Pregnancy and Birth Interview Questions for Note Taking
This purpose of this interview is to understand the importance of prenatal development and the birth
experiences (Chapters 2 & 3). This period of the human lifespan sets the stage for all development
that follows. Ask the individual questions that help you learn about the following aspects of
pregnancy and childbirth (note: not all questions may relate):
1. Planning for pregnancy:
a. What, if anything, did the subject do in anticipation of getting pregnant?
b. If it was not planned, what was that like for the woman?
2. Confirming Pregnancy:
a. What were the physical and emotional signs that subject experienced (if any)?
b. How was the pregnancy verified?
c. How long did subject wait to confirm pregnancy?
3. Prenatal Care:
a. How much prenatal care did the individual receive?
b. How was an obstetrician/midwife chosen (if chosen)?
c. How far along in pregnancy was it when subject first saw the midwife/doctor?
d. Any special tests?
e. Advice given by medical personnel regarding:
i. Diet?
ii. Weight gain?
iii. Exercise?
iv. Stress?
v. Teratogens?
4. Family’s Reaction and Advice:
a. How does the subject’s family culture view pregnancy and treat the expectant
mother?
b. Did she receive support from father of baby or other individual(s)/partner?
c. What was that like?
5. Changes in Subject’s Life:
a. What was it like to be pregnant?
b. To wear maternity clothes?
c. Physical health?
d. Eating?
e. Emotions and attitudes?
f.
Learning about pregnancy and childbirth?
g. Gathering equipment and clothes for the baby?
h. How comfortable or uncomfortable was pregnancy?
i.
Any surprises?
6. Delivery Plan:
a. Did the individual have a plan?
b. Why or why not?
c. What was the plan?
d. Did the individual take a tour?
e. What kind of birthing facility?
f.
Childbirth classes?
g. Labor coach?
h. Doula?
7. Labor:
a. What were the physical signs that labor was starting (if labor was experienced)?
b. How long was first stage of labor (if experienced)?
c. What kind of medication (if used)?
d. What kind of delivery (vaginal, C-section)?
e. Who was present?
f.
Complications?
g. Anything unexpected?
h. What helped during this part of the experience?
8. Baby’s Condition at Birth:
a. What was the baby like after birth?
b. Any problems?
c. Size of baby?
d. What tests were done on the baby?
e. Any special care for the baby?
9. Bonding with Baby:
a. Subject’s feelings immediately after birth about the baby?
b. Who cut the baby’s umbilical cord?
c. What was feeding and caring for the baby like right after birth?
d. Did she feel competent to cope with motherhood?
e. Any baby blues or postpartum depression?
f.
What support occurred after birth?
NOTE: If a father or other partner is available to interview with the woman for this assignment, you are
welcome to get that individual’s perspective. This is not a requirement as there are many different
kinds of pregnancies, families, and experiences.
Pregnancy and Birth Interview
Objectives:
✓ Make connections between content in text and real-life experiences
✓ Be aware of the variety of experiences pregnant women experience
✓ Reflect on what was gained through the interview and writing process
Interview someone who has been through pregnancy and childbirth relatively recently (ideally,
within the last five years).
•
•
•
•
When conducting the interview, tell the individual that you will be sharing the interview
results with your instructor, but that you will not include her name.
Reassure the individual that confidentiality will be maintained and that they may opt to
skip any questions that make them uncomfortable.
If you write this paper about your own pregnancy, be sure to write it in a way that the
reader does not know it is you.
DO NOT USE REAL NAMES in your paper.
This purpose of this interview is to understand the importance of prenatal development and
the birth experiences (Chapters 2 & 3). This period of the human lifespan sets the stage for all
development that follows. Ask the individual questions that help you learn about the following
aspects of pregnancy and childbirth (note: not all questions may relate):
1. Planning for Pregnancy: What, if anything, did the subject do in anticipation of getting
pregnant? If it was not planned, what was that like for the woman?
2. Confirming Pregnancy: What were the physical and emotional signs that subject
experienced (if any)? How was the pregnancy verified? How long did subject wait to
confirm pregnancy?
3. Prenatal Care: How much prenatal care did the individual receive? How was an
obstetrician/midwife chosen (if chosen)? How far along in pregnancy was it when
subject first saw the midwife/doctor? Any special tests? Advice given by medical
personnel regarding: Diet? Weight gain? Exercise? Stress? Teratogens?
4. Family’s Reaction and Advice: How does the subject’s family culture view pregnancy
and treat the expectant mother? Did she receive support from father of baby or other
individual(s)/partner? What was that like?
5. Changes in Subject’s Life: What was it like to be pregnant? To wear maternity
clothes? Physical health? Eating? Emotions and attitudes? Learning about pregnancy
and childbirth? Gathering equipment and clothes for the baby? How comfortable or
uncomfortable was pregnancy? Any surprises?
6. Delivery Plan: Did the individual have a plan? Why or why not? What was the plan? Did
the individual take a tour? What kind of birthing facility? Childbirth classes? Labor
coach? Doula?
7. Labor: What were the physical signs that labor was starting (if labor was experienced)?
How long was first stage of labor (if experienced)? What kind of medication (if used)?
