Category: Child Development

Causes of Disturbed and Disturbing Behaviour in Children

Within our culture, it is a belief that is commonly held that parents are accountable for the development of the disturbing as well as disturbed behaviours in their progenies. In fact, psychological research has actually stimulated this belief whereby from the historical perspective, children have been perceived as innocent and passive recipients of the surrounding environments where they reside and develop.

Much focus has almost been absolutely on the significance of the infant-mother association. In general, both the parenting styles model developed by Diana Baumrind and the attachment theory of John Bowlby laid much emphasis on the effects of caregivers on children but they failed to embrace the effects that children have on their caregivers (Ding and Caren, 51). More recently, both the children roles and other major associations have been studied with respect to how they shape family interactions.

The 1975 transactional development model of Michael Chandler and Arnold Sameroff offers a theory that recognizes the active role that children play in modeling their surroundings. The theorists argue that the outcomes of kids’ development come because of the incessant dynamic interplay amid the environmental variables, the caregivers’ response and the children behaviours which might influence both the caregiver and the child.

It is argued that children tend to form the bidirectional component of the mutual relations that influence their growth and development (Sameroff, 33). Thus, to explore the extent at which parents ought to be held accountable for the primary development of disturbed as well as disturbing behaviours in their kids, it necessitates reviewing applicable research literature and theories.

From this review, it is evident that focusing on a solitary causative explanation could be both inadequate and misleading. Besides, it is apparent that manifold factors seem to significantly impact on a usually multifaceted series of events.

Some theories that are used to provide arguments against and for the claim include Bowlby attachment theory, Baumrind theory and the transactional model.

Bowlby attachment theory

Akin to other early development theories, the attachment theory developed by Bowlby exclusively focused on the quality of parenting by the biological mothers and the accruing effects it might have on their children. Bowlby (1973, p.67) as cited in Oates, Lewis and Lamb (2005) argued that such a correlation determined the emotional and behavioral development of a kid (p.47).

In an early research piece, Bowlby established that the delinquent children he researched on had an apparent upsetting background and upbringing which made this theorist to use such a proof in supporting the theory he developed.

Whereas Bowlby established the relationship amid the experienced maternal deprivation and their delinquencies, he however accredited the causative accounts to such findings which basically were not there. By doing so, Bowlby failed to give due recognition to the effects children might have on the caregivers.

More productive research on the attachment styles have been stimulated by the Bowlby theory. Of great significance is the insecure attachment style that has constantly been associated with the later childhood psychological difficulties (Henry et al., 97).

Baumrind Theory

Baumrind in 1960s, researched on the probable associations amid the styles of parenting and their respective developmental outcomes. According to Baumrind (1975) claims, four different kinds of parents do exist (p.101).

These include nonconformist parents who are more controlling and less passive than permissive parents but are opposed to authority; permissive parents believing that they must be available but non-intrusive; authoritative parents who facilitate and are sensitive to the children’s change of self-sense and the authoritarian parents imposing their wills on their children and seem to value obedience.

When compared to other parenting styles, it is through responsive but firm parenting that authoritative parents are able to make their children less prone to delinquency and more socially responsible.

Some researchers have refuted the conclusions drawn by Baumrind while others have supported her findings. For instance, Anderson et al. (1986) established that the disordered teenagers conduct usually reflects on their parents coercive behaviours (p.29).

The findings by Andrews and Dishion (1994) showed that most parents innocently encourage problematic conducts in their children. MacKinnon-Lewis et al. (2001) in their studies established that the children and their parents’ behaviors are not only influenced by their earlier interactions, but also by what each one of them expects from the other. Like Bowlby, Baumrind failed to identify the reciprocated effect that children and parents have on the behaviours of each one of them.

Richard Bell in 1968 was regarded to be amongst the earliest psychologists who acknowledged children’s effects on their caregivers. Sears et al. (1957) conducted a piece of research study whose interpretations were later on disputed by Bell. In their study, Sears et al. (1957) established that there was a correlation amid children’s aggressive behaviors and the parental style (p.71).

