Child development Essay Example for Free

Child victimization EssayThe following essay volition examine factors that affect a frys study and culture. All peasantren atomic number 18 distinctive individuals and differ in pattern and timing of maturation, as well as individual personality, learning style, cultural and family background. sever on the wholey tiddler has its own varying strengths, weaknesses, specific necessarily and skills. The age of a child is an in effect(p) indicator to the sequence of gifts of emergence still, it is only an estimation of maturation, as the mentioned independent factors will differ from child to child. The stages of development in children aged one to tailfin years include the prenatal period, infancy, toddler stage, and early childishness and top side a plethora of distribute in all aras of development. Expected flips in growth take place in all areas of development, particularly in the early years, and these include physical, intellectual, language, delirious, and genial development. The first of all five years of life are essential for expanding the foundations for learning and development. Research has shown that the development child is learning to discover, communicate, and choke ideas about how things work.Read more Factors that entice child development essayThe successful progress of these abilities and skills depend largely on a childs early environment. Parents, teachers, and care providers promote development and learning when they provide experiences that build on and extend the childs capabilities. However, it is clear from evidence on ii sides of the argument that development and learning result from a contri scarcelyion of both biological factors and environgenial factors. Empiricists believe environmental influences shape learning and development, while nativists mark inborn, genetic characteristics influence development (Bee, 2006b).Development could be described as an active relationship amidst the inherited qualiti es of an individual and the external environment. A childs horny and social development is shaped by internal influences, for example, a child may be inherently shy or outgoing, however the environment will also influence the childs social and emotional development, such as successful first relationships, cultural values and how family and peers interact with the child, i. e. the childs immediate social environment. Cognitive development could be influenced by internal factors.Research has shown that teratogens (legal or illegal drugs), smoking, alcohol consumption flush toilet have adverse affects on cognitive development (Bee, 2006 a). A study by Monuteaux, (2006) shows the negative effects of smoking on the development of a child, and in that respect is speculative study that maternal diet and smoking could be causative factors of ADHD (Bakker, 2003). Scarr (1983) summarises the internal and external influences on childrens development, Both genes and environments are consti tuents in the developmental system, but they have different roles.Genes direct the course of human experience, but experiential opportunities are also necessary for development to occur (Scarr, 1983, pp. 433). It is kindle to consider cognitive development in children and the subsequent affect on learning and conduct. Piaget was an influential Swiss psychologist who look fored cognitive development. Piaget believes cognitive development transpires through a combination of direct experience from ones environment and an instinctive structure of biological maturation.Piaget suggested individuals are born with intellect to serve as a basic function that assists adaptation to their environment (Shaffer, 1989). His possible action proposes that development proceeds through a set of four stages from infancy to freehandedhood. Piaget believed that the first stage of cognitive development is the sensorimotor stage this occurs in the first two years of a childs life and involves infants using motor skills and all the moxies, sight, smell, cite etc to explore and gain an dread of the environment.Preoperational stage progresses from the sensorimotor stage and includes the use of language to figure the environment, images and symbols are also used to represent the environment this is from two to seven years of age. Piaget believed language is egocentric at this stage. The next stage is termed concrete operations and children begin to use logical thought processes to further their understanding and occurs from ages seven to eleven. Formal Operation is the last stage Piaget believes takes place in cognitive development and it involves the ability to use abstract thought processes.This is from eleven forwards (Shaffer, 1989). The of import idea of Piagets cognitive possibility is the attainment of schemas, and further assimilation and accommodation of these schemas incessantly return the child to a state of equilibrium. A schema is any thought or object that one may have experienced and is therefore organised to aid coherence. Assimilation is the process of adding natural information to enhance the understanding of an existing schema, and thus producing a hot schema.Accommodation is the ad simplyment of an existing schema in order to include new information. Equilibration is the term Piaget uses to describe the balance a child reaches when it satisfied with a schema, new information places the child in a state of disequilibrium or imbalance, until, assimilation and accommodation allow equilibration to take place. As with all theories, Piaget was criticised for placing too much emphasis on environment and not considering social interaction as an impacting big businessman (Cohen, 1993).It has also been suggested that children appear to have existing understanding of basic principles, e. g. a study by Gibson and Walk, used a visual cliff where a checker board pattern continued several feet below a glass table. The test showed that infant s as young as 5 months were able to perceive depth, and would not proceed when they reached the end of the cliff (Bee, 2006b). This shows that many foundations of cognitive ability are already present and further learning will increase