Summary - How Children Develop from Siegler e.a. - 5th edition
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Why and how is child development studied? - Bullet Point 1Plato argued that self-control for children and discipline for parents are the purpose of good parenting and education. He also believed that knowledge is innate. Aristotle stressed the importance of the individual character of children. Hereby, the quality of parenting is important. Aristotle believed that knowledge is acquired through experiences. Locke argued that parents should raise their children with discipline.Nature is our biological heritage, the genes we receive from our parents, the innate aspects of a human being. Nurture is the environment, both physical and social, influencing our development, the acquired aspects of a human being. Nature and nurture interact. The genome (the complete set of hereditary information) influences behavior and experiences, but behavior and experiences also influence the genome. This discovery has given rise to the epigenetics, the study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated by the environment. Evidence for the enduring epigenetic impact of early experiences and behaviors comes from research on methylation, a biochemical process that reduces expression of a variety of genes. To conclude, both genes and environment are important in development. A continuous development is the idea that changes with age occur gradually, in small steps, quantity is important. A discontinuous development is the idea that changes with age include sudden large steps, quality is important. According to the stage theories, development consists of four large steps which are discontinuous, and age related. One of the best-known stage theories is Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the development of thinking and reasoning. This theory holds that children go through four stages of cognitive growth, each characterized by distinct intellectual abilities and ways of understanding the world. However, many researchers have concluded that developmental...
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The development of a child can raise various questions. A question that most parents have is how they can teach their children how to deal with anger and other negative emotions. Sometimes parents are spanking their children, but this turns out to be counterproductive. However, several effective ways are known to control the anger of a child. One way is to respond sympathetically to children who show negative emotions, so children be able to cope in a better way with the situation causing the negative emotions. Another way is to help the children look for positive alternatives when they show negative emotions.
Furthermore, the development of a child can raise questions about a responsible social policy, which is one more reasons learn about child development. Research can be done using meta-analysis, a method combining results from independent studies to arrive at conclusions based on all the studies. It can be asked whether it is better to invest in the prevention of developmental problems in children, or to invest in solving developmental problems that already exist in children.
For example, think about the reliability of a young childs courtroom testimony. It may happen that the judge believes the statement of a child, whereby an innocent person is punished, or vice versa, a guilty person can go free. Research has shown that young children tend to forget details, but that what they say is largely based on the truth. Important is that young children are sensitive to certain questioning techniques, especially when suggestive questions are repeated. Questions asked to young children in a court must be neutral. Also, questions can not be repeated if they have already been answered. These information must be considered to ensure a reliable statement.
Studying child development can lead to better understanding of the nature of human. Child developmental researchers have found methods to observe, describe and explain the development of children at a young age.
An illustration of how science can help to understand human nature comes from studies on how children overcome the effects of abuse, depending on point of time the child got abused. It appears that children who are in an unstable environment for less than 6 months after birth do not suffer from any negative effects later in life. However, if this period lasts longer than 6 months, they may experience problems, even if they are in a stable environment afterwards. Children who live in unstable environments for more than 6 months could suffer, among other, from an atypical social development. Atypical social decelopment originates from abnormal brain activity. For example, reduced activity in the amygdala, a brain area that is involved in emotional reactions.
Plato stated that self-control and discipline are the goal of good upbringing and education. Plato also believed that children have innate knowledge. Aristotle stated that it is important to take the individual character of a child into account when it comes to child rearing. So, quality of parenting is very
.....read moreWhat is prenatal development?
In history, many differences can be seen in the way people think about prenatal development. Aristotle rejected the idea of epigenesis , the emergence of new structures and functions during development.
Example: the Beng in West Africa believe that every baby is a reincarnation of an ancestor. The spirit of the ancestor, the wru, does not yet want earthly life and retains a double existence, traveling back and forth between the present and the wrugbe, the spirit world. If the child dies before the umbilical stump has dropped of, there is no funeral, because it is assumed that the child is not yet a person and has returned to the spirit world.
What is conception?
Gametes are reproductive cells (ovum or sperm) that contain only half of the genetic material of all other cells in the body. Gametes are produced by meiosis , a special type of cell division where the egg cell and sperm cell receive only one member from each of the 23 chromosome pairs. An egg cell and a sperm cell together form a complete set of 23 chromosome pairs.
