Domains of Development Change & Stability Physical Development ...
Domains of Development Change & Stability Physical Development:
Body, brain, senses, motor skills, health
Cognitive development:
Learning, memory, moral reasoning, language, thinking, creativity
Psychosocial development:
Personality, emotional life, relationships
Human behaviour has four major sources:
Biological: genetic inheritance
Psychological: perceptual, cognitive and emotional development
Social/structural: may include the family, school, social and economic systems, etc.
Cultural: culture embodies the values and knowledge people learn to see as appropriate and desirable. One can belong to several different groups each exerting a culture influence of its own.
Two Types of Developmental Change Qualitative: structure or organisation
Changing from nonverbal to verbal communication
Changing nature of intelligence
Quantitative: number or amount
Weight, height
Size of vocabulary
Nature of Life Span Development
Development is individual and unique regardless of the broad trends we explore in the course. Development is a continuous process, and no life-stage is more important that the others. Development is fluid and people are adaptable, even in later life stages. People are constantly changing even into adulthood. Each person has a unique set of experiences (shaped by hereditary and environmental factors) so development varies between individuals. Theorists talk about development as orderly change (i.e. language acquisition → babbling to words to sentences), directional and cumulative.
Development is
Multidimensional: biological, cognitive (e.g. memory, attention, abstract thinking), emotional and social dimensions exist in development. In the textbook all these dimensions are addressed. Cognitive development: young children think more about if the outcome will get into trouble, while an older child understands things at a different level with focus on malicious intention and outcome.
Multidirectional: emphasising that throughout the lifespan some dimensions may shrink while some expand e.g. when a child learns English their ability to learn a second language may diminish or when adolescence their romantic relationships may expand while their ability to maintain other relationships may shrink.
Developmental Science is multidisciplinary, several disciplines contributing to the developmental science: psychological, sociology, anthropological, neuroscience, etc...
Development is Contextual:
Family, school, peers, religion, neighbourhood
Geography e.g. its culture, country/city, physical location which affect one’s accessibility to services and resources
Educational opportunities e.g. home school, public, private, level of education (e.g. tertiary)
These can be influenced by:
Economic e.g. access to quality of education, less opportunities
Historic factors e.g. Stolen Generation
Social e.g. perceived and socialised gender role (social barriers/social roles in opportunities you can access)
Various influences interact to produce:
(normative definition: something that is consistent/common for a group of people)
Normative age graded e.g. menopause, retirement
Normative history graded e.g. experiences such as the Great Depression, Global Financial Crisis, Wars (Vietnam War), Women's Rights Movements, medical advances
Non-normative life events e.g. death of loved ones, lottery win, natural disasters,
These can impact the trajectory of the life-development. Some of these can be anticipated and prepared for, whereas some are harder to adjust to e.g. nonnormative life events. Development involves both gain and loss. At every stage in development where you are progressing into higher efficiency, there are some level are decline as some capacities are increased and decreased. The individuals are not passive, can shape their environment and development to some extent. Growth: is the biological increase in cells. Maturations: is the cell reaching a particular point of maturity that allows for a particular aspect of development. This is important as an individual may have the biological capacity (e.g. infant or toddler cannot be expected to walk due to the immaturity of the cells. Sometimes a parent or teacher may have too high of an expectancy of a child. This is important for practitioner in counselling, casework, etc.
