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Toddlerhood
Toddlerhood refers to the period of time during early development when the young child is between the ages of 1 and 3. The beginning of this period generally commences when the infant takes his or her first steps. These first steps often result in a swaying or toddling motion; it is at this point that the infant enters the world of toddlerhood. Toddlerhood is marked by significant changes, not only in motor skills but in all areas of development. These young children are changing and growing rapidly in their physical development, cognitive and language development, and social and emotional development. In fact, all of these developmental areas are interconnected and interrelated.
Motor Development
Motor development, an obvious milestone of toddlerhood, is an important developmental precursor. Children's physical and motor development is cephalocaudal, in other words, it develops from head to foot. The head is the most developed part of the body at birth. It is also much larger in proportion to the rest of the body. Infants will be able to hold up their heads before they learn to sit, and sit before they learn to stand. Motor development is proximodistal; it occurs from the middle (proximo) outward to the extremities (distal). For example, infants are able to produce larger arm movements before they can direct their hand or finger movements. Motor development also plays a role in social and behavioral expectations, such as toilet training. Toilet training is an important skill learned during the toddler period, but it is mainly a result of physical development (Morrison, 1998). If started too early it may lead to frustration for both parents and toddlers.
Sensorimotor Development and Cognition
Motor development is important for increased autonomy and also for cognitive and skill development. Jean Piaget, one of the most influential cognitive developmental theorists, proposed a comprehensive theory of intellectual development utilizing infants' and toddlers' developing motor skills (Piaget, 1952). He suggested that the infant and young toddler is in the sensorimotor stage of development. During this stage, the toddler is learning about her world through her senses and through her motor actions on her environment. The young toddler between the ages of 12 months and 18 months is in the experimentation period of sensorimotor development. The toddler investigates and explores her world using cause-andeffect experimentation, which Piaget termed “tertiary circular reactions” (Piaget, 1952). The toddler in this period will repeat an action over and over again, just to see what happens. It is through this repetition of action that the toddler is able to develop an understanding of the world around her. The development of walking also permits the toddler to further explore and investigate her ever-expanding environment.
Piaget theorized that the toddler between the ages of 18 months and 2 years is in the last period of sensorimotor development. At this point the toddler is beginning to engage in symbolic thought. He is starting to represent the outside world internally, using symbols such as mental images and words, to represent objects and events. Toddlers at this stage can remember events, can use words to represent ideas, and are beginning to engage in symbolic play.
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- Adolescent Development
- Abstinence in Adolescence
- Adolescence and Thriving
- Adolescence, Current Trends and Research About
- Adolescent Females, Physical Activity
- Adolescent Parents, Programs and Policies for
- Adolescent Pregnancy and Births
- Adolescent Sexuality
- Adolescents, at Risk
- Adolescents, Consent and Refusal of Treatment
- Alcohol Use and Disorders Among Youth
- Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use, Media Education for Adolescents
- Asthma in Adolescence
- Athletic Participation and Girls' Development
- Cancer Patients, Adolescent Consent to Research
- Cigarette Smoking in Adolescents
- Dating in Adolescence
- Decision Making Among Adolescents
- Delinquency
- Depression in Adolescence
- Ethnic Identity Development in Minority Adolescents
- Gender Intensification
- HIV Prevention in Young Adults
- Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth
- Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth, Sexual Development
- Menarche
- Parenting in Adolescence
- Positive Youth Development, Service-Learning Versus Community Collaborative Models
- Puberty
- Religiosity and Resilience in Adolescence
- Resiliency in Adolescence
- Sexuality, Adolescents' Development of
- Silbereisen, Rainer K.
