The technical definition of induced abortion is the removal of products of conception from the uterus of a pregnant woman. Throughout recorded history there is evidence that women have found the means to limit and space their childbearing through the use of induced abortion. Women of all identities and living in a wide variety of conditions all over the world continue to choose termination as one …
Planned Parenthood, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, provides abortion counseling at satellite offices across the country. (AP/Wide World Photos) A child who has developed good abstract reasoning skills easily uses symbols instead of concrete objects when learning new information. The beginning learner usually needs concrete aids. To represent the number "five, " for ex…
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was first discovered in the early 1980s and has now been established as the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV works by attacking the immune system, the human body's defense system that fights off foreign invaders, such as germs and bacteria. The immune systems of people with HIV are ultimately weakened to the point that illnesses…
Acting out originally referred to the psychodynamic concept of expressing repressed impulses, but now it more generally refers to maladaptive behavior exhibited by children and adolescents. Rather than coping with the resurfacing of negative emotions (i.e., anxiety, fear) associated with past traumatic experiences or a dysfunctional family environment, the child or adolescent acts out these emotio…
Activity level refers to the relative amounts of motor behavior produced by children and includes everything from a toddler's first steps to a middle-school child's skillful soccer playing. Activity level is measured in a number of ways, ranging from parental observations to computer analysis. Regardless of how it is measured, activity level is usually related to other factors, such …
Many people imagine an adolescent as being a gangly, awkward, and troublesome individual. Researchers shared this view until quite recently. This period of life (generally considered to run from age ten to age twenty-five) was seen as a time of "storm and stress." But what is adolescent development really like? Clearly it is a time of great change on many levels. Probably most dram…
Each year, tens of thousands of children are adopted in the United States. The majority of them are placed in their families through licensed adoption agencies. The remaining children are adopted privately, usually with the assistance of attorneys who serve as intermediaries between birth parents and adoptive parents. …
African-American children are individuals under the age of eighteen who include among their ancestors individuals who were forcibly brought from African countries to the Americas as slaves beginning in the early 1600s. In 1998, of the 69.9 million children in the United States, 15 percent were African American. Although the majority of poor children in the United States are of European ancestry, a…
For a variety of social and economic reasons, after-school programs are greatly needed for school-age children. Approximately 28 million children have parents who work outside the home, and most children return to an empty home after school. Studies indicate that parents find the need for these programs outweighs the current supply. Furthermore, parents support after-school programs in order to pr…
Aggression in humans remains a substantial social problem. A number of theories have been constructed to explain aggression, and much research has focused on factors that affect aggressive behavior. In the ethological approach, aggression is viewed as an instinctual system built into the organism independently of external stimuli. This aggression must be released through an appropriate releasing s…
Mary Dinsmore Salter was born on December 1, 1913, in Glendale, Ohio, the oldest daughter of Charles and Mary Salter. Charles, a successful businessman, moved his family to Toronto at the end of World War I. Their daughter Mary was a gifted child who learned to read at the age of three, and was very attached to her father. During her undergraduate years at the University of Toronto, William Blatz,…
Altruism is unselfish behavior designed to promote others' welfare regardless of harm to self. For example, non-Jewish rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust of World War II behaved altruistically. While prosocial behavior balances own and others' needs, and martyrdom risks death in support of a cause, altruism serves others without expectation of recognition. Altruism requires awaren…
American Sign Language (ASL) is a manual language that involves the use of hand configurations, facial gestures, body posture, range, direction, and movement in space to exchange meaning between people. This language is primarily used by persons who are deaf and do not use speech to communicate. Once thought of as only "pictures in the air," ASL is recognized as a true language with …
Amniocentesis is a prenatal diagnostic test in which amniotic fluid is extracted via a long thin needle inserted through the maternal abdomen into the uterus and the amniotic sac. The procedure is usually performed between the fifteenth and eighteenth week of gestation and results can be obtained nine to fourteen days later. Some major medical centers now use a procedure called Fluorescence In Sit…
Historically, psychologists have viewed femininity and masculinity as opposite poles of a continuum. The more feminine a person was, the less masculine that person could be. In the late 1990s, psychologists, including Sandra Bem, have asserted that femininity and masculinity are independent personality dimensions. Individuals, female or male, who exhibit high levels of both feminine and masculine …
Anger is the experience of extreme displeasure. It is a basic emotion that first appears when infants are three to four months old. Anger among infants is characterized by a facial expression involving eyebrows that are lowered and drawn together, eyes that are narrowed, and a mouth that is opened and angular. Angry infants also engage in an angry cry in which excess air is forced through the voca…
Antisocial behavior in children is associated with social impairment and psychological dysfunction, such as oppositional/defiant disorders, conduct disorders, and antisocial personality disorders. These disorders often involve engaging in delinquent behavior, but they are far from synonymous with criminal activity. In preschoolers, antisocial behavior can include temper tantrums, quarreling with p…
Virginia Apgar, inventor of the APGAR Score for newborn infants, was born in Westfield, New Jersey, on June 7, 1909. Having witnessed her brothers' chronic and deadly childhood illnesses, Apgar chose a career in medicine, like her father before her. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1929 after Virginia Apgar invented the APGAR Score, a method for assessing newborn infant stabil…
