Lakhasly

The questions just listed are not just of scientific interest.If, on the other hand, you are convinced of the supreme importance of early experience, then you would intervene as soon as possible, offering high-quality stimulation and support to ensure that children develop at their best.Other theorists, taking a more opti mistic view, see development as having substantial plasticity throughout life-as open to change in response to influential experiences (Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006; Lerner & Overton, 2008; Lester, Masten, & McEwen, 2006).And a growing number regard heredity and environment as inseparably interwoven, each affecting the potential of the other to modify the child's traits and capaci ties (Cole, 2006; Gottlieb, Wahlsten, & Lickliter, 2006; Lerner, 2006; Rutter, 2007).Hallmarks of this period are improved athletic abilities; partici pation in organized games with rules; more logical thought processes; mastery of fundamen tal reading, writing, math, and other academic knowledge and skills; and advances in under standing the self, morality, and friendship.For many contemporary youths in industrialized nations, the transition to adult roles has become increasingly prolonged-so much so that some researchers have posited a new period of development called emerging adulthood, which spans ages 18 to 25.Because of the need to solve everyday problems concerning children, researchers from psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, and neuroscience have joined forces with professionals from educa tion, family studies, medicine, public health, and social service-to name just a few.Periods of Development

Besides distinguishing and integrating the three domains, another dilemma arises in discuss ing development: how to divide the flow of time into sensible, manageable parts.2.3.4.5.

The questions just listed are not just of scientific interest. Each has applied, or practical, importance as well. In fact, scientific curiosity is just one factor that led child development to become the exciting field of study it is today. Research about development has also been stimulated by social pressures to improve the lives of children. For example, the beginning of public education in the early twentieth century led to a demand for knowledge about what and how to teach children of different ages. Pediatricians' interest in improving children's health required an understanding of physical growth and nutrition. The social service pro fession's desire to treat children's anxieties and behavior problems required information about personality and social development. And parents have continually sought advice about child-rearing practices and experiences that would promote their children's development and well-being.

Our large storehouse of information about child development is interdisciplinary. It has grown through the combined efforts of people from many fields. Because of the need to solve everyday problems concerning children, researchers from psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, and neuroscience have joined forces with professionals from educa tion, family studies, medicine, public health, and social service-to name just a few. The field of child development, as it exists today, is a monument to the contributions of these many disciplines. Its body of knowledge is not just scientifically important but also relevant and useful.

Domains of Development

To make the vast, interdisciplinary study of human constancy and change more orderly and convenient, development is often divided into three broad domains: physical, cognitive, and emotional and social. Refer to Figure 1.1 for a description and illustration of each. In this book, we will largely consider the domains of development in the order just mentioned. Yet the domains are not really distinct. Rather, they combine in an integrated, holistic fash ion to yield the living, growing child. Furthermore, each domain influences and is influ enced by the others. For example, in Chapter 4, you will see that new motor capacities, such as reaching, sitting, crawling, and walking (physical), contribute greatly to infants under standing of their surroundings (cognitive). When babies think and act more competently, adults stimulate them more with games, language, and expressions of delight at their new achievements (emotional and social). These enriched experiences, in turn, promote all

aspects of development. You will encounter instances of the interwoven nature of all domains on almost every page of this book. In the margins of the text, you will find occasional Look and Listen activities-opportunities for you to see everyday illustrations of development by observ ing what real children say and do or by attending to everyday influences on children. Through these experiences, I hope to make your study of development more authentic and meaningful Also, look for the Ask Yourself feature at the end of major sections, designed to deepen your understanding. Within it, I have included Review questions, which help you recall and think about information you have just read; Connect questions, which help you form a coherent, unified picture of child development; Apply questions, which encourage you to apply your knowledge to controversial issues and problems faced by parents, teachers, and children; and Reflect questions, which invite you to reflect on your own development and that of people you know well.

Periods of Development

Besides distinguishing and integrating the three domains, another dilemma arises in discuss ing development: how to divide the flow of time into sensible, manageable parts. Researchers usually use the following age periods, as each brings new capacities and social expectations that serve as important transitions in major theories:

1. 
   

   The prenatal period: from conception to birth. In this nine-month period, the most rapid time of change, a one-celled organism is transformed into a human baby with remark able capacities for adjusting to life in the surrounding world.

   
   


2. 
   

   Infancy and toddlerhood: from birth to 2 years. This period brings dramatic changes in the body and brain that support the emergence of a wide array of motor, perceptual, and intellectual capacities; the beginnings of language; and first intimate ties to others. Infancy spans the first year; toddlerhood spans the second, during which children take their first independent steps, marking a shift to greater autonomy.

   
   


3. 
   

   Early childhood: from 2 to 6 years. The body becomes longer and leaner, motor skills are refined, and children become more self-controlled and self-sufficient. Make-believe play blossoms, supporting every aspect of psychological development. Thought and language expand at an astounding pace, a sense of moral ity becomes evident, and children establish ties with peers.

