Psychology of the Child - Infancy and Development PDF

1. Infancy: (0-3years) Weaning Walking Language Conclusion 1.Prime Infancy (0-3 years) Birth is seen by a lot of psychologists as a terrible trauma because of the dramatic change from floating in a sac of fluid inside the mother’s womb, and protected from outside aggressions lik...

1. Infancy: (0-3years) Weaning Walking Language Conclusion 1.Prime Infancy (0-3 years) Birth is seen by a lot of psychologists as a terrible trauma because of the dramatic change from floating in a sac of fluid inside the mother’s womb, and protected from outside aggressions like cold, heat ,noise etc. and a postnatal dependence a baby experiences, breathing and moving in the outside world but still needing to be fed, cleaned , cuddled (caressed) etc. Balance is a difficult enterprise to the baby with physiological functions still needing further development, with the progressive and painful dissociation between the ‘me’ and the environment, and the detachment of ‘mind’ from ‘matter’. Discussion question: Using your own words ,why is birth a painful experience ? You may disagree. Justify. Birth  Prime Infancy Infancy (Birth - two years of age) Child development can be broken down into five stages: Newborn (0-3 months) Infant (3-12 months) Toddler (1-3 years) Preschool age (3-4 years) School age (4-5 years).  Three main events are going to contribute to this evolution: 1.weaning 2.walking 3. language.  1. Weaning It is the most painful experience the infant has to go through at around one or two years. Accustomed as he was to a kind of symbiosis (baby and mother linked by breast-feeding or bottle- feeding), he must learn to feed himself. This leads to a separation between the baby’s ‘me’ and the mother’s. This conscious separation brings a lot of frustrations and a state of dissatisfaction that are called the weaning complex. The weaning complex may be expressed through thumb sucking, wetting the bed, stuttering, greediness, a demanding attitude etc. Weaning should be done at the correct time for when too early or too late it is the cause of serious psychological troubles: when too early, it may result in one of the problems enumerated above and if too late it hampers the physio-psychological development of the child (maintenance in a state called infantilism). Weaning  2) Walking From 0 to 4 months the baby is practically always lying on his cradle or bed. He is able to move up his head and control his neck movements. He is also able to push up the upper part of his body thanks to his arms and hands when he is lying on his belly. At 4 months, he may keep a seated position with help At 7, he is seated without help At 9, he gets up with the help of surrounding objects like leg of table, chair, stool etc. At 11 months, first steps with help At 13 months, he is able to climb up stairs on four At 14 months, he stands up without help and at 15 months, he walks on his own without help. Seated-Climbing stairs-Walking  Walking means a neat separation between the baby’s ‘me’ and the others. It is the transition from a static to a dynamic balance and this change to the contrary of weaning is a desired experience that is not traumatic because the baby calls for it and is not submitted unwillingly to it. Walking is a lot more than a simple behavioural change. It causes a psycho- physiological maturation. HOW? Enrichment of visual apprehension of the external world with muscular and tactile exploration that correct and complete it. Mastery and refinement of gestures and muscular movements. Learning of autonomy and exploration and knowledge of surrounding space. When the child moves around he finds resistance that helps him establish the limits of his physical ‘me’ as well as his psychological one.  CONTINUED The discovery of the around world brings about the following notions: notion of objects (as opposed to himself: the learning of ‘me’ or subject as opposed to the objects distinct from the ‘me’) notion of cause: “my arm hurts because of the table etc. notion of space notion of time: the time he spends arriving to a place , covering a distance etc. And then starts the quest for learning in two directions : knowledge of the ‘me’ and knowledge of the world. The educator ‘s role in this period is to help and permit the child to satisfy his need for physical exercise and exploration (run ,climb, jump, move around but with discipline by avoiding to allow the child to indulge in impulsive activities that may become dangerous ( the child must learn self -control) the best way to do this is to engage the child to practise physical education.). Educator’s Role  3) Language When a baby’s suffering and grief are expressed through cries, fist clenching that are sheer reflex responses , these are not conscious reactions because the baby is unable to localize, describe or dominate his physical or psychological discomfort. Then onomatopoeias and babbling appear more and more conscious till they get completely intentional and purposeful. Then imitating the sounds he hears, he organizes them in language and with practice he attains communication with his environment via language use. The baby’ s first words are a great victory to the whole family. They sign the entry of the baby into humanity for language bears two values:  The Two Values the representative value: a word labels and represents a thing and equates it which means so forth that if you have , possess the word you possess the thing. the expressive value: language is for the child a fundamental implement (tool) because language allows the child to shape to his favor the relations he has with his environment. Instead of being passive and dependant on the comprehension of what others want from him , he is able to reverse the process and get from them what he wants as soon as he is able to use the language. He becomes active and makes others react to what he says. Language enables the child to definitely distinguish between his ‘me’ and the others and this is precisely the ultimate goal of all the forces in action during prime infancy. Language  Conclusion The distinction of the ‘me’ from the others has the following results on the affective life of the child: Tendencies are no longer vague but are divided as follows: personal tendencies (greediness, property instinct ) interpersonal or social tendencies ( adults imitation, attraction to others etc.) During prime infancy, what is most noticeable is the struggle between egocentrism and social awareness or sociocentrism. The role of the educator is to help the child progressively adapt and integrate to society (socialization). 