Patterns of Child Development The various aspects of child development encompass physical growth, emotional and psychological changes, and social adjustments. A great many determinants influence patterns of development and change. On the average, a newborn baby weighs 3.4 kg (7.5 lb) and is 53 cm (21 in) long, with the head disproportionately larger than the lower part of the body. As the child grows, increments in height are greatest from birth to three years; thereafter they are relatively constant until adolescence. The growth spurt at adolescence is far less than during infancy. Weight increments are also large during the first three years but are equally large during adolescence. Research shows that growth rates are influenced by the health of the child. Rates of development decelerate during illness; after an illness is cured, however, growth rates accelerate until children attain their appropriate height and weight. Dramatic changes occur in motor skills from birth through the first two years. At birth infants are capable of extensive uncoordinated movements. One feature of the early motor behavior of infants is the large number of reflex-like actions. These actions appear for a short time after birth and then disappear. For example, when the palm of the hand is stroked lightly the fingers involuntarily close, forming a fist; this is called the palmar reflex. From these early movements, distinct sequential patterns of motor development occur. Walking, which occurs on the average between 13 and 15 months, emerges from a sequence of 14 earlier stages. Research shows that the rate of acquisition of motor skills is innately determined and that the acquisition of these skills is not influenced by practice. Severe restri... ... middle of paper ... ... adults are less obvious. The members of peer groups change with age. Preadolescent groups are homogeneous; that is, members are usually of the same sex and come from the same neighborhood. Among older children, social relationships are based on shared interests and values. Within a given group, the popular children tend to be more intelligent, higher achievers, and socially and emotionally more mature. Much current work involves identifying the cognitive components (such as memory and attention span) used in problem-solving activities. Researchers also are trying to identify the processes that occur in the transition from one level of thought to the next. Another area of investigation is the cognitive components in reading and arithmetic. It is hoped that this research will lead to improved methods of teaching academic skills and more effective remedial teaching.
Theories abound around how people develop emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually. This essay will examine the theories of five leaders on the subject of development.
Compare and contrast a child from younger age group with a child from an older age group.
A healthy pregnancy is a start to a good biological beginning for a baby. The developmental milestone process in infant’s progression can be normal and accurate for most stages however, a few transitions or changes in an environment can increase a delay in infants developmental milestones. As infants began to grow, then began to master normal age-related skills such as, at 2 months they would smile when he would see familiar faces. They tend to get attached to those that are familiar with. Lack of time spent with an infant biological mother, can increase attachment to his care giver vs their mother. At four months infants developed the typical motor skills for his age such as, sucking, chewing on his bottle or teething ring. Also, they also began to recognize sounds and voices, such as music. They would respond to the music he heard by kicking and eyes began to explore his environment. Infants tend to grab their hair and glasses and roll over. Playing with infants at six months and they should respond to by gurgling and making eye contact. They began to verbalize more at seven months such as cooing and gurgling in social environment they should be able to recognize those they are familiar
There are three different types of development one goes through. These three developments are cognitive, psychosocial, and physical. First, cognitive development is development within the areas of learning, attention, memory, thinking, learning, and creativity. An example is, when a child turns the age of 12 or higher, and that child becomes able to think abstractly and logically. Next, psychosocial development is development of emotions, personality, and social relationships. An example of this is, when a younger child begins to interact socially with other children. Lastly, physical development is the development of the senses, motor skills, health, and wellness. In other words, physical development are changes in the mind and body. An example
In the developing stages of a child, psychological factors play a huge role in th...
A newborn child’s physical and motor development is an evident progression throughout their first years and later in life. A child’s motor development is more of a slower progress, from going to gross motor skills to more fine motor skills in a few months while physical development is an apparent process. The environment affects children in their physical and motor growth, as they learn and adapt to new stimuli everyday as they develop. Separately, these developments start at different times, but function hand in hand as a child grows. Physical development is apparent at conception, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence; while motor development
As infants grow in size their motor skills improve through body movements. Through fine and gross motor skills infants learn to master movements, such as sitting, crawling, standing, and walking. These sensory and motor skills follow a genetic timetable, which is influenced...
Specifically, the biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial development of children. Biosocial development is all growth and change that happens in a person's body. As well as genetic, nutrition, and health factors that have an effect on the growth and change of children. During this time motor skills (a simple action that requires it using their muscles) are the dominant development. Cognitive development is mental processes that are used in order to gain knowledge or to think about things around you. It includes perception, judgment, imagination, language, memory, and education (formal and informal). The last type of development children go through is psychosocial development. This kind of development is the development of a child's emotions, social skills, and temperament. As well as the child's family, friends, and surrounding society being the
Child growth and development is a process that consists of some building blocks, which are components that combine in an infinite number of ways (Cherry, n.d.). As a result of the variations of building blocks in a child’s development, educators, psychologists, and philosophers have been constantly engaged in the debate of nature versus nurture debate. Many researchers agree that child development is a complex interaction between his/her genetic background (nature) and his/her environment (nurture). In essence, some developmental aspects are strongly affected by biology whereas other aspects are influenced by environmental factors. From the onset of an individu...
The first type of development that can be observed is physical development. Physical development refers to a child's gross and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills are the use of large groups of muscles that can develop naturally through outdoor and indoor play. During play, a child may use their gross motor skills by standing, jumping, climbing, running or riding a bike. "If children are encouraged to be physically active, these skills can develop into advanced patterns of motor coordination that can last a lifetime" (brightfutures.org). Fine motor skills are the use of the muscles in the hands. These muscles can develop by using fingers to cut with scissors, write, paint and many other activities. Underdeveloped muscles, weight gain, and high blood pressure are all signs o...
Child psychology, also known as child development, is the study of psychological growth of children; how these mechanisms develop from infancy to adolescence and why they deviate from one child to the next. Child development is associated with biological, psychological, and emotional diversity that occur in humans. Although there is a different advancement for each child, these developmental changes may be greatly determined by genetic factors and experience during prenatal life. The early years of a child’s life are very important for his or her health and development. Parents, health professionals, educators, and others can work together as partners to help children grow up to reach their full potential.
As we look at developmental process there are a few key issues that we focus on, those include biological, cognitive and socioemotional processes. The biological process produces changes in people physical nature. Genes are inherited from parents. Biological processes that affect development include; weight gains, nutrition, hormonal changes in puberty and development of the brain. The cognitive process deals with changes in peoples thinking, their brilliance and language. It affects mental content. The last is socioemotional, this deals with peoples relationship with others, changes in emotions and personalities. These processes all work together.
The development of children differs from individual to individual, depending on their unique temperament, leaning style, family, and upbringing. Research theorists such as Jean Piaget and Erick Erickson have endeavored to organize child development into universal, predictable sequences of growth that typically occurs in most children. In this paper I will be discussing my life story from infancy to adolescence and intergrading the theorists, domains, models that I have learned in child development classes.
Human development has been a subject of interest since ancient Greece and Rome. Different approaches derive from two basic directions: the nativists` and empiricists` ones. The latter method is to regard human development as a gradual change which has been influenced by the individual`s experience .On the other hand, the former approach has found its roots in the biological structure of the human organism which considers our development as a series of stages. However, referring to human development only as continuous or gradual would produce inconsistent and insufficient understanding of the developmental process .As a result, combining ideas of both viewpoints(continuity and phases) will provide a more explicit of understanding of the developmental processes and their final aim which is to create individual`s integrity within the social norms.
Child development is all about biological which includes nature, environmental which includes nurture, physical and emotional changes that takes place from birth till the end of adolescence. It is a scientific study of changes that occurs in human beings over the course of their life. Every child needs to be a priority issue in policy and practice.