1. The Development of Children, Seventh Edition
Cynthia Lightfoot,
Michael Cole,
and Sheila R. Cole
Chapter 1:
The Study of Human Development

2. Chapter Overview I. Developmental Science
II. Children, Society, and Science
III. The Central Issues of Developmental Science
IV. Theories of Development
V. Methods for Studying Development
VI. Looking Ahead

3. The Wild Boy of Aveyron
Jean-Marc Itard’s work is the earliest in the study of child development.
Fundamental questions arose from his work.
To what extent is development determined from birth, and to what extent is it influenced by the environment?
What is the role of early experience in shaping development, and can the effects of negative experience be undone?

4. I. Developmental Science
Developmental Science: an interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on the changes that children undergo from conception onward.
The field has two goals:
1. The understand the basic biological and cultural processes that account for the complexities of development.
2. To devise ways of safeguarding children’s health and well-being.

5. The Field of Developmental Science
Developmentalists divide the time between conception and adulthood into five periods:
The Prenatal Period (conception to birth)
Infancy (birth through 2)
Early Childhood (ages 2 1/2 to 6)
Middle Childhood (ages 6 through 12)
Adolescence (ages 12 through 8)

6. Domains of Development
The four major areas of development children undergo:
Social
Emotional
Cognitive (intellectual)
Physical

7. Domains of Development
What shapes development?
Physical Environment
Cultural beliefs
Family and Peers
Neighborhoods and communities
Institutions (e.g., schools and gov’t)

8. II. Children, Society, and Science
Historical and cultural context of Developmental Science
Medieval Europe: Children as miniature adults
Protestant Reformation: Harsher child-rearing practices

9. History of Development Science
Industrial Revolution
Altered family life, education, and work
Contributed to the rise of developmental science

10. History of Development Science
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Origin of Species
New scientific interest in children
Early Twentieth Century
Developmental Science as a recognized field

11. II. Apply – Connect - Discuss
Thumb through some magazines containing images of children
How are these children depicted? Describe their clothing, the activities in which they are engaged, and the objects with them, and the people with whom they are show.
What do these images suggest regarding current conceptions of children and childhood?

12. III. The Central Issues of Development Science
Research focuses on four fundamental issues:
Sources of Development
Plasticity
Continuity/Discontinuity
Individual Difference

13. Sources of Development
Question about the sources of development:
How do nature and nurture interact to produce development?
Emphasis
Debates the importance of biology and environment

14. Sources of Development
Nature:
Refers to the individual’s inherited biological predispositions
Nurture:
Refers to the influences on the individual of the social and cultural environment and of the individual’s experience.

15. Plasticity Question about plasticity: Greatest Impact
To what degree, and under what conditions, is development open to change and intervention?
Greatest Impact
During sensitive periods.

16. Plasticity Sensitive Periods: Critical Periods:
A time in an organism’s development when a particular experience has an especially profound effect.
Example of language development
Critical Periods:
A period during which specific biological or environmental events are required for normal development to occur.
Example of Imprinting

17. Continuity/Discontinuity
Question about Continuity/Discontinuity:
To what extent does development consist of the gradual accumulation of small changes, and to what extent does it involve abrupt transformations, or stages?
Examines
Quantitative versus Qualitative Changes

18. Continuity/Discontinuity
Continuous Development:
Consisting of the gradual accumulation of small changes
Quantitative Changes
Discontinuity:
Involves a series of abrupt, radical transformations
Qualitative Changes
Referred to as Developmental Stages

19. Continuity/Discontinuity

20. Individual Differences
Questions about individual differences:
What combination of nature and nurture makes individuals different from one another?
To what extent are individual characteristics stable?

21. III. Apply – Connect - Discuss
The central questions of developmental science are also reflected in the way parents and practitioners interpret children’s behavior.
Indentify the central question (nature/nurture, continuity/discontinuity, individual differences, plasticity) associated with each of the following phrases:

22. “Oh, those terrible twos!”
“Don’t worry, it’s just a phase. She’ll grow out of it.”
“He’s going on 20” or “He’s 20 going on 2.”
“She’s her own little person.”
“Of course he’s having trouble-his parents work all day and are never home.”
“He’s been moody since he hit puberty.”
Now, drawing on your own experience, think of one or more similar phrases for each of the central questions.

23. IV. Theories of Development
Theory plays an important role in developmental science.
Theory:
A broad conceptual framework to guide the collection and interpretation of facts.

24. Theoretical Perspectives
Development is approached from several theoretical perspectives:
Four Grand Theories
Four Modern Theories

25. Theoretical Perspectives
Four Grand Theories:
Psychodynamic theories
Behaviorism
Piaget’s Constructivist theory
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

26. Psychodynamic Theories
Theories exploring the influence on development and developmental stages of the universal biological drives and life experiences of individuals.

