It talks about how Infants psychological processes involved in thinking and knowing develop into young children.

1. COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT OF
INFANTS &
TODDLERS

2. Substage 1: Simple Reflexes (birth to
1 month)
- Coordination of sensation and action
through reflexive behaviors. Three
primary reflexes are described by
Piaget. These are:
 Sucking of objects in the mouth

3.  Moving or interesting objects
with the eyes

4.  Closing of the hand when an object
makes contact with the palm

5. FIRST HABITS AND PRIMARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (1-4
MONTHS):
It involves coordinating sensation and new
schemas. In the first few months of life,
infants‘ behaviors are focused almost
exclusively on their own bodies (in Piaget‘s
terminology, the behaviors are primary) and
are repeated over and over again (i.e., they are
circular). Infants also begin to refine their
reflexes and combine them into more complex
actions. For example: A child may such his or
her thumb by accident and then later
intentionally repeat the action. These actions
are repeated because the infant finds them
pleasurable.

7. SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (4-8 MONTHS)
In this stage the infants become more
subject-oriented, moving beyond self-
preoccupation repeat actions that bring
interesting or pleasurable results. This
stage is associated primarily with the
development of coordination between
vision and prehension. Three new abilities
occur at this stage: intentional grasping
for a desired object, secondary circular
reactions , and differentiations between
ends and means.

8. At this stage, infants will intentionally grasp the
air in the direction of a desired object, often to
the amusement of friends and family.
Secondary circular reactions, or the repetition
of an action involving an external object
begin: for example , moving a switch to turn
on a light repeatedly. This means that a
secondary action is focused on an object
outside the body of an infant. The
differentiation between means and ends also
occurs. This is perhaps one of the most
important stages of a child’s growth as it
signifies the drawn of logic.

10. COORDINATION OF REACTIONS STAGE SECONDARY
CIRCULAR 8-12 MONTHS
Coordination of vision and touch-hand-eye
coordination; of schemes intentionally. This
stage is associated primarily with the
development of logic and the coordination
between means and ends. This is an extremely
important stage of development , holding what
Piaget calls the “first proper intelligence”. Also,
this stage marks the beginning of goal
orientation ,the deliberate planning of steps to
meet an objective. The action is directed
towards a goal.

11. TERTIARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS ,NOVELTY, AND
CURIOSITY 12-18 MONTHS
Infants become intrigued by the many properties
of objects and by the many things they can
make happen to objects; they experiment with
new behavior.
This stage is associated primarily with the
discovery of new means to meet goals. Piaget
describes the child at this juncture as the “
young scientist., “ conducting pseudo-
experiments to discover new methods of
meeting challenges.

12. By the end of the sensorimotor period, objects
are both separate from the self and
permanent. Object permanence is the
understanding that objects continue to exist
even when they cannot be seen.

13. INTERNALIZATION OF SCHEMES
( INVENTION OF NEW MEANS THROUGH
MENTAL COMBINATION -18-24 MONTHS
Infants develop the ability to use primitive symbols and
form enduring mental representations .This stage is
associated primarily with the beginnings of insight , or
true creativity. This marks the passage into the
preoperational stage. Evidence of an internal
representational system. Symbolizing the problem-
solving sequence before actually responding.

14. SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
The six sub stages of the sensorimotor shows
the development begins form reflexive
behaviors to more refined and more
coordinated activities. Cognitive development
of infants evolves in orientation from
becoming focused on themselves to
becoming object or world-oriented , from
one that is action-based to one that is
mentally-based , from one that does not
involve much of coordination of
schemes to one involving intentionally,
novelty and curiosity and from a
thinking that is purely sensorimotor to a

15. Piaget’s sub stages are termed circular because the
adaptive behavior to the world involves repeated
actions. Circular reactions are attempts to repeat an
event that the baby likes.
Primary circular reactions are oriented toward the infant’s
own body, whereas secondary circular reactions are
aimed toward the environment including others. Here is
an example of a primary circular reaction:
At first, by accident , the baby gets her thumb in her
mouth. But she doesn’t know how to do it again. She
waves her hand around and, after many attempts ,
eventually succeeds in doing it again. Gradually , she
learns how to do it at will.

16. Secondary circular reactions are repetitive actions that
involve recreating events which 4-10 month old
babies observe outside of their own bodies, such as
making their mobile crib shake by kicking their legs.
Tertiary circular reactions, seen from approximately 10
to 18 months, is when a baby does things over and
over again, just a little differently each time. When a
baby seems to enjoy dropping the spoon over and
over again in many different ways, a proof of the
creation of novel variations in events. Piaget
described the baby at this stage as the “scientist” .

17. Acquiring the sense of object permanence is one of the
infant’s most important accomplishments, according
to Piaget’s.” Object permanence is the
understanding that objects are not immediately
perceptible through the senses.
There are some criticisms of Piaget’s theory on cognitive
development . One criticism from other developmental
theorists is his fundamental assumption that cognitive
development occurs in fixed sequence of
discontinuous spurts across task domains, tasks and
contexts.

