Discoveries of Infancy Cognitive Development And Learning Part 1

The program for infant toddler caregivers is an activity of Far West Laboratory, Center for Child and Family Studies and the California Department of Education, Child Development Division. 100,000 years ago, humankind discovered fire. It changed forever the way we live 500 years ago, Galileo discovered that the earth isn't at the center of the universe. This changed the way we think about our place in the cosmos. Today's explorers make their discoveries with the whole world watching. >> ...ignition and liftoff. >> We share with them the excitement of liftoff, the adventure of flight, the exploration of space. >> ...102-degree roll. >> Adult fascination with the secrets of the universe is the same fascination we see in infants. They concentrate. They solve problems. They experiment... Following the same path of discovery as Galileo. When you watch infants closely, you start to get a feeling for just how important discovery is to them. They're busy trying to make sense out of their experiences. Hundreds of times a day, they are uncovering the mysteries of the world, Learning from what they see, hear, feel, taste, and touch. bye, see ya. Hello.I'm Gary Thompson, director of the Oakland parent child center. One of the things that impresses me most about infants and toddlers is their constant quest for knowledge. No matter what infants are doing, they're taking in information. They order, classify, integrate, kind of like a computer. In this video we will explore the process of discovery and show how infants and toddlers learn. >> infants use every means they have to learn about things. They start with simple sense and motor experiences... And move toward figuring things out in their heads. Young learners use materials in any way that occurs to them... And learn lessons as much from getting it wrong as getting it right. Many of the early lessons can be grouped into the following 6 discoveries: How to use tools... >> Yeah! The relationship between cause and effect. The understanding that objects are permanent. How things move and fit in space. The power of imitation. [boy laughs] How to organize action and thought into patterns, schemes for learning. Schemes are important because they are the building blocks for all other discovery. By using learning schemes like banging and mouthing, a child gains valuable information about things. Early on, schemes are simple. Mouthing, banging, handling, and shaking lead to discovering the properties of objects and how they are best used. Infants will try their schemes on just about everything. In the process, they learn about objects and get ideas about new ways to act. Eli is exploring what he can do with his toys. As he studies them--how they move, how they feel --he learns to treat them differently and in the process begins to understand the concepts of similarity and difference. Experiences with hard things... soft things... noisy things... sticky things... give children information that helps them put objects into categories such as things to shake or things to pull. Sometimes, the schemes a child knows, such as moving objects back and forth and up and down, don't work too well. Infants practice adapting and combiningschemes until they perfect one that works. Practice not only makes perfect, but leads to experimentation. There's always something more to figure out. As children grow older, they become more selective in the way they handle things. They don't need to use every scheme they know on every object. Instead, they pick and choose, no longer using basic schemes like mouthing and banging when they're exploring such qualities as size, shape, and color. Infants also develop schemes related to the actions of people... such as connecting music to dance. And the appropriate use of things like cups, forks, and spoons. Scheme development helps children discover how objects are best used and how to use them in new and interesting ways. It is the foundation for all other discoveries. As infants develop, they begin to understand that events and outcomes are caused. They learn to cause things to happen themselves and to search objects for ways to make things happen. >>Very good. >> Young infants don't know the relationship between cause and effect. Brett is surprised when a toy rolls away and doesn't seem to realize that he caused it. Through exploring and experimenting, the connection between cause and effect starts to become clear. Gradually, infants learn that a specific action, such as turning the *** on the Music box, will produce a predictable outcome. We'll use this windup cheerleader to illustrate how children develop an understanding of cause and effect. For safety's sake, stay close if you use this type of toy. 7-month-old Judy is fascinated with our cheerleader. >> Is she gonna get you? >> At her stage of development she explores the toy, and in the way she knows how may even be trying to get it going again. 20-month-old Elliot is fascinated, too. At first he relates to the cheerleader as Judy did. But then he examines it more closely. It's almost as if you can see his mind working, inspecting the toy. As he explores, he tries to cause it to move again. He uses his hand to get the baton going. He bangs its head in imitation of how the caregiver got it to move. And finally gives it back, Maybe to get the caregiver to start it moving again. He knows more about cause than Judy does but hasn't yet learned the connection between turning the *** and causing movement. Tonito, with 2 1/2 years of experience behind him, has no problem finding out what makes the gorilla jump. He goes right for the windup ***. He's made the connection. Throughout infancy, children are continually discovering links between cause and effect. And searching out causal mechanisms. They learn that they can cause things to happen with their own bodies... That other people and objects can cause things to happen... and that specific parts of objects, like wheels, light switches, and buttons on cameras, can cause specific effects. >> Sense and motor actions like mouthing, rubbing, and dropping are building blocks for future learning. As children explore and play, their thought processes grow in a purposeful and in an orderly way. When a child makes a discovery, it may not by itself seem like much, but even a tiny insight is part of a larger learning process. A new insight, such as "something causes a toy to move" is influenced by previous insights: "Things move..." >> is she gonna get you? >> ...and influences future ones. " "Hey, I can turn a *** and make a toy move." Each insight leads to new insights and greater knowledge. All learning takes place this way. With this in mind let's take a look at the next two discoveries- Use of tools and object permanence. >> A tool can be anything: A cry, a hand, a caregiver, or an object. Anything children can use to accomplish what they want. Infants learn to extend their power through the use of tools. They learn that a tool is a means to an end. [crying] Young infants learn to use their bodies to get what they want. For example, early crying usually brings a nurturing response. After repeated responses, the child learns to use the cry to get her needs met. Infants use their bodies as tools in lots of different ways. By reaching out for things... By crawling to a desired object... By pulling what they want to them... By learning to use even their mouths as tools, they get done what they want to get done. Another way infants demonstrate their growing awareness of tool use is by getting people to do things for them. They often use their caregivers as tools. The caregiver is seen as an effective way to get things done. >> You do it. >> It might not seem very complimentary to be treated as a tool. >> Want me to get it? >> But using you as a tool is an important step in the infant's cognitive growth. Your going along with them is a great gift. Of course objects are tools, too. Janea is figuring out that she can get the hammer she wants by using the towel as her tool. >> There is the hammer! Yay! Janea! >> Sherman is using a chair to get to a toy. As children grow older, they develop this type of tool-use strategy in their heads. At these later stages of infancy, ideas have become tools. Johnny has come up with the idea of using the abacus as a tray. >> Whoa! >> Trying something new may not always work, but it's the idea that counts. With this new thinking ability, he can accomplish many things. For young babies, out of sight often means out of mind. Infants are not born knowing about the permanence of objects. They learn this important lesson gradually. Repeated experiences with such things as a bottle or a mother's face, help children discover that familiar objects are permanent. One of the ways infants show their initial understanding of this concept is by identifying and tracking objects. They learn that though a thing moves or is temporarily out of sight, it still exists. Being able to hold an object in memory even when it is hidden from sight is a major intellectual achievement. 4-month-old Eli doesn't yet do this. At 7 months, Judy is just starting to get the picture and hold a favorite doll in memory. >>" Where did it go? Can you figure that out?" >> She knows something's happening. >>"There she is." >> and certainly seems to recognize the doll when it reappears. 20-month-old Elliot has kept a car in memory for quite some time and searches for it, confident of its existence. It's obvious that he knows what he's looking for. >> "Elliot, found the car. Good job!" >> By the time a child is Sophia's age, she has a clear sense that things are permanent. She can keep in mind the book and where it went. When asked, she can even find it. >> where is it? >> Sophia has come to know that things exist over time, that there is a past, present and future.