CHILD

DEVELOPMENT

Presented by DR : Hossam El Sayed

CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Definition:

Change in the child that occurs over time that movestoward greater complexity and enhances survival.

Periods of development:

Prenatal: from conception to birth Infancy and toddlerhood: birth to 2.5 years Early childhood: 2.5-6 years old Middle childhood: 6-12 years old Adolescence: 12-18 years old

DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT

Development is described in three domains, but growth

in one domain influences the other domains.

Physical Domain: body size, body proportions, appearance, motor development, coordination,

perception capacities, physical health.

Cognitive Domain: thought processes and intellectual abilities including attention, memory,

problem solving, imagination, creativity, academic and everyday knowledge, and language.

Social/Emotional Domain: self-knowledge (self-esteem, sexual identity, ethnic identity), moral

reasoning, understanding and expression of emotions, self-regulation, temperament, understanding others, interpersonal skills, and friendships.

PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE

NEWBORN

A single sperm cell penetrates the outer coating

of the egg and fuses to form one fertilized cell.

A zygote is a fertilized egg with 100 cells that

become increasingly diverse. At about 14 days

the zygote turns into an embryo.

At 9 weeks, an embryo turns into a fetus.

Teratogens are chemicals or viruses that can

enter the placenta and harm the developing

fetus.

FETAL LIFE:

1- Behavior Women usually detect fetal movements 16 to 20

weeks into the pregnancy

The fetus may be able to hear by the 18th week, and it responds to loud noises with muscle contractions, movements, and an increased heart rate.

Bright light flashed on the abdominal wall of the 20-week pregnant woman causes changes in fetal heart rate and position

Eyelids open at 7 months. Smell and taste are also developed at this time

Some reflexes present at birth exist in utero:

grasp reflex : 17 weeks

the Moro (startle) reflex, which appears at 25

weeks

the sucking reflex, which appears at about 28

weeks.

2- NERVOUS SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

3- Effect of maternal stress

Maternal stress correlates with high levels of stress hormones in the fetal bloodstream which act directly on the fetal neuronal network

Mothers with high levels of anxiety are more likely to have babies who are hyperactive, irritable, and of low birthweight

fever in the mother causes the fetus's temperature to rise.

4- Genetic counseling

The diagnostic techniques used include

amniocentesis,ultrasound examinations, X-ray

studies, fetoscopy fetal blood and skin

sampling, chorionic villus sampling, and alpha

fetoprotein screening.

In about 2 percent of women tested, the results are positive for some abnormality

5- Maternal drug of abuse

Alcohol

Smoking

Marijuana , cocaine and heroin

Radiation : woman exposed to severe radiation

between weeks 2 and 15 of pregnancy, the baby

will be born with gross deformities or develop

cancer later in life.

Medications as : tetracyclines, valproate

[Depakene], carbamazepine [Tegretol],

phenytoin , progesterone-estrogens, lithium ,

and warfarin

FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

INFANCY : 0 – 15 MONTHS

The average newborn weighs about 3,400 g

Premature infants are defined as those with a gestation of less than 34 weeks or a birthweightunder 2,500 g

Such infants are at increased risk for learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, emotional and behavioral problems, mental retardation, and child abuse.

Postmature infants are defined as infants born 2 weeks or more beyond the expected date of birth.

postmature baby typically has long nails, scanty lanugo hair, more scalp hair than usual, and increased alertness.

DEVELOPMENTAL LANDMARKS

Reflexes: rooting , grasp , planter , abdominal , startle , tonic neck reflexes are present at birth.

Survival systems: breathing , sucking , swallowing , circulatory and temperature homeostasis are functional at birth.

Sensory organs : are incompletely developed but at 1 day : can detect the smell of mother’s milk and at 3 days: distinguish the mother’s voice

Language and Cognitive Development

At birth, infants can make noises, such as crying, but they do not vocalize until about 8 weeks.

By the end of infancy (about 2 years), infants have transformed reflexes into voluntary actions that are the building blocks of cognition.

JEAN PIAGET

Schemas are mental molds into which we pour our experiences.

Example: living things move

ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMMODATION

The process of assimilation involves

incorporating new experiences into our

current understanding (schema). The process of adjusting a schema and

modifying it is called accommodation.

