WEEK 1
Psychology 223 CHAPTER 1
Chapter 1-3
THE GOALS OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY, AND AN OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT
• To describe how changes typically occur from conception to +/- 18 years of age
• To explain what causes these developmental changes
• To predict based on past and present characteristics what behaviour child will
manifest at a later stage of life
• To improve well-being, make positive changes in people’s lives or prevent
problems from happening
DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
• Development is a continuous process, yet it is useful to divide it into stages
• Using a staged approach provides us with good indicators of when children have
reached particular milestones
o For example using this stage approach we will be able to tell when child
are able to go to school or when children are ready to make certain
discissions for themselves
o Also allows us to know when these indicators are below or above the
norm
• Some boundaries are more clearly demarcated than others
• It is important that we take individual and cultural differences into account
• Developmental stages:
o Prenatal stage (subdivided into germinal, embryonic, and fetal stages)
o Neonatal stage (first 2 to 4 weeks of life) and infancy (subsequent two
years) (usually grouped together)
o Early childhood (+/- 2-6 years)
o Middle childhood (+/- 6 years to beginning of puberty, about 12 years)
o Adolescence (from puberty to adulthood)
• In South Africa a child is defined as: anybody up until the age 18
DEVELOPMENTAL DOMAINS
• Physical development
o Changes in the child’s body (e.g. weight, height, brain development-
hormones, nutrient, and other hereditary characteristics)
o Important aspect = motor development
§ Motor development refers to body movement
§ Such as crawling, walking etc
• Cognitive development
o How children come to know and understand their world
o Includes perception, learning, memory, thinking, decision making,
imagination, creativity, language, intelligence
• Personality development
o Totality of a person’s psychological, social, moral, physical
characteristics
, o Unique to each individual
o The self, the self-concept and identity
• Social development
o Individuals’ interaction and relationships with other people
o Influence of society and significant others on individual
o Includes: Socialisation, moral development, religion, spirituality
DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES
NATURE OR NURTURE?
• Question: Whether child’s development is the result of biological and genetic or
hormonal factors (nature) or environmental influences (social and physical
environments) (nurture)
• Focus of debate no longer centres on which one is more important, but rather
on how each of these factors contribute to specific behaviours, situations, and
individuals and how these factors influence and interact with one another
• This debate continues on because political and religious beliefs and opinions
feed into these arguments thus it becomes more of an emotive issue as
opposed to a scientific one
• The argument is not clear because both viewpoints can be supported by any
number of behaviours
• It’s difficult to determine the cause of behaviour because it is multifaceted and
there are so many things that go into causing a different behaviour
• This Cause-and-effect issue as feed into this nature vs nurture debate
CONTINUITY OR DISCONTINUITY?
• Question: Whether human development is continuous (gradual and smooth) or
discontinuous (abrupt and occurring in distinct steps or stages) process
• Both viewpoints are correct, depending on type of behaviour
• Do early characteristics of the child continue into later life as an adult?
o Can we predict behaviour in later life from what is happening in
childhood?
• Analogy of a tree’s growth vs a butterfly’s growth
PASSIVE OR ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT?
• Question: Do children play a part in their development?
• Are they at the mercy of their environment or do they play an active role in their
own development?
• Most agree that although environmental influences cannot be denied, children
also play an active role in their development
o Children respond very differently to the environment
o So children with a more passive or agreeable temperament will respond
very differently to environmental stimuli in comparison to children who
have anger issues or a quick temper
• Unique way in which children interpret and process experiences has a
significant influence on development
, UNIVERSALITY OR CULTURAL CONTEXT?
• Question: Do all children in the world follow universal (the same)
developmental pathways or are there clear differences between cultures?