What kind of delivery (vaginal, C-section)? Who was present? Complications? Anything
unexpected? What helped during this part of the experience?
8. Baby’s Condition at Birth: What was the baby like after birth? Any problems? Size of
baby? What tests were done on the baby? Any special care for the baby?
9. Bonding with Baby: Subject’s feelings immediately after birth about the baby? Who cut
the baby’s umbilical cord? What was feeding and caring for the baby like right after
birth? Did she feel competent to cope with motherhood? Any baby blues or postpartum
depression? What support occurred after birth?
NOTE: If a father or other partner is available to interview with the woman for this assignment,
you are welcome to get that individual’s perspective. This is not a requirement as there are
many different kinds of pregnancies, families, and experiences.
Your Pregnancy Interview Response (This is what you turn in!)
The pregnancy interview paper must contain the three sections below. Please use the provided
template (which has been posted in several formats; if you are unable to get one of those to
open, contact the instructor immediately).
Section 1 – Interview summary: In the first part of your paper, summarize the responses
regarding the 9 topics above. Provide a double spaced paragraph for each topic. Do not write
word-for-word what the individual said. Instead, share the highlights and main points for each
of the sections. Do not skip any sections and ensure that your summary is thoughtful and
thorough. If your subject skipped any questions, please note this. Do not include real names in
the paper or any identifying information.
Section 2 – Analysis: After finding out about the mother’s experience, compare what she shared
to what you have been learning in the class. This is your analysis section. Make three (3)
connections between the interview and the course material. You must cite a page number for
each connection. These connections should be specific. This should be one to three paragraphs
long.
Section 3 – Application: Lastly, discuss what you learned from doing this interview. You may
have learned something about pregnancy or childbirth. You may have learned something about
the variety of experiences women may have. Share what you feel was a useful lesson from this
interview and how you could use what you learned in your own life or how others could benefit
from knowing what you learned. This should be about two paragraphs in length.
Rubric is on next page.
Name:
Evaluation Criteria
Planning for
Pregnancy
Confirming
Pregnancy
Prenatal Care
Family’s
Reaction
Advice
and
Changes in
Subject’s Life
Delivery Plan
Labor
Baby’s Condition
at Birth
Bonding with
Baby
Analysis
Application
Format and
spelling &
grammar
Excellent
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Provided thorough
summary in own words
3 points
Explained three accurate
connections with page
numbers
10 points
Thorough discussion of
what gained through
experience
10 points
Satisfactory
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly thorough summary
in own words
2½ points
Mostly explained or mostly
accurate connections
7-9 points
Used form with very few
spelling and grammar errors
3 point
Total Points Earned
Mostly thorough
discussion
7-9 points
Used form with some
spelling and grammar
errors
2-2½ points
______________ / 50
Unsatisfactory
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Incomplete summary
or word-for-word
1-2 points
Not explained OR not
accurate OR missing
page numbers
1-6 points
Not thorough
discussion
1-6 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Missing
0 points
Did not use form (may be asked to
resubmit) OR many errors
0-1 point
Your Name
CD 125
Pregnancy and Birth Interview
Date
Section One: Interview Summary
Planning for Pregnancy
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Confirming Pregnancy
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Prenatal Care
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Family’s Reaction and Advice
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Changes in Subject’s Life
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Delivery Plan
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Labor
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Baby’s Condition and Birth
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Bonding with Baby
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Section Two: Analysis
Delete this text and put your paragraph/s here. Be sure to include the page number for each of
your connections!
Section Three: Application
Delete this text and put your paragraph here.
Chapter 5: Cognitive Development in Infancy
and Toddlerhood
Objectives
After this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Describe the substages of the Piaget’s sensorimotor stage.
2. Explain how the social environment affects cognitive development according to
Vygotsky’s theory.
3. Discuss the progression of language development during the first two years.
4. Compare the theories of language development.
5. Define classical and operant conditioning.
6. Summarize the different types of memory
Introduction
In an effort to better understand the large spectrum of cognition that infants and toddlers go
through, it is important to analyze and comprehend various theories that relate to their growth
and development. This chapter will take a look at the following theorists: Piaget, Vygotsky,
Chomsky, Skinner, Pavlov, Watson, Bandura, and Bronfenbrenner.
Piaget
Jean Piaget is the most noted theorist when it comes to children’s cognitive development. He
believed that children’s cognition develops in stages. He explained this growth in the following
stages:
1. Sensory Motor Stage (Birth through 2 years old)
2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years old)
3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years old)
4. Formal Operational Stage (12 years old- adulthood)
In this cognitive chapter we will focus on his first stage which occurs in infancy.1
Piaget and Sensorimotor Intelligence
Piaget describes intelligence in infancy as sensorimotor or based on direct, physical contact.
Infants taste, feel, pound, push, hear, and move in order to experience the world. Let’s explore
the transition infants make from responding to the external world reflexively as newborns to
solving problems using mental strategies as two years old.
