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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition

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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 1 preview imageInstructor’s Resource ManualforBerkChild DevelopmentNinth EditionpreparedbySara HarrisIllinois State UniversityLaura E. BerkIllinois State UniversityLeah ShriroJudy Ashkenaz
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 2 preview image
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 3 preview imageCONTENTSPREFACEviiCHAPTER 1HISTORY, THEORY, AND APPLIED DIRECTIONS1Chapter-at-a-Glance1•Brief Chapter Summary2Learning Objectives2•Lecture Outline2•Lecture Enhancements11Learning Activities15•Ask Yourself17•Suggested Readings21Media Materials21CHAPTER 2RESEARCH STRATEGIES23Chapter-at-a-Glance23•Brief Chapter Summary23Learning Objectives24•Lecture Outline24•Lecture Enhancements29Learning Activities33•Ask Yourself36•Suggested Readings39Media Materials40CHAPTER 3BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS, PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT, ANDBIRTH41Chapter-at-a-Glance41•Brief Chapter Summary42Learning Objectives42•Lecture Outline43•Lecture Enhancements56Learning Activities59•Ask Yourself62•Suggested Readings69Media Materials69CHAPTER 4INFANCY: EARLY LEARNING, MOTOR SKILLS, ANDPERCEPTUAL CAPACITIES71Chapter-at-a-Glance71•Brief Chapter Summary71Learning Objectives72•Lecture Outline72•Lecture Enhancements81Learning Activities83•Ask Yourself86•Suggested Readings90Media Materials91CHAPTER 5PHYSICAL GROWTH93Chapter-at-a-Glance93•Brief Chapter Summary94Learning Objectives94•Lecture Outline95•Lecture Enhancements103Learning Activities106•Ask Yourself109•Suggested Readings113Media Materials114CHAPTER 6COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: PIAGETIAN, CORE KNOWLEDGE,AND VYGOTSKIAN PERSPECTIVES117Chapter-at-a-Glance117•Brief Chapter Summary118Learning Objectives119•Lecture Outline119•Lecture Enhancements130Learning Activities133•Ask Yourself136•Suggested Readings142Media Materials142iii
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 4 preview imageCHAPTER 7COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: AN INFORMATION-PROCESSING PERSPECTIVE145Chapter-at-a-Glance145•Brief Chapter Summary146Learning Objectives147•Lecture Outline147•Lecture Enhancements154Learning Activities157•Ask Yourself160•Suggested Readings165Media Materials165CHAPTER 8INTELLIGENCE167Chapter-at-a-Glance167•Brief Chapter Summary168Learning Objectives168•Lecture Outline169•Lecture Enhancements177Learning Activities179•Ask Yourself182•Suggested Readings185Media Materials186CHAPTER 9LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT187Chapter-at-a-Glance187•Brief Chapter Summary188Learning Objectives188•Lecture Outline189•Lecture Enhancements196Learning Activities199•Ask Yourself201•Suggested Readings207Media Materials207CHAPTER 10EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT209Chapter-at-a-Glance209•Brief Chapter Summary210Learning Objectives210•Lecture Outline211•Lecture Enhancements220Learning Activities223•Ask Yourself226•Suggested Readings231Media Materials232CHAPTER 11SELF AND SOCIAL UNDERSTANDING235Chapter-at-a-Glance235•Brief Chapter Summary236Learning Objectives237•Lecture Outline237•Lecture Enhancements245Learning Activities249•Ask Yourself251•Suggested Readings255Media Materials255CHAPTER 12MORAL DEVELOPMENT257Chapter-at-a-Glance257•Brief Chapter Summary258Learning Objectives259•Lecture Outline259•Lecture Enhancements270Learning Activities274•Ask Yourself276•Suggested Readings280Media Materials280CHAPTER 13DEVELOPMENT OF SEX DIFFERENCES AND GENDERROLES283Chapter-at-a-Glance283•Brief Chapter Summary283Learning Objectives284•Lecture Outline285•Lecture Enhancements292Learning Activities295•Ask Yourself298•Suggested Readings303Media Materials304iv
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 5 preview imageCHAPTER 14THE FAMILY307Chapter-at-a-Glance307•Brief Chapter Summary308Learning Objectives309•Lecture Outline309•Lecture Enhancements320Learning Activities323•Ask Yourself326•Suggested Readings330Media Materials331CHAPTER 15PEERS, MEDIA, AND SCHOOLING333Chapter-at-a-Glance333•Brief Chapter Summary333Learning Objectives334•Lecture Outline335•Lecture Enhancements346Learning Activities349•Ask Yourself352•Suggested Readings358Media Materials358ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONAL IDEAS361MEDIA DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION363v
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 6 preview image
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 7 preview imagePREFACEThis Instructor’s Resource Manual, which accompaniesChild Development,Ninth Edition, is designed to assist both the noviceand the experienced teacher in preparing lectures and guiding students’ learning. During the months that we wrote the manual,we tried to think of the kind of supports that might help instructors seasoned by years of experience bring freshness,stimulation, and inspiration to the teaching of child development. At the same time, we paid great attention to addressing theneeds of beginning teachers—only a breath ahead of the syllabus in class preparation and scrambling to find good sources thatamplify text discussion. The resources in this manual are intended to lighten the busy schedules of instructors; bring newinsights and lively discussion to the classroom; and, most of all, deepen the understanding of students of child development.TheInstructor’s Resource Manualconsists of the following instructional resources keyed to each chapter of the text:1.Chapter-at-a-Glance.Located at the beginning of each chapter, the Chapter-at-a-Glance tables provide easy reference toavailable resources in the manual as well as outside supplements. Main topics are page-referenced, and instruction ideas(Learning Objectives, Lecture Enhancements, Learning Activities, and Ask Yourself questions) and the supplement (TestBank) relevant to each text section are listed.2.Brief Chapter Summary.This feature is designed to provide quick familiarity with the coverage of topics in each chapter.It can serve as the basis for deciding which subjects treated by the text to review and extend in class lecture and whichsupplementary topics to add that reflect the instructor’s unique perspective, interests, and personal experiences.3.Learning Objectives.For each text chapter, a comprehensive set of Learning Objectives is provided. We believe thatstudents learn best when they actively grapple with text material and integrate new information with what they already know.Students can be asked to write a paragraph or two in response to each objective, include important terms in their responses,check their answers against the text’s discussion, and revise each response accordingly. This exercise yields a student-generatedsummary of the content of each chapter. Once completed, it provides a useful review written in the student’s own words thatcan be referred to while preparing for examinations. Further, the objectives are tied to individual items in the accompanying TestBank.4.Lecture Outline.The purpose of the Lecture Outlines is to provide a detailed synopsis of each chapter. Material isorganized by text headings and subheadings and page-referenced to the text. Important terms and concepts appear in boldfaceand in italics, as in the text narrative. The outlines permit a “quick read” of each chapter and can serve as the basis for lecturenotes or PowerPoint®Presentations.5.Lecture Enhancements.Four Lecture Enhancements, page-referenced to relevant text material, accompany each chapter.Each expands on information treated in the text by addressing new theory and research, considering controversial issues thatpromote student discussion and debate, and extending the text’s emphasis on the vital connections among theory, research, andapplications. To assist instructors with the time-consuming task of lecture preparation, the Lecture Enhancements go beyondmerely suggesting appropriate topics to providing the general direction of each lecture’s content. Enough detail is given so thatinstructors who are pressed for time can integrate information from the manual directly into their lectures. Each LectureEnhancement is accompanied by one or two current sources that can be used to develop a more extensive lecture presentation.Finally, for Lecture Enhancements calling for student participation, specific instructions have been boldfaced.6.Learning Activities.From seven to eleven Learning Activities per chapter are included. Many of the activities providestudents with opportunities to see “live” examples of research findings by observing and interviewing children and adolescents.Also included are written assignments that permit students to extend their knowledge of topics in the text.7.Ask Yourself.The Ask Yourself feature consists of critical-thinking questions, designed to support students’ activeengagement with the subject matter. Each question can be found at the end of major sections in the text and is page-referencedin this manual. The focus of these questions is divided between theory and application. Many describe problematic situationsand ask students to resolve them in light of what they have learned. In this way, the questions inspire high-level thinking andnew insights.vii
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 8 preview image8.Suggested Readings.Many instructors wish to assign or recommend supplementary readings to their students. A list ofthree to four additional readings complements each text chapter. The readings have been carefully selected for their interest,value, and readability; the majority are recently published. Each entry is annotated so instructors can discern the topic andgeneral orientation of the reading prior to consulting the original source.9.Media Materials.Each chapter contains a related list of available DVDs, including the date of production, the name of thedistributor, the length of the presentation, and a description of content.Sara HarrisLaura E. BerkLeah ShriroJudy Ashkenazviii
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 9 preview imageADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONAL IDEASFor additional instructional ideas, visit MyDevelopmentLab, an interactive multimedia resource that is designed to reinforcetext concepts through controlled assessments, extensive video footage, simulations, biographies of major theorists in the field,careers in child development, and other interactive activities that are unique toChild Development.Below are sample activitiesthat can be used for classroom instruction or out-of-class assignments.Sample Videos and Simulations Featured on MyDevelopmentLabChapter 1MDL Video: Resilience: Mentoring At-Risk ChildrenMDL Simulate: Ecological Systems TheoryChapter 2MDL Simulate: Distinguishing Independent and Dependent VariablesMDL Simulate: Ethics in Psychological ResearchChapter 3MDL Video: Parenting a Child with a Genetic DisorderMDL Video: ChildbirthMDL Video: Preterm BirthMDL Simulate: Alien Gene LabChapter 4MDL Video: Newborn StatesMDL Video: Motor Development in InfancyMDL Simulate: Newborn ReflexesMDL Simulate: Experiencing the Visual CliffChapter 5MDL Video: Motor Development and Play: The Children’s CircusMDL Video: Childhood ObesityMDL Video: Adolescent ParenthoodMDL Simulate: Brain DevelopmentMDL Simulate: Early versus Late Pubertal TimingChapter 6MDL Video: Make-Believe Play: Sophie, Age 2½ and Alison, 4 YearsMDL Video: Understanding of DeathMDL Video: Cooperative LearningMDL Simulate: Piaget and VygotskyChapter 7MDL Video: ADHDMDL Video: Mathematics: A Second-Grade Math LessonMDL Simulate: Working Memory361