Jean Piaget with a subject

Bill A

nd

erson

/ Ph

oto

Research

ers, Inc.

PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

18

Age Stage Description

0-2 Sensorimotor senses

2-7 Preoperational intuition

7-11 Concrete Operational beginning logic

12+ Formal Operational abstract logic

Emotional and social development

• By the age of 3 weeks, infants imitate the

facial movements of adult caregivers

• These imitative behaviors are believed to be

the precursors of infants' emotional life.

• The smiling response : endogenous –2

months.

exogenous - 4

months.

Temperamental Differences

There are strong suggestions of inborn

differences and wide variability in autonomic

reactivity and temperament among individual

infants.

Chess and Thomas identified nine behavioral

dimensions

Activity level , distractibility , adaptability

, attention span , intensity , threshold of

responsiveness , quality of mood ,

rhythmicity.

Stranger anxiety is the fear of strangers that develops at around 8 months. This is the age at which infants form schemas for familiar faces and cannot assimilate a new face.

Margaret Mahler’s stages of separation –

individuation…till reach object constansy

based on watching interaction of children and

their mothers.

Origins of Attachment

Harlow (1971) showed that infants bond with surrogate mothers because of bodily contact and not because of nourishment.

Like bodily contact, familiarity is another factor that causes attachment.

TYPES OF ATTACHMENT

Placed in a strange situation, 60% of children express secure attachment, i.e., they explore their environment happily in the presence of their mothers. When their mother leave, they show distress.

The other 30% show insecure attachment. These children cling to their mothers or caregivers and are less likely to explore the environment.

• Insecure / Avoidant attachment

• Insecure / Ambivalent attachment

MEASURING ATTACHMENT

Ainsworth Strange Situation

Child + Mom in novel

environment

Stranger enters

Mom leaves

Mom returns, stranger leaves

Mom leaves child alone

Mom returns

24Video (4 min):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWsyIVVvDdw&feature=related

1913-1999

DEPRIVATION OF ATTACHMENT

What happens when circumstances prevent a child from forming attachments?

In such circumstances children become:

1. Withdrawn

2. Frightened

3. Unable to develop speech

PARENTAL FIT AND GOOD ENOUGH MOTHERING.

Parental fit describes how well the mother or father relates to the newborn or developing infant; the idea takes into account temperamental characteristics of both parent and child

Difficult children : 10 percent.. Must be recog.

Easy children : 40 percent

The other 50 percent of children are mixtures of these two types.

TODDLER PERIOD:15 MONTHS – 2 ½ YEARS

The second year of life is marked by

accelerated motor and intellectual

development.

The ability to walk gives toddlers some

control over their own actions

Parenting: Parents need to balance between

punishment and permissiveness and set

realistic limits on a toddler’s behavior.

DEVELOPMENTAL LANDMARKS

Language and Cognitive Development

create new behaviors from old ones (originality) and engage

in symbolic activities.

Emotional and Social Development

pleasure and displeasure become further differentiated.

Social referencing is often apparent at this age; the child looks to parents and others for emotional cues about how to respond to novel events.

Toddlers show exploratory excitement, pleasure in discovery and in developing new behavior (e.g., new games)

organized demonstration of love and of protest

SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

Through imitation & reward children assume the behaviors that their cultures define as appropriate for their sexual roles

Children exhibit curiosity about anatomical sex.

When their curiosity is met with honest, age-appropriate replies… sense of the wonder of life and are comfortable with their own roles.

If the subject of sex is taboo and children's questions are rebuffed…shame and discomfort may result.

Gender identity, the unshakable conviction of being male or female, begins to manifest at 18 months and is often fixed by 24 to 30 months.

Gender role describes the behavior that society deems appropriate for one sex or another

• Boys are more likely than girls to engage in rough play

• Mothers talk more to girls than to boys

• by the time the child is 2 years of age, fathers generally pay more attention to boys.

• girls want to play with dolls, boys with guns.

SPHINCTER CONTROL AND SLEEP

Control of daytime urination at age of 2.5

control of nighttime urination at age of 4

years.

Toddlers may have sleep difficulties related

to fear of the dark,managed by using a

nightlight.

Most toddlers generally sleep about 12 hours

a day, including a 2-hour nap

reassurance before going to bed

the average 2-year-old takes about 30

minutes to fall asleep.