Theories of Child Development - Essay Example

? Child Development Child Development Child development refers to the psychological and biological changes, which take place in humans from birth to the closing stages of adolescence, as the person progresses from the dependency stage to autonomy. According to Yuriy Karpov (2006), the most marked feature, in the field of child development, is the lack of satisfactory theories of child growth and development. A majority of investigators appear to have coped with this matter by carrying out atheoretical research. Also, other researchers are busy mending, patching and modifying old theories, while others are building small theories, which deal with the restricted areas of child development (Karpov, 2006). Even though, some modest theoretical convergence, in the areas of child development, has been created, after going through the literatures concerned with child development, a person might be left confused since a majority of theorists talk differently. This means that the information does not match with regards to a majority of theorists. Since the subject is the same (child development), a person would expect to read the same content in every literature review of the theorists out there, but this is not the case (Karpov, 2006). Yuriy V. Karpov’s book, The Neo-Vygotskian Approach to Child Development, has unified all the theories regarding child development. At least the information, on the book, can be located in every other literature out there, regarding child development. The author, Yuriy Karpov, went through a majority of reviews, regarding child development, and came up with a unified version of child development and what all other theorist and researchers had to say regarding the subject. This paper will give a brief discussion of Yuriy Karpov’s book, The Neo-Vygotskian Approach to Child Development. Yuriy Karpov believes that there are numerous definitions of periods in child development as each period is a continuum with differences concerning development. Some development periods include newborns (0 to 4 weeks), infants (4 weeks to 1 year), toddlers (1 to 3 years), preschooler (4 to 6 years), school-aged (6 to 13 years) and adolescent (13 to 20 years). Nevertheless, organizations like the World Association for Infant Mental Health and Zero to Three use the term, infant, as a broad category, comprising of children from birth to 3 years. Karpov discusses how theorist Vygotsky unified this word also to mean children from birth to 3 years. The optimal development and growth of children is essential for a society. Therefore, it is vital to understand the cognitive, emotional, social and educational development of a child (Karpov, 2006). Even though, the book is titled Neo-Vygotskian Approach, is also discusses Piaget’s theory of child development as the author considers Vygotsky as a vital influence to Piaget’s theory of child development. The four stages involved in Piaget’s theory of Child Development include sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete stage and formal operational stage (Karpov, 2006). During the sensorimotor stage, children learn about themselves along with their environment by motor and reflex actions. In Karpov’s book, he discusses how Vygotsky backs Piaget’s statement that, children, from birth to 2 years, are normally concerned for themselves and their environment, and they use the skills acquired while in their mother’s womb to life about themselves. They also use reflexes to study the environment (Karpov, 2006). The second stage of Piaget’s theory is the preoperational stage. This stage mainly incorporates children from the age of 2 to 7 years. At this stage, according to Piaget, children begin to use symbols to signify objects. Vygotsky, on the other hand, argues that children, at this stage, begin to personify objects. This reflects to Piaget’s theory as personifying objects is the same as using symbols to classify objects. Vygotsky argues that children, between the ages of 2 to 7, can think about events and things that are not immediately present (Karpov, 2006). Leaning to the present, children have tough times conceptualizing time. Children’s thinking is persuaded by fantasy. This is with regards to Vygotsky. However, the two theorists agree that, at this stage, children begin to reveal egocentrism. Piaget states that, at this stage, children assume things to see matters in their own viewpoint. Vygotsky, similar to Piaget, argues that children, between the ages of 2 to 7, take information and modify it, in their minds, to incorporate their thoughts and ideas. Therefore, teaching should take into consideration the child’s undeveloped sense of time and unclear fantasies. Educators should, hence, use neutral words, equipment a child can touch and body outlines to stimulate the learning of the child (Karpov, 2006). It is also essential to understand that, at this stage, a child still cannot grasp the concept of conservation. This is the ability to understand that various properties of object like weight and volume remains the same in spite of changes in the