Understanding cause and effect starts with your baby interacting with her environment and then learning an action that will lead to an effect. This is the beginning of her ability to understand cause and effect. For instance, each time your baby cries, she begins to learn that you will pick her up or use an object such as a rattle to distract her.
This is the beginning of her ability to understand cause and effect. For instance, each time your baby cries, she begins to learn that you will pick her up or use an object such as a rattle to distract her. If your baby were to also shake the rattle, she would hear a sound; when she drops the rattle on the floor, she sees it disappear. Through play, your baby is learning that she can cause things to happen or change.
As your baby grows older, her memory is developing. You’ll start to see her absorbing information and applying it to her day-to-day activities.
During this period, one of the most important concepts she is using in cause-and-effect situations is her memory. We previously discussed your baby reaching toward an object that makes noise and dropping it on the floor. As your baby understands that she can cause these interesting reactions, she will continue to experiment with other ways to make things happen.
Think about each time you sing a particular song as you feed your baby; she will begin to anticipate the song and the feeding each time you begin the activity. The same goes for when your baby interacts with another family member and learns that by laughing she makes that person smile; she will then laugh again to get the same effect.
These experiences with your infant will increase social skills and set the stage for symbolic and language learning.
