Psychology Question and Discussion Board

Psychology Question and Discussion Board

Read the story below and only answer the three questions (250 words) use the sources I provided.

1.Ask at least one question in response to an original peer post that you would like the author to explore further.

2. compare and contrast your respective thoughts regarding how sensory systems work and impact childhood development, and offer constructive criticism and recommendations on how to address and offer advice to parents.

3. Additionally, identify any insights you have gained as a result of reading the responses of others.

The story:

The human body is design of various systems to protect us from harmful bacterial infections and viruses. It is also designed to help us learn how to survive efficiently without causing harm to ourselves. One of the very first systems that reacts is our sensory system. Our sensory system is part of our nervous system. Our sensory system is made up different sensory receptors, neural pathways and parts of the brain that encode and decode messages that involve our sensory perception (National Geographic, 2011). There five main sense that our body functions off these is vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. When we enter the world outside of the whom, our body immediately reacts to the environment around them. For example, our bodies do use the muscle in our lungs to breath while inside the mother’s body. Once the infant is exposed to the outside world, the body immediately shocks the muscles in the lungs to react. This helps us as infants learn how to breathe correctly (National Geographic, 2011).

One of the first sensory systems that infants use is taste. Hours after birth the infant is ready for its very first feeding. This is when the infant first taste something new, the mother’s milk. There are almost 9,000 sensory receptors on an infant’s tongue alone. Therefore taste and touch are so popular among infants and toddlers. When our sensory receptors taste or touch a new object, it immediately travels through our nervous system into the brain sending a specific message (National Geographic, 2011). This message is then decoded from the brain and is then translated. The brain then sends the signal back down to the sensory receptors inform us of a human what the object or taste is. Our mind eventually will remember certain objects, tastes and smell through reinforcement. For example, as we continue to feed the infant breast milk, this will ultimately be coded into our hippocampus as a source of food. The pattern of sucking the fluid through the mother’s breast will also be code as well. The infant will then learn to receive milk he or she must suck the milk from their mothers’ breast to obtain food (National Geographic, 2011).

The next sensory system is hearing. This system immediately starts to react and is a big part of the infant’s development. As early as one month old our hearing is as clear as it will ever be. Our ear is constructed through sound waves that enter our eardrum. Ossicles are behind our eardrum and in turn, have small vibrations in response to the sound waves. The ossicles are the smallest bones in the body, but without them, we would be able to hear at all (National Geographic, 2011). The vibrations then enter the cochlea or inner ear. As mentioned above our ears are playing a huge role in our development. For example, around 8months to a one year of age, an infant starts to learn how to balance and walk. This process is through muscle development and the liquid that lies in our ears. In our ears, we have individual tubes. These tubes have liquid inside of them that allow us to learn how to balance. Once an infant masters the ability to balance he/she will be able to walk.

As an infant, our perception of the world changes over time. As early as one month we cannot see objects clear or with color. It is not until about two months children can see colors and shapes. At four months children can identify their mothers face. Around eight months children then have 20; 20 visions and can understand and identify objects. For example, in our eyes, we have what is called the retina. Inside the retina, the image we view is captured upside down, and then is passed to the rods and cones in our eyes. This message in sent to the occipital part of the brain where the image is then coded and decode to the correct format (right side up). The cons allow us to see color while the rods allow us to see things in the dark (National Geographic, 2011).

Smelling is another important sensory system, that plays a huge role in our development as a youth. The smells we inhibit travel through special nerves that are dangling inside our nose. These detect specific chemicals in the air and send a special message to our brain. These signals are then coded into smells. The taste of breast milk is transcribing through the tongue of the infant, but the smell of it will transcribe through the infant’s nose. Allowing the infant to be able to distinguish if he or she is drinking breast milk (National Geographic, 2011).

I am currently a mother of an 8-month-old infant myself. I find all this information very interesting as I am witnessing my son throw this stage of development now. I am grateful to know and understand what he is going through so that I can better assist him with his progress. Some of the different avenues I have taken to help my son with his development while keeping him safe are baby proofing around the house. This is very common and necessary as well. Young children even during the toddler and pre-school age are curious about different chemicals and objects that lie around the house. It is best to store away all cleaning products, sharp objects, and ropes or strings where children cannot reach. I have placed all my cleaning products in baskets inside my top shelves so that my son cannot go inside the floor cabinets and try to drink any of the liquids. Based on the information touch and taste are one of the most popular sensory systems. So be very cautious. I would also recommend buying outlet cover to block children from a place any objects inside the three-prong holes. I would also recommend purchasing a push- walker for children to use when learning to balance. My son is now learning how to balance. He feels confident to walk when he has an object hold on to, and this is where the push walker comes in handy. He can push the walker around the house and learn how to balance as well. My last recommendation would be to reinforcement with children. This could be teaching them how to eat, showing them their alphabet doesn’t matter. The old saying practice makes perfect is right. I practice with my son every day how to eat his food. I show him with my hands on how to place the food in his mouth. Now he is picking up the food with his hands and feeding himself.

Use the references below

Hansen, C. C., & Zambo, D. (2005). Piaget, Meet Lilly: Understanding Child Development through Picture Book Characters. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(1), 39–45. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1007/….

Bahrick, L. E., Todd, J. T., & Soska, K. C. (2018). The Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol (MAAP): Characterizing individual differences in multisensory attention skills in infants and children and relations with language and cognition. Developmental Psychology, 54(12), 2207–2225. https://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1037/… (Supplemental)

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