Conception is the coming together of an egg cell from the mother and a sperm cell from the father. During the ejaculation, the sperm cells travel through the uterus to the egg for 6 to 7 hours. Only 200 of the 500 million sperm cells survive this journey. It is a process like in Darwin's theory: survival of the fittest. There are several reasons why sperm cells can not make it to the egg cell. First, there may be problems with the sperm cells themselves, which is sometimes based on a genetic defect. It is also possible that sperm cells get entangled with each other during the trip. Finally, it is possible that the sperm cells go into the fallopian tube that does not harbor an egg. One sperm cell fertilises the egg cell. A fertilized egg is called a zygote . By a chemical reaction, which occurs when a sperm cell reaches the egg cell, a layer is formed around the egg, so that other sperm cells can no longer reach or fertilize the egg cell. In the first two weeks, the fertilized cell is a zygote.
What kind of development processes are there?
From 3 to 8 weeks the fertilized egg is called an embryo , from the 9th week on it is called a fetus .
The development process of the fertilized egg cell consists of four processes:
Mitosis: cell division, starts 12 hours after fertilization;
Cell migration: the movement of new shaped cells away from their original location;
Cell differentiation: all embryonic stem cells can develop in any type of cell, these cells will specialize in structure and function;
Apoptosis : cell killing,for example, the membranes between fingers and toes are removed.
For a long time it has been thought that more male than female embryos were conceived. Male fetuses are more vulnerable to early abortion and more often have a low birth weight than female. Recent
.....read moreHow do nature and nurture play a role?
The first studies on development are trying to answer the question which of the following is more ifluental on the childs development: the genes or the environment. Since the discovery of the DNA, the basic component of heredity, enormous advances have been made in deciphering the genetic code. Researchers have mapped the entire genome, the complete set of genes of an organism. Later studies on development found both, the genes and the environment, as important influences in the development of a child. The genes and the environment interact continuously with each other, therefore both influence the development of a child.
Which genetic and environmental influences are there?
There are three elements that are important in the development of a child: genotype, phenotype and the environment. Genotype is the inherited genetic material of an an individual. Phenotype is the observable expression of the genotype, namely the body characteristics and behavior. The environment is an all-encompassing aspect of an individual and his / her surrounding aspects, unlike the genes.
These three elements are involved in five relationships that are fundamental to the development of every child:
1: The parents genetic contribution to the child's genotype.
Chromosomes are molecules of the DNA containing genetic information. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is made of molecules containing all biochemical instructions involved in the formation and functioning of an organism. These instructions are packaged in genes , sections of chromosomes that are the basic heredity unit of all living beings. People normally have 46 chromosomes, 23 pairs, in each cell nucleus. Except in the germ cells, these only contain 23 chromosomes.
Every person has one pair of sex chromosomes. Sex chromosomes transmit the genetic information. A man has an X chromosome and a Y chromosome. A woman possesses two X chromosomes. For this reason, always the father determines the sex of a child. When the man transmits a Y chromosome to the child, it becomes a boy (XY) and when the man passes an X chromosome to the child, it becomes a girl (XX).
A child shows similarities on the general human level (the child has feet and arms) and on an individual level (the child shares similarities with family members). Different mechanisms ensure the genetic diversity between people. One is mutation. Mutation is a change in the components of the DNA. Another mechanism is crossing. Crossing over is a process where parts of DNA swap from one chromosome to another chromosome. Crossing over promotes the variability between individuals.
Thousands of disorders have a genetic origin. These can be inherited in different ways:
Dominant-recessive pattern of inheritance: the disorder only occurs when an individual has two recessive alleles of the condition. If a dominant gene causes a disease, the disease always occurs. Often a gene is not responsible for a diesease, but triggers a whole process that leads to certain symptoms.
Polygenetic inheritance: many disorders arise from interactions between multiple inherited genes.
Sex-linked inheritance: some conditions are on the X chromosome, so men are more likely to have the disease because women have an extra X chromosome.
Chromosomal anomalies: if there are errors in the
.....read moreThere are five different theories about the cognitive development of a child that will be discussed in this chapter.
What is the focus in Piaget's theory?
Piaget's theory remains the best known cognitive development theory. Piaget focuses on the way children think at different ages. He sees the child as a researcher: the child acquires knowledge through experiences. Children are motivated to learn without instructions or rewards from others. Piaget is therefore seen as a constructivist.
Which are the central development aspects?
Piaget believed that the genes and environment interact, in order to produce cognitive development. Piaget saw the development as both a continuous process and a discontinuous process. The main aspects of continuity are: assimilation, accommodation, and balance. Assimilation is a process in which incoming information is processed on basis of the knowledge the child already has. Accommodation is a process in which new incoming information is processed on the basis of knowledge the child did not have before. Balance is a process in which a balance is created between the first two processes in order to understand new information. When a child does not understand something, it is in a phase of non-equilibrium.
