Different tissues and different regions of the body mature at different rates, and the growth and development of a child consists of a highly complex series of changes. It is like the weaving of a cloth whose pattern never repeats itself. The underlying threads, each coming off its reel at its own rhythm, interact with one another continuously, in a manner always highly regulated and controlled. The fundamental questions of growth relate to these processes of regulation, to the program that controls the loom, a subject as yet little understood. In this section, the height curves of girls and boys are considered in the three chief phases of growth; that is (briefly) from conception to birth, from birth until puberty, and during puberty. Also described are the ways in which other organs and tissues, such as fat, lymphoid tissue, and the brain, differ from height in their growth curves.
What people do and what they say they do are often very different. A major weakness of observational studies is that they do not allow the researcher to explain causal relationships. Yet, observational studies are useful and widely used when studying children.
The assumption is that once one stage is completed, a person moves into the next stage and that stages tend to occur only once. Some examples of stage theories that we will be studying include Freud’s psychosexual stages, Erikson’s psychosocial stages, and Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, to name a few. This multidisciplinary course is made up of contributions from researchers in the areas of health care, anthropology, nutrition, child development, biology, gerontology, psychology, and sociology, among others.
- One of the best ways to gain perspective on our own lives is to compare our experiences with that of others.
- This is a highly comprehensive, chronological text that covers genetics and conception through adolescence.
- The answer to that question often depends on which developmental theorist you ask and what topic is being studied.
- Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model explains the direct and indirect influences on an individual’s development.
- Developmental psychologists examine the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional growth during this critical development period.
Introduction to Human Development
The lymphoid tissues can exceed adult size at six years of age. Girls are taller than boys at 12 to 14 years, but later they will not grow taller than their boy’s counterpart. The head circumference reaches closer to adult size by six years of age.
It also looks at how these thought processes influence how we understand and interact with the world. Psychoanalytic theory originated with the work of Sigmund Freud. Through his clinical work with patients suffering from mental illness, Freud came to believe that childhood experiences and unconscious desires influenced behavior. In this chapter we explore the fascinating tale of how you have grown and developed into the person you are today. We also look at some ideas about who you will grow into tomorrow. Yours is a story of lifespan development, from the start of life to the end.
It isn’t easy to recognize aberrance if you are not familiar with normal. By using growth charts and doing the developmental screening, oftentimes, challenges in care can be identified early. Erikson has postulated eight stages of psychosocial development. In the preoperational stage, children from ages 2 to 7, become able to think about the world using symbols.
Table of Contents
The use of internet, telephone, and mail allow the researcher to gather information from people far and near. Disadvantages of surveys include their reliance on self-report. In other words, the people answering the survey are reporting on their behavior and sometimes what we say we do is not the same as what we actually do. Participants may be reluctant to give honest answers about activities that are stigmatized.
Middle Childhood
Her books, including «13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do,» have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk, «The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong,» is one of the most viewed talks of all time. Secondary or content analysis involves analyzing information that has already been collected whether that is in the media or through another agency that gathers data, such as the census. Qualitative methods of research involve using a more open, evolving approach to finding out about the world. There is less emphasis on quantifying what is known and more emphasis on tapping into the experiences, assumptions, and meanings subjects give to their situations. Qualitative methods can be used to explore an area about which little is known or to get a fresh look at a situation that has been studied before.
Now consider what psychological science has to say about your physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development, from the womb to the tomb. Is human development best characterized as a slow, gradual process, or is it best viewed as one of introduction of growth and development more abrupt change? The answer to that question often depends on which developmental theorist you ask and what topic is being studied. The theories of Freud, Erikson, Piaget, and Kohlberg are called stage theories.
Continuing Education Activity
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model explains the direct and indirect influences on an individual’s development. Vygotsky concentrated on the child’s interactions with peers and adults. He believed that the child was an apprentice, learning through sensitive social interactions with more skilled peers and adults. Sometimes, particularly when we do not know what else to do, we learn by modeling or copying the behavior of others. A kindergartner on his or her first day of school might eagerly look at how others are acting and try to act the same way to fit in more quickly. They were operantly conditioned, but we engage in the behavior because we hope it will pay off for us as well.
There is so much information contained within each chapter that it would be very beneficial to both students and instructor to quickly see what content and topics are covered in each chapter. This book is clearly a very comprehensive approach to Child Growth and Development. It contains all the essential ingredients that you would expect in a discussion on this subject.