CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Important Terms

  • Development: Sequence of physical and psychological changes throughout the lifespan.

  • Developmental Psychology: Scientific study of age-related changes in behavior, thinking, emotion, and personality.

Big Questions in Developmental Psychology

  1. Continuity and Change: Examines whether development is continuous (quantitative) or discontinuous (qualitative). Is there a critical or sensitive period?

  2. Sources of Development: Nature versus Nurture.

  3. Individual Differences: Understanding stable characteristics that differentiate individuals and their stability over time.

Data Collection Methods

  • Self-report: Questionnaires with issues of memory and social desirability.

  • Observation: School/home visits.

  • Experimental methods: Environmental changes (e.g., drugs).

Research Design

  • Longitudinal Design: Same subjects over time (e.g., Dunedin study).

  • Cross-sectional Design: Different ages at one time to find differences.

Cognitive Development

  • Cognition: Intellectual growth involving memory, attention, learning, perception, thought, and problem-solving.

Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

  1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years): Learning through sensory experiences and actions. Develops object permanence.

    • Object Permanence: Understanding that objects exist even when not visible.

  2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years): Symbolic thinking, rapid language development, and egocentrism. Fails conservation tasks.

  3. Concrete Operations Stage (7-12 years): Logical thought, empathy, and understanding of complex relationships.

  4. Formal Operations Stage (12+ years): Abstract reasoning and metacognition.

Evaluating Piaget's Theory

  • Criticisms regarding underestimating children’s abilities.

Social Development

  • Attachment: Emotional bond between the infant and caregiver (Bowlby).

  • Moral Development: Guided by consequences; evolves through understanding of social contracts and ethical principles (Kohlberg).

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

  1. Pre-conventional Level: Based on external sanctions.

  2. Conventional Level: Understanding social systems and maintaining relationships.

  3. Post-conventional Level: Abstract principles that justify rules.

Gender Development

  • Sex vs. Gender: Genetic and morphological differences versus societal roles and stereotypes.

  • Gender identity and preference develops early; influenced by biological and environmental factors.

Child Witnesses

  • Children’s eyewitness abilities vary and can be affected by suggestibility and questioning techniques.

Children’s Drawings

  1. Scribbling Stage: Non-representative drawings before age 3.

  2. Preschematic Stage: Basic human figures beginning around age 3-4.

  3. Schematic Stage: More details and correct proportions by age 5-6.

  4. Realistic Stage: Greater detail and accuracy from age 9.

  5. Indecision Period: Children experience conflict regarding drawing as an activity.

Psychological Well-being from Drawings

  • Drawings may reflect psychological states but are not reliable indicators of emotional or behavioral issues.

TV and Videogames

  • Television Viewing Statistics: Children average 5 hours/day; increasing TV viewing before age 2.

  • Impacts: Television can delay development and exhibit effects on behavior, especially with violent content.

  • Videogames: Time spent and potential benefits or harms, particularly from violent content associated with aggression.

Conclusion

  • Development through childhood encompasses complex interactions of cognitive, social, emotional, and moral changes, shaped by both innate and environmental factors.