1 Children’s Development by Ana R. Leon is licensed under
CC BY 4.0
126 | C h i l d G r o w t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
Table 5.1 – Substages of Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage2
Substage
Age
Substage One:
Simple Reflexes
Birth to 1
month
Substage Two:
Primary Circular
Reactions
1 to 4
months
Substage Three:
Secondary Circular
Reactions
4 to 8
months
Substage Four:
Coordination of
circular reactions
8 to 12
months
Substage Five:
Tertiary Circular
Reactions
12 to 18
months
Substage Six:
Internalization of
Schemes and Early
Representational
thought
18
months
to 2
years
Description
This active learning begins with automatic movements or reflexes.
A ball comes into contact with an infant’s cheek and is
automatically sucked on and licked.
The infant begins to discriminate between objects and adjust
responses accordingly as reflexes are replaced with voluntary
movements. An infant may accidentally engage in a behavior and
find it interesting such as making a vocalization. This interest
motivates trying to do it again and helps the infant learn a new
behavior that originally occurred by chance. At first, most actions
have to do with the body, but in months to come, will be directed
more toward objects.
The infant becomes more and more actively engaged in the outside
world and takes delight in being able to make things happen.
Repeated motion brings particular interest as the infant is able to
bang two lids together from the cupboard when seated on the
kitchen floor.
The infant can engage in behaviors that others perform and
anticipate upcoming events. Perhaps because of continued
maturation of the prefrontal cortex, the infant becomes capable of
having a thought and carrying out a planned, goal-directed activity
such as seeking a toy that has rolled under the couch. The object
continues to exist in the infant’s mind even when out of sight and
the infant now is capable of making attempts to retrieve it.
The infant more actively engages in experimentation to learn about
the physical world. Gravity is learned by pouring water from a cup
or pushing bowls from high chairs. The caregiver tries to help the
child by picking it up again and placing it on the tray. And what
happens? Another experiment! The child pushes it off the tray
again causing it to fall and the caregiver to pick it up again!
The child is now able to solve problems using mental strategies, to
remember something heard days before and repeat it, to engage in
pretend play, and to find objects that have been moved even when
out of sight. Take for instance, the child who is upstairs in a room
with the door closed, supposedly taking a nap. The doorknob has a
safety device on it that makes it impossible for the child to turn the
knob. After trying several times in vain to push the door or turn the
doorknob, the child carries out a mental strategy learned from prior
experience to get the door opened-he knocks on the door! The
child is now better equipped with mental strategies for problemsolving.
2 Children’s Development by Ana R. Leon is licensed under
CC BY 4.0
127 | C h i l d G r o w t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
Figure 5.1 – An infant sitting in a highchair.3
Evaluating Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage
Piaget opened up a new way of looking at infants with his view that their main task is to
coordinate their sensory impressions with their motor activity. However, the infant’s cognitive
world is not as neatly packaged as Piaget portrayed it, and some of Piaget’s explanations for the
cause of change are debated. In the past several decades, sophisticated experimental
techniques have been devised to study infants, and there have been a large number of research
studies on infant development. Much of the new research suggests that Piaget’s view of
sensorimotor development needs to be modified (Baillargeon, 2014; Brooks & Meltzoff, 2014;
Johnson & Hannon, 2015).
Object Permanence
One necessary modification would be to when children develop object permanence. Infants
seem to be able to recognize that objects have permanence at much younger ages than Piaget
proposed (even as young as 3.5 months of age).
The A-not-B Error
The data does not always support Piaget’s claim that certain processes are crucial in transitions
from one stage to the next. For example, in Piaget’s theory, an important feature in the
progression into substage 4, coordination of secondary circular reactions, is an infant’s
inclination to search for a hidden object in a familiar location rather than to look for the object
in a new location. Thus, if a toy is hidden twice, initially at location A and subsequently at
location B, 8- to 12-month-old infants search correctly at location A initially. But when the toy is
subsequently hidden at location B, they make the mistake of continuing to search for it at
location A. A-not-B error is the term used to describe this common mistake. Older infants are
less likely to make the A-not-B error because their concept of object permanence is more
complete.
3
Image by holycalamity is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
128 | C h i l d G r o w t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
Researchers have found, however, that the A-not-B error does not show up consistently
(Sophian, 1985). The evidence indicates that A-not-B errors are sensitive to the delay between
hiding the object at B and the infant’s attempt to find it (Diamond, 1985). Thus, the A-not-B
error might be due to a failure in memory. Another explanation is that infants tend to repeat a
previous motor behavior (Clearfield & others, 2006; Smith, 1999).
Vygotsky
Development Is Determined By Environmental Factors
Piaget set the tone for much of current-day research but his theory has also received a great
deal of criticism. Many believe that Piaget ignored the huge influence that society and culture
have in shaping a child’s development. At a similar time, another researcher named Lev
Vygotsky (1896–1934) had come to similar conclusions as Piaget about children’s development,
in thinking that children learned about the world through physical interaction with it. However,
where Piaget felt that children moved naturally through different stages of development, based
on biological predispositions and their own individual interactions with the world, Vygotsky
claimed that adult or peer intervention was a much more important part of the developmental
process.