Many of the important aspects of Piaget's theory are discontinuous aspects, which he named stages of cognitive development. The following stages are the central characteristics of Piaget's theory of urbanism: qualitative change, broad applicability, brief transitions and invariant sequence. Qualitative change means that the older a child becomes, the more the interpretations of certain behavior change. Broad applicability means that the thinking about certain subjects is influenced by the general way of thinking. Brief transitions explains the period of transition in the way of thinking. By invariant sequence is meant that each child runs all stages in the same order.
Piaget's theory consists of the following four stages: the sensorimotor phase, the preoperational phase, the concrete operational phase, and the formal operational phase.
The sensorimotor phase occurs between the birth and the child's second year of life. The development of intelligence happens through sensory perceptions and motor actions. Important concepts in this phase are object permanence, the A-not-B-error and deffered imitation. Object persistence means that the child understands that an object does not dissappear and still exists when covered by a cloth. Children are only able to understand this from the age of 8 months. The A-not-B-error is a process in which an object is hidden under a cloth (cloth A). Then the object is clogged under another cloth (canvas B). Then the child must search for the object (in this case, in place B). Children up to and including 12 months do not understand this process and will search at location A. Deffered imitation implies that children in the last six months of the sensorimotor phase (18 to 24 months) are able to imitate certain behaviors of other people.
The preoperational phase takes place between the second and seventh year of a child's life. What they experienced in language (verbal) and pictures (non-verbal) is expressed and processed. Important concepts are symbolic representation and egocentrism. By symbolic representation is meant that children from an age of
How does perceptual development work?
There is a difference between perception and sensation. Sensation is the processing of basic information from the external world, through sensory receptors in the sensory organs and the brain. Perception is a process focusing on organizing and interpreting sensory information.
How does visual development work?
In the last years,the visual capacity of babies was underestimated. Research shows that babies have a greater visual capacity than always believed.Research was done through preferential looking technique and habituation. The preferential looking technique is a method for research of the baby's visual attention, whereby babies are presented with two patterns or two objects at the same time and eventually the pattern/ object is preferred. Habituation is a method of researching the sensory and perceptual development. The baby is repeatedly presented a stimulus until it gets used to it and shows a reduced response. Then a new stimulus is presented. If the reaction of the baby suddenly increases, one can conclude that the baby is capable of differentiating between old and new stimuli.
By using the preferential viewing technique, researchers are able to assess various visual aspects of babies. Visual acuity is the degree of visual discrimination. Normally babies prefer strong visual contrasts, such as black and white. The preference arises through the low contrast sensitivity of babies. Contrast sensitivity is the ability to distinguish between light and dark areas in visual patterns. Babies have low contrast sensitivity because the cones in the eyes are not well developed yet. Cones are light-sensitive neurons, which are concentrated in the fovea of the eye. The fovea is the central area of the eye. The cones of babies capture only 2% of the light entering the fovea, while adults absorb 65% of the light that enters the fovea. The brains of babies respond to a color change to another category, but not to a color change within a certain category.
Babies scan the environment for moving objects, this is called visual scanning. The objects/ people have to move slowly, otherwise babies are quickly distracted. They cannot follow rapid movements because their eye movement are quite jerky.
Perceptual constancy is the perception of objects constant in size, shape, colors, etc., despite a change of the retinal image of the object. Babies are able to experience perceptual constancy.
Another crucial perceptual skill is object segregation. Object segregation is the perception of boundaries between the objects. Through the movement of different objects together, babies can see if there is only object or multiple objects. As babies grow older, they use general knowledge of the world to distinguish objects.
Optical expansion occurs when an object comes closer and appears to be bigger and bigger.Babies are sensitive to this cue at an early stage. When this phenomenon is presented, the babies start to blink their eyes. Another phenomenon is binocular inequality: the difference between the retinal image of an object in one eye and the retinal image of an object in the other eye. Resulting in two different signals send to the brain. The closer we are to the objects we view, the greater the inequality in location between the two images of both eyes. The further the objects away, the more the
.....read moreHow does language develop?
We use symbols to communicate with other people and to reflect or exchange our thoughts, feelings, and knowledge. Symbols are a tool when communicating with other people. Using language includes language comprehension and language production. Language comprehension is the understanding of what other people say, write or portray (passive). Language production is speaking, writing or portraying to other people (and is active). Language comprehension leads to language production.
Which components does language have?
