1. Arnold Gesell Father of Child Development
Presented: Kim Bassa
ECE 634
Dr. Brown

2. QUOTE
“The child's personality is a product of slow gradual growth. His nervous system matures by stages and natural sequences. He sits before he stands; he babbles before he talks; he fabricates before he tells the truth; he draws a circle before he draws a square; he is selfish before he is altruistic; he is dependent on others before he achieves dependence on self. All of his abilities, including his morals, are subject to laws of growth. The task of child care is not to force him into a predetermined pattern but to guide his growth.’
-Arnold Gesell

3. Arnold Gesell June 21, 1880-May 29, 1961
Psychologist
Pediatrician

4. He went on to teach elementary school and was a high school principal.
Gesell’s Background
Arnold Gesell was born in Alma, Wisconsin and was the eldest of five children. His interest in children was established as he watched his younger siblings learn and grow.
After high school, Gesell briefly taught high school and then went on to the University of Wisconsin were he studied and received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1903.
Gesell continued his education at Clark University and received his Ph. D in 1906.
He went on to teach elementary school and was a high school principal.

5. Gesell’s Background (continued)
Gesell got a professorship at the L.A. State Normal School where he met and married Beatrice Chandler.
He develop an interest in studying children with disabilities.
Arnold Gesell was an assistant professor at Yale, where he developed the Clinic of Child Development and received his M.D. in 1915.

6. Arnold Gesell: Maturationist
The Maturational Theory of Child Development was developed by Gesell.
His theory focuses on physical and mental development. Gesell believed developmental patterns are determined by child’s heredity.
The Maturational Theory is based on three assumptions:
1. Development has a biological basis
2. Good and bad years alternate
3. Body types (endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorph)
share a connection with personality development
According to this theory, children are expected to show certain behaviors according to a maturational timetable.

7. Maturation Theory Continued…
Parents can only be sensitive and patient with a child’s development
Parents can only create guidance
Parents must not rush a child through any particular stage

8. Arnold Gesell: Pioneer
“Gesell was one of the first psychologists to systematically describe children’s physical, social, and emotional achievements through a quantitative study of human development from birth through adolescence” (schoolworkhelper.net).
He also pioneered the use of motion-picture cameras to study the development of normal infants and young children.
Child Hand Development

9. Gesell Dome He used the latest and newest technology in his research.
The Dome was designed with one-way mirrors to observe children.
The one-way mirror allowed for children to be observed without being disturbed.

10. Developmental Schedules
Gesell’s research led him to create developmental schedules used with children between four and six years old.
Areas of the this schedule emphasized motor and language development, adaptive behavior, and personal-social behavior.
From his test results, Gesell developed a developmental age (DA), which was converted to a developmental quotient (DQ=the portion of normal development that is present at any age).

11. Developmental Schedules
As Known As
-Gesell Maturity Scale
-Yale Tests of Child Development
-Gesell Preschool Test
-Gesell Kindergarten Screener
-Gesell Developmental
Purpose
-to measure the developmental stages of infants and young children
-scale was based on data collected from his longitudinal study on early human development
Current Assessment
-the prior tests no longer exist.
-the Gesell Developmental Observation-Revised is the current assessment from the Gesell Institute of Development that assesses children ages 2 ½ to 9 years.

12. Areas of the Schedule

13. Observations of Children
Over 30 years of research and observations
Gesell observed thousands of children and established norms of behavior throughout childhood.
He grouped these behaviors into ten major areas.
He called these areas Gradients of Growth.

14. Gradients of Growth Play and pastimes: general interests
Motor Characteristics: body activity
Personal Hygiene: eating, sleeping, bathing, dressing
Emotional Expression:
Attitudes, anger, assertion
Fears and Dreams
Self and sex
Interpersonal relations:
Mother-child, child-child, group play
Play and pastimes: general interests
School Life:
Adjustment to school, classroom
Ethical Sense-
Response to direction, punishment, praise
Philosophic outlook: time, space, language, thought

15. Strengths and Weaknesses of Gesell’s Theory
Studied physical and mental development
A theory about children that was important to parents
Only studied in the U.S.
School Life

16. Gesell’s Books (not limited to…)
1912:
The Normal Child and Primary Education
1925:
The Mental Growth of the Pre-School Child
1934: Infant Behavior: Its Genesis and Growth
1940:
Wolf Child and Human Child
1941:
Developmental Diagnosis- Normal and Abnormal Child Development
1948:
Studies in Child Development
1977:
The Child from Five to Ten

17. The Gesell Institute

18. Gesell’s Legacy
Gesell is known as the “Father of Childhood” and the first psychologist to systematically document the development of children.
He made major contributions to research by using technology (cameras) to observe and study normal infants and children.
His “Gesell Dome” is legendary in the observation of children and their development.
Gesell’s development of milestone (gradients of growth) are still being used by child health professionals.
Gesell influenced numerous child psychologists and pediatricians and the continued support of his theory and beliefs can be seen at the Gesell Institute.

19. References Arnold Gesell’s development of child’s hand. [video file]
Retrieved from: Youtube.
development-theory-arnold-gesell-1880-%E2
%80%93%-1961/
Maturational Theory (n.d.) Weber State University
Education Department. Retrieved from:
Departments. Weber.edu/chfam/1500/Gesell-
theory.html.