Early in my undergraduate education I became interested in both developmental and quantitative psychology. I initially became interested in developmental psychology by learning about the impact that childhood events can have on adult life. My passion for quantitative psychology came after I enrolled in my Psychological Methods class. This inspired me to expand my knowledge of statistics and go outside the psychology department to enroll in Linear Regression, Analysis of Variance and other advanced statistics courses. I gained the ability to run statistical analyses in multiple packages such as R, SAS, and SPSS. These classroom experiences along with applied research and evaluation experience culminated with me wanting to obtain a Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology.
I gained extensive research experience in Dr. Ross Thompson’s Social and Emotional Development Lab where I interned for four years. Working under the supervision of Dr. Abby Winer, I examined the influence of familial demographic and emotional factors on individual differences in pre-school aged children’s early social and...
(1) The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, or CSEFEL, is a training model designed to provide teachers with curricula and skills to promote social-emotional learning in their preschool classrooms in order to prevent challenging behaviors (CSEFEL, n.d.). I interviewed Dr. Mary Louise Hemmeter, who is the principle investigator at CSEFEL at Vanderbilt University. This center works with child care programs, preschools, and Head Start programs to prepare children for the transition into kindergarten, where self-regulatory and social-emotional skills are necessary (Hemmeter, Ostrosky, & Fox, 2006). This program promotes social-emotional skills for all children in the classroom to prevent challenging behaviors, and
Children in families with lower incomes at or below the poverty line have been connected with poor cognitive and social development in early childhood. The studies that I chose to use evaluate the cognitive and social development during early childhood using various surveys, evaluations, and observations completed by or with the children, parents, and teachers. Development of any kind is dependent on the interplay of nature and nurture, or genetics and environment. These studies draw from a child’s environment during the earliest years of development, specifically birth, pre-school, and early elementary school. The studies propose living in an impoverished environment as opposed to an environment above the poverty line imposes certain restrictions on cognitive and social development during early childhood.
Children are complex, and the way a child develops differs from individual to individual. The study of children is a field that researchers, scientists, theorists and educators have been exploring for decades. CHYS 1F90 studies the foundations of childhood development and allows the students to look at the way children develop through multiple lenses. Many conclusions have been drawn, observing how, when and why children develop the way they do. Jerry and Samantha are both grade one students who are unrelated. Although these two students are both the same age, they are different on a variety of accounts. Jerry is a shy and introverted boy who quickly becomes uncomfortable while talking to adults, teachers and peers, contrariwise Samantha is immensely confident and demonstrates extroversion around others. After analyzing both Jerry and Samantha through a biological, learning theorist and psychoanalytical lens, the reasons for the first-graders differences are clear. Depending on the lens in which an individual looks through when analyzing the development of children, interesting and intriguing conclusions can be drawn regarding the broad topic of understanding how children develop.
This paper is but a brief overview of this topic and a great deal more research not included in this paper has been devoted to the biopsychosocial influences of genetic predisposition, parents, daycare providers, the daycare environment, and the many other factors that effect children that attend daycare. However, it’s encouraging to know that progress is being made in the development of a safe, healthy, and nurturing environment for our children at this most vulnerable age.
"When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they’re finished, I climb out.” – Erma Bombeck. Early childhood is the most rapid period of development in a human life. Although individual children develop at their own pace, all children progress through an identifiable sequence of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. A child who is ready for school has a combination of positive characteristics: he or she is socially and emotionally healthy, confident and friendly; has good peer relationships; tackles challenging tasks and persists with them; has good language skills and communicates well; and listens to instructions and is attentive (World Bank 1). The interactive influences of genes and experience literally shape the architecture of the developing brain and the most important ingredient is the nature of a child’s engagement in the relationship with his or her parents (Bales 1). The parenting style of a mother or father has a strong and direct impact on the sequence of development through which the child progresses on the way to becoming a physically, mentally and emotionally healthy individual.
According to this theory, external forces can influence the development of emotions. A child can mature a lot quicker when they are placed in an environmen...