Vygotsky concentrated more on the child’s immediate social and cultural environment and his
or her interactions with adults and peers. He argued that development occurred first through
children’s immediate social interactions, and then moved to the individual level as they began
to internalize their learning. While Piaget saw the child as actively discovering the world
through individual interactions with it, Vygotsky saw the child as more of an apprentice,
learning through a social environment of others who had more experience and were sensitive
to the child’s needs and abilities.4
Figure 5.2 – An adult playing Legos with a child.5
4 Children’s Development by Ana R. Leon is licensed under
5
CC BY 4.0
Image by Tabeajaichhalt on Pixabay
129 | C h i l d G r o w t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
Cognitive Milestones
Children are actively learning about the world as they perceive it from the time they are in the
womb. Here is a table of some of the cognitive milestones infants and toddlers typically
develop.
Table 5.2 – Cognitive Milestones6
Typical Age
What Most Children Do by This Age
2 months


4 months





6 months






9 months







Pays attention to faces
Begins to follow things with eyes and recognize people at a
distance
Begins to act bored (cries, fussy) if activity doesn’t change
Lets you know if she is happy or sad
Responds to affection
Reaches for toy with one hand
Uses hands and eyes together, such as seeing a toy and reaching
for it
Follows moving things with eyes from side to side
Watches faces closely
Recognizes familiar people and things at a distance
Looks around at things nearby
Brings things to mouth
Shows curiosity about things and tries to get things that are out of
reach
Begins to pass things from one hand to the other
Watches the path of something as it falls
Looks for things he sees you hide
Plays peek-a-boo
Puts things in mouth
Moves things smoothly from one hand to the other
Picks up things like cereal o’s between thumb and index finger
6 Developmental Milestones by the CDC is in the public domain
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Typical Age
1 year
What Most Children Do by This Age











18 months
2 years













Explores things in different ways, like shaking, banging, throwing
Finds hidden things easily
Looks at the right picture or thing when it’s named
Copies gestures
Starts to use things correctly; for example, drinks from a cup,
brushes hair
Bangs two things together
Puts things in a container, takes things out of a container
Lets things go without help
Pokes with index (pointer) finger
Follows simple directions like “pick up the toy”
Knows what ordinary things are for; for example, telephone,
brush, spoon
Points to get the attention of others
Shows interest in a doll or stuffed animal by pretending to feed
Points to one body part
Scribbles on own
Can follow 1-step verbal commands without any gestures; for
example, sits when you say “sit down”
Finds things even when hidden under two or three covers
Begins to sort shapes and colors
Completes sentences and rhymes in familiar books
Plays simple make-believe games
Builds towers of 4 or more blocks
Might use one hand more than the other
Follows two-step instructions such as “Pick up your shoes and put
them in the closet.”
Names items in a picture book such as a cat, bird, or dog
Language Development
Do newborns communicate? Absolutely! However, they do not communicate with the use of
language. Instead, they communicate their thoughts and needs with body posture (being
relaxed or still), gestures, cries, and facial expressions. A person who spends adequate time
with an infant can learn which cries indicate pain and which ones indicate hunger, discomfort,
or frustration as well as translate their vocalizations, movements, gestures and facial
expressions.
131 | C h i l d G r o w t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
Figure 5.3 – An infant looking up at the camera.7
Stages of Language Development
1. Intentional Vocalizations: Cooing and taking turns: Infants begin to vocalize and repeat
vocalizations within the first couple of months of life. That gurgling, musical vocalization
called cooing can serve as a source of entertainment to an infant who has been laid
down for a nap or seated in a carrier on a car ride. Cooing serves as practice for
vocalization as well as the infant hears the sound of his or her own voice and tries to
repeat sounds that are entertaining. Infants also begin to learn the pace and pause of
conversation as they alternate their vocalization with that of someone else and then
take their turn again when the other person’s vocalization has stopped. Cooing initially
involves making vowel sounds like “oooo”. Later, consonants are added to vocalizations
such as “nananananana”.
2. Babbling and gesturing: At about four to six months of age, infants begin making even
more elaborate vocalizations that include the sounds required for any language.
Guttural sounds, clicks, consonants, and vowel sounds stand ready to equip the child
with the ability to repeat whatever sounds are characteristic of the language heard.
Eventually, these sounds will no longer be used as the infant grows more accustomed to
a particular language. Deaf babies also use gestures to communicate wants, reactions,
and feelings. Because gesturing seems to be easier than vocalization for some toddlers,
sign language is sometimes taught to enhance one’s ability to communicate by making
use of the ease of gesturing. The rhythm and pattern of language is used when deaf
babies sign just as it is when hearing babies babble.
3. Understanding: At around ten months of age, the infant can understand more than he
or she can say. You may have experienced this phenomenon as well if you have ever
tried to learn a second language. You may have been able to follow a conversation more
easily than to contribute to it.
7
Image by Andres and Antoinette Ricardo used with permission
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4. Holophrastic speech: Children begin using their first words at about 12 or 13 months of
age and may use partial words to convey thoughts at even younger ages. These one
word expressions are referred to as holophrastic speech. For example, the child may say
“ju” for the word “juice” and use this sound when referring to a bottle. The listener
must interpret the meaning of the holophrase and when this is someone who has spent
time with the child, interpretation is not too difficult. They know that “ju” means “juice”
which means the baby wants some milk! But, someone who has not been around the
child will have trouble knowing what is meant. Imagine the parent who to a friend
exclaims, “Ezra’s talking all the time now!” The friend hears only “ju da ga” which, the
parent explains, means “I want some milk when I go with Daddy.”