Learning is another concept that is related to maturation that represents a particular phenomenon. Once something is learned, it tends to be a permanent change in behaviour e.g. abstract thinking, language. Critical periods is when during a specific time an event or absence of an event has a specific impact on development e.g. contracting Rubella during a specific time during pregnancy can have consequences for the biological development of the child, socialisation → secure or insecure attachments to the caregiver/parent. Present in the Freudian and Erikson's theories. Some theorists have criticised for its ridged nature and the idea that what happens during a critical period then the effects are irreversible. Some evidence has found some flexibility and resilience to combat the effects of critical period. Sensitive periods are a time in development when a child is particularly responsive to certain experiences. Developmental Determinants: If a teacher said your son has a reading disability, what would you be thinking if you were presented with this issue? What hypothesis would you have? What would a teacher say or be thinking? A teacher may say a child is not applying himself, or assume the child has a speech or hearing difficulty, etc. All of these could be valid guesses as it could be a combination of all of these factors that contribute to this issue. It could be an issue of cognitive disability, too high expectancy arresting the child's development, a development disability, an auditory disability, etc. You CANNOT look at an issue as the result of a single cause. The biological inheritance, environmental factors and maturation interact affect the outcome of development. Biological Determinants: 1.
Inheritance of the human species e.g. two eyes, legs, etc.
2.
Specific inheritance from ancestors e.g. hair colour, genetic disorder,
predisposition to illnesses e.g. diabetes Releasers affect how an individual can use their capacity to take advantage of the environment e.g. a baby's interaction with the parent. Experiments have looked at a baby's smile from visually impaired infants is not learnt from a parent, but is prompted by the touch of a parent. It forms and strengthens the emotional attachment between parent and child. Intelligence: adoption studies compared the group scores with their adoptive parents and with their biological parents. They have found that the average scores of the adopted were closer to their adoptive parents than their biological parents. Adoptive parents may come from a higher socio-economic group and so may expose the child to higher level of education. The researchers have talked about a reaction range, while particular genetic structures may enable us to take advantage of particular opportunities in the environments, there may be limits. E.g. the extent of intelligence may be limited by genetic inheritance despite the environmental stimulus. Also, applicable to height as even with the uttermost nutrition and environment, they may not reach the same height as others due to genetic inheritance. Environmental determinants: Examples: Studies have looked at how the environment of the uterus has a bearing on the child's intellectual capabilities. There are differences between smaller statures and taller statures of women. It affects the birth weight, danger of premature birth, multiple births, and future physical and psychological effects. Neighbourhood e.g. networking, resources, accessibility, physical designs of buildings and how they impact of development. Studies of families living on multistory apartments that live on busy highways, children who live below level 4 tend to have lower learning/reading ability, largely due to the noise that impacted auditory discrimination and learning to read. Children in the higher floors are less exposed to the noise also tended to be better.
Similar studies have looked at the particular structures of preschools or playgroups and how it impacts a child's development. In preschools where they tended to give children dress ups and puzzles vs. ladders and chairs, etc. there was a difference in how children interacted with each other. The former tended to play more independently. The environment can dictate how and when the child learns to share, and develop social skills such as sharing. Social Determinants: Family:
Gender/sex roles
Social skills
Self-concept
How family responds to a child's curiosity by limiting it or by encouraging it
Birth order has also been seen to affect a child's intellectual development. Earlier birth generally has a higher IQ than their siblings.
Family size also influences.
Peers:
Involves a world of its own values, rules and behaviours
Affect cognitive, encourage or discourage certain interests/education, etc.
Affect risk taking behaviour e.g. alcohol and drugs.
Neighbourhood:
Community, age composition, demographic, culture, etc.
Exposure to diversity, lifestyles, socialisation.
Resources: access to social services.
Schools:
Psychological growth, influence social skills, intellectual realm.
Focus on different values e.g. academic v. social justice, sports v. academics, etc.
Teachers attitudes and behaviours e.g. favouritism, level of encouragement, bias, lower expectations.
Public schools have shown their students adapt better to university than private school students.
Co-ed is better for boys' marks, single sex is better for girls.
Media:
social media
stereotypes and messages they portray,
harmful/positive,
self-perception
Culture:
Each has its own practices, techniques, child rearing patterns
Some undervalue female rights/education, etc.
Periods of Life Span a Social Construction
Based on subjective perceptions of assumptions
Varies among cultures
Changes over generations/time
Adolescence was only recently introduces in industrial societies. In the 13th Century 6 year olds were dressed, worked and considered adults. In the 17th Century there was some recognition of the concept of childhood.
