Developmental Psychology: Early Childhood

Read in this text important information about Developmental Psychology in Early Childhood. Also get to know the movie Babies, which shows the development of babies in 4 totally different cultures: Mongolia, Namibia, USA and Japan.

At birth, most of the baby’s bones are still soft, that is, the cartilages have not yet turned into bones (ossified). The first bones to stiffen are those in the head and wrist. Muscle fibers are also formed at birth, but they will change a lot over the years.

In the first year of life, babies experience an increase of 50% in length and almost 200% in weight, which characterizes a large and rapid physical development. After the first year of life, the growth rate becomes slower.

Boys are generally heavier and longer than girls, and diet and health conditions are important factors for child development.

The baby is born with the ability to breastfeed, cry, babble, smile, move, among others. It has some reflexes, but its senses and perception are still poorly developed.

All discoveries about the development of babies are made through laboratory tests. Current researchers have discovered that babies have an enormous cognitive capacity, contrary to what was thought until a short time ago. Several researchers and theorists make considerations about babies according to the approaches they defend:

The behaviorist approach (or behavioral psychology) is one that stands out with the theory of learning and conditioning. According to behaviorists, conditioning can be used to introduce desirable behaviors into children’s learning.

Piaget, on the other hand, relies on schema theory (representation of elements that stand out in an event and their relationships with one another) to develop his approach. The central unit of knowledge in Piaget’s view is the sensory-motor scheme, defined as a representation of a class of motor actions used to achieve a goal. Piaget proposed that the child develops in six different sub-stages during early childhood.

These sub-stages begin with reflexes and after a short time babies develop primary circular reactions (repeating actions that occurred by chance). Around 6 months they develop secondary circular reactions (repeat actions that produce interesting images and sounds). After 12 months they develop tertiary circular reactions (they vary their actions instead of repeating them while observing their effects on the environment).

In the last stage, children invent new schemes through a kind of mental exploration, imagining certain events and their consequences.

The psychometric approach is used to measure the level of intelligence (IQ) of children and their normal development or not, although it is not a very safe criterion.

The information processing approach focuses on memory, symbol perception, problem solving, and learning. It analyzes the processes of habituation (a type of learning in which repeated exposure to an event results in a reduced response to that event) and dishabituation (the resumption of attention when a different event is presented).

They also make important considerations about the development of memory (ability to remember past events and relate them to present events).

Language begins to develop when the baby cries less and responds to speech with gestures, smiles and cooing. He learns to make movements towards the speaker. Later (approximately 5 months) the coo sounds begin to show vowel and consonant sounds.

The cooing starts to turn into syllables and at 8 months there is more continuous repetition. At 10 months, vocalizations are mixed with gargling or blowing and the baby seems to imitate sounds.

At 12 months, the first words appear and there are definite signs that they understand some words. At 18 months, the child already masters good vocabulary. At 30 months there is no longer babbling, in the development considered “normal” or “standard” and the lines have communicative intention. From then on, the development of speech is accelerated.

Babies show many reactions that suggest emotional states. These reactions develop according to memory. From a young age, children already show reactions of fear or anxiety in different environments or with strange people and seem to demonstrate tranquility in familiar environments. Facial expressions seem to indicate emotional states. Babies also develop reactions to social interactions such as smiling or laughing that occur in different situations.

Babies are likely to be born with a tendency towards certain moods and styles of reaction, which we call temperament. Parents’ reactions to children’s temperaments can affect behavior and adjustment later in life.

A child’s upbringing conditions can influence temperamental qualities such as shyness and sociability. The child’s development is a product of the interaction between his own characteristics and those of the people who socialize him. Therefore, the caregiver influences the baby’s growth in several ways.

The interaction between parents and children develops affective ties, that is, the person who takes care of the baby is better able to calm him down and is the person most sought out to play and protect. A secure emotional attachment provides the foundation for healthy social and emotional development.

When parents encourage behaviors that adjust children to the environment in which they live, the affective bond is beneficial; when they encourage behavior outside widely accepted standards, adjustment problems are generated. It is important to emphasize that each child is raised within a specific cultural context and that most children in each generation grow up to perform well in their culture.

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