Caretakers, Toddlers, and Brain Development

Influence of Caretakers on Toddler’s Brain Development. 

Please write an essay around three pages in length on what babies and toddlers need from caretakers for normal brain development.

This entire essay should be based on the information provided you this week in this course, not in information you find on the web.

The information you need is found in the Laura Berk (attached),

in the Harvard short videos found in my Week Three Lecture Notes, (attached)

in the information you have listened to in the Diane Rehm podcast, (http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-12-28/new-research-on-teens-toddlers-and-mobile-devices-rebroadcast)

in the short audio program by Alix Spiegel, “Old Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills, found http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514

Guiding questions:

From the Laura Berk Reading on Conversations: Please discuss the importance of conversations with young children and how these benefit very young children.

From the Diane Rehm podcast: Please write about the effects of screen time on the development of the infant and toddler brain. (Sorry not to discuss teens, but we are studying infants at this point in the course!)

From the Harvard short videos in Dr. Barr’s Week Three Lecture Notes: What did you learn about “face time” and “serve and return” between a baby and a caretaker? Since adults are also “addicted” to screen time (on TV or on a device) what might happen to the critically-important brain development that needs to occur with infants and toddlers?

Please think about the possibility that a home has no “media devices” but in fact turns on their television set and leaves it running all day as this father is doing. What effect does this have on the brain development of a child?

Example: A student last term wrote about friends of hers. The friend’s husband lost his job so the wife went out to work, leaving the husband to care for their child for the last two years. He chose to turn on the television and lie on the couch watching TV all day long, leaving the one-year old toddler to play on his own in front of the TV. Now that this toddler is turning three years old he does not have a single word he can speak. The pediatrician has sent this couple to experts to determine if the child has brain damage and if so, how extensive.

There is a special comment in the Diane Rehm show that I hope you will focus on. My initial interest came as I was driving my car and heard the brief discussion 20 to 22 minutes into the program. Rachel Barr, a researcher from Georgetown, was discussing the effects on toddler play when parents have the television turned on all day, and how damaging that visual and auditory input is to the development of toddler mental development and play. The television interrupts a train of thought and stops toddler play completely. The child has to begin all over with her train of thought and play.

From Alix Spiegel’s wonderful audio program (with Laura Berk speaking on it) what have you learned about how children construct self-regulation and what kinds of play enhance brain and social development?

From my Week Three Lecture Notes: What have you learned about the critically important needs of babies and toddlers and what happens if these infants do not receive the needed stimulation at the time they need it?

Length: Your essay can be up to three pages, double-spaced, or one-and-a-half pages single spaced. It is acceptable if you write a little less or a little more.

References: Using quotation marks and citations, please cite information you have used from our class materials. Please do not use materials outside our classroom reading assignments. Please include a little reference list at the end of your paper. (I am not a stickler on APA style; any reasonable reference list will do.)

Writing Style:

Please write using your own words, not stringing quotations together and not using the guiding questions as a worksheet. You are expected to put ideas together from several sources and bring up ideas of your own. You may also use an occasional example from your experience if it is relevant to the issue you are describing.