Physical Development An important part of a baby’s physical development is learning how to move as well as how to use certain body parts. …show more content…
Authors Zachry and Mitchell (2014) conducted a study with 64 infants who ranged in age from 24 to 54 weeks. They then divided the babies into “precrawlers” and “crawlers” and they tested both groups using “Scales of Socioemotional Development” (SSD) test (Zachry & Mitchell, 2014. p.50). “The SSD is designed to conduct observations during 37 ordinarily occurring situations in a childcare setting and measures emotions through specific goal-directed actions such as facial, vocal, postural, and locomotive behaviors in infants with ages ranging from 3 to 30 months” (Zachry & Mitchell,2014. p.50). The researchers used this measure to compare the goal orientation of the two groups. They discovered that there were indeed changes in behavior in the infants that could crawl and that crawlers had more goal-directed actions than precrawlers. (Zachry & Mitchell, 2014). Zachry and Mitchell note that, “The onset of independent mobility in the form of crawling resulted in increased exposure to a variety of environmental and social contexts, increasing the opportunities for goal-directed actions” (p.54). This study is connected to Piaget’s periods of cognitive development specifically the sensorimotor period. The sensorimotor period “infants use senses and motor abilities to understand the world” and that includes crawling (Berger, 2014, …show more content…
Babies express a variety of emotions. The infant that was observed expressed happiness or joy, laughter, anger, frustration and feeling scared. She was often happy when she played or interacted with her parents. She would coo and use made up words using “ma” or “na” or other sounds. She would also smile often showing her newly erupted bottom tooth. The baby also laughed and giggled when she was tickled or when funny noises were made or when her parents pretended to nibble on her fingers. Additionally, she experienced negative emotions which she expressed when she was tired, fussy, bored or over-stimulated. She also expressed fear at the sight at new people who wished to hold her which is known as “stranger wariness” (Berger, 2014, p.193). The baby felt scared when there was a loud noise that startled her such as a vacuum cleaner or a blender operating. She also experienced anger when she could not have a certain toy or dangerous object or when she would be strapped into her infant car seat to go somewhere. These various emotions can be linked to the theory of social learning or learning through observation developed by Albert Bandura. Babies learn from their parents and siblings when and how to express various emotions. (Berger, 2014). According to Berger, “social learning theory acknowledges inborn temperament but stresses parental example” (Berger, 2014, p.200). This little baby has learned through social