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 10 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9e362Chapter 8MDL Video: Home Environment and Mental DevelopmentMDL Video: Jumpstart: Promoting Early Literacy and School ReadinessMDL Simulate: Gardner’s Theory of Multiple IntelligencesChapter 9MDL Video: Supporting Early Language Learning: Storybook ReadingMDL Video: Acquiring Conversational SkillsChapter 10MDL Video: Early Emotional DevelopmentMDL Video: Multiple Attachments: FathersMDL Simulate: Recognizing Facial Expressions of EmotionMDL Simulate: The Strange SituationChapter 11MDL Video: Understanding of False BeliefMDL Video: AutismMDL Video: Self-ConceptChapter 12MDL Video: Early Morally Relevant Self-ControlMDL Video: DelinquencyMDL Simulate: Development of Moral ReasoningChapter 13MDL Video: Gender TypingMDL Video: Gender ConstancyChapter 14MDL Video: Transition to ParenthoodMDL Video: Quality Child CareMDL Video: Child AbuseMDL Simulate: Child-Rearing StylesChapter 15MDL Video: Peer AcceptanceMDL Video: Friendship in AdolescenceMDL Video: Adolescent DatingMDL Simulate: Peer AcceptanceMDL Simulate: Name That Educational Philosophy
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 11 preview imageMedia Distribution InformationMEDIA DISTRIBUTION INFORMATIONACT Media Productions Inc.1365 North Winchester StreetOlathe, KS 66061-5880Phone:1-800-745-5480Annenberg MediaP.O. Box 55742Indianapolis, IN 46205-0742Phone:1-800-LEARNER (1-800-532-7637)Fax:1-317-579-0402E-mail:order@learner.orgwww.learner.orgAquarius Health Care Media30 Forest RoadP.O. Box 249Millis, MA 02054Phone:1-508-376-1244Fax:1-508-376-1245www.aquariusproductions.comCambridge Documentary Films, Inc.P.O. Box 390385Cambridge, MA 02139-0004Phone:1-617-484-3993Fax:1-617-484-0754E-mail:mail@cambridgedocumentaryfilms.orgwww.cambridgedocumentaryfilms.orgChild Development Media, Inc.5632 Van Nuys Blvd., Suite 286Van Nuys, CA 91401Phone:1-800-405-8942Fax:1-818-989-7826E-mail:info@childdevelopmentmedia.comwww.childdevelopmentmedia.comDavidson Films, Inc.735 Tank Farm Road, Suite 210San Luis Obispo, CA 93401Phone:1-888-437-4200Fax:1-805-594-0532E-mail:dfi@davidsonfilms.comwww.davidsonfilms.comDiscovery ChannelDiscovery StorePhone:1-800-889-9950http://store.discovery.comFanlight Productionsc/o Icarus Films32 Court Street, 21st FloorBrooklyn, NY 11201Phone:1-800-876-1710Fax:1-718-488-8642E-mail: info@fanlight.comwww.fanlight.comFilms for the Humanities & Sciences132 West 31st Street17th FloorNew York, NY 10001Phone:1-800-322-8755Fax:1-800-329-6687E-mail:custserv@films.comhttp://ffh.films.comFilms Media Group132 West 31st Street17th FloorNew York, NY 10001Phone:1-800-322-8755Fax:1-800-329-6687E-mail:custserv@films.comhttp://ffh.films.comInsight Media, Inc.2162 BroadwayNew York, NY 10024-0621Phone:1-800-233-9910Fax:1-212-799-5309E-mail:custserv@insight-media.comwww.insight-media.comLearning Seed641 West Lake Street, Suite 301Chicago, IL 60661Phone:1-800-634-4941Fax:1-800-998-0854E-mail:info@learningseed.comwww.learningseed.comMagna Systems, Inc.641 West Lake Street, Suite 301Chicago, IL 60661Phone:1-800-203-7060Fax:1-800-327-1443E-mail:info@magnasystems.comwww.magnasystems.com363
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 12 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9eMedia Education Foundation60 Masonic St.Northampton, MA 01060Phone:1-800-897-0089Fax:1-800-659-6882E-mail:info@mediaed.orgwww.mediaed.orgNational Geographic ChannelNational Geographic Catalog/Online777 South State Road 7Margate, FL 33068Phone:1-888-225-5647http://shop.nationalgeographic.comPBS Home VideoPhone:1-800-531-4727www.shoppbs.org/homePHD Lowe Productions#188-P.O. Box 8000Abbotsford, BC V2S 6H1CanadaPhone:1-604-854-8130E-mail:phd-lowe@shaw.cawww.vygotskydocumentary.comSchool Media Associates5815 Live Oak Parkway, Suite 2-BNorcross, GA 30093-1700Phone:1-800-451-5226Fax:1-770-441-8529E-mail:info@smavideo.netwww.smavideo.com364
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 13 preview imageCHAPTER 1HISTORY, THEORY, AND APPLIED DIRECTIONSCHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCEChapter OutlineInstruction IdeasSupplementsThe Field of Child Development pp. 4–6Domains of Development • Periods ofDevelopmentLearning Objectives 1.1–1.2Lecture Enhancement 1.1Test Bank Items 1–12Please contact your Pearson publisher’srepresentative for a wide range of videoofferings available to adopters.Basic Issues pp. 6–10, 11Continuous or Discontinuous Development? •One Course of Development or Many? •Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture? •A Balanced Point of ViewLearning Objective 1.3Lecture Enhancement 1.2Learning Activities 1.1–1.2Ask Yourself p. 9Test Bank Items 13–26, 136–137, 141Historical Foundations pp. 10–14Medieval Times • The Reformation •Philosophies of the Enlightenment • ScientificBeginningsLearning Objective 1.4Learning Activity 1.3Ask Yourself p. 14Test Bank Items 27–46Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories pp. 14–21The Psychoanalytic Perspective • Behaviorismand Social Learning Theory • Piaget’sCognitive-Developmental TheoryLearning Objective 1.5Learning Activities 1.3–1.4Ask Yourself p. 21Test Bank Items 47–80Recent Theoretical Perspectives pp. 21–31Information Processing • DevelopmentalCognitive Neuroscience • Ethology andEvolutionary Developmental Psychology •Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory • EcologicalSystems Theory • New Directions:Development as a Dynamic SystemLearning Objective 1.6Lecture Enhancement 1.3Learning Activities 1.3–1.5Ask Yourself p. 31Test Bank Items 81–117, 138–140Comparing Child Development Theoriespp. 31–32Learning Objective 1.7Test Bank Items 118–121, 141Applied Directions: Child Development andSocial Policy pp. 32–38Culture and Public Policies • Contributions ofChild Development Research • LookingToward the FutureLearning Objective 1.8Lecture Enhancement 1.4Learning Activities 1.6–1.7Ask Yourself p. 38Test Bank Items 122–135, 1421
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 14 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9eBRIEF CHAPTER SUMMARYChild development is the study of human constancy and change from conception through adolescence. It is part of the larger,interdisciplinary field of developmental science, which includes the entire lifespan.Researchers often divide the study of development into three broad domains—physical, cognitive, and emotional andsocial—and divide development into five age periods from conception through adolescence. In recent decades, researchers haveposited a new period, emerging adulthood, which describes the prolonged transition to adulthood typical of contemporaryyoung people in industrialized nations.Theories of child development provide organizing frameworks that guide and give meaning to the scientific study ofchildren. All major theories of child development take a stand on three basic issues: (1) Is the course of developmentcontinuous or discontinuous? (2) Do all children follow one course of development, or are there many possible courses? (3) Aregenetic or environmental factors more important in influencing development? Recent theories generally take a balanced view ofthese issues.Contemporary theories of child development are rooted in ideas about children that go back many centuries. The theoriesthat have been major forces in child development research vary in their focus on different domains of development, in theirview of development, and in their strengths and limitations.In recent years, the field of child development has become increasingly concerned with applying its vast knowledge base tosolving pressing social problems. Public policy—favorable laws and government programs aimed at improving currentconditions—is essential for safeguarding children’s positive experiences in family, school, and community contexts. Suchpolicies are strongly affected by cultural values like individualism versus collectivism. To be effective in meeting children’sneeds, public policies must be guided by research. As researchers in child development collaborate with community andgovernment agencies, they can help to create a sense of immediacy about the need to improve the condition of children andfamilies.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following:1.1 What is the field of child development, and what factors stimulated its expansion? (p. 4)1.2 How is child development typically divided into domains and periods? (pp. 4–6)1.3 Identify three basic issues on which child development theories take a stand. (pp. 6–10, 11)1.4 Describe major historical influences on theories of child development. (pp. 10–14)1.5 What theories influenced child development research in the mid-twentieth century? (pp. 14–21)1.6 Describe recent theoretical perspectives on child development. (pp. 21–31)1.7 Identify the stand taken by each major theory on the basic issues of child development. (pp. 31–32)1.8 Explain the importance of social policies for safeguarding children’s well-being, and cite factors that affect the policy-making process, noting the role of child development research. (pp. 32–38)LECTURE OUTLINEI.THE FIELD OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT (pp. 4–6)A.Child developmentis an area of study devoted to understanding constancy and change from conception throughadolescence.B.Child development is part of the field ofdevelopmental science,which includes all changes that humans experiencethroughout the lifespan.C.Research in child development has both scientific andapplied(practical) importance.D.Our large storehouse of information about child development isinterdisciplinary.2
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 15 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied DirectionsE.Domains of Development (pp. 4–5)1.Development often is divided into three broad domains, which combine in an integrated, holistic fashion to yieldthe living, growing child.2.The three domains arephysical, cognitive,andemotional and social.F.Periods of Development (pp. 5–6)1.Researchers usually segment child development into age periods.2.The prenatal period: from conception to birth:In this nine-month period, a one-celled organism is transformedinto a human baby.3.Infancy and toddlerhood: from birth to 2 years:This period brings dramatic changes in the body and brain thatsupport the emergence of a wide array of motor, perceptual, and intellectual capacities.4.Early childhood: from 2 to 6 years:In this period, motor skills are refined, children become more self-sufficient,make-believe play blooms, and thought and language expand rapidly.5.Middle childhood: from 6 to 11 years:In this period, children learn about the wider world and masterresponsibilities that increasingly resemble those of adults.6.Adolescence: from 11 to 18 years:During this period, puberty leads to an adult-sized body and sexual maturity,thought becomes abstract and idealistic, and schooling focuses on preparation for higher education and work.7.Emerging adulthood: from 18 to 25 years:a.Some researchers posit this as a new period of development for contemporary youths in industrializednations.b.During this period, young people intensify their exploration of options in love, career, and personal valuesbefore making enduring commitments.II.BASIC ISSUES (pp. 6–10, 11)A.Speculations about child development combined with research have inspired the construction oftheoriesofdevelopment.B.Atheoryis an orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior.C.Most theories of development take a stand on three basic issues: (1) Is the course of development continuous ordiscontinuous? (2) Does one course of development characterize all children, or are there many possible courses?