Generativity is a concept showing how important communication is. Generativity refers to the idea that through the use of an infinite set of words in our vocabulary, an infinite number of sentences can be formulated, and an infinite number of ideas can be expressed. Language consists of different terms. First, phonemes: the smallest pieces of sound that a language can produce. Then follows a phonological development, which reflects the acquisition of knowledge about sounds of language. Second, morphemes: the smallest pieces of language still having a meaning. Morphemes are composed of one or more phonemes. Here follows a semantic development, which is the knowledge of the meaning of certain expressions in a language. Thirdly, there is syntax: the rules of a language that specify how words of different categories (e.g. verbs, nouns) can be combined. This results in a syntactic development: the knowledge of the rules of a language. Ultimately, there is also a pragmatic development, which means how to learn to use a language.
What are the requirements for a language?
Full use of language is only achieved by humans. Therefore, one of the requirements is the brain. A second requirement is to realize that a language can be learned it must be seen and heard.
Language is species-specific, because only people can speak a language. And language learning is species-universal, because in general humans are able to learn a language, except people with cognitive impairments. Dogs, parrots and mainly monkeys can also learn to understand our language to a certain extent. Monkeys can be taught to communicate using a lexigram board. The human brain builds a communication system with the complexity, structure and generativity of language.
For almost everyone, the left hemisphere is dominant in language. The left hemisphere controls and presents language-related stimuli. The critical period for learning a language is between the fifth year of life and puberty. The critical period for language is a period in which language develops easily. After the critical period, it becomes much more difficult to learn a language and it is nearly impossible to learn to speak the language perfectly.
Not only the brain, but also other people are important in the development of language. Children need to be exposed to language. Already early, babies identify language as something important and prefer listening to language rather than other sounds. The so-called infant-directed speech (IDS) is a special way of talking to babies and small children. Characteristics of IDS are: emotional, exaggerated, slow, clear and accompanied by exaggerated facial expressions. The intonation of words helps
.....read moreConcepts are general ideas or terms that can be used to group objects, situations, qualities, or abstractions, that let them become equal in a certain way.
How can the who and what be understandable?
How to divide objects into categories?
Children use categorical hierarchy to distinguish between categories. The categories are classified into set-subset relation, such as animal-dog-poodle. Small children especially use perceptual categorization: grouping objects that are similar. It can already be seen in children from 3 to 4 months old. As children grow older, they also understand hierarchical and causal relationships between categories. The categorical hierarchies’ children are forming often contain three levels: the superordinate level (for example a plant), the subordinate level (for example an oak tree), and the basic level (for example, a tree). Children mainly learn the basic level first, after the parents help them to gain understanding of the higher levels. In an older age, children establish causal relationships between objects through explanations or the idea of cause and consequences between objects. This helps the child understand the categories and form more categories.
How to understand others and ourselves?
The naïve psychology focuses on the level of intellect needed to understand other people and themselves. To understand human behavior, three concepts are used: desire, beliefs and actions. There are three remarkable features of these concepts: First, the concepts refer to invisible mental states. Second, the concepts are linked to a cause-effect relationship and third, these concepts develop early in life.
At the end of the firs, and beginning of the second year of life, babies learn to understand the following four aspects:
At a later age, children develop theory of mind (TOM). TOM is the understanding of how the mind works and how it affects behavior. It develops strongly between the third and fifth year of life. An important component of TOM is understanding relationships between desire and actions. Children develop this at the end of their first year of life. It is well developed when children are two years old. In their third year of life, children develop a certain understanding of the relationship between beliefs and actions. At the same time, the concept is limited. It can be seen through children’s false-belief problems. These are tasks that test whether a child understands that other people behave in accordance with their own beliefs, even though the child knows that these beliefs are incorrect. It shows if children understand that actions of other people are determined by their thoughts in their heads rather than by the objective truth about the situation. Most children have this understanding when they are about five years old.
Nativists believe in the so-called theory of mind module (TOMM). This
.....read moreWhat is intelligence?
The concept of intelligence is difficult to describe. One way, is to describe intelligence in three levels of analysis:
Some see intelligence as one factor called general intelligence, g. General intelligence are cognitive processes influencing the ability to think and learn on all intellectual tasks.
There are also good arguments for intelligence to consist of two types of intelligence. Namely: fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve new problems at a certain moment, for example by drawing conclusions and understanding relationships between concepts that have never been encountered before. Fluent intelligence usually peaks in early adulthood and then slowly decreases. Crystallized intelligence is the actual knowledge about the world. Crystallized intelligence starts early in life and continues to multiply. Thurstone divides intelligence in a complex way into seven skills. These are the so-called seven primary mental abilities crucial for intelligence: word fluency, verbal meaning, reasoning, spatial visualization, numbering,rote memory and perceptual speed. The division of intelligence into seven abilities equals the distinction between fluid and crystallized intelligence. Some scores on certain abilites correlate more with each other than with scores of other abilites.