2. Early Childhood (4 - 6 years) A-First personality crisis (or negativism) In general, during this period the child is happy because he has succeeded in establishing a balance in his life with a more elaborate language and the progressive mastery of his movements with safer walking. The child’s ego starts recognizing itself an independent , conscious existence and so forth tends towards individualization in two ways: on one hand, the psychological “ego” is distinguished from the physiological “me”  ego, in psychoanalytic theory, that portion of the human personality which is experienced as the “self” or “I” and is in contact with the external world through perception. It is said to be the part that remembers, evaluates, plans, and in other ways is responsive to and acts in the surrounding physical and social world. According to psychoanalytic theory, the ego coexists with the id (said to be the agency of primitive drives) and superego (considered to be the ethical component of personality) as one of three agencies proposed by Sigmund Freud in description of the dynamics of the human mind. Early Childhood 2 or 3 to 7  on the other hand, both psychological and physical “ego” (or me) try to separate from the “others” despite their remaining heavily dependent on the others. This confrontation between the “me” and “the others” results in confusion and discomfort that is expressed through negativist attitudes towards parents in particular and around adults in general. This personality crisis is manifest mainly all throughout 4th year is said to be hard to cope with by parents because of the constant contradicting, disobeying, challenging, of the child and his will to mystify, aggress (in speech) and behave capriciously with the need to continuously attract and keep the parents attention. It is the age of the “naughty offspring”. Explanation of this behaviour is that the child during this period is busy establishing neat boundaries between himself and his environment so as to allow individualization and this is done by automatically opposing his environment. It is in fact a kind of affective self-weaning. How should the adult behave in such a case? Two things are to be avoided: a permissive attitude and an authoritative attitude  B-Frustrations, complexes and inhibitions To understand the child’s evolution during early infancy , psychology has brought a valuable contribution when revealing the essential role played by affectivity in the formation of the unconscious for the building of personality. Libido (Latin word meaning ‘desire’), the child’s live energy , needs to be satisfied for the child to attain self- realization but is stopped by physical and social constraint that limit its extension. Every time the child’s libido is stopped by banning of some sort, the child is frustrated, and his emotional or affective balance is disturbed. If balance is not recovered , then inhibition of the child’s libido occurs. Inhibitions generally result in the formation of what psychoanalysts call complexes, i.e. Oedipus complex , inferiority complex etc. These complexes should be dealt with rapidly so as not to allow their permanent implantation in the child’s personality.. Complexes are normally dealt with repression: the superego or moral conscience in formation at that age gives orders to the ego and inhibits bad tendencies Frustrations-Oedipus complex  C-Play Different psychological theories propose different explanations to play for children. For some of them, play and games exist as a recreation and as a means to rest after a working period. Others see in play a way to burn extra energy. The last part of psychologists state that playing for children is a normal activity that allows children to develop their physiological and psychological aptitudes. Play during early childhood is mainly symbolic, based on imagination. Children from four to six play father, mother, teacher, doctor; they play roles that is pretend to be what they are not yet, that is adults. Imitating adults allows them to forget their dependence on the environing adults and satisfies their need for power exertion. The need for power is in fact at the basis of the child’ opposition crisis. D-Play  E-Perception Perception is the operation of apprehension of reality. It the way through which human beings internalize the outside world. This operation , due to the lack of maturation in childhood, is a little singular in the child for it is distorted in the way the child does not perceive the world the way adults do. The child attributes a conscience to every existing thing around him. Objects are animated with bad or good willpower. The child bumps the door and attributes bad feelings to the door and want to take his revenge from it by hitting it or by making his mother punish it.  Perception at this age is characterized by illusion. The child does not make a difference between what he wants and reality. Confusion between dreams and reality is another characteristic of the child’s perception. Events the child lives in a dream may be taken for true events having occurred to the child To sum up, perception is very subjective at this stage of the child’s development.  