(3) What are the roles of genetic and environmental factors in development?D.Continuous or Discontinuous Development? (pp. 7–8)1.Continuousdevelopment is a process of gradually adding more of the same types of skills that were there tobegin with.2.Discontinuousdevelopment is a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the worldemerge at specific times.3.Theories that accept the discontinuous perspective see development as taking place instages—qualitativechangesin thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterize specific periods of development.E.One Course of Development or Many? (p. 8)1.Stage theorists assume that children everywhere follow the same sequence of development.2.The field of child development is becoming increasingly aware that children grow up in distinctcontexts—uniquecombinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change.3.Contemporary theorists regard the contexts that shape development as many-layered and complex.a.Personal contexts include heredity and biological makeup.b.Environmental contexts include both immediate settings (home, school, and neighborhood) and more remotecircumstances such as community resources and societal values.F.Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture? (pp. 8–9)1.The age-oldnature–nurture controversyasks: Are genetic or environmental factors more important ininfluencing development?a.Naturerefers to inborn biological givens—hereditary information we receive from our parents.b.Nurturemeans the complex forces of the physical and social world that influence our biological makeup andpsychological experiences before and after birth.2.Investigators disagree on the question ofstability versus plasticity.a.Some theorists emphasizestability—that children who are high or low in a characteristic will remain so atlater ages. These theorists typically stress the importance ofheredity.3
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 16 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9eb.If theorists regard environment as important, they usually point to early experiences as establishing a lifelongpattern of behavior.c.Other theorists see development as having substantialplasticitythroughout life—as open to change inresponse to influential experiences.G.A Balanced Point of View (pp. 9–10, 11)1.Today, some theorists believe that both continuous and discontinuous changes occur.2.Many acknowledge that development can have both universal features and features unique to each individual andhis or her contexts.3.A growing number of investigators regard heredity and environment as inseparably interwoven.4.The relative impact of early and later experiences varies greatly from one domain of development to another, andeven across individuals, who vary inresilience—the ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats todevelopment.III. HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS (pp. 10–14)A.Contemporary theories of child development are the result of centuries of change in Western cultural values,philosophical thinking about children, and scientific progress.B.Medieval Times (pp. 10–11)1.Childhood was regarded as a separate period of life as early as medieval Europe.2.Laws recognized that children needed protection from people who might mistreat them.3.Medieval religious writings sometimes portrayed infants as possessed by the devil, at other times as innocent.Both ideas foreshadowed later views of childhood.C.The Reformation (pp. 11–12)1.In the sixteenth century, the Puritan belief in original sin gave rise to the view that children were born evil andstubborn and had to be civilized.2.Harsh, restrictive child-rearing practices were recommended, but love for their children prevented most Puritanparents from using extremely repressive measures.3.As the Puritans emigrated from England to the New World, they brought the belief that child rearing was one oftheir most important obligations.D.Philosophies of the Enlightenment (p. 12)1.John Locke (1632–1704)a.Locke, a British philosopher, viewed the child as atabula rasa,Latin for “blank slate.” He saw parents asrational tutors who could mold the child through instruction, example, and rewards.b.Locke championednurture—the power of the environment to shape the child—a belief that suggested thepossibility ofmany courses of developmentand ofhigh plasticity at later agesdue to new experiences. Heregarded development ascontinuous.c.Locke’s view of children as doing little to influence their own destiny has been discarded.2.Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)a.The French philosopher Rousseau saw children asnoble savages,naturally endowed with a sense of right andwrong and with an innate plan for orderly, healthy growth.b.The role of adults was to be receptive to the child’s needs at each of four stages: infancy, childhood, latechildhood, and adolescence.c.Rousseau’s philosophy includes the idea ofstageand the concept ofmaturation—a genetically determined,naturally unfolding course of growth.d.Rousseau saw development as adiscontinuous,stagewiseprocess following asingle,unifiedcourse mappedout bynature.E.Scientific Beginnings (pp. 13–14)1.Darwin: Forefather of Scientific Child Studya.British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) constructed histheory of evolutionafter joining an expeditionto distant parts of the world, where he observed infinite variation among plant and animal species.b.Darwin’s theory emphasized two related principles:(1)According tonatural selection, certain species survive because they have characteristics that are adaptedto their surroundings, while others, less well-suited to their environments, die off.4
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 17 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied Directions(2)Survival of the fittestrefers to Darwin’s explanation that individuals within a species who best meet theirenvironment’s survival requirements live long enough to reproduce and pass on their beneficialcharacteristics to future generations.c.Darwin observed that the early prenatal growth of many species is strikingly similar.(1)Other scientists concluded that human child development follows the same general plan as the evolutionof the human species.(2)Although this belief proved inaccurate, efforts to chart parallels between child growth and humanevolution prompted researchers to document all aspects of children’s behavior, giving rise to the field ofscientific child study.2.The Normative Perioda.The American psychologist G. Stanley Hall (1844–1924) is generally regarded as the founder of the child-study movement.b.Hall and his student Arnold Gesell (1880–1961) developed theories of child development based onevolutionary ideas. They regarded child development as amaturational process—a genetically determinedseries of events that unfolds automatically.c.Hall and Gesell are best remembered for their intensive efforts to describe all aspects of child development,which launched thenormative approach,in which measures of behavior are taken on large numbers ofindividuals and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development.d.Gesell was among the first to make knowledge about child development meaningful to parents by tellingthem what to expect at each age.3.The Mental Testing Movementa.French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857–1911) and his colleague Theodore Simon constructed the firstsuccessful intelligence test as a way of identifying children in the Paris school system with learning problemswho needed to be placed in special classes.b.Binet defined intelligence as good judgment, planning, and critical reflection.c.The English-language version of Binet’s test, theStanford-Binet Intelligence Scale,sparked interest inindividual differences in development, and intelligence tests rose quickly to the forefront of the nature–nurture controversy.4.James Mark Baldwin: Early Developmental Theorista.American psychologist James Mark Baldwin (1861–1934) granted nature and nurture equal importance indevelopment, and he believed that children actively revise their ways of thinking about the world but that theyalso learn through habit, or by copying others’ behaviors.b.Baldwin argued that heredity and environment should not be viewed as distinct, opposing forces.IV. MID-TWENTIETH-CENTURY THEORIES (pp. 14–21)A.In the mid-1900s, the field of child development expanded into a legitimate discipline.1.The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), established in 1933 to promote interdisciplinaryresearch, now has an international membership of about 5,500.2.In the theories that have emerged, the European concern with the child’s inner thoughts and feelings contrastssharply with the North American focus on scientific precision and observable behavior.B.The Psychoanalytic Perspective (pp. 15–17)1.By the 1930s and 1940s, parents increasingly sought professional help to deal with children’s emotionaldifficulties. Psychiatrists and social workers turned to an emerging approach to personality development thatemphasized the unique history of each child.2According to thepsychoanalytic perspective,children move through a series of stages in which they confrontconflicts between biological drives and social expectations. How these conflicts are resolved determines theperson’s ability to learn, to get along with others, and to cope with anxiety.3.Freud’s Theorya.Viennese physician Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) sought to cure emotionally troubled adults by having themtalk freely about painful events of their childhoods.b.Examining his patients’ unconscious motivations, Freud constructed hispsychosexual theory,whichemphasizes that how parents manage their child’s sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years is crucialfor healthy personality development.5