The third view sees many different processes involved in intelligence. This leads to more specification of processes in intellectual behavior than the other two levels.
The perspectives can be brought together. According to Carroll, there is a model for intelligence: the three-stratum theory of intelligence. This model contains general intelligence in the top layer of the hierarchy, then several moderately general abilities in the middle layer, and at the bottom layer a large number of specific processes. In short: all three levels are necessary to understand and measure intelligence.
How can intelligence be measured?
Measuring intelligence is difficult because it is an invisible capacity. Measuring observable behavior is the only way to measure intelligence. For different ages, there are several tests to measure intelligence. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WISC) is used for children from six years and older. The design that underlies the WISC-V is consistent with Carroll's three-layer theory.
What is the intelligence quotient?
In most intelligence tests, a general quantitative measuring instrument is used to measure the intelligence of a child. Like this it is comparable with other children of the same age. It is called the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Many characteristics, including intelligence, are normally distributed. This normal distribution is a pattern of data in which scores fall around the average, with most scores being close to the average and scores that occur less frequently far from the average. The average of the intelligence quotient is 100, where the standard deviation is 15. A standard deviation (SD) is a measure of the variability of scores in a normal distribution. In a normal distribution, 68% of the scores within 1 SD fall from the average, and 95% of the scores fall within 2 SD of the average. The older a child becomes,
.....read moreWhat are psychoanalytic theories?
Psychoanalytic theories have had the greatest impact on western cultures. These theories have had a major influence on the way of thinking about personality and social developments. This is mainly due to Sigmund Freud. Erik Erikson later accounted on the ideas of Sigmund Freud. Both theories are based on biological ripening. According to Freud, the behavior is motivated by the need to satisfy basic drifts. The resulting instincts and motives usually arise unconsciously. According to Erikson, development is motivated by crises in the development related to age and biological maturation. The individual must successfully complete all crises in order to achieve healthy development. The theories of Freud and Erikson are stage theories.
How does Freud see the development?
Freud is the founder of the psychoanalytic theory. His theory about the development of children is also called the theory of psychosexual development. He thought that even very young children have a sexual nature that motivates their behavior and influences their relationships with other people. Children go through five phases of universal developments. According to Freud, psychic energy focuses on different erogenous zones. Psychic energy consists of the biological urges that feed the behavior, the thoughts and the feelings. The erogenous zones are areas of the body that are erotically sensitive, such as the mouth, the anus, and the genitals. According to Freud, every child encounters conflict with his erogenous zones. He states that their success or failure of this conflict, influences the development in their lives.
The psychic energy consists of the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the first and the most primitive of the three personality structures. The id is unconscious and is driven by the gratification principle, the goal of finding maximum satisfaction as quickly as possible. During the first year of life, the baby is in the first phase of psychosexual development, the oral stage, in which the primary source of satisfaction and pleasure comes from oral activities. Later in the first year of life develops the second personality structure, the ego. The ego is the rational, logical, problem-solving component of the personality. During the second year of life, the child gains more control over body processes such as urination and at that point the child enters the second phase: the anal stage, in which the primary source of satisfaction and pleasure comes from defacation. The third phase is the phallic stage, which is present from the age of 3 to 6 years. In the phallic stage sexual pleasure is focused on the genitals. This is how the superego develops, the third personality structure driven by the consciousness and internalization of moral standards. Internalization is the adoption the rules, beliefs, and standards of the parents for acceptable and unacceptable behavior as one's own.
Boys and Girls experience the development of the superego in different ways. The boys experience the so-called Oedipus Complex. This is a term by Freud, which describes a period in which boys have a sexual desire for their mother and see their father
.....read moreHow do emotions develop?
Emotions are often equated with feelings. Development ideologists have a more complex approach to look at emotions. They see emotions as consisting of multiple components: neural responses, the physiological factors (heartbeat, breaths, hormone levels), subjective feelings, emotional expression and the desire to take action (flee, approach, or change people or things in the environment). However, there is a lot of discussion about whether emotions are innate or have been learned.
What are the theories regarding the nature and emergence of emotions?