• It was traditionally believed that all children follow the same pattern of
development across countries and cultures, which was a result of psychology
developing in western cultures which meant that the children that were studied
were white, middle class, western children
• Culture refers to the beliefs, norms, customs and way of life for a specific group
of people which are passed down from one generation to another
• Importance of cultural context
• Culture is important in determining in how children develop because children
acquire appropriate cognitive, communicative, social, emotional, spiritual, and
practical factors and skills that are intended to make them competent and
contributing members of their society
• Paths of development in one culture may vary from another
• Influence of parental practices
• Must not overemphasise the roll of culture because there are arguments for and
against this
THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
DEFINING A THEORY
• In child development, a theory is an organized set of ideas that is designed to
explain and make predictions about development
o Summarises and explains presently known facts
o Aims to predict future behaviour
o Stimulates new research
THE BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
• Behaviour is primarily determined by biological factors
• Environmental factors are secondary role players in behaviour and development
• Places a heavy influence on hereditary factors (genetics, endocrine system,
nervous system, and the brain)
• Maturational theory
o Reflects a Natural unfolding of biological and innate plan, environmental
factors and experience matters little
o Theory was discarded, ignored impact of environment
• Ethological theory
o Views development from evolutionary perspective, behaviours are
adaptive
o Inherit adaptive behaviours (behaviours that have a survival value)
o All animals are programmed so that some kinds of learning occur only at
certain stages/critical periods
Psychology 223 CHAPTER 1
Chapter 1-3
THE GOALS OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY, AND AN OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT
• To describe how changes typically occur from conception to +/- 18 years of age
• To explain what causes these developmental changes
• To predict based on past and present characteristics what behaviour child will
manifest at a later stage of life
• To improve well-being, make positive changes in people’s lives or prevent
problems from happening
DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
• Development is a continuous process, yet it is useful to divide it into stages
• Using a staged approach provides us with good indicators of when children have
reached particular milestones
o For example using this stage approach we will be able to tell when child
are able to go to school or when children are ready to make certain
discissions for themselves
o Also allows us to know when these indicators are below or above the
norm
• Some boundaries are more clearly demarcated than others
• It is important that we take individual and cultural differences into account
• Developmental stages:
o Prenatal stage (subdivided into germinal, embryonic, and fetal stages)
o Neonatal stage (first 2 to 4 weeks of life) and infancy (subsequent two
years) (usually grouped together)
o Early childhood (+/- 2-6 years)
o Middle childhood (+/- 6 years to beginning of puberty, about 12 years)
o Adolescence (from puberty to adulthood)
• In South Africa a child is defined as: anybody up until the age 18
DEVELOPMENTAL DOMAINS
• Physical development
o Changes in the child’s body (e.g. weight, height, brain development-
hormones, nutrient, and other hereditary characteristics)
o Important aspect = motor development
§ Motor development refers to body movement
§ Such as crawling, walking etc
• Cognitive development
o How children come to know and understand their world
o Includes perception, learning, memory, thinking, decision making,
imagination, creativity, language, intelligence
• Personality development
o Totality of a person’s psychological, social, moral, physical
characteristics
, o Unique to each individual
o The self, the self-concept and identity
• Social development
o Individuals’ interaction and relationships with other people
o Influence of society and significant others on individual
o Includes: Socialisation, moral development, religion, spirituality
DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES
NATURE OR NURTURE?
• Question: Whether child’s development is the result of biological and genetic or
hormonal factors (nature) or environmental influences (social and physical
environments) (nurture)
• Focus of debate no longer centres on which one is more important, but rather
on how each of these factors contribute to specific behaviours, situations, and
individuals and how these factors influence and interact with one another
• This debate continues on because political and religious beliefs and opinions
feed into these arguments thus it becomes more of an emotive issue as
opposed to a scientific one
• The argument is not clear because both viewpoints can be supported by any
number of behaviours
• It’s difficult to determine the cause of behaviour because it is multifaceted and
there are so many things that go into causing a different behaviour
• This Cause-and-effect issue as feed into this nature vs nurture debate
CONTINUITY OR DISCONTINUITY?
• Question: Whether human development is continuous (gradual and smooth) or
discontinuous (abrupt and occurring in distinct steps or stages) process
• Both viewpoints are correct, depending on type of behaviour
• Do early characteristics of the child continue into later life as an adult?
o Can we predict behaviour in later life from what is happening in
childhood?
• Analogy of a tree’s growth vs a butterfly’s growth
PASSIVE OR ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT?
• Question: Do children play a part in their development?
• Are they at the mercy of their environment or do they play an active role in their
own development?
• Most agree that although environmental influences cannot be denied, children
also play an active role in their development
o Children respond very differently to the environment
o So children with a more passive or agreeable temperament will respond
very differently to environmental stimuli in comparison to children who
have anger issues or a quick temper
• Unique way in which children interpret and process experiences has a
significant influence on development
, UNIVERSALITY OR CULTURAL CONTEXT?
• Question: Do all children in the world follow universal (the same)
developmental pathways or are there clear differences between cultures?
• It was traditionally believed that all children follow the same pattern of
development across countries and cultures, which was a result of psychology
developing in western cultures which meant that the children that were studied
were white, middle class, western children
• Culture refers to the beliefs, norms, customs and way of life for a specific group
of people which are passed down from one generation to another
• Importance of cultural context
• Culture is important in determining in how children develop because children
acquire appropriate cognitive, communicative, social, emotional, spiritual, and
practical factors and skills that are intended to make them competent and
contributing members of their society
• Paths of development in one culture may vary from another
• Influence of parental practices
• Must not overemphasise the roll of culture because there are arguments for and
against this
THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
DEFINING A THEORY
• In child development, a theory is an organized set of ideas that is designed to
explain and make predictions about development
o Summarises and explains presently known facts
o Aims to predict future behaviour
o Stimulates new research
THE BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
• Behaviour is primarily determined by biological factors
• Environmental factors are secondary role players in behaviour and development
• Places a heavy influence on hereditary factors (genetics, endocrine system,
nervous system, and the brain)
• Maturational theory
o Reflects a Natural unfolding of biological and innate plan, environmental
factors and experience matters little
o Theory was discarded, ignored impact of environment
• Ethological theory
o Views development from evolutionary perspective, behaviours are
adaptive
o Inherit adaptive behaviours (behaviours that have a survival value)
o All animals are programmed so that some kinds of learning occur only at
certain stages/critical periods
