Chapter 1 Introduction to Child Development CHD 2220 The Concept of Development progress Developmentalists researchers and practioners who study development Development the gradual accumulation and integration of relatively permanent age related changes in biological and psychological systems through transactions with the environment o Big events that make you have to rewrite the rule book Development is gradual o Development does not take place right in front of our eyes rather it happens over a period of months or years Development is cumulative o Developmental changes build upon one another A child s feature at one point in time combines with new additions to form more complex features o Ex Infants creeping movements combine with strength and balance toward the end of the first year to produce walking and climbing o Virtually every change is an important advance in some skill or ability Developmental change is relatively permanent o Developmental change is typically irreversible under most circumstances developmental change does not go backwards o There are some instances where developmental advances can be stopped when a new baby arrives and older sibling reverts back to infantile behaviors the stress of moving into a new neighborhood o Regression a more serious reversal that may require specialized interventions It can be caused by illness injury deprivation abuse or severe trauma Development is transactional o Developmentalists believe that children influence their environment as much as their environment influences them o Therefore simple cause and effect explanations do not capture the complexity of children s interactions with the people around them Development takes place in an ecosystem o Ecology the study of relationships between living organisms and their environments The ecosystem has 4 following levels 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 relationships among elements of the microsystem For example the relationship between the family and the day care center Exosystem identifies social supports available to the family in the community The availability of social support for families can make a difference between hard times and good times Macrosystem deals with the cultural context of development societal values reflected in social policies towards children Development at Risk potential Risk threatens to undermine development and sacrifice the child s potential Opportunity supports development and promotes the realization of that Most childhood experiences involve both risk and opportunity Ex when a child attempts to climb stairs with a risk of physical injury For some children esp economically advantaged children the opportunity for development far outweighs the risks Doing too much for a child can promote helplessness among children Also parents who are trying to create a super child one who out performs all other children in every aspect usually doom their children to repeated experiences of failure Although some parents do to little for their children It is not surprising that children of upper and middle class families often result in different forms of rebellion Some children are put into risks while still in the womb of their mother being bathed in drugs and alcohol leaving little room for intellectual growth Although all children are exposed to risk in varying degrees they show wide individual differences in their ability to cope with threats to their development o Resilience the tendency to overcome risks o Vulnerability the tendency to fall prey to risk can interfere with the normal process of development o Ex Children show various reactions to divorce Facilitating Development maximizing opportunity We tend to actively intervene to facilitate development by minimizing risk and o Parents and practioners must learn to identify and deal proactively with risks and opportunities inherent in their child s daily activities o Parents and practitioners vary in their ability to see and take advantage of opportunities for their children s development Ex reading a book with a drone voice of and animated voice Doing nothing borders on abuse overdoing it borders on abuse We must take our time and be patient Every experience is important We can promote favorable developmental outcomes only by entering into transactions with our children Chapter 3 Conception and Prenatal Development Prenatal stage of development the period that begins with conception and ends with the birth of the newborn infant On average this stage lasts about 266 days There is no other stage of development that involves greater opportunity risk vulnerability and resilience than this stage o Opportunity afforded when a genetically healthy couple that have mutual affection decide to conceive a child and have sexual intercourse o Risk begins when the sperm moves towards the egg in the mother s fallopian tube and will build rapidly as the developing baby is exposed to potentially harmful agents that hamper and distort development of the embryo and fetus o Vulnerability derive from genetic factors within the developing fetus that can interfere with the normal process of development and defy intervention o Resilience the baby has many forms of resilience that make it possible to overcome many or all risk factors Conception Female reproductive system o Menstrual cycle the timing of hormonal secretions and the processes they regulate These events are based on an average 28 day cycle but its timing and duration vary considerably from one woman to another The cycle begins with the onset of the menstrual period which is typically 4 to 5 days of bleeding from the vagina Near the end of the cycle a hormonal secretion from the pituitary gland stimulates the growth of several immature eggs on one of the two ovaries Only one egg with ripens in each cycle If two ripen then fraternal twins will be the result o Progesterone sent out by the ovaries to stimulate the endometrium the lining of the uterus to prepare for the arrival of the egg It begins to thicken the walls of the endometrium o Ovulation approximately 14 days after the cycle the egg breaks through the ovary wall in a process called ovulation The fertilized egg is transported toward the uterus by hair like appendages with the lining of the fallopian tube o Fertilization the penetration of the egg by the sperm takes place in the
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