- Social Support, Urban Adolescents
- Stimulants, Adolescent Use of
- Youth Civic/Political Development
- Youth Development Professionals
- Youth Development Programs, Essential Elements of
- Youth Mentoring
- Youth-Adult Partnerships
- ADS Training and Education
- Education and Applied Developmental Science
- Planning and Evaluation Resource Center (PERC)
- Positive Development
- Training in Applied Developmental Science
- Yale University, Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy
- Youth Development as a Public Idea
- Youth Development Professionals
- Youth Development Programs, Essential Elements of
- Adult Development
- Adult Development, Definition, Culture, and Applications
- Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults
- Chronic Disability in Old Age
- Depression in Later Life
- Depression, Maternal
- Family Caregiving for Elders
- Marriage and Family Therapy
- Mental Health in Later Life, Ecology of
- Mental Retardation, Sociocontextual Influences in Adulthood
- Old Age
- Psychoanalysis in Adults, Theory and Technique
- Sensory Impairment, Aging
- Social Support in Old Age
- Special Education, Transition From School to Young Adulthood
- Spiritual and Religious Coping in Later Life
- Transition in Adulthood
- Transition to College
- Vision Impairment, Late Life Adjustment and Rehabilitation
- Biographies of Applied Developmental Scientists
- Ames, Louise Bates
- Anastasi, Anne
- Benson, Peter L.
- Blum, Robert W.
- Bornstein, Marc H.
- Bronfenbrenner, Urie
- Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
- Côté, James E.
- Cauce, Ana Mari
- Ceci, Stephen J.
- Chase-Lansdale, P. Lindsay
- Damon, William
- Eccles, Jacquelynne, and the Expectancy-Value Model of Achievement Choice
- Eisenberg, Nancy
- Elkind, David
- Farrington, David P.
- Fisher, Celia B.
- Flanagan, Constance A.
- Floyd, Donald T., Jr.
- Freud, Anna
- Freud, Sigmund
- Gardner, Howard
- Gesell, Arnold Lucius
- Hagen, John William
- Hall, G. Stanley
- Helms, Janet E.
- Horowitz, Frances Degen
- Jacobs, Francine
- Khoo, Kim Choo
- Lamb, Michael
- Lerner, Jacqueline V.
- Lerner, Richard M.
- Lipsitt, Lewis P.
- Little, Rick R.
- Meisels, Samuel J.
- Montessori, Maria
- Moore, Kristin
- Mussen, Paul H.
- Osofsky, Joy Doniger
- Overton, Willis F.
- Petersen, Anne C.
- Phinney, Jean S.
- Piaget, Jean
- Pittman, Karen J.
- Rhodes, Jean
- Savin-Williams, Ritch C.
- Seligman, Martin E. P.
- Sherrod, Lonnie R.
- Silbereisen, Rainer K.
- Smyer, Michael A.
- Spanier, Graham B.
- Terman, Lewis M.
- Watson, John B.
- Weinberg, Richard A.
- Wertlieb, Donald
- Wheeler, Wendy
- Windle, Michael
- Youniss, James
- Child Development
- Advertising, Effects on Children
- Alcoholism Prevention Programs for Children
- Anxiety Disorders in Children
- Bipolar Disorder in Children
- Cancer, Psychosocial Dimensions of
- Child Abuse, Religion-Related
- Child Care Centers, an International Perspective
- Child Care, Infant and Toddler
- Child Development Across Cultures
- Child Labor
- Children's Reading Comprehension
- Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Early Childhood
- Day Care, Effects on Child Development
- Day Care, Measuring Quality of Care
- Domestic Violence, Child Exposure to
- Early Childhood Care, Development, and Education in Asia
- Early Childhood Education in Turkey
- Feeding Disorders, Childhood
- Giftedness in African American Children
- Incarcerated Mothers, Children of
- Mastery Motivation, Preschool and Early Childhood
- Media and Children's Fears
- Obesity, Pediatric
- Obesity, Prevention in Childhood
- Pediatric Psychology
- Peer Play in Early Childhood
- Perceptual Development, Childhood
- Play, Nonsocial, and Social-Emotional Development in Childhood
- Prejudice in Childhood
- Psychotropic Medications
- Siblinghood, Transitions to
- Sports and Positive Youth Development
- Sports/Athletics, Children and
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- Toddlerhood
- Visual Impairment Across the Life Span
- Women, Infants, and Children, Special Supplemental Food Program for
- Civic Engagement
- Advocacy, Child
- Civic Engagement
