The Nature of Development

It is obvious how careers in medicine, home economics, public health, social work, and education might contribute to world- architecture, engineering, economics, marketing, information systems, business, and hospitality might need to reflect more deeply to anticipate the potential contribution that could be made by their chosen profession. Source: http://www. Eunice. Org/car/car. HTML 3. Public Policy Advocates Many of the contemporary concerns described by Contracts are being addressed by organizations that advocate for policies aimed at improving the lives of children around the world.

Use the Internet to obtain information about the current issues being addressed by such organizations as: ; March of Dimes (http://www. Modems. Org/) ; Children's Defense Fund (http://www. Eunice. Org/) www. Eunice. Org/) ; EUNICE (http Students need to be familiar with the criteria for evaluating Web sites. They are certain to locate numerous organizations who proclaim to have the "best interest of the child" at heart, but that may may advocate policies that are self-serving for specific segments of the population. 4.

Research Pioneers as People Students often find that when they learn more about the personal lives and passions f researchers and child advocates, they understand why their theories, research, or policy work developed followed certain paths. A monograph of the Society for Research in Child Development (1976? ) provides excellent examples of personal stories from the lives of prominent American psychologists such as John Watson. It also includes rich with stories of people who were passionate about improving the lives of young children and whose work helped shape the field of child development.

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Review the monograph and select stories that you believe your students can relate to. Then encourage students to have confidence that their own passions and interests provide energy for revising theory, furthering research, and promoting child advocacy. Reference: Seen, M. (1976? ). Insights on the child development movement in the United States. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. 5. Ontogeny Does Not Recapitulate Phylogeny Development of individual children (ontogeny) is a continuous process that occurs in the context of a wider culture that is also changing continuously.

In the 19th century appealing, explanation of development. This perspective held that the process of development is one in which the embryos of all species pass through the adult forms f their evolutionary ancestors on the way to maturity. Further, the view purports that only at maturity can new capabilities be added. From this perspective, the sequence of developmental stages as experienced by each child repeats the sequence in which humankind evolved. For example, after learning to crawl, the young child walks on all four limbs before developing the ability to stand and walk in an upright position.

Likewise, cognitive skills develop from a primitive level that involves responding to sensory stimulation, and this can be viewed as parallel to a human in the primitive stages of evolution. The acquisition of abstract thought occurred late in evolutionary history, and it is the last level mastered by in individuals as they develop. This view of development was expressed by the phrase "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. " This view was later found to be untenable.

As early as 1828, von Bear presented four laws by which development could be described, and his account was ample to refute the "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny' thesis. In essence, von Bear (1828) pointed out that at any time during the continuous developmental process of differentiation and organization, new structures could arise. Yet, in the early sass's, G. Stanley Hall used the outdated metaphor to explain adolescent development. Because of its intuitive appeal, fragments of the view continue to be seen in stage-related explanations of development.

Students need to be aware of this outdated philosophy so as to not be tempted to explain behavioral development as simply a stage-related phenomenon that will be lost when the "primitive" urges are discarded in order to become "more human" or to attain the "higher self. " As intuitively appealing as this theory is, scientific studies have revealed that the principle is not sufficient for explaining the epigenetic process of development. Source: Cairns, R. B. (1998). The making of developmental psychology. In W. Damon (De. ), Handbook of child psychology (5th De. , Volvo. 2, up. 25-105). New York: John Wiley. 6.

Play and Culture Play is a key factor in cultural evolution, according to a famous Dutch historian, Johan Hazing. In his classic book, titled Homo eludes: The play element in culture, the term homo eludes refers to "human the player," in contrast to homo sapiens, which means "human the knower," and homo Faber, "human the maker. " Hissing's main thesis is that "civilization arises and unfolds in and as play' (p. ). This perspective holds that play is one of the main bases of civilization, because the freedom in play allows humans to go beyond things as they currently exist and to create new forms that later become part of the culture.

He holds that myths have the instinctive forces from which civilization originates. What are the forms that are created as play? They are " .. .Law and order, commerce and profit, craft and art, poetry, wisdom and science" (p. 5). In Hissing's words, "Once played, it endures as a new-found creation of the mind, a treasure to be retained by the memory' (up. 9-10). Hazing (p. 13) listed the formal characteristics of play as: ; An activity that absorbs the player intensely ; Not carried out for any material interest or profit ; Bounded in time and space (e. . , playground or circle, turf, golf course, chessboard). ; Having fixed rules and occurring in an orderly manner ; Promoting social groupings that may be secret or disguised (e. G. , disguises, costumes, team uniform). Hazing indicated that all society can be viewed as a game if we accept the game as the living "principles of all civilization" (p. 100). Moreover, he stated: ". In the absence of the play-spirit civilization is impossible" (p. 101). For example, war can be viewed as a form of play or contest used to settle disputes.

