BLEPT ProfEd Child-Adulthood Facilitating Learning - Emboltura PDF

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CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

FACILITATING LEARNING
CHILD DEVELOPMENT – YESTERDAY AND TODAY
Historical Accounts of Children – once treated as miniature adults – many views on how they should be reared.
 Tabula rasa – Locke – Children are born as blank slates – childhood experiences are therefore important.
 Original sin – Children are basically bad – rearing must provide salvation.
 Innate goodness – Rousseau – Children are inherently good – should grow naturally.
Improving the Lives of Today’s Children – Many factors converge to improve the lives of children
 Health and Well-Being – Lifestyles and psychological states promote health and well-being and the impetus of caring for the child is
not in the hands of physician, but those of the caregivers.
 Families and Parenting – Changing family patterns, more working parents, increased use of day care facilities all contribute to
impacting the development of the child.
 Education – Parents are taking a greater role in the formal education of their children, asking questions about curriculum, testing,
safety in schools, and qualifications of teachers.
Culture and Ethnicity – The Tapestry of our society has become more diverse, but minorities are still more likely to live in poverty, and their
children are more likely to be dropouts. The diversity of ethnic groups within themselves has also increased.
 Context – the setting influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors.
 Culture – behavior patterns and beliefs passed on to succeeding generations.
 Cross-cultural studies – comparing one culture with another to determine the degree of development in all children.
 Ethnicity – cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and language – ethnic identity is a sense of membership in that cultural
heritage.
 Gender – The sociocultural dimension that surrounds gender stimulates interesting questions of what is or is not appropriate.
The Nature Of Development

Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes: These processes focus on the nature of physical, intellectual, linguistic, social, and
emotional development in the child.
Periods of Development
 Prenatal – conception to birth
 Infancy – birth to 18/24 months
 Early childhood – end of infancy to 5/6 years
 Middle and late childhood – 6 to 11 years
 Adolescence – 10/12 years to 18/22 years
Developmental Issues
 Nature vs. nurture – from biological to environmental influence
 Continuity and discontinuity – the degree of gradual, cumulative change to distinct change in development
 Early and late experience – the degree that early and later experiences influence the child’s development. Culture plays an
important role in these determinants.
THE SCIENCE OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Why Research on Child Development Is Important – basing information only on personal experiences reduces objectivity because humans
make judgments that protect their ego and self-esteem.
Theories Of Child Development

Psychoanalytic – Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and it is important to analyze the symbolic meanings of behavior – early
experiences are important in development.
Freud’s Theory: Personality has three structures: (1) id – instincts, psychic energy; (2) ego – manages the demands of reality; (3) superego –
the moral branch of personality – conscience. Freud also believed that there are five psychosexual stages of development:
 Oral Stage – first 18 months of life – pleasure centers around the mouth.
 Anal stage – 18 through 36 months – pleasure involves anus or eliminative functions.
 Phallic stage – three to six years of age – pleasure focuses on genitals and self-manipulation.
 Latency stage – six years to puberty – child represses sexual interest and develops social and intellectual skills.
 Genital stage – puberty on – sexual reawakening; source of sexual pleasure becomes someone outside the family
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Erikson’s Theory: Emphasized development through psychosocial stages, each of which provides crises for the individual to overcome.
 Trust vs. mistrust – In infancy, where trust provides physical comfort and a lifetime of expectant trust is begun.
 Autonomy vs. shame/doubt – one to three years – Begin to discover that their behavior is their own and begin to assert
independence – overpunishment could produce shame and doubt.
 Initiative vs. guilt – preschool years – Begins to assert oneself and assume responsibility – prone to guilt if made anxious.
 Industry vs. inferiority – elementary school years – Enthusiastic about learning – prone to feelings of incompetence and inferiority if
stilted in their industry.
 Identity vs. identity confusion – adolescence and role exploration – Hindrance in this exploration or authoritarian demands by
parents to assume a chosen role can lead to identity confusion.
 Intimacy vs. isolation – In early adulthood, achieving a relationship in which one “loses oneself” in another.
 Generativity vs. stagnation – In middle adulthood, developing meaningful and useful lives versus stagnation in having done nothing
for future generations.
 Integrity vs. despair – In later years, the person retroactively views his or her life positively or negatively, which affects the condition
of their psyche in old age.
Cognitive – an emphasis on children’s conscious thoughts
Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory – Children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages of
cognitive development. He believed that children adapt thinking to include new ideas through assimilation (incorporating new information into
existing knowledge) and accommodation (adjusting to the new information.)
 Sensorimotor stage – birth to two years – Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with
physical action.
 Preoperational stage – two to seven years – Children represent the world with words and images, reflecting increased symbolic
thinking.
 Concrete operational stage – The child now reasons logically and classifies objects into different sets.
 Formal operational stage – Reasons in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory – Emphasizes developmental analysis, the role of language, and social relations. The three tenets
of Vygotskyian thought are:
 The child’s cognitive skills are understood only when developmentally analyzed.
 Cognitive skills are mediated by word, language, and forms of discourse.
 Cognitive skills have their origins in social relations and are embedded in a sociocultural backdrop.
The Information-Processing Approach – Individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it within the process of memory
and thinking. Computers serve as analogies for the information-processing approach: the brain is the computer’s hardware and congnition is
the software.
Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories – Develoment is observable behavior that can be learned through experience with the
environment.
Pavlov’s classical conditioning – A neutral stimulus (the bell) acquires the ability to produce a response originally produced by another
stimulus (food).
Skinner’s operant conditioning – Through inducing rewards and punishments, one can manipulate the environment to emit the desired
response in behavior.
Social Cognitive Theory – Behavior, cognition, and environment are key factors in development. People often cognitively identify with
others’ behavior and then model or imitate it. A person’s behavior influences the environment, which in turn influences beha vior.
Ethological Theory – Behavior is strongly influenced by biology, tied to evolution, and therefore characterized by critical or sensitive periods.
This theory produced the concept of imprinting – when an offspring innately attaches itself to the first moving object seen because it is in a
critical period.
Ecological Theory – Five environmental influences developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner.

 Microsystem – where the child lives, involving family, peers, school, and neighborhood.
 Mesosystem – relationships within the miscrosystem, such as family and school experiences.
 Exosystem – the influences of factors over which one has no control, such as divorce, parents’ work stress.
 Macrosystem – the culture in which one lives, its beliefs and value systems.
 Chronosystem – the sequence of patterning of events that impact the child’s life; divorce may affect the child differently at different
times in his or her life.
An Eclectic Theoretical Orientation – An approach that selects concepts from one or more of the various theories in analyzing a child’s
development.
THE EVEOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE

 Natural Selection – The evolutionary process that favors individuals of a species that are best adapted to survive and reproduce –
Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.
 Adaptive Behavior – That which promotes an organism’s survival in its habitat (e.g, eagle’s claws), attachment in humans.
 Evolutionary psychology – Emphasis on the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and survival of the fittest in explaining behavior.
Evolution favors behaviors that promote survival.
What are Genes?
Chromosomes – Threadlike structures of 23 pairs, one member of each pair from each parent, containing DNA. Each gene is a short
segment composed of DNA acting as a blueprint for cells to reproduce themselves.
Mitosis is the process where each chromosome in the cell’s nucleus duplicates itself. Meiosis is where each pair of chromosomes separates
– one member going to each gamete.
Genetic Principles
 Dominant-recessive genes principle – The explanation of gene dominance relative to hair color, eyesight, and freckles.
 Sex-linked genes – An explanation of the XY chromosomal makeup that determines gender.
 Genetic imprinting – The dominance of imprinted genes and its effect on some genetic diseases.
 Polygenic inheritance – The interaction of genes, forming the organism’s genotype and phenotype.
 Reaction range – Demonstrates the importance of an environment’s positive and negative effects.
 Canalization – Nature’s pathway to development thought to be a protective measure from environmental extremes.
Methods Used by Behavior Genetics – genetic influence on behavior.

Identical twins – monozygotic – single fertilized egg
Fraternal twins – dizygotic – separate eggs
Twin studies help establish heredity’s effect on behavior.
Adoption studies reveal more strength for the inherited-behavior theory.
Molecular genetics – and the categorization of the human gene through the Genome Project. There is great potential here for the control of
some diseases.
Chromosome and Gene-Linked Abnormalities

 Down syndrome – The presence of a 47th chromosome, leading to a child with specific physical characteristics and mental
limitations.
 Klinefelter syndrome – A sex-linked abnormality found in males who have an extra X chromosome affecting sexual traits.
 Fragile X syndrome – An abnormality in the X chromosome, causing mental retardation and learning disabilities.
 Turner syndrome – Females missing an X chromosome, leading to possible infertility and some learning disabilities.
 XYY syndrome – An extra Y chromosome in males, causing above-average height.
 Phenylketonuria – Organism cannot metabolize an amino acid – could cause mental retardation and hyperactivity.
 Sickle-cell anemia – Most often found in African Americans, affecting red blood cells, causing anemia and possibly early death.
Reproductive Challenges and Choices