Body, brain, senses, motor skills, health
Cognitive development:
Learning, memory, moral reasoning, language, thinking, creativity
Psychosocial development:
Personality, emotional life, relationships
Human behaviour has four major sources:
Biological: genetic inheritance
Psychological: perceptual, cognitive and emotional development
Social/structural: may include the family, school, social and economic systems, etc.
Cultural: culture embodies the values and knowledge people learn to see as appropriate and desirable. One can belong to several different groups each exerting a culture influence of its own.
Two Types of Developmental Change Qualitative: structure or organisation
Changing from nonverbal to verbal communication
Changing nature of intelligence
Quantitative: number or amount
Weight, height
Size of vocabulary
Nature of Life Span Development
Development is individual and unique regardless of the broad trends we explore in the course. Development is a continuous process, and no life-stage is more important that the others. Development is fluid and people are adaptable, even in later life stages. People are constantly changing even into adulthood. Each person has a unique set of experiences (shaped by hereditary and environmental factors) so development varies between individuals. Theorists talk about development as orderly change (i.e. language acquisition → babbling to words to sentences), directional and cumulative.
Development is
Multidimensional: biological, cognitive (e.g. memory, attention, abstract thinking), emotional and social dimensions exist in development. In the textbook all these dimensions are addressed. Cognitive development: young children think more about if the outcome will get into trouble, while an older child understands things at a different level with focus on malicious intention and outcome.
Multidirectional: emphasising that throughout the lifespan some dimensions may shrink while some expand e.g. when a child learns English their ability to learn a second language may diminish or when adolescence their romantic relationships may expand while their ability to maintain other relationships may shrink.
Developmental Science is multidisciplinary, several disciplines contributing to the developmental science: psychological, sociology, anthropological, neuroscience, etc...
Development is Contextual:
Family, school, peers, religion, neighbourhood
Geography e.g. its culture, country/city, physical location which affect one’s accessibility to services and resources
Educational opportunities e.g. home school, public, private, level of education (e.g. tertiary)
These can be influenced by:
Economic e.g. access to quality of education, less opportunities
Historic factors e.g. Stolen Generation
Social e.g. perceived and socialised gender role (social barriers/social roles in opportunities you can access)
Various influences interact to produce:
(normative definition: something that is consistent/common for a group of people)
Normative age graded e.g. menopause, retirement
Normative history graded e.g. experiences such as the Great Depression, Global Financial Crisis, Wars (Vietnam War), Women's Rights Movements, medical advances
Non-normative life events e.g. death of loved ones, lottery win, natural disasters,
These can impact the trajectory of the life-development. Some of these can be anticipated and prepared for, whereas some are harder to adjust to e.g. nonnormative life events. Development involves both gain and loss. At every stage in development where you are progressing into higher efficiency, there are some level are decline as some capacities are increased and decreased. The individuals are not passive, can shape their environment and development to some extent. Growth: is the biological increase in cells. Maturations: is the cell reaching a particular point of maturity that allows for a particular aspect of development. This is important as an individual may have the biological capacity (e.g. infant or toddler cannot be expected to walk due to the immaturity of the cells. Sometimes a parent or teacher may have too high of an expectancy of a child. This is important for practitioner in counselling, casework, etc.
Learning is another concept that is related to maturation that represents a particular phenomenon. Once something is learned, it tends to be a permanent change in behaviour e.g. abstract thinking, language. Critical periods is when during a specific time an event or absence of an event has a specific impact on development e.g. contracting Rubella during a specific time during pregnancy can have consequences for the biological development of the child, socialisation → secure or insecure attachments to the caregiver/parent. Present in the Freudian and Erikson's theories. Some theorists have criticised for its ridged nature and the idea that what happens during a critical period then the effects are irreversible. Some evidence has found some flexibility and resilience to combat the effects of critical period. Sensitive periods are a time in development when a child is particularly responsive to certain experiences. Developmental Determinants: If a teacher said your son has a reading disability, what would you be thinking if you were presented with this issue? What hypothesis would you have? What would a teacher say or be thinking? A teacher may say a child is not applying himself, or assume the child has a speech or hearing difficulty, etc. All of these could be valid guesses as it could be a combination of all of these factors that contribute to this issue. It could be an issue of cognitive disability, too high expectancy arresting the child's development, a development disability, an auditory disability, etc. You CANNOT look at an issue as the result of a single cause. The biological inheritance, environmental factors and maturation interact affect the outcome of development. Biological Determinants: 1.
