Introduction to Child Development Theories Chapters 1 & 2 PDF

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Chapter 1- Introduces what we study, why, and how, explaining some research strategies and methods used to understand how people grow and change. Defining Development ● Developmental study is a science ○ Depends on theories, data, analysis, critical thinking, and sound methodology— just like every other science. ● Developmentalists begin with curiosity and then seek the facts, drawing con- clusions only after careful research. ○ Developmental research begins with individuals, not groups, although group influences on individuals (such as culture and na- tionality) are considered as well. The Nature–Nurture Controversy ● Nature refers to the influence of genes that people inherit. ● Nurture refers to environmental influences, beginning with the health and diet of the embryo’s mother and continuing lifelong, including family, school, community, and society. Both nature and nurture affect everyone, always, but how much and in what ways are hotly disputed. ● Nature–nurture controversy has many other names, among them heredity versus environment and maturation versus learning. ○ The basic question is: How much of any characteristic, behavior, or pattern of development is the result of genes and how much is the result of experience? ● Question is “how much,” not “which,” because both genes and the environment affect every characteristic. ○ Nature and nurture are always contribute to every aspect of development. ● Nurture, and that nurture in turn affects the genes. ○ Most evident when a temperamentally difficult child is quick to cry in anger. ○ That response may cause the parents to be more punishing, and that punishment may strengthen the angry responses of the child. Observing Changes over Time ● Developmental science is the issue of whether individuals change or remain the same over time. ● Developmentalists try to divide life into segments is by using chronology, considering each age Domains Of Human Development ● Cognitive Development: Includes all the mental processes that a person uses to obtain knowledge or to think about the environment. Cognition encompasses perception, imagination, judgment, memory, and language —the processes people use to think,

decide, and learn. Education— not only the formal curriculum in schools but also informal learning—is part of this domain as well. ● Psychosocial Development: Includes development of emotions, temperament, and social skills. Family, friends, the community, the culture, and the larger society are particularly central to the psychosocial domain. For example, cultural differences in “appropriate” sex roles or in family structures are part of this domain. ● Biosocial Development: Includes all the growth and change that occur in a person’s body and the genetic, nutritional, and health factors that affect that growth and change. Motor skills—everything from grasping a rattle to driving a car—are also part of the biosocial domain. In this book, this domain is called biosocial, rather than physical or biological.

Chapter 2- Introduces theories of development to focus our study. It describes three grand theories and two emergent ones, all of which lay the foundation for hundreds of other theories and thousands of observations. Grand Theories ● In the first half of the twentieth century, two opposing theories— psychoanalytic theory and behaviorism (also called learning theory)—began as general theories of psychology and later were applied specifically to human development. Freud’s Ideas ● Psychoanalytic theory originated with Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), an Austrian physician who treated patients suffering from mental illness. ○ Freud maintained that at each stage, sensual satisfaction (from stimulation of the mouth, anus, or penis) is linked to major developmental needs and challenges. Each stage includes its own potential conflicts. ● According to Freud, how people experience and resolve these conflicts—especially those related to weaning, toilet training, and sexual pleasure—determines personality patterns because “the early stages provide the foundation for adult behavior” (Salkind, 2004, p. 125). ○ A psychoanalytic interpretation would be that adults may be stuck in unconscious struggles rooted in a childhood stage if they smoke cigarettes (stuck in the oral stage) or keep careful track of money (anal) or are romantically attracted to much older partners (phallic). ● Childhood fantasies and memories remain powerful throughout life. If you have ever wondered why lovers call each other “baby” or why many people refer to their spouse as their “old lady” or “sugar daddy,” then Freud’s theory provides an explanation: The parent–child relationship is the model for all intimacy. ● Researchers interested in attachment theory have further developed this idea, building on the notion that early relationships between parent and child echo throughout life. Behaviorism

