CHILD DEVELOPMENT PSYC 2290 A04

1. CHILD DEVELOPMENT PSYC 2290 A04 week 1

2. Class 1 Outline • Introductions & Syllabus • Introduction to Child Development • Film: What Matters? • Themes and Issues in Child Development week 1

3. Course Syllabus • PSYC 2290 A04 • copy of lecture on my website: http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~mckeen/ • TA: Samantha Lewycky DRoblin P403 • Text website: to be announced! week 1

4. I. Introduction: Great thing about … study of child development is • we all have some knowledge of it • Who here has children? … week 1

5. This means that… • We all have an: • inkling about how children develop. • knowledge or belief about what is important for kids, • opinions on what we think helps or hinders their development. • Very good background week 1

6. Why Study Child Development? • Class survey • What do you want to learn about the development of children? week 1

7. Why study Child Development? Can answer specific questions: When do children learn to crawl, walk, or talk? How do children learn to think? Is my baby/niece/nephew developing normally? How do children learn to get along with others? week 1

8. What are the benefits of learning about child development? • for yourself: • for your children: • for society: week 1

9. What is this course about? How children change and why. 1. All aspects of human development • conception to age 12. 2. Change and stability over childhood 3. Focus on observations, descriptions, & theories 4. Scientific & practical issues week 1

10. Central Goal of Child Development • How we can optimize development? • make small children grow up into happy, successful adults • Examples: • When should we start reading to babies? • What is the best way to discipline children? • How do we encourage positive values & beliefs? week 1

11. A scientific approach needs to.. • describe children’s behaviour. • What are the facts? • What can we describe? • What do we see? • understand why the behaviour occurs. • Eg, toddler who does not put toys away • … Is he obstinate? distracted & forgets? • Interpretation critical for understanding! week 1

12. How do we study Child Development? Childhood in 4 different periods: • Prenatal period: conception to birth • Infancy and toddlerhood: birth - 2 years • Early childhood: 2 - 6 years • Middle childhood: 6 - 11 years week 1

13. and three domains: Physical: • size, motor development Cognitive: • intellectual abilities, knowledge, problem solving, imagination, creativity, language Social/emotional: • family relationships, feelings, friendships, self-understanding, morality week 1

14. What matters in child development? Class survey # 2: • What factors do you think children need to become successful adults? • What could prevent them from becoming successful adults? • Think about what factors mattered to you when you were a child. week 1

15. Urie Bronfenbrenner Arnold Sameroff Jay Belsky Mary Ainsworth Lawrence Steinberg Jerome Kagan II. FILM: What Matters • What are the key 5 things that matter for the successful development of children? week 1

16. Film Summary Process matters: – How it occurs • Positive relations with parents is primary • Reciprocal interactions • Exploration of objects & symbols • Baby, spoon, & highchair • Listening to a story week 1

17. Film Experience matters: – What occurs • Others provide framing (scaffolding) guidance • Family, friends, teachers important • Exposure to new things week 1

18. Film Experience matters: – What occurs • Kids are active participants • Create their own experiences • Seen as scientists able to evaluate & interpret experiences week 1

19. Film Attachment matters: – Who occurs • With mother & others • origin of emotional security • Child can form close relationships later in life & develop good social skills • Offers resiliency • Where there are serious threats week 1

20. Film Others matter: • NB for child to interact with others • Promotes independence & self-confidence • Develop skills to develop friendships, good peer relations week 1

21. Film Parenting matters: • No universal right or wrong way to parent • Goal to be “good enough parent”, not the ‘perfect’ parent • Decide what values to nurture week 1

22. Film Parenting matters: • Be consistent, act as role models • Kids should see others treated with respect & compassion, not indifference & insensitivity • Tell children that they are valued week 1

23. III. Big THEMES & ISSUES • 1.Nature & Nurture • 2. Continuity & Discontinuity • 3. Universal Norms & Individual Differences week 1

24. 3 Big THEMES in Child Development: • Reflect different assumptions about human nature • understanding what’s normal & not normal • influences how we raise, educate our children • Provide broad context for understanding • theories and findings week 1

25. 1. NATURE & NURTURE Issue: • To what extent is behaviour & development the result of: • biological (genetic) make-up • or experience with the world? • Is heredity or environment more NB? • In what domains? • At what ages? week 1

26. What’s nature & what’s nurture? • 1st son Paul easy-going, cheerful, easily consoled by holding or rocking • Parent thinks – must be my good parenting • 2nd son John spent 1st year being cranky & fussy, easily irritated, hard to soothe • Is it insensitive parenting? • No. • Good parenting + biological influences week 1

27. Nature & Nurture • Major aim of research in Child Development • to identify how each contributes to CD. • Influences how we raise our children week 1

28. NATURE: Maturationists say behaviour is determined mainly by genes & biology. • Implications: • would think preschool programs not beneficial. • Shy children not expected to be sociable • Parents work with the temperament week 1

29. NURTURE: Environmentalists emphasize role of experience, social environment, and school. • Implications: • Focus on parenting practices & education • Believe early education is beneficial • Shyness - we can encourage a shy child to be more outgoing week 1

30. 2. CONTINUITY & DISCONTINUITY • Issue: How does change occur? • Smooth and gradual with no abrupt shifts along path (continuous)? • Or divided into qualitatively different stages? week 1

31. CONTINUOUS: • Emphasize quantitative change in the amount, frequency, or degree • Eg, Growth in size, growth of memory • Eg, increase in number of steps infant takes • Each new change builds on earlier ones in an orderly way in small increments • gradual expanding, nothing abrupt week 1

32. DISCONTINUOUS: • Emphasize qualitative change • Each stage different from previous ones. • Results in new characteristics emerging • can't be reduced to previous elements • eg. egg  caterpillar  cocoon butterfly • Eg, Piaget's theory of cognitive development • Emphasizes change in quality of child’s thinking • Eg, Difference in the quality of thinking between a toddler and a school-age child week 1

33. Implications for how predictable development is over age • Continuity: • Early development related to later development • Discontinuity: • less predictable over age. • Is the happy, cheerful 5-yr old same at 12? • If so, great • If not, are there similar, additional problems? • or qualitative changes? week 1

34. 3. UNIVERSAL NORMS & INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Issue: • Does development follow the same sequence of events? • Or unique developmental pathways? week 1

35. UNIVERSAL NORMS Same developmental sequence: • All children develop in same sequence regardless of culture and experiences. Examples: • Motor milestones – sit, stand, walk • Language: coo, babble, single words, phrases week 1

36. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES: Unique developmental pathways: • Different paths based unique personal experiences • Eg., not all infants crawl, but all walk • Eg, IQ - varies at different ages • Leapfrogging – sometimes low, middle, top of pack • Take different pathways • Implications: • How do the different pathways predict outcomes? • Eg, Does development follow stable or volatile paths? • Eg, Child who does well one year and poorly next • versus child who does average the whole time week 1

37. Conclusion • We’ve gone through some basic ideas • Why do we study development • Saw experts’ views • Talked about big themes and issues • Lots more details in coming weeks! • Next Week: • Read Chapters 1 & 2 • Hand out first assignment week 1