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perspectives on child development - Coggle Diagram
perspectives on child development
psychological
how the mind, brain and behaviour change during childhood
describes something more genera that individual experiences
aims to be more than a description of the facts and offer causal explanations of why things are this way
a good understanding of cause and effect saves time and resources by targeting the thing that brings the biggest impact
simple curiosity of wanting to know how something works: answer is reward
aims to describe and explain the way things are, not how they should be
understand the nature of the problem
scientific approach tries to build good explanations
children develop incrementally, with later-acquired skills built on earlier ones
look 'up' a level towards environmental influences
look 'down' a level towards biology
how children change, adapt, and grow need to know how these levels relate
children are active participants in their own development
anthropological
explores how children around the world are similar and different
asks 'what makes us human?'
children are recipients in diversity and vital in maintaining it
thinking dualistically (black and white) encourages us to abandon this way of thinking
children born with potential to...
acquire language
acquire cultural norms
form emotional attachments
notions of a child and childhood vary with place and time: important biological, psychological, and cultural differences
stages of life are phased and take place on gradual timescales
traditional symbol of child/adult boundary is marriage
often straddles legal and social definitions
evolutionary
how the mind is adapted to solve problems that were significant for long periods of human history
evolution by natural selection (Darwin, 1856)
challenges such as avoiding predators, getting food, finding a partner
first walked the planet used to be called 'hunter-gathering'
modern world of agriculture, cities and industry
evolved to 'expect' certain types of environments or adapted to solve particular problems
psychological adaptation
e.g. variation in how mothers care for their infants
humans have a very long period of immaturity compared with other species
if we behaved like other animals, women would give birth every year, average 6-year-old would be a grandparent
(Pontzer, 2021)
distant ancestors developed more neurons in the cortex
(Herculano-Houzel, 2019)
responsible for complex skills like learning, problem-solving, and decision-making
made us able to adjust to harsh unpredictable environments
plays role in supporting basic life-support systems
started living longer
more neurons, more you can afford to lose before vital functions start to fail
can occur when there is difference between the environment a trait was adapted for and one that it was not
maturation of the body and reproductive systems
psychological and behavioural changes
evolutionary mismatches =
differences between the expected environment and the ones that children find themselves in today
humans and chimpanzees share 3 stages of development...
infancy - from birth to weaning
juvenile - must generally fend for themselves
adulthood - become sexually mature
humans added childhood and adolescence
humans have evolved social skills that help children survive and thrive in groups
brain steals energy during early years which slows down growth in rest of body
(Pontzer, 2021)
more time spent fueling brains meant less time looking after infants
mothers needed help from fathers, friends, aunts, and particularly grandmothers
(Hawkes et al, 1998)