   
   


4. 
   

   Middle childhood: from 6 to 11 years. Children learn about the wider world and master new responsibilities that increasingly resemble those they will perform as adults. Hallmarks of this period are improved athletic abilities; partici pation in organized games with rules; more logical thought processes; mastery of fundamen tal reading, writing, math, and other academic knowledge and skills; and advances in under standing the self, morality, and friendship.

   
   


5. 
   

   Adolescence: from 11 to 18 years. This period initi ates the transition to adulthood. Puberty leads to an adult-sized body and sexual maturity. Thought becomes abstract and idealistic, and schooling is increasingly directed toward preparation for higher education and the world of work. Young people begin to establish autonomy from the family and to define personal values and goals.

   
   

For many contemporary youths in industrialized nations, the transition to adult roles has become increasingly prolonged-so much so that some researchers have posited a new period of development called emerging adulthood, which spans ages 18 to 25. Although emerging adults have moved beyond adolescence, they have not yet fully assumed adult roles. Rather, during higher education and sometimes beyond, these young people intensify their exploration of options in love, career, and personal values before making enduring commitments. Because emerging adulthood first became apparent during the past few decades, researchers have just begun to study it (Arnett, 2007; Arnett & Tanner, 2006). Per haps it is your period of development. In later chapters, we will touch on milestones of emerging adulthood, which build on adolescent attainments. To find out more about this period, consult the mini-chapter entitled "Emerging Adulthood," available as an online supplement to this text.

With this introduction in mind, let's turn to some basic issues that have captivated, puzzled, and sparked debate among child development theorists. Then our discussion will trace the emergence of the field and survey major theories.

Basic Issues

Research on child development did not begin until the late nineteenth and early twenti eth centuries. But ideas about how children grow and change have a much longer history. As these speculations combined with research, they inspired the construction of theories of development. A theory is an orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior. For example, a good theory of infant-caregiver attachment would (1) describe the behaviors of babies around 6 to 8 months of age as they seek the affection and comfort of a familiar adult, (2) explain how and why infants develop this strong desire to bond with a caregiver, and (3) predict the consequences of this emotional bond for future relationships.

Theories are vital tools for two reasons. First, they provide organizing frameworks for our observations of children. In other words, they guide and give meaning to what we see. Second, theories that are verified by research often serve as a sound basis for practical action. Once a theory helps us understand development, we are in a much better position to know how to improve the welfare and treatment of children. As we will see later, theories are influenced by cultural values and belief systems of their times. But theories differ in one important way from mere opinion and belief: A theory's continued existence depends on scientific verification. This means that the theory must be tested using a fair set of research procedures agreed on by the scientific community, and its findings must endure, or be replicated over time. (We will consider research strategies in Chapter 2.)

Within the field of child development, many theories offer very different ideas about

what children are like and how they change. The study of child development provides no ultimate truth because investigators do not always agree on the meaning of what they see. Also, children are complex beings; they change physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially. No single theory has explained all these aspects. But the existence of many theories helps advance knowledge as researchers continually try to support, contradict, and integrate these different points of view. Although there are many theories, we can easily organize them by looking at the stand they take on three basic issues: (1) Is the course of development continuous or discontinu

ous? (2) Does one course of development characterize all children, or are there many pos sible courses? (3) What are the roles of genetic and environmental factors-nature and nurture-in development? Let's look closely at each of these issues.

Continuous or Discontinuous Development?

Recently, the mother of 20-month-old Angelo reported to me with amazement that her young son had pushed a toy car across the living room floor while making a motorlike sound, "Brmmmm, brmmmm," for the first time. When he hit a nearby wall with a bang, Angelo let go of the car, exclaimed, “C'ash," and laughed heartily.

"How come Angelo can pretend, but he couldn't a few months ago?” his mother asked. "And I wonder what 'Brrmmmm, brmmmm' and ‘Crash! mean to Angelo? Does he under stand motorlike sounds and collision the same way I do?"

Angelo's mother has raised a puzzling issue about development: How can we best describe the differences in capacities and behavior among small infants, young children, adolescents, and adults? As Figure 1.2 illustrates, major theories recognize two possibilities. One view holds that infants and preschoolers respond to the world in much the same

way as adults do. The difference between the immature and the mature being is simply one of amount or complexity. For example, little Angelo's thinking might be just as logical and well-organized as our own. Perhaps (as his mother reports) he can sort objects into simple categories, recognize whether he has more of one kind than another, and remember where he left his favorite toy at child care the week before. Angelo's only limitation may be that he cannot perform these skills with as much infor mation and precision as we can. If this is so, then Angelo's development is continuous-a process of gradually adding more of the same types of skills that were there to begin with.

