Baby learning phase

Childhood

Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to puberty. It may also include adolescence. According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, childhood consists of two stages: pre operational stage and concrete operational stage.

In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of early childhood (preschool age), middle childhood (school age), and adolescence (puberty to legal adulthood). Various childhood factors could affect a person's attitude formation.

The concept of childhood emerged during the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly through the educational theories of the philosopher John Locke and the growth of books for and about children. Previous to this point, children were often seen as incomplete versions of adults.

Early childhood

Early childhood follows the infancy stage and begins with toddler hood when the child begins speaking or taking steps independently. While toddler hood ends around age 3 when the child becomes less dependent on parental assistance for basic needs, early childhood continues approximately until the age of 7.

However, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, early childhood also includes infancy. At this stage children are learning through observing, experimenting and communicating with others.

 Adults supervise and support the development process of the child, which then will lead to the child's autonomy. Also during this stage, a strong emotional bond is created between the child and the care providers. The children also start preschool and kindergarten at this age: and hence their social lives.

Middle childhood

Middle childhood begins at around age 7, approximating primary school age. It ends with puberty (around age 12 or 13), which typically marks the beginning of adolescence. In this period, children develop socially and mentally. 

They are at a stage where they make new friends and gain new skills, which will enable them to become more independent and enhance their individuality. During middle childhood, children enter the school years, where they are presented with a different setting than they are used to.

This new setting creates new challenges and faces for children. Upon the entrance of school, mental disorders that would normally not be noticed come to light. Many of these disorders include: autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. 

Middle childhood is the time when children begin to understand responsibility and are beginning to be shaped by their peers and parents. Chores and more responsible decisions come at this time, and so does social comparison.

Along with social comparison comes social play. With social play comes learning and teaching. During social play children learn from each other, and they also teach each other this is often done with observation.

Adolescence

Adolescence is usually determined to be between the onset of puberty and legal adulthood: mostly corresponding to the teenage years (13-19). However, puberty usually begins before the teenage years.

 Adolescence is accepted by some cultures as a part of social childhood, because most adolescents are considered minors under the law. The onset of adolescence brings about various physical, psychological and behavioral changes. 

The end of adolescence and the beginning of adulthood varies by country and by function, and even within a single nation-state or culture there may be different ages at which an individual is considered to be mature enough to be entrusted by society with certain tasks.

Child development 

Child development  involves the biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. In the course of development, the individual human progresses from dependency to increasing autonomy.

Developmental change may occur as a result of genetically-controlled processes known as maturation, or as a result of environmental factors and learning, but most commonly involves an interaction between the two. It may also occur as a result of human nature and of human ability to learn from the environment.

There are various definitions of periods in a child's development, since each period is a continuum with individual differences regarding starting and ending. Some age-related development periods and examples of defined intervals include: newborn (ages 0–4 weeks); infant (ages 4 weeks – 1 year); toddler (ages 12 months-24 months); preschooler (ages 2–5 years); school-aged child (ages 6–12 years); adolescent (ages 13–19).

Promoting child development through parental training, among other factors, promotes excellent rates of child development. Parents play a large role in a child's activities, socialization, and development. 

The optimal development of children is considered^] vital to society and so it is important to understand the social, cognitive, emotional, and educational development of children. Increased research and interest in this field has resulted in new theories and strategies, with specific regard to practice that promotes development within the school system. Some theories seek to describe a sequence of states that compose child development.

Infant cognitive development 

Infant cognitive development  is the first stage of human cognitive development, in the youngest children. The academic field of infant cognitive development studies of how psychological processes involved in thinking and knowing develop in young children.

language, all of which require processing by our cognitive system.Scientific investigation in this field has its origin in the first half of the 20th century, an early and influential theory in this field is Jean Piaget's Theory of cognitive development. 

                       

Since Piaget's contribution to the field, infant cognitive development and methods for its investigation have advanced considerably, with numerous psychologists investigating different areas of cognitive development including memory, language and perception, coming up with various theories—for example

Attention span

Attention span is the amount of time spent concentrating on a task before becoming distracted. Distractibility occurs when attention is uncontrollably diverted to another activity or sensation. 

Most educators and psychologists agree that the ability to focus and sustain attention is crucial for a person to achieve their goals. Attention training is said to be part of education, particularly in the way students are trained to remain focused on a topic of observation or discussion for extended periods, developing listening and analytical skills in the process.

Memory

The development of memory in children becomes evident within the first 2 to 3 years of a child's life as they show considerable advances in declarative memory. This enhancement continues into adolescence with major developments in short term memory, working memory, long term memory and autobiographical memory.

Research on the development of memory has indicated that declarative, or explicit memory, may exist in infants who are even younger than two years old. For example, newborns who are less than 3 days old demonstrate a preference for their mother’s own voice.

Perception

The perception of causality was initially studied by Albert Michotte where he presented adults with animated images of moving balls.By manipulating the direction and timing of the moving balls (spatial and temporal dimensions) he was able to influence participants’ perception of causality.

