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Developmental PsychologyRogie Mae AnubLethbridge College Psych 1170

+What’s interesting about Developmental psychology ?

The study of:

Infant- directed speech and how it affects language development in early childhood

The importance of secure attachment in early childhood Caregiver characteristics that affect child

development

Effects of non parental care to children

Parenting styles

+Language Development

Use of Infant Directed Speech (IDS)

Simplified, higher pitched speech that grown- ups use when conversing with young kids.

Babies as young as a few days old are able to distinguish between IDS and adult- directed speech.

They show preference to IDS whether spoken by male or female.

IDS helps infants identify sounds in their mother’s speech that is specific to the language they are learning.

IDS is important for grammar development

+Language Development

Children talk sooner, develop more vocabularies, use more complex sentences and learn to read more promptly if parents constantly talk, read and use wide variety of words when conversing with them.

+ Attachment theory Infants are genetically endowed to have the ability and need to

form emotional bonds with their caregivers.

The first two years of life is a critical time for forming such relationship. Failure to do so may cause social and personality problems in the future.

+Caregiver Characteristics Patients must be emotionally available

and willing to form an emotional attachment to the infant

Contingent responsiveness- being able to respond to and being sensitive to child’s verbal and nonverbal cues. Infants with parents who demonstrate contingent responsiveness in early months after birth are more likely to be securely attached at 12 months.

Infants whose parents are married are more likely to be securely attached than with those who have single or cohabiting parent.

+Caregiver Characteristics Infants who interact with a depressed

parent express more negative and lesser positive emotions, exhibit undernourishment and develop insecure attachment. These infants are at a higher risk of developing later problems such as aggression or social withdrawal in school.

Depressed mothers tend to either beLess affectionate Overstimulating by being overly

involved with the infantOverreacting and responds to the

infant’s undesirable behavior with anger.

+ Long- term Consequences of Attachment Quality

Children who are securely attached during infancy are

more sociable

more behaviorally positive toward friends and siblings

less dependent on teachers

less aggressive

more empathetic

more emotionally mature with interactions in school and other settings

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Adolescents who were considered as securely attached during infancy are

more socially skilled

have more intimate relationships

are more likely to be considered as leaders

have higher self- esteem and better grades.

Those who are insecurely attached have less supportive friendships and are more likely to engage to sexual activities earlier.

Long- term Consequences of Attachment Quality

+Long- term Consequences of Attachment Quality

Mothers who are securely attached themselves are more sensitive and responsive to their infants and young children.

Parents with history of insecure attachment often lack confidence in their ability to perform parenting role efficiently, and are more likely to view infants negatively.

+ Effects of Non-parental Care High quality enriched daycare are beneficial for children’s overall cognitive

and language development.

Children show significant lasting gains in IQ and later school performance after attending high quality enriched daycare.

Tips for choosing a Daycare Centre

Low child to staff ratios

Caregivers who are highly trained in child development, first aid and CPR and are warm, friendly and patient

Safe, clean and stimulating environment

Variety of enjoyable activities that support healthy development

Nutritional meals

Good hygiene promotions

+Parenting Styles

Four important aspects of family functioning by Diana Baumrind:

1. Warmth/ nurturance. Children with nurturing parents are more securely attached, have more positive behaviors, are better in school and are less likely to conduct delinquent actions.

2. Clarity and consistency of rules. Parents with clear and consistently applied rules have children who are much less likely to be defiant

3. Level of expectations. Children show high self- esteem and show more generosity if their parents are not overly restrictive, explain things well, avoid the use of physical punishment and have high expectations.

4. Communication. Open and regular communication between parent and child leads to more positive outcomes.

+Parenting Styles Authoritarian: children under this kind of

parenting do less well in school, have lower self- esteem, and are typically less skilled

Permissive: children will be more aggressive and immature, less likely to take responsibility and are less independent

Authoritative: children show most consistent positive outcome and have higher self- esteem, more independent and are more likely to comply with parental requests.

Uninvolved: children show most negative outcome and are more impulsive, antisocial and have less achievement in school when they reach adolescence.

+How is this relevant to me personally? I was always curious about what influences kids to act the way they

do, and this activity helped me gain more knowledge about some factors that affect child development.

What I learn here will help me in my future life as a mother. This will help me identify how I need to act and how to properly guide my child in his/ her development.

+Professional Life Having a background knowledge about human

development will help me in my future nursing practice.

I have always been interested in working in pediatrics and having this knowledge will help me with my daily interaction with kids and help me provide the best possible care.

There will also come a time that I need to educate a patient about how to properly take care of her baby and having a background knowledge about child development will be helpful.

+References

Boyd, D., Johnson, P. & Bee, H. (2015). Lifespan development (5th Can.

Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

Images retrieved from Google Images