 Amniocentesis – A test by which amniotic fluid is withdrawn and tested for chromosomal or metabolic disorders.
 Ultrasound sonography – Soundwaves that are transformed into visual representations of the fetus.
 Chorionic villi sampling – Where a sample of the placenta is removed and tested for birth defects; considered to be more dangerous
than amniocentesis.
 Maternal blood test – Used to assess blood alpha protein level to identify possible defects to the brain and spinal cord formation.
 Infertility – Occurring in approximately 10 to 15 percent of couples in the United States who cannot conceive a child through regular
intercourse. Causes and results are studied.
 Adoption – The effects of adoption on children and the challenges to adoptive parents are discussed.
Heredity-Environment Interaction
Intelligence – What is the heredity and environmental influence on intelligence?
Jensen contended that environment is minimal to heredity – a view that sparked controversy.
The Bell Curve – A book by Herrrnstein and Murray (1994) statistically supporting Jensen’s contention also provided controversy. The
argument centers on the belief that IQ can or cannot be quantified.
Environment – Scientists believe that rich environments can raise intelligence, as is evidence by some studies that focused on children born
of low socioeconomic status parents and raised in high socioeconomic status environments.
Heredity-Environment Correlatioins
 Passive genotype-environment correlations –Biological parents provide rearing environment for child.
 Evocative genotype-environment correlations – Genetic foundation s elicit social and physical influences from the environment.
(Agreeable children get more positive attention.)
 Active (niche-picking) genotype-environment correlations – seeking environments that are found compatible to the individual.
 Shared and nonshared environmental experiences – Children’s common genetic inheritances versus their unique experiences in
and outside the family.
 Conclusions about heredity-environment interaction – Heredity and environment operate together. Both environment and heredity
are complex in their own way and both are influenced by the other.
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
The Course Of Prenatal Development
 Germinal period – creation of the zygote – one week after conception – 100/150 cells.
 Embryonic period – support systems for cells – 2/8 weeks after conception.
 Fetal period – begins at two months, lasts for seven – period of organ growth.
Exploring Teratology – agents that cause birth defects and their study
 Prescription and Nonprescription Drugs – Several drugs used by the mother that have negative effects on the embryos and fetuses.
 Psychoactive drugs are used to alter states of consciousness, modify perceptions, and change moods. The effects of alcohol,
nicotine, and illegal drugs on the fetus are well-documented.
 Incompatibility of blood types where the fetus’s blood is RH positive ad the mother’s is RH negative cause antibodies to atta ck the
fetus, resulting in serious, often life-threatening damage.
 Environmental hazards of the modern world can cause chromosomal abnormalities. Exposure to toxins, radiation, pollutants, an d
excess heat can all contribute to a negative impact on the fetus.
 Other maternal factors such as infectious diseases (Rubella, Syphilis, AIDS), all have varying degrees of impact on the fetus. Also
considered are emotional stress, age, and nutrition of the mother.
 Paternal factors can impact fetal growth such as pesticides at the workplace, smoking and diet.
BIRTH
Exploring The Birth Process
Stages Of Birth:
 First stage lasts 12 to 24 hours with uterine contractions beginning.
 Second stage – Baby’s head moves through cervix and birth canal – baby is born.
 Third stage (afterbirth) is expelling of placenta, umbilical cord, and other membranes.
Delivery Methods
 Medicated – Analgesia to relieve pain
 Natural – Increased education on birthing without medication (Lamaze, Dick-Read)
 Cesarean – Necessitated by baby’s position, mother condition, and/or physical capability
 Fathers – More involved – often the coach
 Siblings – Attempts to be more sensitive to their needs – educating parents on the impact.
Preterm infants – born three weeks or more before full term
Small-for-date infants – birhtweight below normal – some may be full term
Long-Term Outcomes for Low-Birthweight Infants – Normal and healthy, but more apt to have developmental problems. Brian weight is
correlated with cerebral palsy and/or increased likelihood of brain injury. More likely to have liver and lung diseases. More likely to have
learning disabilities. Some low-birthweight deficiencies can be reversed.
Stimulation of Pre-term Infants – Adverse effects of maternal deprivation reversed practice of not stimulating pre-terms. Very immature
infants should not be stimulated. Behavioral cues may determine appropriate stimulation. Sensitivity to socioeconomic and cul tural factors.
Measures Of Neonatal Health And Responsiveness

 Apgar scale is generally used to determine an infant’s immediate health status – heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, body
color, and reflex irritability.
 Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale – 27 evaluations to measure reflexes, responses, and general neurological
development.
The Postpartum Period

The six-week period following birth in which the mother adjusts physically and psychologically to the birth process.
Physical Adjustments
 Involution – uterus returns to pre-pregnancy stage.
 Hormone production is interrupted and must recover.
 Exercise greatly aids quick return to physical strength and body tone.
Emotional and Psychological Adjustments
 Emotional fluctuations caused by hormonal shifts.
 Depression, worrying, appetite change, crying spells, and sleep irregularities are all possible.
 Return-to-work factor must be considered.
 Father’s reaction to wife’s attention to newborn.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Height and Weight – North American babies are born typically at 20 inches long and 7.5 pounds, with growing rate considerably slower in the
second year of life.
The Brain – contains 100 billion nerve cells.
Brain Development – Central nervous system begins as a long, hollow tube on the embryo’s back.
 First stage – Neurons produced between 10 and 26 weeks after conception, with cells generating at about 250,000 per minute
during this period.
 Second stage – Cell migration where cells move from the center to appropriate locations.
 Third stage – Cell elaboration continues years after birth, even to very old adults.
 Myelin sheath – Encases most axons with a layer of fat cells as insulation.
 Rapid growth between neurons in the brain through synaptic connections.
The Brain’s Lobes and Hemispheres – the cerebral cortex – perception, language, and thinking:
 Frontal lobe – voluntary movement – thinking
 Occipital lobe – vision
 Temporal lobe – hearing
 Parietal lobe – sensations, touch, information processing
Lateralization and Hemisphericity –the specialization functions of left and right sections of the brain.
Early Experience and the Brain – Enriched environments may have a positive effect on brain development.
Sleep – What are the effects of sleep on development?
 Sleep-waking cycle – Infants sleep in the range of 10 – 21 hours, with adult patterns of sleep developed at four months.
 REM sleep – About one-half of infant’s sleep is REM, falling to 40 percent by three months. It may promote brain development.
 Shared sleeping – Could promote breastfeeding and faster response time to baby’s needs, although there are cultural variations;
many feel it could be dangerous
 SIDS – Research shows that incidence of SIDS decreases when infants sleep on their backs.
Nutrition
 Nutritional Needs and Eating Behaviors – Infants triple their weight and increase length by 50 percent in one year. Infants need fat
and high-calorie foods.
 Breast versus Bottle Feeding – Breastfeeding has many benefits: fewer allergies, reduction of diarrhea and respiratory infections,
less otitis media, reduced cancers in baby and mother, lower SIDS incidence, neurological and cognitive development, vis ual acuity.
 Malnutrition in Infancy – Caused by early weaning from breast milk where infant receives deficient amounts of protein.
Toilet Training – In America it is expected by age three, attained by 84 percent (daytime) and 66 percent (nighttime). Many modern parents
are using the “readiness approach.”
Health – A decline in infectious diseases caused by immunizations given from two months to age 16. Accidents are the major cause of i nfant
deaths from choking, falls, poisoning, and car accidents.
Motor Skills
The New Look In Motor Development – This is now viewed as an interaction of many factors rather than just a milestone reached because of
age. Environment, central nervous system development, and the body’s physical support qualities all contribute to motor coordination
(dynamic systems theory)
Reflexes – Serve as important building blocks for subsequent purposeful motor activity.
 Sucking reflex – Newborns automatically suck an object placed in their mouth.
 Rooting reflex – Infant’s stroked cheek responds by turning toward the touch.
 Moro reflex – Neonatal response to a sudden, intense noise or movement.
 Stepping reflex – Babies flex their legs up and down in response to pressure.
 Grasping reflex – Infant grasps when palms are touched. Each of the reflexes is linked to survival and gradually disappears, except
for blinking.
Gross Motor Skills – large muscle activities

 Development of posture – Dynamic process linked with sensory modalities – skin, muscles, vestibular organs in the inner ear, and
cues from vision and hearing.
 Learning to walk – Constant kicking leading to a gradual forward movement to balance of weight, usually achieved by first year.
 Summary of further development – The sequence of gross motor skills is uniform as infants gain independence. Most two-year olds
are motor proficient. Despite some parents’ “training,” all infants appear to reach motor proficiency at around the same age .
Fine Motor Skills – the finely tuned movements – finger dexterity. This skill is linked to maturation of hand-eye coordination in the first two
years of life. Vision development is a key to development fine motor skills.
What Are Sensation and Perception? – Stimulus activates response from the senses, producing sensations, while perception is the
interpretation of what is sensed. The ecological view is that perception brings the organism in contact with its environment fro the purposes of
adaptation.
Visual Perception – Newborn’s vision is estimated at 20/600 to 20/40 by the first birthday.
 Color – Babies can distinguish between green and red.
 Visual preferences – Infants prefer to look at patterns rather than at color; they prefer concentric circles to colored ones.
 Depth perception – Some indication that at two to four months they are aware of depth – inconclusive research.
 Visual expectations – Infants anticipate what they are about to see, can even infer from what they see.
Other Senses
 Hearing – Have higher sensory thresholds, meaning the stimulus needs to be stronger. Research demonstrates ability of fetus to
hear in the womb.
 Touch and Pain – One-year-olds can connect information about vision to that of touch. Although demonstrating stress from
circumcision, male infants also show remarkable resiliency and ability to cope with it.
 Smell – Newborns can differentiate odors, recognizing the smell of the mother’s breast pad.
 Taste – Newborns react to different tastes from sweet to sour.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Piaget’s Theory Of Infant Development
The Stage of Sensorimotor Development – birth to tow years – progression of infant to organize and coordinate sensations with physical
movements and actions.
Sub-stages – Characterized by different schemes (i.e, sucking, rooting, blinking).
Object Permanence – The infant comprehends that objects continue to exist even when not directly seen, heard, or touched. Research on
object permanence reveals a wide range of comprehension by the infant to objects in motion.
Evaluating Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage – Extended research on his theories has appreciably increased information regarding them.
 Perceptual development – Perceptual abilities are highly developed early in infancy with coordination of two sensory modalities –
seeing and hearing.
 Cognitive development – Infants have more sophisticated perceptual abilities than Piaget envisioned (i.e., recognizing familiar toys
and seeking them).
Conditioning – classical and operant conditioning – Resulting from research by Pavlov and Skinner that have far-reaching effects on
nurturing.
Habituation and Dishabituation – The infant loses interest in an action repeatedly presented and regains interest when a novel aspect is
added.
Imitation – Some researchers believe that infants in the first days of life are capable of imitation, while others believe these are m erely
automated responses to stimuli.
Memory – Researchers disagree about whether infants can actually recall information or are merely responding to implicit researchers a gree
the explicit memory occurs in the second half of the first year.
Individual Differences In Intelligence

