Child Development

Chapter 8

Influences on Prenatal Development

Teratogens: Factors in the environment that can harm the developing fetus.Alcohol

Fetal Alcohol SyndromeSmoking

Low birth weight Increased risk of miscarriage and still birthDelayed cognitive development

Physical DevelopmentInfants triple in weight & increase body length by 1/3 in the 1st year.

Some Early Gross Motor Milestones. Averages. Effected by Cultural Influences.

Milestone MonthsRolls Over 2 to 4Sits without support 5 to 7Stands holding onto furniture 8 to 9Creeps on hands and knees 9 to 10Stands without support 10 to 13Walks alone 11 to 14Walks up stairs alone 21 to 25

Perceptual Development

“Looking” StudiesRecognizing parents, colors, old stimuli

Depth perception in infantsVisual Cliff Is it soon enough?!

Stage theories

All humans move through a ordered series of stages.

Each stage is associated with developmental goals.

Constructivism….

New KnowledgeUpdatedSchema

Incorporated

Assimilation

New KnowledgeUpdatedSchema

Change

Accommodation

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Stage 1: Sensorimotor (0-2)

Object Permanence

Mental representation

Self recognition

Piaget’s Theory

Stage 2:Preoperational (2-7)

Symbolic Play

Egocentric thought ….my dog

Piaget’s Theory

Stage 3: Concrete Operational (7-11)

Principal of Conservation

Stage 4: Formal Operational

Abstract thought and logical reasoning

Developmental Research Methods

Cross-Sectional StudyCohort Effects

Longitudinal Study

Biographical Study

Social Development

Key Issues Early On

Social Referencing

Attachment - Temperament interaction between caregiver

and infant. Comfort contact (Harlow) culturally influenced

Making friends buffers - support learn to function in society

Adolescence

Conformity

Need to Belong (Maslow’s Hierarchy p.376)

Identity Crisis (Erikson)

Attachment

Strange Situation

Secure attachment (60-65%)

Insecure attachment avoidant (20%) ambivalent (10%)

Ambivalent (mixed)

Openness to Environment

and the Caregiver

Day-Care and Attachment

High Quality care

better socialization skills

buffer difficult home environment

more social than cognitive benefits

Low Quality Care

negative social adjustment (boys)

poor emotional development.

Qualities of Good Day Care

Low volume of children.

Good ratio of children to caretaker.

Stability - low caretaker turn-over.

Caretakers with sufficient training & experience.

More attention to each child.

Sensitivity to children’s needs.

increased verbal stimulation.

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Trust vs. Mistrust

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Initiative vs. Guilt

Industry vs. Inferiority

Identity vs. Role Confusion

P. 336

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Generativity vs. Self-Absorbtion

Integrity vs. Despair

Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological Needs

Safety Needs

Need to Belong

Esteem Needs

Self-

Actualization

Maslow, 1970

p. 376

Contextual Theories of Development

Bronfenbrenner - Ecological Systems Theory

focus on social and cultural climate.

relationships between individual and the environment. Direct and indirect. Systems approach.

Parenting Style

Parental Demandingness

Low High

Low Rejecting/Neglecting

AuthoritarianParentalResponsiveness

High Permissive Authoritative

How We Get Old….

Stochastic Theory wear & tear free radicals

Pre-Programmed teleomeres immune/endocrine

systems

Theories of Cognitive Aging

Successful Aging

SOC Model (Baltes)

Generalized vs. Specific

Common Cause Hypothesis

Facing the End of Life

KÜbler-Ross stages of dyingDenialAngerBargainingDepressionAcceptance