Child Development typical and atypical development
Dr Karl Wall
2009
Human development
Death
Older adulthood
Adulthood
Middle adulthood
Early adulthood
Teen years
Childhood
Puberty
Pre-puberty
Early years
Birth
Pregnancy
Conception
Dimensions
of change:
• Physical
• Sensory
• Motor
• Social
• Emotional
• Cognitive
• Reproductive
• Experiential
0 – 5 months: ‘typical’ development
From upper part of Figure 10 p64 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical and Atypical Development.
Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
5 months – 1 year: ‘typical’ development
From lower part of Figure 10 p64 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical and Atypical Development.
Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
12 mths – 18 mths: ‘typical’ development.
From upper part of Figure 18 p154 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical and Atypical Development.
Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
18 mths – 60 mths: ‘typical’ development
From lower part of Figure 18 p154 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical and Atypical Development.
Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
Variation and range in milestones
From Table 4 ‘Ages when motor skills are achieved’ p95 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical and
Atypical Development. Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
Variation and range in milestones 1
Month. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Ave. 3 weeks
Ave. 2 months
Holds head
steady
when held
upright
(1 week 4 months)
Ave. 4.5 months
Lying on
tummy
lifts self
by arms
Rolls
from
side to
back
3 weeks 3 wks 5 months
5 mon.
Rolls from back to side
2-7 months
Based on ‘Table 4 ‘Ages when motor skills are achieved’ p95 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical
and Atypical Development. Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
8
Variation and range in milestones 2
Month. 2
3
4
5
Ave. 3 months
Grasps a cube
2 mths - 7mths
6
7
8
9
Ave. 7 months
Sits alone with
coordination
5 mths - 9 mths
Based on ‘Table 4 ‘Ages when motor skills are achieved’ p95 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical
and Atypical Development. Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
10
Variation and range in milestones 3
Month. 5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Ave. 7 mths
Ave. 8 mths
Ave. 9 mths
Crawls
5 mths - 11mths
Pulls to a
standing
position
Uses a pincer grasp
7-10 months
5 mths 12mths
Based on ‘Table 4 ‘Ages when motor skills are achieved’ p95 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical
and Atypical Development. Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
Variation and range in milestones 4
Mth. 8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Ave. 11 months
Ave. 13 months
Stands independently
Walks alone
9 months - 16 months
8 mths - 18mths
Based on ‘Table 4 ‘Ages when motor skills are achieved’ p95 of Herbert, M. (2003) Typical
and Atypical Development. Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
Sleep
Figure from Thieke (2001) at http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010115/277.html
Child development theories 1
Historically:
• Childhood: the early part of being an adult not a special period
• Children as little adults – no special care or
attention required; no differentiation between
‘child’ development and ‘adult’ development
Child development theories 2
• Arnold Gesell (1880 -1961): universal
patterns of physical maturation, genetically
driven and determined > ‘milestones of
development’
• Sigmund Freud (1857 -1959): early
childhood experience informs subsequent
development; focus on impact of
psychosexual influences > type of stage
theory
Child development theories 3
• Erik Erikson (1902-1994): extends Freud’s
perspectives:
 Brings in environmental factors and more
stages issue of overcoming stage related
‘crisis’ events.
• B.F. Skinner (1904 -1990): Child behaviour
shaped by how experience is reinforced:
 Role of reward and punishment >
experience conditions behaviour
Child development theories 4
• Alfred Bandura (1925 -present): Learning
informed by imitation and social observation
 Role of motivation and inner psychological
processes
 modelling, role models, ‘social’ learning:
‘Social Learning Theory’
Child development theories 5
• Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934): Learning
interactions as basis of development:
 Role of social context, language,
communication and the mediating influence
of others inform a ‘social constructivist’
development
 Historical, cultural and social factors inform
cognition and development - ‘language’ is
the principal societal tool
Child development theories 6
• Jean Piaget (1896 -1980): development
seen as:
 Four, genetically driven, universal and
sequential stages of symbol based ‘cognitive’
development.
 These reflect children's individual
construction of their own thinking systems,
supported by interaction with adults
Child development theories 7
• John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth
(Integrated Attachment Theory):
 focus on how parent – child relationships
are established
 the role of early relational experiences and
their impact on how later relationships are
formed and maintained
• ‘Life Course’ perspectives: re-integration
of child and adult development as aspects
of a single developmental continuum
Reference sources 1
Meggitt, C. (2006) Child Development. London:
Heinemann.
Miller, L., Rustin, M., Rustin, M. and Shuttleworth,
J. (2002).Closely observed infants. London:
Duckworth.
Reference sources 2
Sylva, K. and Lunt, I. (1982) Child development-a first
course. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Herbert, M. (2003) Typical and Atypical Development.
Oxford: BPS Blackwell.
Lewis. V. (2003) Development and Disability. 2nd Edition.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Sheridan, M. D. (2005) From Birth to Five years [Updated
and revised by Frost, M. and Sharma, A.). London:
Routledge.
Sheridan, M. D. (2006) Play in Early Childhood – From
birth to six years. [Updated and revised by Harding, J. and
Meldon-Smith, L.). London: Routledge.
Reference sources 3
Butterworth, G. & Harris, M. (1994). Principles of
Developmental Psychology. Hove: Psychology Press.
Chap. 9: Cognitive development in early childhood;
Chap. 10: Cognitive development in middle childhood.
Child, D. (1997). Psychology and the Teacher. London:
Cassell. Chap. 7: Concept formation and cognitive
development.
Donaldson, M. (1978) Children’s Minds. London:
Fontana. (a critique of aspects of Piaget’s stage theory)
Reference sources 4
Eysenck. M.W. (2000). Psychology: A Student’s Handbook.
Hove, E. Sussex: Psychology Press. Chap. 16: Cognitive
development.
Siegler, R.S. & Wagner Alibali, M. (2005). Children’s
Thinking. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Chap. 2: Piaget’s theory
of development.
Sutherland, P. (1992). Cognitive Development Today: Piaget
and his Critics. London: Paul Chapman.
Tharp, R. & Gallimore, R. (1991). A theory of assisted
performance, in P. Light, S. Sheldon, M. Woodhead (eds).
Learning to Think. London: Routledge.
Reference sources 5
Miller, P. H. (2002) Theories of Developmental Psychology
(4th edn). New York: Worth.
Kugelmass, J. W. (2007) Constructivist views of learning:
implications for inclusive education, in Lani Florian (ed).
The SAGE Handbook of Special Education. London:
SAGE
De Valenzuela. J. S. (2007) Sociocultural views of
learning in Lani Florian (ed). The SAGE Handbook of
Special Education. London: SAGE