18. Many theorists (e.g. Brainerd, 1978) believe that
cognitive development occurs as a continuous
process rather than in discontinuous stages of
development . Recent studies in the cognitive
development of infants support the view that Piaget
underestimated young infant’s cognitive ability.
furthermore., Piaget’s methods of research were said
to be quite loose, the fact that he simply observed his
three children and a few others which were limited
only to European children.

19. LEARNING AND REMEMBERING
Do infants learn and remember?
Yes! Pavlov’s classical conditioning and Skinner’s
operant conditioning have been proven to apply to
infants.
All of us experience infantile amnesia , the inability to
recall events that happened when we were very
young ( Spear, 1979). Generally, we can remember
little or nothing that has happened to us before the
age of about 5 years, and it is extremely rare for
someone to recall many memories before 3 years.
Reports of childhood memories usually involve
memories of significant events (e.g. birth of a sibling
or the death of a parent; Fivush and Hammond,
1991).

20. For example, some adults have recalled their own
hospitalization or the birth of a sibling as far as age 2
years, and the death of a parent or a family move may
be recalled from as far back as age 3 year

21. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
From day one, infants appear to be programmed into their
linguistic environment with the specific goal of acquiring
language. Infants clearly have remarkably acute language
learning abilities even form an early age ( Marcus, Vijayan,
Bandi Rao and Vishton, 1999; Pinker, 1997, 1999 cited
by Sternberg, Robert, 2003).
Within the first years of life, we humans seem to progress
through the following stages in producing language
( Sternberg, 2003):
1. Cooing, which comprises consonant as well as vowel
sounds
2. Babbling, which comprises consonant as well as vowel
sounds; to most people’s ears, the babbling of infants
growing up among speakers from different language

22. One- word utterances; these utterances are limited in both
the vowels and the consonants they utilize ( Ingram,
1999 cited by Sternberg, 2003)
Two-word utterances and telegraphic speech
Basic adult sentence structure ( present by about age 4
years) with continuing vocabulary acquisition
The infant utters his/her word- followed by one or two
more, and soon after, yet a few more. The infant uses
these one- word utterances termed holophrases- to
convey intentions, desires and demands. Usually, the
words are nouns describing familiar objects that the
child observes (e.g. book, ball, and baby) or wants (e.g.
Mama, Dada)

23. By 18 months of age, children typically have vocabularies
of 3 to 100 words ( Siegler, 1986). Because the young
child’s vocabulary is very limited at this point in the
developmental process, the child overextends the
meaning of words in his/her existing lexicon to cover
things and ideas for which a new word is lacking. For
example the general term for any kind of four- legged
animal may be “doggie” . In linguistics this is called
overextension error.
Gradually between 1.5 and 2.5 years of age, children start
combining single words to produce two-word utterances.
These two-word or three-word utterances with
rudimentary syntax but with articles and prepositions
missing are referred to as telegraphic speech.

24. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE (LAD)
Noam Chomsky (1965, 1972), noted linguist, claims
that humans have an innate language acquisition
device (LAD). This LAD is a “metaphorical organ that
is responsible for language learning. Just as a heart is
designed to pump blood this language acquisition
device is pre-programmed to learn language, whatever
the language community children find themselves in.”
This means that we, human seem to be biologically
preconfigured to be ready to acquire knowledge.
Indeed, children seem to have a knack for acquiring
an implicit understanding of the many rules of
language structure, as well as for applying those rules
to new vocabulary and new contexts.

25. Professor Laura –Ann Petito of Dartnouth College in
Hanover, New Hampshire and her colleagues
conducted a recent study that concluded that “ by 5
months of age, babies are already specializing by
using the left side of their brains for language sounds
and the right side for expression emotion. We all
speak out from the right side of our mouths. Babies
babble out from the right side of their mouths.
The right side of the body is controlled by the left side
of the brain while the left side of the body is controlled
by the right side of the brain (connections in the brain
are contralateral or crossed). Babies use the right side
of their mouths for babbling, and then babbling is a
language function controlled by the left side of the
brain.

26. WHAT INFANTS AND TODDLERS CAN DO
COGNITIVELY?
DOMAIN: LANGUAGE, PRE-READING AND PRE-MATH
LANGUAGE (RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE)
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed on and/or performed
by a child on the specified age?
0-6 months
Watches primarily caregiver intently as she speaks to him/her
7-12 months
 Understands “No”
 Points to family member when asked to do so
13-18 months
 Points to 5 body parts on him/herself when asked to do so
 Follows one-step instructions without need for gestures
19-24 months
Points to 5 named pictured objects when asked to do so

27. LANGUAGE ( EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE)
Standards 1. The child is able to use words and gestures to express his
thoughts and feelings.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed
on and/or performed by a child on the specified age?
0-6 months
 Makes gurgling, cooing, babbling or other vocal sounds
 Uses gestures (e.g., stretching his/her arms , pointing ) to indicate
what he/she wants
7-12 months
 Repeats sounds produced by others
 Says meaningful words like papa, mama, to refer to specified
persons
 Uses animal sounds to identify animals (e.g, meow-meow for cat)
 Uses environmental sounds to identify objects/ events in the
environment (e.g, boom for thunder)

