Studying the Child

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• Chapter 1
• Studying the Child
• What is child development?
• Periods of Development
• Rights of Children
• Important Folks
• Research Methods

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What is Child Development?Studying the Child
Important Terms

• Memories from Childhood
• Development pattern of change that begins at
  conception and continues through lifespan
• Individuals adapt to their environment through
• Growth
• Maturation
• Learning

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• Biological
• Cognitive
• and Socioemotional Changes

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Studying the Child Putting Things in Context

• Have we always raised our children the same way?
• What factors might influence decisions about how
  to raise children?
• Are there cultural/historical differences in
  perspectives about child-rearing?
• Does economic status impact child-rearing?

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II. Periods of Development

• Prenatal Period conception to birth (9-10
  mos.)
• Infancy Birth to 2 years
• Early Childhood 2-6 years
• Middle and Late Childhood 6-11 years
• Adolescence 11/12 (puberty) - 21/22 years

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Some Contemporary Concerns

1. Family
2. Education
3. Sociocultural Contexts
4. Poverty
5. Rights of Children

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Infant Mortality

• Mexico 29.3
• Canada 7.2
• Sierra Leone 151.1
• Finland 6
• Austria 5.4
• Afghanistan 163.5
• India 83.5
• Japan 4.4
• US 10.3
• per 1000 live births (death before 1 yr)

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Studying the Child Views From Around the World

• What conditions do children face in the
  developing world?
• What conditions and pressures do children face in
  the industrialized world?
• What conditions and pressures are faced by
  children in rural versus urban
  communities?

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Studying the Child United Nations-Sanctioned
Rights

• Selection of some rights adopted during
  Convention on the Rights of the Child in
  November 1989
• Adequate medical care
• Nutrition
• Affection, love, understanding
• Education
• Opportunity for play and recreation
• Special care if required
• A peaceful environment
• Protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation
• Freedom from discrimination

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Studying the Child United Nations-Sanctioned
Rights

• Respect of the right of the child to preserve his
  or her identity, including nationality, name and
  family relations.
• Ensure that a child will not be separated from
  his or her parents against their will.
• Assure to the child who is capable of forming his
  or her own views the right to express those views
  freely.

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Studying the Child Protection Vs. Choice

• Rights of protection
• Protection from harm, survival, etc.
• Rights of choice
• The right to be heard, have increased
  independence

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Figure 1.3  Caldwells triadic model of the
rights and responsibilities of parents, children,
and society in relation to each other. Source B.
M. Caldwell (1980). Balancing childrens rights
and parents rights in R. Haskins J. J.
Gallagher (eds.), Care and education of young
children in America Policy, politics and social
science. Norwood, N.J. Ablex, p. 37. Reprinted
by permission of the publisher.
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IV. Studying the Child Early Pioneers

• Prior to 1600
• Original Sin View (500-1450 AD)
• John Locke children are born a Tabula Rasa
  (late 1600s)
• Rousseau children are active in their own
  development (18th c) innately good
• Childhood Today

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IV. More Pioneers in Child Development

• Hall (19th c.)-children aged 8-12 are mature
  savages
• Binet (1900)
• James Mark Baldwin (1880's)-genetic epistemology
  
• more child dvmt centers-1920's-society for
  research in CD
• John Watson--behaviorism, Give me a dozen
  healthy infants-1914
• Arnold Gesell, 1928, photographic dome
• Freud (early experience)1930's-50's
• George Sanchez-1932
• Kenneth Mamie Clark black identity,
  1930-70s
• Piaget (1896-1980)

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Studying the Child Major Questions

• Is it best to view the child as active in
  his/her own development or passive?
• What are the relative effects of genetics and
  environments on development?
• Is development continuous, or consist of distinct
  stages?

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Studying the Child Naturalistic
ObservationNon-Experimental

• Diary
• Specimen
• Time sampling
• Event sampling

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Other non-experimental methods

• Non-naturalistic Observation
• Case studies
• Life History Records
• Interviews/Questionnaires
• Standardized Tests

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Studying the Child The Correlation

• Positive Correlation a direct relationship.
  Whatever happens to A, the same happens to B.
• Negative Correlation an opposite
  relationship. Whatever happens to A, the
  opposite happens to B.

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Figure 1.6  Representations of correlation (r),
indicating the extent to which two measures tend
to vary together The direction of the
relationship (positive or negative) is shown by
the sign of the correlation coefficient (plus or
minus). The strength of the relationship is
indicated by the magnitude of the correlation
coefficient The closer r is to 1, the stronger
the observed relationship the closer it is to 0,
the weaker the relationship. In this example,
scores on Measure A correlate perfectly with
scores on Measures B and D and not at all with
scores on Measure C.
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Studying the Child The Experiment

• Control Group establishes a baseline for
  comparison
• Experimental Group gets the manipulation of
  interest
• Independent Variable what is manipulated
• Dependent Variable what is measured
• Random assignment
• Random Sample

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Studying the Child The Experiment

• An example You have the hypothesis that eating
  green MMs will improve exam performance.
• You randomly assign students to the control and
  experimental groups.
• Control group eats yellow MMs, experimental
  group eats green MMs.

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Studying the Child The Experiment

• Measure performance.
• What is manipulated? (Ind. Variable) color of
  MMs.
• What is measured? (the Dep. Variable) exam
  performance.
• What is the control group? Yellow MMs.
• What is the Experimental group? Green MMs.

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Studying the Child Types of Studies

• Correlational what is the relationship between
  2 or more events?
• Longitudinal tracking a population (or sample)
  across time
• Cross-sectional sampling from different ages
  and making comparisons.
• Cohort Effects
• Sequential Designs (series of samples at
  different times)
• Time-Lag (birth cohorts compared at different
  times)

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Figure 1.7  Schematic representation of three
research designs. Years inside the figure
indicate time of testing. Vertical columns
represent possible time-lag studies (different
birth cohorts different times of measurement
same ages). Horizontal rows represent possible
longitudinal studies (same birth cohort measured
at different times). Diagonals represent possible
cross-sectional studies (different birth cohorts
examined at one point in time).
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Studying the Child Evaluating Research

• Sampling methods (convenience versus population
  of interest)
• Validity (cultural, face, convergent, etc.)
• Reliability (can the results be trusted?)
• Participant bias
• Experimenter bias

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Ethics with Children

• Informed consent from parent or guardian
• Must explain what will happen to child
• Must weigh potential harm