cognitive development.Vygotsky is another central conformation in the do primary(prenominal) of constructivist theory however, he differs from Piaget in that Vygotsky places more emphasis on social learning and its effect on cognitive development. His theory focuses on a term he called zone of proximal development and defined it as the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky, 1978, p.86). Vygotsky believed that learning takes place in this zone. The idea of ZPD suggests that cognitive development is established by social learning with capable peers or adults and cooperative analytical skills. In contrast to Piaget, Vygotsky stated that development was an intricate lifelong process that could not be defined into stages, but instead is to be examined as a means of development rather than an end. Vygotskys theory reflects correlation between learning and development.Newborn children are constantly learning from their experiences and they form understanding from theses experiences, Vygotsky, believes this learning is directly linked to sociocultural perspective. As they grow older, infants readily learn from observation and cooperative learning with peers and adults (Moyles, Miller) The psychodynamic salute addresses childrens learning by focusing on internal mechanisms, such as instincts, conflicts and unconscious forces. A familiar idea of this theory is that unconscious as well as conscious forces regulate demeanor.Freud suggested three intuitive drives for survival, the sexual drive to reproduce the human race, hunger and p ain trigger the instinct to deliver ones life and rapacious drives are the third force. Freuds theory is criticised on many accounts, mostly that he suggests the main underlying originator of problems are sexually related, and secondly it is scientifically difficult to measure the hidden unconscious of a being. Freuds theory implies that children learn doings through the progress of three stages.The newborn and infant are driven by what he termed the id this is an inborn instinct, which demands instant gratification. As the child grows older, it learns that it cannot achieve instant gratification all the time, and the ego develops as an intermediary pacifier, which takes social contexts into consideration and de aims gratification. The superego is the higher form of moral reasoning and is often considered as a enatic restrictor, this last stage develops much later in development (Bee, 2006b).It can be seen how Freuds theory affects social and emotional development and behaviour in the first five years, as most children at this age are controlled by the id and the developing ego. Eriksons theory is often viewed as an extension of Freuds psychosexual theory of Development. Erikson suggests that development progresses over a lifespan and he portrays this in his theory of the eight stages of psychosocial development. His theory proposes that each stage has a conflict within it that essential be resolved before proceeding to the next stage each stage presents the opportunity for success or failure.The first three stages are germane(predicate) in the first five years of a childs life and include emotional, social and cognitive development on behaviour acquisition. The first stage is trust versus mistrust and takes place in the period of the first two years of infancy this stage propounds an emotional crisis in which the child mustiness successfully develop trust and security and emotional well-being. If the care provider does not reciprocate emotional care p ositively the child becomes mistrustful.Once the child has learned trust, it advances to the next stage of autonomy versus shame, and approximately takes place in early childhood. This stage concentrates on the childs ability to develop confidence and a sense of independence. Children at this age (approximately two to four years) begin to manage small parts of their lives, and Erikson suggests toilet training is a huge deed in establishing independence in a child. It also consists of decision-making and choice over things like food, clothes etc, if a child is unsuccessful in this stage then it leads to shame and a feeling of inadequacy.The third stage occurs from about three to five years of age, and incorporates the childs ability to fiddle and develop social skills of leadership or subordination, power and a sense of self. If the child cannot overcome the crisis then inhibition, fear and a prolonged development are the result. The successful child proceeds to the next stage and so forth (Brain 2005) The humanistic perspective argues that behaviour is subjective as individuals determine and control their own thoughts and actions.Maslow hypothesised a hierarchy of need, in which each level of the hierarchy had to be satisfied before the human need moved on to the next level. For example, according to Maslows hierarchy it is not perceived that an individual would desire the comfort of a spouse or children, if basic physiological needs such as food and peeing were not satisfied (Bee 2006a). Children develop and learn most productively in the environment of a community where they are safe and valued, and their emotional and physiological needs fulfilled.If physical nourishment is transpiring then Maslows theory depicts emotional well-being as an important factor, certainly all aspects of development are influenced by successfully accomplishing positive first relationships. This provides the constructive foundation for effective social and emotional developm ent, which will inadvertently affect cognitive development as well. mule skinner constructed a theory he termed operant conditioning, and based it on the notion that learning is a means of behaviour modification.His experiments show how he conditioned rats to consecrate a lever to release food, the incentive for the rats was the food and the required behaviour was pulling the lever. The theory illustrates that changes in behaviour are the consequences of an individuals reception to incentives that occur in any given environment subsequently the reaction will produce an outcome. When a specific response is reinforced, behaviour is conditioned, and the individual