Contents
Introduction
This article covers important concepts in early development and attachment. For development of a school-age child and adolescents see corresponding articles. Brain and CNS maturation is addressed in a dedicated article as well.
Important concepts
Genes, the environment, and the interaction of these two forces each play a large role in cognitive development. This transactional model of child development, is the prevailing paradigm, stressing the dynamic interplay between individual- (genes, experience) and contextual-level (aspects of environment, culture) factors. (Lewis)
5 stages of Infant/Toddler development
1 - Prenatal period
2 - Infant 0-2 mo
Infants at this stage are able to track moving objects.
3 - Infant 3-7 mo
- The stage is characterized by increasing social reciprocity.
- Separation anxiety emerges at 6-8mo, peaks at about 14 to 18 months and subsequently declines.
- Object permanence is developed in the second half of this stage. This allows mental representations of people and objects, and a subsequent distinction between parents and strangers.
Stranger anxiety appears at about 8 months, peaks at about 24 months, and steadily declines thereafter.
- At around 12 mo, trial-and-error problem solving begins to replace conditioned response learning
4 - Toddler 7-18 mo
A sense of intersubjectivity (the understanding that one's thought, feelings, gestures, and sounds can be understood by others) is first to develop, leading to communicative gesturing.