Chapter 1 Key Questions

2. Chapter 1 Key Questions • What is child development? • What is the scope of the field? • What are the key issues and questions in the field of child development? • What is the future of child development likely to hold?

3. Child Development • Child development is the scientific study of the patterns of growth, change and stability that occur from conception through adolescence.

4. The Scope of the Field Child development includes: • Physical development • Cognitive development • Social and personality development

5. Approaches to Child Development Page 6

6. Physical Development Physical development examines: • the brain • nervous system • muscles • developmental milestones • needs for food, drink, and sleep

7. Cognitive Development Cognitive development examines: • learning • memory • problem solving • intelligence

8. Personality and Social Development • Personality development includes the stability and change of enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another. • Social development examines how social relationships grow, change, and remain stable over the course of life.

9. Age Ranges andIndividual Differences • Researchers divide childhood and adolescence into broad ranges: • Prenatal (conception to birth) • Infancy and toddlerhood (birth to age 3) • Preschool period (ages 3 – 5) • Middle childhood (ages 6 – 12) • Adolescence (ages 13 – 19) • However, there are substantial individual differences in the timing of milestones -- age ranges are averages.

10. Developmental Diversity • In understanding today’s world we must consider children: • With Broad Cultural Situations • From Different Ethnic, Racial and Socioeconomic Backgrounds • Gender Differences RACE= Bio and physical ETHNIC = Cultural, Nationality, Religion and Language

11. Cohort Influenceson Development • Cohort - A group of people born at around the same time in the same place • Cohort effectsprovide an example of • Normative history-graded influences, which are biological and environmental influences associated with a particular historical moment. • In contrast, Normative age-graded influencesare biological and environmental influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group, regardless of when or where they are raised.

12. Sociocultural-graded Influences • Development is also affected by Normative sociocultural-graded influences, which include: • ethnicity • social class • subcultural membership • other factors

13. Non-normative Life Events • Finally, non-normative life events also influence development. • Non-normative life eventsare specific, atypical events that occur in a particular person’s life at a time when such events do not happen to most people.

14. What’s Your Cohort? Identify your year of birth_____________ Normative Normative Normative Non-Normative History Age Socio-Cultural How impacted your Development?

15. Children: Past, Present,and Future Early Views of Children: • Locke(English Philosopher) considered a child to be a tabula rasa—which is Latin for “blank slate.” In this view, children entered the world with no specific characteristics or personalities. Instead, they were entirely shaped by their experiences as they grew up. • Rousseau (French Philosopher) argued that children were noble savages, meaning that they were born with an innate sense of right and wrong and morality.

16. Baby Biographies • Among the first instances in which children were methodically studied came in the form of baby biographies, which were popular in the late 1700s in Germany. • Observers—typically parents—tried to trace the growth of a single child, recording the physical and linguistic milestones achieved by their child.

17. Baby Biographies, cont’d • It was not until Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of evolution • Observation of children took a more systematic turn. • Darwin was convinced that understanding the development of individuals within a species could help identify how the species itself had developed. • Alfred Binet – Intelligence • Stanley Hall- Targeted Adolescence

18. Contributions of Women • Women made significant contributions to child development. • Leta Stetter Hollingworth – one of the first psychologists to focus on child development

19. Major Issues in Child Development

20. Continuous Change vs. Discontinuous Change • In continuous change, development is gradual. • Discontinuous change occurs in distinct steps or stages.

21. Distinguishing Sensitivevs. Critical Periods • Critical periods are specific times during development in which a particular event has its greatest consequence. • Plasticity or degree to which a developing behavior or physical structure is modifiable. Early deficits can be overcome. • Sensitive periods are particular times when an organism is susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their environment.

22. Life Span Approaches Versus a Focus on Particular Periods • Early developmentalists tended to focus on the periods of infancy and adolescence, largely to the exclusion of other parts of childhood. • Today, however, the entire period encompassing conception through adolescence is now regarded as important.

23. Influence of Nature andNurture on Development • Nature – traits, abilities, and capabilities inherited from one’s parents • Nature = Genetic • Allows Maturation, or the process of the predetermined unfolding of genetic information • Nurture – environmental influences that shape behavior • Nurture = Environment

24. The Future of Child Development • Specialization – new areas of study and perspectives will emerge • Genetics – the explosion in information about genes and the genetic foundations of behavior will influence all spheres of child development • Diversity – the increasing diversity of U.S. population will focus greater attention to related issues

25. The Future of Child Development • Research in child development will find uses in numerous other fields • Public interest issues will increasingly be influenced by child development research