Chapter 1 The Study of Child Development Child Development o Study of human constancy and change o Part of a larger discipline developmental science The study of child development is o Scientific uses scientific methods to describe and explain the ways in which people grow and change over time a lot of experience What is going on at each age o Applied use our understanding when interacting o Interdisciplinary it has grown through the combined efforts of people from many fields including sociology psychology education social work etc Three Major Domains of Development o Physical brain and body body size and proportion appearance functioning of body systems health perceptual and motor capacities changes in structure and function of the brain o Cognitive intellectual abilities thought processes perceptual abilities language o Emotional and Social Psychosocial emotions personality temperament feelings interpersonal skills and relationships emotional communication self understanding self concept and self esteem knowledge about others moral reasoning behavior Periods of Development o The prenatal period from conception to birth 9 month period with the most rapid change a one celled organism is transformed into a human baby capable of adjusting to life in the surrounding world o Infancy and toddlerhood from birth to 2 years Dramatic changes in the growth and intellectual support the emergence of a wide array of language Also occurring during this time is the beginnings of language and first intimate ties to others o Early childhood from 2 to 6 years Physical Domain The body becomes longer and leaner motor skills are refined Cognitive Domain Children become more self controlled and self sufficient Make believe play blossoms Thought and language expand Emotional Psychosocial Domain a sense of morality becomes evident and children establish ties with peers o Middle childhood from 6 to 11 years School age Physical domain Cognitive domain Great improvement in movement athletic ability Literacy math skills logic thinking Psychosocial domain Greater understanding of self morality friendship o Adolescence from 11 to 18 years o Emerging adulthood from 18 to 25 years Four Basic Issues in Development o One Course of Development or many possible courses Which aspects of development are universal o Continuous or discontinuous growth Ex characteristics o Fixed or malleable Can the behavior of the child be changed o The etiology of developmental change Where does the language come from One course of Dev or many o Development has both Universal features Ex kids representation of a person looks like a tadpole features unique to the individual Stage theorists o Focus on the universal features of development o assume that all children follow the same sequence of development o ex kids can t think logically or abstractly as a preschooler Contemporary theorists the growing individual o Focus on the complexity of development and the contributions of multiple domains on o Including heredity and biological makeup the settings where one grows and broader contextual and cultural factors Continuous or Discontinuous Development o If development is understood as Continuous Quantitative vs qualitative growth Predictable o Development involves an adding on of more of the same types of skills a gradual process It is continuous we can predict later development e g personality behavior from earlier behavior If development is discontinuous growth occurs in stages new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times Fairly sudden change versus gradually There are qualitative changes in thinking feeling and behaving at different points of development Fixed or Malleable o Questions addressed What characteristics of children are fixed and difficult to change and what are relatively malleable like clay Do early experiences establish lifelong patterns of behavior that can t be changed by later experiences Is change possible when supported by new experiences Are certain experiences salient of great importance at certain points in development For example sensitive periods ducks o In the nature versus nurture debate Nature lovers those who stress the importance of heredity are typically fixed If one is high or low in a characteristic this will be true in later ages as well Nurture lovers assert that personality etc is based on the experiences of the Etiology of Developmental Change Nature v Nurture individual o An age old controversy over where the underlying causes of developmental change and individual characteristics stem from Are they genetic or environmental factors o Nature lovers stress the importance of genetics o inborn biological givens the hereditary information from parents o Nurture lovers focus on the primacy of the environment on the developing child The complex forces of the physical and social world A Balanced Point of View current theoretical perspectives o Most Recognize the role of both nature and nurture but vary in their emphasis on each o Modern Developmentalists Perspective Balanced point of view Children grow up in distinct contexts influence their development Unique combinations of genetic and environmental circumstances o Different paths of change and different capacities skills and emotions Both continuous and discontinuous changes occur Development has both universal features and features unique to the individual and contexts Heredity and environment o Inseparable o Both affect the developing child
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