The suggestions made by Bell were that the results interpretations were not merely incorrect since the relationship hardly offered a causative account, but similarly because the effect of the direction ought to have been reversed to reflect on the fact that the aggressive behaviors of the children might have affected the parenting styles. This concept was further developed in 1975 by Sameroff and Chandler in their transactional model.

Transactional model

Parents having more than a single child normally say that every child tends to provoke different reactions and evoke dissimilar feelings. Abraham Maslow was completely changed as a psychologist when his children were born. Maslow (1973) asserted that, he realized that his kids were extremely different from each other prior to being born.

This implied that he had to cull the behavioral framework that he was drawing on. In their 2002 research study, Sund and Wichstron claimed that the temperament of an individual is anchored biologically on the differences which create an inclination to act in a certain manner (Oates and Stevenson 17).

Parents normally feel that such behavioral inclinations are observable immediately after the birth of the child. Using the transaction model, it is argued that because of their personal experiences and temperament, parents usually respond to the requirements of their children in special ways.

The behaviours of children might as result get subjective to the responses of the parents. The manner in which the temperament of a child interrelates with other individuals temperaments to which the kid communicates is deemed as a perfect fit. Lerner et al. (1989) cited in Oates and Stevenson (2005) that a better temperament fit normally yields optimistic interactions.

According to the transactional model, the development of relationships between the parents and the child is facilitated by both the directional and reciprocal interactions (Woodhead, Rhodes and Oates 60).

The proposal advanced by the transactional model is that the development comes about because of the constant self-motivated interactions between the children, the significant others and the environment. The environmental variables comprises of the strains that the family may experience including death of one of the most important family member, separation, birth of the other child, divorce as well as financial problems.

The model emphasizes on the importance of environmental influence on the development of the child. Moreover, the child’s contribution to his personal development is equally essential. This kind of development is influenced by the child’s own experiences or the information that originates from the environment where the child lives. Experiences are as a result of the child interaction with the environment, significant others, peers as well as other social groups.

Risk factors associated with low social behavior

There are basically several risk factors that are related to behavioral problems. In fact, this gives a strong correlation between anti-social behavior and low social status (Henry et al., 44). In addition, strong correlation is also seen between maternal mental illness and the child underdeveloped social behavior.

Children whose parents have suffered PND tend to develop temper tantrums, difficulties in eating and sleep disturbances which are clear indications of insecure social attachment (Henry et al., 44). Under these circumstances, the mother’s response to the child is often poor. Nevertheless, PND is considered as a risk factor and is as a result of poor marital relationships. PND provides an explanation for the single parent causal relationships between child development and behavior.

The other important risk factor is the attitude that parents have of their children. The way parents perceive the behavior of their children may contribute to the poor development of their social behavior. In both bidirectional and reciprocal relationships, both the child and the parents may influence the attitude of each other (Woodhead, Rhodes and Oates 61).

In situations where the child is observed to be having some mental disturbance behavior, the parent response to such a behavior might be more or less negative. However, the direction of this response is not linear.

On the other hand, children whose backgrounds are coupled with poor family relationships have high chances of developing anti-social behavior. According to Fergusson et al. (1995), children whose parents have problems associated with marital status are twelve times more likely to develop antisocial behaviors (p.51). This problem can further be exacerbated by strong temperament, disability and other stresses that the parents may have.

Though the contribution of the parents’ relationship to a child’s behavior is vital, the role of the father in the child behavior development has not been thoroughly examined. Few researches indicate that children who grow without male figurehead are more likely to develop anti-social behaviors (Ding and Caren 56). Moreover, there is a link between the male figurehead anti-social behavior and the child poor behavior development (Greenberg et al., 61).

However, the poor behavioral development of the child has strongly been linked to other social factors that relate to economic and social statuses. This clearly indicates that there is no model that can claim full explanations to the child behavioral development. In other words, the child poor behavioral development is caused by several factors that are closely related (Ding and Caren 2005).

Therefore, the conclusion that can be drawn is that a child is not just an inert receiver of what the environment provides as advanced by the traditional theories. In reality, children are rather active participants in their own development as advanced by the transactional theory.

Transactional theory suggests that the behavioral development of a child is enhanced by both directional and reciprocal interactions between the child, significant others as well as the environment. Besides, there are multiple risk factors that have strong influence on the development of the child behavior. Hence, a model that focuses only on one causal explanation of the child behavior is deemed to be inadequate.

