PSH Exam Mock - Child Development Overview

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 1: Legal Definition of a Child

• A child is legally defined as a person under 18 years of age.
• This definition applies to children of all ages, from infancy to adolescence.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 1: 5 Developmental Stages

• Prenatal: Germinal, Embryonic, Fetal stages.
• Neonatal & Infancy: First 2-4 weeks, subsequent 2 years.
• Early childhood: Ages 2-6.
• Middle childhood: Ages 6 to puberty (approximately 12 years).
• Adolescence: Ages 12 to adulthood (approximately 18 years).

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 4: Developmental Issues - Nature vs. Nurture

• Nature refers to biological factors (genetics, neurological, hormonal).
• Nurture refers to environmental factors, such as parenting styles and the physical and social environment (e.g., poverty).

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 4: Developmental Issues - Continuity vs. Discontinuity

• Continuity: Development is a gradual and smooth process.
• Discontinuity: Development is abrupt and occurs in distinct steps.
• Both viewpoints are valid, depending on the specific behavior being observed.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 4: Developmental Issues - Passive vs. Active

• Passive: Children have no role in their environment, with their development at the mercy of their environment.
• Active: Children play an active role in their own development.
• Both are possible, depending on the behavior.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 4: Universality vs. Cultural Context

• Universality: Characteristics shared by everyone worldwide.
• Cultural Context: Refers to the beliefs, norms, customs, and general way of life of a specific group of people. The environment in which a behavior or development occurs.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Theories of Development - Biological Perspective

• Behavior is primarily predicted by biological factors.
• Imprinting
• Heredity
• Nervous system
• Endocrine system

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Theories of Development - Psychodynamic Perspective

• Explores unconscious psychological motives.
• Sigmund Freud
• Psychosexual Theory *argues personality has 3 primary components = id, ego, superego
• Psychosexual stages
• Oral
• Anal
• Phallic
• Latent
• Genital
• Erikson's Psychosocial Theory

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Theories of Development - Learning Theory Perspective

• An infant’s mind is a blank slate.
• Behavior is primarily learned through environment
• Operant conditioning
• Classical conditioning
• Social Cognitive Theory (imitation, modelling, observational learning)

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Theories of Development - Contextual Perspective

• Investigating how culture influences development.
• Vygotsky's Social Cultural Theory: How adults convey their culture to children.
• Zone of proximal development
• Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory: Child development in a series of systems (micro, meso, exo, macro, chrono)
• Nsamenang's African perspective: Holistic perspective on humans and the universe. Social Ontogenesis

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Cognitive Developmental Perspective

• Focuses on how children think and how their thoughts change over time.
• Jean Piaget: Theory of Cognitive Development
• Information-Processing Theorists *mental software,mental hardware, input, storage, output
• Brain works like a computer (input, storage, output)

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Motor Development

• Gross motor skills: Coordinated movement of large muscle groups (e.g., crawling, walking, running, balance).
• Fine motor skills: Use of smaller muscle groups for detailed movements (e.g., using fingers, performing self-help tasks, writing)

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Cognitive Skills (Sensory)

• Object Permanence: Objects continue to exist when not seen.
• A-not-B error/Perseverating search: Babies search for objects in place they last hid them
• Imitation
• Deferred imitation: Imitating behaviour after seeing it
• Pretend play: Enacting daily activities
• Symbolic representations: Language, categorizing, and numbering skills

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: 7 Phases Of Language Development

• Undifferentiated crying,
• Differentiated crying,
• Cooing/Babbling,
• Lallation,
• Echolalia
• Single-word sentences,
• Full sentences

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Types of Attachment

• Secure: Children are used to their mothers as a security base and happy when reunited
• Avoidant: Disinterested when mother leaves and returns
• Ambivalent: Anxious and extremely upset before mother leaves and seeks contact on reunion
• Disorganised/Disorientated: Confusion, contradictory behaviour, fear to connect with parents

