Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
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in some non-Western cultural contexts
(Sternberg and Grigorenko 2004). Certainly,
it is crucial for early childhood
professionals to recognize the role that
cultural context plays in defining and
setting the stage for children’s healthy
cognitive functioning.
Research has identified a broad
range of cognitive competencies and
described the remarkable progression
of cognitive development during
the early childhood years. Experts in
the field describe infants as active,
motivated, and engaged learners who
possess an impressive range of cognitive
competencies (National Research
Council and Institute of Medicine
2000) and learn through exploration
(Whitehurst and Lonigan 1998).
Infants demonstrate natural curiosity.
They have a strong drive to learn and
act accordingly. In fact, they have been
described as “born to learn” (National
Research Council and Institute of
Medicine 2000, 148).
Cause-and-Effect
Everyday experiences—for example,
crying and then being picked up or
waving a toy and then hearing it rattle—provide
opportunities for infants
to learn about cause and effect. “Even
very young infants possess expectations
about physical events” (Baillargeon
2004, 89). This knowledge helps
infants better understand the properties
of objects, the patterns of human
behavior, and the relationship between
events and the consequences. Through
developing an understanding of cause
and effect, infants build their abilities
to solve problems, to make predictions,
and to understand the impact of their
behavior on others.
Spatial Relationships
Infants learn about spatial relationships
in a variety of ways; for example,
exploring objects with their mouths,
tracking objects and people visually,
squeezing into tight spaces, fitting
objects into openings, and looking
at things from different perspectives
(Mangione, Lally, and Signer 1992).
They spend much of their time exploring
the physical and spatial aspects
of the environment, including the
characteristics of, and interrelationships
between, the people, objects, and
the physical space around them (Clements
2004). The development of an
understanding of spatial relationships
increases infants’ knowledge of how
things move and fit in space and the
properties of objects (their bodies and
the physical environment).
Problem Solving
Infants exhibit a high level of interest
in solving problems. Even very
young infants will work to solve a
problem, for example, how to find
their fingers in order to suck on them
(National Research Council and Institute
of Medicine 2000). Older infants
may solve the problem of how to reach
an interesting toy that is out of reach
by trying to roll toward it or by gesturing
to an adult for help. Infants
and toddlers solve problems by varied
means, including physically acting on
objects, using learning schemes they
have developed, imitating solutions
found by others, using objects or other
people as tools, and using trial and
error.