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 18 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9ec.Freud identified three parts of the personality that become integrated during five stages of development.(1)Theid,the largest portion, is the source of basic biological needs and desires.(2)Theego,the conscious, rational part of the personality, emerges in early infancy to redirect the id’simpulses so they are discharged in acceptable ways.(3)Thesuperego,or conscience, develops between ages 3 and 6 through interactions with parents, whoinsist that the child conform to the values of society.d.Freud believed that during childhood, sexual impulses shift their focus from the oral to the anal to the genitalregions of the body.(1)If parents strike an appropriate balance between permitting too much or too little gratification of thechild’s basic needs at each stage, the child will grow into a well-adjusted adult.(2)Freud’s perspective was eventually criticized in part because it overemphasized the influence of sexualfeelings in development.4.Erikson’s Theorya.Erik Erikson (1902–1994), a neo-Freudian in the field of child development, developed hispsychosocialtheory,which emphasizes that in addition to mediating between id impulses and superego demands, the egoalso makes a positive contribution to development, acquiring attitudes and skills that make the individual anactive, contributing member of society.b.Erikson believed that a basic psychosocial conflict is resolved positively or negatively at each stage,determining healthy or maladaptive outcomes.c.Erikson’s first five stages of development parallel Freud’s stages, but Erikson added three adult stages.5.Contributions and Limitations of the Psychoanalytic Perspectivea.A strength of the psychoanalytic perspective is its emphasis on the individual’s unique life history as worthyof study and understanding. Reflecting this view, psychoanalytic theorists accept theclinical,orcase study,method.b.Despite its extensive contributions, the psychoanalytic perspective is no longer in the mainstream of childdevelopment research.c.Erikson’s broad outline of psychosocial change remains relevant because it captures the essence ofpsychosocial attainments at each age period.C.Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory (pp. 17–19)1.Child study was also influenced by the perspective ofbehaviorism,which views directly observable events—stimuli and responses—as the appropriate focus of study.2.North American behaviorism began in the early twentieth century with the efforts of psychologist John Watson(1878–1958) to create an objective science of psychology.3.Traditional Behaviorisma.Inspired by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov’s studies of animal learning, Watson wanted to find out ifclassical conditioningcould be applied to children’s behavior.b.Watson concluded that adults can mold children’s behavior by carefully controlling stimulus–responseassociations.c.B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) developed another form of behaviorism,operant conditioning theory,which holdsthat the frequency of a child’s behavior can be increased by following it with a variety ofreinforcersordecreased throughpunishment.4.Social Learning Theorya.The rise of behaviorism sparked the emergence of several kinds ofsocial learning theorybased on theprinciples of conditioning.b.The most influential form of this theory, devised by psychologist Albert Bandura, emphasizedmodeling,alsoknown asimitationorobservational learning,as a powerful source of development.c.Bandura’s work is still influential, but he now calls his theory asocial-cognitiverather than a social learningapproach because it stresses the importance ofcognition.d.In Bandura’s revised view, through watching others and feedback about their own actions, children developpersonal standardsfor behavior and asense of self-efficacy—the belief that their own abilities andcharacteristics will help them succeed.6
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 19 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied Directions5.Contributions and Limitations of Behaviorism and Social Learning Theorya.Behavior modification,consisting of procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminateundesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses, has been used to relieve serious developmentalproblems and also to deal with everyday difficulties, such as thumb sucking.b.Many theorists believe that behaviorism and social learning theory offer too narrow a view of importantenvironmental influences.c.Behaviorism and social learning theory have been criticized for underestimating children’s role in their owndevelopment.D.Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory (pp. 19–21)1.Swiss cognitive theorist Jean Piaget (1896–1980) has influenced the contemporary field of child developmentmore than any other individual.2.In Piaget’scognitive-developmental theory,children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate andexplore their world.3.Piaget’s Stagesa.Central to Piaget’s theory is the biological concept ofadaptation,whereby structures of the mind develop tobetter fit with, or represent, the external world.b.Piaget believed that young children’s understanding differs from adults’ and that children eventually revisethese incorrect ideas in their ongoing efforts to achieveequilibrium,or balance, between internal structuresand information they encounter in their everyday life.c.According to Piaget’s theory, as children’s brains develop and their experiences expand, they move throughfour broad stages characterized by qualitatively distinct ways of thinking:(1)Sensorimotor stage (birth–2 years):Cognitive development begins as the baby uses the senses andmovements to explore the world.(2)Preoperational stage (2–7 years):The baby’s action patterns evolve into the symbolic but illogicalthinking of the preschooler.(3)Concrete operational stage (7–11 years):Cognition is transformed into the more organized, logicalreasoning of the school-age child.(4)Formal operational stage (11 years on):Thought becomes the abstract, systematic reasoning system ofthe adolescent and adult.d.To investigate how children think, Piaget first observed his three infant children’s responses when hepresented them with everyday problems. Later, to study childhood and adolescent thought, he conductedopen-endedclinical interviews.4.Contributions and Limitations of Piaget’s Theorya.Contributions(1)Piaget convinced the field of child development that children are active learners whose minds consist ofrich structures of knowledge.(2)Piaget investigated both children’s understanding of the physical world and their reasoning about thesocial world.(3)Piaget’s stages sparked research on children’s conceptions of themselves, others, and humanrelationships.(4)Piaget’s theory encouraged the development of educational philosophies and programs that emphasizediscovery learning and direct contact with the environment.b.Limitations(1)Research indicates that Piaget underestimated the competencies of infants and preschoolers.(2)Studies show that children’s performance on Piagetian problems can be improved with training, callinginto question Piaget’s assumption that discovery learning, not adult teaching, is the best way to fosterdevelopment.(3)Also, adolescents generally reach their full intellectual potential only in areas of endeavor in which theyhave had extensive education and experience.V. RECENT THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES (pp. 21–31)A.Information Processing (pp. 21–23)1.Theinformation-processingperspective views the human mind as a symbol-manipulating system through whichinformation flows.7
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 20 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9e2.In this view, from the time information is presented to the senses atinputuntil it emerges as a behavioral responseatoutput,the information is actively coded, transformed, and organized.3.Information-processing researchers seek to clarify how both task characteristics and cognitive limitations (forexample, memory capacity) influence performance.4.Some information-processing models track children’s mastery of one or a few tasks; others describe the humancognitive system as a whole.5.The information-processing approach is being used to clarify the processing of social information.6.The information-processing approach, like Piaget’s theory, sees children as active, sense-making beings whomodify their own thinking in response to environmental demands.7.This approach views development as a process of continuous change.8A strength of the information-processing approach is its commitment to rigorous research methods.9.Information processing is better at analyzing thinking into its components than at formulating a comprehensivetheory. It has had little to say about imagination and creativity.B.Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (p. 23)1.Developmental cognitive neuroscience,which has arisen over the past three decades, brings together researchersfrom psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine to study the relationship between changes in the brain andthe developing child’s cognitive processing and behavior patterns.2.Neuroscientists use improved methods for analyzing brain activity while children perform various tasks, toinvestigate relationships between brain functioning, cognitive capacities, and behavior, including questions likethese:a.How does genetic makeup combine with specific experiences at various ages to influence the growth andorganization of the child’s brain?b.How do changes in brain structures support rapid memory development in infancy and toddlerhood?3.During infancy and early childhood, the brain is highly plastic. But a revolutionary finding of neuroscienceresearch is that the brain retains considerable plasticity throughout life.4.The final four theoretical perspectives focus oncontextsfor development.C.Ethology and Evolutionary Developmental Psychology (pp. 23–24)1.Ethologyis concerned with the adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history.a.Its modern foundations were laid by zoologists Konrad Lorenz and Niko Tinbergen, who observed behaviorpatterns that promoted survival in diverse animal species.b.The best known of these patterns isimprinting.c.Observations of imprinting led to the concept of thecritical period,a limited time during which the child isbiologically prepared to acquire certain adaptive behaviors but needs the support of an appropriatelystimulating environment.d.The termsensitive period,referring to a time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge and in which theindividual is especially responsive to environmental influences, applies better to human development than thestrict notion of a critical period. Its boundaries are less well-defined than those of a critical period.e.British psychoanalyst John Bowlby applied ethological theory to the understanding of attachment in humaninfants through the caregiver–infant relationship.2.Recently, researchers have extended ethologists’ observations that many aspects of children’s social behaviorresemble those of our primate relatives in a new area of research,evolutionary developmental psychology,which seeks to understand the adaptive value of species-wide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies asthose competencies change with age.a.Evolutionary psychologists study the entireorganism–environment system.b.By clarifying the origins and development of certain evolved behaviors—such as life-threatening risk takingin adolescents and male-to-male violence—that are no longer adaptive, evolutionary developmentalpsychology may help spark more effective interventions.D.Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (pp. 24–26)1.The field of child development has recently seen a dramatic increase in studies addressing the cultural context ofchildren’s lives, including comparisons across cultures.2.Today, much research is examining the relationship ofculturally specific beliefs and practicesto development.The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) played a major role in this trend.3.Vygotsky’s perspective, known associocultural theory,focuses on howcultureis transmitted to the nextgeneration.8