Knowing whether the infant is progressing at a “normal” rate of development is important but difficult. Gesell’s development al quotient
consists of four categories of behavior; motor, language, adaptive, and personal-social.
 The Bayley Scales of Infant Development assess infant development along three scales: mental, motor, and behavioral.
 The Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence assesses the infant’s ability to process information such as encoding the attributes of objects.
 Overall, infant habituation and dishabituation are important in determining later child intelligence, in that infants in their first s ix
months who show greater amounts of attention in the dishabituation situation reflect more efficient information processing.
Nutrition – Although good nutrition provides optimum physical growth, it can also influence cognition. Studies of malnourished children find
lower scores on the Bayley test. Other studies on children given protein supplement indicate higher cognitive devel opment.
Poverty – Children born into poverty are more susceptible to conditions that will negatively affect cognitive growth. Intervention pro grams that
educate parents on enriching practices and improving quality of life have important positive effects on cognitive growth.
Languages have common characteristics throughout the world; they have generativity, ability to produce meaningful sentences, and
organizational rules.
How Language Develops – Babies begin linguistic acquisition through crying, cooing, babbling, and gestures.
 Recognizing language sounds – As language is composed of phonems, in which certain sound sequences occur.
 First words – Usually those related to people and things in the baby’s immediate environment. Once the first word is spoken, a
naming explosion leads to a rapid increase in vocabulary. The first word usually occurs at 13 months.
 Two-word utterances – 18 to 24 months – rely heavily on gesture, tone, and context. Toddlers rely on telegraphic speech, in which
short word utterances convey large meaning.
 Language production/comprehension – There is a difference between words that are used and those that are understood by the
child. Their comprehensive words exceed their productive vocabulary.
Biological Influences
– Conditions under which children throughout the world begin to talk indicates a biological influence. In cultures where adults do not spea k to
their infants, the infants still begin speaking at approximately the same age as those whose parents speak to them.
 Biological evolution – Language acquisition by humans is estimated at 100,000 years old. Physically adapted to speak, language
gives humans an advantage over other animals.
 Brain’s role in language – The speech center of the brain is considered to be the left frontal lobe, known as Broca’s area, and
Wernicke’s area in the left hemisphere is believed to be where comprehension occurs. Studies on brain-injured patients have
revealed a great deal of information on the brain’s involvement in speech.
 Biological pre-wiring – Famed linguist Noam Chomsky believes humans are equipped with a language acquisition device that aids
the child to sequence and process phonology, syntax, and semantics. The uniformity of language acquisition across cultures
supports this finding
Behavioral and Environmental Influences – Behaviorists believe that language is a responsive action to stimuli in the environment; however,
critics argue that the orderliness of language defies this explanation.
 Children who are not exposed to rich verbal environments still acquire the grammatical orderliness of language, but do not develop
a sophisticated level of vocabulary and articulation.
 Maternal influence is a key factor in language acquisition.
 Infant-directed speech is a manner in which parents speak to their infants that has a higher pitch with simple words and phrases.
 Techniques such as echoing, expanding, and labeling are natural devices parents use to encourage speech in their children.
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Defining emotion – Feeling or affect that can involve physiological arousal, conscious experience, and behavioral expression.
Affect in parent-child relationships – Emotions are the first language between parents and infant; infants react to their parents’ facial
expressions and tone of voice; initial aspects of infant attachment to parents are based on interchanges; a mother’s facial expression
influences whether an infant will explore an unfamiliar environment.
Developmental timetable of emotions – The Maximally Discriminative Facial Movement Coding System (MAX) (Carroll Izard) codes infants’
facial expressions related to emotion. MAX tells us that interest, distress, and disgust are present at birth and the following reactions appear
at later junctions:
 Social smile appears at four to six weeks.
 Sadness appears at about three to four months.
 Fear appears at about five to seven months.
 Shyness appears at about six to eight months.
 Contempt and guilt appear at around two years of age.
 Crying – is the most important mechanism newborns have fro communicating. There are at least three types:
 Basic cry – rhythmic pattern – cry followed by silence
 Anger cry – variation of the basic cry with more excess air forced through vocal chords
 Pain cry – sudden loud crying without preliminary noises followed by an extended period of breath suspension
Fear – There are two related fears for infants:
 Stranger anxiety – Infant shows a fear and wariness of strangers, usually second half of first year. By age nine months, it becomes
more intense.
 Separation anxiety – Fear and distress of being left by the caregiver, who will protect them from harm.
Social referencing – The infant reading emotional cues from others to assist in how to act in a given situation.
Emotional regulation – Managing arousal to adapt and reach a goal.
Adaptive Functions
 Control of arousal – Safeguards against uncomfortably high levels of excitement or distress.
 Establishment and maintenance of social relationships – Infants learn to manage their emotions by distracting themselves.
 Provision of state this is conducive for learning – Learning occurs best when individuals are not overly aroused.
 Contextual functions – Infants are affected by fatigue, hunger, and time of day and eventually learn to adapt to different contexts that
require emotional regulation.
 Coping strategies – Infants learn how to regulate through coping strategies such as sucking on a thumb.
Temperament – an individual’s behavior style and ways of emotionally responding to stimuli.

Defining and classifying temperament – There may be dimensions of temperament:
Chess and Thomas’ Temperament Styles
 Easy child – positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, and adapts easily to new experience
 Difficult child – negatively reacts and cries frequently, irregular daily routines, and is slow to accept new experiences
 Slow-to-warm-up child – low activity level, somewhat negative, low adaptability, and low intensity of mood
 Shy and inhibited children – inhibited children tent to react to unfamiliarity with initial avoidance, distress, or subdued affect.
New Classifications
 Positive affect and approach – the extent to which a child is sociable and outgoing.
 Negative affectivity – child is easily distressed, closely related to introversion
 Effortful control (self-regulation) – high on effortful control means the infant is capable of managing arousal, while low control has the
opposite outcome.
Heredity and environment – An infant is born with some static characteristics that are impacted by the environment.
Goodness of fit – A match between the child’s temperament and the environmental demands with which the child must cope.
Parenting and child’s temperament – Nature as well as nurture influence the child’s development; children differ from each other from very
early in life; and these differences have important implications for parent-child interactions.
Personality development – individual characteristics of the child

Trust – Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial development – trust vs. mistrust – if the infant is not well fed and kept warm on a consistent basis,
a sense of mistrust develops.
 The developing sense of self and independence – sense of self is a strong motivating force
 The self – By 18 months the infant can recognize his or her reflection in a mirror.
Independence – Erikson’s second stage of psychosocial development – autonomy vs. shame and doubt – as the child explores through
climbing, opening, closing, etc., overprotective or critical parenting can cause the child to develop an excessive sense o f shame and doubt.
What Is Attachment? – Restricted to a relationship between particular social figures and a particular phenomenon – a close emotional
bonding between infant and caregiver. Work with monkeys indicates that not food, but proximity and comfort are key integers of secure
attachment.
Individual Differences – The work of the late Mary Ainsworth.
Secure attachment – Infants use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore the environment; Ainsworth believed it forms an
important foundation for psychological development in later life.
Strange situation – An observational measure of infant attachment that requires the infant to move through a series of introductions,
separations, and reunions with caregiver. The following resulting definitions emanate from these observations:
 Insecure avoidant babies – Show insecurity by avoiding the caregiver; often display distress by crying when she leaves the room.
 Insecure resistant babies – Cling to caregiver then resist by fighting; don’t explore the playroom.
 Disorganized babies – Disoriented, strong patterns of avoidance and resistance; child leans away.
Care-giving Styles and Attachment Classification – Securely attached babies have caregivers who are sensitive to their signals and are
consistently available to respond to their infants’ needs.
Attachment, Temperament, and the Wider Social World – Some developmentalists believe that too much emphasis is placed on the
importance of the attachment bond; researchers have found cultural variations in attachment (i.e., German and Japanese babies often show
different patterns of attachment from American babies).
The Family
 The transition to parenthood – When people become parents through pregnancy, adoption, or step-parenting, they face
disequilibrium and must adapt. During the early years of the child’s life, parents must juggle their roles as parents and self-
actualizing adults.
 Reciprocal socialization – Children and parents socialize each other; in infancy, mutual gaze or eye contact play and important role
in early social interaction. Scaffolding is parental behavior that supports children’s efforts through positive reciprocal f rameworks.
 The Family as a system – Divisions of labor among family members define particular subunits and attachments define others. Each
family member is a participant in several subsystems.
 Mothers and fathers as caregivers – The main responsibility usually falls on the mother. Mothers do more family work than fathers,
but observations of fathers with their infants suggest that fathers have the ability to act sensitively and responsively with their infants.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Body Growth And Change
Height and Weight – On average children grow 2-1/2 inches and gain 5 to 7 pounds per year. The body slims and their trunks lengthen.
Children become increasingly aware of their bodies. Some evidence indicates that socioeconomic status can influence height a nd weight,
and that congenital factors, emotional difficulties, and the rearing process in early childhood can affect growth.
The Brain
 Brain size and growth curves – The growth of the brain slows in childhood and by age five is 90 percent of adult size, while a child
reaches only one-third of body weight. The head and brain grow more rapidly than any other parts of the body.
 Neuronal changes – Early childhood is a time of great neuronal activity.
 Connections between neurons – The brain increases the number of nerve endings and receptors during childhood; chemical
neurotransmitters carry the impulses across synapses; dopamine increases rapidly during three to six years of age.
 Mylineation – The insulation covering the nerve cells helps speed information; this insulation occurs at different ages throughout
childhood.
 Structural changes – The brain undergoes dramatic anatomical changes between ages 3 and 15. Brain tissue multiplies then
prunes itself. The fontal lobe has the greatest increase between ages three and six.
 The brain and cognitive development – Much scientific work is being done on charting the development of cognition as the brain
structure increases; there is a great deal of activity in the prefrontal lobes during early childhood.
Visual Perception
Preschool children overcome their farsightedness by the time they reach kindergarten and first grade. Depth perception is beginning to
become refined, but its lack of full development is the cause for trips and falls during this time period.
Gross and Fine Motor Skills

