Child Development Chapter 9 Part II

1. Child DevelopmentChapter 9Part II William G. Huitt Last revised: May 2005

2. Language Development • Sequence of language development • Babbling • Vocalization of the basic speech sounds (phonemes), which begins between 4 and 6 months • Sounds of first language • By about 1 year of age • Begin to use words to communicate • By the second year • Sometimes these single words function as whole sentences

3. Language Development • Sequence of language development • Once children know about 50 words, they stop using holophrases and start combining words into two-word sentences • Overextension • The act of using a word, on the basis of some shared feature, to apply to a broader range of objects than appropriate • Underextension • Restricting the use of a word to only a few, rather than to all, members of a class of objects

4. Language Development • Sequence of language development • Children’s language advances considerably between 2 and 3 years of age as they begin to use sentences of three or more words, which linguists call telegraphic speech • Telegraphic speech • Short sentences that follow a strict word order and contain only essential content words • Telegraphic speech reflects the child’s understanding of syntax

5. Language Development • Sequence of language development • After age 3, children experience a phase linguists refer to as the grammar explosion • Overregularization • The act of inappropriately applying the grammatical rules for forming plurals and past tenses to irregular nouns and verbs

6. Language Development • Theories of language development • Learning theory • B. F. Skinner • Asserted that language is shaped through reinforcement • Some believe that children acquire vocabulary and sentence construction mainly through imitation • Imitation cannot account for patterns of speech such as telegraphic speech or for systematic errors such as overregularization • There are also problems with reinforcement as an explanation for language acquisition

7. Language Development • Theories of language development • Nativist position • For the nativist, the only environmental factor that is required for language development is the presence of language • Noam Chomsky • Maintains that the brain contains a language acquisition device (LAD), which enables children to sort the stream of speech they hear in the environment in ways that allow them to discover grammar rules • Also suggests that the LAD determines the sequence of language development

8. Language Development • Theories of language development • Nature and nurture: an interactionist perspective • The interactionist perspective acknowledges the importance of both learning and an inborn capacity for acquiring language • Reading to children and with them also supports language development

9. Language Development • Learning to read • Phonological awareness • Knowledge about a language’s sounds and how they are represented as letters • Children who have good phonological awareness skills in their first language learn to read more easily even if reading instruction takes place in an entirely new language • Children seem to learn phonological awareness skills through word play • Once children have mastered the basic symbol-sound decoding process, they become better readers by learning about root words, suffixes, and prefixes

10. Socialization of the Child • Socialization • The process of learning socially acceptable behaviors, attitudes, and values • Culture and child development • Urie Bronfenbrenner • Proposes that we think of the environment in which a child grows up as a system of interactive, layered contexts of development • Contexts of development • Bronfenbrenner’s term for the interrelated settings in which a child grows up • At the core of the system are what he calls microsystems, which include settings in which the child has personal experience • The macrosystem includes the larger culture

11. Socialization of the Child • Parents’ role in the socialization process • To be effective, socialization must ultimately result in children coming to regulate their own behavior • Three parenting styles • Authoritarian • Authoritative • Permissive

12. Socialization of the Child • Authoritarian parents • Parents who make arbitrary rules, expect unquestioned obedience from their children, punish transgressions, and value obedience to authority • Preschool children disciplined in this manner to be withdrawn, anxious, and unhappy • Parents’ failure to provide a rationale for rules makes it hard for children to see any reason for following them

13. Socialization of the Child • Authoritative parents • Parents who set high but realistic standards, reason with the child, enforce limits, and encourage open communication and independence • Knowing why the rules are necessary makes it easier for children to internalize and follow rules, whether in the presence of their parents or not

14. Socialization of the Child • Permissive parents • Parents who make few rules or demands and allow children to make their own decisions and control their own behavior • Children raised in this manner are the most immature and seem to be the least self-controlled and self-reliant

15. Socialization of the Child • Neglecting parents • Parents who make few rules or demands because they are not involved in their children’s lives • Infants of neglecting parents are more likely than others to be insecurely attached and continue to experience difficulties in social relationships throughout childhood and into their adult years

16. Socialization of the Child • Peer relationships • Infants begin to show an interest in each other at a very young age • Friendships begin to develop by 3 or 4 years, and relationships with peers become increasingly important • By middle childhood, friendships tend to be based on mutual trust, and membership in a peer group is central to a child’s happiness • The peer group serves a socializing function by providing models of behavior, dress, and language

17. Socialization of the Child • Peer relationships • Physical attractiveness is a major factor in peer acceptance even in children as young as 3 to 5 years, although it seems to be more important for girls than for boys • Low acceptance by peers is an important predictor of later mental health problems • Most often excluded from the peer group are neglected children, who are shy and withdrawn, and rejected children, who typically exhibit aggressive and inappropriate behavior and who are likely to start fights

18. Socialization of the Child • Television as a socializing agent • Surveys indicate that parents are keenly aware of the potentially damaging effects of television, especially violent programs, on their children’s development • Literally thousands of studies suggest that TV violence leads to aggressive behavior in children and teenagers • Other studies show that excessive TV viewing is linked to childhood obesity

19. Socialization of the Child • Television as a socializing agent • The socializing effect of television begins before that of schools, religious institutions, and peers • Singer and Singer • Suggest that such programming can lead to a shortened attention span • Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood has been found to increase prosocial behavior, imaginative play, and task persistency in preschoolers