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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 because og 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.
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. 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. 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 defecation. 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 as a threat. This occurs in the phallic phase. The girls experience a so-called Electra Complex. This is a term set up by Freud, for the period in which girls create romantic feelings for the father and see the mother as a threat. This also occurs in the phallic phase in girls.
The fourth phase of the development is the latency period, which takes place from the age of 6 to 12 years. This is mainly a time of relative calm. Sexual desires are hidden away in the subconscious, and children start to focus more on their social and intellectual development. Genital phase starts with puberty. A central theme is sexual maturation. Sexual energy has been stored away for a few years, but now that it is coming out again, it directs toward peers.
If a phase is not successfully completed and fundamental needs are not met, the child may suffer from it later in life and may become fixated on these needs. For example, if the child has not successfully completed the oral phase, it is more common that it engages in certain oral habits, such as nail-biting or smoking.
Erikson is the successor of Freud. Erikson has added social factors to Freud's theory. That is why Erikson's theory of child development is called the theory of psychosocial development. His theory consists of eight phases of development. Only the first five stages of development will be discussed: they run from birth to adulthood.
Freud's most important contributions are his emphasis on the importance of early emotional relationships and his recognition of the role of subjective experiences and unconscious mental activity. Erikson's emphasis on the search of identity also has a lasting impact.
Freud focuses on internal forces and subjective experiences. The learning theories focus on the external factors in forming a personality and social behavior. Current learning theoreticians emphasize the theme of the active child, the role children play in their own development.
Watson is the founder of behaviorism. He focuses on the development determined by the social environment through conditioning. He showed the power of conditioning through a study with a child named 'Little Albert' as a test subject. Little Albert got a rat in front of him that he reacted positively to. Then a loud noise was made during the presentation of the rat. Little Albert reacted negatively to the sound. After many repetitions, Little Albert became afraid of the rat.
With classical conditioning, Watson laid the foundation for a treatment based on the opposite process, namely: deconditioning, or eliminating anxiety. In order to decondition fear, the researcher gave a favorite snack to Peter (the participating child in the study), who was very afraid of white rabbits. Then the researcher slowly and gradually moved the rabbit closer to Peter. After many repetitions and exposure to the fear in combination with the absence of negative consequences, the fear of the rabbit disappeared. This approach became known as systematic desensitization. It was used worldwide for the elimination of all kinds of fears and phobias, like dogs and dentists.
Skinner was the founder operant conditioning. The behavior could be influenced by means of rewards and punishments. Desired behavior was repeatedly rewarded, and undesirable behavior was repeatedly punished. The intention of rewarding the desired behavior is to reinforce it. The intention of punishing the unwanted behavior is to reduce or eliminate it. Also, two discoveries were made. First, the fact that attention is an important amplifier for the behavior of children and that the best strategy for a child's taming therefore is to ignore the behavior. Intermittent reinforcement is an inconsistent rewarding or punishing of a person's behavior, only sometimes it comes to rewarding or punishing when the target behavior is shown. This leads to learned behavior remaining longer, because no constant reward is needed. Operant conditioning led to a form of therapy: behavioral modification. The therapy focuses on encouraging a more adapted and useful behavior through operant conditioning.
Bandura is the founder of social learning theory. Bandura focuses on learning behavior through observations and imitations instead of reinforcement. The theory has a different name: social cognitive theory, because of the cognitive processes involved. Namely: the attention is focused on the behavior of another person, encoding what is observed, storing the information in the memory and retrieving it at a later time in order to be able to reproduce the behavior. Bandura also found the active role of children in their own development very important. This development was described as reciprocal determinism. This is a concept conceived by Bandura saying that the interaction between child and environment works in two directions. Children are influenced by aspects of their own environment, but they also influence the environment itself.
In a series of studies by Bandura and colleagues, school-age children were shown videos showing an adult portraying unusual aggressive behavior towards a Bobo doll. There were three conditions: group 1 was shown how the adult received a reward after the aggressive behavior, group 2 was shown that the adult was being punished for the behavior and in group 3 there were no consequences associated with the behavior. The question was whether vicarious reinforcement, observing someone else received a reward or punishment, would influence the behavior of the children. The children who had seen the adult being punished imitated the behavior less than the other two groups. However, all children learned from the observed behavior. Boys were more physically aggressive than girls.
Learning theories have inspired a lot of research because of the possibility to test these theories empirically. Learning theories have important practical applications, such as systematic desensitization and behavioral modification. However, there is a lack of attention to biological influences and (except for Bandura's theory) to cognitive influences.
Social-cognitive theories differ from psychoanalytic theories and learning theories emphasizing external forces as the main source of development. The social-cognitive theories mainly focus on the process of self-socialization. Self-socialization is the idea that children play a very active role in their own socialization through their preferences for activities, choice of friendships, and so on.
