Child Growth and
Development
TECA 1354
Nita Thomason, Ed.D.
Information
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Name
Email (use Cougar Mail)
Phone
Major
Career Plan
Experience with Children
CHAPTER 1
History, Theories, and
Methods of Child
Development
Learning Outcomes
LO1 Outline the development of the field of
child development.
LO2 Outline and evaluate the various
theories of child development.
LO3 Discuss controversies in child
development.
LO4 Describe ways in which researchers
study child development, including the
strengths and weaknesses of each.
© Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz/iStockphoto.com
TRUTH OR FICTION?
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During the Middle Ages, children were
often treated as miniature adults.
Nail biting and smoking cigarettes are
signs of conflict experienced during early
childhood.
Research with monkeys has helped
scientists understand the formation of
attachment in humans.
To learn how a person develops over a
lifetime, researchers have tracked some
individuals for more than 50 years.
© iStockphoto.com
LO1 The Development of the
Study of Child Development
© Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz/iStockphoto.com
The History of Child Development (1)
• Science of Child Development
– Only about a century old
• Ancient times & Middle Ages
– Children seen as innately evil
– Discipline was harsh
– Considered as property and servants
– Age of 7 considered “age of reason” and
expected to work alongside adults
The History of Child Development (2)
• Transition to modern thinking
– 18th & 19th century philosophers
– Locke
• Tabula rasa = blank tablet
• Focus on role of environment & experience
• Social approval/disapproval powerful shapers of
behavior
– Rousseau
• Children inherently good
• Would naturally develop into moral adults
The History of Child Development (3)
• Industrial Revolution
– Advent of “nuclear family”
– Consisting of mother, father, children
– Children more visible: childhood seen as unique
time of life
– Still labored in factories through early 20th
century
– 20th century saw laws enacted to:
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Protect from strenuous labor
Require attendance at school until certain age
Prevent marriage until certain age
Protect from sexual exploitation and parental abuse
Establish Juvenile Courts to deal with children in the
criminal justice system
The History of Child Development (4)
• Pioneers in study of Child Development
– Darwin
• Theory of Evolution
• Kept a “baby biography” of infant son
– Hall
• Credited with the founding of child development as an
academic discipline
• Labeled adolescence a time of “storm and stress”
– Binet and Simon
• Developed first standardized intelligence testing to help
identify academically “at risk” school children in France
LO2 Theories of Child
Development
© Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz/iStockphoto.com
THEORIES of Child Development
help us to EXPLAIN, PREDICT, and
INFLUENCE
• Psychoanalytic theories
– Freud - Erickson
• Behavioral and Social Cognitive theories
– Watson - Gesell - Skinner - Bandura
• Cognitive theories
– Piaget
• Biological theories
– Darwin - Lorenz - Tinbergen
• Ecological theories
– Bronfenbrenner
• Sociocultural theories
– Vygotsky
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual
Development
• Focus on emotional and social development
and origins of personality traits
• Three parts of personality
– Id
• Innate, unconscious, represents biological drives
• Demands immediate gratification
– Ego
• Curbs the Id
• Compromises drives with social conventions
– Superego
• Develops throughout infancy and early childhood
• Monitors the intentions and actions of the Id and the Ego
• Serves as the conscience and judges “right” and “wrong”
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Development
• Five stages of Psychosexual Development
– Oral
• B -18 mos. - gratification centers on mouth
– Anal
• 1.5 - 3 yrs. - gratification centers on anus and functions of
elimination
– Phallic
• 3 - 6 yrs. - gratification centers on genitals
– Latency
• 6 - 11 yrs. - puberty - repression of sexual thoughts develops social and intellectual skills
– Genital
• Puberty - adult - renewal of sexual desires - seeks
fulfillment through contact with opposite sex
Freud’s ideas
• Pros
– Influenced positive toilet-training
methods
– More sensitivity to emotional needs of
children
– More sensitivity toward understanding
misbehaviors in children
• Cons
– No direct contact with children in
developing the theory
– Mostly based on contacts with women
(adult patients) and may have biased
them toward expressing ideas that
confirmed his views
