CHAPTER 10

Infancy and early childhood

Chapter 10section 1

The study of Development

• Development– is the field in which psychologists study how

people grow and change throughout the life span.

Study different ages and different types of development

–Physical development

–Social development

–Cognitive development

Developmental psychologist

• Use 2 methods to study change:– Longitudinal– Cross sectional

• Concerned with 2 general issues– Ways in which heredity and environment

influences contribute to human development– Whether development occurs gradually or in

stages

Nature vs. NurtureIn your opinion which one is more important?

Maturation-

is the automatic and sequential process of development that results from genetic signals.

Critical Period

• A stage or point in development during which a person or animal is best suited to learn a particular skill or behavior pattern

Stages

Lifting head

Rolling over

Sitting up-

Crawling

Walking

running

INFANCY birth to 2 years of age

CHAPTER 10

SECTION 2

Physical development

Physical Development

• Height and weight– Continuous growth into the late teens then

certain parts of the body continue to grow– Most dramatic gains in height and weight

before an infant’s birth– Double their weight -5 months– Triple their weight- 1 year– 10 inches in height 1st year– 4-6 inches 2nd year

CHILDHOOD 2 years of age through ADOLESCENCE

Motor Development

• Proceeds in stages

• Various behaviors occur differently from infant to infant

• U.S.A. children walk around 1 year of age

• Africa children are walking at 10 months

• Why is there a difference?

Motor development in infancy

4 month- turn to side

5 month-turn stomach to back

7/8 month- sits

9/10 month- crawls

10/11 months kneels

12/13 month- stands

13/16 month walks

Reflexes- inborn, not learned, and they occur automatically without thinking

rooting reflex Grasping reflex

Perceptual developmentprocess by which infants learn to make sense of the sights, sounds, tastes and

other sensations.

• Seem programed to survey their environment and learn from it.

• 2 month olds like pictures of human faces

• Like sweet things

• Hearing is better than sight at birth

• Why parents sing lullabies.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMNET

Section 3

• Infants tend to play with toys by themselves even when other children are around

• Affects social development– Attachment– Parenting styles– Child care– Self-esteem– Abuse and neglect

Attachment

• At birth being around any human

• After 4 months infants develop attachment to their mothers

• By 6-7 months the infant will cry if taken from their mothers

Attachment

• Contact comfort– The instinctual need to

touch and be touched by something soft (fur or skin)

– Stronger than food.– Gives a sense of

security

• Imprinting– Instinctive behavior

process shortly after birth by which some animals form immediate attachments during a critical period

Anxiety

• Stranger anxiety– By 8 months of age– Cry, reach out for

parent

• Separation anxiety– When not being in

physical contact with care giver

Secure vs. Insecure

• Happier• Friendlier• More cooperative

• Low self-esteem• Cries more• Less cooperative

Styles of parenting

• Warm– Show a great deal of

affection– Hug and kiss child a

lot– Make child feel loved

and care about

• Cold– Not affectionate

toward their children– Appear not to enjoy

having them around– No hugging or kissing

Parenting style continued

• Strict– Not necessarily a bad

thing– Consistent and firm

enforcement of rules along with warmth and support can foster achievement

• Permissive– Some do not care– Some are afraid– Children are confused

about acceptable behavior

Parenting styles continued…..

• Authoritarian– Obedience for its own

sake– Strict guidelines– Often cold and

rejecting– Children do not do well

in school– Less friendly

• Authoritative– Warmth & positive

kinds of strictness– More independent and

achievement oriented– Friendly and go going

Child abuse and neglect

• 5% of parents admit to physical abusing their children– Beatings, hitting, kicking, burns, broken

bones, and emotional abuse

Self-Esteem- the value or worth that people attach to themselves.

• Unconditional positive regard– Parents love and

accept their children no matter what

• Conditional positive regard– Parents show their

love only when child behaves in a acceptable way

– Child will seek approval from others

Gender and Self Esteem

• Age 5 to 7

• Begin to value themselves on their physical appearance and performance in school.

• Girls- reading and general academic skills

• Boys- math and physical skills

• Feminine-Vs- Masculine

• Compare themselves to peers

Cognitive development

Section 4

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

• People organized new information 2 ways assimilation and accommodation

Piaget’s Theory of cognitive development

• Assimilation– process by which new

information is placed into categories that already exist

• Doggie= pet poodle• Great Dane = doggie+

great Dane

• Accommodation• A change brought

about because new information

• Doggie=cat• This needs a new

category

Children’s thinking develops in stages

• 4 stages in sequence1. Sensorimotor stage

2. Concrete Operational stage

3. Preoperational stage

4. Formal Operational stage

Sensorimotor stageends at the age of 2 years

• Infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

• Moving hands and feet

• Later hitting mobiles• Cause and Effect

• Object permanence• (8-10 months)• Understand objects

still exist even if they can not see them

Preoperational stage

• Use of word and symbols (language) to represent objects

• One dimensional thinking• Does not understand the law of conservation

– Weight, volume and number do not change

• Egocentrism– the inability to see another points of view

• the world exist to meet their needs• Believe that rain and thunder is made by people

Concrete Operational stage2-7 years old

• Shows sign of adult (logical) thinking

• Still hands on learning by touching, seeing, doing.

• Learn abstract concepts

• Understands law of conservation.

• Able to see another point on view.

Formal Operational Stages (Final stage)Starts about puberty and represents

cognitive maturity• Can think abstractly, ability to problem

solve

• Society’s rule of behavior

Criticism of Piaget’s Theory

1. Under estimated young children

2. Children today are less egocentric

3. Cognitive develop is more continuous than by stages

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

• 3 levels + 2 stages within

Pre-conventional level

stage Moral reasoning goal What is right

1 Avoiding punishment Doing what is necessary to avoid punishment

2 Satisfying needs Doing what is necessary to satisfy one’s own needs

Conventional levelstage Moral reasoning

goalWhat is right

1 Winning approval

Seeking maintaining the approval of others using conventional standards of right and wrong

2 Law and order Moral judgments based on maintaining social order . High regard for Authority

Post Conventional stage

stage Moral reasoning goal What is right

1 Social order Obedience to laws.

Judgments based on personal values.

2 Universal ethics Morality of individual conscience, not necessary in agreement with others

Criticism of Kohlberg

• Research Bias to boys

• Boys reason at higher level of moral development

• Boys raised to ague logically

• Girls raised to ague with empathy