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T able 3.1 Some Major Reflexes in the Newb orn Reflex Description Developmental Course Rooting Turning the head and opening the Disappears between 3 and 6 months mouth when touched on the cheek Moro If there is a loud noise, the baby Disappears in 6 to 7 months will throw her/his arms outward (although reaction to loud noises is while arching her/his back, and permanent) then bring the arms together as if grasping something Grasp When a finger or some other object isDisappears in 3 to 4 months; pressed against the baby’s palm, the replaced by voluntary grasping baby’s fingers close around it Babinski When the bottom of the baby’s foot Disappears in 8 to 12 months is stroked, the toes fan out and then curl in general they are colour deficient and full of life, experiences the world through senses colour vision develops by 3 months of age. and interactions with objects — through What is the nature of hearing in newborns? looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and Infants can hear immediately after birth. As grasping. The newborn lives in the present. the infant develops, proficiency at localising What is out of sight is out of mind. For sound improves. Newborns respond to touch example, if you hide the toy in front of the and they can even feel pain. Both smell and child with which the child has been playing, taste capacities are also present in the the young infant would react as if nothing has newborn. happened, i.e. s/he will not search for the toy. Cognitive Development : Does a 3 year The child assumes the toy does not exist. old child understand things the same way as According to Piaget, children at this stage do would an 8 year old? Jean Piaget stressed that not go beyond their immediate sensory children actively construct their experience, i.e. lack object permanence — understanding of the world. Information does the awareness that the objects continue to not simply enter their minds from the exist when not perceived. Gradually by 8 environment. As children grow, additional months of age the child starts pursuing the information is acquired and they adapt their object partially covered in her/his presence. thinking to include new ideas, as this improves The basis of verbal communication seems their understanding of the world. Piaget to be present in infants. Vocalisation begins believed that a child’s mind passes through a with the infant’s babbling, sometime between series of stages of thought from infancy to 3 to 6 months of age. You will read about early adolescence (see Table 3.2). language development in Chapter 7. Each stage is characterised by a distinct Socio-emotional Development : Babies way of thinking and is age related. It is from birth aresocialcreatures. An infant starts important to remember that it is the different preferring familiar faces and responds to way of thinking which makes one stage more parent’s presence by cooing and gurgling. They advanced than the other and not the amount become more mobile by 6 to 8 months of age of information. This also shows why you at and start showing a preference for their your age think differently from an 8 year old. mother’s company. When frightened by a new The child during infancy, i.e. the first two years face or when separated from their mother, they Chapter 3 • Human Development 47 Reprint 2026-27