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 21 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied Directions4.According to Vygotsky,social interactionis necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking and behavingthat make up a community’s culture.5.Like Piaget, Vygotsky viewed children as active, constructive beings. But Vygotsky saw cognitive developmentas asocially mediated process,in which children depend on assistance from adults and more-expert peers as theytackle new challenges.6.Vygotsky believed that children undergo certain stagewise changes.7.Cross-cultural research shows that cultures select different tasks for children’s learning, and the social interactionssurrounding those tasks lead to competencies essential for success in a particular culture.8.Vygotsky said little about the role of heredity and brain growth in cognitive change.9.Vygotsky placed less emphasis than other theorists on children’s capacity to shape their own development.E.Ecological Systems Theory (pp. 26–29)1.Theecological systems theoryof Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005) views the child as developing within acomplexsystemof relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment.2.Bronfenbrenner calls his perspective abioecological model,in which the child’s biologically influenceddispositions join with environmental forces to mold development.3.The environment is seen as a series of nested structures—microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem,andmacrosystem—that include but also extend beyond home, school, and neighborhood settings.a.The Microsystem(1)The innermost level of the environment is themicrosystem,consisting of activities and interactionpatterns in the child’s immediate surroundings.(2)All relationships arebidirectional:Adults affect children’s behavior, but children also affect adults’behavior.(3)Third parties—other individuals in the microsystem—also affect the quality of any two-personrelationship.b.The Mesosystem(1)The second level of Bronfenbrenner’s model, themesosystem,encompasses connections betweenmicrosystems, such as home, school, neighborhood, and child-care center.(2)Family–neighborhood connections are especially important for economically disadvantaged children,who, compared with affluent children, are more dependent on their immediate surroundings for socialsupport.(3)Yet in dangerous, disorganized neighborhoods, high-quality activities for children and adolescents areusually scarce, and home and neighborhood obstacles often combine to reduce involvement.c.The Exosystem(1)The third level, theexosystem,consists of social settings that do not contain children but neverthelessaffect children’s experiences in immediate settings.(2)This level includes both formal organizations, such as parents’ workplaces and religious institutions, andinformal supports, such as parents’ social networks.(3)Research confirms the negative impact of a breakdown in exosystem activities—for example, the effectsof unemployment or social isolation.(4)When family time is at the mercy of external forces, such as parents commuting several hours a day toand from work, family routines are threatened.d.The Macrosystem(1)The outermost level of Bronfenbrenner’s model, themacrosystem,consists of cultural values, laws,customs, and resources.(2)The priority that the macrosystem gives to children’s needs—for example, support of high standards forchild care and generous workplace benefits for employed parents—affects the experiences children havein their immediate settings.e.An Ever-Changing System(1)Bronfenbrenner sees the environment as ever-changing and calls the temporal dimension of his model thechronosystem.(2)The timing of important life events, such as the birth of a sibling, modifies relationships between childrenand their environments.(3)These changes can be imposed on the child or can arise from within the child.9
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 22 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9eF.New Directions: Development as a Dynamic System (pp. 30–31)1.Today’s researchers, recognizing both consistency and variability in children’s development, have adopted adynamic systems perspective—a view in which the child’s mind, body, and physical and social worlds form anintegrated systemthat guides mastery of new skills.a.The system isdynamic.A change in any part of it disrupts the current organism–environment relationship.b.In response to change, the child actively reorganizes her behavior so the components of the system worktogether again but in a more complex, effective way.2.Researchers who adopt a dynamic systems perspective try to study children’s behavior while they are intransition.3.Dynamic systems theorists believe that within certain universal, broad outlines of development, biologicalmakeup and environmental factors vary greatly, leading to wide individual differences in specific skills.4.From this perspective, development is not a single line of change but a web of fibers.VI. COMPARING CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES (pp. 31–32)A.The major theoretical perspectives in child development research focus on different domains of development.B.Every theory contains a point of view about child development and takes a stand on the basic issues.C.Every theory has both strengths and limitations, allowing one to develop aneclectic position,or blend of severaltheories.VII. APPLIED DIRECTIONS: CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL POLICY (pp. 32–38)A.In recent years, the field of child development has become increasingly concerned with applying its knowledge base tosolving pressing social problems by influencing social policy.1.Social policyis any planned set of actions by a group, institution, or governing body directed at attaining a socialgoal.2.Nations attempt to solve widespread social problems throughpublic policy—laws and government programsaimed to improve current conditions.B.U.S. public policies safeguarding children and youths have lagged behind policies in other developed nations: TheUnited States outranks nearly all other economically advanced countries in child poverty.1.Nearly 21 percent of U.S. children are poor, and poverty is expected to worsen, due to the recent economicrecession.2.Of all Western nations, the United States has the highest percentage of extremely poor children—nearly 8 percent.3.The United States does not rank well on any key measure of children’s health and well-being.4.Despite improved health-care provisions signed into law in 2010, the United States remains the only industrializednation without a universal, publicly funded health-care system.5.The United States has been slow to move toward national standards and funding for child care.6.Weak enforcement of child support payments heightens poverty in mother-headed households.C.Culture and Public Policies (pp. 34–35, 36)1.Public policies are strongly influenced by cultural variation in the extent to whichindividualismversuscollectivismprevails.a.Inindividualistic societies,people think of themselves as separate entities and are largely concerned withtheir own personal needs.b.Incollectivist societies,people define themselves as part of a group and stress group over individual goals.2.The United States is strongly individualistic, whereas most Western European nations lean toward collectivism.3.Less consensus exists among American citizens than among European citizens on issues of child and familypolicy, resulting in fewer and more limited programs.4.Good social programs must compete for a fair share of a country’s economic resources.5.Some policies aimed at solving one social problem—for example, returning welfare recipients to the workforce—can work at cross-purposes with children’s well-being, sometimes even worsening their condition.D.Contributions of Child Development Research (pp. 35–37)1.For a policy to be effective in meeting children’s needs, research must guide it at every step.2.Research on the importance of early experiences for children’s intellectual development played a major role in thefounding, in 1965, of Project Head Start.3.Several decades of research on early rapid brain growth and plasticity and the short- and long-term benefits ofearly intervention helped Head Start survive.10
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 23 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied Directions4.Investigators have broadened their focus to include wider social contexts that affect children’s well-being and toexamine the impact on children of societal changes.E.Looking Toward the Future (p. 37)1.Policies aimed at fostering children’s development can be justified on two grounds: Children are the future, andchild-oriented policies can be defended on humanitarian grounds.2.Growing awareness of the gap between what we know and what we do to better children’s lives has led experts inchild development to join with concerned citizens as advocates for more effective policies, creating severalinfluential interest groups devoted to the well-being of children:a.In the United States, the most vigorous children’s advocacy group is the Children’s Defense Fund, whichengages in public education, legal action, drafting of legislation, congressional testimony, and communityorganizing.b.Another advocacy organization is the National Center for Children in Poverty, dedicated to advancing theeconomic security, health, and welfare of U.S. children in low-income families.3.More researchers are collaborating with community and government agencies to enhance the social relevance oftheir investigations and to disseminate their findings more widely.LECTURE ENHANCEMENTSLECTURE ENHANCEMENT 1.1Illustrating Domains of Development: The Relationship Between Cognitive and Emotional and Social Development(pp. 4–5)Time:10–15 minutesObjective:To illustrate domains of development by examining the relationship between reading problems and internalizingbehavior in school-age children.Chapter 1 of the text notes that each domain of development—physical, cognitive, and emotional and social—influences and isinfluenced by the others. To highlight the relationship between reading problems (cognitive domain) and internalizing behavior(emotional and social domain), Ackerman and colleagues (2008) recruited 105 school-age children who were alreadyparticipating in a longitudinal study of low-income families. The researchers collected the following information when childrenwere in grades 3 and 5:(1)Teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), which assesses withdrawn behavior, somaticcomplaints, anxiety, depression, aggression, and delinquency.(2)Statewide reading achievement test scores, which were available on all participants, were used to assess readinglevels and problems. The researchers also had access to participants’ scores on a vocabulary subtest from theStanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.(3)Children completed a self-report about emotional experiences. For example, they were asked, “How often do youfeel angry, disgusted, shy, sad, or guilty?”(4)During academic tasks, trained coders conducted direct observations to assess inattention.(5)Parents provided demographic information, including a family disruption index. (For example, had the motherexperienced any change in intimate residential partners in the past two years? Had any adult member of thehousehold had police contact or received psychiatric treatment in the past two years?)Results indicated that of the 105 participants, 43 percent of third graders and 39 percent of fifth graders were enrolled in areading-assistance program. Despite their involvement in the reading program, the majority of these children scored well belowaverage on the statewide reading achievement test. Findings also showed that reading problems in the third and fifth gradesstrongly predicted internalizing behavior and negative emotion, although this finding was stronger for fifth graders. That is,fifth graders experienced more distress than third graders over poor reading achievement. The relationship between readingproblems, internalizing behavior, and negative emotion remained even after controlling for family disruption. Taken together,these findings highlight the negative consequences of reading problems on the psychological well-being in school-age children.According to Ackerman and colleagues, the longer reading problems persist, the more frustrated, depressed, and anxiouschildren are likely to become.11