© Getty Images/© U.P. Images/iStockphoto.com
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial
Development
• Modified and expanded Freud’s theory from
5 to 8 stages and included adult concerns
• Focuses more on social relationships and
physical maturation rather than sexual or
aggressive instincts
• Also places greater emphasis on the ego, or
the sense of self
• Labeled them after “LIFE CRISES” rather
than bodily parts
• Emphasizes importance of
human consciousness and
choice
• Portray human development as
prosocial and helpful
• Some empirical support that
positive outcomes of early life
help children cope with life
crises at later stages
© Sarah Putnam/Indexstock/Photolibrary /© U.P. Images/iStockphoto.com / © graham klotz/iStockphoto.com
Contributions of Erikson’s Theory
The Learning Perspective:
Behavioral & Social Cognitive Theories
• Behaviorism - John B. Watson
– Believed in the objective, scientific approach that only observable behavior was relevant
– Did not include any cognitive or introspective
aspects
– Was in opposition to the ideas of Arnold Gesell
who believed “biological MATURATION” was the
main focus of development
– Watson emphasized BEHAVIOR PATTERNS
– Gesell emphasized PHYSICAL ASPECTS
Terms and Concepts of Behavioral Theory
• Classical Conditioning: developed by Pavlov; reflex
response is associated with a new stimulus
• Operant Conditioning: developed by Skinner; learning
occurs due to its reinforcement effect
– Reinforcement
• Stimuli that increases the frequency of the behavior they
follow
– Positive Reinforcers
• Increase the frequency of behaviors when they are
APPLIED
– Negative Reinforcers
• Increase the frequency of behaviors when they are
REMOVED
– Extinction
• No longer reacting to a previous stimulus due to lack of
reinforcement
Punishment
• Punishment: aversive events that decrease
the frequency of the behavior they follow
• Issues with punishment:
– Does not offer alternative acceptable behaviors
– Tends to suppress behavior only when its
delivery is guaranteed (must be consistent and
immediate)
– Can create feelings of anger and hostility
Social Cognitive Theory
• Developed by Bandura; learning occurs by
observing other people, by reading, by viewing
characters in different media
• Observational learning occurs through
modeling the same behavior of another person.
• Observational learning can lie latent until the
behavior observed is needed or applicable.
• The people after whom we pattern our
behavior are called models.
Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Jean Piaget
• Observed and based his theory of child development on the
consistent (although sometimes illogical) mental processes
of children
• Terms and concepts
– Scheme
• Pattern of action or mental structure involved in acquiring and organizing
knowledge
– Adaptation
• Interaction between the organism and the environment includes:
– Assimilation: responding to new objects or events using existing schemes
– Accommodation: adjusting or creating new schemes when something new
doesn’t fit old scheme
– Equilibration
• Assimilation allows cognitive harmony (equilibrium/balance) when
assimilation cannot take place, the equilibrium is disturbed, and
accommodation may be employed.
• Equilibration is at the heart of a child’s natural curiosity.
• Stage 1 – Sensorimotor, (birth to 2 years); focus on
sensory exploration; object permanence mastered
• Stage 2 – Preoperational (2 to 7 years); focus on
language and symbolic expression through play;
children are egocentric
• Stage 3 – Concrete operational
(7-12 years); focus on mastering
concepts such as reversibility
• Stage 4 – Formal operational
(12 years and older); ability to
reason abstractly
© U.P. Images/iStockphoto.com/© AFP/Getty Images/© Stefan Klein/iStockphoto.com
Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Evaluation of Piaget’s ideas
• He may have underestimated the ages of
children’s capabilities.
• Many cognitive skills may develop
gradually and not in distinct stages.
• He has however, provided a strong
theoretical basis for further research in
cognitive development.
Another Cognitive Perspective
Information Processing Theory
• The brain is a sort of biological computer.
• Information Processing Theory is based on
the computer as a metaphor for human
cognitive processes.
• Terms and concepts
– Encoding: input of information (enter data)
– Storing: placing it in long term memory files from
the short term/working files
– Retrieving: finding the files and using the
data/information to solve problems
Biological Perspective
Ethology
• Biological Perspectives relate to all physical
developments.
• Ethology is concerned with inborn, instinctive,
behavior patterns.
