CHILD DEVELOPMENT PREPARED AND PRESENTED BY CHELSEA HALLIDAY HUMAN SERVICE STUDENT ON PLACEMENT – KIDS MATTER PROJECT OFFICER – JULY 2014

What is Development? Development has been described as change across the lifespan. Biological factors, environmental factors, social factors, and psychological factors change throughout life and can affect development.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development Erik Erikson’s theory proposes that a crises occurs at each stage of development. These crises are of a psychosocial nature because they involve psychological needs of the individual conflicting with the needs of society. According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality. Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. vapEpQmz86o Source : psychology-and-music-my-final.html

Quiz  Jack is 4 and is hesitant about playing with the other kids, Jack’s mum tells him what to do and when he can play and what he can play with. Jack often doubts himself. What stage is Jack in? Has Jack been successful in completing this stage?  Jill is 7 months old, which psychosocial stage of development would she be in?

Quiz  I am 3 years old and I like to pick what colour pencils I use to do my colouring in with, once I am done colouring in I like to explore my environment and get into all the boxes around me and press all the buttons on the phone. I decide when I want to eat also, most of the time you will be cleaning it up off the floor, but it is all my decision on what I like to do. What stage have I successfully transitioned through?  A child who wants to show you what they drew in school, and tells you how great their drawing is and how they cannot wait to draw another one and how it will be even better and that you should definitely see that one as well, has successfully mastered what stage of psychosocial development?

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Source: ovds/m13-1c.htm ovds/m13-1c.htm Piaget concluded that there were four different stages in the cognitive development of children. Sensory Motor Stage: Learn about the world, the people and the objects that are around them and the ways that they can be manipulated. Preoperational Stage: children are usually 'ego centric', meaning that they are only able to consider things from their own point of view, and imagine that everyone shares this view. Concrete Operational Stage: start to mentally solve problems, develop concepts such as numbers, and are getting better at understanding and following rules. Formal Operational Stage: Able to think abstractly (Logical thinking). They are now able to hypothesize and see their world as it could be, not just as it is. PIC2nCs

Quiz  Yesterday I told my friend that the Easter bunny was coming to give us chocolates on the weekend, I told my friend I knew this because I wrote to the Easter bunny and asked them to come. I saw my friend the next week and she told me that the Easter bunny did come; I said that is because I asked them to come, so they did. According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development what stage is this child in?  Timmy was in his geography class, the teacher told them that the ice caps were melting and that the water levels would soon start rising and some small islands close by may disappear. The teacher told them that this was due to global warming, because of pollution and all other nasty stuff that we do. The teacher said to the class that they could help stop this is they all planted trees and tried to avoid driving all the time. Timmy went home that day and told his mum he does not want the ice caps to melt in the future and he is going to try and change that. He planted a tree and asked his mum if he could walk to school. What cognitive stage of development is Timmy in?

Attachment Theory Source : tachment-theory-and-the-strange-situation/ John Bowlby and Maria Ainsworth contributed to this theory. It is believed that early relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life. Secure attachment is when an infant will feel distressed when the primary care giver leaves, on their return the infant will seek comfort and support and the distress will stop Anxious/ ambivalent/ resistant attachment infants are distressed by separation from their primary care giver, upon their return the infant will seek comfort and support but will display signs of anger and resistance to the comforting Avoidant attachment style infants display distress when their primary care giver leaves, but do not seek comfort or support when they return Disorganized attachment style – Display a confusing mix of behaviour, they may resist or avoid the primary care giver

Quiz  Aurora is a 10 month old baby. Aurora is playing with her toys with her mother sitting next to her, when her mother gets up and leaves the room Aurora becomes distressed. Upon the mothers return, Aurora does not try to seek comfort and continues to play. What attachment type is Aurora?  Ben is a 9 month old baby. Ben is playing with his toys on his mother’s lap. Mum puts him down and begins to the leave the room, before she can get out the door Ben is already crying and feeling distressed. Upon his mother’s return, Ben seeks comfort but shows signs of anxiousness, resistance and anger towards his mother. What attachment type is Ben?  Angelina is 12 months old. Angelina and her mother are playing with toys together. Angelina’s mum stops playing with the toys and stands up and walks out. Angelina becomes very distressed and stops playing with her toys. Her mother comes back into the room and Angelina seeks comfort from her mother straight away. Angelina’s distress disappears and Angelina starts playing with the toys again. What attachment style is Angelina?

Discussion What ideas/meaning/information/themes did you find in this video?

Bronfenbrenner’s environmental ecological approach to development This theory examines the contextual influences on child development. He proposed four major systems that represent the context for child development, the microsystem, mesosytem, exosystem and macrosystem. These four levels constantly affect the individual and can interact with one another. The microsystem – the individual’s immediate setting where interactions occur between them and the environment. The microsystem is the most proximal level to the client and includes interpersonal relationships. The mesosystem – a system of microsystems through which different settings are linked, for example the school teacher and the individual’s parents having a meeting. It is the interaction of interwoven relationships. The exosystem- This system is distal from the individual. The individual does not participate in direct interactions with this system, but what occurs on this level may have some effect on the individual. An example of this is a parent losing their job at work, this will impact on the individuals micro system. The macrosystem- This is the societal level it contains the core structures and values that compose a particular culture. This level contains features such as societal norms and values, politics, education and health practices.

Quiz  I wasn’t allowed to get the toy I wanted for my birthday because mum said it was too much money and she could not afford it because she lost her job. Using Bronfenbrenner’s theory, what system’s interaction is this?

DiscussionDiscussion In groups, discuss how you can relate the different developmental theories to your own personal experiences.

References Family Child Care Academy (2014), Basic theories and principles of child development, Accessed on 7 th July White, F., Hayes, B., Livesey, D (2010) Developmental psychology from infancy to adulthood, (2 nd ed), Pearson, NSW. Prepared by Chelsea Halliday