28. 13-18 months
 Speaks in single words
 Says “yes” and “ no” appropriately
 Uses words accompanied by gestures to indicate what
he/she wants
Responds to simple questions with single words
19-24 months
 Uses pronouns
 Uses possessive pronouns
 Says what he/she wants without accompanying this with
gestures
 Attempts to converse even if he cannot be clearly
understood

29. PRE-READING AND PRE-MATH
(MATCHING)
Standards 1.1: The child is able to match identical objects, colors,
shapes, symbols.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed on
and/or performed by a child on the specified age?
7-12 months
Able to match 2 identical objects (e.g., 2 spoons, 2 balls)
19-24 months
Matches identical objects
Matches identical pictures

30. PRE-READING AND PRE-MATH (ROTE
SEQUENCING)
Standards 1.2: The child is able to recite the alphabet
and numbers in sequence.
Based on your experience , are these indicators
generally observed on and/or performed by a child on
the specified age?
19-24 months
Counts from 1 to 5 with errors, gaps or prompts

31. DOMAIN: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
ATTENTION AND ACTIVITY LEVEL
Standards 1: The child is able to sustain attention and modulate his activity at age-
expected levels.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed on and/or
performed by a child on the specified age?
0-6 months
Locks steadily at novel stimuli (e.g., rattle, dangling toy)
7-12 months
Examines properties of toys for several minutes by handling these (e.g., pulling apart)
Looks with interest at picture books
Able to sit through an entire meal without fussing
13-18 months
May be distracted but responds when made to re-focus
Resists interruption while engaged in play

32. HIGHER –ORDERED MENTAL ABILITIES
(CONCEPT FORMATION)
Standards 1: The child develops basic concepts pertaining to object
constancy, space, time, quantity, seriation, etc., and uses these as
the basis for understanding how materials are categorized in
his/her environment.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed
on and/or performed by a child on the specified age?
0-6 months
 Experiments with new objects or toys banging or putting them in his
mouth
 Looks in the direction of a fallen object
7-12 months
 Looks for partially hidden objects
 Looks for completely hidden objects

33. 13-18 months
 Can tell whether something is hot or cold
 Hands over 1 object when asked
19-24 months
 Can tell which is shorter of 2 items
 Can tell which is taller/longer of 2 items
 Can tell which is bigger of 2 items
 Can tell which is nearer of 2 items

34. HIGHER-ORDERED MENTAL ABILITIES
(CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS)
Standards 1: The child is able to understand the cause-effect
relationships.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed
on and/or performed by a child on the specified age?
0-6 months
Acts as an object to achieve and objective (e.g., shakes rattle)
7-12 months
Uses an object to get something he/she wants (e.g., spoon to reach
an object)

35. ASKS “WHY” QUESTIONS
Understands reasons behind daily practices (e.g.,
washing hands before meals)
Understands reasons behind safety rules& practices at
home (e.g., why one must not play matches)
Knows where to return most of his/her things

36. MEMORY (MEMORY FOR
EXPERIENCES: EPISODIC MEMORY)
Standards 1: The child is able to recall people he has met,
events and places he has been to.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally
observed on and/or performed by a child on the specified age?
0-6months
Child reacts like smiling, in recognition of someone he/she has met
several times but who does not live in his/her home.
13-18months
Child reacts, like smiling, in recognition of a familiar place besides
his/her home.
19-24 months
Child is brought somewhere and correctly recalls having been there
before.

37. MEMORY (MEMORY FOR CONCEPT- BASED
KNOWLEDGE: SEMANTIC MEMORY)
Standards 1: The child is able to store verbal information in short and long
–term memory.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed on
and/or performed by a child on the specified age?
19-24 months
Hums a recognizable tune
Memorizes some gestures of action songs
HIGHER- ORDERED MENTAL ABILITIES (LOGICAL
REASONING)
Standards 1: The child is able to follow the logic of events (i.e., reasons
why these happen) and draw accurate conclusion by evaluating the
facts presented to him.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed on
and/or performed by a child on the specified age?

38. HIGHER-ORDERED MENTAL ABILITIES
(PLANNING AND ORGANIZING)
Standards 1: The child is able to plan and organize simple, familiar
activity. Based on your experience, are these indicators generally
observed on and/or performed by a child on the specified age?
HIGHER-ORDERED MENTALABILITIES (CREATIVE
THOUGHT)
Standards 1: The child is able to generate new ideas or concepts, or new
associations between existing ideas or concepts.
Based on your experience, are these indicators generally observed on
and/or performed by a child on the specified age?
19-24 months
 Enjoys constructing objects or structures out of manipulative toys
(e.g., blocks, clay, sand, paper)
 Uses toys or objects as symbols in play (e.g., pretends empty milk can
is a drum)
 Can use the same toy or object in more than one way (e.g., big
empty box as house)

39. Thank you for listening!Thank you for listening!
God bless us all!God bless us all!
Prepared by:
Roselie Janubas
Prof.Ed.