W2L2 - Basic Processes and Social Responsiveness

Question 1

What is the infant’s starter kit

Answer 1

1. ) Reflexes
2. ) Sensory Abilities
3. ) Socio-emotional Capabilites

Question 2

Reflexes: Define it and What is the importance

Answer 2

Definition:
Inborn, automatic responses to different forms of stimulation

Importance
Indicates neurological status

Some may become complex patterns of behaviour over time

Question 3

What are some common reflexes

Answer 3

Babinski; Crawl; Grasp; Root; Moro; Stepping

Question 4

What are infant’s sensory abilites

Answer 4

Sight, touch, sound, taste, smell

Question 5

Sight - What can infants see

Answer 5

• Poor acuity (20/600)
• Poor contrast sensitivity

[1 mo]
Color Perception 
[4 mo]
Depth Perception - Binocular: Closer object = Greater disparity 
[6mo]
Depth Perception - Pictorial

Still unclear whether it’s innate or learnt

Question 6

Touch - What can infants feel

Answer 6

• Temperature change (SENSITIVE)
• Pain (SENSITIVITY NOT SURE) (e.g. circumcision has physiological indicators such as crying) -> Not possible to assess cognitive components of pain.

Tiffany Field: Positive benefits of massage for infants

Question 7

Sound - What can infants hear

Answer 7

DeCasper:

• Newborns discriminate mum’s voice from stranger
• Newborns discriminate familiar from novel story

Eimas & Jusyck:
- Newborns discriminate sounds in own language in 6 months

Question 8

Taste - What can infants taste

Answer 8

• Taste receptors/chemistry change throughout childhood.

- Preference for salty taste

Question 9

Smell - What odors can baby smell

Answer 9

MacFarlene:
- Breastfed newborns discriminate & prefer mom’s scent

Cernoch & Porter;
- Bottle fed infants prefer scent of lactating females

Question 10

What are the brief conclusion of sensory abilites

Answer 10

Suggest that sensory abilities may scaffold development of cognitive and social competencies

Question 11

Social Development: What did Spitz (1965) WHO study found. What term did he use.

Answer 11

• 37% of infants who were placed in orphanages died within short periods and almost all infants development were delayed.
• More vulnerable to infections, had feeding and sleeping problems.

Hence, Infants need social world & we can’t separate social and cognitive
Psychotoxemia (Reactive attachment disorder)

Question 12

Infant emotional development - What are basic Expression

Answer 12

Basic/Primary Emotions:

Anger; Interest; Fear; Disgust; Joy; Sadness

Question 13

Infant emotional development - When

Answer 13

Expression imitated at 3 days.

Imitation is complex (neurological mechanism) > Suggests that it is innate

Question 14

Do adults reliably label infant expressions.. How do expression deffer

Answer 14

Yes (Izard, 1993)

They differ in ease of discrimination. Positive (joy & interest) vs Negative (anger & fear)

Question 15

What are the 3 types of attachments in the “Strange Situation”.

Answer 15

“Strange Situation” -> Differing levels of distress

1. ) Secure (Welcome back)
2. ) Anxious-Resistant (Don’t do that again)
3. ) Anxious-Avoidant ( )

Question 16

Are the attachments permanent

Answer 16

No. They may change in context and importantly it may change over TIME

Question 17

How many personality dimensions are infants rated on

Answer 17

9

Question 18

What are the three temperament categories for infants

Answer 18

Easy
Difficult
Slow to warm up

Question 19

What happens on the temperament for infants cross-culturally

Answer 19

Across cultures, there is difference.

American & Australian similar
Greek and Chinese similar.