• Fixed Action Patterns: built-in or instinctive
behaviors (example: birds migrating to same
place; sex hormone secretion during prenatal
development resulting in masculine or
feminine patterned brain)
Ecological Perspective
Urie Bronfrenbrenner
• Ecology: the branch of biology dealing with
relationships between living organisms and their
environment.
• Ecological Systems Theory: incorporates
psychological, social, emotional, and biological
aspects.
• Stresses the two-way interactions between parent
and child
Ecological Systems Theory
• Views settings/contexts of human development
as multiple systems within a larger system
• Terms and concepts
– Microsystem: interactions of the child with other people in
the immediate setting such as the home, school, or peer group
– Mesosystem: interactions of various settings with the
microsystem such as the parent-teacher conference or the
school field trip to the zoo
– Exosystem: institutions which indirectly affect the
development of the child such as the school board or the
parent’s place of employment
– Macrosystem: involves the interaction of the child with the
beliefs, expectations, and lifestyle of their cultural setting
– Chronosystem: refers to the influence that the changes
over time have on development
Sociocultural Perspective
Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
• People are social beings who are affected by
the cultures in which they live.
• Theory concentrates on the process of
transmitting information and cognitive skills
from generation to generation.
• Focus is on child’s social interactions.
• Views the child as adapting to his/her social
and cultural interactions
Sociocultural Terms & Key Concepts
• Zone of Proximal Development
– Refers to a range of tasks that a child can carry out
with the help of a more skilled apprentice
– When learning with others, children internalize the
conversations and lessons that help them gain skills.
• Scaffolding
– Temporary skeletal structure enabling someone to
work on a permanent structure
– In the case of Vygotsky’s theory,
the scaffolding is other people that
provide the child with the help and
lessons they need until they have
the ability to function on their own.
Archives of the History of American Psychology - The University of Akron / © U.P. Images/iStockphoto.com / © graham klotz/iStockphoto.com
Human Diversity
• Sociocultural Perspective promotes
understanding the awareness of individual
diversity.
• Examples of diversity
– Ethnicity
• Involves cultural heritage, race, language, and
common history
– Gender
• The psychological state of being male or female
• Influenced by cultural concepts
of gender-appropriate behavior
• Gender polarization occurs
when differences are
exaggerated
© Jani Bryson/iStockphoto.com
LO3 Controversies in Child
Development
© Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz/iStockphoto.com
Three Controversies in Child Development
(1) Nature/Nurture Controversy
• Age old debate of which is more influential in
development…
– Nature (heredity)
• Do we come preprogrammed to be what we become regardless of
where, by whom, and how we are raised?
– Nurture (environmental influences)
• Or does the environment alone influence how we develop. Are we
the tabula rasas simply awaiting someone to write on us?
• Today’s general opinion…
– Most researchers agree that both nature and nurture play
vital roles in nearly all areas of development.
Three Controversies in Child Development
(2) Continuity/Discontinuity Controversy
• Continuous perspective (no specific “stages”)
– Views development as a gradual process with no major
qualitative changes
• Discontinuous perspective (stage theories)
– Views development as a series of rapid qualitative changes
ushering in new stages of development
• Freud and Piaget were discontinuous (stage)
theorists.
• Certain aspects of physical development do occur in
stages (early and adolescent growth spurts).
• Cognitive development remains in disagreement with
researchers.
Three Controversies in Child Development
(3) Active/Passive Controversy
• Active perspective
– Maintains children are actively engaged in their own development
– Assumes children have a natural love of learning
– Proponents of open education that encourages children to explore and
pursue their own unique talents adhere to this perspective
• Passive perspective
– Maintains that children are passive and the environment acts on them
to influence development
– Assumes children must be “motivated” by their teachers
– Such educators typically adhere to rigorous traditional teaching
regimens that use rewards and punishments to promote learning.
LO4 How We Study Child
Development
© Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz/iStockphoto.com
How We Study Child Development
Gathering Information
• Scientists value evidence that is obtained only
by using the empirical approach.
• There are a number of research approaches
that provide valid empirical data.
• Other types of conclusions that rely solely on
strong argumentation, or reference to authority
figures are not evidence. These are referred to
as anecdotal, and do not provide valid
conclusions.
Types of Developmental Research
Methodologies
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Naturalistic observation
Case study
Correlation
Experiment
Longitudinal
Cross-sectional
Cross-sequential
Naturalistic Observation
• These studies are conducted in “the field”
– “real-life” settings: homes, schools,
playgrounds, etc.
