Watch the Infants: Cognitive Development (2010, Learning Seed) video. The video is housed in the BMCC library Kanopy video database. Follow these directions or use this video to access the video. Complete this handout as you watch the video.
Watch Discoveries in Infancy: Cognitive Development & Learning (Far West Laboratory, 1991). Complete this handout while watching the video.
Read Peterson (2012). Complete this handout as you read the article.
Peterson (2012)Using information from the videos and reading, answer the questions below:
- Using information from the videos and reading, what are important cognitive skills babies 0 to 18 months develop?
- How can infant teachers support babies’ cognitive development? List practices that no one has mentioned yet.
1.- These are important cognitive skills that babies 0 to 18 months develop. Paterson states “Cognitively, in the first two years infants and toddlers master concepts about cause and effect, object permanence, using tools and understanding spatial relationships and number relations” (11).
In the video “Discoveries in Infancy: Cognitive Development & Learning” (Far West Laboratory, 1991) the experts explore the discovery process of infants by Cause and Effect, Use of Tools and Object Permanence Space:
-Cause and effect, as infant develop, they begin to understand that events and outcomes are caused. They learn to cause things to happen to themselves, and to search objects to make things happen.
-Using tools, young infants learn to use their bodies to get what they want. Ex. Early crying usually brings a nurturing response. After repeated responses they child learn to use the cries to get his needs meet. In addition, they also use objects as tools, ex. Using a chair to get to a toy. Getting people to do things for them, they usually use caregivers as tools, the caregiver is seen as an effective way to get things done.
-Understanding space, infants are able to identify objects in space, track objects thorough space fascinate infants. By investigating their physical space, they are finding out about shape, relative sizes, containers, gravity, balance. Everything challenges infants understanding space.
It is important to mention how Infants fits into the Sensory motor stage, mentioned in the video “Infants Cognitive Development”
1 month. – Simple reflexes, involuntary response to outside stimuli. ex, placing finger on the palm of a baby, the infant automatically closes his palm.
1-4 months. – Primary Circular Reactions involves infant’s behavior with their own body that they repeat over and over for the sake of fun and novelty.
4-8 months. – Secondary Circular Reactions involve repeatedly pleasurable behaviors which involve infant interactions with objects or people in their environment.
8-12 months. – Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions, infants engage in a goal, directed behavior which involves the understanding of Couse and Effect relationships.
2.- In order for teacher to support babies’ cognitive development, first it is very important to respect children and appreciate their actions, so we can support their early learning. We can put in practice these strategies:
-Provide a rich environment
-Let the child do the activity that he/she choose
-Allow children to play without being interrupted
-Let the child do the activity by himself, interfering the less we can
-Provide children the security that they need to feely engage in discovery.
3- What milestones is this baby demonstrating in the video
Social and emotional, the baby was, while he was playing, he kept moving very close to his mother it may be for emotional support or protection.
-Language/ communication, the baby was making different sounds like “ahhh””ehhhh”
-Movement/ physical development, the baby stood holding on her mother, window and stands
He was crawling around the room and sat with no support
-Cognitive, he put different toys in his mouth. In addition, she moved blocks and other toys smoothly from one hand to another.
4. -How is this baby’s development & abilities different from the six-month-old we watched last module?
The 9-month-old could stand holding on and the 6-month-old didn’t, he was sitting.
The 9-month-old moved blocks smoothly from one hand to another and 6-month-old started passing things from one hand to another.
The 9-month-old was clinging on her mother and the 6-month-old wasn’t able to do it but she could recognized her mother’s face.
Marcela — Thanks for creating this comment. You have a thoughtful description of the cognitive processes that babies use. You wove the materials from the module into your comment. Allowing babies the freedom to choose — and following the lead of a baby — are important elements of supporting cognitive development in infants. Thinking about infant development in terms of sensory & motor experiences, I wonder, what would a “rich” environment look like in an infant classroom? I wonder, what are the cognitive skills that babies use/ need to be ready for school, according to Peterson (2012)? You listed the developmental milestones of the baby in the video & compared those milestones to the 6-month-old baby.
1) Important cognitive skills babies learn from 0-18 months are cause and effect, Infants began to learn there is a reaction for every action for example if they throw a toy on the ground someone will pick it up for them.Infants also begin to learn about space and tools. They realize they can use certain tools to do things like reaching for objects.
2)Teachers can support babies by trusting and respecting a child’s decisions. Encourage them and allowing them to make their own choices. Teachers should make a child feel secure and comfortable.
