Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
1
Learning Plans 4-5: Childhood Development
(Choose one child for this assignment. The child should be in either Early, Middle, or Late childhood)
Genetic Influences (See Chapter
2 for concepts/theories related to
genetic influences on development).
Child (Describe the characteristics of the child
Developmental Concepts and Theories (Explain concepts
for each domain or category listed on the left)
/theories to explain the characteristics of the child you described in
the first column)
Evan’s genes that he received from his
parents are a major genetic influence in
the life he lives. Evan’s mother’s egg and
father’s sperm formed a unique zygote at
the same time that Evan’s brother’s
unique zygote was developing, making
him a fraternal twin. All of the genetic
material that Evan received makes up his
genotype. He has characteristics that can
be seen by Evan’s physical appearance
and by personality called phenotypes. He
is unique but follows the same genetic
principles as all other people to see
which phenotype is shown. He has both
dominant and recessive genes that he
shows physically now. Evan has brown
eyes and hair that are dominant unlike the
genes he received from his mother of
blonde hair and green eyes. (Santrock,
2011)
Genes- units of heredity information (Santrock, 2011)
Genotype- genetic heritage (Santrock, 2011)
Phenotype- way the child’s genotype is expressed in
observed and measurable characteristics (Santrock, 2011,
pg 60)
Genetic Principles- Dominant-recessive genes, sexlinked genes, genetic imprinting, and polygenetic
inheritance are genetic principles that show why a
genotype is expressed. (Santrock, 2011)
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
2
Biological/Physical
Development
(Also remember to comment on
normal vs. atypical development
using textbook information to
support your conclusions)
Evan is average height and weight
according to the growth scale at the
doctors’ office for body growth. He grew
dramatically as an infant and now as
preschool is slowing down. He displays
the gross motor skills he has mastered
every chance he gets whether it is
jumping, climbing, or running. He plays
with puzzles and figures out all the pieces
but his fine motor skills have not
developed to the full potential of getting
every piece in just right. (Santrock, 2011)
Evan sleeps about ten hours at night and
takes a one to two hour nap during the
day, which is typical for a child his age.
He is starting to experience nightmares
once in awhile, but falls back asleep
almost immediately.
One of the times of day he loves most is
dinner time and snack time. He eats a
breakfast that contains whole wheat,
protein, and fruit everyday with a glass of
milk or juice. He eats a variety of meat
for lunch and dinner with a variety of
vegetables and other side dishes. Evan
eats snacks that are creatively created to
be fun healthy snacks. He is a really great
eater who has always tried new foods and
has eaten anything that was cooked since
switching from baby food.
Body growth- Growth patterns vary from child to child
because of heredity and environment. Each year in early
childhood the increase in height and weight decreases
each year. (Santrock, 2011)
Gross motor skills- Moving around is now automatic and
children in the early childhood stage use these skills for
enjoyment, show, and adventure. (Santrock, 2011)
Fine motor skills- At age three a child’s fine motor skills
have developed but are not functioning well enough to do
things precise. At age four they improve their
coordination significantly and by five there is even more
improvement. (Santrock, 2011)
Sleep- Children should sleep 11 to 13 hours, through the
night and have one day time nap during early childhood.
At this age there are many difficulties with sleep such as
bedtime resistance, nightmares, narcolepsy, and insomnia.
(Santrock, 2011)
Nutrition- an important aspect of development for early
childhood that affects skeletal growth, body shape, and
susceptibility to disease. A child becoming overweight
has become a very serious health concern because of
unhealthy eating habits. (Santrock, 2011)
Exercise- physical activity should be a part of a daily
routine and at preschool age be at least two hours out of
their day. (Santrock, 2011)
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
3
Evan surpasses the recommended two
hours of physical activity for the age he is
at. He and his brother constantly are
running around the house or outside
playing with balls, tag, or the dog.