arrangement of shape. During the concrete stage, accommodation increases in children (Karpov, 2006). A child develops a capability of thinking abstractly and making rational judgments regarding observable or concrete phenomena, which, in the past, needed to manipulate physically to interpret. The concrete stage ranges from the age of 7 to early adolescence. Even though, Vygotsky did not have names his stages of development, he considered children, between the ages of 7 and early adolescence to be in a class of their own. Children, at this stage, according to Vygotsky can create their own logical judgments regarding an object (Karpov, 2006). Vygotsky believes that, in educating this child, offering the child the chance of asking questions and explaining things allows him or her mentally to interpret information. Finally, the formal operational stage brings cognition to its final form. A person can no longer need concrete object to create logical judgments (Karpov, 2006). The person, at this point, is capable of hypothetically reasoning. Vygotsky urges that teaching a person, at this stage is wide-ranging since the person is capable of considering numerous possibilities for various perspectives. Vygotsky posited that children learn through hands-on knowledge and experience. Nevertheless, Vygotsky, unlike Piaget, claimed that sensitive and timely intervention by grownups, when a child is about to learn something new, will assist the child in learning new tasks. Vygotsky names this technique as scaffolding since it builds upon the experience that children already have with fresh knowledge, which adults can assist them in learning (Karpov, 2006). A case of this might be when a caregiver assists an infant in clapping or rolling his or her hands to a famous rhyme to the point that the child claps or rolls the hands for him or herself. Vygotsky also focused on culture and how it determined the development of the child. Vygotsky argues that each function in a child’s cultural development occurs twice. First, child development takes place on a social level, and secondly, on an individual level. Vygotsky also argues that the development period is a period of crisis during which there are qualitative transformations in a child’s mental functioning (Karpov, 2006). Some of the aspects of child development, according to Vygotsky, include physical development, cognitive development and social-emotional development (Karpov, 2006). Physical growth in weight and stature takes place in the first 15 to 20 after birth, as the person changes from the standard weight of 3.5 kilograms and length of 50 centimeters at full term birth to full adult size. As weight and stature increase, the person’s proportions also transform, from the fairly large head and small limbs of the neonate and chest, to the adult's moderately small head and long limbs and chest (Karpov, 2006). The rate of physical growth is fast in the months after birth. Growth then goes at a slow pace until shortly before teenage years, between the ages of 9 to 15 years, when a period of fast growth takes place. Growth is not standardized in timing and rate across all body sections (Karpov, 2006). At birth, head size is fairly near to that of a grown-up, but the lower sections of the body are much smaller than an adult’s (Karpov, 2006). In the path of development, the head grows fairly little, but chest and limbs go through a great deal of growth. In cognitive growth, the capacity of learning, remembering, symbolizing information and solving problems, develops in young infants, who can carry out cognitive tasks like discriminating inanimate and animate beings or identifying small numbers of objects. During childhood, information-processing and learning increase in speed, memory becomes increasingly higher, and the capacity for abstraction and symbol use develop until a near-adult level is attained through adolescence (Karpov, 2006). Finally, with regards to social-emotional development, infants do not appear to have preferences or experience fear for contact with any specific people (Karpov, 2006). In the first few days they only experience sadness, happiness and anger. An infant’s first smile usually takes place between 6 to 10 weeks. It is referred to as a social smile since it occurs during social interactions (Karpov, 2006). By about 8 months to 1 year, children go through a rapid change and become afraid of threatening events. Children also start to prefer recognizable people and show distress and anxiety when separated from these individuals or approached by strangers. The capacity for understanding and the empathy of social rules starts in the preschool period and goes on to develop fully during adulthood (Karpov, 2006). Middle childhood is illustrated by associations with age mates, and adolescence through emotions associated with sexuality and the beginnings of romantic love. Anger appears most powerful during the toddler and early preschool stage, as well as during adolescence. Reference Karpov, Y. (2006). The Neo-Vygotskian approach to child development. New York: Cambridge University Press. Read More