CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO CHILD DEVELOPMENTINTRODUCTION: WHY STUDY CHILD DEVELOPMENT?- To describe and understand the important changes that take place as children move from infancy through childhood and adolescenceo What Develops? Physical Cognitive Social/Emotional1. Applied/Practical Motivations:o Help parents raise their children more effectivelyo Optimize conditions of developmento Ex. Coping with anger. Turtle Technique- retreat into their shellto cope with anger and return once they were ready.2. Political Motivations:o Lead society as a whole to adopt wiser policies regarding children’s welfare and gain insight3. Scientific/Philosophical Motivations o Human nature o Timing of experiences influences their effects o Ex. Orphanage effects on social development. Earlier the child was adopted the better outcomes they had intellectually, physically, and socially. HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE STUDY OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT:- Early Philosophers Views:o Plato: Children are born with innate knowledge. Ex. Born with the concept of “animal” and automatically allows them to recognize that creatures are animals Rearing of boys is particularly demandingo Aristotle: All knowledge comes from experience and the mind of a child is like an blank blackboard (individual differences among all children)o Locke: Tabula rasa or blank slate whose development largely reflects the nurture provided by the child’s parents and the broader society (similar to Aristotle) Education should be aimed at promoting child’s character Avoid indulgence especially early in lifeo Rosseau: Parents and society should give children maximum freedom Children learn primarily from their own spontaneous interactions (experiences) with objects and other people rather than through instruction by parents or teachers Learning vs. Instruction Children are inherently good Should not be given formal instruction until the age of 12- Social Reform Movements:o Devoted to improving children’s lives by changing the conditions in which they lived. o Child labor laws enacted and provided some of the earliest descriptions of the adverse effects of harsh environments on development- Darwin’s Theory of Evolution:o Influenced thinking on: Infant’s attachment to their mothers Innate fear of natural dangers Sex differences Mechanisms underlying learning Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny (individual development vs. development of species)- Emergence of Child Development as a Discipline:o End of 19th-early 20th centuryo Theories emerge Freud- psychoanalytic theory of biological drives and sexual influences on development. (Id, Ego, Superego) Watson- behaviorist theory that children’s development is determined by environmental factors especially rewards and punishments ENDURING THEMES IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT:1. Nature and Nurture/Environment: Together How They Shape Development- Nature- our biological endowment, the genes we receive from parents- Nurture- the environments both physical and social that influence our development- Every characteristic that we possess is created through JOINT workings of nature and nurture and the interaction of our genes and environment2. The Active Child: How do Children Shape Their Own Development?- Children first begin to shape their own development through their selection of what to pay attention to, (ex. Faces) which then leads to interactions.- Once children begin to speak they contribute even more through practicing on their own with themselves (babbling) - Playing by themselves they also learn a lot- As they grow older they have more of a contribution to their own development based off of their choices of friends and their selection of environments 3. Continuity/Discontinuity: In What Ways is Development Continuous or Discontinuous?- Continuous- the idea that changes with age occur gradually (quantitative change)- Discontinuous- the idea that changes with age include occasional large shifts. (qualitative change) Children of different ages seem qualitatively different- a 4 year old and a 6 year old differ in how they think about the world and how much they know. o Ex. Piaget’s conservation of liquid problem- Stage theories- development occurs in a progression of distinct age related stages. Entry into a new stage relatively sudden changes affect the child’s thinking or behavior move the child from one coherent way of experiencing the world to a different way of experiencingit. (discontinuous)o Cognitive development theory- between birth and adolescence children go through four stages of growth each characterized by distinct intellectual abilities and ways of understanding the world. o Psychosexual development theoryo Psychosocial development theoryo Theory of moral development4. Mechanisms of Developmental Change: How Does Change Occur?- Effortful Attention- an aspect of temperament involving voluntary control of ones emotions and thoughts. Inhibiting impulses Controlling emotions Focusing attention- Interactions between:o Involves the role of brain activity, genes, and learning experiences (Neurotransmitters-chemicals involved in communication among brain cells)- Darwinian influence:o Variation- differences in thought and behavior within and among individuals o Selection- survival and reproduction of well adapted variations- Experiences that children encounter influence their brain processes and gene expression just as brain processes and genes influence reactions to experiences5. Sociocultural Context: How does the Sociocultural Context Influence Development?- Sociocultural context- the physical, social, cultural, economic, and historical circumstances that make up any child’s environment and developmento Most Important: People who they interact with (parents, teachers, siblings) Physical environment (school, neighborhood) The institutions that influence their lives (school systems, religious institutions) General characteristics of their society (wealth, technological advancement, values, attitudes)o Ways to study this: Compare the lives of children who grow up in different cultures Socioeconomic status (SES) of each culture those with less tend to do less well and are more likely to have health problems, emotional, or behavioral problems 6. Individual Differences: How Children Become so Different from Eachother?- Scarrs 4 factors: (lead to most differences)o Genetic
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