The APGAR scoring system is used universally in the delivery room to assess the overall health and integrity of the newborn immediately after birth. A score of zero to two is assigned in each of the five areas at one and five minutes after birth. If prolonged resuscitation is needed, scoring continues at five minute intervals until the infant is stabilized. The five areas are: Activity—from…
Apnea is a condition when breathing stops during sleep. Since common brain processes regulate both sleep and breath, respiration is controlled differently when we are awake and asleep. Breathing may stop because the brain fails to tell the muscles in the lungs to contract or expand (central apnea) or because of physical obstruction of the upper airway, with breathing muscles in the diaphragm and c…
Artificial insemination is a procedure in which sperm obtained by masturbation or other methods of mechanical stimulation are deposited in the vagina, cervix, or uterus of the female by means other than natural intercourse, with the specific intent to achieve pregnancy. Artificial insemination is a brief office procedure that may be performed using the fresh sperm of the male partner or the f…
Asian Americans are a diverse group of individuals made up of several "micro" cultures under the umbrella of a larger shared "macro" heritage. It is important to note this inner diversity—Americans of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other Asian heritages—as the various groups are at times as different as they are similar. Nonetheless, there are …
Asthma is the most common chronic illness seen in childhood, affecting 5 to 15 percent of children in the United States, approximately 3 million children younger than eighteen years of age. One-third of these children have severe asthma. Over the last twenty-five years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of asthma. Although part of this may be attributed to physicians diagnosing asthma e…
Attachment is a strong emotional tie that children develop with the special people in their lives, particularly parents. Attachment figures provide comfort to children in times of stress; in so doing, they serve as a secure base from which children explore the world. Further, attachment figures serve as a source of pleasure and joy for children. Note, however, that parents also play other importan…
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) begins in early childhood and has a significant impact on how children develop and how families function. This disorder affects how information in the brain is processed and is currently diagnosed in 3 to 5 percent of school-aged children. Children with ADHD are easily distracted, impulsive, have difficulty focusing and sustaining attention, and can…
Attention span is the degree to which a child demonstrates sustained focus on designated tasks and activities, especially in school. During the preschool and early elementary school ages, attention span varies with age, gender, and type of activity. A longer attention span is generally found in older children than in younger children, and in girls more often than in boys. Children are usually able…
Autism, a condition more precisely referred to as autistic disorder, is a lifelong developmental disability affecting social and communicative functioning. In the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV, autistic disorder is the main pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), with other disorders in the PDD classification including perva…
A child's entrance into human society begins with the onset of language development. Parents often acknowledge this accomplishment upon hearing their infant's first words. Research on early language has convinced scientists that the emergence of first words is inseparable from important developmental milestones that occur prior to the recording of these words. Pre-speech vocalization…
Albert Bandura, who proposed the most comprehensive and widely held theory of modeling, was born in Albert Bandura proposed the most comprehensive and accepted modeling theory. (Archives of the History of American Psychology) Mundane, Alberta, Canada, in 1925. He initially termed this social learning theory, but it is now identified as social cognitive theory. Bandura's early school y…
Nancy Bayley, an eminent developmental psychologist, made significant contributions to the measurement of infant intelligence and human development. Born in Dalles, Oregon, on September 28, 1899, she is best known for her work leading to the publication of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development in 1968 and the revised edition in 1993. Her career, spanning six decades, may have been influenced by …
Behavior analysis is the scientific study of how a specific observable (and therefore measurable) behavior is related to specific observable events in the environment of that behavior—events (changes in the environment) that are antecedent (prior) to and those that are consequent to the behavior in question. The behavior of all living organisms is continuously and lawfully influenced (chang…
In 1835 Belgian statistician and astronomer Lambert Quételet suggested applying statistical probabilities to quantitative trait differences between individuals. The resulting Bell Curve, a bilateral graphic with tails resembling a bell's rim, served to compare individual characteristics against those of a group. In 1869 Francis Galton (supporter of Darwin's evolutionary theory) …
Bilingual education programs in schools aim to teach students to listen, comprehend, speak, read, and write in a language other than their native tongue. This is done most effectively when use of their primary language is encouraged as well. Students in bilingual classes acquire greater skills and acquire them more quickly when they continue to practice both languages. This also increases their ef…
Alfred Binet's most significant contribution to the field of child psychology was the development of the first intelligence test. Binet was born in Nice, France, in 1857. He received a law degree in 1878 but became interested in the field of psychology in 1880. Binet did not receive any formal graduate training in psychology. His first appointment was in a French laboratory, the Salêpt…
Throughout the animal kingdom, birth is universally recognized as a miracle of renewal where, once again, a life begins. While humans are better than ever at saving the lives of even the smallest newborn, the whole process of birth is one of amazing change and brings finality to nine months of preparation. …
A birth defect is an abnormality, present at birth, of the structure, function, or metabolism of a part of the body. Almost 150,000 babies are born each year with a birth defect. There are more than 4,000 known birth defects, which, when taken together, are the leading cause of infant death in the United States. …
Birth order is defined as the science or method of understanding the dynamics of an individual's place in the family. A large amount of research has been conducted on birth order, also known as ordinal birth position. Birth order has fascinated parents, physicians, and others for over one hundred years, in part because everyone is a participant. Everyone is born into a family and thus are a…
