Exploring Child Development: From Prenatal to Early Childhood Growth

1. Child Development Chapter 10

2. Developmental Psychology • Developmental psychology is the study of lifelong—often age-related—processes of change

3. Issues in Developmental Psychology • Nature or Nurture • Stability versus Change • Continuity versus Discontinuity

4. In a cross-sectional design, individuals of different ages are compared at the same time to see how they differ In a longitudinal design, the same group is studied at specific ages Research Designs

5. Physical Development • Developmental events that occur before birth are referred to as prenatal • Those that occur in the month after birth are neonatal

6. Prenatal Development • Development begins at conception • Conception occurs when an ovum and sperm form a zygote (fertilized egg) • For about five days, the zygote floats down the fallopian tube • About the fifth day after conception, the zygote implants itself in the uterine wall

7. Prenatal Development • From implantation until the 49th day after conception, the organism is called an embryo • From the 8th week until birth, the organism is called a fetus • The placenta is a mass of tissue attached to the uterine wall and acts as a life-support system for the fetus

8. Harmful Environmental Effects • Environmental factors can effect prenatal development • Environmental effects are especially likely during critical periods during which rapid maturation is occurring

9. Harmful Environmental Effects • Teratogens are substances that can produce birth defects during the prenatal period • The child is especially susceptible to teratogens during the embryonic period

10. Growth after Birth • Newborns grow rapidly • A child who weighs 7.5 pounds at birth may weigh 20 to 25 pounds by 12 months • At 18 months, a child is usually walking and beginning to talk • Infancy ends at about 18 months, when children represent the world abstractly through language

11. Cephalocaudal is Greek and Latin for “head” and “tail" “Cephalocaudal trend” means that the earliest growth occurs in the head, with the rest of the body following Proximadistal is latin for “near to far” This means that growth begins at the centre of the body and proceeds to the extremities Growth after Birth

12. Figure 10.2 The Cephalocaudal Trend of Growth

13. Newborns’ Reflexes • Infants are born with innate primary reflexes • Physicians use the presence or absence of primary reflexes to assess neurological status at birth • One primary reflex is the Babinski (fanning of toes when foot stroked)

14. The Moro reflex involves outstretching of arms and legs, and crying, in response to a loud noise In the rooting reflex, the head is turned toward a light touch Sucking will reflexively occur in response to finger or nipple in mouth Newborns’ Reflexes

15. Newborns’ Reflexes • Grasping takes place in response to an object being pressed into the palm

16. Perception in Infancy • Fantz (1961) designed a technique to study infant perception • Present two stimuli simultaneously and see if infant looks at one longer • A longer gaze indicates infant can tell the difference between the two stimuli

17. Perception in Infancy • The technique indicates that infants prefer curved patterns over straight ones • Infants also prefer more complex patterns • Infants prefer normal faces over random patterns • By 7 months, infants can recognize happy faces and discriminate between them

18. The Visual Cliff examines infants’ depth perception Infant crawls on a glass surface, half of which is covered with checkerboard 9-month-olds avoid the transparent surface, demonstrating depth-perception Perception in Infancy

19. Piaget • Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who devised ingenious procedures for examining the cognitive development of young children • Piaget studied when and how children gained insights into the world • Piaget focused on how people think instead of what they think

20. Piaget’s Central Concepts • A schema is an organized way of interacting with the environment and experiencing the world • Schemata guide thoughts based on prior experiences

21. In assimilation, new ideas and experiences are incorporated into existing mental structures and behaviors In accommodation, previously developed mental structures and behaviors (schemata) are modified to adapt them to new experiences Piaget’s Central Concepts

22. Stages of Development • Piaget proposed four invariant stages of development • The sensorimotor stage extends from birth to age 2 • Newborns are dependent, reflexive organisms • At 2 to 3 months, infants develop memory for past events

23. From about 9 months, object permanence develops Object permanence is the understanding that objects exist even when out of sight In the second half of the sensorimotor stage, children begin to use language to represent the world Stages of Development

24. Stages of Development • The preoperational stage lasts from about age 2 to age 6 or 7 • In this stage, children represent reality through symbolic thought • A key element in the preoperational stage is egocentrism or the inability to perceive a situation except in relation to the self

25. Animistic thinking is the attribution of intentions to objects or events At the end of the preoperational stage, the child has moved away from centration, a self-oriented view, failing to recognize the view of others Stages of Development

