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Child Development

            Child Development - Infancy and Childhood.
             In this section I will be discussing the theories of psychologists Jean Piaget and Len Vygotsky.
             Jean Piaget - 1896 - 1980.
             Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland on August 9, 1896. His father was a professor of medieval studies and his mother was a strict Calvinist (Protestant - following the teachings of John Calvin). He was somewhat of a child genius publishing his first paper at 10 years old - an account of his sightings of an albino sparrow. In 1918 Piaget received his Doctorate in Science from the University of Neuchatel. Piaget was thought of as one of the most significant psychologists of the 20th Century. By the end of his career he had written over 60 books and many hundreds of articles. Students studying primary education teaching are taught Piaget's theories to enable them to understand the developmental needs of children in school today.
             Piaget's theory was based on the biological basis of intellectual development in children (i.e. cognitive development). He identified four stages that children moved through and that they had to reach all the competencies in each stage before they could successfully move on to the next stage. Moreover, these stages occurred in a fixed order, being Sensori-motor (0-2yrs), Pre-operational (2-7yrs), Concrete operational (7-11 yrs) and Formal operational (11 yrs +).
             Sensori-Motor (birth to 2 yrs).
             Piaget theorised that the early stage, sensor-motor was a combination of sensory impressions and motor reactions such as sucking and grasping. Children also have no mental representations of events e.g. they cannot differentiate between grasping and sucking a rattle or a parent's finger. As the child develops he/she begins to understand the concept of object permanence i.e. just because something disappears does not mean it no longer exists. At 18 months or so full object permanence is achieved. Through imaginative and symbolic play the child is beginning to demonstrate its earliest internal mental representations of the outside world.


Essays Related to Child Development

1. Montessori and Four Planes of Development

... this work; everything is proportionate to the size and intelligence of the children. (Montessori, "Four Planes of Education", p.2, reprinted in 2004) As the first plane of development ends, we should see a child who is confident, capable, and independent. He has command over his physical body and can exercise the self-control to make choices and the skills necessary to act ... becomes more directed. (Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, "The Six Year Old Confronted With the Cosmic Plan," p. 5, Kalakshetra, 6th edition, 1985) In the first plane of development, the child uses her s...

  • Word Count: 5198
  • Approx Pages: 21
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Life Span Growth and Development

... a complex and difficult task, as any worried parent or teacher knows. Search for the best ways of accomplishing this task accounts for much of the research in the field of child development. Erikson's theory is useful because it addresses both personality stability and personality change. It encompasses the entire life cycle and recognizes the impact of society, history, and culture on personality ... and nurture does not just occur at certain moments or at certain periods of time; it is persistent and lifelong. Most researchers agree that child development involves a complex interactio...

  • Word Count: 6174
  • Approx Pages: 25
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

3. Case Study of Child "G"

... forms of stimuli should be positive and appropriate. In Bronfenbrenna's ecological model, place the child at the center and assess the influences radiating outward in importance to the child's development. The development of a chart for Child G was created as an exercise to clarify the complexities surrounding her environment. To assess child G's situation, an ecological chart was developed with the aid of her primary carer ... determining that the program of assessments is effective in meeting its goals and identifying areas of child development which might show a child to be advanced ...

  • Word Count: 4078
  • Approx Pages: 16
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT

... pace, all children progress through an identifiable sequence of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. The early child development approach is base on that children respond best when caregivers use specific techniques designed to encourage and stimulate progress to the next level of development. Early childhood is the time during which essential, intellectual, and emotional abilities form. Keeping young children safe and ... ) for the later stages of life. Well planned, age appropriate stimulation that drives and promotes the formation of connections (neurons) in the highl...

  • Word Count: 2312
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Physical and Perceptual Development

... will work with children after graduation and it is very important to have knowledge about child development when educators work in child care environment. If the early childhood educators understand child development well, they are able to recognize whether children are in physically and perceptually appropriate development stage or not. An understanding of basic human developmental stages can be used to gear the ... concentration as well. In addition, educators should check that each activity is appropriate for child's level and sex when educators choose the activity. It is also import...

  • Word Count: 1881
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Language and Motor Development

... , walking, balance, fine posture, awareness of their surroundings and etc. Language development is when infants and children learn words and are able to either speak or write it and it develops as they grow. Motor and Language development is related because if a child delays in motor development their language development delays as well placing them at a disadvantage. This topic is important because ... we see how motor and language development correlates with each other through different research studies which determines the importance of gaining motor skills ... Parents of all children...

  • Word Count: 1661
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Infancy and Early Childhood Development

... society such as schools or churches. All these factors can influence a child's development or cognitive development. How Families Impact Development They say it takes a village to raise a child, which can be very true. This village as well as the family all has an effect on a child's development. The best kind of family a child could grow up in is one that offers attention, sensitivity, and ... follow more then just hearing words from parents. When it comes to influence on an infant it is important for the child to form an attachment relationship to a caregiver. This relationship is the ...

  • Word Count: 1065
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Child Socialization Observation Paper

... simply walk up to a group of children and ask them to play in a friendly manner represents only a minuscule factor of social development. As a child interacts, he or she must learn to interpret a wide variety of complex cues and requirements. Problems arise when separate requirements conflict with one another ... most useful references to explain the observations I made on Woodward's playground. In some way, each of their theories assumes that moral development follows a pattern in which the child progresses from fulfilling the needs of the self to fulfilling the needs of the whole. It is...

  • Word Count: 6491
  • Approx Pages: 26
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Research Paper - Child Development and Education

... than in others. The study of child development is organized into three domains of study: Physical development, Cognitive development, and Social-emotional development. Physical development is concerned with the biological changes in the body, includes genetics, brain development, and motor skills. Physical development include health and environmental factors. Cognitive development refers to the age related transformations that occur in a child's reasoning, concepts, memory, and language ... in puberty begin after the pituitary gland in the brain senses it is time to release certain hormo...

  • Word Count: 704
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

10. Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

... person's life. Psychometric approach deals with measuring a person's intelligence by using tests (Papalia et al, 2001, pg. 153). There are also newer theories that look at cognitive development. These include the information-processing approach, the cognitive neuroscience approach, and the social contextual approach. The information-processing approach looks at the processes that involve perception, learning, memory, and ... 2001, pg. 168). All of these approaches help us see the strengths and weaknesses of Piaget's theory, and helps us to develop a better understanding of human develop...

  • Word Count: 3229
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Has Bibliography

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