Outline for Family and Child Development Test 1 Thousands of scientists around the world apply the scientific method to the study of children The results of these studies have produced a broad understanding of the causes and context of child development and the ability to predict the course of children s development Development refers to the changes that we see in children over relatively long periods of time that have significant impact on their lives Also is the gradual accumulation and integration of relatively permanent age related changes in the biological and psychological systems through transactions with the environment Example of a NON Developmental Change suppose a three year old girl wants a toy that her four year old brother is playing with She begins to yell GIMMEEE and then escalates to whining and crying the change in her behavior is not typically considered developmental Example of a Developmental Change When she eventually abandons whining and for the first time offers her brother a cookie to encourage him to share their is a change from whining to the more sophisticated strategy which is considered developmental Understanding and anticipating developmental changes in children s lives can be most useful to parents and professionals who deal with children on a daily basis Developmentalist researchers and practitioners who study the development process Development is gradual and is usually observed or measured over periods of months or years Development is also Cumulative changes build upon one another A childs features at one point in time combine with new additions to form more complex features Developmental Change is relatively permanent these changes are typically irreversible Regression is the more serious reversals in development regressive behaviors are usually brought on by illness injury deprivation abuse or severe trauma Most of these behaviors are unlikely to self correct and may require specialized interventions Development is transactional every action you direct towards a child has some important reaction in the child Development takes place in an ecosystem Ecology is the study of relationships between living organisms and their environments Microsystem Children interact with family peers and services such as day care and school The family system is typically the dominant force in the microsystem Mesosystem describes relationships among elements of the microsystem The relationship between the family and the day care center is an important example Exosystem identifies social supports available to the family in the community For instance while some employers offer day care services and flextime to employees other employees show no concern for family s ability to provide care for its children durning work hours macrosystem deals with the cultural context of development including societal values being reflected in social policies toward children each child s development is a unique pathway through a series of events that no one has ever experienced in that precise form or sequence other than identical twins Risk threatens or undermines the development and sacrifice the child s potential Opportunity supports development and promotes the realization of that potential Even economically advantaged kids sometimes have problems with development because their parents try to solve their child every problem and cater to their every whim which can undermine their children s motivation and sense of initiative David Elkind yuppie familys approach promotes a child s sense of helplessness Sometimes the pressures of growing up in middle and upper class families often result in various forms of rebellion and anti social behavior including substance abuse delinquency suicide and school failure Resilience the ability to overcome risk Vulnerability the tendency to fall prey to risk No two children experience development in the exact same way Chapter 2 Prenatal stage of developement the period that begins with conception and ends with the birth of the newborn infant On average the prenatal stage lasts 266 days Opportunity is afforded when a genetically healthy couple who have mutual affection decided to conceive a child Risk will begin as the egg and sperm move slowly toward eachother in the mothers Fallopian tube and will build rapidly as the developing baby is exposed to potentially harmful agents that hamper and distort development Vulnerability may derive from genetic factors within the developing fetus that can interfere with the normal process of development Development begins during the act of conception Hindus believe that three things were necessary to have a baby first the father contributed white seven to form the child s bones then the mother provided red semen to produce the skin the hair and the iris of the eyes and last it was left to god to provide the expression of the face and the child s sight hearing speech and movements Hippocrates the father of modern medicine accepted the male and female semen theory but speculated that menstrual blood formed the flesh of the new baby Female Reproduction its functioning is orchestrated by a complex series of hormonal secretions The timing of these secretions and the processes they regulate are known as the menstrual cycle Menstrual Cycle Timing and duration vary considerably from one woman to another Towards the end of the period a hormonal secretion from the pituitary gland stimulates the growth of several immature eggs in one of the two ovaries If two eggs ripen there is a possibility that both will eventually be fertilized and fraternal twins with result Progesterone as the egg ripens the ovary sends out this hormone and stimulates the endometrium Endometrium the lining of the uterus to prepare for the arrival of the fertilized egg Ovulation when the egg breaks through the ovary wall Fertilization the penetration of the egg by sperm which takes place in the Fallopian tube Implantation when a fertilized egg lodges itself in the wall of the uterus Ovarian reserve the amount of eggs available in the ovaries left Menopause end of the repeating menstrual cycles which usually begins in the woman s 50 s MALE REPRODUCTION testes where sperm is produced in two oval shaped glands about two inches long scrotum a sac that contains the testicles outside of the body cavity below the penis ejaculation semen that normally contains between two hundred to four hundred million sperm cells two tranverse the four to five inches from
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