Medium+A.1

7/29/12 The Science of Babies

National Geographic, the creator of the documentary //The Science of Babies//, presented an unbiased presentation relaying facts of the maturity of the youth. The film touched on the positive and negative psychological and developmental issues related to this, but did not dwell to much on either. //The Science of Babies// focuses on the way babies learn to see, to grow, and to comprehend. Human babies are born more helpless than other young creatures on the planet (National geographic,45 sec, Science of Babies).

The film shows the psychological and developmental issues babies face during their first year of life, which is the most dangerous year of a humans life (National Geographic,51 second, Science of babies). One developmental change that the film focuses on is how an infant learns to speak. Crying is the only sound a newborn can make to communicate initially (National Geographic 9min 50sec, Science of Babies). This form of communication is usually seen from birth to about one month of age ( Lifespace Development, pg.133). Over the next few months, the number of ways a baby can express itself expands tremendously (Lifespan Development, pg.133). This is shown numerous times throughout the film. A psychological change the film focuses on is the way a newborn uses his or her sense and experiences to comprehend his or her environment. A human child that is deprived of sensory experience such as exercise, and the use of and practice with limbs is usually permanently disabled because humans do not start out with all this activity wired into our brains… we actually have to learn it (National Geographic, 24min 25 sec, Science of Babies).

Another scientific claim made in the film //The Science of Babies// is that, "Every moment a baby makes a movement, it helps strengthen certain connections in the brain (National Geographic, 22min 49 second, Science of Babies). This claim is supported by Catherine Buns, the author of Our Amazing Babies (themlrc.com). Within this text it is stated that, “babies brains develop through natural movement of nursing, tummy time, rolling, creeping and crawling." These claims related directly to the film and show that the brain activity of infants and babies increases with each move they make. Another claim made in the film is that by the age of three months a baby should be able to life its head (National Geographic,25 min 6 seconds, Science of babies). This claim can be supported by the following article, //When Will Baby Control His Own Head?// By Nutrifile. This article states, "by age three or four months babies will be able to life their head up to forty-five degrees when on their stomachs and this can be done over and over again. //Science of Babies// has received a lot of praise on this film and was also rewarded a four star rating (Netflix.com). Also, one viewer of the film said," I thought this was an amazing documentary. It shows that humans, like other animals have inborn instincts and that even as babies we understand the world more than we might think. From birth to one year, our brains are in over drive and understand much more information than we ever do later in life. I found the information presented about how babies learn to ignore things even more interesting then how we learn to identify things and ignoring things that are not relevant to our survival such as why it is increasingly difficult to learn language the older you get. This documentary is about early child development and the reasons behind it. Ex: We walk on two legs because it is the most energy efficient way to get around. I for one found science of babies fascinating and i highly recommend it” (http://movies.netflix.com/movie/national_geographic_science_of_babies) The psychological field relevant to this documentary would be child psychology and developmental psychology. Child psychology is a branch of psychology which focuses on children from infancy to adolescence (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-child-psychology.htm.). Developmental psychology is a subfield within psychology which focuses on the study of age based behavioral changes. Both of these would help to better analyze the way a baby moves, thinks, and reacts to things from infancy to adolescence.

Jean Piaget is a researcher/theorist that could possibly be interested in and comment on this film. Jean Piaget is renowned for constructing a highly influential model of child development and learning stages. Piaget’s theory is based on the idea that the developing child builds cognitive structures on a continual basis. In other words, mental "maps", schemes, or networked concepts for understanding, as well as responding to physical experiences within his or her environment are her focus (http://www.funderstanding.com/educators/piaget). I believe Jean Piaget would think this film marked the phases of early child development from birth until one year of age very well. Piaget's view of a new developmental “map” in substage two (from roughly one to four months) is marked by the beginning of the coordination between looking, listening, reaching, grabbing, and sucking. Jean sees these as such central features of the two months old babies and also sees this as means of exploring the world (Lifespan Development, pg.122). //The Science of Babies// also promotes the same view as Jean. In conclusion, Science of babies was an amazing and educational film. The film allows the average parent to have a better understanding on the scientific way to assist their children and in comprehending their environment during the child’s first year of life.

Works Cited


 * "Minnesota Learning Resource Center." //Minnesota Learning Resource Center//. Web. 29 July 2012. .
 * " //Netflix//. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 July 2012. .
 * "Piaget | Funderstanding." //Piaget | Funderstanding//. Web. 29 July 2012. .
 * Santrock, J. W. //Life-span Development//. 13th. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2011. Page 122.
 * Smith, S.E., and O. Wallace. "What Is Child Psychology?" //WiseGeek//. Conjecture, 06 July 2012. Web. 29 July 2012. .
 * //The Science of babies.// National Geographic. National Geographic, 2007. Film.

Content/Development--40%
//__Subject Matter__//
 * Key elements of assignment covered-- you nailed all of them! Excellent work!
 * Displays an understanding of relevant theory-- you really tied all of it together
 * Major points supported by specific details/examples-- and even cited correctly!

Organization--30%

 * The introduction provides a sufficient background on the topic and previews major points-- The introduction was a little rocky. See comments above. -4 points.

**Style/Mechanics--30%**
//__APA/MLA Format__// =Final Grade: 71/75=
 * Citations/reference page follow guidelines-- Thank you for demonstrating such excellent citations and references. I'll be using this as an example in the future!