Figure 5.4 – Two children playing with toys.8
5. Underextension: A child who learns that a word stands for an object may initially think
that the word can be used for only that particular object. Only the family’s Irish Setter is
a “doggie”. This is referred to as underextension. More often, however, a child may
think that a label applies to all objects that are similar to the original object. In
overextension all animals become “doggies”, for example.
6. First words and cultural influences: First words if the child is using English tend to be
nouns. The child labels objects such as cup or ball. In a verb-friendly language such as
Chinese, however, children may learn more verbs. This may also be due to the different
emphasis given to objects based on culture. Chinese children may be taught to notice
action and relationship between objects while children from the United States may be
taught to name an object and its qualities (color, texture, size, etc.). These differences
can be seen when comparing interpretations of art by older students from China and
the United States.
7. Vocabulary growth spurt: One year olds typically have a vocabulary of about 50 words.
But by the time they become toddlers, they have a vocabulary of about 200 words and
begin putting those words together in telegraphic speech (I think of it now as ‘text
8
Image by the U.S. Air Force is in the public domain
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message’ speech because texting is more common and is similar in that text messages
typically only include the minimal amount of words to convey the message).
8. Two word sentences and telegraphic speech: Words are soon combined and 18 month
old toddlers can express themselves further by using expressions such as “baby byebye” or “doggie pretty”. Words needed to convey messages are used, but the articles
and other parts of speech necessary for grammatical correctness are not yet used.
These expressions sound like a telegraph (or perhaps a better analogy today would be
that they read like a text message) where unnecessary words are not used. “Give baby
ball” is used rather than “Give the baby the ball.” Or a text message of “Send money
now!” rather than “Dear Mother. I really need some money to take care of my
expenses.”9
Figure 5.5 – A toddler playing with a toy telephone.10
Language Milestones
In the first two years of life, children go from communicating by crying to being able to express
themselves with words. Here is a table of common language milestones for infants and
toddlers.
9
Children’s Development by Ana R. Leon is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Image by Salim Virji is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
10
134 | C h i l d G r o w t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
Table 5.3 – Language Milestones11
Typical Age
What Most Children Do By This Age
2 months


Coos, makes gurgling sounds
Turns head toward sounds
4 months



Begins to babble
Babbles with expression and copies sounds he hears
Cries in different ways to show hunger, pain, or being tired









Responds to sounds by making sounds
Strings vowels together when babbling (“ah,” “eh,” “oh”) and likes
taking turns with parent while making sounds
Responds to own name
Makes sounds to show joy and displeasure
Begins to say consonant sounds (jabbering with “m,” “b”)
Understands “no”
Makes a lot of different sounds like “mamamama” and
“bababababa”
Copies sounds and gestures of others
Uses fingers to point at things
Responds to simple spoken requests
Uses simple gestures, like shaking head “no” or waving “bye-bye”
Makes sounds with changes in tone (sounds more like speech)
Says “mama” and “dada” and exclamations like “uh-oh!”
Tries to say words you say
18 months
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Says several single words
Says and shakes head now
Points to show others what is wanted
2 years
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Points to things or pictures when they are named
Knows names of familiar people and body parts
Says sentences with 2 to 4 words
Follows simple instructions
Repeats words overheard in conversation
Points to things in a book
6 months
9 months
1 year
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Child-Directed Speech
Why is a horse a “horsie”? Have you ever wondered why adults tend to use “baby talk” or that
sing-song type of intonation and exaggeration used when talking to children? This represents a
universal tendency and is known as child-directed speech or parentheses (historically referred
11
Developmental Milestones by the CDC is in the public domain
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to as motherese). It involves exaggerating the vowel and consonant sounds, using a highpitched voice, and delivering the phrase with great facial expression. Why is this done? It may
be in order to clearly articulate the sounds of a word so that the child can hear the sounds
involved. Or it may be because when this type of speech is used, the infant pays more attention
to the speaker and this sets up a pattern of interaction in which the speaker and listener are in
tuned with one another.12
Theories of Language Development
The following two theories of language development represent two extremes in the level of
interaction required for language to occur (Berk, 2007).
Chomsky and the Language Acquisition Device
The view known as nativism advocated by Noam Chomsky suggests that infants are equipped
with a neurological construct referred to as the language acquisition device or LAD that makes
infants ready for language. Language develops as long as the infant is exposed to it. No
teaching, training, or reinforcement is required for language to develop.
Social Pragmatics
Another view emphasizes the child’s active engagement in learning language out of a need to
communicate. The child seeks information, memorizes terms, imitates the speech heard from
others and learns to conceptualize using words as language is acquired. Many would argue that
all three of these dynamics foster the acquisition of language (Berger, 2004)13.
