DEV PSYCH

• Childhood


  Period of the human lifespan between infancy and adolescence
• Early views on Childhood

  • Philippe Aries - Children in medieval Europe were not given any special status before 1600, instead they were viewed as miniature, somewhat imperfect adults
  • John Locke - During the 16th and 17th centuries, he considered a child to be a tabula rasa, which is Latin for "blank slate"
  • Charles Darwin - Developed the theory of evolution, and that observation and understanding the development of individuals could help identify how one had developed, making baby biographies
• Approaches to Child Development

  • Physical Development
  • Cognitive Development
  • Social and Personality Development
• Developmental tasks in Early Childhood

  • Physical Development
  • Language Development
  • Cognitive Development
  • Social and Emotional Development
  • Independence and self-care
  • Play and Imagination
  • Learning and School Readiness
• Preoperational Stage


  Lasting from about 2 to 7 years old, during which children begin to represent the world with words, images and drawings and symbolic thought goes beyond simple connections of sensory information and physical actions; stable concepts are formed, mental reasoning emerges, egocentrism is present and magical beliefs are constructed
• Preoperational thought


  The beginning of the ability to reconstruct in thought what has been established in behavior
• Substages of Preoperational thought

  • Symbolic Function Substage
  • Intuitive Thought Substage
• Symbolic Function Substage


  The first substage of preoperational thought, occurring roughly between the ages of 2 and 4 when the child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present
• Symbolic Function Substage

  • Egocentrism - the ability to distinguish between one's own perspective and someone else's perspective
  • Animism - the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action
• Intuitive Thought Substage


  The second stage of preoperational thought, occurring between 4 and 7 years old, when children begin to use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to all sorts of questions
• Vygotsky's Socio-cultural Theory


  Emphasized that children's activity constructs their knowledge and understanding
• Zone of Proximal Development


  The range of tasks that are too difficult for the child to master alone but that can be learned with guidance and assistance of adults or more-skilled children
• Scaffolding


  Changing the level of support as the student's competence increases, with less guidance given
• Private speech


  The use of language by young children to plan, guide and monitor their behavior, which is egocentric and immature but an important tool of thought during the early childhood years
• Child-Centered Kindergarten


  • Emphasizes the education of the whole child and concern for his or her physical, cognitive and socio-emotional development
  • Emphasis is on the process rather than what is learned
• Montessori Approach


  A philosophy of education in which children are given considerable freedom and spontaneity in choosing activities, with the teacher acting as a facilitator rather than a director
• Initiative vs Guilt


  The psychological stage associated with early childhood, where children begin to discover what kind of person they will become and approach new areas with enthusiasm, but may also experience guilt which lowers self-esteem
• Emotional and Personality Development

  • By 4-5 years old, children start describing themselves and others in terms of psychological traits
• Socio, Cultural and Emotional Development


  • By 2 years old, children become more independent from family and more likely to play with friends
  • By preschool and school age, children play more elaborate games with each other and learn to be more polite, regulate their emotional displays, and modify one another's behavior
• Moral Development


  The development of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding rules and conventions about what people should do in their interactions with other people
• Conscience


  An internal regulation of standards of right and wrong
• Memory and Thinking


  • Children become better able to recognize and use information in tasks involving memory and problem solving as they age
  • Preschoolers can remember 2-3 chunks of information in short-term memory, 5-year olds can remember 4 chunks, and 7-year olds can remember 5 chunks, close to the adult number of 7
  • The amount of information in a chunk also grows with age, and children gain awareness of their own cognitive processes (metacognition)
• Parenting Styles

  • Authoritarian
  • Permissive (Indulgent)
  • Authoritative
  • Uninvolved (Neglectful)
• Types of Child Maltreatment

  • Physical abuse
  • Child neglect
  • Sexual abuse
  • Emotional abuse
• Characteristics of Sibling Relationships

  • Emotional quality - both intensive positive and negative emotions are often expressed
  • Familiarity and intimacy - siblings typically know each other very well
  • Variation - many siblings have mixed feelings about each other
• Middle Childhood


  Referred to as the 'Golden Age' of childhood, wherein children begin to play organized sports and move into expanding roles and environments, spending more time away from their families and more time in school and other activities
• Types of Play

  • Sensorimotor play
  • Practice play
  • Pretense/symbolic play
  • Social play
  • Constructive play
  • Games
• Physical Development in Middle Childhood


  • Children's bones broaden and lengthen dramatically, they build muscle and gain 6-7 pounds per year on average
  • It's important for kids of this age to lead a healthy lifestyle with nutritious meals, exercise, and adequate sleep
  • Children continue to build on and improve gross motor skills and fine motor skills
• Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood


  • Children's ability to consciously, thoughtfully, and pro-actively choose to pursue goals appears
  • Children become able to discriminate between objects based on apparent size
  • Children become more efficient at processing inputs, with longer attention spans and better focus
  • Children's memory capacity and ability to use memory increases
  • Children develop more sophisticated language use and appreciation
• Emotional-Social Development in Middle Childhood


  • Children make great strides in recognizing emotions, controlling their own emotions, and communicating about emotions
  • Children's personal identity becomes more complex and multi-faceted
  • Children's overall self-esteem may fluctuate or decrease as they start the process of social comparison
• Cognitive development in middle childhood


  • Efficient at processing inputs
  • Attention span lengthens
  • Ability to focus and concentrate becomes more pronounced and reliable
• Memory development in middle childhood


  • Memory capacity increases
  • Ability to use memory improves
• Language development in middle childhood


  • Ability to use and appreciate increasingly sophisticated forms of language
• Emotional-social development in middle childhood


  • Ability to recognize emotions in self and others
  • Ability to control emotions
  • Ability to communicate about emotions
• Identity development in middle childhood

  • Becomes more complex, multi-faceted and abstract
• Children start social comparison with peers

  Their overall self-esteem may fluctuate or decrease
• Peer relationships in middle childhood


  • Take on a more prominent role
  • Children become better at reading and responding to other kids' emotions
  • Understanding other kids' intentions and needs
• Children's connection to parents and core family continues to be of tremendous importance for their well-being and functioning
• Self-conscious emotions in middle childhood

  • Pride, guilt and shame
• Dyslexia


  Learning disability that makes reading and language-related tasks harder due to disruptions in how the brain processes writing