Theory 1

Question 1

Child Development

Answer 1

an area of study devoted to understanding constancy and change from conception through adolescence

Question 2

Developmental Science

Answer 2

includes all changes we experience throughout the lifespan

Question 3

Explain the difference between “child development” and “developmental science”.

Answer 3

Child development only covers the changes experienced up through adolescence but developmental science covers the entire lifespan.

Question 4

What is the common goal of child development investigators?

Answer 4

to describe and identify those factors that influence the consistencies and changes in young people during the first two decades of life

Question 5

In what ways are questions about child development applied and stimulated by social pressures?

Answer 5

the beginning of public education led to a demand for knowledge about what and how to teach children of different ages

pediatricians’ interest in improving children’s health required an understanding of physical growth and nutrition

the social service profession’s desire to treat children’s anxieties and behavior problems required information about personality and social development

Question 6

What does it mean to say the field of child development is interdisciplinary?

Answer 6

it has grown through the combined efforts of people from many fields

because of the need to solve everyday problems concerning children, researchers from psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, and neuroscience have joined forces with professionals from education, family studies, medicine, public health, and social service

Question 7

What are Berk’s domains of development?

Answer 7

physical
cognitive
emotional & social

Question 8

How do Berk’s domains compare with the domains we discussed in class?

Answer 8

…

Question 9

What does it mean to say that the domains are not distinct, but “combine in an integrated, holistic fashion”?

Answer 9

they overlap and interact to yield the living, growing child

Question 10

Prenatal Period

Answer 10

from conception to birth

the most rapid time of change, a one-celed organism is transformed into a human baby with remarkable capacities for adjusting to life in the surrounding world

Question 11

Infancy and Toddlerhood

Answer 11

from birth to 2 years

dramatic changes in the body and brain that support the emergence of a wide array of motor, perceptual, and intellectual capacities; the beginnings of language; and first intimate ties to others; first independent steps, marking a shift to greater autonomy

Question 12

Early Childhood

Answer 12

from 2 to 6 years

body becomes longer and leaner, mother skills are refined, and children become more self-controlled and self-sufficient; make-believe play blossoms; thought and language expand; a sense of morality becomes evident; establish ties with peers

Question 13

Middle Childhood

Answer 13

from 6 to 11 years

master new responsibilities; improved athletic abilities; participation in organized games with rules; more logical thought processes; mastery of fundamental reading, writing, math, and other academic knowledge and skills; and advances in understanding the self, morality, and friendship

Question 14

Adolescence

Answer 14

from 11 to 18 years

transition to adulthood; adult-sized body and sexual maturity; thought becomes abstract and idealistic; schooling is increasingly directed toward preparation for higher education and the world of work; begin to establish autonomy from the family and define personal values and goals

Question 15

Emerging Adulthood

Answer 15

from 18 to 25 years

have not fully assumed adult roles; intensify exploration of options in love, career, and personal values before making enduring commitments

Question 16

When did scientific research on child development begin?

Answer 16

didn’t begin until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

Question 17

Theory

Answer 17

an orderly, integrated set of statement that describes, explains and predicts behavior

Question 18

What are the two reasons why theories are vital tools to child development research?

Answer 18

they provide organizing framework for out observations of children

theories that are verified by research often serve as a sound basis for practical action

Question 19

What is the key way that theories differ from opinion or belief?

Answer 19

a theory’s continued existence depends on scientific verification; this means that the theory must be tested using a fair set of research procedures agreed on by the scientific community, and its findings must endure, or be replicated over time

Question 20

Why would it be inappropriate to say that a child development theory was “just” a theory and not more correct than personal belief or opinion?

Answer 20

because a theory’s continued existence depends on scientific verification

Question 21

What are the 3 Basic Issues in child development on which most theories take a position?

Answer 21

Is the course of development continuous or discontinuous?

Does one course of development characterize all children, or are there many possible courses?

What are the roles of genetic and environmental factors - nature and nurture - in development?

Question 22

What does it mean to say that development is “continuous”?

Answer 22

it is a process of gradually adding more of the same types of skills that were there to begin with

Question 23

What does it mean to say that it is “discontinuous”?

Answer 23

it is a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times

Question 24

Explain what discontinuous theories mean by saying that development takes place in “stages”.