Theories of Cognitive Development, Learning, and Memory
Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov (1880-1937) was a Russian physiologist interested in studying digestion. As he
recorded the amount of salivation his laboratory dogs produced as they ate, he noticed that
they actually began to salivate before the food arrived as the researcher walked down the hall
and toward the cage. The dogs knew that the food was coming because they had learned to
associate the footsteps with the food. The key word here is “learned”. A learned response is
called a “conditioned” response.
Pavlov began to experiment with this “psychic” reflex. He began to ring a bell, for instance,
prior to introducing the food. Sure enough, after making this connection several times, the dogs
could be made to salivate to the sound of a bell. Once the bell had become an event to which
the dogs had learned to salivate, it was called a conditioned stimulus. The act of salivating to a
bell was a response that had also been learned, now termed in Pavlov’s jargon, a conditioned
response.
12
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Children’s Development by Ana R. Leon is licensed under CC BY 4.0
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Notice that the response, salivation, is the same whether it is conditioned or unconditioned
(unlearned or natural). What changed is the stimulus to which the dog salivates. One is natural
(unconditioned) and one is learned (conditioned).
Figure 5.6 – Pavlov’s experiments with dogs and conditioning.14
Let’s think about how classical conditioning is used on us. One of the most widespread
applications of classical conditioning principles was brought to us by the psychologist, John B.
Watson15.
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus (CS) becomes
associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus (US), in order to produce a behavioral
response known as a conditioned response (CR). The conditioned response is the learned
response to the previously neutral stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus is usually a biologically
significant stimulus such as food or pain that elicits an unconditioned response (UR) from the
start. The conditioned stimulus is usually neutral and produces no particular response at first,
but after conditioning it elicits the conditioned response.
If we look at Pavlov’s experiment, we can identify these four factors at work:
 The unconditioned response was the salivation of dogs in response to seeing or smelling
their food.
 The unconditioned stimulus was the sight or smell of the food itself.
 The conditioned stimulus was the ringing of the bell. During conditioning, every time the
animal was given food, the bell was rung. This was repeated during several trials. After
some time, the dog learned to associate the ringing of the bell with food and to respond
by salivating. After the conditioning period was finished, the dog would respond by
14
Image by Maxxl² is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Lifespan Development – Module 4: Infancy by Lumen Learning references Psyc 200 Lifespan Psychology by Laura
Overstreet, licensed under CC BY 4.0
15
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
salivating when the bell was rung, even when the unconditioned stimulus (the food) was
absent.
The conditioned response, therefore, was the salivation of the dogs in response to the
conditioned stimulus (the ringing of the bell)16.
Neurological Response to Conditioning
Consider how the conditioned response occurs in the brain. When a dog sees food, the visual
and olfactory stimuli send information to the brain through their respective neural pathways,
ultimately activating the salivary glands to secrete saliva. This reaction is a natural biological
process as saliva aids in the digestion of food. When a dog hears a buzzer and at the same time
sees food, the auditory stimuli activates the associated neural pathways. However, since these
pathways are being activated at the same time as the other neural pathways, there are weak
synapse reactions that occur between the auditory stimuli and the behavioral response. Over
time, these synapses are strengthened so that it only takes the sound of a buzzer to activate
the pathway leading to salivation.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is a theory of behaviorism, a learning perspective that focuses on changes
in an individual’s observable behaviors. In operant conditioning theory, new or continued
behaviors are impacted by new or continued consequences. Research regarding this principle of
learning was first studied by Edward L. Thorndike in the late 1800’s, then brought to popularity
by B.F. Skinner in the mid-1900’s. Much of this research informs current practices in human
behavior and interaction.
Skinner’s Research
Thorndike’s initial research was highly influential on another psychologist, B.F. Skinner. Almost
half a century after Thorndike’s first publication of the principles of operant conditioning,
Skinner attempted to prove an extension to this theory—that all behaviors were in some way a
result of operant conditioning. Skinner theorized that if a behavior is followed by
reinforcement, that behavior is more likely to be repeated, but if it is followed by punishment, it
is less likely to be repeated. He also believed that this learned association could end, or become
extinct, if the reinforcement or punishment was removed.
To prove this, he placed rats in a box with a lever that when tapped would release a pellet of
food. Over time, the amount of time it took for the rat to find the lever and press it became
shorter and shorter, until finally the rat would spend most of its time near the lever eating. This
behavior became less consistent when the relationship between the lever and the food was
compromised. This basic theory of operant conditioning is still used by psychologists, scientists,
and educators today.
16
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138 | C h i l d G r o w t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
Shaping, Reinforcement Principles, and Schedules of Reinforcement
Operant conditioning can be viewed as a process of action and consequence. Skinner used this
basic principle to study the possible scope and scale of the influence of operant conditioning on
animal behavior. His experiments used shaping, reinforcement, and reinforcement schedules in
order to prove the importance of the relationship that animals form between behaviors and
results.
All of these practices concern the setup of an experiment. Shaping is the conditioning paradigm
of an experiment. The form of the experiment in successive trials is gradually changed to elicit a
desired target behavior. This is accomplished through reinforcement, or reward, of the
segments of the target behavior, and can be tested using a large variety of actions and rewards.
