Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations
Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations
Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations
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Foundation: Classification<br />
The developing ability to group, sort, categorize, connect, and have<br />
expectations of objects and people according to their attributes<br />
8 months 18 months 36 months<br />
At around eight months of age,<br />
children distinguish between<br />
familiar and unfamiliar people,<br />
places, and objects, and explore<br />
the differences between them.<br />
(Barrera and Mauer 1981)<br />
At around 18 months of age,<br />
children show awareness when<br />
objects are in some way connected<br />
to each other, match two<br />
objects that are the same, and<br />
separate a pile of objects into<br />
two groups based on one attribute.<br />
(Mandler and McDonough<br />
1998)<br />
For example, the child may: For example, the child may:<br />
• Explore how one toy feels and<br />
then explore how another toy<br />
feels.<br />
• Stare at an unfamiliar person<br />
and move toward a familiar<br />
person.<br />
Chart continues on next page.<br />
• Look at the crayons before<br />
choosing a color. (12–18 mos.;<br />
Parks 2004, 77)<br />
• Choose usually to play with<br />
the blue ball even though there<br />
is a red one just like it. (12–18<br />
mos.; Parks 2004, 77)<br />
• Pick the toy car from the bin<br />
filled with toy dishes. (15–18<br />
mos.; Parks 2004; 77)<br />
• Pack the baby doll’s blanket,<br />
brush, bottle, and clothes into<br />
a backpack. (15–19 mos.;<br />
Parks 2004, 77)<br />
• Match two identical toys; for<br />
example, find another fire<br />
truck when the infant care<br />
teacher asks, “Can you find<br />
a truck just like that one?”<br />
(15–19 mos.; Parks 2004; 77)<br />
• Place all toy cars on one side<br />
of the rug and all blocks on the<br />
other side. (15–18 mos.; Parks<br />
2004, 77)<br />
At around 36 months of age, children<br />
group objects into multiple<br />
piles based on one attribute at a<br />
time, put things that are similar but<br />
not identical into one group, and<br />
may label each grouping, even<br />
though sometimes these labels are<br />
overgeneralized. (36 mos.; Mandler<br />
and McDonough 1993)<br />
For example, the child may:<br />
• Identify a few colors when they<br />
are named; for example, get a red<br />
ball from the bin of multicolored<br />
balls when the infant care teacher<br />
asks for the red one. (Scaled<br />
score of 10 for 34:16–36:15 mos.;<br />
Bayley 2006, 97; 33 mos.+; Parks<br />
2004, 79)<br />
• Make three piles of tangrams in<br />
various shapes, such as a circle,<br />
square, and triangle. (30–36 mos.;<br />
Parks 2004, 79)<br />
• Pick two big bears from a bowl<br />
containing two big bears and two<br />
small bears, even if the big bears<br />
are different colors. (Scaled score<br />
of 10 for 30:16–33:15 mos.; Bayley<br />
2006, 74)<br />
• Sort primary-colored blocks into<br />
three piles: a red pile, a yellow<br />
pile, and a blue one. (33 mos.+;<br />
Parks 2004, 79; 32 mos.; Bayley<br />
2006)<br />
• Point to different pictures of<br />
houses in a book even though<br />
all of the houses look different.<br />
(30–36 mos.; Parks 2004, 79)<br />
• Put all the soft stuffed animals in<br />
one pile and all the hard plastic<br />
toy animals in another pile and<br />
label the piles “soft animals” and<br />
“hard animals.” (18–36 mos.; Lally<br />
and others 1995, 78–79)<br />
• Call all four-legged animals at the<br />
farm “cows,” even though some<br />
are actually sheep and others<br />
horses. (18–36 mos.; Lally and<br />
others 1995, 78–79)<br />
77<br />
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT