The Science of Child Development
Chapter 1
MODULE 1.1
o
Plato and Aristotle wrote about ideal forms of government
o
They believed schools and parents were responsible for teaching children self
control that makes them effective citizens
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Aristotle worried that too much self discipline would stile children’s initiative and
individuality
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Plato believed experience is Not the source of knowledge but human senses are too
fallible
o
He believed children are born with an innate knowledge of concrete objects
o
Aristotle says however it is rooted in perceptual experiences
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John Locke the human infant is a Tabula Rasa (Blank Slate) parents should instruct,
reward and discipline children and believe experiences effect our development
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Jean Jacques Rousseau said new born have an innate sense of justice and morality
that unfolds as we grown
o
Through this unfolding we move through the development stages, which are infancy,
childhood and adolescence. He also says parents should be responsive and
receptive to a child’s needs
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In the industrial revolution children was seen as grown ups and were doing labor
more suited for adults
o
After Darwin’s evolution theory he wrote baby biographies that observed individual
children with lead to objective and analytic research
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G Stanley Hall he conducted studies to look at age trends and children’s beliefs and
feeling s
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Frank Alfred Binet – devised first mental tests
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James Baldwin had the first Canadian psychology lab
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Baldwin moved from observation to experiment
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The Canadian psychological association was founded
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Scientific forces in developmental psychology came together and the Society for
Research in Child Development formed

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It consisted of psychologists, biologists and educators and physicians, still intact
today
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Their research helps to improve children’s lives today
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Stopped in world war 2 because of assistance in war efforts
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New branch of child development research it was the Applied Developmental
Science – research that promotes healthy development in valuable children and
families
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Still helps today when making government policies
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Origins form 100 years ago has become a matured discipline
MODULE 1.2
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There are five major theoretical perspectives in child development research:
biological, psychodynamic, learning, cognitive-developmental and contextual
perspectives
o
One of the first biological theories –
maturational theory
– was proposed by Arnold
Gesell – child development reflects a specific and prearranged scheme or plan
within the body (speech, play and reasoning is all natural)
o
Ethological theory
views development from an evolutionary perspective (many
behaviors are adaptive, and a critical period in development is the time when a
specific type of learning can take place; anytime before or after makes learning
difficult or impossible)
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Example of this critical period was tested by Konrad Lorenz who noticed that newly


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- Fall '13
- Dr.J.M.Ostovich