F-Memory Memory just as perception is not mature yet and its dominant features are: 1.memory is mainly sensory, that is, it records only concrete facts 2.memory is practical, it retains the useful and the interesting 3.memory is sporadic, that is ,it does not build into coherent wholes , is rather dispersed. 4.memory is confused: it does not make the difference between the perceived and the imaginary. The child states facts that never happened. 5.memory is affective: it distorts reality under the influence of strong feelings or emotion. 6.memory is not accurate: it does not localize correctly souvenirs in time. The memory progress and maturation are linked to the language progress and to the acquisition of the notions of space and time (which are acquired gradually).  G-Attention Attention is an attitude and not an aptitude. It consists in maintaining one’s conscience receptive to one selected state or act. It consists in two forms: spontaneous attention when the child is attracted ( solicited) by a visual , aural, tactile sensation etc. It is then passive, imposed by the environment and so forth is not willful. self-willed attention is the attitude of the human being when stopping the stream of his conscience states and selecting one of them to devote itself to. Self-willed attention is active, willful, and triggered intentionally by a true internal decision; As for the child during early childhood, he is only capable of spontaneous attention.  Attention Self-willed attention Spontaneous attention  H-Egocentrism From four to six the child obviously lacks objectivity for he lives in a closed, subjective world full of very personal meanings attributed to words and phenomenist interpretation of events that are beyond his understanding abilities This subjectivism that is manifest in his behaviour and his language reveals that despite the physical distinction of the ‘me’ as opposed to the outside world operated by the child , there is still confusion between the ego and the around world psychologically speaking. (physically, distinction almost fully reached but intellectually or psychologically, confusion remains as concerns boundaries between the ego and the environment)  Effects of egocentrism on language and thought The effects of egocentrism are heavier on the language and thought of the child than on his behavior. To start with the child’s thought, the child believes that he understands and so forth stops paying attention to what is said to him. He also believes that his thought can be seen and does not feel the need to explain it As concerns the child’s language, we can term it to be mainly concrete. Words are lost in between mimics, intonation and gestures. Gestures and tone substitute to intellectual comprehension. EGOCENTRISM  I-Graphism At the end of first year the child starts scribbling. It is elaborated into drawing at the beginning of early childhood and tends towards writing at the end of early childhood. Kindergarten has the obligation to encourage and train graphic efforts of the child Child scribbling  J-Schooling If schooling really starts at six for most children, a lot of them go to kindergarten, nursery schools, day nurseries, as early as two years old. The task of the educator at the preschool level should be to: help the child solve his opposition crisis satisfy his need for playing train his perception so as to make the child apprehends the world as it really is, that is objectively. train his memory and encourage his socialization enhance and encourage the child ability for willful attention and lead the child’s attention towards definite objectives limit the extent of the child’s egocentrism and limit its effects. A wide array of exercises help the educator achieve his or her objectives among which: sensorial exercises, handy crafts, scribbling, drawing, painting, colouring etc. The end result of these exercises is that the child succeeds in concentrating his attention observation exercises of familiar objects or people that help the child become conscious of his environment and of external reality; language exercises and memorization that enrich his language and train his memory.  Opposition Crisis? The "opposition crisis" is often referred to as "oppositional defiant disorder" (ODD) in children. It's a behavioral disorder characterized by a persistent pattern of defiant, disobedient, and hostile behavior toward authority figures. While it's normal for children to exhibit oppositional behavior at times, children with ODD display these behaviors more frequently and intensely, leading to significant impairment in their social, academic, and family functioning. When children with ODD enter school, their oppositional behavior may become more noticeable and problematic. They may resist following rules, argue with teachers or peers, refuse to comply with instructions, and exhibit disruptive behaviors in the classroom. This can create challenges for both the child and the teacher in maintaining a positive learning environment.  3-Middle childhood (7 to 11) a) Socio- psychological crisis At six the child experiences one of the most influential events of his life. His entry to school. Pushed out of his habits and routine life, he is suddenly plunged into a crisis that will not be solved till 4 or 5 years later, after a long quest for a new equilibrium. The passage from a warm affectionate parental environment ( or nursery school) to the school milieu is nothing else but another brutal weaning. For sure the child has some good reasons to cry for at his first school day: he is going to miss the affection of his parents games are going to be practically entirely suppressed he will be obliged to concentrate on something else than himself he will be compelled to give his fictive, imaginary world for real world and this last ( the real world) is going to oppose him a lot of resistance. It is thanks to this opposition that the child will be able to adapt to life in community. The child’s evolution during middle childhood is marked by prominent facts that are hard to disentangle (or dissociate). Middle