1. The Science of Child Development
Children 2
The Science of Child Development
John W. Santrock

2. The Science of Child Development
How Is Child Development a Science?
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
What Are Some Challenges in Child Development Research?

3. How Is Child Development a Science?
Stories of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson
Seeker of self-identity versus dedicated scholar
Impact of home life on one’s perceptions

4. How Is Child Development a Science?
Science defined not by what it investigates, but by how it investigates

5. The Importance of Research in Child Development
Information from personal experiences not always objective
Generalize what is observed; misinterpretations and misreadings
Memories turn into lifetime “truths”
Examine research to clarify

6. The Scientific Research Approach
The Importance of Research in Child Development
The Scientific Research Approach
Scientific method
Used to discover accurate information
Conceptualize problem
Collect information (data)
Draw conclusions
Revise conclusions and theory
Fig. 2.1

7. The Scientific Research Approach
The Importance of Research in Child Development
The Scientific Research Approach
Theory: interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps explain and predict
Hypotheses: specific, testable assumptions and predictions that are derived from theories

8. Five Major Theories Psychoanalytic Cognitive
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Five Major Theories
Psychoanalytic
Cognitive
Behavioral and social cognitive
Ethological
Ecological

9. Psychoanalytic Theories
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
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

10. Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
Three structures of personality: Id
Ego
Superego
Freud’s Stages
Oral: Birth to 18 months
Anal: 18 months to 3 years
Phallic: 3 to 6 years
(Oedipus complex)
Latency: 6 years to puberty
Genital: puberty onward

11. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
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

12. Erikson’s Life-Span Stages
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Erikson’s Life-Span Stages
Initiative vs. guilt
Generativity vs. stagnation
Early childhood
Integrity vs. despair
Intimacy vs. isolation
Industry vs. inferiority
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
Infancy: 1 to 3 years
Middle adulthood
Late adulthood
Middle and late childhood
Early adulthood
Trust vs. mistrust
Infancy: 1st year of life
Identity vs. identity confusion
Adolescence
Fig. 2.3

13. Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Theories
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Theories
Contributions
Early experiences
Family relationships
Development view of personality
Unconscious
Adult changes
Criticisms
Difficult to test
Sexual underpinnings
Unconscious too important
Negative view
Culture- and gender- biased

14. Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
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

15. Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Preoperational Stage
Coordinate sensory experiences with physical actions (0–2 years)
Sensorimotor Stage
Concrete Operational Stage
Formal Operational Stage
Represent world with words, images, drawings (2–7 years)
Perform operations; logical
replaces intuitive (7–11 years)
Think in abstract and more logical terms (11 years–adulthood)
Fig. 2.4

16. Comparison of Piaget’s, Freud’s, and Erikson’s Stages
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Comparison of Piaget’s, Freud’s, and Erikson’s Stages
Periods of Life-Span Development
Infant stages
Adolescent and adult stages
Middle and late childhood stages
Early childhood stages
Fig. 2.5

17. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory
Sociocultural cognitive theory
Culture and social interaction guide cognitive development
Social interaction with more-skilled adults and peers advances cognitive development—learning to adapt

18. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory
Memory, attention, and reasoning involves learning to use society’s inventions (e.g., math and language)
Knowledge is best advanced in cooperative activities

19. Information-Processing Theory
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Information-Processing Theory
Comparing computer to human brain
Hardware analogous to brain
Software analogous to cognition
Emphasizes how individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it

20. Evaluating the Cognitive Theories
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Evaluating the Cognitive Theories
Contributions
Positive view
Active construction of understanding
Importance of developmental changes
Detailed descriptions
Criticisms
Pureness of Piaget’s stages
Lack individual variations
Info-processing theory lacks description
Unconscious

21. Behavioral Theories Three approaches: Pavlov, Skinner, and Bandura
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Behavioral Theories
Three approaches: Pavlov, Skinner, and Bandura
Observations in controlled labs
Behavior: observable and measurable
Behavior is learned from experience with the environment

22. Behavioral Theories Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Behavioral Theories
Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
Neutral stimulus paired with active stimulus to produce response
Watson: little Albert and a white rat
Generalizing fear as a involuntary response

23. Behavioral Theories Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Behavioral Theories
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Consequences of behavior changes probability of behavior’s occurrence; use of punishments and rewards

24. Social Cognitive Theories
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Social Cognitive Theories
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
Observational learning: use imitation or modeling to adopt behaviors
Emphasizes behavior, environment, and person/cognition interactions

25. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Model
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Model
Fig. 2.6
Behavior
Person/ Cognitive
Environment

26. Evaluating the Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Evaluating the Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories
Contributions
Scientific research
Environmental determinants
Observational learning
Person and cognitive factors
Criticisms
Lack focus on cognition
Overemphasize environmental determinants
Too little attention to developmental changes, creativity, and spontaneity

27. Ethological Theory Behavior Strong influence of biology and evolution
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Ethological Theory
Behavior
Strong influence of biology and evolution
Characterized by critical or sensitive periods for some experiences
Lorenz: imprinting is rapid, innate learning within a critical period of time
Bowlby’s view of attachment

28. Evaluating Ethological Theory
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Evaluating Ethological Theory
Contributions
Biological and evolutionary
Careful observations
Sensitive periods of development
Criticisms
Too rigid on critical and sensitive periods
Emphasis on biological foundations
Inadequate attention to cognition
Animal research

29. What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Ecological Theory
Bronfenbrenner’s view that development influenced by five environmental systems:
Microsystem
Mesosystem
Exosystem
Now a “bioecological” theory
Macrosystem
Chronosystem

30. Ecological Theory Caring for children: A mesosystem connection
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Ecological Theory
Caring for children: A mesosystem connection
Provide assistance to families
Encourage parents to volunteer
Involve families in learning at home
Include families in school decisions
Coordinate community collaboration

31. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory of Development
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory of Development
Fig. 2.7

32. Evaluating Ecological Theory
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
Evaluating Ecological Theory
Contributions
Macro and micro dimensions
Connections of environments
Sociohistorical influences
Criticisms
Lacks emphasis on biological foundations
Inadequate attention to cognitive processes

33. An Eclectic Theoretical Orientation
What Are the Main Theories of Child Development?
An Eclectic Theoretical Orientation
Orientation that does not follow any one theoretical approach
Selects whatever is considered the best in each theory

34. Methods for Collecting Data
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
Methods for Collecting Data
Observation
Laboratory: controlled, unnatural setting
Naturalistic observation: observing behavior in real-world settings; no control or manipulation
Surveys and interviews: clear, unbiased questions

35. Figure 2.10 25 5 30 15 10 20
Girls
Boys
Percent of parent-child interactions in which the parent explained science concepts
Parents’ explanations of science to sons and daughters at a science museum

36. Methods for Collecting Data
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
Methods for Collecting Data
Standardized test: test with uniform procedures for administration and scoring in percentiles
Psychophysiological measures
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Electroencephalogram (EEG)

37. Methods for Collecting Data
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
Methods for Collecting Data
Case study: in-depth look at individual
Cannot be duplicated/tested in others
Caution when generalizing to others
Individual is genetically unique
Involves judgments, unknown reliability

38. Research Designs Descriptive research: observes and records behavior
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
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

39. Possible Explanations for Correlational Data
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
Possible Explanations for Correlational Data
Fig. 2.12
Possible explanations for this correlation
causes
Observed correlation
and
cause
both

40. Research Designs Experimental Research
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
Research Designs
Experimental Research
Experiment: carefully regulated procedure in which one or more factors is manipulated while all other factors are held constant (cause and effect)
Independent and dependent variables
Experimental and control groups

41. Principles of the Experimental Strategy
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
Principles of the Experimental Strategy
Dependent variable
Independent variable
Fig. 2.13

42. What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
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

43. Research Journals Journal Articles:
What Are the Main Research Methods in Child Development?
Research Journals
Journal Articles:
Published scholarly and academic information, usually for other professionals
Each article includes:
Abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, references

44. Conducting Ethical Research
What Are Some Challenges in Child Development Research?
Conducting Ethical Research
Rights of participants and responsibilities of researchers
Informed consent
Confidentiality
Debriefing
Deception

45. Minimizing Bias Gender bias: some differences unduly magnified
What Are Some Challenges in Child Development Research?
Minimizing Bias
Gender bias: some differences unduly magnified
Cultural and ethnic bias
Deliberate exclusion
Ethnic gloss: using an ethnic label to portray an ethnic group as being more homogeneous than it is

46. Thinking Critically About Research
What Are Some Challenges in Child Development Research?
Thinking Critically About Research
Be cautious about media reporting
Don’t assume
Don’t overgeneralize
Don’t accept a single study
Don’t accept causal conclusions from correlational studies
Always consider the source

47. Children 2
The End