Developmental Psychology in Infant and Preschooler - Assignment Example

Introduction Both children and adults change psychologically over time. The scientific approach that explains this phenomenon is known as developmental psychology. Most changes of an individual occur in childhood, and a significant proportion of theories have been formulated to explain individual’s development within childhood lifespan. In development psychology, a wide range of theoretical areas that affects children are observed such as emotional, social, biological and cognitive processes. A child’s psychology develops systematically, which means it occurs in a patterned, orderly and relatively enduring. Children begin to show different development milestones from time to time. Genetically, psychological changes trend through social, emotional, physical, cognitive, lingual and creative parameters. Anecdote In the study of a child named RT, I was able to obtain the developmental ability and the learning framework of an infant and a preschooler. The geographical setting was outdoors with the child aged eight months. In practicality, RT stood playing in the toddler area. I asked her whether she saw the birds on the ground. To my surprise, she smiled and pointed at their direction. She began to jump around and play with her toys. Suddenly, a live band of music came closer. RT turned to their direction and remained focused for quite long. She even tried to move closer and felt happy to the sounds. However later, she returned to me to feel secure. According to Illinois Early Learning Guidelines, infants and preschoolers feel secure in the presence of adults when playing in the environment. RT felt safe in my presence. I provided an emotional, physical, and social environment to the child. Therefore, it conformed to Henry Margret’s theory, which focuses on the importance of responsiveness between an adult and a child (Pound, 2012). In the physical development, infants and preschoolers grow strong when their educators provide empowerment and space to play with materials such as toys. The physical environment entails the infant’s outdoor play space and the sustainable materials such as trees, edible gardens, mud, and water. Ages between two and six are the preschool years. The development in infancy is faster. However, among the preschoolers it is slower and more stable (Burchinal et al., 2015). Physical development among the infants entails the development of genes and minor body parts (McDevitt et al., 2012). Among the preschool period, the development includes changes in the brain, fine and gross motor skills, and health. Culture depicts infants as innocent and with no harm to the society. Children start accumulating body fat at age three. The preschoolers’ physical proportions continue to change, with their head being disproportionately large but less than in toddlerhood. The three-year preschoolers grow to become thirty-three inches tall and weigh about thirty-two pounds by age six they reach about forty-six inches and weight of about forty-six pounds (Lerner, 2015). Brain and nervous system development among the infants is average and relatively dramatic among the preschoolers (Gray & MacBlain, 2012). The left side of the brain develops fully from ages two through six, and the right hemisphere develops fully in ages 7 to 11. Gross motor skills include hopping, jumping, running, skipping, turning, and involve the use of large bodily movements. The fine motor skills include writing, drafting, tying and require the use of small physical movements. The theory of observational learning of Alfred Bandura applies to learning fine and gross motor. Bandura states that after children are biologically able in learning new behaviors they must do the following to develop new skills. Observe behavior in others, practice mental a mental image of the behavior, practice the behavior and be motivated to repeat the behavior. Social development allows infants and children to develop relationships, master the ability to discover, initiate, learn, and play, develop persistence and attention and self-regulate their behavior. Erik Erikson’s psychological theory for 1-3-year-olds depicts that autonomy can be bestowed by encouraging free choice and not forcing a child. The social skills entail a child’s ability to play with others, pay attention to teachers and adults, and make reasonable transitions from one activity to the other (White, Livesy & Hayes, 2012). When a baby is loved and nurtured, he will develop security, trust, and fundamental optimism. However, when an infant or a preschooler is poorly handled, he becomes mistrustful and insecure. The growth of RT’s perceptual abilities is evident in the anecdote. Erik Erikson had a belief that personality develops in a series of stages. In each phase, he believed that children experience conflicts, which affect development. In the first stage of Erikson’s Psychological theory, Trust vs. Mistrust, an infant develops trust when he feels his needs being met in a nurturing, consistent relationship with a primary caregiver (Benson & Haith, 2009). An infant forms an attachment in a secure relationship. In the second stage, Autonomy vs. shame and doubt, portrays that infants strive to be autonomous. They can be helped to get to the autonomous stage by supporting them when they struggle, and an individual is available to them. In the third psychological stage, preschoolers start to assert their power and control over the world through directing play and social responsibility. At the fourth stage children between ages, five and eleven develop self-confidence by interacting with their peers through praise and encouragement by teachers and parents. John Bowbly’s attachment theory affirmed that early relationship with caregivers plays a critical role in child development and influences social relationship throughout life. For instance, if an infant’s caregiver is dependable, the child will develop a bond with the caregiver and will feel secure to explore the world around him. Running Records To understand the running records of a child, BP 20 months old in the outdoor sensory walk was used for the study. BP was always perplexed to see others by their educators. He decided to take a move and observed two children playing with small toy balls. I asked if he wanted to play the balls too. He stared at me and accepted. He keenly watched how the two played correctly and smiled when he saw the two did it well. BP experimented and in the process, he started to learn. He chuckled and smiled when he kicked it perfectly. The observation depicts that physical development can be promoted through planned and spontaneous experiences. I was able to strengthen and motivate BP in the new physical experience in terms of his ability and level of comfort. Vygotsky’s theory justifies this scenario that children depend on support from adults and expert peers as they tackle new challenges. In the emotional context, infants between 0-3 months respond positively to touch, quiet when picked up, listens to voices and smiles. Besides, they display pleasure in response to social stimulation (Benson & Haith, 2009). Babies of ages 3-6 months cry when upset and seek comfort, show excitement, pay attention to her name and laugh aloud. They show discomfort and displeasure at the loss of a game toy and comforts themselves by sucking thumb or holding special toy of comfort. The