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 24 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9eAsk students to identify factors that may explain the relationship between reading difficulties and anxiety anddepression. How might internalizing problems, in turn, contribute to reading difficulties?Ackerman, B. P., Izard, C. E., Kobak, R., Brown, E. D., & Smith, C. (2008). Relation between reading problems andinternalizing behavior in school for preadolescent children from economically disadvantaged families.ChildDevelopment, 78,581–596.LECTURE ENHANCEMENT 1.2Risk and Resilience in Low-SES Ethnically Diverse Families (pp. 10–11)Time:10–15 minutesObjective:To extend existing research on risk and resilience in low-SES ethnically diverse families.As noted in the text, environmental risks, such as poverty, negative family interactions, parental divorce, mental illness, anddrug abuse, predispose children to future problems. However, not all at-risk children experience lasting problems. To extendexisting research on risk and resilience, Wadsworth and Santiago (2008) recruited 94 families living at or below the federalpoverty line. Each family had at least one parent or guardian and one child or adolescent between the ages of 6 and 18 years.Thirty-three percent of the families were European American, with the remaining families being African American, Latino,Native American, or multiracial. The researchers collected the following information:(1)The Multicultural Events Schedule for Adolescents (MESA) was used to measure family poverty-related stress.The MESA focuses on the daily hassles and life events that are common among poor, urban youths, includingeconomic strain, family conflict, family transitions, discrimination, and victimization/violence exposure. Parentscompleted the MESA for children under the age of 10, whereas adolescents completed a self-report.(2)The Economic Hardship Questionnaire (EHQ) was used to measure the number of constraints a familyexperienced in the past 6 months due to financial hardship. For example, in the past 6 months, We have had to sellpossessions to make ends meet. We had to apply for federal assistance.(3)Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), which rates a broad range of internalizing (anxiety,somatic complaints, depression) and externalizing (aggression, impulsivity, hyperactivity) problems. Parents alsocompleted the Adult Self Report (ASR) and the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL). The ASR measures one’s ownpsychological symptoms, whereas the ABCL focuses on the partner’s symptoms.(4)Parents and adolescents completed the Responses to Stress Questionnaire, which assesses how a person respondsto a stressful domain—for example, withdrawal, talking about the situation, or becoming anxious or depressed.Results indicated that poverty-related stress (PRS) predicted psychological distress in families regardless of ethnicbackground. However, some individuals were more vulnerable to the effects of PRS. For example, children tended to exhibitgreater behavioral difficulties and poorer coping skills than adolescents or adults. According to Wadsworth and Santiago,children may have an especially difficult time coping with PRS due to their lack of control over the family’s financial situation.As a result, they may have difficulty developing effective coping strategies, which may interfere with their ability to deal withother stressful life events. And compared to males of all ages, females had higher rates of anxiety, depression, and somaticcomplaints, which is consistent with previous research on gender differences in stress reactions. Finally, African-Americanfamilies were less affected by PRS than European-American or Latino families. This may be due to the social supportsavailable to African-American families, such as strong extended-family relations and religious participation. Such socialsupport may serve as a buffer against PRS.Wadsworth, M. E., & Santiago, C. D. (2008). Risk and resiliency processes in ethnically diverse families in poverty.Journal ofFamily Psychology, 22,399–410.12
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 25 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied DirectionsLECTURE ENHANCEMENT 1.3Do Home and Neighborhood Characteristics Contribute to Children’s Participation in Out-of-School Activities?(pp. 26–28)Time:10–15 minutesObjective:To examine the influence of home and neighborhood contexts on children’s participation in out-of-school activities.According to ecological systems theory, a child’s development occurs within a complex system of relationships affected bymultiple levels of the environment. Moreover, each layer of the environment has a powerful impact on development. To extendexisting research on how home and neighborhood contexts influence child development, Dearing and colleagues (2009)recruited 1,420 elementary school-age children who were participating in The Panel Study of Income Dynamics, ChildDevelopment Supplement (PSID–CDS), a longitudinal investigation of children’s health, emotional well-being, intellectualdevelopment, academic achievement, and relationships with family and peers. The researchers collected the followinginformation:(1)Parents provided demographic information, including children’s age, gender, ethnicity, family size, partner status,employment status, and annual income.(2)Trained interviewers visited children’s homes and completed the Home Observation for Measurement of theEnvironment (HOME). The HOME focuses on a range of household characteristics, such as quality of parent–child interactions, material resources, presence of children’s books, affection toward child, and use of physicalpunishment.(3)Using U.S. Census data, the researchers calculated neighborhood affluence using median family income,percentage of residents with a college degree, and percentage of residents in professional or managerial jobs.(4)The researchers conducted observations of neighborhood safety and orderliness. They focused on the presence ofdrug-related paraphernalia, condoms, liquor containers, cigarette butts, and discarded cigarette packages in thestreets or on the sidewalks.(5)Parents provided information on their child’s participation in nonschool activities during the past year, includingbefore- and after-school programs, community center activities, lessons (e.g., music), church clubs, and summercamps.Findings indicated that family income strongly predicted children’s participation in activities outside of school. Forexample, a child living in a family with an annual income of $20,000 was 2.5 times as likely to participate in nonschoolactivities than a child living in a family with an annual income of $10,000. Neighborhood characteristics also contributed toparticipation rates. Children living in affluent, safe, and orderly neighborhoods had greater access to nonschool activities, whichpredicted higher rates of participation. One exception to this trend was participation in church clubs, with low-income childrenhaving higher participation rates than affluent children. This finding is not surprising, as churches tend to be a central source ofsupport for low-income and ethnic minority families. Finally, the quality of the home environment had an indirect effect onchildren’s participation in nonschool activities. Affluent families tended to provide more enrichment, which, in turn, predictedhigher participation rates.These findings support previous research on the importance of home and neighborhood contexts for children’sdevelopment. Although neighborhood resources tend to have a greater impact on economically disadvantaged than on well-to-do young people, poor children often lack access to growth-enriching activities like before- and after-school programs, formallessons, and summer camps.According to your text, why are strong family–neighborhood ties especially important for low-income children?Dearing, E., Wimer, C., Simpkins, S. D., Lund, T., Bouffard, S. M., Caronogan, P., Kreider, H., & Weiss, H. (2009). Doneighborhood and home contexts explain why low-income children miss opportunities to participate in activitiesoutside of school?Developmental Psychology, 45,1545–1562.13
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 26 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9eLECTURE ENHANCEMENT 1.4Do Welfare-to-Work Programs Enhance Children’s Health Outcomes? (pp. 33–37)Time:15 minutesObjective:To examine the relationship between welfare reform and children’s health outcomes.A wealth of research exists on the effects of welfare reform on children’s cognitive and emotional and social well-being.However, few studies have examined the relationship between welfare reform and children’s physical health. In a recent study,Slack and colleagues (2008) recruited 484 families who were participating in the Illinois Families Study (IFS). To be eligiblefor the study, families had to have at least one child 3 years of age or younger who was used as the “focal child.” The studylasted six years. The researchers collected the following information:(1)To assess general physical health, parents completed an annual survey in which they rated the focal child’s healthas excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. The researchers also had access to children’s medical records for theduration of the study.(2)Using data from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Department of Employment, theresearchers identified the following welfare and work combinations for each family: (1) mostly working,(2) mostly on cash benefits, (3) mostly combining welfare and work, and (4) neither working nor receivingwelfare.(3)To determine health care access, the researchers identified whether a focal child experienced a gap in healthinsurance coverage in any year (or years) of the study.(4)Demographic information was gathered for each family and included caregiver’s education and age; caregiver’sage at birth of first child; number of minors in the home; race, ethnicity, and marital status of household members;focal child’s age and gender; and cumulative number of months receiving welfare benefits.Several important and unanticipated findings emerged from this study. First, children with working caregivers were nohealthier than children with welfare-dependent caregivers. Slack and colleagues suggest that under current welfare reformpolicies, the transition from welfare-to-work may not enhance children’s health as expected, particularly if children experiencegaps in health insurance coverage. Findings also revealed that children were healthier in families that relied neither on welfarenor on work. It is important to note that in this study, no work/no welfare mothers were more likely than welfare-dependent orworking mothers to be married or cohabitating. Thus, income from an outside source or partner may have contributed to thisoutcome.Although few children in this study experienced gaps in health insurance coverage, findings suggest that the primary caresetting may be an important predictor of children’s health. Specifically, compared to children receiving medical care fromhospital settings, those receiving care from private care settings experienced poorer health outcomes over the course of thestudy. The authors provide several interpretations of this finding. One possibility is that private care settings have lessexperience delivering services to high-risk populations, particularly those who are underinsured. Underinsured families, in turn,may be less likely to seek out health care or follow-up care from these settings. Another possibility is that private care settingsmay present more barriers to obtaining health care than hospital settings (for example, inconvenient hours or location). Takentogether, these results suggest that current welfare-to-work programs have little impact on children’s physical health. However,it is important to note that this study focused on Illinois families. Therefore, these findings may not generalize to other states’welfare-to-work programs.Using findings from this study and research presented in the text, ask students to discuss additional reasons whywelfare-to-work programs may not have a positive impact on children’s health. Why is this an important public policyissue?Slack, K. S., Holl, J. L., Yoo, J., Amsden, L. B., Collins, E., & Bolger, K. (2008). Welfare, work, and health care accesspredictors of low-income children’s physical health outcomes.Children and Youth Services Review,29, 782–801.14