will respond to a stimulus to achieve its incentive the result will be consistent each time.The significant aspect of Skinners personate is reinforcement, a particular behaviour can be acquired through reward, and certain behaviours prevented through punishment (Brain, 2005). Skinners theory belongs to the Behaviourist ap proach and is effective in explaining some of the causes and modifications of behaviour it is often used in schools to elicit particular behaviours from children (usually in the form of sweets or stickers). Social learning theory clarifies behaviour in terms of consistent equal correlation between cognitive, behavioural, and environmental influences.Social learning theory has four main components, attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation, which cover physical, cognitive and behavioural development. Attention requires concentration so that the events are observed accurately. Retention includes the intellectual organization of information in order to store it effectively in the memory and remember the correct processes of events. Motor reproduction includes the physical ability to imitate the behaviour, for example, a human is not physically able to vanish like superman.Motivation involves the child to be willing and motivated to imitate the behaviour. The observed co nsequences of a particular behaviour (whether punished or rewarded) may influence a childs decision to imitate or not, Bandura called this modeling (Brain 205) One of the famous experiments conducted by Albert Bandura, known as the Bobo doll experiment revealed that children imitated aggressive physical and verbal behaviour towards the dolls, exactly as they had observed, whereas the children who observed non-aggressive behaviour displayed practically no aggressive behaviour (Shaffer, 1989).Bandura suggests that social behaviour is learned principally by observing and imitating the actions of others. Children are often observed imitating adults in role-play. Punishment and reward are also influences on behavioural development as mentioned in Skinners theory, for example, a child may observe a peer being rewarded with a sticker for tidying up and then learn that to harbour a sticker s/he must also tidy up.This theory facilitates an understanding of how behaviour is acquired and how it may be modified. John Bowlby developed holdfast theory and he suggested that first relationships are the basis for young childrens development, predominantly their social and emotional development. Bowlby (1979 129) states attachment behaviour is held to characterize human beings from the cradle to the fleshy much of Bowlbys work was on the maternal bond that develops with a child.He believed that the connection between mother and child, or caregiver and child has a basic gentle and evolutionary basis, in order for the child to receive appropriate care, protection and nourishment it has a tendency to maintain nearness to the main caregiver. Bowlby maintained that a child displays attachment behaviour when separated from the main care provider, first as protest, then despair and finally as detachment. maiden relationships can be summarised as a deeply rooted motivational system that ensures close contact between babies and adult caregivers who can protect, nurture, and guide their development (Shonkoff, 2000, p 230).Bowlby expanded and utilised various query to support his theory, one of his early works included research on delinquent adolescents and discovered maternal deprivation to be a recurring matter. Michael Rutter (1981) criticized Bowlbys theory, and suggested that early experiences cannot be held as direct underlying causes for later emotional distress, Rutter believed it is more significant how children are looked after in the period of severance not the actual severance itself (Cowie, 2002).Bowlby introduced three stages of attachment, during the first pre-attachment phase (0-2 months) babies do not develop a particular attachment, and are content to be cared for by anyone. In the second phase (2-7 months) babies show a firm attachment to the main caregiver and cling to this figure when in the presence of a obscurer, Bowlby termed this stranger fear. The last phase is around two years of age and is labelled separation anxiety, the infant i s footsure to move away from the main caregiver provided theyremain physically present for the child to return to Brain (2005). Bowlby suggested that constant loving care and nurturing was essential during the crucial phase between approximately 6 months and 3 years of age, maternal deprivation or separation from the primary caregiver would result in immense detrimental effects on social and emotional development of the child (Cowie, 2002). Harlow and Harlows famous experiment on Rhesus monkeys provided support to Bowlbys theory (Bowlby, 1973).In these experiments, young monkeys were separated from their mother shortly after birth. Two wire monkeys were substituted as artificial surrogate mothers. The first monkey was made of wire mesh and provided food however, the second monkey was covered with foam and cloth and only provided comfort. The young monkeys nursed at the wire monkey but seek contact with the cloth monkey. The experiment showed that infants need a mothers love and comfort, and it proved that infants prefer proximity and comfort from a mother, rather than just using the mother for nourishment.The young monkeys clutched to the soft cloth doll and explored more when in the presence of the soft cloth doll, and the doll seemed to provide them with a sense of security. Infants reared without normal social interaction with other monkeys, displayed either fearful or aggressive behaviour and the effects were apparent from two years of age, well into maturity date (Brain 2005). The experiment portrayed the importance of warmth, love and comfort that a nurturing mother or primary carer provides is essential for intellectual, social and emotional development.Mary Ainsworths research was based on an experiment to observe attachment behaviour between a child and the primary caregiver (usually the mother) the experiment is known as the strange situation. The