Selman focused on the development of role taking. Role taking means that one is aware of the other person's perspective, and is able to understand someone else's behavior, thoughts, and feelings in a better way. Selman states that the social cognition of children is limited because of their inability of role taking. He suggests that children younger than six are unaware of other perspectives except their own. According to Selman, a child goes through four stages increasing in complexity of thinking about other people. In the first phase (ages 6 to 8 years) children accept that other people can have a different perspective, because they possess different information than themselves. In the second phase (age 8 to 10 years) children also realize that you can think about other people's perspectives. In the third phase (age 10 to 12) children can compare their own perspective with someone else's perspective. In this phase they can even understand a third perspective. In the fourth phase (age 12 years and older), adolescents can make an attempt to compare other people's perspectives with a general perspective, and whether they are the same as those of most others in their social group. By going through these stages, children become less self-centered and more capable of considering other and multiple perspectives at the same time.
Dodge's information processing theory focuses on social problem solving. He found that children have a hostile attribution bias. A hostile attribution bias, according to Dodge's theory, is a tendency to assume that other people's ambiguous actions have hostile intentions. This leads to children seeking evidence for hostile intentions, which in turn leads to self-fulfilling prophecies: an aggressive reaction of a child to an assumed hostile act of another, causes the same effect on the other which can respond an aggressive or rejective, confirming the child that others have hostile intentions. Rough upbringing or physical abuse leads to a greater chance of information processing biases. Directly addressing children's thoughts about social behavior can reduce antisocial behavior.
Dweck's social cognition perspective shows that different ways of responding to a particular situation depend on a person's achievement motivation. Achievement motivation refers to whether children are motivated by learning objectives, seeking to improve their competencies and mastering new material or performance goal, seeking to receive positive assessment of their competences or avoiding negative assessments. Differences in attributions are the root of these two different patterns, mainly with respect to self-esteem. Children with an entity/ helpless orientation tend to base their self-esteem on approvals they receive (or not) from other people about their intelligence, talents, and personal qualities. These children give up if they fail. Children with an incremental or mastery orientation tend to not base their own efforts and learning processes on how other people evaluate them. Either they think success or failure is based on aspects of the efforts they made themselves, and they continue when they have failed.
The cognition of older children about themselves and others contain more complex concepts and explanations than those of younger children. Some show an entity theory of intelligence. This means the way of thinking about themselves is rooted in the idea that intelligence is fixed and unchangeable. These children often feel helpless and are more inclined to the hostile attribution bias. Others show an incremental theory of intelligence, it is rooted in the idea that intelligence can grow as a function of experience. These children feel hopeful. Parents and teachers can influence these internal theories. It is good to be aware which prices are indeed helpful and which are not. For example, it is better to reward the effort of a child than saying a child is good at something. This can undermine the motivation for improvement.
Social-cognitive theories have made important contributions to the study of social development. It is important to emphasize that children are active information seekers of the social world. It also contributed the insight that the effect of children's social experiences is dependent on their interpretation of these experiences. Still, social cognitive theories have little to say about biological factors. However, this seems to change.
The emerging field of social development neuroscience deals with questions such as how the social environment influences the developing brain and which neural mechanisms underlie the development of social behavior. Based on animal studies, certain experiments are carried out 'in nature' in which human children are exposed to different conditions. For example, it appears that children who do not experience emotional and physical contact with their caregivers during their first years of life show abnormal hormonal responses in social situations, which was also proven earlier in animal research. Other research has shown that children who grow up as orphans and still live in orphanages have less white matter in the brain than children who had left the orphanage. Current research shows the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation on the brain. Neuroimaging studies suggest that this effect happens mainly in the prefrontal cortex, in areas responsible for, among other things, emotion regulation.
Ecological theories of development focus on behavior as an adaptive function. The role of the environment is central to the development of the child. Etiology and evolutionary psychology focus on the development of the child, in relation to the context of the evolutionary history of our species. The bio-ecological model focuses on the multiple levels of environmental influences that simultaneously influence development.
Ethology focuses on the evolutionary basis of behavior. Imprinting is a form of learning in which newborns of certain species of birds and mammals become attached to an adult member of their species (which they usually see first) and follow them. Often this is the mother. Imprinting mainly occurs during a critical period very early in life. An application of the ethological perspective on human behavior is that many boys prefer to play with objects that require action and that many girls prefer dolls, for example. It is argued that it happens because parents give their children toys that 'fit' with their gender. However, other studies show that this preference already exists very early, which indicates genetic preferences depending on a child's gender rather than on learned gender norms.
Evolutionary psychology is based on the ideas of natural selection and adaptations to human behavior from Darwin. Certain genes predispose individuals to behave in a certain way, which makes them more likely to survive. Many evolutionary psychologists suggest that playing is one of the most striking forms of behavior and an evolved platform for learning.
