When babies are born, they are not able to move much on their own. Over time, a baby learns to move many parts of its body and control its muscles so it can hold its head up, sit up by itself, stand up, or pick up a toy. The process of motor development, however, does not happen overnight. Like many things, learning about the body and making it move takes time. Motor development is the process of …
In natural childbirth, birth takes place with no medical intervention. Medical interventions during childbirth include: giving anesthesia for pain; giving other drugs such as Pitocin to speed up labor; performing an episiotomy, in which the perineum or the area between a woman's vagina and anus is cut, ostensibly to reduce tearing in that area; and attaching an electrode to the baby'…
Naturalistic observation is a technique used to collect behavioral data in real-life situations as opposed to laboratory or other controlled settings. This technique is most useful when little is known about the matter under consideration. Underlying the interpretation of data obtained through this procedure is the assumption that the investigator did not interfere with the natural order of the si…
The term "neonate" is defined as any infant up to the age of twenty-eight days (i.e., through 27 days, 23 hours, and 59 minutes from the moment of birth). The neonatal period represents the end stage of newborn development that spans the entire time before birth (prenatal), starting with the fertilized embryo. Early embryonic development is described in stages that correspond to time…
Food and nutrition are at the heart of the normal growth and development of children. Without the nutrients that food provides, new tissue, skin, muscle, and bones cannot be added to the body and old parts cannot be repaired. At each of the four stages of childhood, different nutrition issues are priorities. …
American culture values thinness. From supermodels to laptop computers, the American public equates thinness with beauty; yet, the prevalence of obesity in the United States is higher than at any time in history. Estimates of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in the United States have doubled since the 1970s, to almost 25 percent in 2001. Once obesity develops in childhood or a…
Object permanence refers to a set of commonsense beliefs about the nature, properties, and behavior of animate and inanimate objects. The first belief is that objects are permanent entities that exist continuously and independently of one's immediate actions on or perceptions of them. The second and third beliefs stipulate that objects are stable entities whose properties and behavior remai…
Observational learning is a powerful means of social learning. It principally occurs through the cognitive processing of information displayed by models. The information can be conveyed verbally, textually, and auditorially, and through actions either by live or symbolic models such as television, movies, and the Internet. Regardless of the medium used to present the modeled activities, the same p…
Parallel play (or parallel activity) is a term that was introduced by Mildred Parten in 1932 to refer to a developmental stage of social activity in which children play with toys like those the children around them are using but are absorbed in their own activity and usually play beside rather than with one another. Children in this stage may comment on what they are doing or imitate what another …
In two significant articles on parenting, W. Andrew Collins and his colleagues, writing in American Psychologist, and Eleanor Maccoby, writing in Annual Review of Psychology, both noted that an enormous body of literature supports the important role of parents in shaping the development of children. Collins and his colleagues and Maccoby were responding in part to the contention of Judith Harris, …
Parental leave refers to the time taken off from work by employees to care for their children. The term is more inclusive than maternity or paternity leave in that it covers both mothers and fathers. By allowing either parent time off from work, employers offer families more options as to which parent will care for the child and which one will continue to be the wage earner. Prior to August of 199…
Parenting is the process by which adults socialize the infants, children, and adolescents in their care. Methods such as monitoring, emotional closeness, discipline, control, and demands are used to shape society's younger members so that they behave appropriately for their future role in society. Parenting is at once both a careful dance between child and parent and a process that is heavi…
Personality psychology is considered the study of individual differences in behavior—how individuals behave differently from one another in various situations. Developmental personality psychologists are interested in understanding the ways individuals develop their unique patterns of responding to the environment based on genetic endowments and social histories. Also of interest is identif…
Pets are a ready source of companionship, comfort, and unconditional love for children, and they contribute to a child's emotional and physical well-being. As children care for pets, they learn about responsibility, friendship, sharing, and empathy toward both animals and humans. Studies have shown that pets also have a therapeutic value. Some hospitals have pet-assisted therapy programs th…
Phenotypes are the physical characteristics, such as eye color, displayed by an individual. Phenotype, often used in relation to specific variable characteristics or disease states manifested by an individual, contains no information about the underlying genetic determinants of the characteristics. The genotype contains the genetic information that is used to determine the range of potential pheno…
Phenylketonuria (pku) is due to a deficiency of phenylalanine hydroxylase, the enzyme that converts phenylalanine to tyrosine. High levels of phenylala-nine accumulate in the body resulting in severe mental retardation, seizures, and a musty odor. PKU is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder. The incidence is 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 12,000 live births. PKU is detected on newborn screens, which are m…
Physical growth usually refers to changes in size or mass; so it is correct to say that a child grows in stature (height) or body weight. Even though most people usually think of growth at the level of the whole child, the cells and internal structures that make up the child also grow, primarily by increasing in number or size. Consequently, auxologists (those who study child growth) may be intere…
Jean Piaget's scientific career began at the age of eleven with the publication of a brief notice on an albino sparrow and lasted nearly seventy-five years, resulting in more than sixty books and five hundred articles. Although often referred to as a child psychologist, Piaget was trained as a zoologist and considered himself an epistemologist (a person who studies the nature and developmen…
The placenta is a disk-shaped organ that serves as the interface for maternal and fetal exchange of materials. It is formed early in pregnancy when the outer cell layer that envelops the developing embryo, the chorion, fuses with the uterine wall forming fingerlike projections called chorionic villi. Each villus, surrounded by a pool of maternal blood, contains a network of fetal capillaries throu…