The experiments were taken a step further to include different schedules of reinforcement that
become more complicated as the trials continued. By testing different reinforcement schedules,
Skinner learned valuable information about the best ways to encourage a specific behavior, or
the most effective ways to create a long-lasting behavior. Much of this research has been
replicated on humans, and now informs practices in various environments of human behavior17.
Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Sometimes, adding something to the situation is reinforcing as in the cases we described above
with cookies, praise and money. Positive reinforcement involves adding something to the
situation in order to encourage a behavior. Other times, taking something away from a
situation can be reinforcing. For example, the loud, annoying buzzer on your alarm clock
encourages you to get up so that you can turn it off and get rid of the noise. Children whine in
order to get their parents to do something and often, parents give in just to stop the whining. In
these instances, negative reinforcement has been used.
Figure 5.7 – Reinforcement in operant conditioning.18
17
18
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Image by Curtis Neveu is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (Modified from source image)
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Operant conditioning tends to work best if you focus on trying to encourage a behavior or move
a person into the direction you want them to go rather than telling them what not to do.
Reinforcers are used to encourage a behavior; punishers are used to stop behavior. A punisher
is anything that follows an act and decreases the chance it will reoccur. But often a punished
behavior doesn’t really go away. It is just suppressed and may reoccur whenever the threat of
punishment is removed. For example, a child may not cuss around you because you’ve washed
his mouth out with soap, but he may cuss around his friends. Or a motorist may only slow down
when the trooper is on the side of the freeway. Another problem with punishment is that when
a person focuses on punishment, they may find it hard to see what the other does right or
well. And punishment is stigmatizing; when punished, some start to see themselves as bad and
give up trying to change.
Reinforcement can occur in a predictable way, such as after every desired action is performed,
or intermittently, after the behavior is performed a number of times or the first time it is
performed after a certain amount of time. The schedule of reinforcement has an impact on
how long a behavior continues after reinforcement is discontinued. So a parent who has
rewarded a child’s actions each time may find that the child gives up very quickly if a reward is
not immediately forthcoming. Think about the kinds of behaviors that may be learned through
classical and operant conditioning. But sometimes very complex behaviors are learned quickly
and without direct reinforcement. Bandura’s Social Learning covered later in the chapter
explains how19.
Watson and Behaviorism
Another theorist who added to the spectrum of the behavioral movement was John B. Watson.
Watson believed that most of our fears and other emotional responses are classically
conditioned. He had gained a good deal of popularity in the 1920s with his expert advice on
parenting offered to the public. He believed that parents could be taught to help shape their
children’s behavior and tried to demonstrate the power of classical conditioning with his
famous experiment with an 18 month old boy named “Little Albert”. Watson sat Albert down
and introduced a variety of seemingly scary objects to him: a burning piece of newspaper, a
white rat, etc. But Albert remained curious and reached for all of these things. Watson knew
that one of our only inborn fears is the fear of loud noises so he proceeded to make a loud
noise each time he introduced one of Albert’s favorites, a white rat. After hearing the loud
noise several times paired with the rat, Albert soon came to fear the rat and began to cry when
it was introduced.
Watson filmed this experiment for posterity and used it to demonstrate that he could help
parents achieve any outcomes they desired, if they would only follow his advice. Watson wrote
columns in newspapers and in magazines and gained a lot of popularity among parents eager to
apply science to household order. Parenting advice was not the legacy Watson left us, however.
Where he really made his impact was in advertising. After Watson left academia, he went into
19
Lifespan Development – Module 4: Infancy by Lumen Learning references Psyc 200 Lifespan Psychology by Laura
Overstreet, licensed under CC BY 4.0
140 | C h i l d G r o w t h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
the world of business and showed companies how to tie something that brings about a natural
positive feeling to their products to enhance sales. Thus the union of sex and advertising!20.
Sometimes we do things because we’ve seen it pay off for someone else. They were operantly
conditioned, but we engage in the behavior because we hope it will pay off for us as well. This is
referred to as vicarious reinforcement (Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1963).
Figure 5.8 – A photograph taken during Little Albert research.21
Do parents socialize children or do children socialize parents?
Bandura (1986) suggests that there is interplay between the environment and the individual.
We are not just the product of our surroundings, rather we influence our surroundings. There is
interplay between our personality and the way we interpret events and how they influence us.
This concept is called reciprocal determinism. An example of this might be the interplay
between parents and children. Parents not only influence their child’s environment, perhaps
intentionally through the use of reinforcement, etc., but children influence parents as well.
Parents may respond differently with their first child than with their fourth. Perhaps they try to
be the perfect parents with their firstborn, but by the time their last child comes along they
have very different expectations both of themselves and their child. Our environment creates
us and we create our environment.
20 Lifespan Development – Module 4: Infancy by Lumen Learning references Psyc 200 Lifespan Psychology
Overstreet, licensed under CC BY 4.0
21
Image is in the public domain
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by Laura
Figure 5.9 – A smiling infant playing with toys.22
Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura is a leading contributor to social learning theory. He calls our attention to the
ways in which many of our actions are not learned through conditioning; rather, they are
learned by watching others (1977). Young children frequently learn behaviors through
imitation. Sometimes, particularly when we do not know what else to do, we learn by modeling
or copying the behavior of others. A new employee, on his or her first day of a new job might
eagerly look at how others are acting and try to act the same way to fit in more quickly.