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 4: Immature Aspects of Preoperational Thought

• Perceptual centration: Attending to only one aspect of an observation.
• Irreversibility: Inability to reverse an operation.
• Egocentrism: Viewing the world from one's own perspective.
• Animistic thinking: Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects.
• Transductive reasoning: Linking events together in cause-and-effect fashion.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 4: Parenting Styles

• Authoritative: Consistent control and nurturance, high communication, acceptance of and involvement in children's needs.
• Authoritarian: High control, low nurturance and communication, children expected to obey rules, and criticised if they do not.
• Permissive: High nurturance, low control and communication, often indulgent and inattentive nature of parents
• Uninvolved: Meets no parenting dimension, emotionally detached, neglectful

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 4: Parenting Styles (Dimensions)

• Warmth & Nurturance: Warm/kind parents lead to secure attachment.
• Consistent Control: Clear, consistent rules are associated with defiance.
• Expectations: High expectations lead to better outcomes for children
• Communication: Open communication between parent and child leads to better emotional and social maturity.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Intellectual Disability

• Diagnosed through IQ (lower than 70) with limitations in intellectual functioning, adaptive behaviour, and onset of deficits in childhood.
• Causes: genetic factors, problems during pregnancy/childbirth, infections.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Learning Disability

• Persistent deficits in acquiring academic skills, especially reading, writing, and mathematics.
• Reading disorder (dyslexia): Trouble reading words or understanding
• Writing disorder (dysgraphia): Trouble with writing.
• Math disorder (dyscalculia): Difficulty with math
• Inferred causes: unknown

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 5: Parent-Child Relationships (Co-Regulation)

• Parents control and supervise, allowing children to participate in moment-by-moment decision making

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 4: Bullying

• Physical bullying: Physical harm
• Verbal/written bullying: Insulting someone
• Social bullying: Excluding someone, spreading rumors
• Cyberbullying: Intentional harm using technology

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 6: Adolescent Growth Spurt

• Rapid and intense physical changes.
• Growth hormone (somatotrophin) stimulates growth.
• Dwarfism: Short stature, lack of growth hormone
• Growth spurts occur at different times for girls (10-13 years, ending at 16) and boys (12-15 years, ending at 18)

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 6: Asynchrony

• Disproportionate growth tempo of body parts.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 6: Sexual Maturation (Girls & Boys)

• Puberty, menstruation, female circumcision.
• Sexual characteristics develop.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 6: Anorexia

• Refusal or inability to maintain a normal body weight.
• BMI (a measure of body fat using weight and height) is significant factor determining Anorexia.
• Mild, moderate, extreme are categories based on BMI.
• Purging and denial of food

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 6: Self-consciousness & Self-Focusing

• Egocentrism: adolescent’s ability to reflect on own thoughts and feelings
• Imaginary audience: Belief that they are the focus of everyone else's attention
• Personal fable: Belief that one's thoughts and feelings are unique and special

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 6: Conformity

• Degree of willingness to change behavior, attitudes, and beliefs to fit in with a group.
• Three elements of conformity:
• Compliance
• Identification
• Internalisation
• Factors influencing conformity
• Difficulty of task
• Group size
• Characteristics of situation
• Cultural differences
• Gender differences

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 7: Neglect

• Failure to provide basic needs (housing, nutrition, medical care)
• Emotional neglect: Failure to meet psychological needs (affection, support)
• Educational neglect: Failing to enroll child in school and allowing truancy

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 7: Abuse

• Physical abuse: Physical actions (e.g., hitting, slapping).
• Sexual abuse: Illegal sexual acts against a child.
• Emotional abuse: Persistent and continual emotional maltreatment.

PSH Exam Mock Scope - Theme 7: Rights of a Child

• Right to survival.
• Right to development to the fullest.
• Protected from harm, abuse, and exploitation.
• Participate fully in family, cultural, and social life.