 Gross motor skills – Three-year-olds do much hopping, skipping, and jumping as they master these skills. Large muscle
development at this age requires exercise. Fidgeting is an indication of this growth. An early education program should always
include exercise as part of the daily regimen.
 Fine motor skills – By ages four through five, fine motor skills are being refined. Children become more dexterous in the use of the
thumb and forefinger.
Young Children’s Artistic Drawings – Art reveals the child’s perceptual world. By age two, children scribble, which does have a pattern.
Rhoda Kellogg’s drawing stages outline the process:
 Gross motor skills – Three-year-olds do much hopping, skipping, and jumping as they master these skills. Large muscle
development at this age requires exercise. Fidgeting is an indication of this growth. An early education program should always
include exercise as part of the daily regimen.
 Fine motor skills – By ages four through five, fine motor skills are being refined. Children become more dexterous in the use of the
thumb and forefinger.
Handedness – the preferential hand used by the child

 Origin and development of handedness – Right-handedness is dominant in all cultures (90 percent to 10 percent). Babies generally
prefer the right side.
 Handedness, the brain, and language – 95 percent of right-handers process speech in the brain’s left hemisphere, but many left-
handers show more variation in use of both or just right.
 Handedness and other abilities – Left-handers are more likely to have reading problems, yet have excellent visuospatial skills.
Sleep And Sleep Problems

Transitional Objects – Teddy bears or other soft cuddly objects that aid children to transition from dependent to independent status
Sleep Problems – Some evidence correlates sleep problems with behavior problems.
Nightmares – Dreams that awaken the sleeper toward morning, possibly an indication of too much stress.
Night terrors – Sudden arousal from sleep with an intense fear, loud screams, perspiration; not considered a serious problem.
Sleep walking and sleep talking – Somnambulism occurs in deep sleep – 1 to 5 percent of children sleep walk and usually grow out it. Sleep
talking also occurs in sound sleep.
Nutrition
Energy Needs – The average preschooler needs about 1,700 calories per day, although each child is individual in his or her basal metabolism
rate, the minimum amount of energy required in a resting state
Eating Behavior
 Daily eating routines – Three-year-olds have fairly good appetites, feed themselves, dawdle, and usually drink a lot of milk; four-
year-olds have fair to good appetites, begin to develop dislikes of certain foods, and use all utensils; five-year-olds eat well but not at
all meals, like familiar foods, and begin making some of their own food.
 Fat and sugar consumption – Children need protein, which they generally get, but the fat intake has increased since the advent of
fast foods; the average American child consumes about two pounds of sugar per week.
 Sweets, snacks, and “fussy eaters” – A main concern in giving young children sweets and snacks is that they withdraw appetite for
more nutritional foods. Fussy eaters are looking for independence and should be encouraged with guidelines.
 Malnutrition in young children from low-income families – Children from poorer families often become iron deficient resulting in
chronic fatigue. The Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program attempts to assist poor families with nutrition.
Childhood Injuries
 Range and incidence – Accidents are the leading cause of death in children aged one through four years. Homicide is the fourth
leading cause, the highest of 26 industrialized countries.
 Preventing childhood injuries – Laws calling for restraints in cars, labeling on poisons and toxins, and better-designed playgrounds
all contribute to prevention of childhood injuries.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Piaget’s Preoperational Stage – approximately two to seven years of age – operations are internalized sets of actions that are highly
organized and conform to certain rules and principles of logic.
Symbolic Function Sub-stage – two to four years of age – where the child gains the ability to represent an object mentally that is not present.
 Egocentrism – feature of preoperational though where child is unable to distinguish between one’s own perspective and that of
others.
 Animism – second feature of preoperational thought where child has belief that inanimate objects have “lifelike” qualities.
Intuitive Thought Sub-stage – four to seven years of age – where children begin to use primitive reasoning and have many questions; this
stage is characterized by a child’s assuredness that she is correct in her thinking.
 Centration – a focusing of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others.
 Conservation – the preoperational child has a lack of conservation in that he feels an amount becomes larger or smaller when it is
manipulated.
Vygotsky’s Theory of Development – described in three basic principles:

 Child’s cognitive skills are understood only when developmentally analyzed.
 Cognitive skills are mediated by words and language, which facilitate mental activity.
 Cognitive skills originate in sociocultural background of the child.
Zone of proximal development (ZPD) – range of tasks beyond the mastery of the child but that are learned with guidance.
Scaffolding – consistently adjusting the amount of guidance to match the student’s performance level.
Language and thought – Language issued for self-regulation and is called inner speech, is considered an important tool of thought in each
childhood.
Teaching strategies based on Vygotsky’s theory – Child is challenged through use of ZPD and scaffolding to bring her to higher levels of
performance. Learning should be with skilled peers and teachers who monitor the child’s use of private speech and assess her ZPD, not her
IQ.
Evaluation and comparing Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories – Piaget considers inner speech to reflect immaturity, not a tool in development.
Vygotsky is a social constructivist while Piaget rejects the impact of social influence and believes children construct knowledge through
transforming and organizing prior knowledge.
Information Processing – Memory plays a key role in cognitive development

Attention – In early childhood, a moving away fro habituation and dishabituation toward selective attention – focusing on a specific aspect of
experience while ignoring others.
 Control of attention – Preschool children begin to focus their attention specifically (on television, for example) versus toddlers who
wander their attention.
 Salient versus relevant dimensions – From preschool year to age six to seven there is a gradual shift toward attending to relevant
aspects versus those that stand out and are flashy when solving a problem.
 Planfulness – A focus on detain when making comparisons is found as children grow older.
 Adjusting attention – A child’s ability to change the rate of attention when confronting easy to difficult material (i.e., reading).
 Knowledge of attention – Preschool versus older children do not seem to have control over how to focus on a subject in order to
remember it.
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

