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Object Permanence
At 8 months, Abby is able to find a hidden object and really likes this hiding game, as long as I don't wait too long or distract her. She shows a limited understanding of object permanence, acknowledging that something still exists even when she’s not in direct contact with it. It is during the 8-12 month age period that infants start to grasp object permanence (pp. 149-150). This is an important cognitive advancement in the mental representation of the properties of objects. -
First word
At nine months old, Abby said her first word and pointed at the object, the name of my parents' dog. This is a milestone in language development which usually happens around 12 months. I believe a responsive social environment promoted Abby’s language development, maternal responsiveness is positively correlated with earlier timing of language milestones (page 193). Language is the foundation of the social nature of humans and these milestones demonstrate appropriate cognitive development. -
Sensorimotor Stage 5-part 1 (reached text maximum)
At 15 months, Abby demonstrated a sensorimotor tertiary circular reaction when she pushed her bath toys under water at various depths in order to watch how high they pop back above the surface. She intentionally tried out different "experiments" in order to see what the effects would be. This marks the fifth stage of sensorimotor development (age 12-18 months) in a sequence of age-based cognitive abilities, according to Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development (p. 187). -
Sensorimotor Stage 5 (part 2)
cont....This stage offers an important cognitive achievement because it indicates a toddler's actions are no longer based on simple reflexes but are intentional in nature. -
Telegraphic Speech (part 1-max text capacity)
At 18 months, Abby regularly likes to char and has demonstrated telegraphic speech in the form of two-word sentences such as "mama up" and "doggie outside." Telegraphic speech occurs when toddlers start to combine words when speaking, usually only two words at first. Abby performed this event early for her age as it normally occurs toward the end of the "naming explosion" period or 18-24 months (pp.194-195). Telegraphic speech is an important event in cognitive development as -
Telegraphic Speech (part 2)
cont..Telegraphic speech is an important event in cognitive development as it implies a greater understanding of language than it explicitly states. -
Autonomy
Abby has recently become resistant to my requests for cooperation. She says "no," or refuses things that she accepted before such as food or bath time. Erikson's life-span theory marks toddlerhood as a stage of autonomy versus shame and doubt (page 203). As Abby gains a sense of herself as an individual sh learns to make choices and express them to others. Being allowed to express herself within reasonable limits enables her to gain a health confidence when faced with new tasks and relationships -
Categorization
At 19 months, Abby seems to be aware of basic categories, such as big or little, and blue or red, which she demonstrates by the way she is sorting her toys. Categorization is under Piaget’s final stage of sensorimotor development, or mental representations (page 187). Mental representation is an important milestone because it is the foundation for future cognitive abilities, including language (page 188). -
Potty training
At 2 years, Abby showed new emotions including embarrassment when she had a potty accident. Studies suggest that most toddlers are ready to be potty trained sometime between 18-30 months of age (p 184). Her newly developed emotional self-awareness included shame and guilt, now she rarely has any potty accidents. Sociomoral emotions are developed based on learned cultural standards. I believe her interest in becoming potty trained was in part an effort to win approval from her parenets (p 201), -
Adolescent Egocentrism (part 1-max text capacity)
When Abby was 16, she received a haircut she strongly disliked and demonstrated adolescent egocentrism when she purposely wore a hat in public as a cover in order to "prevent everyone from staring at her." She assumed that others would think a great deal because hse was thinking about her appearance to a large extent. Although a form of this behavior continues into adulthood, adolescent egocentrism (no definite age-but typically second decade of life) is present when adolscents have not yet full -
Adolescent Egocentrism (part 2)
cont...is present when adolescents have not yet fully developed thier capacity for distinguishing between their own perspective and the perspective of others (p. 359). This is an important event in social cognition, being able to think about thinking, known as metacognition.