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Chapter One
Child Development Pioneers
 John Locke – believed children came into the
world “Tabula Rasa” or blank slate
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau – believed children were
inherently good and when allowed to express
natural impulses generous morality would develop
 Charles Darwin – first child observer who kept
baby biography documenting infant son’s behavior
Child Development Pioneers Continued
 G. Stanley Hall – founded child development as
an academic discipline as well as researched
adolescents resulting with the label of “storm and
stress” for the adolescent developmental stage
 Alfred Binet/Theodore Simon – developed first
intelligence test intended to help public school
children at risk of failing
Adult Development Theorists
 William Perry/Gisella Labouvie-Vief – studied
cognitive complexity from adolescence to late
adulthood
 K.W. Schaie – studied mental abilities, especially
crystallized and fluid intelligence
Developmental Theories
 Learning Theory – Focus is on experience
(nurture) shaping the individual (John B. Watson)
 Maturation View – Physical aspects of growth
and development (nature) influence the
individual’s experience (Arnold Gessell)
 Psychoanalytic Perspective – Conflict between
external demands and internal desires of child
results in hidden battles
Freud’s Psychosexual Development
 Focus on emotional and social development
 Psychological traits of importance are dependence,
obsessive neatness, and vanity
 Three parts of the personality – the id, the ego, the
superego
- Id represents biological demand and instant gratification
present at birth
- Ego is conscious and seeks gratification but avoids social
disapproval
- Superego is conscious and monitors the intentions and
behavior of ego by allowing guilt and shame for behavior
Five Stages of Psychosexual Development
 Stage 1 – Oral stage, focus on oral activities such as
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sucking, first year of life
Stage 2 – Anal stage, focus control and elimination of
bodily waste products, toilet training stage of life
Stage 3 – Phallic stage, parent/child conflict over child’s
personal sexual exploration, parent of same sex seen as a
rival
Stage 4 – Latency stage, sexual feelings remain
unconscious, children play with same sex playmates, focus
on schoolwork
Stage 5 – Genital stage, begins with biological changes in
adolescence resulting in desire for intercourse
Contributions of Freudian Theory
 Stimulated research on attachment, gender role
development and moral development
 Influenced how child care workers approach
infants, toddlers and preschoolers
 Influenced teachers’ sensitivity to students’
emotional needs
 Influenced the stage models of other theorists
such as Erikson
Limitations of Freudian Theory
 Theory developed on contacts with mostly women
with emotional problems
 Recollections rather than controlled methods used
to develop theory
 Inadvertent guiding of patients’ reports may have
happened to support his theories
 Too much emphasis on basic instincts and motives
Erikson’s Psychosocial Development
• Focuses on development of emotional life,
psychological traits and self-identity.
• Looks at importance of social relationships
 Emphasis is on the ego, or sense of self
• Physical maturation contributes to development
• Mastery of developmental task/s at each stage
needed to move to next stage
• Early experiences of parent/child relationship
affect future developments and/or
accomplishments
Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development
 Stage 1 – Trust vs. mistrust (age 1)
 Stage 2 – Autonomy vs. shame/doubt (age 1-3)
 Stage 3 – Initiative vs. guilt (age 3-5)
 Stage 4 – Industry vs. inferiority (age 6-12)
 Stage 5 – Identity vs. confusion (12-18)
 Stage 6 – Intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood
 Stage 7 – Generativity vs. self-absorption (middle
adulthood)
 Stage 8 – Integrity vs. despair (late adulthood)
See Table 1.1
Contributions of Erikson’s Theory
 Emphasize importance of human consciousness
and choice
 Minimize role and threat of poorly perceived urges
 Portray human development as prosocial
 Some empirical support that positive outcomes of
early life help children cope with life crises at later
stage
Behavioral Theory
 Classical Conditioning – developed by Pavlov;
reflex response is associated with a new stimulus
(ex. Tension in children’s bladder’s paired with the
bell)
 Operant Conditioning – developed by Skinner;
learning occurs due to its reinforcement effect (ex.