Brittany — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Creating an environment where babies feel safe & comfortable is a priority for learning to occur. Cause & effect, spatial relationships, & use of tools are important cognitive skills that babies 0-18 months old develop; I wonder, what are other cognitive skills that babies develop? I wonder, how does your comment specifically connect to the videos & readings in this activity? What developmental milestones did you observe the 9-month-old baby in the video demonstrate? How? I wonder, how was the 9-month-old baby’s similar to and different from the 6-month-old baby’s development?
1) Using information from the videos and reading, what are important cognitive skills babies 0 to 18 months develop?
Pay attention to moving objects like the face of their caregivers. Tell between different tastes like sweet, salty, and sour. Recognize faces that are becoming more familiar to them. Respond to people by making gestures and sounds.
2)How can infant teachers support babies’ cognitive development? List practices that no one has mentioned yet.
Talking to the child and making sure they can see your eyes and face. Reading books to the child using different voices and showing them the pictures.
3)What milestones is this baby demonstrating in the video (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)? Some milestones that are being demonstrated with the baby is physical development, movement
4)How is this baby’s development & abilities different from the six-month-old we watched in the last module? This baby’s development and abilities are different from the six-month-old baby we watched because the baby in this module is older, so there are more milestones that happen at 9 months than 6 months
Diamunique — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Attending, tracking & experiencing the world through their senses are important cognitive skills babies 0-18 months will use. I wonder, what are other cognitive skills that babies 0-18 months will develop? Reading books & talking to babies supports language development; I wonder, what can a teacher do to support a baby 0-18 months old to cognitive learning? You mention the baby in the video in showing physical movement; I wonder, how? What other developmental milestones (cognitive, social/emotional, language/ communication) is the baby demonstrating? You mention that more milestones happen at 9-months-old compared to 6-months; I wonder, what are those milestones that happen at 9 months that don’t happen at 6-months? I wonder, how does your comment connect to the videos and Peterson reading in this activity?
1)Some important cognitive skills babies from 0-18months would be according to the reading Petersen Infant foundations are born being curiosity that they want to explore. Attention they’re able to regulate their emotions. Memory at 3 months infants can reproduce an action up to two weeks after seeing it. Able to gather information because they observe and they trying new objectives. Also problem solving by encountering problems which children learn to solve on their own.
2)The way infant teachers can support babies cognitive development is to respect the baby. Give them as many options to be active in class such as playing and giving them enough time to play. Allowing them to make decisions on their own. Make the infants feel safe and comfortable.
Lesly — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Your connected your comment to the Peterson (2012) reading. Curiosity, attention, self-regulation, memory, gathering information, and problem solving are important skills that Peterson (2012) identifies babies develop. I wonder, what are other cognitive skills babies 0-18 months develop? Respecting a baby & ensuring the baby feel safe & comfortable lays the foundation for a relationship that supports infant learning. Offering babies time to play and choices supports respect, agency, and exploration. I wonder, how does your comment connect to the videos in this activity?
3)Some milestones that are being shown in the video would be the baby showing physical movement.
4)In this video the baby development and abilities are different from the 6 month old we watched in the last module because in this one the baby is older which such more milestones that are to happen at the 9 months than to 6 months.
Lesly — Thanks for your comment in this activity. The baby in the video did demonstrate physical milestones. I wonder, what specific physical/ motor, language/ communication, cognitive, and social/ emotional milestones did you see the baby demonstrate? How? The 9-month-old baby did demonstrate milestones that the 6-month old baby had not yet mastered; I wonder, what specific cognitive, social/emotional, physical/ motor, and language/ communication milestones did the 9-month-old baby demonstrate that the 6-month-old had not developed yet?
1. Using information from the videos and reading, what are important cognitive skills babies 0 to 18 months develop? Babies 0-18 months old learn through experiences, senses and their environment. Peterson (2012) states “infants and toddlers master concepts about cause and effect, object permanence, using tools and understanding spatial relationships and number relations”. In addition there are also some important cognitive skills that lead to the foundation of learning. Paterson (2012) argues “Effective, engaged learners are curiosity, focus attention, remember earlier experiences, gather information, solve problems and persist even when they are frustrated by a difficult task”.
2. How can infant teachers support babies’ cognitive development? List practices that no one has mentioned yet.
-Create environment where the baby can play safely
-Provide enough tools
-Allow children to find solutions
-Let children follow their interest
-Do not interrupted play
3. What milestones is this baby demonstrating in the video (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?
-Social and emotional- He is clingy with familiar adults
-Language/Communication- He was making different sounds like “ahahahahh” “ohh” “ehh”
-Movement/physical development-He can stands holding on and he can sit without support
-Cognitive-He moves things smoothly from one hand to the other
4. How is this baby’s development & abilities different from the six-month-old we watched last module?
-They are different because the 6-month-old cannot stand holding onto something.
