Final Psychology Paper
Running head: CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT 0
Childhood Development: 3-12 years
Laurie Schaalma
PSY605: Developmental Psychology
Instructor: Lisa Pennington
February 27, 2017
The human development timeline marks distinct milestones that individuals are expected to pass as they move through the different stages of their lives. The rate of growth and development varies for every individual based on genetic or environmental factors that may either enhance or undermine development. Monitoring the development stages is especially critical among children since any anomalies can be quickly identified and the necessary intervention strategies employed. The primary domains of development are physical, social, language and emotional. The paper will analyze the development stages for the 3-12 years’ age group through assessing the different popular theories that explain the important features of the age group.
Between the ages of 3 and 12 years, a lot of learning takes place with a child's ability to assimilate information from the environment drastically improving. Up to the age of 7 years, the physical growth ensures that children can roam around and interact with their physical environment. Increased dexterity means they can hold things and play with toys. Speech also develops with a significant growth in vocabulary which makes them able to converse with both adults and other children. Reading skills also significantly improve with most children of the age of 5 being able to recognize simple words in print (Piaget, 2000). Their capacity for reasoning is also highly elevated making it the most appropriate stage for parents to instill values and morals through positive reinforcement or punishment. Per Erikson's Eight Stages of Development, the child struggles between embracing their autonomy and shame to gain a sense of Will. Children often exhibit stubborn tendencies and wild tantrums as a mode of coping with others saying ‘NO' to their requests. Erikson's third psychological crisis is marked by the child developing a sense of purpose although imagination is restricted (Elkind, 1970).
Freud's theory of sexual development suggests that children gain pleasure from oral stimulation during breastfeeding and anal stimulation during toilet training (Oswald, 2008). The phallic stage is marked with sexual identification where children tend to emulate the same-sex parent and develop a strong interest and love for the opposite-sex parent (Freud, 1924). This stage is especially common in the pre-teen years as children struggle to develop a sense of self.
The four cognitive development stages developed by Piaget explain the milestones in the thought process of an individual. The preoperational stage may encompass children between the ages of 2-7 years where the child grasps some aspects of symbolism. The third stage is the concrete operational stage that is considered the most significant marked by children developing a sense of operational thought and logic (McLeod, 2009). They tend to grasp the concept of weight and mass making them able to work out ideas in their heads as opposed to literally trying them out physically. These development milestones are often distinct to children between the ages of 7-12 years. Vygotsky opposed Piaget's model that suggests development precedes learning and instead felt like social learning preceded development. He highlighted the importance of culture in the development of a child insisting that society played a critical role in determining the cognitive development of a child (Daniels, 2005).
In their later years between 8-12 years, socialization becomes a critical component of intellectual development. Social concepts of justice, morality, and ethics are very important and children often become very inquisitive to understand new ideas. Verbal and written communication skills also improve characterized by a higher retention capacity for words. Drawing from the acquired social concepts children can command a strong strength in character based on their ability to make informed decisions hence solidifying their confidence. Per Erikson, the competence stage is best handled during the school years where children master arithmetic, reading and social skills through continual interaction with peers.
Critical stages of development require the cooperation of parents and teachers who need to offer encouragement, guidance, and support to a child, increasing the assimilation of new concepts and skills. Piaget's ideas have been especially instrumental in the field of education to guide educators through understanding children and how to communicate with them. Criticisms from Vygotsky and Bruner have challenged the legitimacy of the cognitive development stages insisting that development is not necessarily a continuous process. Piaget fails to incorporate environmental factors as determinants of the cognitive process only insisting on biological maturation (McLeod, 2009). By only focusing on observable aspects of development, Piaget's schema theory discredits the concept of behaviorism as put forth by Vygotsky and Bruner considering it is primarily an internal process that is not directly observable. Erikson's stages of development appreciate the importance of socialization as a key component of child development. Freud's ideas of sexual development are essential in evaluating personality development. A thorough understanding of sexual development in children determines whether they will grow to be well-adjusted individuals.
In conclusion, childhood development is critical especially for the age group since children develop a need to learn and assimilate information from their environment and employ the acquired skills to make informed decisions. With the increasing sense of self, children gain the confidence to make it through adolescence. Psychologists and sociologists have developed numerous theories to explain the development process yet it remains that every individual is unique and will grow based on internal processes and environmental influences.
References
Daniels, H. (2005). An introduction to Vygotsky. Psychology Press.
Elkind, D. (1970). Erik Erikson’s eight ages of man. New York Times magazine, April, 81-86.
Freud, S. (1924). The dissolution of the Oedipus complex. Standard edition, 19, 173-179.
McLeod, S. (2009). Jean Piaget | Cognitive Theory | Simply Psychology. Simplypsychology.org. Retrieved 27 February 2017, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
Oswalt, A. (2008). Sigmund Freud and Child Development. Mentalhelp.net. Retrieved 27 February 2017, from https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/sigmund-freud-and-child-development/
Piaget, J. (2000). Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Childhood cognitive development: The essential readings, 33-47.