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 27 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied DirectionsLEARNING ACTIVITIESLEARNING ACTIVITY 1.1What Is Your Stance on the Three Basic Issues of Human Development? (pp. 6–9)To help students better understand the three basic issues of human development, present this exercise as an in-class assignment.The exercise will help students express their own viewpoints on some of the controversies in the field of human development.Directions:The following four pairs of statements relate to basic issues about human development. Read each statementcarefully. Then circle the statement in each pair that more closely reflects your own view.1. A. Development is a continuous, gradual progression, with new abilities, skills, and knowledge gradually added at arelatively uniform pace.B. Development occurs at different rates, alternating between periods of little change and periods of abrupt, rapid change.2. A. All humans follow the same general sequence of development.B. Each individual has a unique course of development.3. A. Children respond to the world in much the same way as adults. The main difference is that children’s thinking is lesssophisticated and complex than adults’.B. Children have unique ways of thinking about and responding to the world that are very different from those of adults.4. A. An individual’s personality is mostly determined by heredity.B. An individual’s personality can be modified through caregiving experiences.Next, have students break into small groups and discuss their answers. What is their stance on the three basic issues ofhuman development? Which theories take a stance similar to their own? If students had to choose a theory that best representstheir own view of development, would they choose a single theory or would they select certain components of several theories?What aspects of their chosen theory (or theories) make it more attractive than the others?LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.2Interviewing a Resilient Adult (pp. 10–11)Ask students to identify an adult they know well, such as a family member or close family friend, who experienced andovercame significant adversity as a child or adolescent. For example, the individual may have experienced the death of a parentor sibling, experienced community or school violence, had a mentally ill parent, become a teenage parent, been poor for anumber of years, or been removed from the family home for some reason. If the adult is comfortable discussing the situation,have students conduct an interview with him or her. The following questions might be useful to students: Briefly describe yourchildhood/adolescent experience. How did you respond to the event? What factors helped you overcome the event?Following the interview, students should compare the answers with research in the text. What factors likely contributed tothe individual’s resilience? For example, did he or she mention personal characteristics, a warm parental relationship, socialsupport outside the family, or community resources? Explain, using examples from the interview.LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.3Keeping a Theory/Research Notebook (pp. 10–31)Given the many developmental theories that exist, students are likely to find some more appealing and plausible than others.Encourage students to construct a systematic list of their theoretical likes and dislikes by keeping a theory/research notebook.For each theory, students should list the concepts and principles they find important and those they believe to be inadequate orincorrect. As they learn more throughout the course, they can revise their opinions, noting research that supports their changingviews. At the end of the course, students should have developed a personal perspective on human development, which mayemphasize one theory or blend aspects of several or many theories.15
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 28 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9eLEARNING ACTIVITY 1.4True or False: Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories and Recent Theoretical Perspectives (pp. 14–31)Present the following exercise to students as a quiz or in-class activity.Directions: Read each of the following statements and indicate whether it isTrue(T) orFalse(F).Statements:_____1.According to Freud, in each stage of psychosexual development, parents walk a fine line between permitting toomuch or too little gratification of their child’s basic needs._____2.Both Freud and Erikson pointed out that normal development must be understood in relation to each culture’s lifesituation._____3.Behaviorism and social learning theory have been praised for acknowledging people’s contributions to their owndevelopment._____4.In Piaget’s theory, as the brain develops and children’s experiences expand, they move through four broad stages,each characterized by qualitatively distinct ways of thinking._____5.Research indicates that Piaget underestimated the competencies of infants and preschoolers._____6.Information-processing researchers view the mind as a symbol-manipulating system through which informationflows._____7.Evolutionary psychologists are solely concerned with the biological bases of development._____8.According to Vygotsky, social interaction is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking and behavingthat make up a community’s culture._____9.The mesosystem is made up of social settings that do not contain the developing persons but nevertheless affectexperiences in immediate settings._____ 10.According to Bronfenbrenner, the environment is dynamic and ever changing.Answers:1.T6.T2.F7.F3.F8.T4.T9.F5.T10.TLEARNING ACTIVITY 1.5Applying Ecological Systems Theory to a “Hot Topic” in Child Development (pp. 26–28)Have students form small groups and select a “hot topic” in child or adult development, such as the effects of divorce, childabuse and neglect, quality of child care, the obesity epidemic, public policies for children, or sex education programs in theschools. Once students have selected their topic, ask them to consider how each level of the environment may affectdevelopment, including bidirectional influences and the role of third parties.LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.6Conducting a Survey of Attitudes Toward Government Intervention into Family Life (pp. 32–37)Have students interview two or three family members, friends, or acquaintances and ask the following questions:(1)Who should be responsible for raising young children?(2)Should the government provide money and resources to low-income families with young children? If so, shouldthe money come from tax dollars?When students return to class with their responses, instruct them to classify each answer on the basis of whether parents areviewed as solely responsible for children’s upbringing or whether society should play an important role. Compile the findings,and discuss them in relation to evidence that government support for children and families has been more difficult to realize inthe United States than in other industrialized nations. How do students feel about their findings? Do they agree with thefindings? Why or why not?16
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 29 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied DirectionsLEARNING ACTIVITY 1.7Researching Social Indicators of Children’s Well-Being in the United States (pp. 32–37)Although the United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, it does not rank among the top countries on anymeasure of children’s health and well-being. Direct students to a website sponsored by the Children’s Defense Fund:www.childrensdefense.org.By clicking on “State Data on Children” under theResearch Libraryheading, students can find outtheir state’s ranking on several leading social indicators of children’s well-being. If students are not from the United States, theycan choose a state to research.Using information from the website, have students answer the following questions: How does your state rank on childpoverty? How about health coverage? How are cultural values, special interests, and economic conditions reflected in thesepolicies? Do students think that these policies reflect current research in the field of child development? How large is the gapbetween what we know and its application to public policy?ASK YOURSELF . . .REVIEW: What is meant by a stage of development? Provide your own example of stagewise change. What stand dostage theorists take on the issue of continuous versus discontinuous development? (pp. 7–8)Astageis a distinct period of development characterized by qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving. Stagetheorists believe that development isdiscontinuous—a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to theworld emerge at specific times. In this view, development is like climbing a staircase, with each step corresponding to a moremature, reorganized way of functioning. The stage concept also assumes that children undergo periods of rapid transformationas they step up from one stage to the next, alternating with plateaus during which little change occurs. For example, as childrenbegin to represent their world through language and make-believe play in early childhood, or as they begin to think morelogically in middle childhood, they are entering a new stage of development.CONNECT: Provide an example of how one domain of development (physical, cognitive, or emotional/social) can affectdevelopment in another domain. (pp. 4–5)Development is often divided into three broad domains: physical, cognitive, and emotional and social. Each domaininfluences and is influenced by the others. For example, new motor capacities, such as reaching, sitting, crawling, and walking(physical), contribute greatly to infants’ understanding of their surroundings (cognitive). When babies think and act morecompetently, adults stimulate them more with games, language, and expressions of delight at the child’s new achievements(emotional and social). These enriched experiences, in turn, promote all aspects of development.APPLY: Anna, a high school counselor, has devised a program that integrates classroom learning with vocationaltraining to help adolescents at risk for school dropout stay in school and transition smoothly to work life. What isAnna’s position onstability versus plasticityin development? Explain. (pp. 8–9)Anna’s program reflects a belief that development has substantialplasticitythroughout life. In this view, change is possibleand even likely if it is supported by new experiences. First, Anna takes the position that environmental influences, not justheredity, are important. Second, by devising a program for adolescents, she rejects the view that early negative experiencesestablish lifelong patterns of behavior that cannot be fully overcome by later, more positive experiences. Anna takes a moreoptimistic view: She believes that high school students who are at risk for dropout will benefit from the program she hasdeveloped because it will provide positive experiences that will enable them to overcome the negative events of their first fewyears.REFLECT: Cite an aspect of your development that differs from a parent’s or grandparent’s when he or she was yourage. How mightcontextsexplain this difference? (p. 8)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.REVIEW: Imagine a debate between John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau on the nature–nurture controversy.Summarize the argument that each historical figure is likely to present. (p. 12)John Locke:The child begins as atabula rasa,or blank slate, neither good nor evil, whose character will be shaped entirelyby experience. Parents function as rational tutors who can mold the child as they wish through careful instruction, effectiveexample, and rewards for good behavior. In sum, nurture is the primary determinant of growth.17