The Self
 Initiative vs. guilt – With the increase of energy, children begin to explore their world. Erikson believes that their mistakes, if
punished without reason, can unleash guilt, thereby lowering the child’s self-esteem.
 Self-understanding – Child’s cognitive representation of self, the substance and content of the child’s self-conceptions. At
approximately 18 months of age, the child becomes aware of the self – mostly in physical terms.
Developmental timetable of young children’s emotion language and understanding – increased use of emotion language – adept at telling
their feelings – at four to five years they begin to reflect on their emotions – demonstrate a growing awareness about the controlling of
emotions.
Self-conscious emotions – Children being aware of themselves as distinct from others. Pride and guilt become more common in early
childhood years.
Regulation of emotion – Children begin to regulate and manage their emotions, especially by shifting the focus of one’s attention.
Helping children understand emotions – Children need to express their emotions in a non-threatening environment; educators must provide
outlets and support for studying emotions (books, stories, plays, etc).
Moral Development
What is moral development? – Rules and conventions about what people should do in their interactions with other people. Three domains
are examined on this topic with children: how children reason, how they actually behave, and how they feel about moral matters.
Piaget’s view of how children’s moral reasoning develops – Through his observations of children 4 to 12 years old, he concluded that children
think in two distinct stages:
 Heteronomous morality – displayed by younger children – justice and rules are unchangeable properties of the world outside the
control of people’s lives and consequences of the behavior have a great force.
 Autonomous morality – displayed by older children – where child becomes aware that rules and laws are crated by people, so one
must consider the intentions of the actor as well as consequences.
Imminent justice – A concept held by the heteronomous thinker that if a rule is broken, punishment is immediate.
Moral behavior – Influenced extensively by the situation – the totally honest and totally dishonest child does not exist as a result.
Moral feelings – In the psychoanalytic view of moral development, self-punitiveness of guilt is responsible for keeping children from
committing transgressions; they seek to avoid guilt. Empathy in moral development results when the person can understand how another
feels and possibly anticipate a feeling as a result of an action. Some believe that this empathetic ability forms a base for the child’s gradual
acquisition of values.
Gender
 What is gender? – The social and psychological dimensions of being male or female. Gender identity acquired by the age of three
is the sense of maleness or femaleness, whereas gender role is a set of expectations that define that identity.
 Biological influences – chromosomes, hormones, brain, and evolution.
 Chromosomes – 46 – the 23rd pair is either two XXs or an XY – that creates the male.
 Hormones – secretion of androgens – male sex hormones that, in low levels, format the female embryo’s sex organs.
 Estrogens, the main female sex hormones play a role in puberty. Levels of hormones have been found to affect femininity and
masculinity in animas, but environmental factors of behavior prevent applying this conclusion to humans.
 Brain – sex differences found in the brain (i.e., female processing information in both sides of the brain).
 Evolutionary psychology – evolutionary aspects produce differences in gender behavior (i.e., male competitiveness led to male
dominance in reproduction, female selection of mates linked to parenting, therefore preferring long-term relationships).
 Social influences – The culture imposes aspects of femaleness and maleness on infants and children, thereby establishing the
gender separation (i.e., blue for males, pink for females).
Psychoanalytic and social cognitive theories – Emanates from the Freudian concept of a young child’s sexual attraction to the opposite-sex
parent – a concept generally disbelieved today. The social cognitive theory of gender believes that gender characteristics are imposed
through reward and punishment and are reinforced by peers.
Parental influences – Children identify with the roles played by their parents, especially by that of the father. Parents often impose gender
types through rearing practices (e.g., girls babysitting, boys doing yard work).
Peer influences – Children show a clear preference for being with and liking same-sex peers, and evidence indicate that children teach each
other about gender roles.
School and teacher influences – Documentation verifies that boys receive more attention in many aspects of education.
Media influences – The media is a major source of gender stereotyping from television characterization of male/female roles to extensive
profiling of femaleness and maleness in print advertising.
Cognitive influences – The cognitive gender developmental theory occurs when children have accepted gender as a concept with specific
characteristics. Once the conception is germinated, they organize their world accordingly. The gender schema theory presents gendering as
a model followed by beliefs of appropriate and inappropriate practices related to gender.
The role of language in gender development – Speaking and reading to young children often carry cues that are distinctly feminine and
masculine and act as reinforcements of the stereotype.
Parenting
Parenting styles – The Baumrind styles of parenting:
 Authoritarian – A controlling style of parenting where there are strict limits and consequences. Top-down, there is no discussion.
These children are unhappy, fearful and anxious.
 Authoritative – Encourages independence but with limits established through verbal interchange. These children are often cheerful,
self-directed, achievement-oriented.
 Neglectful – Parent is uninvolved in the child’s life. These children are frequently truant, have low self-esteem, and are immature.
 Indulgent – Highly involved in the child’s life with few demands or controls. These children often have behavior problems, lack
respect, and are low-achievers.
Child Abuse – Within families, child abuse is on the increase in the United States despite a greater focus by law enforcement officials on
detection.
 The multifaceted nature of abuse – There are many different types of abuse: physical and sexual, lack of supervision, medical,
educational, and nutritional neglect.
 Severity of abuse – A very small minority of children suffer the vile and unspeakable abuse highlighted in the media; however, the
range of abuse is marked by degrees of severity from physical injury to psychological harm.
 The Cultural context of abuse – Abuse is high in the United States, possibly because of a cultural perspective that a child’s discipline
requires a physical application.
 Family influences – How children are disciplined can later influence how they, as parents, discipline their children. Research points
to the intergenerational aspect of abuse.
 Developmental consequences of abuse – Abused children show the effects in many ways, but especially in attachment, where they
appear disorganized and cannot respond competently to distress or positive approaches by peers. Maltreated children also dis play
anxiety, depression, conduct disorder, and delinquency.
Parenting: Nature or Nurture? – It is fairly conclusive that neither parenting nor heredity alone is responsible for development; it sis in
interactive process.
Good parenting takes time and effort – Santrock here argues that presently there is an emphasis by parents on “quick-fix” parenting through
packaging artificial means of spending time with their children.
Sibling Relationships and Birth Order
 Sibling relationships – because more than 80 percent of American children have siblings, there is evidence that these relationships
have an impact on development. There is also evidence that in industrialized countries sibling responsibility is less, or different,
from that of non-industrialized countries.
 Birth order – Birth order certainly creates a variance in relationships within the family.
 Firstborns and later-borns – Firstborns tend to receive a great deal of attention until the second child arrives. This places stress on
the firstborn and interferes with their routine. It also affects the sibling relationship because the older child is considered dominant
and competent. Hence children evolve with different characteristics.
 The only child – Contrary to the stereotype, the only child is often achievement-oriented and displays a desirable personality.
 Birth order as a predictor of behavior – Researchers conclude that because of the high variability of factors influencing behavior,
birth order alone cannot accurately predict behavior.
Effects of divorce on children
 Children’s adjustment in divorced families – Children of divorce show greater adjustment problems (i.e., more likely to have
academic problems, be anxious, depressed, less socially responsible).
 Should parents stay together for the sake of their children? – The prevailing intelligence is that there are too many “ifs” to
conclusively answer that question.
 How much do family processes matter in divorced families? – The research strongly supports the view that good parenting is key
whether within or without a divorce situation. What roles do non-custodial parents play in the lives of children in divorced families? –
Greater participation in the child’s activities by the non-custodial parent mitigates some of the negative effects of divorce.
 What factors are involved in the child’s individual risk and vulnerability in a divorced family? – Temperament, developmental status,
gender, and custody situation are all factors. Children who are socially mature and responsible show less effect. Very youn g
children are sometimes found to e at greater risk than older children.
 What role does socioeconomic status play in the lives of the children in divorced families? – Income loss has a double impact on
the custodial parent because she or he must leave the home for longer periods to make up for the loss of income, which also
creates stress on the order of the family.
Cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic variations in families – What seems to be emerging as a “truism” is that love with moderate control is the
successful strategy for effective parenting. The size of families varies with ethnic cultures; large and extended families are more common
among Latino families (19 percent vs. 10 percent for White families).
Peer Relations
 Peer group functions – Defined as children of about the same age or maturity level, peers provide a source of information and
comparison about he world outside of the family. Documented studies have shown that peer relations are necessary for normal
social development, but these relations can also be negative.
 The distinct but coordinated worlds of parent-child and peer-relations – Evidence supports the view that parental influence can affect
peer relations and that parents who model aggression will yield it in their children, whereas parents who show meditation and
coaching yield competency in their children regarding social relations.
Play
 Play’s functions – Play increases the probability that children will converse and interact with each other. Freud and Erikson believe
it is a useful form of human adjustment, helping children to master anxieties and conflicts. Play therapy allows children to work off
frustrations and allows the therapist to analyze conflicts and ways of coping.
Parten’s Classic Study of Play

 Unoccupied play – child is not engaging – performs actions without goals.
 Solitary play – alone and independent and not caring for what others are doing.
 Onlooker play – speaks with playing children but does not engage in the activity.
 Parallel play – plays separately from others but with toys similar to those being used by the other children.
 Associative play – socially interactive where children seem more interested in each other than in the activities.
 Cooperative play – interactive play with a sense of group identity and organized activity. This is seen more in middle childhood and
less in preschool years.
Types of Play
 Sensorimotor play – Is where behavior by infants derives pleasure from exercising their sensorimotor schemas. From the early
months through the second year, they enjoy playing with objects in varying ways.
 Practice play – The repetition of behavior when new skills are being learned or when physical or mental mastery and coordination
are required.
 Pretense/symbolic play – In preschool it is the make-believe play engaged in by young children, which both Piaget and Vygotsky
agree helps develop children’s imagination.
 Social play – An involvement of social interaction with peers from casual to rough-and-tumble.
 Constructive play – Combines senorimotor with symbolic representation of ideas.
 Games – Activities for pleasure that include rules and often competition.
Television
 Television’s many roles – Generally considered to be a negative influence that distracts children from learning through books,
affects their views and perspective, deceives, and negatively educates children regarding stereotypes of gender, race, culture, and
religion.
 Amount of television watching by children – Generally, American children’s television watching is second in number of hours only to
sleep.
 Effects of television on children’s aggression and prosocial behavior – Many research studies and experiments have demonstrated
the negative effects of viewing violence on television on the prosocial behavior patterns of young children. Some evidence s uggests
that television can also promote good prosocial behavior when programs reflect positive social strategies.
 Television and cognitive development – Negative television aids the children’s script and schema development but in ways that are
not always desirable. There is great promise for television to promote cognition through extensive use of visual and spatial
arrangements.
PHYSICAL DEVELOMENT IN MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD
Skeletal and Muscular Systems – Average height at age 11 is 4’10” for girls and 4’9” for boys. During the middle and late childhood years,
children gain about five to seven pounds per year. There is an increase in muscular strength – disproportions between body height and head
circumference.
Tooth Development and Dental Care – Permanent teeth come in rapidly during this period. Cavities have been greatly reduced due to
fluoride and better dental hygine.
Motor Development
During this period, motor development becomes more coordinated. Children gain greater control over their bodies.
Nutrition – More food is consumed in order to meet body demands for more energy. A balanced diet is essential; however, maintaining this
balance is difficult amidst the allure of fast foods, which are generally non-nutritious.
Exercise – Essential to the maintenance and physical growth of the developing body. Television and schools’ failure to promote more
physical education classes have contributed to an unfit nation of youth. Evidence shows that physical exercise improves all aspects of child
development.
Sports – Participation in sports can be both a negative and positive influence. It is an ideal activity to promote exercise, to develop teamwork,
to boost self-esteem, and to provide a setting for social interaction, but high-pressure sports participation is becoming a national problem.
Obesity
 When is a child considered to be obese? – Weight to height is the standard measure for obesity. Girls are more likely than boys to
be obese, and obesity at age six results in approximately 25% probability that the child will be obese as an adult.
 What factors are linked with obesity? – Heredity, blood chemistry, and environmental contexts all contribute to the proliferation of
obesity. The type of food children eat also contributes to obesity. A major factor is inadequate exercise.
 Consequences of obesity in children – the main consequence of child obesity is the likelihood of adult obesity and the pattern for
high-risk in cardio-pulmonary diseases.
 Treatment of obesity – Exercise, diet, and behavior modification all contribute in the treatment of obesity.
Cancer – is the second leading cause of death in children aged 5 to 14 years. Childhood cancers mainly attack the lymphatic system,
muscles, kidneys, and nervous system. Childhood cancers are found to be dispersed throughout the body in 80 percent of child ren afflicted.
Cardiovascular disease – Uncommon in children but is generally genetically attributed; however, childhood behaviors in youth can lead to
cardiovascular problems in adulthood.
Accidents and injuries – Passenger car accidents are the most severe cause of injury and death in middle and late childhood.
Asthma – Although the exact cause is unknown, it is believed that environmental substances trigger allergic reactions. It is the most chronic
of childhood diseases and causes school absences and emergency room visits.
Who are Children with Disabilities? – Approximately 10 percent of all children in the United States receive special education services, with
half of these classified as learning disabled.
Sensory Disorders
 Visual impairments – Children with low vision have a visual acuity of between 20/70 and 20/200 and can read large print.
Educationally blind students cannot use their vision in learning. Almost one-half were born blind.
 Hearing impairments – Children with a hearing loss or who are born deaf will experience speech and language difficulties. Children
with hearing loss are taught to use the oral approach using lip reading, visual cues, and their impaired hearing; or the manu al
approach using sign language and finger spelling.
Physical Disorders
 Orthopedic impairments – Involve restriction in movement because of muscle, bone, or joint problems. They are generally assisted
by adaptive devices.
 Cerebral palsy – A disorder that involves a lack of muscular coordination, shaking, or unclear speech.
Speech Disorders
 Articulation disorders – Problems in pronouncing sounds correctly – generally improved with speech therapy.
 Voice disorders – Speech that is harsh, too loud, too high pitched, or children with a cleft palate who have difficulty in being
understood.
 Fluency disorders – Involve “stuttering” characterized by spasmodic hesitations, prolongations, and repetitions.
Learning Disabilities
 Characteristics – Have normal intelligence, have difficulties in at least one academic area, have a problem not attributable to any
other diagnosed problem – generally involves problems in speaking, thinking, concentrating, and listening. Afflicts more boys than
girls. Reading is the most common disability, but many children have problems with handwriting, spelling, or composition.
 Intervention strategies – Phonological awareness at the kindergarten level has positive effects on reading development, but no one
program of intervention works for all disabilities.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
 Characteristics – ADHD is a disability in which children display one or more of the following; inattention, hyperactivity, and
impulsivity. Generally, the ADHD child has difficulty in controlling his or her actions and behavior, and often becomes a lo w-
achiever.
 Causes and treatment – It is believed that low levels of neurotransmitters, prenatal abnormalities, and environmental toxins are
chiefly to blame, with heredity suspected as a strong casual agent. Treatment usually involves a combination of medication,
behavior management, teaching strategies, and parental monitoring
Autism – Severe developmental disorder characterized by problems in social relationships, abnormalities in communication, and repetiti ve
patterns of behavior such as compulsive rituals. Autistic children benefit from well-structured classrooms, individualized, and small-group
instruction.
Educational Issues – Rights relating to children with disabilities were instituted and regulated by Public Law 94-1442 and its successor
Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These laws guarantee appropriate public education and individualized education plans in
the least restrictive environment.
 Evaluation and eligibility determination – Children suspected of having a disability must be classified through a series of testing,
counseling, and program development that includes parental participation.
 Appropriate education and the IEP – The Individual Education Plan is a written statement that delineates a program geared
specifically for students with disabilities.
 Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) – Means that the educational setting for the learning-disabled child must be as similar as
possible to that of children without disabilities.
 Inclusion means having the disabled child fully participate in the general education program, while mainstreaming refers to disabled
children being included partially while in a special education classroom for the remainder of the day.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD

Piaget’s Theory – the preschool child’s thought is preoperational, meaning the emergence of mental reasoning, prominence of egocentrism,
and the construction of magical belief systems.
 Concrete operational thought – mental actions that are reversible (i.e., the conservation test). In seriation children can order stimuli
along a quantitative dimension. In transivity they can logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions.
Piaget and education – Piagetian educational practices can be summarized as such:
 Constructivist approach – Allow children to seek their own solutions.
 Facilitation vs. direct instruction – Teacher stands aside; does not dictate.
 Know child’s knowledge and thinking level – Teacher responds to students’ responses.
 Ongoing assessment – Constant evaluation of student achievement.
 Promote intellectual health – Provide optimum learning experiences.
 Classroom context – Provide optimum learning environment.
Evaluating Piaget’s Theory – Piaget introduced educators and psychologist to assimilation, accommodation, object permanence,
egocentrism, and conservation, but the following are criticisms of the theory:
 Underestimated children’s competence – Children display many cognitive achievements above and below Piaget’s stages.
 Children can be taught to reason at higher levels.
 Culture has a very strong influence on children’s cognition.
Information Processing
Memory – Long-term memory is a relatively permanent and unlimited type of memory.
Knowledge and expertise – Researchers have found that knowledge greatly affects one’s ability to understand and memorize.
Constructive memory – Schemas help children to remember through sorting of information (i.e., trauma involves reconstructive memory).
Control processes/strategies – The learner works to control the thinking process so the type of learning activity will affect the learner’s control.
Critical thinking – Grasping the deeper meaning of ideas; looking at different approaches and perspectives.
 Schools and critical thinking – Studies show that schools tend to avoid deeper thinking exercises relative to content.
 Issues in critical thinking – Two sides of a debate: should it be (1) taught as a separate entity or (2) within the context of the material
taught.
 Stimulating critical thinking – Encourage open-mindedness, arouse intellectual curiosity, promote planning and strategy, and
become intellectually careful.
 Fostering a community of learners – Using such strategies as reciprocal teaching, peer teaching, jigsaw grouping, online computer
consultation, and adults as role models.
Domain-specific academic skills
 Mathematical skills – Children learn math through movement in cognitive problem-solving, but many researcher and teachers
believe that practice and drill are also necessary.
 Scientific skills – Children naturally use causal events to solve problems – this is part of the scientific process – however, they also
tend to remain enmeshed in first-adopted beliefs that are often misconceptions.
 Metacognition – thinking about thinking – knowing about knowing – thinking about how we think.
Intelligence and Creativity

What is intelligence? – there are varied definitions – generally believed to problem-solving skills, ability to adapt and learn from life’s
experiences
 The Binet tests – first IQ tests measured mental age related to chronological age producing an Intelligent Quotient
 Weschler Scales – used mostly in preschool and primary levels measuring verbal ability along six subscales
Types of intelligence
 Spearman = general intelligence
 Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory – three forms of intelligence – analytical, creative, and practical
 Gardner’s multiple intelligences – verbal, mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and
naturalist
Controversies and issues regarding intelligence

 Heredity-environment controversy – The general belief is that many complex behaviors, including intelligence, have a genetic
foundation providing a context either for stimulating or degrading achievement
 Culture and ethnicity – determining if ethnicity affects intelligence is difficult because the variables are multitudinous (i.e., what is
“intelligent’ in Western culture may differ sharply with what is intelligent in Kenya).
 The use and misuse of intelligence tests – Single number IQ scores provide rich ground for stereotyping, yet ability tests could help
teachers target specific instruction
The extremes of intelligence
 Mental retardation – Low mentality disabling an individual to function or adapt to every day life.
 Cultural-familial retardation – Found where no organic retardation is present and is attributable to a normal variation among people
raised in below-average intellectual environment
 Giftedness – Above-average and superior talent
 Creativity – Ability to think in a novel way and create novel solutions to problems
Language Development
 Vocabulary and grammar – Word recognition and reading in general become more sophisticated in middle childhood.
 Reading – There is widespread disagreement about what technique is most effective in teaching young children to read. The
hottest controversy is between the whole-language and the phonetic approach. Whole language stresses a program of working
through a child’s natural reading development through immersion into stories and writing.
 Phonetics or the basic-skills approach favors and emphasis on phonetics and parsing of sounds to words with a great deal of drill.
From both of these approaches has evolved the balanced approach, which is a synthesis of the two strategies.
Bilingualism – Children who are proficient in a language other than English are candidates for a bilingual program, whereby they are given
instruction in their native tongue with a gradual move to English as they become more acclimated to the English language.
Achievement
 Need for Achievement – Different levels of motivation, to reach a standard of excellence.
 Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation – External incentives (i.e., rewards and punishments) vs. internal motivations (curiosity, challenge
and effort).
 Self-determination and personal choice – Intrinsic motivation produces higher achievement levels in some studies.
 Mastery orientation – a person is task-oriented focused on learning strategies. This is vs. performance orientation where one
focuses on outcomes and winning.
 Self –efficacy – a self-motivated perspective in which a person can master and control situations.
Goal-setting, planning and self-monitoring – Self-efficacy and achievement levels increase when an individual sets goals, makes
plans, and then monitors progress.
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD

