Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Chapter 1 An Introduction to Child Development Child Development, 3/e by Robert Feldman Created by Barbara H. Bratsch

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall What is Child Development? What is the scope of the field? What are the key issues and questions in the field of child development? What is the future of child development likely to hold?

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Child Development includes: Physical development Cognitive development Social and personality development

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Physical Development Physical development examines the brain nervous system muscles needs for food, drink and sleep

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Cognitive Development Cognitive development examines learning memory problem solving and intelligence

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Social Development Social development looks at ways social relationships grow, change and remain stable over course of life

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Personality Development Personality development studies stability and change in enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Both social and personality development also focus on emotional development during childhood and adolescence. Social and Personality Development

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Child Developmentalists look at particular age ranges: Prenatal period – conception to birth Infancy and toddlerhood – birth to age 3 Preschool period – ages 3 to 6 Middle childhood – ages 6 to 12 Adolescence – ages 12 to 20

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall There are many factors that influence development: Culture Ethnicity Race Cohorts Normative events

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Normative history-graded influences are biological and environmental influences associated with a particular moment in history Normative age-graded influences are biological and environmental influences similar for individuals in a particular age group, regardless of when or where they were raised Normative sociocultural-graded influences include ethnicity, social class, subcultural membership and other factors Normative life events are specific, atypical events that occur in a particular person’s life when such events do not happen to most people

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Children: Past, Present and Future

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Children Past Before 1600, children were not given any special status Baby biographies became popular in the late 1700’s in Germany Charles Darwin emphasized the importance of understanding individuals in his theory of evolution and gave weight to the baby biographies

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Children Past The 20 th century saw child development as a discipline. Alfred Binet studied children’s intelligence, memory and mental calculation while G. Stanley Hall pioneered the use of questionnaires to illuminate children’s thinking and behavior Women made significant contributions to the discipline of child development in the early 1900s Leta Stetter Hollingsworth was one of the first psychologists to focus on child development

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Children Present Today there are a number of major issues in child development

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Continuous Change vs. Discontinuous Change In continuous change, development is gradual Discontinuous change occurs in distinct steps or stages

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Continuous Change vs. Discontinuous Change

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Critical and Sensitive Periods Critical periods are specific times during development in which a particular event has its greatest consequence Sensitive periods are particular times when an organism is susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their environment

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Life Span Approaches vs. Focus on Particular Periods Earlier developmental psychologists focused on infancy and adolescence Current thinking sees the life span as important because developmental growth and change continue throughout every part of life

Feldman Child Development, 3/e ©2004 Prentice Hall Nature-Nurture Issue Nature – traits, abilities, and capabilities inherited from one’s parents Nature = Genetic Nurture – environmental influences that shape behavior Nurture = Environment