The discrete emotions theory states that emotions are innate, and it is possible to distinguished between them from birth. Also, they state that each emotion is accompanied by a specific set of physical reactions and facial expressions. This is derived from the idea of Darwin. According to his theory, emotional reactions are mainly automatic and not based on cognition. Babies have a set of recognizable emotions, without being able to actively learn about these emotions. Also, certain expressions of emotions around the world are the same. The functionalist perspective, however, states that emotions depend on the environment, and the function of emotions is to take actions to achieve a certain goal. Emotions can not be distinguished discrete of each other here and are partly based on the social environment. The two approaches agree that cognitions and experiences influence emotional development.
How do emotions arise?
Researchers agree that there are several universal basic emotions in all human cultures. These basic emotions have important survival and communication functions. They can be seen very early in life, which supports discrete emotion theory.
In the first month, a baby sometimes smiles during sleep. These early smiles are reflexive and are not generated by social interaction. From the third to the eighth week, a baby smiles due to external stimuli. When they are about 6-7 weeks they start laughing at others, this is called social smiles. In the seventh month, babies laugh at familiar people. This is intended to strengthen the bond. At the end of the first year of life, babies show that they enjoy unexpected things, like mommy with a crazy hat on.
From the fourth month, babies seem to be aware of unknown objects and events. When they are 6-7 months old, the first signs of fear start to occur. Mainly fear of strangers. This normally disappears around the second year of life. In the eighth to the thirteenth month, babies show fear when they are separated from the primary caregivers. This is called separation anxiety. It also decreases as they age.
Anger is the reaction of a child to frustrating or threatening situations and is often an interpersonal experience. In babies, anger often appears fused with grief. Only from the children's first year of life anger is seen as a separate emotion. The reasons for anger change as children develop. Because they earn more understanding
.....read moreChildren develop certain forms of attachment. Attachment is an emotional bond with a specific person, who remains constant over time. Often there it is spoken about attachment in the form of the relationship between child and caregiver, but attachment can also occur in adulthood.
Which attachment styles are there?
What is the attachment theory?
The attachment theory was devised by Bowlby. This theory states that children have a biological predisposition to attach themselves to the caregivers, in order to increase the chance of their own survival. Later, Ainsworth expanded and tested Bowlby's ideas. According to Freud, children's development is shaped by their early relationship with their mothers. Bowlby agreed, but changed the idea of Freud's "needy, dependent infant" into a "competence - motivated child" that uses his / her caregiver as a secure base. This secure base is based on the idea that the presence of a trusted caregiver can provide a child with a sense of security and makes it possible for the child to explore the environment.
The attachment process has an innate basis, but its development and quality depend on the experiences of the child with the caregivers. According to Bowlby, the development of attachment takes place via the four phases:
The outcome of the phases is an emotional bond between child and caregiver(s). The child develops an internal working model of attachment. This is the mental representation the child has of himself, of the attachment figure and of relationships in general. This mental representation has developed through experiences with the caregiver(s). The internal working model guides the interactions of the child with other people, even when the child grows older.
How is the attachment security measured?
Ainsworth investigated in both the USA and Uganda, the mother-child relationship during infants' explorations and separations
.....read moreWhich family structures are there?
The adult family members having the greatest effects on the development of a child are the members with whom they live together. These members are in regular contact, they support financially and raise the children. The term family structure refers to the number of and relationships between the people living in a household.
What kind of family structure changes have occurred in the US?
More and more children are living with one parent or with unmarried parents. In 2014, 46% of children lived with parents in their first marriage, compared to 73% in 1960. This is accompanied by a growth in the number of children living with a single parent. The family structure has major implications for the income. Almost half of the children living with a single parent live below the poverty line, compared with 14% of the children with two married parents. In addition, single parents often have less time for their child.
Also, the age at which women have their first child has increased. There are fewer teenage pregnancies. Getting children at a later age has clear advantages. Parents generally have more financial resources and are less like to divorce within ten years. They are also often more positive in their upbringing.
More and more children live with their grandparents. This has negative effects, because there was a long gap since the grandparents raised children themselves. Families are also getting smaller, due to the fact that women more often show work ambitions and there is improved birth control. Family structures are also more and more fluid, partly because of divorce.
The number of teenage mothers has decreased in the recent years. Getting a child in adolescence is associated with negative outcomes for both the mother and the child. It has consequences on the possibilities for the mother in terms of education, career and relationships with peers. They often have weak skills in terms of parenting. Children more often show disorganized attachment and problems such as weak impulse control and delays in cognitive development, and also a higher chance of delinquent behavior and early sexual activity. Young mothers who have knowledge about the development of a child and upbringing raise children with fewer problems. The presence of the father can be beneficial for both the child and the mother.
