© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 1 Child Psychology PSY205 Dr. Mandana Ahsani

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 2 Today is about… Getting to know each other Going over the syllabus My expectations Your expectations Intro to studying children

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 3 Santrock’s Children Website hill.com/sites/ /student_view0/

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 4 John W. Santrock Introduction 1

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 5 Introduction Why Is Caring For Children Important? What Are Some Historical Views of Child Development? What Characterizes Development? How Is Child Development a Science?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 6 The Importance of Studying Children’s Development Development – pattern of change from conception, throughout the life span –Our approach is chronological approach (as opposed to topical)

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 7 Biological and Cognitive Processes Biological processes – changes in individual’s body; genes and hormones Cognitive processes – changes in individual’s thought, intelligence, and language What Characterizes Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 8 Socioemotional Processes Changes in an individual’s emotions, personality, and relationships What Characterizes Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 9 Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes Fig. 1.5 All three processes are intricately intertwined What Characterizes Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 10 Periods of Development Prenatal Infancy Early childhood Middle\late childhood Adolescence Conception to birth Birth to 18–24 months 24 months to 5–6 years (preschool years) 6 years to 11 years (elementary school years) Ages 10–12 to ages 18–22 What Characterizes Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 11 Caring for Children Children affected by –Quality of prenatal care –Parents’ lifestyles: during and after pregnancy –Power of psychological states Why Is Caring For Children Important?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12 Improving the Lives of Today’s Children Health and Well-Being –The power of psychological states in health and well being Parenting Education Why Is Caring For Children Important?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 13 Sociocultural context – various settings –Culture – passed from generation to generation Cross-cultural studies –Ethnicity Characteristics based on race, cultural heritage, nationality, religion, language Why Is Caring For Children Important?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 14 Socioeconomic status (SES): –people similar in occupational, educational, and economic characteristics Why Is Caring For Children Important?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 15 Gender Sex is a biological dimension Gender is psychological and sociocultural dimension of being female or male Why Is Caring For Children Important?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 16 Early Views of Children What Are Some Historical Views of Child Development? In medieval times: no distinction between children and adults Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome held rich conceptions of children’s development Three influential philosophical views

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 17 Original sin Tabula rasa Innate goodness Children born into the world as evil beings John Locke: children are like a “blank tablet” Rousseau: children are inherently good Early Views of Children What Are Some Historical Views of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 18 Modern Study of Child Development Arnold Gesell G. Stanley Hall Sigmund Freud Certain characteristics “bloom” with age Development follows evolutionary course Children rarely aware of motives and reasons for their behaviors What Are Some Historical Views of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 19 Modern Study of Child Development John Watson James Mark Baldwin Children shaped into whatever society wishes by environment Pioneer in study of children's thought; genetic epistemology – how child’s knowledge changes over development What Are Some Historical Views of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 20 Processes and Periods of Development Fig. 1.6 Middle and late childhood AdolescenceInfancy Early childhood Prenatal period Processes of development What Characterizes Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 21 Core Issues in Child Development Nature and nurture Continuity and discontinuity Discontinuity Continuity What Characterizes Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 22 Core Issues in Child Development Early–later experience issue –Focus on which are key determinants of child’s development –Hotly debated by developmentalists –People in Western cultures contrast with the majority of people in the world What Characterizes Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 23 Evaluating the Developmental Issues Unwise to take extreme position on –Nature and nurture –Continuity and discontinuity –Early and later experiences All characterize development through the human life span What Characterizes Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 24 Importance of Research How is Child Development a Science? Scientific method –Conceptualize a problem –Use theories to develop a hypothesis –Collect the data –Use statistical procedures to analyze –Draw conclusions –Compare findings; revise theory, conclusions

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 25 How Is Child Development a Science? Science defined not by what it investigates, but by how it investigates Theory: interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps explain and predict Hypotheses: specific, testable assumptions and predictions that are derived from theories How Is Child Development a Science?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 26 The Scientific Research Approach Scientific method –Used to discover accurate information Conceptualize problem Revise conclusions and theory Draw conclusions Collect information (data) The Importance of Research in Child Development

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 27 Five Major Theories Psychoanalytic Cognitive Behavioral and social cognitive Ethological Ecological What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 28 Psychoanalytic Theories Describe development as: –Primarily unconscious –Heavily colored by emotion –Behavior is surface characteristic –Analyze symbolic workings of mind –Emphasize early experiences –Biological process important here What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 29 Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory Eight stages of development –Primary human motivation is social –Eight stages unfold over the life span –At each stage, unique developmental task confronts individuals with crisis that must be resolved What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 30 Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory Children actively construct their understanding of the world –Assimilation: incorporation of new information into existing knowledge –Accommodation: adjusting knowledge to fit new information and experience What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 31 Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory Culture guides cognitive development Knowledge is situated and collaborative Memory, attention, reasoning involves learning to use society’s inventions What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 32 Behavioral Theories Three approaches: Pavlov, Skinner, and Bandura Observations in controlled labs –Behavior: observable and measurable –Behavior is learned from experience with the environment What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 33 Ethological Theory Behavior –Influenced by biology, tied to evolution –Characterized by critical or sensitive periods –Lorenz: imprinting is rapid, innate learning within a critical period of time –Bowlby’s view of attachment What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 34 Ecological Theory Bronfenbrenner’s view that development influenced by five environmental systems: –Microsystem –Mesosystem –Exosystem Now a “bioecological” theory What Are the Main Theories of Child Development? – Macrosystem – Chronosystem

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 35 Methods for Collecting Data Observation –Laboratory: controlled, unnatural setting –Naturalistic observation: observing behavior in real-world settings; no control or manipulation –Survey and interviews: clear, unbiased questions What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 36 Methods for Collecting Data Standardized test: test with uniform procedures for administration, scoring Case study Psychophysiological measures –Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) –Electroencephalogram (EEG) What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 37 Research Designs Descriptive research: observes and records behavior Correlational research: strength of relationship between two or more events or characteristics –Correlation coefficient: degree of association between two variables What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 38 Possible Explanations for Correlational Data What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development? Fig Possible explanations for this correlation causes Observed correlation and causes cause both

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 39 Research Designs Experimental Research –Experiment: carefully regulated procedure Independent and dependent variables Experimental and control groups Random assignment What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 40 Principles of the Experimental Strategy What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development? Dependent variable Independent variable Fig. 1.17

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 41 Time Span of Research Cross-sectional approach: individuals of different ages are compared at one time Longitudinal approach: same individuals studied over period of time, usually several years or more Research Journals What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 42 The End 1