childhood  b) Affectivity Past the great emotions of first days of school, a certain number of changes occur in the way the child behaves. The first change that occurs is the internalization of his affectivity. The child is called by his first name and this invites him to moderate his emotions displaying. The child progressively acquires new ways and his fear of strange surroundings fades away. His impulsive temperament is not allowed in the classroom and cries are laughed at by his peers. Replacing the freedom of early childhood with work constraint, school contributes greatly to remove the child from the domination of affectivity and to develop in him self-control. Developing his self-control and thus controlling his emotive responses allows the child to become a social member of his community. Affectivity  c) Play Back home the child indulges again in his symbolic games but very soon he will quit because of a decreasing interest in such games. At school, even if he plays less, he plays nevertheless. He doesn’t play on his own but with classroom mates and play is codified along traditions that the child has to comply with. To respect the game rules means already integrating to a group. Middle Childhood Play d) From the child’s ego to the outside world: on the road to knowledge of the world. Started at birth, with the physical separation from the mother with the severing of the umbilical cord, continued throughout early childhood with weaning ( on the affective plan) the distinction between the child’ ego and his environment will be fully realized during middle childhood when the child goes to school. School is going to give the child the techniques and instruments necessary for learning. School will make the child adopt new behaviours and compels the child to explore his environment. Learning tools: the most important one is undoubtedly language and at school, the child’s language is enriched. The child also learns the written language and passes from direct symbolism: sounds --- ideas to second degree symbolism : sounds---- graphic signs ----ideas..Written language is more efficient because freed from emotion and subjectivity. At school the child acquires the ability to control his attention so as to learn and explore his milieu. Busy doing so, he forgets about himself and directs his attention to the acquisition of knowledge and techniques that will allow him to better understand and adapt in his environment. He also acquires good learning habits by trial-and-error, imitation or operant learning (S-R conditioning). The role of the teacher is to encourage good habits and correct bad ones. The world exploration: At school the child gets in a group but is not yet integrated to it. With time, he will be part of the group and is integrated in his class. Social integration is going to allow the child to develop his moral judgement but that will take a long time. The moral judgement of the child goes through definite stages explained in previous chapters.  f) Conclusion: Personality evolution From egocentrism to sociocentrism, the child acquires his self-control by inhibiting egocentric impulses and acquires a moral judgement that opens up choices for him to select according to the set of rules, traditions, and ideals he has internalized. Adolescence Adolescence psycho-converti.pdf  Adulthood: Body and Mind Adulthood, the period in the human lifespan in which full physical and intellectual maturity have been attained. Adulthood is commonly thought of as beginning at age 21 years. Middle age, commencing at about 40 years, is followed by old age at about 60 years  The Aging Process o Senescence: a gradual physical decline that is related to aging and during which the the body becomes less strong Physical appearance : Skin o Collagen /ˈkɒlədʒ(ə)n/ The main structural protein found in skin and other connective tissues) begins to decrease 1% per year beginning in early adulthood o Becomes thinner, less flexible, and wrinkles Hair – gray and thinner Fat pockets settle on the abdomen, upper arms, buttocks and chin Muscles weaken because of disuse and diminishing muscle Height - - become shorter because of spinal compression and loss of density in the back muscles,  Sense Organs Vision o Peripheral vision narrows o Color vision fades o Nearsightedness - - difficulty seeing objects at a distance - - o Farsightedness - - harder to focus on objects that are very close Hearing o Presbycusis: \ ˌprez-bi-ˈkyü-səs,/ a hearing loss that is associated with senescence (the process of becoming old) and that usually does not become apparent until late age 60 Cognition and Adulthood o The aging brain Brain slows down with age Cannot do multitasks as well Sleep is more essential Factors that make brain loss more common Drug abuse Excessive stress Poor circulation Viruses  Age and Intelligence General intelligence (g) A construct based on the idea that intelligence is one basic trait that involves all cognitive abilities, which people possess in varying amounts (Charles Spearman)  Components of Intelligence o Two Clusters: Fluid and Crystallized Fluid Intelligence Allows for quick learning Includes working memory, abstract thought, and speed of thinking  Crystallized Intelligence Accumulation.on of facts, information, and knowledge as a result of education and experience As we age, fluid intelligence declines and crystallized intelligence rises o Three Clusters: Analytic, Creative, and Practical- -( Robert Sternberg) Analytical intelligence is valuable in high school and college - - remember and analyze ideas Creative intelligence allows you to solve problems Practical intelligence helps you through your daily life  Multiple intelligences o Nine Clusters: Howard Gardner Nine intelligences Linguistic Logical – mathemati.cal Musical Spatial Bodily – kinesthetic Naturalistic Social understanding (interpersonal) Self-understanding (intrapersonal) Existential Which of these intelligences are predominant in the adult?