According to a second view, Ange lo's thoughts, emotions, and behavior differ considerably from those of adults. His development is discontinuous-a process in which new ways of under standing and responding to the world emerge at specific times. From this perspective, Angelo is not yet able to organize objects or remember and interpret experiences as we do. Instead, he will move through a series of developmental steps, each with unique features, until he reaches the high est level of functioning. Theories that accept the discontinuous perspective regard development as taking place

in stages-qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterize specific periods of development. In stage theories, development is much like climbing a staircase, with each step corresponding to a more mature, reorganized way of functioning. The stage concept also assumes that children undergo periods of rapid transformation as they step up from one stage to the next, alternating with plateaus during which they stand solidly within

a stage. In other words, change is fairly sudden rather than gradual and ongoing. Does development actually occur in a neat, orderly sequence of stages? This ambitious assumption has faced significant challenges. Later in this chapter, we will review some influ ential stage theories.

One Course of Development or Many?

Stage theorists assume that people everywhere follow the same sequence of development. For example, in the domain of cognition, a stage theorist might try to identify the common influences that lead children to represent their world through language and make-believe play in early childhood, to think more logically in middle childhood, and to reason more systematically and abstractly in adolescence.

At the same time, the field of child development is becoming increasingly aware that children grow up in distinct contexts-unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change. For example, a shy child who fears social encounters develops in very different contexts from those of a sociable agemate who readily seeks out other people (Kagan, 2003, 2008). Children in non-Western village societies encounter experiences in their families and communities that differ sharply from those of chil dren in large Western cities. These different circumstances foster differ ent cognitive capacities, social skills, and feelings about the self and others (Shweder et al., 2006).

As you will see, contemporary theorists regard the contexts that mold development as many-layered and complex. On the personal side, these include heredity and biological makeup. On the environmental side, they include both immediate settings-home, child-care center, school, and neighborhood-and circumstances that are more remote from children's everyday lives: community resources, societal values and priorities, and historical time period. Finally, researchers today are more conscious than ever before of cultural diversity in development.

Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture?

In addition to describing the course of development, each theory takes a stand on a major question about its underlying causes: Are genetic or environmental factors more important in influencing development? This is the age-old nature-nurture controversy. By nature, we mean inborn biological givens-the hereditary information we receive from our par ents at the moment of conception. By nurture, we mean the complex forces of the physical and social world that influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences before and after birth.

Although all theories grant roles to both nature and nurture, they vary in emphasis. Consider the following questions: Is the older child's ability to think in more complex ways largely the result of an inborn timetable of growth, or is it primarily influenced by stimulation from parents and teachers? Do children acquire language because they are genetically predisposed to do so or because parents intensively teach them from an early age? And what accounts for the vast individual differences among children-in height, weight, physical coordination, intelligence, personality, and social skills? Is nature or nurture more responsible?

A theory's position on the roles of nature and nurture affects how it explains individual differences. Some theorists emphasize stability—that children who are high or low in a char acteristic (such as verbal ability, anxiety, or sociability) will remain so at later ages. These theorists typically stress the importance of heredity. If they regard environment as important, they usually point to early experiences as establishing a lifelong pattern of behavior. Powerful negative events in the first few years, they argue, cannot be fully overcome by later, more positive ones (Bowlby, 1980; Johnson, 2000; Sroufe, 2005). Other theorists, taking a more opti mistic view, see development as having substantial plasticity throughout life-as open to change in response to influential experiences (Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006; Lerner & Overton, 2008; Lester, Masten, & McEwen, 2006).

Throughout this book, you will see that investigators disagree, often sharply, on the question of stability versus plasticity. Their answers have great applied significance. If you believe that development is largely due to nature, then providing experiences aimed at pro moting change would seem to be of little value. If, on the other hand, you are convinced of the supreme importance of early experience, then you would intervene as soon as possible, offering high-quality stimulation and support to ensure that children develop at their best. Finally, if you think that environment is profoundly influential throughout develop ment, you would provide assistance any time children or adolescents face difficulties, in the belief that, with the help of favorable life circumstances, they can recover from early nega

tive events.

A Balanced Point of View

So far, we have discussed the basic issues of child development in terms of extremes-solu tions favoring one side or the other. But as we trace the unfolding of the field in the rest of this chapter, you will see that the positions of many theorists have softened. Today, some theorists believe that both continuous and discontinuous changes occur. Many acknowledge that development has both universal features and features unique to each individual and his or her contexts. And a growing number regard heredity and environment as inseparably interwoven, each affecting the potential of the other to modify the child's traits and capaci ties (Cole, 2006; Gottlieb, Wahlsten, & Lickliter, 2006; Lerner, 2006; Rutter, 2007). We will discuss these new ideas about nature and nurture in Chapter 3.

Finally, as you will see later in this book, the relative impact of early and later experi ences varies greatly from one domain of development to another and even—as the Biology and Environment box on pages 10–11 indicates-across individuals! Because of the complex network of factors contributing to human change and the challenge of isolating the effects of each, many theoretical viewpoints have gathered research support. Although debate contin ues, this circumstance has also sparked more balanced visions of child development.