Parents have to spend an enormous amount of time and energy on their children in parenting. According to parental investment theory, the primary source of their motivation is the perpetuation of their own genes, which is only achieved if their children survive long enough to pass these genes on to the next generation.
The bio-ecological model is based on the idea that the environment consists of a set of structures. Each structure represents a different level of development. The bio-ecological model of Bronfenbrenner looks like the following:
In the macro system, national legislation can have a major impact on children's development. For example, the length of paid parental leave varies enormously between different countries.
Media belongs to the exosystem, but is influenced by the chronosystem, the macro system, the micro system and other elements in the exosystem. Screens have recently been found everywhere. Statistics show that children and adolescents spend many hours on media. Even very young children are already active in the media immersion. Little is known about the effect of digital media use on the well-being of children. However, it has been found that digital media has a negative effect on social relationships because parents and children are distracted by their telephone during conversations. Some parents allow their child to use digital media to keep them calm in public or to distract them from other tasks.
There are many concerns about media exposure, from violence to pornography.
The contribution of etiology and evolutionary psychology comes from the emphasis on the biological nature of children, with the genetic tendencies that are grounded in evolution. Ideas of evolutionary psychology, however, are not testable and often have a relationship with social learning or a different perspective. Evolutionary psychology also seems to overlook the capacity to change our environment and ourselves. The bio-ecological model has made important contributions to the idea about development and how many factors contribute and interact in development. However, this model lacks biological factors.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a syndrome characterized by the difficulty of focusing attention. Children have a normal intelligence and show no emotional disturbances. They have difficulty holding on to plans and following rules. Many are hyperactive. They have difficulty acquiring certain skills, such as reading, because it requires focusing attention for a longer period of time. The symptoms are based on the difficulty of inhibiting impulses. ADHD has several causes. Genetic factors play a role, but all sorts of environmental factors also appear to have an influence, such as prenatal exposure to alcohol. Social factors also have an influence, such as the SES of the parents. It is difficult to determine which factors are causal. The current treatment of ADHD focuses on resources in the environment, such as the family doctor (microsystem), the drug industry (exosystem) and the government (macro system). The most commonly used treatment is the prescription of medication such as Ritalin, a stimulant that stimulates neurotransmitter systems. Unfortunately, there are also side effects, such as loss of appetite. A combination of medication and psychosocial interventions also appears to be effective.
Because of the large number of factors that influence ADHD, it is difficult to prevent abuse. However, a promising program has been developed. Research has shown that parents often find themselves involved in a power conflict with their child, in which they see themselves as victims. The aim of the program was to help parents to obtain more realistic interpretations of their difficulties in caring for their children. While parents developed a better understanding of their child's needs, their investment in their children improved, and they later showed significant health benefits.
The development of a child can raise various questions in multiple levels of society. A question that most parents have is how they can teach their children how to deal with anger and other negative emotions. Sometimes parents spank their children, but this has turned 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 are 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.
A Romanian study investigated children who grew up in orphanages under neglecting circumstances in Romania. Due to the policy in orphanages at the time, there was a lack of (physical) contact for the orphans. At the time these children were adopted by British families, they were often found to be malnourished, lagging behind in physical and intellectual development, and socially immature. The study compared these orphans with adopted children from Great Britain. At the age of six, Romanian orphans were still lagging behind in their physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development. In particular, social and emotional limitations persisted into adulthood. These developmental delays were found to be related to significantly low activation of the amygdala. The main conclusion of this study is that the timing of experiences influences their consequences.
Furthermore, the development of a child can raise questions about a responsible social policy, which is one more reason to 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. The question can arise 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 child's 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
.....read moreThroughout history, many different ways to view prenatal development can be found. Aristotle rejected the idea of epigenesis, the emergence of new structures and functions during development.
For 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.
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 joining 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 can be several reasons why sperm cells does 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 fertilizes 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.
The first studies on development were trying to answer the question of which of the following is more influential on the child’s 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.
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 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:
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.
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.
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, the father always 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).
There are five different theories about the cognitive development of a child that will be discussed in this chapter.
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.
Piaget believed that 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
.....read moreThere 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.
In the past the visual capacity of babies was underestimated. Research shows that babies have a greater visual capacity than previously 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 one 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 is 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 gets bigger and bigger. Babies are sensitive to this cue at
.....read moreWe 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 portrait (passive). Language production is speaking, writing or portraying to other people and is active. Language comprehension leads to language production.
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.
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 any 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
.....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.
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.
Naive psychology is about a basic understanding of ourselves and others. Children are born with an implicit self-awareness that they are an individual separate from others. By the age of 4 months, children have developed a basic understanding of which objects can be grasped for and which cannot (for example, objects that are too far away). Between 18 and 24 months, children have developed a more explicit self-awareness and they recognize dirt on their face in the mirror and do their best to look good to others.
