Psychology Assignment: Analysis of Development Through Children's Toys

This assignment analyzes child development through the lens of children's toys, specifically focusing on two age ranges: 6-12 months and 18-24 months. It examines the developmental information presented for each age group, including cognitive, linguistic, and physical milestones. The analysis assesses the consistency of this information with existing research, exploring how operant and classical conditioning, as well as motor skill development, are supported. Furthermore, the assignment delves into how recommended toys cater to infants' and toddlers' developing learning capacities, emphasizing the role of movement and motor skills in this process. It also evaluates the toys' appropriateness for perceptual development, considering sensory stimulation and the use of colors and sounds. The assignment references key developmental psychology texts and research papers to support its claims, providing a comprehensive overview of the relationship between toys and child development.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHILDREN’S TOYS
ANALYSIS OF CHILDREN’S TOY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHILDREN’S TOYS
Table of Contents
1. What developmental information is presented for each age range?............................................2
2. Is it consistent with research presented in the text?.....................................................................2
3. How do the recommended toys appeal to infants’ and toddlers’ developing learning
capacities?........................................................................................................................................3
4. How about perceptual development? Using what you know about stimulation, are the toys
appropriate for the age range? Why or why not?............................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................5

2ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHILDREN’S TOYS
Selected Age Ranges: 6 to 12 months and 18 to 24 months.
1. What developmental information is presented for each age range?
For the first age range of 6 to 12 months, the developmental information that is presented
inform that the baby is in the stage of figuring out new things, including how different objects
function. They are moving to the stage of making cooing and babbling sounds as precursors for
language development. Physically, the baby starts to pick up small toys and through conversation
can associate words with objects. They also respond to feedback and encouragement and positive
reinforcement.
For the second age range of 18 to 24 months, the baby has developed the primary
communication skills and is able to express various moods and emotions. The linguistic
development is complemented by an expanding vocabulary ranging from 50 to 200 words.
Physically the child is able to walk in multiple directions. Cognitively, the child is able to
identify shapes and sort them, ride mobility toys and play with cognitively challenging toys and
games.
2. Is it consistent with research presented in the text?
The research presented in the text identifies various stages of development for the child.
It states how through conditioning methods like operant and classical conditioning (Berk, 2017,
pp. 441 – 443), the early learning phase of the child is complimented. The website also discusses
how the child progresses to responding to positive reinforcement, a vital component of operant
conditioning. Besides, in terms of motor development, the first stage (6 – 12 months) shows that
the child starts from rolling on the sides to gradually being able to stand up and walk in small
steps through holding stationary objects for support (Berk, 2017, pp. 451 - 452). In the second

3ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHILDREN’S TOYS
stage (18 – 24 months), the child shows significant development of motor skills where he is able
to walk and even run small distances, is able to jump in one spot and can also climb up the stairs
with some support (Berk, 2017, p. 452). So the information presented in the website is consistent
with that in the text.
3. How do the recommended toys appeal to infants’ and toddlers’ developing learning
capacities?
In the chosen age range for this assignment, that is, 6 - 12 months and 18 – 24 months,
the main focus is development of movement and motor skills.
Between 6 to 10 months, infants first begin crawling and make sense of their
surroundings. They learn to understand the motion of their arms and legs (Sacrey, Karl, &
Whishaw, 2012) Therefore the toys in this category have stuffed animals with labelled body
parts so that the child could learn with the aid of their guardians and mobiles and ‘jumperoos’
which also encourage movement. This category also consists of smart toys which have built-in
mechanisms for communicating with the child. This is because the babbling stage in the child’s
developmental stage is simultaneously occurring around this time (Day, 2014).
In case of 18 to 24 month old infants, they are already actively moving and speaking.
This is when more complex ideas such as family and the surroundings is introduced. This section
consists of play-sets which help in developing personality; and wagons, toy buses and scooters to
encourage development of motor skills (Smith, 2009).

4ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHILDREN’S TOYS
4. How about perceptual development? Using what you know about stimulation, are the
toys appropriate for the age range? Why or why not?
Perceptual development is defined as the development of the five senses of the human
body (Bornstein, 2017). Even though, in case of children, it does not include taste and smell
when it comes to development of toys. In both categories, the toys have light-coloured bodies
and the sounds which accompany such toys are also soothing and playful. This is because in the
mentioned age groups, the children go through several stages of emotional and mental
development. Therefore the toys for the older infants have bright colours and playful music;
whereas the toys for the younger infants are coloured with very mild colours such as pink and
baby blue. This is because the younger children are more prone to get scared of objects which are
stand out too much from their surroundings (Skelton & Franklin, 2019).

5ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHILDREN’S TOYS
References
Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring lifespan development. Pearson.
Bornstein, M. H. (2017). Perceptual development: Stability and change in feature perception. In
Psychological Development from Infancy (pp. 37-81). Routledge.
Day, K. (2014). Exploring phonological relationships between babbling and early word
productions (Doctoral dissertation, Memorial University of Newfoundland).
Sacrey, L. A. R., Karl, J. M., & Whishaw, I. Q. (2012). Development of rotational movements,
hand shaping, and accuracy in advance and withdrawal for the reach-to-eat movement in
human infants aged 6–12 months. Infant Behavior and Development, 35(3), 543-560.
Skelton, A. E., & Franklin, A. (2019). Infants look longer at colours that adults like when colours
are highly saturated. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 1-8.
Smith, L. B. (2009). From fragments to geometric shape: Changes in visual object recognition
between 18 and 24 months. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(5), 290-294.