-They are different because the 6-month-old begins to pass things from one hand to the other but not smoothly.
Daniela — Thanks for your comment. You noticed fine & gross motor differences between the 6-month-old & 9-month-old baby. I wonder, what cognitive, social/emotional, and langauge/communication differences did you notice? You mentioned that the 9-month-old baby was clingy with adults in the video; I wonder, can you describe what you mean?
Daniela — Thanks for your comment in this activity. You wove material from the Peterson (2012) reading into your response. In addition to cause & effect, object permeance, using tools, understanding spatial relationships, & math skills, I wonder, what other cognitive skills do babies 0-18 months develop? You mention babies learn through their senses & their environment; based on that info, I wonder, what would an environment where babies can play safely look like? I wonder, how does the material from the videos connect to your comment?
1. Using information from the videos and reading, what are important cognitive skills babies 0 to 18 months develop?
Important cognitive skills babies 0 to 18 months develop are paying attention to their surroundings for example they can see their care takers face and they would be able to remember who they are. They can also be able to tasty things.
2. How can infant teachers support babies’ cognitive development? List practices that no one has mentioned yet.
Reading books in different tones and showing them picture books that they can be able to pronounce what they see. You can also encourage them to do something that may scare them.
3. What milestones is this baby demonstrating in the video (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?
Milestones that the baby in the video demonstrating is language and communication: he can making sounds, movement and physical development: he can sit by himself and stand by holding on to something.
4)How is this baby’s development & abilities different from the six-month-old we watched in the last module?
The baby’s development and abilities are different from the six-month-old baby we watched because in this baby is much older and show completely different milestones.
Madelin — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Infants use their senses, memory, and attention to develop cognitively; I wonder, what are other ways that babies 0-18 months develop cognitively? Reading books & talking to babies can support language development; I wonder, what can teachers do to support infant cognitive development? The 9-month-old baby is making sounds & sitting independently; I wonder, what cognitive & social/emotional milestones did you see the baby demonstrate? How? The 9-month-old baby is older than the 6-month-old; I wonder, are the milestones “completely different”? What did you see the 9-month old do that the 6-month old could not do? I wonder, how does your comment connect to the videos & reading in this activity?
1.Using information from the videos and reading, what are important cognitive skills babies 0 to 18 months develop? Perceive faces that are getting more natural to them by focusing on their environmental factors. Reacting to individuals by making signals and sounds.problem tackling by experiencing issues which kids as they figure out how to address it all alone.
2.How can infant teachers support babies’ cognitive development? List practices that no one has mentioned yet.
-Allowing children to problem solve on their own and encouraging problem solving and creativity
-Engaging them in different books by using a different tone of voice (getting into character)
– Sing Along’s
-Practicing the Alphabet, counting, shapes, colors etc..
-Asking questions, for example which Toy should we pick up when we clean up?
3. What milestones is this baby demonstrating in the video (social and emotional, language/ communication, movement/ physical development, and cognitive)?Milestones that the baby in the video was demonstrating is language and communication as he was making different sounds/noises like “ahahahh”, “ohhh” and “ehh”. He also used movement and physical development when he stood up holding on and was able to sit without any support.
4.How is this baby’s development & abilities different from the six-month-old we watched in the last module? The child’s turn of events and capacities are not the same as the half year old infant we watched on the grounds that in this infant is a lot more established and show totally various achievements.
Selanie — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Babies do use learning schemes — tiny bits of info from the environment– & problem solve to help them figure out the world. I wonder, what are other cognitive skills that babies 0-18 months develop? Asking questions, reading stories, & singing songs promote language development; I wonder, want can infant teachers do to promote cognitive exploration? You identified language/ communication & physical/ motor milestones the 9-month-old baby is demonstrating; I wonder, what social/ emotional & cognitive milestones did you observe? You mentioned that the 9-month-old shows different achievements than the 6-month-old; I wonder, what are those achievements that are different? I wonder, how does your comment connect to the reading & videos in this activity?
1. What are important cognitive skills babies 0 to 18 months develop?
Important cognitive skills babies 0 to 18 months develop is cause and effects, becoming aware of their surroundings. They start to comprehend who is who they also start to imitate behavior that is being done around them.
2. How can infant teachers support babies’ cognitive development? List practices that no one has mentioned yet.
– Read books
– Sing songs, recite nursery rhymes
Brenda — Thanks for your comment in this activity. Imitation, cause & effect, & awareness of their surroundings are important cognitive skills for babies to develop. I wonder, what other cognitive skills did Peterson (2012) and the videos mention that babies learn?