What are the influences of parents with the same sex?
The number of gay and lesbian parents has increased significantly in recent years. Children with parents of the same gender do not differ from children with parents of different gender in terms of adaptation, personality, relationships with peers and academic performance. As in families with heterosexual parents, adaptation of children with lesbian or gay parents depends on family dynamics, the parent-child relationship, the bond between the parents, support from the parents, regulated discipline and the degree of stress that
.....read moreIn the text below, Peers are people of about the same age and status who are not relatives.
Why and how to form friendships?
Relationships with peers contribute to the development of a child. Piaget stated that children are more open and spontaneous in expressing certain ideas and beliefs towards peers than towards their parents or other adults. Vygotsky stated that children learn new skills and develop their cognitive abilities through relationships with peers. A friend is a person with whom an individual has an intimate, mutual, positive relationship.
How do children choose friends?
Children usually become friends with peers who are pleasant to deal with and who behave pro-socially towards others. Another determining factor is equality of interests and behavior. For young children, proximity is an important factor, this becomes less important with age. Most adolescents report that school is the most common setting in which they spend time with their close friends. Another important factor is gender, girls are mostly friends with girls and boys with boys. In addition, there is also a tendency for children to be friends with others from their own racial or ethnic group, although this influences on a lesser extent.
Cultural differences influence how children approach their peers to form relationships. In addition, cultural differences influence the roles of peers and families as sources of support and companionship. In some cultures, children rely much more on family than on peers for support. Cultures also differ in the number of hours that children spend with their peers. Finally, differences were found in how children from different cultures interact with their peers. There are also similarities in cultures, like the fact that aggression is more acceptable for boys than for girls.
How do early friendships look like?
Really young children already show preferences for certain children. If children are 3-4 years old, they can form and keep friendships. While the amount of cooperation and positive interactions between young friends is greater than between non-friends, the amount of conflict is also greater. This is probably due to the fact that they spend more time together.
How does friendship change over time?
As children grow older their friendships change in terms of intimacy. Children between 6 and 8 years, mostly define their friends in terms of who they play the most. From this age until adolescence, things like sociability, equality, acceptance and trust become more important. In adolescence, individuals focus more on a few close friends. These changes are probably a consequence of the ever-increasing ability to take the perspective of others and of changes in reasoning about friendship.
What is the role of technology?
Social technologies, such as social media, increasingly play a role in interactions between children and their peers.
.....read moreHow does moral judgment develop?
The morality of a certain action is not always obvious. The reasoning behind certain behavior is crucial for determining whether that behavior is moral or immoral.
What is the idea behind Piaget's theory?
Piaget's theory on moral judgment refers to the fact that interaction with peers has a higher contribution to the moral reasoning of children than the interaction with adults. According to Piaget, there are two phases children go through in the development of moral reasoning, with a transitional period between these two phases:
Heteronomous morality: it takes place when a child is younger than seven years old. The child is taught what is right and wrong on the basis of the consequences instead of motives or intentions. In this period, children think that rules are unchanging. Parental control is one-sided and compelling, so children have indisputable respect for the rules of adults. In addition, cognitive immaturity leads to the believe that rules are 'real' things, rather than a product of the human mind.
Transitional period: occurs when a child is between seven and ten years old. The child takes a more active role in reasoning about what is right or wrong. Interactions with peers are helpful for this transition.
Autonomous morality: this phase begins when the child is between eleven and twelve years old. The child no longer is blind adopting the rules. The child will consider motives and intentions when assessing behavior.
This vision has received support from empirical research. However, there has also been criticism. For example, there is little evidence that interactions with peers stimulate moral development. Here, the quality of interactions seems to be important. In addition, Piaget underestimated the ability of children to be aware of intentionality. Very young children can already distinguish between an adult who tries to help (but fails) and an adult who does not want to help.
What does Kohlberg's theory say?
Kohlberg's theory of moral judgment states that the development of moral reasoning takes place in a specific series of stages which are discontinuous and hierarchical. Each level is divided into two stage of moral judgment. Only very few people reach the sixth phase of post-conventional moral reasoning. People differ in how many phases they ultimately finish or achieve successfully. Here is the complete model:
Level 1: Preconventional Level: this phase is self-centered. The focus is on getting rewards and avoiding punishment.
Level 2: Conventional Level: this phase focuses
.....read moreSex is the difference between genetic female (XX) and genetic male (XY). Gender is the social assignment or self-categorization as a woman or man (or neither). Gender-typed refers to behavior that is expected for a person's gender. Cross-gender typed refers to behavior that is expected for the different gender than the person has. Gender typing refers to the process of gender socialization.
