Child Development

Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Psychology

DEP 3103 Requirements

• Come to class on time

• Review chapters prior to the day we cover them in class

• Take notes in class

• Review notes as soon as possible after class

• Within a day or two compare notes with text

DEP 3103 Requirements

• Pose questions based on your comparison

• Prior to each exam, review your class notes, text, and comparisons of notes to text

• Four exams (3 chapters/exam) with dates posted on schedule

• Missed exams may be taken with physician’s documentation or evidence of death in immediate family

DEP 3103 Requirements• Writing assignments must be submitted in

hard copy at the beginning of class on the date they are due (guidelines are elsewhere).

• Late assignment submissions will be accepted only with physician’s documentation or evidence of death in immediate family

• In-class participation exercises will be accepted only on the day they are presented.

Defining Childhood and Child Development

• Put your name, year in school and major on a sheet of paper and answer the following questions?

• How are– newborns different from infants?– Infants different from toddlers?– Toddlers different from young children?– Young children different from older children?– Children different from adolescents?

Defining Childhood and Child Development

• Areas of development across the lifespan:

– Physical development

– Cognitive development

– Socio-emotional development

Issues in Child Development

• Does one’s genetic code or does the environment impact development more?

• Is development a continuous process across childhood or does it proceed across a series of rather distinct stages?

Major Theories of Child Development

• What is a theory?

• What do theories allow us to do?– Describe– Predict– Explain – Organize knowledge– Direct new research– Guide application of scientific findings

Major Theories of Child Development

• Psychosexual—Freud

• Psychosocial—Erikson

• Cognitive• Piaget• Information Processing• Vygotsky

Major Theories of Child Development

• Behavioral—Skinner, Watson

• Social Cognitive—Bandura

• Biological– Ethological/Evolutionary– Developmental Neuroscience

• Ecological Systems—Bronfenbrenner

• Dynamic Systems—Thalen

The Study of Child Development• Science as a way of knowing the world

• Causality:– Covariation– Time precedence– Plausibility

• Descriptive Research

• Correlational Research

• Experimental Research

• Quasi-experimental Research

The Study of Child Development

• Developmental Designs– Cross sectional– Longitudinal– Cohort sequential

• Research ethics and the study of children– Informed consent (child and guardian)– Confidentiality, anonymity, voluntary

participation, right to withdraw

Applications of Understandings about Child Development

• Child care worker• Teacher• Juvenile justice worker• Counselor• Researcher• Therapist• Law enforcement• Recreation center employee• Parent