Infant Development and Interaction with Adults (Case Study Sample)

Infant Development and Interaction with Adults
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1 Parents Need to Know about Cognitive Development
Cognitive development is the growth and change of an individual’s ability to process information, solve problems, and acquire new knowledge in such areas. Here, the study of the development of the brain, memory, learning, thinking, language and creativity is taken into consideration (Sternberg, 2008). The cognitive structures that develop are crucial in aiding the infant in comparing, analyzing, and organizing information into certain patterns and relationships. Relationships can be described as the natural associations that exist between two or more things. All the learning is based on relationships. That is something that has meaning only when compared and/or contrasted with something else. Parent-child relationships comprise of a combination of certain behaviors, feelings and expectations from both the child and the parent. This relationship involves and affects the full extent of a child’s development including cognitive development (Sternberg, 2008).
This parent-child relationship is the most important relationship and has the most important influence in the child’s cognitive development than any other aspect during the child’s development and is affected by various factors. Parenting and parent-child relationships that are responsive to the cognitive needs and demands of the infant are associated with healthier cognitive development of the child. Understanding the development of a child implies that parents comprehend the skills and typical behaviors that children have and providing environments that nature the infant’s growth and development (Coon & Mitterer, 2007). Therefore, parents are required to learn about the cognitive development of a child to ensure that they are aware of the cognitive needs of the child. This will allow them to respond accordingly to these needs to avoid any interruptions in the cognitive development of the child (Landry, 2008).
2 Janet's Discussion of Infant Development Showed the Influence of Piaget
Jean Piaget work on the cognitive development of children especially the concepts that are quantitative has influenced and gained much attention not only from Janet but also from many professional in psychology and education. He explored the cognitive development of children as part of his study in genetic epistemology.
According to Piaget, child development occurs via a continuous transformation of the thought processes and each stage of development comprises of a certain period (months or years when certain developments take place (Ojose, 2008). Per Berk (1997), Piaget believed that children develop in a steady and gradual manner in different stages. The experiences they have in a certain stage are the foundations for moving into the next developmental stage. Everyone passes through each stage before, progressing to the next without skipping any of the stages, and this includes infants, older children, and adults. He further suggests that adults that have not successfully gone through the later stages of development process information in ways similar to children at that stage of development (Ojose, 2008).
He identified four stages of development that are the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational stages. In the first stage (sensorimotor stage), the mental and cognitive attributes of the child develop until the appearance of language. The main feature is object permanence where the child acquires object permanence progressively and can locate after taking them away from their site (Ojose, 2008). The stage occurs between the birth to two years old and the cognitive system of the child is limited to the motor reflexes at birth and the child builds on them to develop even more complex reflexes and procedures. The second stage is the preoperational stage. This is characterized by an increase in language abilities, symbolic thought, an egocentric perspective, and limited logic (Ojose, 2008). This stage occurs between two years to six/seven years and children gain representational skills in regards to mental imagery and language. They become self-oriented and develop egocentric perspectives and use these to view the world from their perspective.
The third stage is concrete operational stage and takes place between six/seven years to eleven/twelve years and characterized by a significant cognitive growth, language development and acquires basic skills. The children use their senses to know and now simultaneously consider two or three dimensions (Ojose, 2008). At this stage, they understand problems that are concrete, but cannot perform on abstract problems as they do not consider all the possible logical outcomes. Finally, there is the formal operational stage that occurs between eleven/twelve years to adulthood. The child is now capable of developing hypotheses and making deduction of possible consequences. Abstract thoughts begin developing and reasoning symbolically executed and this is considered the ultimate stage of development.
Janet’s discussion indicates influences from Piaget’s theory where she highlights the children’s absorption with their needs characteristic of the preoperational stage of child development. She further highlights that children later develop senses and learn more of themselves and their environment including people that is evident in the operational stage of Piaget’s theoretical perspective. Janet further explains how the child will begin learning and developing languages that are indications of cognitive growth evident in Piaget’s theory hence indicating Piaget’s influence.
3 Ways to Interact with their Daughter.
Each child is a "people person" that are "prewired to communicate. They show interests and abilities supporting interaction with the environment and people around them. Caregivers, therefore, promote interaction by treating the baby’s behaviors as a form of communication and these promote the child’s development (Gosse & Gotzke, 2007). There are numerous ways that Sandra’s parents could interact with her daughter, and these are, for example, through infant simulation. During the acute stage, the baby often requires a non-stressful environment with minimal handling, light, and sound. The most appropriate approach for handling and interacting with a baby during such a stage is through eye contact and gentle stroking. Premature infants and those who are seriously ill exhibit minimal responses, but touching provides the required stimulation for their physical and emotional development (Legerstee, Haley, & Bornstein, 2013).
Moreover, Sandra’s parents can also interact with her child through play. It has been established that as babies grow into their second month of life, they become interested with the surrounding environment. They do not play in conventional ways such as pushing trains or with dolls. However, they are eager to explore such objects and interact with people they see on a daily basis (National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, 2014). Play for them during this stage is not about toys only but interactions that range from singing to the baby to changing diapers, cooing and smiling back to the baby. Sandra’s parents can interact with the baby by offering interesting objects to stare at, placing her in a position that she can hit an object or rattle, or adding a massage after baths or before sleeping. This develops body awareness. Such loving and playful experiences are key in interaction and are also of great help in learning (National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, 2014).
4. Changes in Interaction
When She Can Sit Up by Herself
Interactions between the parents and/or c...