Cognitive Development
(Also remember to comment on
normal vs. atypical development
using textbook information to
support your conclusions)
Evan loves to talk and tell stories. He also
loves to draw and paint to show you
different things he loves. Since he is three
the drawings may just be scribbles but he
will tell you all about the picture. Evan
draws pictures of the family he has and
the dog he has at school almost every day.
He also loves to draw pictures of Sesame
Street characters and wild animals.
Although he does not have a picture in
front of him he can represent the shapes
and colors of them through his work.
If Evan does not know the answer he will
ask. He is thirsting for knowledge
constantly asking questions about the
world around him.
By communicating with adults like the
parents he has or the teachers at school
Evan learns a lot of information. These
adults are also there to help Evan through
all tasks that he needs or wants to
accomplish. For example learning a new
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage- The second stage in
Piaget’s theory of development that ranges from ages 2 to
7 where children correspond to the world with words,
images, and drawings. In this stage symbolic thought
surpasses simple connections of sensory information and
physical action. Also in this stage a child forms stable
concepts, starts to use mental reasoning, is egocentric,
and begins to have magical beliefs. (Santrock, 2011, pg.
216)
Symbolic Function Substage- First sub stage to Piaget’s
Stage where children are able to mentally represent an
object that is not present. (Santrock, 2011,Pg 217)
Intuitive Thought Substage- Piaget’s second sub stage
where children start to use primitive reasoning and ask
questions to seek knowledge. (Santrock, 2011, Pg 118)
Vygotsky’s theory- children actively construct their
knowledge and understanding by being social and
through social interaction. (Santrock, 2011,Pg.220)
Zone of Proximal Development- Vygotsky’s term for
when adults or more-skilled children need to help other
children because the task is too difficult for them to
accomplish all by themselves. (Santrock, 2011,Pg. 220)
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
4
song he will be accompanied through the
whole song until he learns more, than he
will sing by himself and ask what the next
part is and by the end of the process sing
the song alone without help. (Santrock,
2011)
Evan and language have been very
interesting. He uses it to express his
emotions, tell stories, and have
conversations. He and his twin have
formed a different communication in
which they speak together. He has
developed private and is developing inner
speech. (Santrock, 2011)
Evan has developed sustained attention.
Holidays and birthday parties intregue
him now instead of being bothersome or
boring as they were when he was an
infant. Toys are played with for longer
and longer periods of time instead of
looked at and thrown to the groud.
Completing a puzzle is a must and
focuses on it until all pieces are fitted
together perfectly. He uses strategies
when building with blocks, puzzles, or
other hands on activities. His executive
attention also helps him complete this
tasks. Due to his age bright colors or loud
noises will attract his attention more so
than other objects. (Santrock, 2011)
Evan has become aware of others around
Scaffolding- changing level of support from a parent,
teacher, or advanced peer when educating and helping a
child to fit the child’s needs and benefit the child.
(Santrock, 2011)
Language- helps children socialize and solve tasks
according to Vygotsky’s theory. (Santrock, 2011)
Private Speech- using language to self-regulate to plan,
guides, and monitors their behavior. (Santrock, 2011)
Inner Speech- A child’s thoughts and egocentric speech
that is within. (Santrock, 2011,Pg.220)
Executive Attention- attention that involves action
planning, allocating attention to goals, error detection and
compensation, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing
with novel or difficult circumstances. (Santrock, 2011,Pg
224)
Sustained Attention- focused and extended engagement
with objects, tasks, events, or other aspects happening in
a child’s environment. (Santrock, 2011,Pg 224)
Strategies- deliberate mental activities to improve the
process of information. (Santrock, 2011,Pg 226)
Theory of mind- when a child is aware of their mental
activities and the mental process of others. (Santrock,
2011,Pg 226)
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Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
5
him. If he makes his brother sad he tries
to fix the situation because that is what he
would want his brother to do. If his
brother or him does something that he
knows is wrong he explains why he did
that action. (Santrock, 2011)
Psychological/Social/Emotional Evan is a very compassionate person. He
has had a brother his whole so there
Development
(Also remember to comment on
resolving conflict and seeing things
normal vs. atypical development
through others’ eyes is something he has
using textbook information to
been taught since conflicts started. As he
support your conclusions)
grows he is responsible for more and
more things. When he does things right is
filled with a mass amount of pride and is
praised with positive feedback. When he
does something wrong he is starting to
feel guilt. He is encouraged to try again
and because of this thinks highly of
himself. Evan is very emotional and
displays them often. In the eyes of society
he cries as if a girl would cry, unlike his
brother who hardly ever cries. He knows
right from wrong and loves to tell you all
the good things he does. He will tell his
brother when he is being naughty and
suggest a different action. He also informs
the dog when his actions are not right.