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- Just-World Beliefs, Development of
- Mentoring
- Political Engagement
- Positive Youth Development, Service-Learning Versus Community-Collaborative Models
- Public Policy and Human Development
- Service Learning
- Youth Civic/Political Development
- Youth-Adult Partnerships
- Culture and Diversity
- Asian Americans, a Term in Transition
- Acculturation
- Acculturation Stress
- Achievement in Mathematics, Gender and Ethnic Differences
- African American Youth Development, Cultural Influences
- African Culture, Human Ontogenesis Within
- African Family Traditions, Education and
- Asian American Families and Youth
- Assessment, Cultural Validity of
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- Child Care Centers, an International Perspective
- Child Development Across Cultures
- Community-Based Research Ethics
- Culture and Health
- Culture and Human Development
- Developmental Contextualism and Cultural Adjustment of Immigrant Children
- Early Childhood Care, Development, and Education in Asia
- Early Childhood Education in Turkey
- Ethical Issues in Cross-Cultural Research
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- Ethnic Identity Development in Minority Adolescents
- Ethnicity and Race, Understanding of
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- Immigrants, Acculturation of
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- Native Alaskan Tribes
- Parenting, Chinese Families and
- Refugees
- Religion and Applied Developmental Science
- Street Children
- Youth Culture, Hip-hop
- Development-Promoting Interventions
- Adolescent Parents, Programs and Policies for
- Alcoholism Prevention Programs for Children
- Infants, Intervention for Premature
- Intervention Programs, Web-Based
- Mediated Learning Experience
- Social Skills Training and Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD)
- Supervision
- Thinking, Education for
- Transfer of Knowledge, Child Education About the Real World
- Women, Infants, and Children, Special Supplemental Food Program for
- Youth Mentoring
- Developmental Assessment
- Developmental Disorders
- Anorexia Nervosa
- Anxiety Disorders in Children
- Autism, Educational Treatments for
- Autistic Spectrum Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder in Children
- Bulimia Nervosa
- Celiac Disease
- Clinical Significance
- Conduct Disorders
- Depression in Adolescence
- Developmental Disabilities
- Externalizing Behavior Problems
- Feeding Disorders, Childhood
- Gastrointestinal Disorders, Developmental Aspects of
- Mental Illness, Serotonin, and Genetics
- Mental Retardation
- Phobias, Childhood
- Postpartum Depression
- Developmental Processes
- Adaptation
- Adaptive Behavior
- Adolescence and Thriving
- Body Size and Image, Female Attitudes and Perceptions About
- Body Size, Societal Views of
- Career Development
- Children's Reading Comprehension
- Cognitive Development
- Cognitive Skills and Aging
- Cortisol and Stress
- Critical-Period Hypothesis
- Decision Making Among Adolescents
- Developmental Assets
- Egocentrism, Elkind's Contribution to Piagetian Theory
- Ethnicity and Race, Understanding of
- Gender Intensification
- Genetics and Human Development
- Giftedness in African American Children
- Human Brain, Evolution of
- Identity
- Identity Development in Biracial Children
- Identity Statuses
- Identity, Capital Model of
- Infant Reflexes
- Language Production in Infants and Toddlers
- Learning in the Life Cycle
- Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth, Sexual Development
- Limbic System, Hedonic Escalation
- Mastery Motivation, Preschool and Early Childhood
- Mediated Learning Experience
- Meiosis and Its Consequences
- Memory, Flashbulb
- Menarche
- Metacognition
- Morality, Theories of Development
- Play, Childhood
- Positive Development
- Problem Solving
- Prosocial Behavior
- Puberty
- Resiliency in Adolescence
- Self-Concept
- Self-Concepts and Self-Esteem, Children and Adolescents
- Self-Regulation
- Separation-Individuation, Margaret Mahler's Model
- Social Motivation
- Special Education, Transition From School to Young Adulthood
- Testimony, Children's Competence for