preschoolers are emotional too in a disgrace or disappointment. Urie Bronfenbrenner created the Ecological systems theory to explain how a child’s environment or emotions influence his development. He displays the child who comes to his conditions and temperament in the middle or Micro System. The nuclear family has significant influence on a child’s emotional development because his attachment is to the primary caregiver. The community a child lives in also has a great influence on the amount of influence on his social-emotional development. Experience plan in childhood development In the experience plan phase of the childhood development, children have the ability to explore different sounds and to learn the world around them. At this stage, they have the capacity to learn from observing and gathering around them mostly from their mothers and the caregivers. For example, a 21 months old child setting out during morning work play time for sensory walk with the observer. According to the reasons and the rationale for the experience, the child by the name Julie was observed exploring. The exploration was on sound buttons on the outdoor sensory walk to broaden knowledge and promote use of sensory capability and disposition. It is as a result of increased integration of skills and purpose. The interest the child displayed was in the musical scale bridge and the outside sensory walk was in collaboration with her family developmental interests. The family had their sensory garden at home. The issue reflected why the child had the interest in playing and identifying the musical instrument (Charles Worth, 2013). The learning experiences from the exploration of musical elements of the sensory walk to expand knowledge and to advance the use of sensory capabilities. It also enhances the depositions with increasing integration, skills, and purpose. The development of musical literacy and intelligence enables the child to express aspects of her identity and culture and use music to express ideas. The child gains knowledge about the environment through interactions with other children, educators. Play leads to discovery of verbal judgment and the rational reasoning. It is very significant in manipulative skills, thinking, imaginative art, and development. Sigmund Freud, a psychologist, believed that play was a large factor in the development of a happy and healthy child. According to Feud, a child develops gratification through play leading to happiness. According to Piaget’s theory, a child through play contextualizes and understands the whole world around them. Creative fields seek to provide children with multiple play possibilities affordably. The building of playgrounds in the community is a result of the recycled materials easily available from our localities (Kolb, 2014). .Provisions The outdoor sensory walk, in particular, the musical elements, additional to musical scales bridge like the upright xylophone and the vertical drum. Equipment provided in an open basket for striking the xylophone and the vertical drum made from wooden and recyclable materials near the equipment. Access to the open –minded learning opportunities and equipment facilitates social interaction between children and educators and among themselves. Emotional support and intentional teaching strategies encouraging further exploration, and an active learning environment (Sayre et al, 2015). Procedure It suggests that Julie and her caregiver visited the sound walk together. Julie shows interest, walks around describing what they encountered and asks relevant open questions (Suskind & Hoff, 2013). The walk facilitated Julie’s interaction with other children in exploring the sensory walk by engaging with them and providing a narrative to their actions. Accompany the explorations by clapping hands or tapping feet to emphasize changes in beat and rhythm. The issue involves becoming open to following Julie’s and other children’s lead especially any creative ideas. Creativity develops in an environment where children safely express their curiosity and play openly. Creativity originates from open –ended art, music, movement, and dance activities. Encouragements to foster creative development allow children to explore and express their ideas. Giving children the opportunity and chances to explore using toys and different materials expand the rate of their creativity (Diamond and Lee, 2011). According to Paget’s cognitive theory of development, Piaget believes that children think differently than adults and go through universal stages of cognitive development. Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to venture in the chronological study of cognitive advancements. His recollections include a theory of child cognitive development, precise observational studies of cognition in children. According to Piaget, newborn children unique mental composition genetically inherited and evolved on which subsequent learning and knowledge bases (Lerner, 2015). The theories differ from others in various ways because it focuses on development more than learning. Cognitive child development proposes discrete stages of development marked by qualitative differences than the gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concept, and ideas. Cognitive development is a progressive reorganization of mental processes because of biological maturation and environmental experience (Hollingsworth, 2015). Children adapt the understanding of the world around them while experiencing the discrepancies between them discoveries in the environment. Conclusion Psychologists have come up with models that explain the courses of developmental changes that take place through time. As the child grows and experiences the environment, the psychology becomes innately dynamic in a manner that keeps abreast to the child’s survival needs. A continually cumulative process passes through development milestones and specific achievements children attain by age to age. It explains why education curriculum gains complexity progressively. Apart from physical growth, which is quantitative, development entails qualitative growth. A holistic process divides these events into three camps: physical growth and development involving motor skills sequencing and bodily changes. Changes in the cognitive aspects include language, learning, thinking and perception; psychosocial development issues comprising of personality, emotions and interpersonal developments. In actual sense, it is the changes involved in growth and development that define the trends on which a child becomes an adult that entirely discovers own self and the entire environment, which provided the platform for survival. References Benson, J. B., & Haith, M. M. (2009). Social and emotional development in infancy and early childhood. London: Academic. Burchinal, M., Magnuson, K., Powell, D., & Hong, S. S. (2015). Early Childcare and Education. Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science. Charlesworth, R. (2013). Understanding child development. Cengage Learning. Diamond, A., & Lee, K. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old. Science, 333(6045), 959-964. Gray C., MacBlain S., (2012). Learning Theories in Childhood. London. SAGE. Hollingworth, L. S. (2015). Children above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origin and development. World book company. Kolb, D. A. 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