Child learns that a grade of an “A” gets them
praised by their parents and therefore they try
harder to get “A’s”)
Reinforcement
 Positive reinforcers – increases the frequency of
behaviors when they are applied (ex. Food and
approval)
 Negative reinforcers – increases the frequency of
behaviors when they are removed (ex. Fear of
failure is removed when one studies for their test)
 Extinction – results from repeated performance
of operant behavior without reinforcement (ex.
Child’s temper tantrum stops when parent leaves
the room)
Punishment
 Punishment – aversive events that decrease the
frequency of the behavior they follow
 Does not suggest alternative behavior
 Suppresses undesirable behavior only when its
delivery is guaranteed
 May cause child to withdraw from the situation
 Can increase hostility
 May be generalized too far
 May be imitated as a way of solving problems or
coping with stress
Social Cognitive Theory
 Developed by Bandura; learning occurs by
observing other people, by reading, by engaging in
different media
 Observational learning occurs through modeling
the same behavior of another person
 Observational learning can lie latent until the
behavior observed is needed or applicable
Cognitive-Developmental Theory
 Developed by Piaget; intrigued by children’s wrong
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answers; children seen as active participants
Scheme – pattern of action of mental structure that is
involved in acquiring or organizing knowledge
Adaptation – interaction between the organism and the
environment
Assimilation – process of responding to new objects or
events according to existing schemes
Accommodation – Scheme is changed to incorporate
novel object or event
Equilibration – balance achieved by assimilating new
events into existing scheme
Four Stages of Cognitive Development
 Stage 1 – Sensorimotor, (birth to 2 years); focus on
sensory exploration; object permanence mastered
 Stage 2 – Preoperational (2 to 7 years); focus on
language and symbolic expression through play;
children are egocentric
 Stage 3 – Concrete operational (7-12 years); focus
on mastering concepts such as reversibility
 Stage 4 – Formal operational (12 years and older);
ability to abstract reason
See Table 1.2
Information Processing Theory
 Based on computer model of information
processing
 Cognitive process consists of encoding information
(input), storing the information into long-term
memory, retrieving the information (or placing it
in short-term memory), and manipulating the
process to solve problems
 Most applicable to the teaching of methodological
steps (examples: teaching the scientific method or
teaching the steps to withdrawing blood)
Biological Perspective
 Directly relates to physical development such as
gains in height and weight; development of the
brain; and developments connected with
hormones, reproduction, and heredity
 Looks at development ethologically
 Ethology looks at inborn, instinctive, behavior
patterns
 Fixed action patterns – built in or instinctive
behaviors (example: birds migrating to same place;
sex hormone secretion during prenatal
development resulting in masculine or feminine
patterned brain)
Ecological Perspective
 Developed by Bronfenbrenner; looks at bidirectional interactions not just maturational
forces or child-rearing practices; systems approach
recognizing that there are systems imbedded in
other systems which influence behavior and
development (example: the behavior of a child is
influenced by parents, peers, teachers, social
groups, socio economic status, etc.)
Bronfenbrenner’s Systems Approach
 Microsystem – interactions of the child with other people
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in the immediate setting such as the home, school or peer
group
Mesosystem – interactions of various settings with the
microsystem such as the parent-teacher conference or the
school field trip to the zoo
Exosystem – institutions which indirectly affect the
development of the child such as the school board or the
parent’s place of employment
Macrosystem – involves the interaction of the child with
the beliefs, expectations, and lifestyle of their cultural
setting
Chronosystem – refers to the influence that the changes
over time have on development
Sociocultural Perspective
 Developed by Vygotsky
 Humans are affected by the cultural and social
environment in which they are born
 Focus is on the transmission of information and
cognitive skills from generation to generation
 Learning consists of social engagement from a
more skilled individual to a lesser skilled
individual (example: an older sibling teaching a
younger sibling to ride a bike)
Sociocultural Terms
 Zone of Proximal Development – refers to a
range of tasks that a child can carry out with the
help of a more skilled apprentice
 Inner Speech – occurs when the outward speech
used to walk one through a difficult task becomes
embedded within the child
 Scaffolding – problem solving methods such as
cues provided to the child to increase independent
functioning
 Diversity – consists of one’s ethnicity, race,
gender, age etc.
