Download CD ch1-2 - Fairfield Public Schools

Studying Children
Chapter 1-2
The Developing Brain
• Brains are made of nerve cells or
neurons.
• A newborn brain has about 100 billion neurons.
• These neurons have about 50 trillion connections
• During infancy, the connections increase rapidly (up
to 3 billion per second)
• By age 3, a child has about 1,000 trillion connections
(twice as many as an adult)
• The first 3 years
are optimal for
learning.
• As a child
matures, many
unused
connections are
lost.
Brains develop in response to stimulation:
activities that arouse a baby’s senses (sight,
sound, touch, taste, smell)
Stimulation can improve:
• Curiosity
• Attention span
• Memory
• Nervous system development
Repetition helps to strengthen brain
connections.
Children who do not receive enough
stimulation may develop learning problems.
Theories About Development
• Theorists provide insights about how
children learn and develop
– Some use experiments
– Some cannot
Not everyone agrees about how we
should apply these findings.
Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)
• One of the first to study child
development and recognize how
much childhood affected adult
life.
• Believed that personality develops through a
series of stages
• Much of his work has since been found to be
flawed.
Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980)
• First to study children
scientifically
• Focused on learning
•Believed that children go through four
stages of learning
•Much of his work still applies today
Erik Erikson (1902 - 1994)
• Believed that personality
develops through 8 stages
• Thought that each stage
included a crisis that must be
resolved in order to move on
•Believed that caregivers must know how to
support children’s needs at each stage
B. F. Skinner (1904 - 1990)
• Believed that learning occurred
because of positive and
negative reinforcement (reward
and punishment)
What researchers have found
• Although they did not always agree,
they have given us much insight about
how to nurture and educate children.
• They have found that child development
follows five general rules.
5 Characteristics of
development
1. Development is similar for everyone
Children go through the same stages
in the same order (but not necessarily
as the same speed)
2. Development builds upon earlier
learning
It follows a sequence or an order of
steps
3. Development proceeds at an
individual rate
4. The different areas of development
are interrelated
•
•
•
•
Physical
Cognitive
Social
Emotional
physical
cognitive
social
emotional
5. Development is a lifelong process
It never stops (although it slows down)
Influences of Development
• Heredity: the biological transfer of traits
from parents to offspring
• Environment: The people, places, and
things that surround you
Nature vs. Nurture
(Heredity)
HEREDITY
(Environment)
ENVIRONMENT
You
And how you respond to
your environment
Lifelong Growth and
Development
• Human Life Cycle: The stages that
humans go through during life
• Developmental Tasks: Challenges that
must be met or skills to be acquired
during each stage of life
Development Beyond
Childhood
•
•
•
•
•
•
Adolescence
Young Adulthood
The Thirties
Middle Age
Late Adulthood
Very Late Adulthood
• Self-esteem:
– Self-worth
– The value that people place on
themselves