And, even wars have rules for civil conduct. Thus, civilized nations at war agree on the rules that must be followed. If these conventions break down (I. E. , the game is not played by the rules), civilization breaks down, according to Hazing. As another example of how contests became formalized and later institutionalized, Hazing recounts the development of the university. The word playground is derived from the Latin word meaning campus. School is derived from a Greek word for scholar that referred to leisure. Scholars beat opponents in the contest by using reason.

What was once a riddle presented by a master to a student is represented (re-presented) in contemporary society as tests and exams that are regarded as sacred rituals in educational institutions, but which bear no resemblance to the playful activities from which they arose. Hissing's critics believe his ideas reflected an "elitist" perspective derived from images of the leisure class that is relatively free from stress and toil, and therefore free to play. His propositions are documented with "selected" examples from a diverse societies rather than scientific observation.

Yet, keen sensitivity to aesthetic elements in culture makes the book a classic piece of literature in the field of human development. It is a source of stimulating ideas that provoke reflective thinking about the place of individual development in the large scheme of cultural evolution. Thomas Hendricks (1999) provided a scholarly analysis of Homo eludes and concluded that "Hissing's true contribution to modern thought lies more in the questions he asks than in the answers he provides" (p. 8). Sources: Hendricks, T. (1999, February). Hissing's legacy.

Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for the Study of Play, Contestant Fee, NM; Hazing, J. (1838/1955). Homo eludes: A study of the play-element in culture. Boston: Beacon Press. Many students believe that Sigmund Freud was the first to propose the importance of the unconscious, sexuality and aggression, and human irrationality when, actually, the philosophers of his time shared these ideas. Three of his contemporaries are noted below. ; Arthur Schopenhauer was a 19th-century philosopher who believed that people ere irrational beings guided by internal forces of which they possessed only vague awareness.

Schopenhauer also believed that sexual behavior was governed by a primary, primitive drive for copulation. ; Nineteenth-century philosopher Eduardo von Hartmann believed that the unconscious mind influenced everyday behavior. ; Frederica Nietzsche believed that human beings operated by self-deception. He also stated that the biological drives of sex and aggression distorted all conscious thought. Sources: Hogan, R. (1986). What every student should know about personality psychology. In V. P. Moisakos, The G. Stanley Hall Lecture Series, Volvo. 6. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Stanley Hall (1846-1924) About the psychologist: Although the word adolescence has ancient roots in the Latin word for growth, the word itself is a 20th-century phenomenon-?it was coined by G. Stanley Hall, who is considered the founder of adolescent psychology. Hall believed that adolescence was a stormy and stressful developmental stage; current research suggests that a minority of the adolescent population has a "stormy adolescence. " Hall is also remembered for his experimental work in child development, and for inhering the study of aging with a book written when he was nearly 80 years old.

Although he began his research with case studies, Hall knew he needed large numbers of subjects in order to have representative data. To acquire the necessary data, Hall devised the questionnaire method, now an important research method in all the social sciences. Although best known for his study of children and teenagers, Hall was important to the whole of psychology and was one of the founders of the American Psychological Association. Here are some quotes from Hall's Adolescence (1904): "The teens are emotionally unstable and pathetic.

It is a natural impulse to experience hot and preferred psychic states, and it is characterized by emotionalism. " "Normal children often pass through stages of passionate cruelty, laziness, lying and 2. The Concepts of Development and Interaction One of the ways in which developmental psychology is distinct from other areas in psychology is its focus on a special kind of behavioral and psychological change. Developmental change is said to be different from other types of change such as learning and maturation. Give a lecture that explores the nature of developmental change, its causes, and what extinguishes it from other types of change.

Although there are different views about what characterizes developmental change, consider these four features: developmental change (a) is orderly; (b) is relatively long lasting; (c) produces something that is new or qualitatively different from what was present earlier; and (d) results in superior functioning. Elaborate and exemplify each of these points with brief descriptions of material that you will cover in the course. Motor development is an excellent vehicle, as are Piglet's theory and material on language development. After characterizing development, discuss causes of development.

Consider these possibilities: (a) heredity; (b) biological maturation; (c) psychological change; and (d) environmental forces. Then address the question of whether any one of these causes is more important than any other. In this context begin a treatment of the concept of interaction as a way to understand development (see class activities next for a useful illustration). Useful examples include phenolphthalein, Hoosegows contraception's concept of the "zone of proximal development," and the interaction of critical periods and genetics. 3. Studies of Mother-Newborn Bonding

In the late sass reform of hospital procedures for handling births received strong impetus from the claims made by pediatricians Klaus and Kennel that mothers needed immediate contact with their newborn babies to bond properly with them. Use this work as the basis of one of your early lectures to illustrate the potential influence of developmental psychology on policies and practices for raising children. Describe the original work and either describe or discuss appropriate applications of it to or with the class, assuming that the findings were valid. Then mention that the original work quickly became controversial.

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