27. Psychodynamic Theories
Key Psychodynamic Theorists
Sigmund Freud
In which psychosexual stages are associated with the changing focus of the sex drive
Erik Erikson
In which psychosocial stages are associated with tasks or crises shaped by social and cultural factors.

28. Psychodynamic Theories

29. Behaviorism
Theories that focus on development as the result of learning, behavioral changes resulting from the individual’s forming associations between behavior and consequences.

30. Behaviorism Key Learning Theorists John B. Watson Edward Thorndike
B. F. Skinner

31. Piaget’s Constructivist Theory
Piaget’s theory, in which cognitive development results from children’s active construction of reality based on their experiences with the world.

32. Piaget’s Constructivist Theory
Concepts:
Children progress through universal stages of cognitive development.
As children strive to master their environments, they change their schemas through adaptation.
A schema is the most basic unit of cognitive functioning.

33. Piaget’s Constructivist Theory

34. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Vygotsky’s theory focuses on the role of culture in development and on children learning through finely tuned interactions with others who are more competent.
Zone of Proximal Development:
The gap between what children can accomplish independently and what they can accomplish when interacting with others who are more competent.

35. Four Grand Theories
Insert new Table 1.4

36. Influential Modern Theories
Four Modern Theories
Evolutionary Theories
Social Learning Theories
Information-Processing Theories
Systems Theories

37. Evolutionary Theories
Theories look at how human characteristics contributed to the survival of the species and to how our evolutionary past influences individual development.
Concept of Ethology

38. Social Learning Theory
Theories that focus on the learning of associations between behaviors and their consequences but emphasize learning that occurs through the observation of, and interaction with, others.

39. Information-Processing Theories
Theories look at how children process, store, organize, retrieve, and manipulate information in increasingly efficient ways.
Analogous with computer processing

40. System Theories
Theories that envision development in terms of complex wholes made up of parts and that explore how these wholes and their parts are organized and interact over time.

41. System Theories Dynamic systems theory: Ecological systems theory:
Focuses on the development of new systems of behavior from the interaction of less complex parts
Ecological systems theory:
Focuses on the organization of the environmental contexts within which children develop.

42. Uri Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological system

43. IV. Apply – Connect - Discuss
Parminder is playing intently with wooden blocks. She puts one on top of another, and looks at her mother, who smiles and exclaims, “Oh, aren’t you cleaver? You got it on top! Are you a proud little girl?” Parminder grasps another block and repeats her performance. She smiles broadly at her mother, who again responds with happy excitement. On the third try Parminder topples her tower, and bursts into tears. “Poor baby! They fell down and now you’re angry. Here, let me help you make another tower”.
This scenario can be explored from several different theoretical perspectives. Considering the theories of Erikson, Vygotsky, and Piaget, what would you focus on? How would you interpret the scenario?

44. V. Methods of Studying Development
Goals of Developmental Research
Basic Research: designed to advance scientific knowledge of human development
Applied Research: designed to answer practical questions related to improving children’s lives and experiences.
Action Research: designed to provide data that can be used in social policy decision making.

45. Methods of Studying Development
Criteria for Developmental Research
Objectivity
Reliability
Replicability
Validity
Ethically Sound

46. Methods of Data Collection
Naturalistic Observation
Involves watching children in the course of their everyday lives and recording what happens
Experiments
Consist of introducing some change in a group’s experience and measuring effects on the group’s members, who are compared to a similar group that did not undergo the experience

47. Methods of Data Collection
Clinical Interviews
Allows researchers to tailor data collection to each research participant.

48. Methods of Data Collection

49. Research Design
Longitudinal design: studies the same children repeatedly over a period of time.
Cross-sectional design: studies children of different ages at a single time.

50. Research Design
Cohort sequential design: combines the logitudinal and cross-sectional approaches by studying several cohorts over time.
Microgenetic design: studies the same children over a short period, often one of rapid change.

51. Research Design

52. V. Apply – Connect - Discuss
Your little brother brought home the following letter from school.
Evaluate the scientific and ethical merits of the study described. Propose an alternative study that will address the issues.

53. V. Apply – Connect - Discuss
Dear Parent or Guardian,
In response to the mayor’s proposal to re-route a major highway past our elementary school, we will conduct a study of the relationship between road noise and learning in our students. With the assistance of Dr. Heezrite of Baloney University, your child, JONATHON, has been randomly assigned to the following group:
During a lesson in mathematics, your child will be exposed to unexpected loud noises, similar to truck horn blasts, after which he/she will be given a test covering the content of the lesson.
After a lesson in mathematics, your child will be given a test covering the content of the lesson.
Thank you for your cooperation in our effort to provide the best learning environment for our children.
Sincerely,
THE PRINCIPAL

54. VI. Looking Ahead Biocultural Approach
Emphasizes on how biological and cultural processes intertwine
Taking this approach, the book will trace development in the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive domains across the periods of childhood.