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Chapter 12
Child Development
I.
Newborns
A. Neonate – first year
B. Reflexes
1.
2.
3.
4.
grasping
rooting
sucking
moro reflex
C. Nonreflexive learning
1. can imitate faces
2. can connect voice with face
3. prefer faces over other stimuli
4. prefer curves to straight lines
D. Maturation – physical growth and
development
1. rate varies
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2. order
a. cephalocaudal
development – progresses
from head to toes
b. proximodistal
development – progresses
from inside to outside or
center of body toward
extremities
3. readiness
a. maturity before skills
b. cannot rush
II.
Heredity and Environment
A. Heredity
1. humans – 46 chromosomes
2. females – XX
3. males XY
4. females can only give an X
5. males give either X or Y
6. determines many traits
B. Environment
1. affects heredity
2. study of twins reared apart
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III.
Early Environment
A. Prenatal influences
1. teratogens – agents that
can cause birth defects
3 types
 Diseases
Rubella, AIDS, syphilis
 Drugs
Prescription drugs
OTCs
Illicit drugs
Caffeine, nicotine,
aspartame
 Environmental Agents
x-rays, radiation,
pollution, toxins, fumes,
B.
taxoplasmosis
Childbirth
1. conventional delivery
2. prepared childbirth
3. LeMaze method
4. LeBoyer method
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IV.
Social Development
A. Self-awareness – how do I
know it’s me
 Mirror Studies
B. Social Referencing – looking
to others for how to respond
in a situation
C. Imprinting – rapid and early
learning of a permanent
behavior pattern
D. Critical Period – behaviors
that must be learned by a
specified age (or it doesn’t
happen at all)
E. Attachment – enduring bond
that occurs between infant
and caregiver that develops
over time
1. separation anxiety –
child’s distress when
parent leaves
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2. kinds of attachment
a. secure attachment
1. child upset when
caregiver leaves
2. wants to be near
when caregiver
returns
b. anxious or insecure
avoidant attachment
1. child doesn’t care if
caregivers leaves
2. will readily go with
a stranger
3. turns away when
caregiver returns
4. shows little desire
to be with caregiver
c. anxious ambivalent
attachment
1. wants caregiver
present, but doesn’t
pursue contact
2. wants yet rejects
caregiver
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3. attachment type affects
child’s personality
a. secure children
1. make friends easily
2. do better in school
3. show self-control
b. insecure children
1. often whiny and
demanding
2. do not make friends
easily
3. show poor selfcontrol
4.
caregiving style
a. sensitive care
1. responding quickly
and efficiently to
baby’s needs
2. plays with baby
when alert and
active
b. insensitive care
1. ignore baby’s
needs
2. overstimulate
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3. play with baby
when too tired
5. Daycare
a. ideal
1. low child:adult ratio
2. < 20 hrs. per week
3. after 1 yr. of age
4. low turnover in
workers
b. problematic
1. too many children:
adults
2. > 20 hrs. per week
3. high worker
turnover rate
4. child already poorly
attached
6. Harlow Monkey Studies
a. monkeys separated
from mother early
1. abnormal sexual
behaviors
2. poor mothering
skills
a. reject baby
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b. little contact
c. brutalize or
injury baby
b. relationship to humans
1. abused people
often make poor
parents
2. early rejection may
lead to antisocial
behavior
7. You cannot spoil a child in the
first year
V.
Language Development
A. Acquisition stages
1. cooing
2. babbling
3. single word stage
halophrastic speech – one
word used for whole idea
4. telegraphic speech – 2 word
phrases
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B. Theories of Language
1. Nativism: Noam Chomsky
a. language acquisition
device – structure in brain
which switches on for
language
b. innate
c. learned too quickly for
reinforcement or modeling
to explain
d. children in all cultures go
through same stages and
make same kinds of errors
2. Operant Conditioning :
Skinner
a. language learned through
reinforcement and
punishment
b. reward – attention
c. punishment – being
ignored; told speech is
wrong
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3. Modeling: Bandura
a. listen to adults
b. imitate what they hear
C. Language turn-taking
1. initially starts with feeding
2. burst – pause nature of
feeding
3. mom talks during pause
4. mom doesn’t talk during
sucking
5. establishes turn-taking
sequence
6. continues with cooing and
babbling behaviors
VI.
Cognitive Development
A. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
1. assimilation – acquiring
knowledge
2. accommodation – modifying
knowledge when new
information available
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3. stages of development
a. Sensorimotor (0 – 2 yrs.)
