Chapter 1: History, theory and applied directions Flashcards
Research into child development is interdisciplinary – name the disciplines which contribute to this field.
Psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, education, family studies, medicine, public health and social service.
What are the three domains of development?
Development is often divided into three broad domains:
- Physical
- Cognitive
- Emotional and social
Are the domains of development distinct, or do they overlap?
These are not distinct domains as they overlap and each domain influences, and is influenced by, the other domains.
Name the periods of development, together with associated age ranges.
- The prenatal period (from conception to birth)
- Infancy to toddlerhood (birth to 2 years)
- Early childhood (2 – 6 years)
- Middle childhood (6 – 11 years)
- Adolescence (11 – 18 years)
- Emerging adulthood (18 – 25 years)
What are the characteristics of the prenatal period?
o Most rapid time of change
o A one-celled organism is transformed into a human baby with remarkable capacities for adjusting to life in the surrounding world.
What are the characteristics of infancy to toddlerhood?
o Dramatic changes occur in the body and brain that support the emergence of a wide array of motor, perceptual, and intellectual capacities
o Beginnings of language
o First intimate ties to others
o Infancy spans the first year
o Toddlerhood spans the second, during which children take their first independent steps, marking a shift to greater autonomy
What are the characteristics of early childhood?
o Body becomes longer and leaner
o Motor skills are refined
o Children become more self-controlled and self-sufficient
o Make-believe play blossoms, supporting every aspect of psychological development
o Thought and language expand at an astounding pace
o A sense of morality becomes evident
o Children establish ties with peers
What are the characteristics of middle childhood?
o Children learn about the wider world and master new responsibilities that increasingly resemble those they will perform as adults
o Improved athletic abilities
o Participation in organised games with rules
o More logical thought processes
o Mastery of fundamental reading, writing, math, and other academic knowledge and skills
o Advances in understanding the self, morality, and friendship
What are the characteristics of adolescence?
o Initiates the transition to adulthood
o Puberty leads to an adult-sized body and sexual maturity
o Thought becomes abstract and idealistic
o Schooling is increasingly directed toward preparation for higher education and the world of work
o Young people begin to establish autonomy from the family and define personal values and goals
Explain emerging adulthood.
o Identified in industrialised nations.
o Although emerging adults have moved beyond adolescence, they have not yet fully assumed adult roles. These young people intensify their exploration of options in love, career, and personal values before making enduring commitments.
What are the three basic issues in theories of child development?
- Is the course of development continuous or discontinuous?
- Does one course of development characterise all children, or are there many possible courses?
- What are the roles of genetic and environmental factors – nature and nurture – in development?
Define theory
An orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behaviour.
Why are theories vital tools?
- Provide organised frameworks for observations of children – they guide and give meaning to what we see
- Serve as a sound basis for practical action – once a theory helps us understand development, we are in a better position to know how to improve the welfare and treatment of children.
Explain what is meant by continuous development.
Infants and pre-schoolers respond to the world in much the same way as adults do.
The difference between immature and mature is simply one of amount/complexity. Continuous development is a process of gradually adding more of the same type of skills that were there to begin with.
Explain what is meant by discontinuous development.
Discontinuous development is a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times.
A child’s thoughts, emotions and behaviour differ considerably from those of adults.
Development takes place in stages – qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterise specific periods of development.
Development is similar to climbing a staircase with each step corresponding to a more mature, reorganised way of functioning.
The stage concept also assumes that children undergo periods of rapid transformation as they step up from one stage to the next, alternating with plateaus during which they stand solidly within a stage.
Change is fairly sudden rather than gradual or ongoing.
Define context (with regards to one or many courses of development).
Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change
Define nature
Inborn biological givens (hereditary information received from parents)
Define nurture
The complex forces of the physical and social world that influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences before and after birth
What does stability mean with regards to child development?
Children who are high/low in a characteristic will remain so at later ages.
Define plasticity.
Open to change in response to influential experiences
Who was the forefather of behaviourism and viewed the child as a ‘tabula rosa’?
John Locke
What is the normative approach?
Measures of behaviour are taken on large numbers of individuals and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development.
Who viewed children as noble savages?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
How did Alfred Binet define intelligence?
Good judgement, planning, and critical reflection
What are the three parts of the personality, according to the psychoanalytic perspective?
Id – largest portion of the mind; source of basic biological needs and desires
Ego – conscious, rational part of personality; emerges in early infancy to redirect the id’s impulses so they are discharged in more acceptable ways.
Superego – develops between 3-6 years through interactions with parents who insist children conform to societal expectations; also known as conscience; Now, ego has to moderate between id and superego
Why was Freud’s theory of psychosexual development criticised?
Overemphasised the influence of sexual feelings in development
Based on problems experienced by sexually repressed, well-to-do adults in 19th century Victorian society, and did not apply in other cultures
Freud did not directly study children
What are the contributions of the psychoanalytic perspective?
Emphasis on individual’s unique life history
Inspired wealth of research on many aspects of emotional and social development, including infant-caregiver attachment, aggression, sibling relationships, child-rearing practices, morality, gender roles, and adolescent identity.
What are the limitations of the psychoanalytic perspective?
So strongly committed to in-depth study of individual children that they failed to consider other methods.
Many psychoanalytic ideas are too vague to be tested empirically.
According to Freud’s psychosexual development theory, when does the oral stage occur, and what occurs during this period?
Birth - 1 year.
If oral needs are not met through sucking from breast or bottle, the individual may develop such habits as thumb sucking, fingernail biting, overeating, or smoking.
According to Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, what conflict arises between birth - 1 year?
Basic trust vs mistrust: from warm, responsive care, infant gains a sense of trust, or confidence, that the world is good. Mistrust occurs if infants are neglected or handled harshly.
According to Freud’s psychosexual development theory, what occurs between the ages of 1 - 3 years?
Anal: Toddlers and pre-schoolers enjoy holding and releasing urine and faeces. If parents toilet train before children are ready or make too few demands, conflicts about anal control may appear in the form of extreme orderliness or disorder.
At what age does the autonomy vs shame and doubt conflict arise in Erikson’s psychosocial development theory? Explain the conflict that arises.
1 - 3 years.
Using new mental and motor skills, children want to decide for themselves. Parents can foster autonomy by permitting reasonable free choice and not forcing/shaming the child.
Explain the conflict experienced between the ages of 3 - 6 years in Freud’s psychosexual development theory.
Phallic: As pre-schoolers take pleasure in genital stimulation. Freud’s Oedipus complex for boys and Electra complex for girls arise: children feel a sexual desire for the other-sex parent. To avoid punishment, they give up the desire and adopt the same-sex parent’s characteristics and values. As a result, the superego is formed, and children feel guilty when they violate its standards.
In which conflict, in Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, do children gain insight into the person they can become? And, at what age does this conflict arise?
Between 3-6 years, initiative vs guilt.
Initiative (a sense of ambition and responsibility) develops when parents support their child’s sense of purpose. But if parents demand too much self-control, children experience excessive guilt.