Adolescents struggling with their identity rely heavily on their peers to act as role-models.
Newly married couples often rely on roles they may have learned from their parents and begin
to act in ways they did not while dating and then wonder why their relationship has changed.
Memory and Attention
Memory
If we want to remember something tomorrow, we have to consolidate it into long-term
memory today. Long-term memory is the final, semi-permanent stage of memory. Unlike
sensory and short-term memory, long-term memory has a theoretically infinite capacity, and
information can remain there indefinitely. Long-term memory has also been called reference
memory, because an individual must refer to the information in long-term memory when
performing almost any task. Long-term memory can be broken down into two categories:
explicit and implicit memory.
Explicit Memory
Explicit memory, also known as conscious or declarative memory, involves memory of facts,
concepts, and events that require conscious recall of the information. In other words, the
individual must actively think about retrieving the information from memory. This type of
information is explicitly stored and retrieved—hence its name. Explicit memory can be further
22
Image by OmarMedinaFilms on Pixabay
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subdivided into semantic memory, which concerns facts, and episodic memory, which concerns
primarily personal or autobiographical information.
Episodic Memory
Episodic memory is used for more contextualized memories. They are generally memories of
specific moments, or episodes, in one’s life. As such, they include sensations and emotions
associated with the event, in addition to the who, what, where, and when of what happened.
An example of an episodic memory would be recalling your family’s trip to the beach.
Autobiographical memory (memory for particular events in one’s own life) is generally viewed
as either equivalent to, or a subset of, episodic memory. One specific type of autobiographical
memory is a flashbulb memory, which is a highly detailed, exceptionally vivid “snapshot” of the
moment and circumstances in which a piece of surprising and consequential (or emotionally
arousing) news was heard. For example, many people remember exactly where they were and
what they were doing when they heard of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. This is
because it is a flashbulb memory.
Semantic and episodic memory are closely related; memory for facts can be enhanced with
episodic memories associated with the fact, and vice versa. For example, the answer to the
factual question “Are all apples red?” might be recalled by remembering the time you saw
someone eating a green apple. Likewise, semantic memories about certain topics, such as
football, can contribute to more detailed episodic memories of a particular personal event, like
watching a football game. A person that barely knows the rules of football will remember the
various plays and outcomes of the game in much less detail than a football expert.
Implicit Memory
In contrast to explicit (conscious) memory, implicit (also called “unconscious” or “procedural”)
memory involves procedures for completing actions. These actions develop with practice over
time. Athletic skills are one example of implicit memory. You learn the fundamentals of a sport,
practice them over and over, and then they flow naturally during a game. Rehearsing for a
dance or musical performance is another example of implicit memory. Everyday examples
include remembering how to tie your shoes, drive a car, or ride a bicycle. These memories are
accessed without conscious awareness—they are automatically translated into actions without
us even realizing it. As such, they can often be difficult to teach or explain to other people.
Implicit memories differ from the semantic scripts described above in that they are usually
actions that involve movement and motor coordination, whereas scripts tend to emphasize
social norms or behaviors.
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Figure 5.10 – A toddler walking.23
Short-Term Memory Storage
Short-term memory is the ability to hold information for a short duration of time (on the order
of seconds). In the process of encoding, information enters the brain and can be quickly
forgotten if it is not stored further in the short-term memory. George A. Miller suggested that
the capacity of short-term memory storage is approximately seven items plus or minus two, but
modern researchers are showing that this can vary depending on variables like the stored
items’ phonological properties. When several elements (such as digits, words, or pictures) are
held in short-term memory simultaneously, their representations compete with each other for
recall, or degrade each other. Thereby, new content gradually pushes out older content, unless
the older content is actively protected against interference by rehearsal or by directing
attention to it.
Information in the short-term memory is readily accessible, but for only a short time. It
continuously decays, so in the absence of rehearsal (keeping information in short-term memory
by mentally repeating it) it can be forgotten.
Figure 5.11 – Diagram of the memory storage process.24
23
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Image on Public Domain Pictures
Image by Wikipedia is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Long-Term Memory Storage
In contrast to short-term memory, long-term memory is the ability to hold semantic
information for a prolonged period of time. Items stored in short-term memory move to longterm memory through rehearsal, processing, and use. The capacity of long-term memory
storage is much greater than that of short-term memory, and perhaps unlimited. However, the
duration of long-term memories is not permanent; unless a memory is occasionally recalled, it
may fail to be recalled on later occasions. This is known as forgetting.
Long-term memory storage can be affected by traumatic brain injury or lesions. Amnesia, a
deficit in memory, can be caused by brain damage. Anterograde amnesia is the inability to store
new memories; retrograde amnesia is the inability to retrieve old memories. These types of
amnesia indicate that memory does have a storage process25.
Conclusion
In this chapter we looked at:
 Piaget’s sensorimotor stage.
 The impact of the social environment on children’s learning.
 The progression and theories of language development.
 Classical and operant conditioning and systems of reinforcement.
 The types of memory and how they work together.
In the following chapter, we will finish looking at the first two years of life by examining social
and emotional development, including temperament and attachment.
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