Evan is a male and he knows it. He plays
(Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory) Initiative Vs GuiltChildren’s social world is growing resulting in them
facing new challenges that require them to have active,
purposeful, responsible behavior. In this stage feelings of
guilt may come about. (Santrock, 2011,Pg.23)
Self-understanding- a child’s cognitive representation of
one’s self pg 243
Understanding others- understanding that other people
have emotions and desires (Santrock, 2011)
Emotional Development- Children that are in the age
range of early childhood are becoming aware of
themselves through their ability to feel a wide range of
emotions daily. This helps them try to understand other
people’s emotions as well as trying to control their own.
At this age they will express new emotions, begin to
understand emotions and show them in a variety of ways,
and begin to regulate their emotions. (Santrock, 2011)
Moral Development- the development that involves
thoughts, feelings, and behavior based on the rules of
right and wrong. Pg 247 Due to this development a child
begins to feel things like guilt and anxiety. Empathy is
also a new feeling that is involved by moral development.
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
6
with footballs, action figures, nerf guns,
tools, and cars. At preschool there are the
options that he can play with dolls or
other girl oriented things but the groups of
boys are never found in that area.
Evan is influenced by his XY
chromosomes. He loves to display his
masculinity by showing you how strong
he is and what he helped dad build.
Evan is a gentle and holds doors open for
women, but will not think twice about
dropping his drawers outside and going to
the bathroom. Through observation Evan
has learned to wear hats when going out
and to stand around with his hands in his
pockets like his father. Evan has learned
from his peers that males are allowed to
fart and laugh afterwards. Through dress
up a person can see how he identifies
different careers or characters with
gender. Firefighters, pirates, and
construction works are outfits he will not
let mom wear because she is a girl. With
colors he associates pink and purple to be
girl colors and blue is a boy color.
(Santrock, 2011)
Gender- This refers to having male or female
characteristics. Children in early childhood can recognize
their gender and have gender identity. During preschool
children learn to fill their gender roles by acting, feeling,
and thinking certain ways based on what is expected of
their gender. At preschool age children demonstrate
gender typing by the types of toys they play with and
how they express their emotions; masculine roles and
feminine roles. (Santrock, 2011,Pg249)
Biological Influence of Gender- the 23rd set of
chromosomes that are a combination of X and Y; XX
usually for females, XY usually for males. When the
reproductive organs (testes and ovaries) begin to grow is
when males and females begin to differ. The major
hormones in each organ of the sexes also cause
differences between the sexes. The evolutionary
psychological view takes an ethological theory look at
gender by suggesting that males and females had to
evolve psychologically to survive and find a mate.
(Santrock, 2011)
Social Influences of Gender- A persons social
experiences are thought to influence gender. The social
role theory suggests that gender role differences result
from the contrasting roles of men and women. The
psychoanalytic theory of gender is a theory based from
Freud’s views that believes a child that is preschool age
develops a sexual attraction to the opposite sex parent and
they subsequently identify with the same sex parent
adopting that parents characteristics. The social cognitive
theory of gender emphasizes that children develop their
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
7
Influences of family, peers,
education, and media
gender through observation and imitation of gender
behavior and through the rewards and punishments
associated with them as in Skinner’s Operant
Conditioning. Parents also influence their child’s gender
by action and example. Peers also influence gender by
responding positively towards acceptable gender
behavior. (Santrock, 2011,Pg 250-251)
Gender Scheme theory- A cognitive view theory that
believes that gender-typing emerges as children develop
their gender schemas of their cultures gender-appropriate
behavior. (Santrock, 2011, Pg 252)
Evan is the oldest brother. He has a little
Baumrind’s Parenting Styles- Parenting styles that
brother but only by one hour. Since he is
involve a combination of acceptance and responsiveness
a fraternal twin birth order personality
and demand and control; authoritarian parenting,
does not apply to how his personality is.
authoritative parenting, neglectful parenting, and
He has had a brother for all of his life and indulgent parenting. (Santrock, 2011, Pg 253-54)
has been affected positively from this. He Sibling Relationships- include conflict, helping, sharing,
always has someone to play with and
teaching, fighting, support systems, playing, rivals, and
learned how to play with others early.
communication partners. (Santrock, 2011)
Since they are brothers they have plenty
Birth Order- affects personality traits maybe as a result
of conflict but have learned multiple ways of interaction with mother and/or siblings. (Santrock,
to solve problems. He is very close with
2011)
him and has formed a communication that Peer Relations- relationships with peers grow as a child
no one can really understand when talking grows. At this age children like to play with children that
with each other. Evan and his relationship are the same sex typically. Interactions with peers can be
with his brother also drive competition to negative and positive. When a child is in the early
succeed at crawling, walking, learning the childhood stage they start to begin to have friends and
alphabet, and potty training.
non-friends. At this age their peer interaction is through
Due to Evan having his brother with for
all types of play. (Santrock, 2011)
preschool, vacation bible school, and
Television- an influential part of media that affects a
Sunday school it made it easier to leave
child’s development. It can have negative effects like
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
8
home since he had no experience with
daycare or someone not related to him
watching him. Many children have a hard
time leaving mothers at preschool and
being alone. He enjoys going to school,
playing with children, and learning.
Evan is only allowed to watch a little bit
of television and certain programs.
Interactive shows on Nick Jr or Disney
are acceptable and are only allowed to
watch certain movies. He receives the
positive sides of television and is not
permitted to watch violence or explicit
language.
Since Evan has started preschool and
been able to retain more information there
has been a noticeable change. He is
affected by many environments now. He
is manly affected by his home life. One
way that he is affected by this is by the
parenting style he lives with. Evans’
father is an authoritarian and Evans’
mother is an authoritative. (Santrock,
2011)At home Evan has a family
orientated home life. He has family game
nights, eats meals together as a family,
and helps with chores. Although he is
only in preschool he makes his bed, helps
with dishes and laundry, and sweeps and
vacuums. He is responsible for putting
away all of his toys after he is done
aggression or passive learning and positive effects like
increasing information about the world and teach them
social skills. (Santrock, 2011)
Preschool- Childhood education that helps children with
social skills and basic knowledge for kindergarten.
Ecological theory- development reflects the influence of
several environments pg27 (Santrock, 2011)
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
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playing with them. Evan has received a
great amount of pride from his
responsibilities.
Evan also enjoys a wide range of crafts
due to the fact that since he was old
enough to try to draw crafts were a part of
his everyday life. He is very creative and
imaginative. Making different creations
like homemade play-doh that is also a
healthy snack or being able to paint to
express his ideas has helped with his fine
motor skills and imagination. Some
children learn how to use a scissors in
preschool but Evan had long mastered
that skill.
Evan has been read to constantly since
birth. Even as an infant one of the things
he loved the most was books. He is read
to before his nap and before bedtime
along with several fun books during the
day. This has helped with sight words and
letters.
Since Evans’ mom is a stay-at-home mom
he has a very close bond with her. He also
got the benefit of being raised in a safe
nurtured environment. He was raised with
one-on-one attention allowing him to get
plenty of attention and useful knowledge.
Cultural Influences (This can
include socioeconomic differences,
Evans’ development is influenced by
different cultural aspects. One aspect is
Socioeconomic Status- grouping of people with similar
occupation, education, and economic status. (Santrock,
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
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different cultures, race, ethnic,
religious differences, rural/urban,
etc.)
the socioeconomic status of the family.
(Santrock, 2011)He has the benefit of
going to a private preschool to help with
his education and social development. He
is well nourished and healthy because of
the care he receives.
Evan is dramatically influenced by
culture. Culture affects how he is raised,
the values and morals that he bases
choices on, and how he displays his
emotions. (Santrock, 2011) Evan is raised
as a Christian who affects his morals and
is raised to be an individual and to use
self expression. Being raised in a nuclear
family also influences the development he
has. He is raised in small community, in
the country with the majority of his
family in a ten mile radius.
2011,PG10)
Culture- the behavioral patterns, beliefs, and all other
products of a group passed on from one generation to the
next. (Santrock, 2011,pg.10)
Summarize five insights/conclusions about Childhood Development as a result of your analysis.
1. In Childhood Development parents play a large role. Starting with the basic genetic makeup of the child, how they are fed,
how they are punished, what style parenting they display, and the way they act for the child to learn from. It does not matter if you
believe in nature or if you believe in nurture playing more of a role, either way parents play a huge role because they affect nature and
nurture in the child’s development.
2. Nutrition is extremely important. There is a serious problem with children becoming overweight but another serious
problem with others not getting enough nutrition. The convenience of fast food in our country has become a problem for adults and
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
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children. The fast pace motion of families is setting them up for a lower life. On the other side of the problem lower-income families
cannot support enough food for their children to eat properly. Programs like WIC are a great help. Having experience with WIC I
know the benefits. Nutrition affects so many aspects of development yet there are overweight children and children not getting
enough. I appreciate my family’s lifestyle of having home cooked, well balanced meals everyday now from seeing how much of a
problem it is in the United States.
3. Exercise is important at any age. Being physically active is very healthy especially for children. If a child is not active they
will not be active as an adult. I was surprised to read that only two hours is recommended and that preschoolers are likely to be
sedentary. Playing tag, football, baseball etc outside lasts longer as children’s’ ages progress because they hold interest. Being a stayat-home mom I am engaged in dancing or other physical activities all day with my children.
4. Television and video games has become a problem in childhood development. There are many benefits to televisions if
watched correctly. For example the show Dora the Explorer or Diego should be watched but is meant for children to interact using
thought process and actions. A child may just sit and watch the show to watch it if a supervisor doesn’t initiate responding to the
program. Letting children watch violence or things that are rated higher than their age is another problem. At preschool children are
affected what other children learn from these shows and movies. A problem also rises that more children sit and watch television than
being active. Television can be a helpful tool to learn new good things.
5. Nurture is extremely important in early childhood development along with time; from teachers, caretakers, and parents.
They learn how to behave from their actions and learn new tasks from their help. They grasp their gender roles, moral behavior, and
social interactions from their role models. They are learning tools to help them with their tasks and it is important for them to be given
the time to learning basic skills. Teachers and parents need to help them with basic learning to set them in the right path to accomplish
more difficult tasks as they grow older.
Learning Plan 5: Scoring Guide 1 Childhood Comparison
Target Competency(ies):


Evaluate the integration of genetics and environmental influences on development.
Analyze developmental issues related to physical/biological, cognitive, psychological/emotional
and social changes in early childhood.
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
LP4
12

Analyze developmental issues related to physical/biological, cognitive, psychological/emotional
and social changes in middle and late childhood.
Scoring Standards:
10 points - Criterion is met in an outstanding way. Outstanding work is informative, clear, thoughtful,
thorough, specific, accurate, relevant, consistent, detailed, precise, logical, fluent, purposeful, and
valid. Complex course content is accurately applied, analyzed, synthesized and/or evaluated in a
coherent, yet concise manner. Overall impression is "Wow!"
9 points - Criterion is met in an acceptable way. Acceptable work is characterized by minor errors,
flaws, or omissions. Overall impression is "Good job."
8 points - Criterion is met in an adequate way. Adequate work shows understanding, comprehension
and/or application but at a superficial level. Work is characterized by minimal or generalized
supporting details, errors, flaws, omissions of information, inconsistency, lack of fluency, disjointed
information, and/or information that is irrelevant, invalid, or inaccurate. Response may lack clarity or
purpose. Overall impression is "Adequate job."
4 points - Criterion is substandard and needs improvement. Substandard work is characterized by
inconsistency, rambling, weak or no development of ideas, errors, missing and/or inaccurate
information, failure to adequately apply course content or to show understanding/comprehension of
course content. Response is unclear, or not relevant, valid or logical. Overall impression is "Off the
mark!"
0 points - Criterion is not addressed.
Criteria
Values
You describe the impact of genetic influences on
childhood.
10 9 8 4 0
You describe the predictable biological changes in
childhood.
10 9 8 4 0
You describe the predictable cognitive changes in
childhood.
10 9 8 4 0
You describe the predictable psychological, social
and emotional changes in childhood.
10 9 8 4 0
You describe the Influences of family, peers,
education, and media in childhood.
10 9 8 4 0
You identify the impact of culture on development
10 9 8 4 0
Elise Schmidt
Childhood Development Chart
Developmental Psychology
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in childhood.
You apply the psychoanalytic, cognitive,
behavioral, and contextual theories (ethological
and ecological theories) of development to
childhood.
10 9 8 4 0
You differentiate between normal and abnormal
development in childhood.
10 9 8 4 0
You apply terminology appropriate to
development in childhood.
10 9 8 4 0
You summarize insights about childhood
development.
10 9 8 4 0
CORE ABILITIES - COMMUNICATE CLEARLY
CORE ABILITIES COMMUNICATE CLEARLY
You demonstrate mastery of grammar, spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, word usage and
sentence structure.
10 9 8 4 0
Your writing is organized (paragraphs, headings
and subheadings, or other organizational
devices), clear (it's easy to read and understand),
concise (you use action verbs; you do not ramble
or include irrelevant information), and cohesive
(words and ideas flow logically from one idea,
sentence and/or paragraph to another).
10 9 8 4 0
You use third person voice throughout the paper.
10 9 8 4 0
CORE ABILITIES - THINK CRITICALLY AND
CREATIVELY
CORE ABILITIES THINK CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY
You use language that is free from bias (including
loaded language), obscenities, and absolutes (all,
always, everyone, no one, totally, all of the time,
etc.).
10 9 8 4 0
You provide sufficient, specific, valid, relevant
10 9 8 4 0
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Developmental Psychology
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support (i.e., facts. reasons, examples, details,
statistics, anecdotes and quotes) to aid in
understanding your ideas and information, and to
support your conclusions and/or opinions.
CORE ABILITIES - ACT RESPONSIBLY
CORE ABILITIES ACT RESPONSIBLY
You provide APA formatted in-text citations and
references to document your sources of
information. (NOTE: Using ideas or information
that are not your own without documentation is
plagiarism).
10 9 8 4 0
You follow directions (followed Formatting
Requirements, APA Requirements, included name
on assignment, saved document per directions).
10 9 8 4 0
Total Points Possible
170
Total Points Earned
Percent grade = Total Points Earned divided by
Total Points Possible
You meet deadlines. (Points subtracted from
Points Earned score)
Submitted without scoring guide (Points
subtracted from Points Earned score)
Final Grade/Percent
- 5 percentage points if
submitted after the due date
- 5 percentage points if
submitted without the scoring guide