There is contradicting evidence on whether causal perception is innate and present at birth or whether it is a result of perception development. Through research with very young infants, many studies have shown support for the theory that humans are born with the mechanisms needed for the perception of causality . 

Recent research has even shown this ability in newborns only a few hours old]. However, other studies have shown similar results received by Michotte (1976) in infants as young as 6 months, but not younger . These studies support a more developmental progression of abilities required for the perception of causality.

Object permanence

Object permanence is the understanding that an object continues to exist, even when one cannot see it or touch it. It is an important milestone in the stages of cognitive development for infants.

Numerous tests regarding it have been done, usually involving a toy and a crude barrier which is placed in front of the toy, and then removed repeatedly . In early sensorimotor stages, the infant is completely unable to comprehend object permanence. 

Psychologist Jean Piaget conducted experiments with infants which led him to conclude that this awareness was typically achieved at eight to nine months of age. Infants before this age are too young to understand object permanence, which explains why infants at this age do not cry when their mothers are gone – "Out of sight, out of mind". 

A lack of object permanence can lead to A-not-B errors , where children look for an object at the location where they first discovered it rather than where they have just seen it placed.

Depth perception

Studies in psychology also suggest that three dimensionality and depth perception is not necessarily fully intuitive, and must be partially learned in infancy using an unconscious inference. 

The acquisition of depth perception and its development in infant cognitive systems was researched by Richard D. Walk. Walk found that human infants is able to discriminate depth well from an "innate learned" point of view, they are able to discriminate depth from the age at which they can be tested.

However, their visual mechanisms are still maturing. Walk discovered that infants are better able to discriminate depth when there is a definitive pattern separating the deeper and shallower areas, than if either one is at all indefinite, and the depth and distance must be of a certain level of distance in order to be successfully distinguished by the infant.

 

According to Walk there is a clear development of perceptual behaviour, as with increasing age it is shown that children are able to discriminate between depths more accurately, and gauge more subtle differences between depths.

Physical laws

Largely thanks to the innovative strategies developed by Renee Baillargeon and her colleagues, considerable knowledge has been gained in the about how young infants come to understand natural physical laws.

Much of this research depends on carefully observing when infants react as if events are unexpected. For example, if an infant sees an object that appears to be suspended in mid-air, and behaves as if this is unexpected, then this suggests that the infant has an understanding that things usually fall if they are not supported.

Baillargeon and her colleagues have contributed evidence, for example, about infants’ understanding of object permanence and their reasoning about hidden objects.

Language

From birth, babies are learning to communicate. The communication begins with crying and then begins to develop into cooing and babbling. Infants develop their speech by mimicking those around them.

Gestures and facial expressions are all part of language development. In the first three months of life babies will generally use different crying types to express their different needs, as well as making other sounds such as cooing.

They will begin mimicking facial expressions and smiling at the sight of familiar faces. Between the ages of 4–6 months infants have a greater response towards different tones in voices, and greater engagement, watching the speaker's face. 

The child's own language skills develop with larger variation in babbling sounds, and elicit responses in conversation through babbling. From 7 months to the end of their first year babies are able to understand frequently heard words and can respond to simple requests. 

Their babbling becomes more complex and they communicate with it as if they are making sense, they use babbling to express their desires. Non-verbal communication also develops and actions such as waving goodbye are produced. This is also the period in which babies often say their first word, an important milestone in the child's life.

Self-awareness

The most common technique used in research for testing self-awareness in infants is a mirror test known as the "Rouge Test".The rouge test works by applying a dot on an infant’s face and then placing them in front of the mirror. 

If the infant investigates the dot on their nose by touching it, they are thought to realize their own existence and have achieved self-awareness. A number of research studies have used this technique and shown self-awareness to develop between 15 and 24 months of age.

 

Some researchers take language such as "I, me, my, etc." as an indicator of self-awareness. Rochat (2003) described a more in-depth developmental path in acquiring self-awareness through various stages. He described self-awareness as occurring in 5 stages beginning from birth.

Developmental psychology 

Developmental psychology  is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life. Originally concerned with infants and prepubescent children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan. 

Developmental psychologists aim to explain how thinking, feeling, and behaviors change throughout life. This field examines change across three major dimensions: physical development, cognitive development, and social emotional development. 

Within these three dimensions are a broad range of topics including motor skills, executive functions, moral understanding, language acquisition, social change, personality, emotional development, self-concept, and identity formation.

Developmental psychology examines the influences of nature and nurture on the process of human development, and processes of change in context across time. Many researchers are interested in the interactions among personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors, including the social context and the built environment.

Ongoing debates in regards to developmental psychology include biological essentialism vs. neuroplasticity and stages of development vs. dynamic systems of development.

Developmental psychology involves a range of fields, such as educational psychology, child psychopathology, forensic developmental psychology, child development, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and cultural psychology.