1. motor skills used to
bring objects within
sensory range
2. object permanence –
objects continue to
exist when when not in
range
3. separation anxiety –
distress when
caregiver leaves
b. Preoperational stage
(2 – 7 yrs.)
1. egocentrism – inability
to take viewpoint of
another
2. must manipulate
objects
c. Concrete operational
stage (7 – 11 yrs.)
1. conservation – things
remain the same even
when shape is different
3 beaker problem
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2. reversibility- working
backwards for a
solution
d. formal operations stage
(11+ yrs.)
thinking is
1. logical
2. abstract
3. hypothetical/deductive
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VII.
Moral Development
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral
Development (based on Piaget’s
stages)
Level I
Preconventional
Stage 1: punishment/obedience
Stage 2: fairness
Level II Conventional
Stage 3: good/bad orientation
Stage 4: law and order
Level III Postconventional
Stage 5: social contract
Stage 6: moral hierarchy
VIII. Deprivation and Enrichment
A.
Children in confinement
1. deprivation dwarfism –
stunted growth associated
with isolation
a. retardation
b. mutism
c. emotional problems
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IX.
2. hospitalism – condition of
deep depression marked by
weeping and rocking or
doing nothing
B.
Monkey studies
1. contact comfort – touching,
holding, body warmth,
cuddling with infants
2. cloth vs wire “mother”
C.
Enrichment
1. providing a variety of
stimulation toys and games
2. exposure to many things
3. learn better and faster
4. read sooner
Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of
Development
Trust vs Mistrust
Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
Initiative vs Guilt
Industry vs Inferiority
Identity vs Role Confusion
Intimacy vs Isolation
Generativity vs Stagnation
Integrity vs Despair
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X.
Problems in Childhood
A.
Parenting Styles: Baumrind
1. Authoritarian (Declarative)
B.
2. Permissive
3. Authoritative
Normal Childhood Problems
1. sleep disturbances –
sleepwalking, nightmares
2. specific fears – dark, dogs
3. overly timid – shy or bullied
4. general dissatisfaction
5. general negativism
6. clinging
7. regression
8. sibling rivalry
III. Serious Problems in Childhood
A. Toilet training
1. enuresis – bedwetting
2. encopresis – lack of bowel
control
B. Feeding
1. overeating
2. anorexia nervosa
a.
b.
c.
d.
self-starvation
adolescent girls
exercise excessively
purging; laxatives
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3. pica – eating nonfood
C. Speech
1. delayed speech
2. stuttering
D. Learning Disabilities – problems in
thinking, perception, language,
attention or activity levels
1. dyslexia – inability to read with
understanding; reversal of
letters or numbers
2. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
or Attention Deficit Disorder with
Hyperactivity (ADHD)
a. stimulants (Ritalin)
b. behavior modification
E. Childhood Autism
1. severe speech deficits
echolalia – parrot speech or
repeating same word or phrase
2. extreme need for sameness
3. stereotypic movement
(perseveration) – rocking, finger
flicking, spinning
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XI.
Child Abuse
A.
Characteristics of abusive
parents
1. young (under 30)
2. low SES
3. high levels of stress or
frustration
4. lack of knowledge of normal
childhood dev. or behaviors
5. come from abusive homes
B.
Prevention
1. self-help groups – Parents
Anonymous
2. change of attitude about
corporal punishment
3. children’s rights
XII.
Adolescence
A.
Puberty – rapid physical growth;
reproductive maturity
B.
Identity issues
1. imaginary audience
2. adolescent fable
a. unique
b. immortal
3. conflicts with parents
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4. increased association with
peers
XIII. Adulthood
A.
Gould & Levinson
B.
Menopause – cessation of
menses; inability to bear children
C.
Climateric – physiological
changes in men; decreased
hormone production
XIV. Aging
A.
Gerontologists – those who study
the process of aging and the
elderly
B.
Theories of Aging
1. Disengagement Theory
a. normal and desirable to
withdraw with aging
b. relief from roles and
responsibilities
c. vacate positions for
younger people
d. not descriptive of all
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C.
D.
2. Activity Theory
a. activity as goal
b. those who are active
physically, mentally and
socially adjust better
c. maintain activity as long
as possible
Ageism – discrimination or
prejudice based on age
Death and Dying
1. Stages of dying: Elizabeth
Kubler-Ross
a.
b.
c.
d.
denial
anger
bargaining
depression
e. acceptance
2. Bereavement and grief
a. shock
b. pangs of grief
c. apathy, dejection, and
depression
d. resolution