● Second grand theory, behaviorism, arose in direct opposition to the psycho- analytic emphasis on unconscious, hidden urges Laws of Behavior ● For every individual at every age, from newborn to centenarian, behaviorists seek the overarching laws that govern how simple actions and environmental responses shape such complex actions as reading a book or making a family dinner. ● Science of human development has benefited from behaviorism. The the- ory’s emphasis on the origins and consequences of observed behavior led researchers to realize that many actions that seem to be genetic, or to result from deeply rooted emotional problems, are actually learned. And if something is learned, it can be unlearned. Social Learning ● Central premise is that humans can learn from observing others, without personally experiencing any reinforcement. ● We learn from other people because we are social be- ings. We grow up in families, we learn from friends and teachers, we love and hate and admire other people—even when we wish we were more independent. ● An integral part of social learning is modeling, in which people observe what someone else does and then copy it. ● Modeling is likely when the observer is uncertain or inexperienced and when the model is admired, powerful, nurturing, or similar to the observer (Bandura, 1986, 1997). Cognitive Theory ● Emphasizes the structure and develop- ment of thought processes. ○ According to this theory, thoughts and expectations profoundly affect attitudes, beliefs, values, assumptions, and actions. ● How children think is more revealing, Piaget concluded, than what they know; process, not product, is important. Emergent Theories ● Two new theories have emerged that, unlike the grand theories, are multicul- tural and multidisciplinary, developed not only by men of European ancestry but also by many non-Western, non-White, and female scientists. Sociocultural Theory ● Many developmentalists believe that “individual development must be understood in, and cannot be separated from, its social and cultural-historical context” (Rogoff, 2003, p. 50). ● The central thesis of sociocultural theory is that human development re- sults from the dynamic interaction between developing persons and the society and culture that surround them. Cultural Variations

● Few adults realize how much their responses are shaped by culture. Societies provide not only customs but also tools and theories. ● Each of us begins life knowing nothing about our culture, which includes such basic knowledge as how and what to eat, when to express emotions, and even how to communicate. ● The concept that cultural patterns and beliefs are social constructions (explained in Chapter 1) is easy for sociocultural theorists to grasp. They believe that socially constructed ideas are no less powerful than physical or emotional constraints. The Zone of Proximal Development ● According to sociocultural theory, whether people are learning a manual skill, a social custom, or a language, the basic process is the same. ○ Sociocultural learning is active and interactive. ● Each student has personal traits, experiences, and aspirations, education must be individualized with personal encouragement. ○ Learning styles vary: Some children need more assurance than others; some learn best by looking, oth- ers by hearing. Epigenetic Theory ● Genes interact with the environment to allow development (Gottlieb, 2003). ● Epigenetic development contrasts sharply with preformism, the theory that genes determine every aspect of development. With, On, and Around the Genes ● Genetic Effects Genetic refers to the entire genome, which includes the following: ● ➤ Response for Nurses (from page 50): You would guide the child in the zone of proximal development, where teacher and child interact. Thus, you might encourage the child to prepare the nebulizer (by putting in the medicine, for instance) and then breathe through it yourself, taking turns with the child. 1. The genes that make each person (except monozygotic twins) genetically unique 2. The genes that distinguish our species as human 3. The genes that all animals share ● Poly-morphisms determine how curly our hair is and how easy it is for us to learn the multiplication tables. ● All variable psychological as well as all physical traits—from bashfulness to blood type, from moodiness to metabolism, from vocational aptitude to voice tone —are influenced by genes in their many forms. Even how religious a person is, or whether we marry, or which candidate gets our vote is genetically influenced (Bouchard et al., 2004).

The Example of Drug Addiction ● A person’s potential to become addicted is genetic ● A genetically vulnerable person becomes an addict or an alcoholic— if the person repeatedly consumes an addictive substance. ● Someone who does not inherit the same genetic predisposition may consume the substance and not form an addiction. ○ Addiction is epigenetic, the outcome of the interaction of genes and environment. ● Once people become addicted to a particular drug, something in their bio- chemistry and brain makes them hypersensitive to that drug. For example, one drink makes a nonalcoholic pleasantly tipsy but awakens a powerful craving in an alcoholic. Chapter 3 Heredity and Environment The Genetic Code ● Development is dynamic, ongoing, and interactional. ● All living things are made up of tiny cells. ○ The work of these cells is done by proteins. ● Each cell manufactures certain pro- teins according to instructions stored by molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at the heart of each cell. DNA molecules are stored on a chromosome. ● The instructions in the 46 chromosomes are organized into units called genes, with each gene ● A protein is composed of a sequence of chemicals, a long string of amino acids which are the building blocks of life The Beginnings of Life ● Development of life begins at conception ○ Each human reproductive cell, or gamete, contains 23 chromosomes, half of a person’s 46....