26. Stages of Development • The concrete operational stage lasts from the age of about 6 or 7 to 11 or 12 • In this stage, the child develops the ability to understand constant factors in the environment • The concrete operational child understands rules and the reasons for them

27. A hallmark of the concrete stage is understanding conservation Conservation is recognizing that objects can be transformed visually or physically, yet still be the same in number, weight, substance, or volume Stages of Development

28. Stages of Development • The formal operational stage begins at about age 12 • In this stage, the individual can think hypothetically, consider future possibilities, and use deductive logic • An adolescent can engage in abstract thought in the formal operational stage

29. Putting Piaget In Perspective • Piaget asserted parental interaction is essential to cognitive development • Piaget may have miscalculated the ages of transitions • Piaget may also have placed too much emphasis on the individual and de-emphasized the social world

30. Vygotsky: Sociocultural Theory • Lev Vygotsky stressed that dialogues between children and others fuels development • Private speech is talking to oneself to guide behaviour • Private speech helps a child understand the world and that of others

31. As the child learns, adults provides less help or make the task slightly harder This engages the child in more complex reasoning Scaffolding is when an adult sets up a structure to help a child solve a problem Sociocultural Theory

32. Theory of Mind • A recent focus of developmental psychology is the “theory of mind” • “Theory of mind” is an understanding of mental states such as feelings and intentions, and their causal role in behaviour • This understanding develops around age 3

33. Thought in a Social Context • Projects such as Head Start try to raise the social and educational competency of disadvantaged preschoolers

34. Moral Development • From childhood on, individuals develop morality, a system of learned attitudes about social practices, institutions, and individual behaviour used to evaluate situations as right or wrong • Piaget found young children’s ideas about morality to be rigid and rule-bound

35. Kohlberg divides development into three “levels” The central concept is justice, mortality as a balance of individual rights and responsibilities Moral Development

36. Level 1 is preconventional morality in which decisions about right and wrong are based on avoiding punishment and obtaining benefits Level 2 is “conventional morality” in which societal rules are internalized and children conform to avoid the disapproval of others Moral Development

37. Level 3 is postconventional morality in which a person moves beyond fixed rules and laws, and judgments are based on one’s perception of societal needs Moral Development

38. Gilligan’s Criticisms of Kohlberg • Carol Gilligan criticized Kohlberg for performing research only on boys and men • When Gilligan studied women, she found gender differences occurred • Because of similarity to their mothers, girls develop a sense of “connectedness”

39. Attachment • Attachment is a strong emotional tie a person feels toward special people in his or her life • Bonding is a process of emotional attachment hypothesized to occur between parents and infants soon after birth

40. John Bowlby was one of the first modern psychologists to study attachment Bowlby argued that an emotional tie to the caregiver evolved because it promotes survival Attachment in Infants

41. Separation Anxiety and Attachment • By 7 or 8 months of age, separation anxiety may develop in an infant • This is a fear response in which the infant protests the departure of the caregiver • The strange situation technique, used to study attachment, capitalizes on separation anxiety

42. Types of Attachment • About 60% of children show secure attachment • About 20% show avoidant attachment • About 15% are resistant • About 5% are disoriented

43. Other Aspects of Attachment • Time spent with babies promotes secure attachment • “Secure” babies have caregivers who are affectionate and especially responsive • Some researchers argue that secure attachment makes cognitive and social development smoother

44. Temperament • Temperament refers to long-lasting individual differences in disposition, the intensity and quality of emotional reactions • A major study of temperament is the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS) performed by Thomas and Chess

45. The NYLS • The study found four types of infants • The easy child (40% of children) • The slow-to-warm-up child (15%) • The difficult child (10%) • The unique child (35%)

46. Inhibition • Kagan found that extremely inhibited (shy) 2- and 3-year-olds tended to remain so for four or more years • Biological factors may play a role in shyness and temperament

47. Social Development • Family is the first social environment

48. The Role of Fathers • Research shows a father’s affection is as important as love from a mother • In general, fathers are affectionate and responsive caregivers • Some fathers spend significant time with children but many do not • The quality of the time the father spends with children is affected by mother’s attitude

49. The First Two Years • Infants are largely egocentric • Around the second half of the first year, a strong attachment to parents is shown • At 9 months, infants like to play games with adults • By the end of the second year, a sense of self is developing

50. Erikson: The Search for Self • Developing an awareness of self as different from others is an important step in social development • Erik Erikson developed a theory of psychosocial stages of development, each stage contributing to a unique sense of self