Classnotes 1 Victor The Wild Boy of Aveyron In 1800 found wild in the outskirts of French village about 12 years of age Found naked climbing trees and wild foraging Uncomfortable in clothes Captured by a physician Psychiatrist Itard tamed Victor Used conditioning to mold social behaviors Used food and treats to reinforce him such as keeping clothes on Taught him words and recorded progress Victor s Story First systematic attempt to study human development 1st in how to educate the developmentally delayed Introduced fundamental questions Nature vs Nurture Advances Showed affection and desire to please Became attached to Itard s housekeeper Delayed Never learned to speak and social life was difficult Looked like modern autistic features Persistent language problems Other Wild Children Genie found 1970 13 years of age Was badly abused kept in closet malnourished Couldn t properly walk John the Ugandan Monkey Boy Mid 1980s Found at 4 years of age Oxana Ukranian dog girl Found in 1991 8 years of age Formal Study of Child Development Main Questions How do people change from conception up through adolescence What characteristics remain stable Ex expression of emotion would be hard to quantify Ex changing from nonverbal to verbal communication Ex at birth you get a lot of number weight height Ex size of a toddler s vocab Developmental changes 2 Types Qualitative Difficult to quantify Difficult to anticipate Quantitative Measure observe Number or amount Girls are more verbal than boys Should say first word by 1st birthday Early Approaches Baby biographies 1787 Tiedemann Biographers observed own children early 1800s doctors physiologists Observed sensory motor language and cognitive behavior in his kids pre linguistic knowledge Maybe kids do have thoughts before learning to speak Erroneously thought sucking was learned not reflexive 1877 Darwin Developmental similarities common ancestors Introduced questions of nature vs nurture G Stanley Hall late 1800s Father of child psychology Developed first academic journal in this field called Adolescence Wanted to study children s minds First to use questionnaires with children Could not be the same that are used with adults Grouped development based on types of answers correct AND not correct Ex Have you seen a cow yes Where In my bed 19th Century Trends Medicine and science Child labor Survival rates increased Immunizations Child protective laws Extension services helping farmer then the farmer s wife birth of HDFS programs Parents other children siblings listening to others What causes precocious sexual behavior having sex at 13 when no one else is Agriculture Education like PSU Mandatory schooling More time in school More hooliganism Psychology A better understanding of childhood influences A change from needing to wanting a child Four Modern Goals Ex Language and Sex Development Describe When do children say their first words By your first birthday What are typical 1st sex experiences Kissing cuddling petting holding hands Explain Influences How do children learn to use language Family context disorder Unwanted contact Predict Will delayed language development affect speech Yes Modify Does precocious sex lead to more STDs yes Can therapy help speech delays Is sex education for pre teens related to lower STDs Yes 4 Interactive Domains of Development 1 Physical a b How much can the baby see c What can they see d Walking crawling e Examples Includes growth of the body brain sensory capacities and motor skills i A sickly child inability to get out will affect ability to play with other kids ii Tall for their size children physical delay Kids may make fun of you because you re different Will affect psychosocial 2 Cognitive a Thoughts feelings emotions memory language b Mental abilities i Learning ii Attention growth of attention span iii Language c Examples i Inability to express yourself frustration terrible twos because they have all these emotions they can t express little angry drunk people Increases cortisol levels and evokes negative reactions in others ii 3 Psychosocial a Primarily deals with personality and social relationships b When you re with different people you show different sides of yourself c Examples i Anxiety about friendships at school can cause bed wetting leads to worry about sleepovers Harms your social relationships 4 Normative vs Non normative a Normative experienced similarly by most people influence that affects many or most people An event influence that s b Examples d 2 Types i Most kids hit puberty between 10 14 years of age ii Most kids in the US learn to drive a car between 15 17 years of age c Non normative that have a major impact car accident influences that only occur to a small number of people Unusual evets i A typical event that happens at an atypical time 1 Getting married at a non normal time 60 yrs 2 Puberty at a very early age because of a pituitary gland problem ii An atypical event 1 Being born with a birth defect 2 Having a rare condition Example Precocious development female Attention from males earlier than cohort members At risk for early sexual behavior Can affect relations with other girls leads to risk for STDs and pregnancy Tends to lead to sexualization of a girl prostitot Periods of Lifespan social construction Periods that are based on subjective perceptions or assumptions Childhood BUT are generally widely accepted as a reality When do you become an adult when the law says Adolescence Adulthood Ex legal voting age 18 Ex legal drinking age 21 First kill marriage Domains of Development Physical Cognitive Psychosocial Examples growth of body brain sensory capacities motor skills and health learning attention memory language thinking reasoning and creativity emotions personality and social relationships A child with frequent ear infections may develop language more slowly than a child without this physical problem physical domain A child who is precocious in language development may gain self esteem and social acceptance cognitive Motivation and self confidence are important to school success whereas negative emotions such as fear anxiety can impair school performance psychosocial Social construction a concept practice that may appear natural and obvious to those who accept it Childhood can be considered a social construction Infants are dependent on adults for food clothing shelter and affection for normal development Both the infant and the caregiver form attachments Influences on Development