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PSY206/Fall 2007/DeGiorgio
Children and Their Development, 4/e by Robert Kail,
Chapter 1 Objectives
Chapter 1: The Science of
Child Development
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Explain some of the general themes in development
Name and explain each of the major theories of child development
Describe how the major theories account for change across infancy, childhood, and
adolescence
Describe how development is always influenced by both heredity and environment
Explain how children influence their own development
Describe how development in different domains is connected
Explain the three general approaches that scientists use to measure topics or
behaviors of interest and the corresponding strengths and weaknesses
Determine whether a measurement is both reliable and valid
Explain the difference between populations and samples
Define the independent variable and the dependent variable in an experiment
Explain the difference between laboratory and field experiments
Explain the different types of designs for studying development
Select the most appropriate research design to study a given topic in child
development
Understand the strengths and weaknesses of developmental designs
Interpret correlation coefficients
Define meta-analysis
Explain the ethical responsibilities of conducting research
Describe how researchers communicate research results and discuss why this is
important
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Chapter 2 ObjectivesChapter 2: Genetic Bases of Child Development
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Explain what are chromosomes and genes
Explain what dominant and recessive traits are and how they are inherited
Describe polygenic inheritance and explain how is it studied in children and adults
Discuss how heredity influences behavioral and psychological development
Explain those disorders that are inherited
Discuss those disorders that are caused by too many or too few chromosomes
Explain how genes affect behavior
Explain how twin studies provide important clues about the influence of heredity
Discuss the common disorders associated with sex chromosomes
Explain why phenylketonuria (PKU) is dangerous when ingested by pregnant women
and the treatment offered for babies born with the disease
 Describe how family environments influence children's development
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Chapter 3 ObjectivesChapter 3: Prenatal Development, Birth, and the Newborn
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Define prenatal development and its stages
Understand the major developments of the period of the zygote
Explain the major developments of the period of the embryo
Describe the major developments of the period of the fetus
Understand what a woman should do to provide the best foundation for prenatal
development
Understand the general risk factors to prenatal development
Define teratogens and understand their affects on prenatal development
Understand the five general principles of how teratogens usually work
Learn how doctors can assess if prenatal development is progressing normally
Describe fetal medicine and what can be done to treat prenatal problems before birth
Understand the stages of labor and delivery
Explain approaches to childbirth
Understand how parents have to adjust to parenthood
Learn some common birth complications
Understand infant mortality
Describe how it is determined if a baby is healthy and adjusting to life outside the
uterus
Understand reflexes commonly found in newborn babies
Learn the newborn states
Identify the three distinctive types of cries
Describe patterns of sleep in infancy
Understand sudden infant death syndrome
Understand how well infants experience their world
Chapter 4 Objectives
Chapter 4: Growth and
Health
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Describe the important features of physical growth during childhood
Explain how these features of physical growth vary from child to child
Discuss how sleep and nutrition contribute to physical growth
Explain the physical changes associated with puberty and describe their consequences
Describe the psychological impact of puberty in both boys and girls.
Explain malnutrition, its consequences, and some possible solutions to malnutrition
Discuss how nature and nurture lead some adolescent girls to diet excessively
Explain why some children become obese and how they can lose weight permanently
Describe the parts of a nerve cell and explain how the brain is organized
Explain how the brain is formed during prenatal development and when the different
regions of the brain begin to function
 Describe brain plasticity and explain why the brain is not completely plastic
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Chapter 5 Objectives
Chapter 5: Perceptual and
Motor Development
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Define sensory and perceptual processes and their relation to motor skills
Describe how researchers study infant sensory abilities
Discuss smell, taste, and touch in infancy
Discuss hearing in infancy and impairments in hearing
Describe visual perception in infancy
Explain how infants integrate sensory information
Describe how infants perceive objects
Describe depth perception in infancy and how researchers have studied it
Explain how infants perceive faces
Understand attention and how it improves
Define attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Recognize what motor skills infants must master
Describe milestones in locomotion
Explain how locomotion develops
Describe the component skills of walking and the milestones beyond walking
Describe fine motor skills
Explain how handedness develops
Discuss the benefits of physical fitness
Explain whether children benefit from participation in sports
Chapter 6 ObjectivesChapter 6: Theories of Cognitive Development
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Describe schemes
Explain how assimilation and accommodation help children understand an experience
Describe what equilibration is and explain how it changes the ways children think
Describe the distinguishing features of thinking during the preoperational stage
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of concrete operational thinking
Describe the types of reasoning skills that define formal operational thinking
Discuss the ways in which parents and teachers have applied Piaget's theory
Describe some of the criticisms of Piaget's theory
Describe how neo-Piagetian theories differ from Piaget's original theory
Discuss the naïve theories children hold about physics, psychology, and biology
Explain why Vygotsky viewed development as an apprenticeship
Describe the basic characteristics of the information processing approach
Explain how information processing changes with development
Contrast the information processing approach with Piaget's theory
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Chapter 7 ObjectivesChapter 7: Cognitive Processes and Academic Skills
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Describe the origins of memory
Explain strategies children can use to enhance memory
Understand how knowledge influences memory
Describe autobiographical memory
Understand children's effectiveness as eyewitnesses
Explain the components of skilled reading
Describe factors that contribute to improved comprehension
Understand the factors that contribute to improved writing as children develop
Describe children's knowledge and use of numbers
Understand children's use of addition and subtraction
Describe cultural differences in mathematical competence
Explain ways in which American schools could be improved
Chapter 8 Objectives
Chapter 8: Intelligence
and Individual
Differences in Cognition
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
 Explain the psychometric view of the nature of intelligence
 Describe how Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences differs from the psychometric
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approach
Discuss the three components of Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence
Explain the reasons why intelligence tests were devised initially
