1. Learning About Children
Human Life Span – Birth to Death

2. Comparing Childhood Past and Present
Before the 20th century, “Children were meant to be seen and not heard.”
Health
Education
Love
Work
Play
Dress

3. Health
Before the 20th century it was common to lose a child due to illness.
Many diseases can be controlled and better nutrition has helped children grow and thrive.
But poor food choices plus insufficient exercise have increased the rate of childhood obesity and related problems.

4. Education
Public education did not become widespread until the early 1800’s.
Schools were small, and often included children of different ages and abilities.
Today’s school’s are grouped by age.
Computers and other technology have enhanced learning options.
School’s work to meet the special needs of students.

5. Love
Hasn’t changed.
Caregivers still work hard to build a good life for their children and to raise them as moral, responsible, and independent people.

6. Work
Until the 20th century children were expected to work at an early age.
Laws enacted banning children from working in factories and other adult workplaces.
Teens may hold jobs, but laws specify the minimum working age.

7. Play
In the past children had fewer toys, and were more simple, they were often homemade and had to use their imagination.
Baseball wasn’t developed until the 1800’s.
Video and computer games became available in the 1970s.
Today, the variety of toys seems endless.

8. Dress Children dressed more formally.
Infants and toddlers of bother genders often wore long gowns.
Older boys wore suits, while girls wore dresses.
Today, casual clothes for boys and girls are often similar in style.

9. Activity
Create a short story about a child who travels back in time. Include what the character encounters that is different from and the same as today.

10. Theories About Development

11. What Researchers Have Found
Characteristics of Development
Development is similar for each individual
Development builds upon earlier learning
Development proceeds at an individual rate
The different areas of development are interrelated
Development is a lifelong process

12. Activity
At your table, you will work together to create a poster about one psychologist.
You need to include:
Name
DOB & DOD
What country they were from
Their theory
Include any stages
What they believed

13. Theorist Findings or Ideas Significance Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939)
Believed that personality develops through a series of stages. Experiences in childhood profoundly affect adult life.
Childhood is much more important than previously thought, and its effects are longer lasting.
Jean Piaget
(1896 – 1980)
The first to study children scientifically. Focused on how children learned. Believed that children go through four stages of learning.
Children must be given learning tasks appropriate to their level of development.
Lev Vygotsky
(1896 – 1934)
Wrote that biological development and cultural experience both influenced children’s ability to learn. Believed social contact was essential to intellectual development.
Children should be given the opportunity for frequent social interaction.
Erik Erikson
(1902 – 1994)
Like Freud, said that personality develops in stages. Thought that each stage includes a unique psychological crisis. If that crisis is met in a positive way, the individual develops normally.
Parents and other caregivers must be aware of and sensitive to children’s needs at each stage of development of support them through crises.
B.F. Skinner
(1904 – 1990)
Argued that when a child’s actions have positive results, they will be repeated. Negative results will make the actions stop.
Parents and other caregivers can affect a child’s behavior through the use of negative and positive feedback.
Albert Bandura
( )
Said that children learn by imitating others. Disagreed with Skinner. Pointed out that although the environment shapes behavior, behavior also affects environment.
Caregivers must provide good examples for children to follow.
Urie Bronfenbrenner
( )
Outlined layers of environment that affect a child’s development, such as the child’s own biology. Family/community environment, and society.
Child’s primary relationship with a caregiver needs to be stable, loving, and lasting.

14. Influences on Development
Heredity – the biological transfer of certain characteristics from earlier generations.
Blood type, eye color, and hair
Environment - the people, places, and things that surround and influence a person.
Family, home, school, and community
Stimulation – activities that arouse a baby’s sense of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.

15. Venn Diagram
List characteristics you believe are influenced by heredity or environment.
Examples:
Eye color
Nurture
Attitudes
Beliefs
Blood type
Values
Friends
Food preferences
Hair color