Answer 24

children change rapidly as they step up to a new level and then change very little for a while; with each step, the child interprets and responds to the world in a qualitatively different way

Question 25

How is discontinuous development different from continuous theories?

Answer 25

continuous theories explain child development as a smooth continuous process rather than happening in steps of stages

Question 26

What does it mean for a theory to say there is one course of development?

Answer 26

people everywhere follow the same sequence of development

Question 27

What are “contexts”?

Answer 27

unique combinations of person and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change

Question 28

How might contexts influence development?

Answer 28

different circumstances foster different cognitive capacities, social skills, and feeling about the self and others

Question 29

Why would an awareness of contexts make theorist more likely to advocate many course of development?

Answer 29

they regard the contexts that mold development as many-layered and complex

Question 30

Describe the “nature-nurture controversy”.

Answer 30

by nature we mean inborn biological givens

by nurture we mean the complex forces of the physical and social world that influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences before and after birth

Question 31

How do theories’ positions on nature/nurture inform us of their attitude towards stability vs. change?

Answer 31

it affects how it explains individual differences

Question 32

Resilience

Answer 32

the ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development

Question 33

What might resilience look like?

Answer 33

a strong bond with at least one parent who combines warmth with appropriate expectation for maturity can shield children from the damaging effects of stressful life conditions

Question 34

Describe and provide examples of each of the 4 broad factors that contribute to resilience.

Personal Characteristics

Answer 34

a child’s biologically endowed characteristics can reduce exposure to risk or lead to experiences that compensate for early stressful events

Question 35

Describe and provide examples of each of the 4 broad factors that contribute to resilience.

A Warm Parental Relationship

Answer 35

a close relationship with at least one parent who provides warmth, appropriately high expectations monitoring of the child’s activities, and an organized home environment fosters resilience

Question 36

Describe and provide examples of each of the 4 broad factors that contribute to resilience.

Social Support Outside the Immediate Family

Answer 36

for children who do not have a close bond with either parent, a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or teacher who form a special relationship with the child can promote resilience

Question 37

Describe and provide examples of each of the 4 broad factors that contribute to resilience.

Community Resources and Opportunities

Answer 37

good schools, convenient and affordable health care and social services, libraries, and recreation centers foster both parent’s and children’s well-being; opportunities to participate in community life help older children and adolescents overcome adversity

Question 38

Medieval Times

Answer 38

6th through 15th centuries

children younger than 7 or 8 and young teenagers were recognized as not fully mature; laws recognized that children needed protection from people who might mistreat them and courts exercised leniency with lawbreaking youths

Question 39

The Reformation

Answer 39

16th century

belief was that children were born evil and stubborn and had to be civilized; restrictive child-rearin practices were recommended; disobedient students were routinely beaten by their schoolmasters; eventually just tried to teach their children right from wrong; gradually adopted a moderate balance between severity and permissiveness

Question 40

The Enlightenment 1

Answer 40

17th and 18th centuries

conceptions of childhood were more humane that those of the past

Question 41

Describe Locke’s approach to child development.

Answer 41

believed that children were born as blank slates; characters are shaped entirely by experience; recommended the use of praise and approval as rewards, rather than money or sweets; opposed physical punishment; viewed children as having little influence over their destiny

Question 42

Where does Locke fall on the 3 Basic Issues in child development? What aspects of Locke’s perspective are supported by modern research? What aspects have been rejected?

Answer 42

continuous; nurture; many courses of development; high plasticity at later ages

his child-rearing practices

that children are born as a”blank slate”

Question 43

How did Rousseau view children?

Answer 43

not blank slates; they are noble savages, naturally endowed with a sense of right and wrong and an innate plan for orderly, healthy growth; believed that children’s built-in moral sense and unique ways of thinking and feeling would only be harmed by adult training; the adult should be receptive to the child’s needs at each of four stages: infancy, childhood, late childhood, and adolescence

Question 44

Where does Rousseau fall on the 3 Basic Issues in child development? Which two concepts in child development did Rousseau introduce? Describe them.

Answer 44

discontinuous; stagewise; single unified course; nature

stage - qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterize specific periods of development

maturation - refers to a genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth

Question 45

The Scientific Revolution

Answer 45

late19th and 20th centuries

early observations of children were soon followed by improved methods and theories