Or, why take this course? Infancy accounts for only 2% of the average person’s life expectancy.

Infants have many abilities that we think of as very simple, yet, they are really very complex

For example:

1. Infants have many abilities that we think of as very simple, yet, they are really very complex

2. A long standing and classic issue concerns the origins of human abilities and the extent to which they are innate or learned: Nature/Nurture Debate

Consider some of these abilities:

What is this?

How do you know?

Would an infant know?

Which of these is more pleasant?

No. 1 No 2

Would an infant agree?

Who is more attractive?

Or, which is a better example of a dog?

Would an infant agree?

1. Infants have many abilities that we think of as very simple, yet, they are really very complex

2. A long standing and classic issue concerns the origins of human abilities and the extent to which they are innate or learned: Nature/Nurture Debate

3. What is thought like without language—can humans think non-linguistically?

How do you drive from here to the airport?

How do you make people smile?

What are the limits of thought and what can infants do before language?

There are many applied issues:

How much influence can parents have—how much is nature vs. nurture

"I joined a parenting board online when I was pregnant, and many of the women could not stop talking about ‘Baby Bach,’ ‘Baby Mozart’ and ‘Baby Einstein.’ Once my son was born I had to see for myself. I purchased ‘Baby Bach’ and ‘Baby Mozart’ and played them for him. All of the wonderful comments those ladies on the board said could not have been more true. James was mesmerized by the music and images. He is now almost 18 months and still watches them almost daily. A couple of weeks ago, I purchased ‘Baby Shakespeare,’ he said ‘apple’ the next day! He loved it. He is usually very active, but while watching the videos, he is always glued to the images. He dances and talks back to them, but in a quiet way. I purchased ‘Baby Van Gogh’ today and he just wants me to keep rewinding! I always tell any pregnant women I know about the videos. They were definitely the most important purchases I’ve made for my son. Thank you!"

How much influence can parents have—how much is nature vs. nurture?

Is infancy a critical period?

Is there continuity from infancy to later childhood?

What is appropriate stimulation for the infants—how would a parent know?

For most of history, there was very little interest in infants.

Interest in infancy by both parents and scientists began during 1800’s and beginning of 1900’s

Charles Darwin: 1840’s wrote: A Biographical Sketch of an Infant

Came up with notion that: Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny

Evolution can be seen in the development of the child

Examples during infancy?

Baby biographies grew in popularity and are still popular today

Obviously there are limitations in biographies:

Biographies led to growing interest in observations and normative studies, both of which were very popular in the mid-1900’s

For example Arnold Gesell who established the Gesell Institue

Problems with normative and observational approaches

In 1960’s pioneering research of Robert L. Fantz

They don’t talk!

You can’t give them instructions

They have very limited attention spans

They have a limited repertoire of responses

The data is very variable

But– we have made discoveries!!