The development of self-understanding – Middle childhood sees a shift from the defining of external characteristics to internal characteristics.
Children also employ social comparison – distinguishing themselves from others.
The role of perspective-taking in self-understanding – The child begins to see through others’ perspective.
Self-esteem and self concept
 What are self-esteem and self-concept? A child begins to weigh her self-worth and focuses on the self.
 Research on self-esteem – The child increasingly compares himself with peers. Depression is common in this stage of
development.
 Increasing children’s self-esteem – Identification of the causes of low self-esteem, emotional support, achievement, and coping are
all strategies to increase a child’s self-esteem.
 Industry vs. inferiority – Erikson’s fourth stage – this is an especially difficult time for children who are just below average in
achievement.
Emotional Development
 Developmental changes – Able to understand emotions of pride and shame; can experience more than one emotion in a given
situation; able to have a greater perspective on events leading to emotional reactions; can suppress or conceal emotions more
successfully; uses self-initiated strategies to cope.
 Emotional intelligence – ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them – Daniel
Goleman.
Coping with Stress
 Age changes – older children can more accurately appraise a stressful situation
 Removing one stressor – helps a child to cope
 Teaching children how to cope effectively – has success in helping children govern their emotions. Coping with death – children
given high-quality care by surviving family members experience less separation distress.
Moral Development
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development – Children internalize or begin to control their values and feelings from within; they are making
judgments at this age that impact their moral development.
 Level 1: Preconventional Reasoning – Stage 1: Heteronomous morality is tied to punishment – simply obey adults. Stage 2:
individualism, instrumental purpose – pursuing their own interests but allowing others to do the same – right is an equal exchange.
 Level 2: Conventional Reasoning – Stage 3: mutual interpersonal expectations – individuals value trust, caring, and loyalty –
seeking to be thought of as “good.” Stage 4: social systems morality – based on social order, law, justice – respect for the social
order.
 Level 3: Postconventional reasoning – highest level – individual recognizes alternative moral courses – Stage 5: social preserve a
person’s rights and values. Stage 6: universal ethical principles – individual follows his or her conscience – a more universal
application of morality.
Gender
 Gender stereotypes – Broad categories reflecting our impressions or beliefs about males and females. Generally considered to be
pervasive.
 Gender similarities and differences – Differences are average, overlap, and attributable to biological and sociocultural factors.
 Physical similarities and differences – Females are more immune to infection because of higher levels of estrogen, have more
elastic blood vessels. Males grow 10 percent higher and stronger. Brain shows emotional and physical expression more active in
females.
 Socioemotional similarities and differences – One researcher believes that boys and girls grow up in different worlds of talk (i.e.,
boys games have winners and losers and boast, whereas girls play in small groups and tend to develop friends) – girls are more
relationship-oriented.
 Gender controversy – Although many would see no differences, science tells us that indeed there are differences.
 Gender-role classification – There are specific expectations for girls and boys; this is changing to an androgynous world where there
is an equal presence of female and male characteristics. Some argue that we should not teach androgyny, but rather gender-role
transcendence, where an individual’s competence should be conceptualized on a person basis; and that gender needs to be
considered in context, especially in countries where male or female role is completely predesigned (e.g. Muslim countries).
Families
Parent-child issues – As children grow more independent, there appear to be more issues that can cause tension. Some of them are bedtime
irregularities, temper tantrums, sibling fighting, eating behaviors, and manners. Discipline becomes focused at this time.
Stepfamilies
 Types of stepfamilies – three types; stepfather, stepmother, and complex. There are three types of relationships: (1) neo-traditional
– following divorce the new family settles in as a non-divorced family; (2) matriarchal – custodial mother manages without
stepfather’s help; and (3) romantic – an unrealistic approach that usually is disappointing.
 Adjustment – Children adjusting to stepfamilies have the same problems as children in divorced families: early sexual activity,
academic problems, and lower-self-esteem.
 Latchkey children – These children left alone after school often become involved in negative sometimes criminal, activities. They
tend to “grow up too fast.”
Peer Relations
 Peer Statuses – Children of middle childhood are often classified as “types” such as: popular – someone’s best friend, rarely
rejected by peers; neglected – not usually someone’s best friend and generally disliked by peers; controversial – someone’s best
friend but also disliked by peers.
 Bullying – A prevalent problem, especially among children of this age group. Researchers have found that bullies display certain
characteristics – intrusive, demanding but unresponsive parents, prone to eventual criminal activity. Victims are often depressed
and have lower self-esteem through adulthood.
 Social Cognition – A complex set of scripts are engaged as children of this age navigate social situations. This has come to be
known as social cognition – an ability to socially interact effectively.
 Friends – serve six functions: companionship, stimulation, physical support, ego support, social comparison and intimacy/affection.
Schools
 Contemporary Approaches – How children learn is a topic always under discussion – the direct-instruction approach is teacher-centered and
is characterized by a power-down executive strategy of instruction. The cognitive constructivist approach, Piagetian in origin,
stresses a child’s engagement of knowledge and understanding. The social constructivist approach, Vygotskyian in origin, str esses
a collaboration with others to produce knowledge and understanding.
 The Transition to Elementary School – there is a changing view of how children learn, especially in elementary school, and that view is
centered on the developmental needs of children. As they transition from home to school, the need to attend to their develop mental
styles of learning is acute. Traditional schooling offers subject-centered topics to which the students attend, whereas constructivist
schooling seeks to construct relationships among all topics to foster understanding.
Socioeconomic Status and Ethnicity

 The education of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds – A great many of our nations schools are under-funded and offer
substandard education in substandard environments. This inequity results largely from how schools are funded. Students from
these schools are more likely to drop out, less likely to find high-paying jobs in adulthood, and more likely to have social problems –
from divorce to criminality.
 Ethnicity – Because 90 percent of the teachers in American schools are non-Latino White, a widening gap is forming as the
minorities of African-American, Asian, and Latino students continues to grow at an exponential rate. This problem is exacerbated by
large concentrations of minority students in urban areas where substandard schooling dominates
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESENCE

Biological and Sociohistorical Foundations
 G. Stanley’s View – influenced by Darwin, he believed that adolescence is controlled by genetically determined physiological factors
– environment is minimal. He coined the term storm-and-stress referring to adolescence as turbulence.
 The inventionist view – adolescence is a sociohistorical creation – that it was legislated due to economic considerations.
Today’s Youth
 Old centuries and new centuries – a shift in the view of adolescence from negative (old century) to positive (new century).
 Generational perceptions and memories – adults perceive adolescents through the eyes of the media and their own experiences.
Every generation seems radical.
 Heterogeneity – they are not a homogeneous group but are characterized by gender, ethnicity, culture, age, lifestyles, and
socioeconomic status.
Determinants of Puberty
 Heredity – the genes determine the timing of puberty, but it can be influenced by environmental factors.
 Hormones – the hormonal system consists of powerful chemicals secreted by the endocrine glands, where there is an interaction of
the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the gonads (sex glands). Androgens and Estrogens are the main class of male and
female hormones respectively. Testosterone impacts male pubertal development, while estradiol impacts female development. The
flow of these hormones is reflected in physical changes in both boys and girls. Adrenarche occurs in the adrenal glands as e arly as
six years old, while Gonadarche involves sexual maturation and occurs at approximately 9 to 10 years of age.
 Weight and Body Fat – Menarche begins when fat makes up 17 percent of the girl’s body weight.
Growth Spurt – Fifty percent of adult body weight is gained during adolescence. There are also changes in the hip and shoulder
configuration, and greater leg length in boys. The facial structure of boys becomes more angular.
Sexual Maturation – Characterized by growth of penis, testes, and pubic hair in boys, and breast enlargement, wider hips, and pubic hair in
girls.
Secular Trends in Puberty – There are patterns over time that change (i.e., in the United States, menarche occurred at an average of 15
years of age at the beginning of the 20th century to 12.5 years today.
Psychological Dimensions – Psychological changes are many and varied during puberty for both males and females.
 Body image – Generally, girls are less happy with their bodies during this period than boys.
 Menarche and the menstrual cycle – Although there are varied opinions by girls on their feelings, generally it is not as stressful as
earlier experts believe.
 Early and late maturation – Overall, early-maturing girls have more problems in school, are more independent, whereas late
maturers were less satisfied with their bodies until 10th grade.
Developing a Sexual Identity and Sexual Activity – For the adolescent, this is a time to learn how to control and manage sexual arousal,
attraction, and intimacy. Their sexual identity involves sexual orientation, activities, interests, and styles of behavior.
 Heterosexuality – Studies of adolescents reflect active sexual practices. By age 17 in the United States, 47 percent of adolescents
have had sexual intercourse.
 Homosexuality – Approximately 4.5 percent of a 35,000-student sample revealed predominant homosexual tendencies.
 Disclosure of homosexuality is usually made to the mother, and more than half disclose to a sibling. The causes of homosexuality
cannot be confirmed.
 Most researchers now reject the “choice” theory, and the biological aspect has been honed to the possibility of hormonal levels in
the second to fifth month of pregnancy. Sadly, suicide attempts are higher for homosexual adolescents than heterosexual.
Risk Factors for Sexual Problems – The earlier adolescents engage in sexual activity, the higher the likelihood of contracting STDs.
Adolescents who live in low-income neighborhoods are more sexually active and have higher pregnancy rates.
Contraceptive Use – More adolescents are using contraceptives – 44 percent of girls use the pill, followed by 38 percent using condoms;
however, the younger the teenagers, the less likely they are to use contraceptives.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases

 What are STDs? – diseases contracted through sexual contact, but not limited to vaginal intercourse.
 AIDS – caused by a virus, it destroys the human immune system. Its greatest growth is in sub-Saharan Africa.
Adolescent Pregnancy – The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the world.
Consequences – Infants of teen mothers are more likely to be of low birthweight, have higher infant mortality, have nerurological problems,
and develop childhood illnesses.
Reducing adolescent pregnancy – Sex education, family planning, access to contraceptive methods, positive life options, broad community
involvement, and abstinence are prevention techniques. A comparison with the Swedish sex education program reveals the weakn ess of the
American system.
Substance Use and Abuse – The use of illicit drugs is a serious problem for adolescents. Many studies reveal the excessive use of drugs by
teenagers and the steady increase of their use by ever-younger adolescents.
 Alcohol – Alcohol used by teenagers has actually declined since 1980 from 72 percent of high school seniors to 51 percent in 1999 .
College use, however, shows little change. The effects of alcohol use on teens is pervasive; it sometimes causes damage to t he
hippocampus and can affect memory retention.
 Cigarette smoking – Peer influence is still attributed to the persistent use of tobacco by teenagers. It is, however, decreasing – a 5
percent decrease from 1997 to 2000.
 The roles of development, parents, and peers – Heavy drug and alcohol use often lead to premature marriages and inadequate
socioemotional growth.
Eating Disorders – Research reveals that girls who felt negatively about their bodies in early adolescence were more likely to develop eating
disorders; those who had positive relationships with their parents had healthier eating habits; girls who were sexually activ e were more likely
to be dieting.
 Obesity – In 33 years, obesity among 12 to 19 year-olds increased from 5 to 14percent. Having an overweight parent and eating
habits established in childhood were predictors of obesity in adolescence.
 Anorexia nervosa – Pursuit of thinness to the point of self-starvation and death. Anorexics are mostly white females, and 70 percent
afflicted recover.
 Bulimia nervosa – Binge-and-purge eating pattern characterized by self-induced vomiting. Also has a 70 percent recovery rate.
Adolescent Health
 Adolescence: A critical juncture in health – Many health habits formed in adolescence are carried forward to adulthood.
 Sleep – Recent studies have catalogued the need for more sleep in adolescence and how the lack of it has negative impacts on
student achievement.
 Social contexts, relationships, and health
 Poverty – There is a correlation between poor health and poverty for adolescents.
 Family – Family has a direct effect on adolescent health as both models and support.
 Peers – An equal if not greater effect on adolescent health is the behaviors of peers.
Schools – Teachers serve as role models, especially for younger adolescents.

