Child Development

Child development is a field of study devoted to understanding human consistency and changes from conception through adolescence. It studies the changes in the child’s biological, social, cognitive and emotional behavior. It is a part of larger discipline known as developmental psychology.

Child development is studied to increase our knowledge about the ways development proceeds and the processes that alter this progression. It helps us understand changes that seem to be universal regardless of culture. E.g. the emergence of ‘smiling at approximately 6 weeks and the first word of approximately one year. We gain knowledge about the individual differences between children and how children’s behavior is influenced by the environment. It helps all members of society who come about the well being of children such as parents, teachers, caretakers, nannies, doctors, curriculum planners etc. Information on normal development also facilitates early detection of problems and help in the prevention of deviant development.

There are mainly two schools of thought on development of child behavior in the society. There are the earlier psychologists like Arnold Gesell, John B Watson and modern psychologists like Jean Piaget, Vygotsky. Dr. Montessori’s teachings are more in line with the modern psychologists, acknowledging that all influences contributes in shaping child’s behavior.

Six factors influence a child’s behavior; first factors is biological vs environmental influence or nature vs nurture. Earlier psychologists argue that only one of the two factors; genetic or environmental shape the course of development; while modern psychologists recognize the importance of both. Second factor is Passive versus the active child, most modern developmentalists believe that children actively shape, control, and direct the course of their own development; some however, still hold that children are the passive recipients of environmental influence. One side sees the children as curious information seekers and state that influence is a two way process while the others argue that children are assertive and shy and their interest is usually channelized by a talented teacher. Third factor is Continuity versus discontinuity; a number of theorists, view development as a continuous process, whereby change over time takes place smoothly and gradually, while others see development as a series of qualitatively different steps or stages. Fourth factor is Situational influence versus individual characteristic; some developmentalists continue to debate the question of whether situational influences or individual personality characteristics are more important in determining how stable a child's behavior will be across varying contexts. Fifth factor is Early versus Later experiences, a number of child psychologists say those who have experienced deprived or abusive childhoods might never adjust or develop normally. In contrast to this view, theorists say influence of childhood events does not necessarily have a dominating effect over behavior throughout the life. Many people with less-that-perfect childhoods go on to develop normally into well-adjusted adults. Sixth factor is Cultural Universals versus Cultural Relativism; developmental psychologists who emphasize cultural universals seek culture-free laws of development that can be applied across all societies and cultures. Those who stress cultural relativism study the effects of distinctive cultural settings on children's development. Between these extreme views one view suggests that laws of development are universal but the rate at which they grow is dependent upon their culture.

Physical development is the process that starts in human infancy and continues into late adolescent concentrating on gross and fine motor skills as well as puberty. It involves developing control over the body, particularly muscles and physical coordination. The peak of physical development happens in childhood and is therefore a crucial time for neurological brain development and body coordination, to encourage specific activities such as grasping, writing, crawling, and walking. Motor development proceeds in two directions proximodistal and cephalocaudal development; one is from center of the body out to the fingers while the other from top of the body downward, respectively.

Infants triple their weight by their first birthday and then grow more slowly in the next two years. Teething for children generally begins around 7 months and most babies have their full set of 20 deciduous teeth by the time they are three years old. Research shows that at birth the brain of an infant is one quarter of its adult weight and reaches 90 percent of its full adult weight by the time child is 5 years old. There are studies suggesting that breast fed children accept new food better than formula fed children.

Physical