procedure involves a child playing in a room, meanwhile the caregiver and stranger alternately ente r and leave the room, the childs play behaviour and responses to caregiver and stranger are observed. The experiment placed children in four categories of attachment, secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant and disorganized. extension theorists are realizing that children differ from birth, but individual personalities and development are influenced by social experience, environment, and the attachment relationship is affected by the characteristics of both child and caregiver (Parkes, 1993) Cultural differences in child-rearing practices have various implications and meanings across cultures. finale defines a set of beliefs and patterns of behaviour this can be in a social, religious, societal or ethnic context.Culture clearly has an influence on the development of children, Edwards and Gandini (1989) point out that culture organises and translates childrens behaviour and development (Hinde, 1993). To understand development we must come to terms with the ways in which indivi duals, in developing their own self-concepts and participating in social relationships, both shape and are shaped by their social and cultural environment (Hinde, 1993). In a research paper Reebye, (2006) found various studies on cultural differences in child rearing and the impact this had on child development.Chen et al. (1998) studied reticent behaviour in Chinese and Canadian children and the child-rearing attitudes of the relative mothers. The results showed that Chinese babies were significantly more withdrawn and shy than their Canadian counterparts, and the underlying cause of this behaviour difference lay in parental styles and attitudes. Taciturn behaviour was positively associated with the Chinese mothers approval, whereas the Canadian mothers negatively received it, which implies a variation of the connotation of behaviour inhibition across both cultures (Reebye, 2006).Another example Reebye (2006) presents is a study conducted by Marcovitchet al (1997) which assessed th e development, attachment and behavioural problems in adopted Romanian orphans between three to five years of age. The study revealed that children who had spent less time I institutional car displayed better development outcomes and more securely tie compared to the group of children who had spent more than six months in institutional care. The latter group were insecurely attached and scored less on development outcomes.The disadvantage of cross-cultural studies is the limitations of the range of studies in measuring attitudes, beliefs, cultural practices etc. Reebye (2006) continues to describe the importance of relationship development and its effects on affective, cognitive, social development and moral and respectable attitudes. Child-rearing practices and attachment directly influence these developmental factors, and it is important to remember that parenting practices are in turn influenced by social and cultural traditions.The factors such as parental intuition, parental attitudes, attributions and beliefs, learned parenting skills, accepted cultural and societal parenting norms, family factors, and environmental factors such as extended family support, poverty or unemployment are the most influential ones. severally of these or all collectively, can be considered from a cross-cultural perspective. (Reebye 2006). In todays modern and often changing world, many cultures also change and adapt, from generation to generation.Changes in societal norms, immigration and such alike affect child-rearing practice considerably, such single parenting is a common family structure, yet in the prim times was extremely rare and frowned upon, other changes include inter-racial adoptions, parenting by same sex couples, use of surrogate mothers etc. It can be suggested that childrens social, emotional and cognitive development is indisputably influenced by environmental factors, genetic compositions, attachment and first relationship, cultural traditions and this is reflected in their unique personalities and behaviour.In general, there is a need to understand multiple outcomes of child development (cognitive, physical, social, and emotional) within the context of multiple factors (social, economic, cultural, and community-level) (The National play of Health, 2006). The first five years are important to understand the influences and causal links of child development in the early years. This may facilitate childrens well-being and ensure that government policies regarding children are reflective of child development needs, in particular families living in poverty or deprived areas.For example, quality of schools and education will affect cognitive development, and racial, gender, and religious integration will have positive effects on social development. It can be inferred that positive emotional development underpins all other areas of development, and if emotional development is spoilt then it will be replicated across other areas of deve lopment. In essence, all areas of development are interwoven and interdependent. The first five years are crucial for positive development, basic needs such asfood, sleep and safety ensures good physical development, providing love, comfort and positive first relationships and attachments is essential to assist emotional development, which will also helps social development, and the correct stimulation and interaction ensures healthy cognitive development. REFERENCES Bakker, S. C. Van Der Meulen, E. M. Buitelaar, J. K. Sandkuijl, L. A. Pauls, D. L. Monsuur, A. J. Vant Slot, R. Minderaa. R. B. Gunning, W. B. Pearson, P. L. Sinke, R. J.(2003) A Whole-Genome Scan in 164 Dutch Sib Pairs with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disturbance Suggestive Evidence for Linkage on Chromosomes 7p and 15q American Journal of Human Genetics, Vol. 72, pp. 1251-1260 Bee, H. (2006a) Lifespan Development, Boston, MA Pearson Education, Inc Bee, H. (2006b) The Developing Child, Boston, MA Parson Education, Inc Bowlby, J. (1973) Separation Anxiety Anger. 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