The theoretical approaches regarding gender development?
Which biological influences are there?
There are different theories that focus on biological influences on gender.
According to the evolutionary psychological theory, gender differences are created by the reproductive benefits and helped humans survive during the course of evolution. Boys often play physical games. This would have reproductive benefits for later, namely in finding friends, hunting and competitions between men. Girls like to maintain social relationships and care for other people. The reproductive benefits for later would be for taking care of a baby.
The biosocial theory focuses more on the physical differences between man and woman, which both have social and behavioral consequences. For example, men are physically stronger and larger, while women have more nurturing capacities, such as breast milk for a baby.
Neuroscience focuses on how hormones, brain structure and brain functions are related to gender differences in development. The hormone androgen is more common in men and exists to a lesser extent in women. The hormone influences physical development and functioning from the prenatal period onward. Hormones can have organizing or activating influences on the nervous system. The organizing influences arise when certain sex hormones influence the brain differentiation and the organization during prenatal development and in puberty. An activating influence hdescribes the fluctuations in the level of the sex hormone influence the simultaneous activation of certain parts of the brain and corresponding behavioral reactions. Men and women show small differences in brain structure. However, this has no effect on the results of cognitive performance.
Gender dysphoria is a diagnosis that can be found in the DSM-5 referring to children who experience suffering, because they cannot identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. Transgenders are individuals who do not identify with their gender at birth, they may prefer to identify with the opposite gender, with both sexes or with no gender. Cisgender refers to individuals who identify with the gender they have been assigned at birth. When women produce too much androgen during the prenatal period, this can lead to congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). This is a condition involving the formation of male or partly masculinized genitalia. Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) is a condition during prenatal development in which androgen receptors do not function well in men, which hinders the formation of male external genitals. The child is then born with female external genitals.
Which cognitive influences are there?
Self-socialization is the process during development where the cognitions of children lead to the perception
.....read moreThis chapter contains an integrative framework of the seven themes that have emerged throughout the book.
Theme 1: Nature and nurture: all interactions, always
If prenatal development proceeds normally, it seems as if it is simply the development of innate potential in which the environment is not important. However, if things go wrong, it is obvious that nature and nurture interact. Consider, for example, teratogens, harmful substances the child can get in contact to in the womb. The extent to which negative effects occur depends on genes and other environmental factors, such as timing.
A certain nature also evokes a certain nurture. For example, babies that are cute, motivate people in the environment to play and interact with them. Timing is also important, normal development of certain skills is only possible when a child is exposed to relevant experiences during a specific period. If this does not happen, developmental retardation can arise in terms of perception, language, intelligence, emotions and social behavior.
Many genetically influenced characteristics only emerge during later childhood, adolescence or adulthood. Think of the physical changes that occur during puberty, or the development of nearsightedness in later childhood or early adolescence. Schizophrenia also often manifests itself later. In all these characteristics, an interaction between nature and nurture is also important.
All in all, it seems like everything affects each other. Genes, traits and behavioral tendencies interact with the nurture that children receive in different ways. In this way self-image, intellect, actions and other qualities arise.
Theme 2: Children play an active role in their own development
Even before birth, children learn to distinguish between different stimuli and when they are born, they are already able to selectively focus on certain interesting objects. Their actions also elicit reactions from other people, which further shapes their development. This ability to interact with the environment is greatly enhanced during the first year of life. The children learn to follow moving objects with their eyes, and they learn how to crawl which helps to actively explore the environment. As the development continues, children learn to talk and practice when there is no one around to hear it. Later they learn to start conversations which helps to obtain information and in which they can express their feelings. When a bit older, the choices of the child with regard to their friends determine whether they will be inclined to show criminal behavior, to drink or to use drugs.
Already during the first year of life, children develop a feeling of all the possibilities in the physical world. This indicates a desire to understand the world, motivating children to formulate informal theories regarding objects, living things and people. Characteristics of the child determine how they interpret an event and
.....read moreExam Tickets
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Summaries and study notes with How Children Develop by Siegler et al.
Summaries and study notes with the 6th edition of How Children Develop by Siegler et al.
Summaries and study notes with How Children Develop by Siegler et al.
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Nederlandse samenvatting met Engelse bulletpoints en oefenvragen van het boek How Children Develop, 5e editie, geschreven door R. Siegler, J. R. Saffran, N. Eisenberg, J. DeLoache en E. Gershoff.
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