Having enjoyed psychology-related activities in both the academic and community settings, it is with enthusiasm that I pursue a career in clinical psychology. An important part of this pursuit is attending graduate school. In order to obtain the necessary knowledge and to define my areas of interest, I wish to enroll in a doctoral program in clinical psychology.
The ideas of this article intrigued me because of the information presented in the beginning paragraphs. This article elaborates upon how important the ability of being able to distinguish between positive and negative emotions is. Through the faces presented in the start of the article, I learned that affective development “generally precedes cognitive and behavioral development, as children experience emotions and react to them long before they are able to verbalize or cope. However, social and emotional competencies do not unfold automatically; rather they are strongly influenced by the child’s early learning environment” (Kramer, Caldarella, Christensen & Shatzer 2010). As an educator, I feel as though this is a pertinent piece of important information. Oftentimes students will view school as their safe-haven, and, with all the struggles that they are facing at home, emotions are let loose in the wrong ways. This social-emotional learning program reportedly help...
As we have been learning this semester in class, the experiences and ecological settings in which a child grows up in are important in giving each child their uniqueness. According to Bronfenbrenner, the degree to which individuals realize their potentials and develop their abilities is determined by interactions and experiences (Berns, 2016). It is evident that these interactions and experiences can come from different sources. In order to understand how a child’s development is influenced by their environment, it is important to know how their biological, social, and psychological characteristics are shaped
Early childhood reveals a distinctive opportunity for the foundation of a healthy development and a time of immense growth and of helplessness. In early childhood, children begin to learn what causes emotions and begin noticing others reactions to these feelings. They begin to learn to manage and control their feelings in self regulation. Emotional self regulation refers to the strategies used to adjust emotions to a contented level so goals can be accomplished. This requires voluntary, effortless management of emotions (Berk, 2007). Promoting young children’s social-emotional development is essential for three interconnected reasons: Positive social-emotional development provides a base for life-long learning; Social skills and emotional self-regulation are integrally related to later academic success in school, Prevention of future social and behavioral difficulties is more effective than later remediation (U.S Department of Health and Human Services). Research on early childhood has highlighted the strength of the first five years of a child’s life on thier social-emotional development. Neg...
Children’s development in all aspects are influenced by genetic composition (Nature) and the environment in which they grow (Nurture). They are influenced by all adults in which they come into significant contact. Smiling at someone unfamiliar or speaking to a stranger is less likely to have a lasting impact on the child or their development. However, parents and immediate family have the most impact on a child’s development. A family is defined as at least one adult and one child who live together and in which the adult is control of the child’s life and behavior as well as demonstrates responsible care for the child (McDevitt & Ormand, 2013). Parents are the primary educators and caregivers,
Treyvaud K, Doyle LW, Lee KJ, Roberts G, Lim J, Inder TE, et al. Social-emotional difficulties in very preterm and term 2 year olds predict specific social-emotional problems at the age of 5 years. Journal of pediatric psychology. 2012;37(7):779-785.
When you’re a parent, it’s common to worry if your child is developing accordingly, but more exclusively if your child seems to be delayed from other children in their age group. Every stage of development happens differently for every child, but learning to detect these skills or behaviors that are associated with each stage could be beneficial to you and your child in the long run. The three common domains of development are physical, cognitive, and psychosocial. Throughout this paper I will try to help get a different outlook and a possible understanding of the development stage of early childhood (ages 2-6). Unfortunately, I do not have any children of my own yet, but I do
Social cognition is very important to young child’s development. A child’s key development takes place during the first five years of a child’s life. (Child Encyclopedia) A child’s environmental factors play a huge role in their mental development. Social cognition has produced a knowledge that psychologists now have a better understanding about
A child is considered an infant from the age of 2 to 12 months. From 12 months to 36 months this is considered the toddler years where the cognitive, emotional, and social development is great. The social emotional development occurs during early childhood where children experience different moods as well as expanding their social world by learning more about their emotions and other people. The social emotional development is a child's way of understanding the feelings of others, controlling their own feelings and behaviors and getting along with peers. The key to a successful emotional and social development are positive relationship with trusting and caring adults. The social and emotional development in infants and toddlers can have negative