All children play. From the infant squealing in delight during a game of peek-a-boo to the older child playing a game of basketball, children of all ages play and they play in all kinds of ways. Play is recognized as an important part of a child's development. In fact, it is an important topic of study in many different disciplines. In the field of early childhood special education, play is…
The postpartum period is a time of unrivaled demands and unique stresses, and is a developmentally challenging time for new parents even in the best of circumstances. During a normal postpartum experience, it is not unusual for new parents to experience heightened family and family-of-origin issues associated with the transition to parenthood. For example, adjustments usually need to be made in ar…
One of every five children in the United States lives in a family with income below the official poverty level, despite general agreement that this poverty threshold ($14,630 in 2001 for a family of three) is out of date and too low when considering current housing costs and other family expenditures (e.g., child care, health care). Arloc Sherman of the Children's Defense Fund reports that …
Pregnancy is one of the most important watershed events in a woman's life. Some regard the nine-month gestation as one of the happiest times in their lives, others as the most arduous test of patience that they have ever experienced. It is certain, however, that from both a physical and personal perspective, a woman is undeniably changed by this event. What follows is basic information rega…
Premature infants are those who are born too soon, that is, born before the normal length of time in pregnancy that is typically needed for a fetus to develop, mature, and thrive postnatally. The average length of pregnancy is thirty-nine to forty weeks, which is the approximate duration of pregnancy needed for the fetus to reach full development and maturity. Infants delivered between the thirty-…
Prenatal care refers to medical care and other health-related services offered during pregnancy to ensure the well-being of the mother and her future offspring. Medical visits for prenatal care follow the pattern recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): an initial visit in the first trimester, one visit every four weeks through twenty-eight weeks of gestationa…
The end result of a successful pregnancy is that miracle called a child, which begins as a simple zygote and becomes a fertilized ovum during the first of three stages, or trimesters, of prenatal development. During the nine months, or approximately 266 days, of prenatal development, the zygote divides into billions of cells, which eventually become differentiated from one another while new system…
Most children begin their formal schooling at the age of five or six. Many children, however, have experience with organized educational programs before that time. Indeed, these "preschool" programs are quite popular in today's society. This article briefly reviews the history of preschool programs in the United States, differences in the philosophies guiding such programs, th…
The term prosocial behavior describes acts that demonstrate a sense of empathy, caring, and ethics, including sharing, cooperating, helping others, generosity, praising, complying, telling the truth, defending others, supporting others with warmth and affection, nurturing and guiding, and even the altruistic act of risking one's life to warn or aid another. Because many of these behaviors …
Puberty is the time of life in which physical and hormonal changes take place in the body making it capable of reproduction. It occurs primarily during early adolescence. Changes can begin as early as age nine or as late as age seventeen. Nutrition, health, and genetic factors determine when a child starts puberty. Girls usually start puberty earlier than boys. First changes are internal; external…
Discussing racial differences in the field of psychology is problematic. The term "race" can be defined as a distinct biological group of people who share inherited physical and cultural traits that are different from the shared traits in other races. By definition, therefore, race implies racial differences. No scientific basis exists for notions of racial differences as biological,…
Reading can be an activity of extremes; either a person read or he cannot. What has to happen to be able to read? Why is it easy for some children and difficult for others? Reading is not an unlearned skill, such as talking, that starts developing at birth. The ability to read and write does not develop by itself; a child needs instruction to be able to read. When and where should that reading ins…
A reflex is an involuntary or unlearned response to some type of stimulus. For example, when the cheek of a newborn child is stroked, she will turn toward the direction of the stimulation. This is the rooting reflex. There are many of these reflexes that are present at birth, most of which tend to disappear within the first year of life. While the purpose of such reflexes as rooting and sucking is…
Reinforcement generally refers to the increase or strengthening of a particular response following the delivery or removal of a stimulus or event. Given that this is perhaps the most fundamental process in operant learning theory, it is critical to understand the difference between positive and negative reinforcement. Simply stated, positive reinforcement involves the presentation or delivery of s…
From the earliest stages of birth through adolescence, religion can play a role in providing a framework for a child's life and world view. A strong religious background can help children and adults individually and together answer life's most significant questions, respond to difficult challenges, and make important decisions. Religion conveys a sense of the sacred or holy, often re…
Reproductive technologies encompass a group of clinical laboratory procedures involving the extracorporeal (occurring outside the body) manipulation of gametes (eggs and sperm) and developing embryos to assist in the achievement of fertilization, implantation, and pregnancy. Common procedures to assist fertilization include: artificial insemination, in which sperm are physically introduced into th…
Resilience is a descriptive name given to unexpectedly positive outcomes in the face of negative predictors for child development. The unexpectedness of the outcomes appears to have influenced at least three of the major researchers in the field. While tracking children of drug-addicted women in London, Michael Rutter is reported to have doubted his study when he found that at least one-fourth of …
Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a disorder of lung function frequently affecting premature infants. Infants born at less than thirty-two weeks gestation are at the highest risk. RDS is caused by the inability of immature lungs to produce sufficient amounts of the chemical surfactant. Without surfactant, the small air sacks of the lungs collapse, resulting in poor exchange of oxygen and resp…