Explain how modern intelligence tests differ from the initially developed tests
Describe how modern intelligence tests work and if they work well at assessing
intelligence
Describe the roles of heredity and environment in determining intelligence
Explain how ethnicity and social class influence intelligence test scores
Discuss the characteristics of gifted and creative children
Explain the different forms of mental retardation
Describe what learning disabilities are and the most common type of learning disability
Chapter 9 ObjectivesChapter 9: Language and Communication
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Describe the basic elements of language and how infants perceive them
Explain how infant directed speech helps children learn about language
Discuss the issues related to the impact of cochlear implants for deaf children
Describe first steps to speech
Explain how infants make the transition from babbling to talking
Describe different styles of learning language
Explain the process by which children learn new words
Explain how parents and other adults can encourage work learning
Discuss the effects of growing up bilingual
Describe how children progress from two-word sentences to complex sentences
Discuss the different approaches to understanding how children acquire grammar
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Describe ways in which language development can be promoted
Learn the guidelines for effective communication
Explain the process by which children learn to take turns
Describe how children become effective speakers
Explain what is necessary to be a good listener
Chapter 10 Objectives
Chapter 10: Emotional
Development
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
 Discuss how and at what age children begin to express basic emotions
 Explain complex emotions and at what age they develop
 Describe when and how children begin to understand other people's emotions and how
they use this information to guide their own behavior
 Explain when children show evidence of regulating emotion and discuss why this is an
important skill
Discuss the different features of temperament
Explain how heredity and environment influence temperament
Describe how stable a child's temperament is across childhood
Discuss the consequences of differing temperaments in children
Explain how an attachment relationship develops between an infant and primary
caregiver
 Describe the different types of attachment relationships
 Explain the consequences of different types of attachment relationships
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Chapter 11 Objectives
Chapter 11:
Understanding Self and
Others
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Describe the origins of self-concept
Describe children's evolving self-concept
Explain the search for identity
Discuss the limitations in adolescents' thinking that accompany the search for identity
Describe the different phases or statuses of achieving identity
Discuss how adolescents choose a career
Describe ethnic identity and its development
Describe storm and stress in adolescence
Discuss depression in adolescence
Describe how to measure self-esteem
Describe change and stability in self-esteem
Describe the sources of self-esteem
Explain how self-esteem may change when children are in gifted classes
Describe the consequences of low self-esteem
Discuss how children describe others
Describe the progression in understanding what others think
Explain what parents, teachers, and other adults can do to rid children of prejudice
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Chapter 12 Objectives
Chapter 12: Moral
Understanding and
Behavior
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Describe when self-control begins and how it changes as children develop
Explain how parents influence their children's ability to maintain self-control
Describe the strategies children can use to improve their self-control
Explain how children reason about moral issues and how this changes during childhood
and adolescence
Describe how concern for justice and caring for other people contributes to moral
reasoning
Discuss the factors that assist in promoting more sophisticated reasoning about moral
issues
Explain how prosocial behavior changes with age
Describe the skills that children need to behave prosocially
Explain the types of situations that influence children's prosocial behavior
Discuss briefly how parents can foster prosocial behavior in their children
Explain when aggressive behavior first emerges in children and explain how
aggression changes across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood
Discuss how families, television, and the child's own thoughts contribute to aggression
Explain why some children are victims of aggression
Chapter 13 ObjectivesChapter 13: Gender and Development
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Define the basic terminology related to gender and development
Describe gender stereotypes and how they differ for males and females
Explain how children learn gender stereotypes
Describe gender differences in physical development and behavior
Describe gender differences in intellectual abilities and achievement
Describe gender differences in personality and social behavior
Discuss the implications of gender differences on development
Discuss the socializing influences of people and the media on gender role learning
Explain cognitive theories of gender identity
Explain androgyny and how it is related to traditional conceptions of masculinity and
femininity
 Discuss if parents can raise gender neutral children
 Discuss how to encourage valuable traits, not gender traits
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Chapter 14 Objectives
Chapter 14: Family
Relationships
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
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Describe the family as a system
Demonstrate an understanding of the dimensions of parenting
Describe the different parenting styles
Explain the three specific behaviors parents can use to influence their children: direct
instruction, modeling, and feedback
Describe the conditions under which punishment works best
Demonstrate an understanding of how children affect their parents' behavior
Explain cultural influences and family configuration
Describe the role of grandparents in families including the important role of
grandmothers in African American family life
Demonstrate an understanding of children of gay and lesbian parents
Explain differences between firstborn, later born, and only children
Assess the consequences of China's one-child policy
Discuss issues related to adopted children
Describe qualities of sibling relationships
Describe family life after divorce
Discuss the impact of divorce on children
Explain how divorce influences development
Discuss which children are most affected by divorce and how to help children adjust
after divorce
Describe blended families
Describe maltreatment towards children
Discuss the consequences of maltreatment
Explain causes of maltreatment and how to prevent maltreatment
Chapter 15 ObjectivesChapter 15: Influences beyond the Family
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
 Explain how children first begin to interact with one another
 Explain the different types of play
 Describe how children's interactions change during infancy, childhood, and
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adolescence
Explain the benefits of friendship in childhood
Describe when and how romantic relationships emerge in adolescence
Describe the important features of groups in adolescence
Explain how groups influence individuals
Explain why some children are more popular than others
Describe some of the causes and consequences of being rejected
Explain how watching television can affect children's attitudes and behavior
Describe how viewing TV as a child can influence cognitive development
Explain how children use computers at home and in school
Explain how children are affected by nonparental child care
Describe the impact of part-time employment on children's development
Explain how children are influenced by their neighborhoods
Describe the hallmarks of effective school and effective teachers