Introduction to Child Development

child development

• ≠ generalize → individuals differ

• arose as a formal field in the late 19th-early 20th centuries

  • freud: psychoanalytic thory

  • watson: behaviorist theory

nature

development is influenced primarily by innate or genetic factors (biological)

nurture

development is influenced primarily by experiences & external factors

psychology & philosophy

• psychology is rooted in philosophy

• welfare of society → depended on how children were raised

philosophers

1. plato

2. aristotle:

3. john locke (similar to aristotle)

4. jean-jacques rousseau

plato

children are born with innate knowledge (i.e. knowing what an animal is)

aristotle

knowledge comes from experience (children are born with nothing)

john locke

children are blank slates or tabula rasa

• similar to aristotle

• parents as a good example

• first children must be disciplined → then they can be free

jean-jacques rousseau

children are inherently good

psychoanalytic theory

• developed by freud

• biological drives → influence development

behaviorist theory

• developed by watson

• development from rewards & punishments

How is child development studied?

1. observation

2. correlation studies

3. experiments

designs for studying development

1. cross-sectional

2. longitudinal

3. microgenetic

cross-sectional

children of different ages are compared on a given behavior or characteristic at the same time

longitudinal design

same children are studied repeatedly over a substantial length of time

microgenetic design

same children are studied over a very short period

• i.e. study can last for over 2 weeks to hours

• focuses on 1 developmental window when researcher believes a change occurs

  • e.g. children’s memory strategies