- Transition to College
- Developmental Risks
- Alcohol Use and Disorders Among Youth
- Child Abuse, Religion-Related
- Child labor
- Cigarette Smoking in Adolescents
- Cocaine
- Delinquency
- Diabetes
- Divorce, Its Impact on Children
- Domestic Violence, Child Exposure to
- Domestic Violence, Impact on Women and Children
- Homelessness and Runaway Youth
- Incarcerated Mothers, Children of
- Learned Helplessness and Learned Optimism
- Malnutrition, Effects of
- Obesity
- Risk Behaviors
- Sensory Impairment, Vision and Hearing
- Siblinghood, Transitions to
- Stimulants, Adolescent Use of
- Substance Use and Abuse Across the Life Span
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
- Traumatic Brain Injury, School Adjustment
- Violence, Effects on Development
- Youth Prostitution
- Ecology of Human Development
- Advertising, Effects on Children
- Body Types, Appraisals of
- Bullying, School
- Career Choice
- Community
- Community Linkages, Levels of
- Community Schools and Applied Developmental Research
- Community Youth Development
- Developmental Contextualism
- Developmental Contextualism and Cultural Adjustment of Immigrant Children
- Developmentally Attentive Communities
- Education, Urban
- Families, Dual-Career
- Interactive Media, Effects of
- Internet
- Maternal Employment
- Media and Children's Fears
- Media Use, Reading, and Academic Achievement
- Media Violence
- Mental Retardation, Sociocontextual Influences in Adulthood
- Occupations and Gender
- Peer Play in Early Childhood
- Peer Relationships
- Refugees
- School Counseling
- School Refusal
- School Transitions, Impact, Intervention, and Policy
- Schools and School Reform
- Schools, Consultation to
- Social Capital
- Social Change and Human Development
- Social Exclusion
- Social Support
- Social Support in Old Age
- Social Support, Urban Adolescents
- Sports, High School
- Television, Educational and Prosocial Effects of
- Video Games
- Youth Culture, Hip-hop
- Youth-Adult Partnerships
- Emotional and Social Development
- Ethics
- Families
- Adoption
- African Family Traditions, Education and
- Divorce, Its Impact on Children
- Families, Dual-Career
- Families, Immigrant Families in the United States
- Families, Multigenerational
- Family Caregiving for Elders
- Family Policy
- Family Systems Theory
- Immigrant Families, European
- Immigrants, Experiences of
- Latino Families in America
- Native American Children and Families
- Television, Mediating Effects of Family Communication
- Foundations
- Health
- Abstinence in Adolescence
- Adolescent Pregnancy and Births
- Asthma in Adolescence
- Cancer Patients, Adolescent Consent to Research
- Cancer, Psychosocial Dimensions of
- Celiac Disease
- Cortisol and Stress
- Culture and Health
- Diabetes
- Frontal Cortex
- HIV Prevention in Young Adults
- HIV Prevention With Injecting Drug Users
- Obesity, Pediatric
- Obesity, Prevention in Childhood
- Psychotropic Medications
- Religiosity and Mental Health
- Sensory Impairment, Aging
- Vision Impairment, Late Life Adjustment and Rehabilitation
- Visual Impairment Across the Life Span
- Youth Development as a Public Idea
- Youth Development Professionals
- Youth Development Programs, Essential Elements of
- Historical Influences
- Infant Development
- Organizations
- American Psychological Association, Division 7 (Developmental Psychology)
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center
- Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University
- Center for Social Development, Applied Developmental Science at
- Center for the Study of Human Development (CSHD), Brown University
- Center for Youth as Resources (CYAR), Headquarters for the Youth as Resources® (YAR)
- Child and Family Research, National Institute of Child Heath and Human Development
- Child Trends
- Community-Campus Partnerships and Community-Based Program Evaluation
- Erikson Institute
- Faith-Based Organizations
- Four-H (4-H)
- Head Start
- ImagineNations Group
- Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development
- Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
- International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development
