythms are repetitive cyclical patterns of
  behavior
• State is the degree of awareness the infant
  displays to both internal and external
  stimulation

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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

• Cause of SIDS is unknown
• 1 in 1000 infants die a year in the US from SIDS
• No means to prevent SIDS have been found
• Risk factors may include boys African Americans
  low birthweight low APGAR scores a mother that
  smokes during pregnancy possible brain defect

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Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
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Motor Development

• Reflexes are the unlearned organized voluntary
  responses that occur automatically in the
  presence of certain stimuli
• Rooting reflex turning head towards things that
  touch the cheek
• Stepping reflex legs move in a stepping fashion
  when held upright with feet on the floor
• Swimming reflex paddle and kick motion while on
  belly
• Moro reflex activated when support for head
  removed arms thrust out and appear to grasp
• Babinski reflex fanning the toes when outside of
  foot is stroked
• Startle reflex flinging of arms outward and
  arching of back when loud noise occurs
• Eye-blink reflex rapid opening and closing of
  eyes to direct light exposure
• Sucking reflex tendency to suck things that
  touch the lips
• Gag reflex clearing the throat of obstructions

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Milestones of Motor Development in Infancy

• Gross motor skills - scooting on the floor
  crawling walking sitting up
• Fine motor skills - coordinate movement of
  limbs reach and grasp objects pick up small
  objects

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Developmental Norms

• Norms represent the average performance of a
  large sample of children of a given age
• Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale
  (NBAS) a measure used to determine infants
  neurological and behavioral responses to the
  environment
• To be effective norms need to be based on large
  heterogeneous culturally diverse samples of
  children

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Nutrition in Infancy

• Malnutrition is a condition of having improper
  amount and balance of nutrients results to
  development could be slower growth lower IQ
  scores later in life as well as poor school
  performance
• Marasmus is a disease characterized by cessation
  of growth as a result of malnutrition
• Kwashiorkor occurs to older malnourished
  children and is characterized by swelling of the
  stomach limbs and face with water. The body is
  struggling to make use of the few nutrients it
  has available
• Nonorganic failure to thrive is a disorder in
  which infants stop growing due to lack of
  stimulation and attention as a result of
  inadequate parenting. This has an emotional cause
• Obesity is defined as weight greater than 20
  above the average. The effects of obesity in
  infants is not quite clear yet

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Underweight Children
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Breast Feeding vs. Bottle Feeding
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Breast Feeding vs. Bottle Feeding

• Breast milk contains all the nutrients necessary
  for growth and offers immunity to various
  childhood diseases.
• Breast feeding offers emotional advantages to
  mother and child and may cause decreased risk of
  ovarian and breast cancers to the mother.

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Development of the Senses

• Sensation is the stimulation of the sense organs
• Perception is the sorting out interpretation
  analysis and integration of stimuli involving
  the sense organs and the brain

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Visual Perception

• Newborns vision ranges from 20/200 to 20/600
  meaning they cannot distinguish beyond 20 feet
• By 6 months the average infant has 20/20 vision
• Binocular vision is achieved by 14 weeks
• Infants show clear visual preferences from birth

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Auditory Perception

• Hearing begins prenatally
• Infants are born with preference to certain sound
  combinations
• Sound localization the ability to determine
  where a sound is coming from is at adult level
  by 1 year old
• By four and a half months infants can
  discriminate their own names

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Smell and Taste

• Sense of smell is extremely well developed in
  infants. A 12-18 day old infant can distinguish
  the smell of the mother.
• Taste is also well developed in infants who can
  distinguish disgust and bitter and show
  preference for sweet. Infants also develop taste
  preferences depending on what the mother drank
  while they were in the womb.

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Sensitivity to Pain and Touch

• Infants are born with the capacity to experience
  pain. Pain produces signs of distress such as
  increased heartbeat sweating facial
  expressions and changes in intensity and tone of
  crying
• Touch is one of the most highly developed sensory
  systems of the newborn and one of the first to
  develop. Being touched promotes growth and
  emotional development. Infants reaching out to
  touch assists in exploring the world

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Sensitivity to Pain and Touch
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• Multimodal Approach to Perception
• considers how information that is collected by
  various individual sensory systems is integrated
  and coordinated

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• Affordances are action possibilities that a given
  situation or stimulus provides.
• Infants learn they may fall when walking down a
  ramp so the ramp affords the possibility of
  falling. This is crucial information as a child
  learns to walk.