Children imitate other people and form emotional bonds with them, learning about how people and how they differ from each other. Babies as young as a few months old already seem to understand that behavior has a purpose. Children eventually learn to understand the intentions of others by figuring out what kinds of objects can have intentions. When objects 'respond' appropriately, a baby is more likely to see the object as something with intention, even if it is a blob moving based on instructions from an investigator. Before the first year of life, children have already learned a lot about how people behave and how their behavior is related to their intentions and goals.
Before age 1, children also appear to be able to notice differences between individuals. For example, children between 10 and 12 months old appear to prefer food and toys that are offered by someone who speaks their mother tongue.
After the first year of life, the naive psychology of children develops further. Late in the first and early second year of life, babies learn to
.....read moreThe concept of intelligence is difficult to describe. One way, is to describe intelligence through three levels of analysis:
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 numerous specific processes. In short: all three levels are necessary to understand and measure intelligence.
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.
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
.....read morePsychoanalytic 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 because og 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.
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. 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. 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 defecation. 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
.....read moreEmotions 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 not.
The discrete emotions theory states that emotions are innate and that it is possible to distinguished between them from birth. Also, it states that each emotion is accompanied by a specific set of physical reactions and facial expressions. This is derived from the ideas 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 cognition and experiences influence emotional development.
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. The seventh month, babies laugh at familiar people. This is intended to strengthen the bond. At the end of the first year 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. This fear decreases as they age.
Anger is the reaction of a child
.....read moreChildren develop certain forms of attachment. Attachment is an emotional bond with a specific person, a bond that remains constant over time. Attachment is often discussed as the relationship between a child and his/her caregiver, but attachment can also occur in adulthood.
The attachment theory was proposed 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 on this, 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 their caregivers. According to Bowlby, the development of attachment takes place in four phases:
The outcome of these 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.
Ainsworth did research in both the USA and Uganda, where she studied the mother-child relationship during infants' explorations and
.....read moreThe adult family members who have the greatest effects on the development of a child are the ones with whom they live together. They are in regular contact, they raise the children and support them financially. The term family structure refers to the number of people living in a household and the relationships between them.
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 with 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 to 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 likely to have a divorce within ten years. Often they are also more positive in their upbringing.
More and more children live with their grandparents. This has negative effects, because a long time has passed since they raised their own children. Families are also getting smaller due to the fact that women more often have work ambitions and because of improved and more accesable 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 as an adolescent is associated with negative outcomes for both the mother and the child. It has consequences for the possibilities of 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 their upbringing raise children with fewer problems. The presence of the father can be beneficial for both the child and the mother.
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 genders in terms of adaptation, personality,
.....read morePeers are people of about the same age and status who are not relatives.
Play refers to voluntary activities that children do without any other motivation than for their own pleasure. Research has shown that play contributes to the social, emotional, cognitive and physical development of children. Children engage in increasingly complex forms of play as they get older. Play is also used as a basis for interventions to help young children deal with mental problems or cope with trauma.
There are different types of play. Non-social types of play include:
Social forms of play are:
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.
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 to a lesser extent.
Cultural differences influence how children approach their peers to form relationships. In addition, cultural differences influence the roles of peers and
.....read moreThe 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.
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 of age. 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.
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 complete successfully. Here is the complete model:
This phase is self-centered. The focus is on getting rewards and avoiding punishment.
Phase 1: Punishment and obedience orientation. Obeying authorities and avoiding punishment. The child is not aware of the interests of others.
Phase 2: Instrumental and exchange orientation.
Sex 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 binary gender is the prevailing idea that there are only two categories of genders. However, research has shown that there is no such thing as the 'female brain' or 'male brain'. The idea of a difference between 'female hormones' and 'male hormones' is also incorrect, since all sex hormones are present in both men and women. Moreover, according to research, there is no such thing as 'male behavior' and 'female behavior'. Another criticism of binary gender identity is that transgender and non-binary identities exist all over the world, regardless of culture. Finally, the social world is organized and structured according to the gender binary.
If gender groups are compared in terms of behavior, it is often the case the genders differ only slightly from each other and there is a lot of overlap and similarities. In addition, there is a lot of variation within the groups, not all members of the same gender are the same. It is important to consider both the magnitude of the differences between the averages of the groups and the amount of overlap in their distributions. This statistical index is called an effect size. In various studies, contradictory results are found. To create an overall pattern, scientists use a statistical technique called meta-analysis to summarize the average effect size and statistical significance.
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 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 taking care of a
.....read moreThis chapter contains an integrative framework of the seven themes that have emerged throughout the book.
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 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 usually 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.
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
.....read moreSummaries and study notes with the 6th edition of How Children Develop by Siegler et al.
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