- Murray, Henry A., Research Center
- National Council on Family Relations
- Public Policy and Youth Development
- Search Institute
- Society for Research on Adolescence
- Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues
- Society for the Study of Human Development
- Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Division 53, American Psychological Association
- UNICEF
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
- World Health Organization
- YouthBuild USA
- Parenting
- Adolescent Mothers
- Adolescent-Parent Relations
- Attachment, Child-Parent
- Bonding, Parent-Child
- Discipline, Early Childhood
- Families, Multigenerational
- Father Involvement
- Foster Care
- Gay and Lesbian Parenting, Community Attitudes Toward
- Gay and Lesbian Parenting, Legal Aspects of
- Parent Advocacy
- Parent Education
- Parent Expectations
- Parent Involvement, Programs in
- Parental Involvement in Education
- Parental Self-Efficacy
- Parenting in Adolescence
- Parenting, Chinese Families and
- Parenting, Divorce and
- Parenting, Native Americans and
- Parenting, Prejudice and
- Parenting, Single Mothers
- Parenting, Stressful Environments and
- Television, Mediating Effects of Family Communication
- Personality Development
- Religiosity and Spirituality
- Research Methodology
- Adolescence, Current Trends and Research About
- Assessment, Cultural Validity of
- Asset Mapping
- Brain Mapping
- Change, Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects of
- Community-Based Research Ethics
- Day Care, Measuring Quality of Care
- Delinquent Development, the Cambridge Study
- Field Experimentation Research
- Forensic Interviewing
- Policy-Relevant Methods in Applied Developmental Science
- Program Evaluation
- Research Design, Developmental
- Research Methods, Quantitative
- Research Methods, Statistical Analysis for Longitudinal Research
- Schools
- Social Issues
- Adolescent Mothers
- AIDS, Women, and Poverty
- Computer Games
- Family Policy
- Juvenile Justice, Racial Differences
- Media and Developmental Science
- Parenting, Single Mothers
- Participant Advocate, Research Involving Children
- Prejudice in Childhood
- Racism
- Silbereisen, Rainer K.
- Socioeconomic Status
- Welfare Reform
- Work and Family Life
- Theory
- “Goodness of Fit” and Development
- Applied Developmental Science, Concepts of
- Behavior Theory
- Developmental Contextualism and Cultural Adjustment of Immigrant Children
- Developmental Systems Theories
- Eccles, Jacquelynne, and the Expectancy-Value Model of Achievement Choice
- Empowerment Theory and Youth
- Erickson's Theory
- Family Systems Theory
- Identity, Helm's Theory of Racial
- Life Events
- Life Expectancy and the Life Span
- Overton, Willis F., Philosophical Foundations of Developmental Science
- Pediatric Psychology
- Perceptual Development, Childhood
- Philosophy of Science and Applied Developmental Science
- Positive Psychology
- Positive Psychology, Seligman's Concept of
- Positive Youth Development, a Developmental Systems View
- Problem Behavior Theory
- Psychoanalysis in Adults, Theory and Technique
- Recapitulation
- Sport Psychology
- Stage Theories of Human Development
- Stage-Environment Fit Theory
- Television, Children's Processing of
- Universities
- Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center
- Catholic University of America
- Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University
- Center for the Study of Human Development (CSHD), Brown University
- Fordham University
- Fuller Theological Seminary
- Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development
- Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
- Institute of Child Development
- Michigan State University, Applied Developmental Science at
- Northwestern University, Human Development and Social Policy Program
- Tufts University, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development
- University of Michigan
- University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Yale University, Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy
- Youth Programs
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