Child Growth and DevelopmentE-text NotesExam 2o Chapter 2o Piaget The Active Nature of the Child- Children are intrinsically motivated to find problems to solve to better their understanding of the world around them.- Rigidity of thought, passivity, and lack of curiosity are considered abnormal states. Mental structures and adaptation- Used structure in 2 wayso All aspects of the real world are structured entities. Refers to the complexity of some aspect of the environment.o Cognitive structure: the way the child knows the world.- Adaptation: the process by which cognitive structures are applied to andare modified by the child’s experiences.o Two processes for adaption Assimilation: child uses existing cognitive structures to interpret some experience.- Interprets the new in terms of the old. Accommodation: child modifies existing cognitive structures to conform to some new aspect of reality.- Represents developmental change in cognitive structures: an integration of the new into the old.o Cognitive structures are always moving gradually but steadily toward better and better approximations of reality. Stages of Cognitive Development- Cognitive development: a series of qualitative changes in the way children think and solve problems from infancy through adolescence.- 4 stageso Sensorimotor stage (0-24 months): characterized by action-oriented problem solving. Beginning of the stage the baby is limited to elaborate set of “wired-in” reflexes. Schemas: simple cognitive structures that regulate the infant’s body movements and the effects of those movements on objects.- Over time, these schemas become more complicated and sophisticated and enable the infant to influence their environment in more and more complex ways. Milestone of stage: using hands and arms to manipulatesimple instruments.o Preoperational stage (2-6 years): sensorimotor stage is replaced by symbolic reasoning Symbolic reasoning: thought that is mediated by words and images. Child can now organize mental images of events and objects both present and absent into primitive conceptsthat they can use to solve problems. Many limitations- Centration: tendency to focus on isolated parts of an event rather than seeing the whole picture.- Preoperational thought is illogical. Confused concepts of time, space, classification, and quantitative relationships.- Irreversibility: can think their way into a problem, but are unable to reverse their thought process. Can take things apart, but have difficulty putting them together again.- Fails to provide a logical, systematic way of adapting to the world.o Concrete operations (7-11 years): a child’s thinking becomes increasingly logical. Concrete operation organizes thoughts into logical systems. Thought is reversible: children can think their way into problems and back out again. If problem involves abstract concepts which the child is unfamiliar with, they do poorly solving it. Child can only deal with real objects that can be seen and touched.o Formal operations (12 years and beyond): ability to consider general propositions and principles and to think about hypothetical events. The individual can reason about things that don’t exist in reality. Able to think about their own thinking and able to think about other people’s thinking.o There are four stages, but not everyone reaches formal operations. Children must have access to appropriately challenging experiences to move onto the next stage. Critique of Cognitive-Developmental Theory- Unclear whether descriptions of stages hold up across different cultures and socio-economic status.- Some aspects are abstract and hard to tie to children’s behavior.o Psychoanalytic theory Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development- Freudian Theory had limitationso Did not describe effects of family and culture on development of personality.o Underestimated ego’s role in psychological adjustment.o Did not account for the continued development of ego beyond childhood.- Psychosocial theory: a theory that traced the development of the ego throughout the lifespan. - 8 stageso Trust vs. mistrust as they endure cycles of pleasure and frustration in their parents’ care. Healthy resolution fosters sense of trust- A belief in the world as a potentially satisfying but sometimes frustrating context for development.o Autonomy vs. shame as they struggle with their parents over control. Sense of autonomy: the ability to deal effectively with power and decision-making in relationships. Mutual regulation: sensitive, reciprocal caring, and emotional sharing between parent and child. Critique of Psychoanalytic Theoryo Chapter 5o Physical growth in the first two years Changes in height and weight- Average newborn weighs 7.5 pounds, and measures about 20 inches from head to toe.- The infant grows faster in the first two years than at any other time.- Birth weight doubles by five months, and triples by first birthday. Baby gains only 5 to 6 pounds in the second year and 4-5 pounds in the third year.- Height increases by about half in the first year, and an additional 5-6 inches in the second year.- Growth tapers off from the first to second year. Babies tend to grow in spurts than in even progressions.- As baby grows, need to childproof home and other places the baby may be able to get into trouble. Nutrition in Infancy- Breast milk and formula are both nutritionally acceptable, however breast mild offers several health advantages over formula.- Parents should not rely on their intuition to feed the infant. What is good for the parents is not necessarily good for the baby.o The development of the brain The central nervous system is the most complicated physical system in the body. Proliferation of nerve cells is super fast during prenatal stage: 250,000 new nerve cells every minute, resulting in 100 billion nerve cells in the newborn. Synapse: the microscopic gap formed by adjoining cells.o Perception How perception is studied- Visual preference method- Method of event-related potentials- Habituation-dishabituation procedure- High-amplitude sucking technique. Development of visual perception- The eyeo Retina: complex layered tissue on the back surface of the eye made of light-sensitive cells and nerve cells.o Fovea: densely packed set of highly sensitive cells at the center of the retina. The only thing that can discriminate the detail necessary to
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