Cook Chapter Summaries

Chapter one of the Cook book basically begins by looking at child development as a whole and hits all the basic points, so one would be able to have a basic understanding of what the book will be discussing. Cook starts off by discussing three different types of child development: physical, cognitive and social. Physical development is pretty self-explanatory that a child will grow, get stronger, and be able to perform more demanding tasks like being able to walk. As you grow, physical development keeps going because you are constantly changing from starting off as a little infant who can’t do anything for themselves to an adult who has coordination and does not look like a child anymore. You are constantly getting older which has impacts

Nature means what you are given biologically or genetics (things we inherit) and nurture has to do with environmental conditions like how much love their parents give them or the social background they come from. Some like to debate that nature is more important in how a child develops and vice versa, but most have decided that both are equally important and have a significant impact on how a child will develop and the type of adult they will be. Each has different effects on a child and how they develop but together they will make up a good part of how a child develops which is studied in behavior genetics. Another part of the nature verse nurture is the own choices the child makes for themselves and how others influence their decisions; this is called a reciprocal relationship. The child will be influenced and may influence others. All three parts have to do with the development of a

There is the rooting reflex that happens when you touch a newborn on the cheek and they will turn to the direction of the touch. Next there is the sucking reflex that occurs if anything touches the baby’s lips, they will begin to suck. The startle or Moro reflex has to do with when there is a loud noise and the baby is startled it will extend its arms, legs and fingers. Lastly there is the grasping reflex that if something touches a baby’s hand they will grab it and hold on to it strongly. The lower brain centers like the spinal cord or brain stem are the ones responsible for the reflexes. Some of the reflexes will disappear around four months as the higher brain functions start getting involved and there is voluntary control of muscle