Community and youth programs – Community activities and programs that foster group and family-like activities and environment have
positive effects on adolescent health.
Health services – Cost, poor organization, and availability of services are all factors in 19 percent of adolescents not seeking health service s.
Generally, teens who engage in risk behavior were in need of health care.
The leading causes of death in adolescence – Accidents, suicide, and homicide are the three leading causes of death for teenagers aged 10
to 19.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESENCE

Piaget’s Theory – Adolescence is characterized by formal operational thought wherein abstract reasoning becomes more sophisticated.
Adolescents can develop hypotheses and can test them through questions and tests. Another characteristic is assimilation of new
information into existing knowledge, but the world is perceived subjectively and idealistically.
Adolescent Egocentrism – A consciousness in which adolescents believes that others are as interested in them as they themselves are.
Elkind calls this the imaginary audience, the adolescent’s attempt to get attention. He also notes that adolescents have a sense of personal
fable in which they feel invulnerable and unique.
Information Processing
 Memory – Long-term memory increases substantially in the middle and late childhood years. Learning activities are directly
correlated with long-term memory improvement.
 Decision making – Adolescence is characterized by better decision making – more competent than each successive group of
younger children.
 Critical thinking – Adolescence is considered a transitional period for critical thinking – characterized by increased speed, greater
range, and spontaneity.
 Self-regulatory learning – Characterized by setting goals for extending their knowledge, monitoring their progress, evaluating
obstacles, and revising their strategies.
Values – Beliefs and attitudes that form their ideologies. Today’s college students are strongly motivated to gain wealth, with some indication
that many are beginning to shift their incentives toward greater welfare for the American society, with the increase in service learning where
students involve themselves in community service.
Moral Education
 The hidden curriculum – Often referred to as the moral atmosphere of the school, children can learn a great deal of morality by
experiencing peer and adult roles, school regulations, and the general value of their environment.
 Character education – A proactive role in actually teaching children how to achieve good character traits, values, and morals.
 Values clarification – Also a proactive technique to outline exactly what is and what is not to be valued in our society. The exercise
exemplified on page 522 of the text is typical of a class strategy in values clarification.
 Cognitive moral education – An increasingly popular effort to inculcate an appreciation for justice, democracy, and the role of
citizenship in a moral society.
Religion – Religion is an important aspect in the lives of many teenagers.

 Developmental changes – Early adolescence is when they begin to challenge the beliefs taught by their parents. Children seem to
develop along the lines of Piaget’s three cognitive stages going from not understanding Biblical stories (preoperational), to
composing their own interpretations of the stories (concrete), to constructing possible alternative interpretations (formal).
 Religiousness and sexuality in adolescence – Studies show that teenagers who attend religious services regularly are less apt to
become involved in problem behaviors, especially in the matter of sexuality.
SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESENCE

Identity – Encompasses a wide range of factors, including career choices, religion, personal relationship, intellectual ability and inte rests,
sexual identity, ethnic identity, hobbies, personality, and physical self-concept.
Some Contemporary Thoughts – Identity formation begins with attachment and progresses through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood
within the context of physical, social, and cognitive development.
Development Changes – The changes of identity are believed to be active in late adolescence and into youth, where the cycle seems to e
moratorium-achievement, followed by moratorium-achievement, and so on through each area of identity influence (i.e., politics, religion).
Family Influences – The family allows the individual to self-assert and develop a point of view, as well as providing connectiveness and
sensitivity to others’ point of view and mutuality to a particular point of view.
Culture, Ethnicity, and Gender – Identity is often tied to ethnic identity, where one has a sense of membership in an ethnic group and adopts
the attitudes and feelings related to that group.
Gender and identity development – Erikson’s fifth stage is identity vs. identity confusion; he argues that minority groups attempt to keep their
cultural identities and that there are two separate identities for male and female.
Autonomy and Attachment

 Autonomy – The adolescent’s push for autonomy often brings him into conflict with the family. Lacking the knowledge for mature
decisions, but not the perspective to understand; that is a source of conflict.
 Attachment – Secure attachment in adolescence may facilitate social competence. There are three categories of attachment in this
age period: dismissing/avoidant – where there is a non-belief in the importance of attachment by both parents and teen;
preoccupied/ambivalent – where adolescents are hypertuned to attachment experiences, where there is too much attachment; an
unresolved/disorganized – an insecure category where adolescents have an unusually high level of fear, often caused by a parent’s
death or abuse.
Parent – Adolescent Conflict – An increased level of conflict is characterized by the adolescent period caused, probably, by pubertal
development, cognitive development (increased idealism and logical reasoning), and social changes of independence and identity. In some
ways, these conflicts can help the teen develop strategies to cope, and hence to mature.
The Maturation of Adolescents and Parents – While adolescents are undergoing physical, cognitive, and socioemotional changes, parents are
often enduring personal struggle with economic problems, career stagnation, and marital struggles.
Peer Groups – Conformity is a byproduct of peer group association and influence; it may be negative or positive.
 Cliques – group identity – a mode of gaining self-esteem, an outlet for self-expression.
 Adolescent groups vs. children groups – in childhood, groups function as a gathering point for friends and are not as formalized.
These groups are also very homogeneous. Adolescent groups are more likely to be heterogeneous in gender, interests, and
ethnicity.
Friendships – Adolescence is a time for dramatic increase in the importance and intimacy of friendship. Parents are cut out of the inti macy
and are replaced by one or two peers. Friends are more willing to discuss personal matters with each other than with parents .
Youth Organizations – There are many youth organizations in the United States (e.g., 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Junior Achievement).
Adolescents involved with such groups generally have higher self-esteem, are self-motivated, better educated, and come from a higher
socioeconomic status. These organizations provide excellent developmental contexts.
Ethnicity
 Ethnicity and socioeconomic status – An over-representation of ethnic minorities in the lower segment of socioeconomic status can
cause stereotypical labeling relative to culture and adolescent development. This places many of these youth with an additio nal
burden – dealing with development adolescent issues and those of prejudice, discrimination, and the stressful effects of poverty.
 Differences and diversity – A common error in discussing ethnicity is to overlook the diversity within a given ethnic group. For
example, there are 511 Native American tribes; Asian Americans are also Koreans, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese.
 Adolescence: A special juncture for ethnic minority individuals – this concept is best summed up by Spencer and Dornbusch: “Ethnic
minority youths’ awareness of negative appraisals, conflicting values, and restricted occupational opportunities can influence their
life choices and plans for the future.”
Juvenile Delinquency – A juvenile delinquent is one who engages in illegal behavior.

 Causes of delinquency – Erikson believes it may be caused by adolescents restricted from normal acceptable social roles. Some
believe the norms of socioeconomic status are by nature crime-oriented. Family supports systems are associated with delinquency.
 Youth violence – From guns to physical violence there appears to e a prevalence of youth violence in the United States. School
shootings have highlighted this violence. Again secure attachment to an intact family proves to be a deterrent.
Depression and Suicide

 Depression – Prevalent in adolescence, the causes stem from families with marital and financial problems to self-concept issues.
 Suicide – More prevalent in adolescence, the numbers have increased, but more important are the numbers of teens who attempt
suicide – a rate that is higher for females than males; however, males actually succeed at a higher rate.
The Interrelation of Problems and Successful Prevention/Intervention Programs – Three strategies seem to provide help: (1) intensive
individualized attention, (2) communitywide, mulitagency collaboration, and (3) early identification and intervention.
FRANK S. EMBOLTURA, R.N., M.Ed.-SPED

emboltura.frank@gmail.com
LET Reviewer

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PEAK EXCELLENCE REVIEW CENTER

EXCELLENCE REVIEW CENTER

CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT

The Nature Of Development

THE SCIENCE OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Theories Of Child Development

Cognitive – an emphasis on children’s conscious thoughts

Ecological Theory – Five environmental influences developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner.

THE EVEOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE

Methods Used by Behavior Genetics – genetic influence on behavior.

Chromosome and Gene-Linked Abnormalities

Reproductive Challenges and Choices

Measures Of Neonatal Health And Responsiveness

The Postpartum Period

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Gross Motor Skills – large muscle activities

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Individual Differences In Intelligence

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY

Temperament – an individual’s behavior style and ways of emotionally responding to stimuli.

Personality development – individual characteristics of the child

Gross and Fine Motor Skills

Handedness – the preferential hand used by the child

Sleep And Sleep Problems

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Vygotsky’s Theory of Development – described in three basic principles:

Information Processing – Memory plays a key role in cognitive development

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Parten’s Classic Study of Play

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD

Intelligence and Creativity

Controversies and issues regarding intelligence

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE AND LATE CHILDHOOD

Socioeconomic Status and Ethnicity

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESENCE

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Schools – Teachers serve as role models, especially for younger adolescents.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESENCE

Religion – Religion is an important aspect in the lives of many teenagers.

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESENCE

Autonomy and Attachment

Juvenile Delinquency – A juvenile delinquent is one who engages in illegal behavior.

Depression and Suicide

FRANK S. EMBOLTURA, R.N., M.Ed.-SPED

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