Class Notes Intro Child Development

Introduction to Child Development Roadmap
● Aspects of the field
● Main Child Development topics
● Child Development Theories

The Four Characteristics of Child Development
Child Development is…
● Multidisciplinary
● Multidirectional
● Multicontextual
● Multidimensional

Multidisciplinary
● To fully understand and research child development, we draw from various disciplines
(e.g., biology, neuroscience, medicine, psychology, linguistics, education, economics,
sociology, history, anthropology, etc.)
How is Child Development multidisciplinary?
● Examples:
○ Developmental Psychology: The ways in which children develop over time
across domains
○ Anthropology: Influence of culture on how childhood is experienced
○ Sociology: How disparities can influence children’s development
○ Education: How to improve children’s educational experiences and how
education affects development
○ Neuroscience: The significant changes in brain development during childhood

Multidirectional
● Change in each aspect of development isn’t always linear; Growth can fluctuate within a
stage
○ Growth
○ Decline
○ No change
● Examples:
○ Height
○ Motor skills and language development
○ Cognitive development
○ Prefrontal cortex development