1. Studying Children
Chapter 1-2

2. The Developing Brain
Brains are made of nerve cells or neurons.

3. A newborn brain has about 100 billion neurons.
These neurons have about 50 trillion connections
During infancy, the connections increase rapidly (up to 3 billion per second)
By age 3, a child has about 1,000 trillion connections
(twice as many as an adult)

4. The first 3 years are optimal for learning.
As a child matures, many unused connections are lost.

5. Brains develop in response to stimulation: activities that arouse a baby’s senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)

6. Stimulation can improve:
Curiosity
Attention span
Memory
Nervous system development
Repetition helps to strengthen brain connections.
Children who do not receive enough stimulation may develop learning problems.

7. Theories About Development
Theorists provide insights about how children learn and develop
Some use experiments
Some cannot
Not everyone agrees about how we should apply these findings.

8. Sigmund Freud ( )
One of the first to study child development and recognize how much childhood affected adult life.
Believed that personality develops through a series of stages
Much of his work has since been found to be flawed.

9. Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) First to study children scientifically
Focused on learning
Believed that children go through four stages of learning
Much of his work still applies today

10. Erik Erikson ( )
Believed that personality develops through 8 stages
Thought that each stage included a crisis that must be resolved in order to move on
Believed that caregivers must know how to support children’s needs at each stage

11. B. F. Skinner ( )
Believed that learning occurred because of positive and negative reinforcement (reward and punishment)

12. What researchers have found
Although they did not always agree, they have given us much insight about how to nurture and educate children.
They have found that child development follows five general rules.

13. 5 Characteristics of development
Development is similar for everyone
Children go through the same stages in the same order (but not necessarily as the same speed)

14. Development builds upon earlier learning
It follows a sequence or an order of steps
Development proceeds at an individual rate

15. The different areas of development are interrelated
Physical
Cognitive
Social
Emotional
Development is a lifelong process
It never stops (although it slows down)
physical
cognitive
social
emotional

16. Influences of Development
Heredity: the biological transfer of traits from parents to offspring

17. Environment: The people, places, and things that surround you

18. Nature vs. Nurture (Heredity) (Environment)
You
And how you respond to your environment

19. Lifelong Growth and Development
Human Life Cycle: The stages that humans go through during life

20. Developmental Tasks: Challenges that must be met or skills to be acquired during each stage of life

21. Development Beyond Childhood
Adolescence
Young Adulthood
The Thirties
Middle Age
Late Adulthood
Very Late Adulthood

22. Self-esteem:
Self-worth
The value that people place on themselves