The First Two Years After Birth essays

The First Two Years After Birth essays The first two years after birth, through the developing person has to do with three domains, physical, cognitive and emotional. In the physical development stage the first year of life, the average baby grows 10 inches and gains 15 pounds. By 4 months birth weight has doubled, and by one year it has tripled. During the second year physical growth slows considerably. Rapid increases in height and weight will not occur again until early adolescence. An infants growth does not occur in the smooth, continuous fashion depicted by growth charts. Growth takes place in fits and starts. When babies are measured daily over their first 21 months, most show no growth 90 percent of the time, but when they grow, they do so rapidly. Some children gain as much as 1 inch in height overnight. Changes in the babys size are accompanied by marked changes in body proportions. During the first two years after birth, babies and toddlers have heads that are large relative to their bodies. This rapid growth of the head reflects that rapid development of the central nervous system: An infants brain reaches three quarters of its adult size by the age of 2, at which point head growth slows down and the body does most of the growing. Head growth is virtually complete by age 10, but the body continues to grow for several more years. Early cognitive development consists partly of changes in how children think about the world. The most influential theorist in this area was the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980). He became interested in the cognitive development while working as a research assistant. Piaget became intrigued by the reasons young children gave for answering for answering certain questions incorrectly. Later he observed and studied other children. Piaget believed cognitive development is a way of adapting to the environment. Unlike other animals, human children do not have many built in responses. This ...