INFLUENCE OF EXPERIENCE IN

EARLY CHILDHOOD

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

THEORIES1.

Burrhus Frederic (B. F.) Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) The theory of B.F. Skinner is

based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual's response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment.

JEAN PIAGET (1896–1980) Is credited with the cognitive-developmental

theory that “views the child as actively constructing knowledge and cognitive development as taking place in stages”. According to his constructivist theory, Piaget asserted that children pass through four distinct stages of development, including the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), preoperational stage (2 to 7 years), concrete operational stage (7 to 11), and formal operational stage (11 and beyond). Piaget believed that reasoning deepens in children as they grow, engagement in the physical and social world enhances development, and “conceptual change occurs through assimilation and accommodation

URIE BRONFENBRENNER (1917–2005)  who believed that children developed “within a

complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the environment”

Microsystem involves those that are part of children's most immediate environment, including the child's parents and other primary caregivers. Interactions between the child and those adults impact children's development.

Mesosystem and involves systems that interact with the people in the microsystem, including child care programs and schools.

Exosystems are places in which children do not spend time but which still impact children's development, including the parents' workplace policies.

Macrosystem consists of “the values, laws, customs, and resources of a particular culture”

ERIK HOMBURGER ERICKSON Erickson believed that the

play takes changes as child’s psychosocial issues change.

Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development is based on the premise that humans interact with an ever – widening circle of people, beggining with mother and ending with humankind in general.

OTHER TYPES OF EXPERIENCEEducation school makes up an enormous part of a childs

life. Teachers and classmate play a major role in making up a child’s experiences, and academic and learning also leave their mark on development and influnce his ability to learn.

Peers while a child's early social experiences may be centered on family members, this soon expands to other kids at the playground, in the neighborhood and at school. Because children spend so much time interacting with peers in school, it may come as no surprise that other children have a major influence on a child's psychology and development.

Bullying in particular can have an enormously detrimental effect on a child's experience of growing up.

Culture As you have seen so far, there are many different influences that can play a role in how a child grows and the person they eventually become. The culture that a child lives in adds yet another element to this already complex mix.

ROLE OF FAMILY

PARENTING BEHAVIORS

Authoritarian parents – aim to control their children’s behavior by enforcing absolute standards for behavior

Authoritative parents – also make high demands on their children but they are more responsive.

Premissive parents – are either indulgent for neglectful.

DIVORCEChildren from divorced and remarried families tend to exhibit more

behavioral problems and are less academically, socialy, and psychologically well adjusted than those in nondivorced families.

CHILDREN’S ADJUSTMENT TO DIVORSE

1. Facing the reality of the divorce – it takes most children 2 or 3 years to adjust to living in a single – parent home.

2. Resuming their own daily lives – initially, children may be overwhelmed by what is happening around them.

3. Reconciling themselves to loss - a way of life changes and, with the seperation of their parents, children frequently experience a loss of security

4. Dealing with their emotions – build a reservoir of anger that affects their lives for year .

5. Developing a positive outlook for the future - children of divorce often avoid forming any close relationships because their fear of desertion.

DAY CAREThe implications of day care for

development including many factors; the number of day care setting the child has experienced, the number of hours the child is in day care, the quality and stability of the care, the type of setting , and the child’s age at entry.

A child’s day care experience must also be examined in light of characteristics of the family, especially socioeconomic status and parenting behaviors.

SELF DEVELOPMENT During early childhood, children change

from identifying themselves by physical characteristics to moral social and emotional characteristics . As children grow, their sense of self is not limited to their reflections in a mirror ; they have acquired language and are able to tell us what they think of themselves. Their self – judgments reflect their changing cognitive and social maturity.

Self – control – in the absence of authority figures. Children must understand the requirements of social situations, monitor their own behavior, and be motivated to exercise self-control. They also must understand the consequences of their behavior.

Mastery over aggressive impluse – children must learn to control their feelings and impulses.

GENDER DEVELOPMENT Children first indicate their ability to label their own sex

of others between 2 and 3 years of age. By 4 years of age, children are aware that sex identity is stable over time.

Freud’s oedipus complex – refers to small boy’s need to seperate “male self” from “female mother” and yet still retain “female” as an object of sexual desire.

While little girls may express a desire to marry their father and get rid of their mother, they must continue to identify with their mother’s gender role.

INFLUENCE ON GENDER DEVELOPMENTPeers - When children start to make friends and play,

these activities foster and maintain sex – typed play. When they engage in sex – inappropriate play ( boys with dolls, girls, with footballs), their peers immediately criticize them and tend to isolate them (“sissy”, “tomboy”)

PLAY BEHAVIOR

Play – as an activity that

children engage in because they enjoy it for its own sake.

Freud believed that play provides children with a means for wish fulfillment and a way to overcome the traumatic event in their lives. It allows children to escape the restrictions of reality and permits them to rid themselves of dangerous, aggressive impluses.

PLAY’S CONTRIBURTIONS TO DEVELOPMENT

Physical development – children play enables them to exercise their bodies and improve their motorskills.

Cognitve development – beginning with notion that play has widespread consequences, we can say that play allows children to explore their environment on their environment on their own terrns and to take in any meaningful experiences at their own rate and on their own level.

Social development – play helps social development during early childhood because the involvement of others demands a give – and –take that teaches young children the basics of forming relationships.