• Researchers observe the natural
behavior of the subjects
– They try to be as unobtrusive as possible
and “blend-in” without being noticed.
Case Study
• A careful in depth account of the
behavior of a single individual.
• It may include direct observations,
questionnaires, standardized tests, and
interviews or information from public
records.
• Researchers are cautious in drawing
conclusions when using this method.
Correlation: Putting Things Together
• Correlation: attempt to determine whether
one behavior or trait being studied is
correlated or indicates a relationship with
another behavior or trait; never indicates
cause and effect
• Correlation coefficient: this is a statistical
index ranging from -1.00 to +1.00; the closer
to -1.00 or +1.00 the stronger the correlation
Correlation: Putting Things Together
• Positive correlation: statistical relationship
where increases or decreases in
measurement correspond with increases or
decreases in the other (example: attendance
increased and grades increased)
• Negative Correlation: statistical relationship
where increases in one measure are
matched with a decrease in the other
(example: attendance increased, however,
grades decreased)
Figure 1.6 – Examples of Positive and
Negative Correlations
Limitations of Correlational Information
• Correlations can show relationships
only; they never show cause and effect
• Selection factors are a term used to
describe a research bias.
– i.e., it may seem “logical” to assume that
violent media makes people more
aggressive, but it may also be that more
aggressive people choose violent media
The Experiment: Trying Things Out
© eva serrabassa/iStockphoto.com
• Preferred method for investigating cause and
effect
The Experiment: Trying Things Out
• Defining “Experiment”
– A method of research where one group of subjects
gets a treatment and another group does not
– Subjects are observed to decide if the treatment
changed their behavior
– Usually undertaken to prove a hypothesis
• A hypothesis is a proposed answer to a question that the
researcher seeks to prove either right or wrong.
• Example: a researcher might hypothesize that TV violence
will cause aggressive behavior in children
The Experiment: Trying Things Out
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Terminology and concepts
– Independent and Dependent Variables
• Independent Variable
– The thing being manipulated by the experimenters
• Dependent Variable
– The measured result
– Experimental and Control Groups
• Experimental Group
– Receive the treatment (independent variable)
• Control Group
– Subjects do not receive the treatment (independent variable)
– Random Assignment
• Used to avoid the bias of a selection factor
– Ethical & practical considerations
• Sometimes research can be done with animals that would not be
allowed on human subjects and can be generalized to humans.
Longitudinal Research:
Studying Development Over Time
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Seeks to study development over time
Some studies have spanned more than 50 years.
Most cover only a few months or years.
Same people are observed repeatedly over time
insuring valid comparisons.
• Changes are recorded.
• Drawbacks
– Can be difficult to find volunteers
– Many subjects fall out of touch as time passes.
– Some subjects may die.
Cross-Sectional Studies
• Cross-sectional research
– Observes and compares different subjects of
different ages at the same time
• Major obstacles
– Cohort Effect
• Cohort is a group of people born around the same time.
• They experience cultural events unique to their
particular age group.
• In longitudinal studies, they know they have observed
the development of the same individuals over a span of
time.
• In cross-sectional research, they can only hope that
subjects will be comparable.
Cross-Sequential Research
• Combines longitudinal and cross-sectional methods to
overcome their respective research drawbacks
• Full span of the ideal longitudinal study is broken up
into convenient segments.
• Minimizes the number of years needed to complete a
study
• Follows subjects of different ages for lesser periods of
time
• Obvious advantage is faster completion of study (cuts
time in half).
• Testing and retesting provides some of the continuity
of a longitudinal study; by observing both samples at
the same age (a time-lag comparison), it can be
determined if they are truly comparable or if the
difference is associated with the cohort effect.
Figure 1.7 – Example of Cross-Sequential
Research
Researcher’s Ethical Considerations
• Do no physical or psychological harm
• Informed consent is needed (from guardians
if minors).
• Participation must be voluntary.
• Participants can withdraw from study at any
time for any reason.
• Participants should be offered information
about the results of the study.
• Identities of participants remain confidential
• Research plans should be presented to a
committee of colleagues for approval before
proceeding.