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 30 preview imageInstructor’s Resource Manual for Berk / Child Development, 9eJean-Jacques Rousseau:Children are not blank slates who passively respond to environmental influences. Rather, they arenoble savages,naturally endowed with a sense of right and wrong and an innate plan for orderly, healthy growth.Environmental intervention has no value; adult training can only harm or delay a child’s genetically determined, naturallyunfolding course of development. In sum, nature is the primary determinant of growth.CONNECT: What do the ideas of Rousseau, Darwin, and Hall have in common? (pp. 12–13)Rousseau, Darwin, and Hall all emphasized the importance of nature over nurture in development. Rousseau believed thatchildren develop according to a genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth. Darwin’s theory emphasized theadaptive value of innate characteristics, which determine whether individuals will meet the survival requirements of theirenvironment and, as a result, live long enough to reproduce and pass on their more beneficial characteristics to futuregenerations. Hall, inspired by Darwin’s work, saw development as amaturational process—a genetically determined series ofevents that unfold automatically.REFLECT: Find out whether your parents read any child-rearing advice books when you were growing up. Whatquestions most concerned them? Do you think the concerns of today’s parents differ from those of your parents’generation? Explain. (p. 13)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.REVIEW: What aspect of behaviorism made it attractive to critics of the psychoanalytic perspective? How did Piaget’stheory respond to a major limitation of behaviorism? (pp. 17–21)The early behaviorists rejected the psychoanalytic concern with the unseen workings of the mind. They sought, instead, tocreate an objective science of psychology that would study directly observable events—stimuli and responses. As psychologistswondered whether behaviorism might offer a more direct and effective explanation of the development of children’s socialbehavior than the less precise concepts of psychoanalytic theory, several kinds of social learning theory emerged. The mostinfluential emphasizedmodeling,also known asimitationorobservational learning,as a powerful source of development.Many theorists believe that behaviorism and social learning theory offer too narrow a view of important environmentalinfluences and that these approaches underestimate children’s contributions to their own development. In response to theseconcerns, Piaget maintained that children’s learning does not depend on reinforcers, such as rewards from adults. Rather,children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world.Besides investigating children’s understanding of their physical environment, Piaget explored their reasoning about thesocial world. His cognitive-developmental perspective convinced the field that children are active learners whose minds consistof rich structures of knowledge.CONNECT: Although social learning theory focuses on social development and Piaget’s theory on cognitivedevelopment, each has enhanced our understanding of other domains. Mention an additional domain addressed by eachtheory. (pp. 18–20)Albert Bandura’s social learning theory emphasizes modeling, also known asimitationorobservational learning,as asource of development. From its original emphasis on the emotional/social domain, the theory has evolved to stress theimportance ofcognition,or thinking. As a result, Bandura now calls it asocial-cognitiverather than a social learning approach.In addition to explaining children’s social development, social-cognitive theory provides insight into how children control theirown learning and behavior through the attitudes, values, and convictions they acquire about themselves.Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory, best known for its emphasis on the stages of cognitive development, alsoexplores how children reason about the social world. It has sparked a great deal of research on children’s conceptions ofthemselves, other people, and human relationships—all aspects of the social/emotional domain.APPLY: A 4-year-old becomes frightened of the dark and refuses to go to sleep at night. How would a psychoanalystand a behaviorist differ in their views of how this problem developed? (pp. 15, 17)According to the psychoanalytic approach, children move through a series of stages in which they confront conflictsbetween biological drives and social expectations. From this perspective, fear of the dark reflects an unconscious motive ordeep-seated anxiety within the child. A psychoanalyst might conclude, for example, that the child’s fear really representsanxiety about nighttime separation from the parent. Once the anxiety is resolved, the fear will subside.18
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Lecture Notes for Child Development, 9th Edition - Page 31 preview imageChapter 1 History, Theory, and Applied DirectionsIn contrast, behaviorists look at the effects on behavior of directly observable events, not at the inner workings of the mind.From a behaviorist perspective, a child would be afraid of the dark if previous experiences in the dark were unpleasant. Perhapsthe child heard a sudden, loud noise at night or was frightened by the visual images of a nightmare. On the basis of theseexperiences, the child would be conditioned to respond fearfully to being in the dark.REFLECT: Illustrate Bandura’s ideas by describing a personal experience in which you observed and receivedfeedback from another person that strengthened your self-efficacy—belief that your abilities and characteristics willhelp you succeed. (pp. 18–19)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.REVIEW: Explain how each recent theoretical perspective regards children as active contributors to their owndevelopment. (pp. 21–31)Information processing:Like Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory, the information-processing approach viewschildren as active, sense-making beings who modify their thinking in response to environmental demands. In this view, thehuman mind is a symbol-manipulating system through which information flows. From the time it is presented to the senses atinput until it emerges as a behavioral response at output, information is actively coded, transformed, and organized. Whenpresented with a task, children perform a set of mental operations and experiment with various strategies in their attempts tosolve the problem.Ethology and evolutionary developmental psychology:Both ethologists and evolutionary developmental psychologists areinterested in the evolutionary history of behavior and its adaptive, or survival, value. For instance, infant smiling, babbling,grasping, and crying are built-in social signals that encourage the caregiver to approach, care for, and interact with the baby. Bykeeping the parent near, these behaviors help ensure that the infant will be fed, protected from danger, and provided withstimulation and affection necessary for healthy growth.Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory:Vygotsky’s theory focuses on howcultureis transmitted to the next generation.According to Vygotsky,social interaction—in particular, cooperative dialogues between children and more knowledgeablemembers of society—is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that make up their community’sculture. Like Piaget, Vygotsky saw children as active, constructive beings. But whereas Piaget emphasized children’sindependent efforts to make sense of their world, Vygotsky viewed cognitive development as asocially mediated process,inwhich children depend on assistance from adults and more-expert peers as they tackle new challenges.Ecological systems theory:Ecological systems theory views the child as developing within a complex system ofrelationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment. The child’s biologically influenced dispositions joinwith environmental forces to mold development. Life changes can be imposed on the child, or they can arise from within thechild, because as children get older they select, modify, and create many of their own settings and experiences. How they do sodepends on their physical, intellectual, and personality characteristics and their environmental opportunities. In ecologicalsystems theory, the child and the environment form a network of interdependent effects that, together, determine the course ofdevelopment.Dynamic systems perspective:Much like ecological systems theory, the dynamic systems perspective maintains that thechild’s mind, body, and physical and social worlds form anintegrated systemthat guides mastery of new skills. The system isdynamic,or constantly in motion. A change in any part of it—from brain growth to changes in physical and socialsurroundings—disrupts the current organism–environment relationship. When this happens, the child actively reorganizes his orher behavior so the various components of the system work together again but in a more complex, effective way.CONNECT: Return to the Biology and Environment box on pages 10–11. How does the story of John and Garyillustrate bidirectional influences within the microsystem, as described in ecological systems theory? (p. 27)The microsystem consists of activities and interaction patterns in the child’s immediate surroundings. Bronfenbrenneremphasizes that to understand development at this level, we must keep in mind that all relationships arebidirectional:Adultsaffect children’s behavior, but children’s biologically and socially influenced characteristics—their physical attributes,personalities, and capacities—also affect adults’ behavior. In the example, both John and Gary experienced similarenvironmental stressors during their childhood and adolescence. However, Gary’s personal qualities, such as his ability to makenew friends and adapt to new surroundings each time his family moved, likely contributed to his resilience. In contrast, Johnresponded to similar changes by becoming anxious and angry, picking arguments with his parents, siblings, and peers.19
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Child Development by Laura E. Berk

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