Inheritance of the human species e.g. two eyes, legs, etc.
2.
Specific inheritance from ancestors e.g. hair colour, genetic disorder,
predisposition to illnesses e.g. diabetes Releasers affect how an individual can use their capacity to take advantage of the environment e.g. a baby's interaction with the parent. Experiments have looked at a baby's smile from visually impaired infants is not learnt from a parent, but is prompted by the touch of a parent. It forms and strengthens the emotional attachment between parent and child. Intelligence: adoption studies compared the group scores with their adoptive parents and with their biological parents. They have found that the average scores of the adopted were closer to their adoptive parents than their biological parents. Adoptive parents may come from a higher socio-economic group and so may expose the child to higher level of education. The researchers have talked about a reaction range, while particular genetic structures may enable us to take advantage of particular opportunities in the environments, there may be limits. E.g. the extent of intelligence may be limited by genetic inheritance despite the environmental stimulus. Also, applicable to height as even with the uttermost nutrition and environment, they may not reach the same height as others due to genetic inheritance. Environmental determinants: Examples: Studies have looked at how the environment of the uterus has a bearing on the child's intellectual capabilities. There are differences between smaller statures and taller statures of women. It affects the birth weight, danger of premature birth, multiple births, and future physical and psychological effects. Neighbourhood e.g. networking, resources, accessibility, physical designs of buildings and how they impact of development. Studies of families living on multistory apartments that live on busy highways, children who live below level 4 tend to have lower learning/reading ability, largely due to the noise that impacted auditory discrimination and learning to read. Children in the higher floors are less exposed to the noise also tended to be better.
Similar studies have looked at the particular structures of preschools or playgroups and how it impacts a child's development. In preschools where they tended to give children dress ups and puzzles vs. ladders and chairs, etc. there was a difference in how children interacted with each other. The former tended to play more independently. The environment can dictate how and when the child learns to share, and develop social skills such as sharing. Social Determinants: Family:
Gender/sex roles
Social skills
Self-concept
How family responds to a child's curiosity by limiting it or by encouraging it
Birth order has also been seen to affect a child's intellectual development. Earlier birth generally has a higher IQ than their siblings.
Family size also influences.
Peers:
Involves a world of its own values, rules and behaviours
Affect cognitive, encourage or discourage certain interests/education, etc.
Affect risk taking behaviour e.g. alcohol and drugs.
Neighbourhood:
Community, age composition, demographic, culture, etc.
Exposure to diversity, lifestyles, socialisation.
Resources: access to social services.
Schools:
Psychological growth, influence social skills, intellectual realm.
Focus on different values e.g. academic v. social justice, sports v. academics, etc.
Teachers attitudes and behaviours e.g. favouritism, level of encouragement, bias, lower expectations.
Public schools have shown their students adapt better to university than private school students.
Co-ed is better for boys' marks, single sex is better for girls.
Media:
social media
stereotypes and messages they portray,
harmful/positive,
self-perception
Culture:
Each has its own practices, techniques, child rearing patterns
Some undervalue female rights/education, etc.
Periods of Life Span a Social Construction
Based on subjective perceptions of assumptions
Varies among cultures
Changes over generations/time
Adolescence was only recently introduces in industrial societies. In the 13th Century 6 year olds were dressed, worked and considered adults. In the 17th Century there was some recognition of the concept of childhood.
