1. Chapter 2
Birth to Thirty-six Months: Physical
and Cognitive Developmental
Patterns
©2011 Cengage Learning.
All Rights Reserved.

2. Differences between
Development and Learning
 A controversy:
– Nature versus Nurture
– The best conclusion to date is that child
development is a very complex process
occurring through natural sequences and
patterns that depend on learning and
experience, among other processes.
©2011 Cengage Learning.

3. Development
 Cumulative sequences and patterns that
represent progressive, refined changes
that move a child from simple to more
complex physical, cognitive, language,
social, and emotional growth and
maturity
©2011 Cengage Learning.

4. Learning
 The acquisition of knowledge and skills
through systematic
study, instruction, practice, and/or
experience
 Both overt and internal learning occurs
during the first three years of life.
©2011 Cengage Learning.

5. Patterns of Physical
Development
 Neurological Development
– The brain is a complex system which is divided
into three main parts:
 Hindbrain (autonomic systems)
 Midbrain (connector)
 Forebrain (includes cerebral cortex), marks us as human
– Brain development during infancy is best
promoted when caregivers provide tasks that
challenge children‘s emerging skills and abilities.
– On the other
hand, unresponsive, harmful, stressful, or
neglectful caregiving behaviors affect the
development of the brain negatively.
©2011 Cengage Learning.

6. Patterns of Physical
Development
• Reflexes
• Physical milestones for height, weight, etc.
• Hearing and Vision
• Teething
• Milestones for fine and gross motor control
– Stability, Locomotion, and Manipulation
• Sleep Patterns
• Toilet Learning
©2011 Cengage Learning.

7. Patterns of Cognitive and
Language Development
 Cognitive Development – Piaget’s theory of
reasoning
 Newborns use all their senses—
listening, seeing, tasting, touching, and smelling—to
learn about their world.
 Central to Piaget‘s theory is that there are stages of
cognitive development; that is, four-month-olds are
cognitively different from 24-month-olds. Piaget
contended that the sequence of development is the
same for all children. However, the age and rate at
which it occurs differs from child to child.
 Piaget‘s first two stages of cognitive development
involve children between birth and three years of age.
– Sensorimotor
– Preoperational
©2011 Cengage Learning.

8. Patterns of Cognitive and
Language Development
 All people use these processes and
functions—assimilation,
accommodation, and equilibration—
continually through life.
 Cognitive Structures
 Knowledge Construction
 Types of Knowledge
– Physical knowledge
– Logico-mathematical knowledge
– Social-arbitrary knowledge
©2011 Cengage Learning.

9. Patterns of Cognitive and
Language Development
 Play and Cognitive Development
 Play is the child‘s laboratory for
cognitive trial and error and rehearsal
for real-life problem solving.
 There are many types of Exploratory
and Pretend Play for infants and
toddlers.
©2011 Cengage Learning.

10. Patterns of Cognitive and
Language Development
 Cognitive Development – Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theory
 For Vygotsky, knowledge is co-constructed
through social interactions.
 The most important tool for humans is
language.
 Higher cognitive processes develop from
verbal and nonverbal social interactions.
 Scaffolding involves changing the support
given a learner in the course of teaching a
skill or concept.
©2011 Cengage Learning.

11. Patterns of Cognitive and
Language Development
 Language Development
 Language is a tool for thinking.
 When adults and children talk with infants
and toddlers, they provide examples of the
four basic components of language:
– Phonology
– Semantics
– Syntax
– Pragmatics
 Provide a language rich environment
©2011 Cengage Learning.

12. Patterns of Cognitive and
Language Development
 Infants must learn strategies for
sending verbal and nonverbal messages
to others:
– Eye contact
– Coo
– Babble
– Jargon
– Telegraphic Speech
– Baby signs
©2011 Cengage Learning.

13. Children with Special
Rights
 A new perspective:
– Reframing services for children with identified
special needs from a ―deficit model‖ approach
(i.e., focusing on what children lack) to a special
rights approach
– Teachers must start their work focusing on what
each child can do independently and adding on
what she is entitled to learn with assistance.
– The first source of information should be the child
and family, then specialists who provide ‗at-risk‘
services.
©2011 Cengage Learning.

14. Children with Special
Rights
• Common areas of special rights infants and
toddlers may have regarding physical and
cognitive/language development:
– Children with Motor Disabilities
– Children Biologically at-risk
– Children with Visual Disabilities
– Children with Hearing Disabilities
– Children who are Medically Fragile
– Children with Cognitive or General Development
Disorders
– Children with Language and Communication
Disorders
©2011 Cengage Learning.

15. Spotlight on Research
 Cleft Lip/Palate and Socio-emotional
development
– It has been long assumed that children with
cleft deformities would suffer from a variety of
social and emotional outcomes.
– The importance of early intervention is evident
for children with cleft lip/palate.
– By age 7, children showed nearly equivalent
levels of adjustment (for those with early
intervention).
– Interventions to facilitate positive mother-child
social interactions are particularly vital.
©2011 Cengage Learning.

16. Checkpoint Discussion
Questions
• Explain how the growth of the brain
demonstrates the complex interaction between
nature (i.e., genetics or biology) and nurture
(i.e., environmental factors).
• Name the major milestones for motor
development from birth to three years of age.
• How is toilet learning a complex developmental
accomplishment?
• Why do infant and toddler teachers need to be
aware of developmental patterns in such areas
as seeing (vision), sleeping, and teething?
©2011 Cengage Learning.

17. Checkpoint Discussion
Questions
 Discuss Piaget‘s stages of cognitive
development in terms of learning experiences
for two-year-olds. Include concepts such as
assimilation, accommodation, and
disequilibrium in your answer.
 Provide a specific example of each of Piaget‘s
types of knowledge.
 Use Vygotsky‘s theory to explain how you
would scaffold a toddler with the skill of
dressing, including the concept of private
speech.
©2011 Cengage Learning.

18. Checkpoint Discussion
Questions
 Explain the typical pattern of language
development and the role adults play in
the process.
 Why should infant and toddler educators
think about a child having special rights
rather than special needs?
 Explain three special rights very young
children might have in relationship to
physical and cognitive/language
development.
©2011 Cengage Learning.