Nature/Nurture Controversy
 Age old question of which is more influential in
development – nature (heredity) or nurture
(environmental influences)?
 Natural causes of development studied are genetic
heritage (twin studies used frequently), the
functioning of the nervous system and maturation
 Environmental causes of development studied are
nutrition, cultural and familial backgrounds,
educational opportunities, cognitive stimulation
during early childhood and formal education
Continuity/Discontinuity Controversy
 Continuous perspective views development as a
process where the effects of learning mount
gradually, with no major qualitative changes
 Discontinuous perspective views development as a
number of rapid qualitative changes ushering in
new stages of development
 Freud and Piaget were discontinuous theorists
Active/passive Controversy
 Active perspective maintains children are actively
engaged in their development (example: child
explores and learns more about dolphins due to
their interest)
 Passive perspective maintains that children are
passive and the environment acts on them to
influence development (example: child learns
violin from the teacher)
Developmental Research Methodologies
 Naturalistic observation – research conducted in
the natural setting. Observer takes great pains not
to disturb the environment. Interference can
result in “bias” in the research results; effective
when studying cultures
 Case study – carefully drawn account of an
individual’s behavior; may use diaries,
questionnaires, standardized tests, interviews,
information from public records
Correlational Studies
 Correlation – attempt to determine whether one behavior
or trait being studied is correlated or indicates a
relationship with another behavior or trait; never indicates
cause and effect
 Correlation coefficient – this is a statistical index ranging
from -1.00 to +1.00; the closer to -1.00 or +1.00 the stronger
the correlation
 Positive correlation – statistical relationship where
increases or decreases in measurement correspond with
increases or decreases in the other (example: attendance
increased and grades increased)
 Negative Correlation – statistical relationship which
increases in one measure are matched with a decrease in
the other (example: attendance increased, however, grades
decreased)
Experimental Method
 Preferred method for investigating cause and
effect
 One group receives the treatment and the other
group does not; experiments test a hypothesis/es
 Variables – experiments have independent and
dependent variables
-independent variable is manipulated
-dependent variables are the measured results
Experiments Continued
 Experimental group – receives the treatment
 Control group – does not receive the treatment
 Random assignment – subjects assigned to a group
randomly
 Ethical/practical consideration – researchers look at the
ethics and practical assignment of participants; sometimes
correlational evidence must be settled for rather than
experimental
 Animal subjects – used to generalize findings to humans
when it is not ethical or practical to use humans in the
experiment
Longitudinal Research
 Seeks to study development over time; some
subjects’ characteristics such as height, weight,
and/or changes in mental capabilities observed
repeatedly over time; a larger number of
participants is needed for this type of study
 Typically time of study spans months or a few years
 Longitudinal researchers have to enlist future
researchers to continue the study
Cross-sectional Research
 Cross-sectional research observes and compares
subjects of different ages; a larger number of
participants is needed for this type of study
 Cohort effect – group of people born at the same
time; experience cultural and other events unique
to their age group; children of a particular cohort
will have different life experiences than their
parents
Cross-sequential Research
 Combines longitudinal and cross-sectional
methods to overcome research drawbacks
 Full span of the ideal longitudinal study is broken
up into convenient segments
 Minimizes the number of years needed to
complete a study
 Time-lag comparisons are used
Researcher’s Ethical Considerations
 Do no physical or psychological harm
 Informed consent is needed
 Participation must be voluntary
 Participants can withdraw from study
 Participants are offered information about the
study
 Identities of participants remains confidential
 Research plans are to be presented to a committee
of colleagues and gain the committee’s approval
before proceeding