Works Cited

Anderson et al. Parenting and Attachment: In Ding and Littleton Children’s Personal and Social Development. Oxford: Blackwell the Open University, 1986. Print.

Andrews, David and Dishion, Thomas. Parenting and Attachment: In Children’s Personal and Social Development. Oxford: Blackwell the Open University, 1994. Print.

Baumrind, Diana. Parenting and Attachment: In Ding and Littleton Children’s Personal and Social Development. Oxford: Blackwell the Open University, 1975. Print.

Bowlby, John. Parenting and Attachment: In Ding and Littleton Children’s Personal and Social Development. Oxford: Blackwell the Open University, 1973. Print.

Ding, Sharon and Caren Littleton. Children’s Personal and Social Development. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Print.

Fergusson et al. Disturbed and disturbing behavior: In Ding and Littleton Children’s Personal and Social Development. Oxford: Blackwell the Open University, 1995. Print.

Greenberg et al. Disturbed and Disturbing Behavior. Oxford: Blackwell the Open University, 1993. Print.

Henry et al. Disturbed and Disturbing Behavior. Oxford: Blackwell the Open University, 1993. Print.

Introduction

Child development is an essential process that takes place in the life of an individual. This process commences immediately after birth when an individual highly relies on others for sustenance and ends towards the end of adolescence when the said individual approaches independence (Graham, 2010). In the process of child development, there are various factors that determine the cognitive and psychological development of an individual.

The genetic constitution and prenatal care are some of the factors that influence the development of an individual during this phase of development. Consequently, ecological factors also play a significant role in child development. This paper will therefore focus on the impact that ecological factors have on child development.

Ecological Factors

In the process of development, there are various factors that determine the rate of development in a child. According to Urie (2006), ecological factors play a significant role in the process of child development since a child responds to various environmental cues that surrounds him/her. Thus, there are various environmental systems that a child interacts with that are influential in his/her development.

The microsystem is the first environmental system that determines child development. This system comprises of the institutions and groups that immediately surround a child. The family is perhaps the most influential segment of this system. The behavior and personality of a child highly depends on the influence that arises from his/her family (Urie, 2006).

In this respect therefore, family members have always been encourage to offer support and positive guidance to children to support their process of development. Consequently, educational and religious institutions also play a significant role in the process of child development especially in setting up their values, morals, goals, and beliefs. The influence that a child gets from his/her peers also determines his/her process of development.

In most cases, children tend to imitate or adopt behaviors from their peers. For instance, the interaction that children have plays a significant role in speech development (Graham, 2010). Thus, a child who interacts more stands a high chance of learning how to speak fluently as compared to a child who does not interact with children of his/her age.

The macrosystem is another environmental system that affects the process of child development. The macrosystem highly concentrates on the culture in which a child is brought up in. The level of economic development in the nation/region that a child is brought up in plays a significant role in determining his/her level of development.

For instance, a child who is brought up in an industrialized country that is economically stable is expected to be different in terms of cognitive and psychological development as compared to a child who is brought up in a third world country. The child in a developed nation has a lot of resources and opportunities that will enhance his/her process of development.

Ethnicity and cultural background are also significant factors in the process of development. An African American child is expected to have different values and beliefs as compared to a White American child despite the fact that they might be living in the same neighborhood.

The chronosystems involves the transitions that a child experiences in the process of development. It has been identified that transferring a child to a new school or moving him/her to a different neighborhood, state, or nation will have a psychological effect that will definitely affect his/her development. Consequently, issues such as divorce, separation, and death will have effects that will affect the psychological and cognitive development of a child.

Conclusion

This paper has therefore identified that there are several ecological factors that affect the development of a child. It is therefore essential that necessary measures are taken to ensure that a child is exposed to the right environmental cues to ensure that his process of development is effective. This will play a significant role in ensuring that the child grows to be a morally and psychologically stable individual as an adult.

References

Graham, D. (2010). Environmental Factors Affecting the Growth of Children. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2(1), 44-50.

Urie, B. (2006). Ecology of the Family as a Context for Human Development: Research Perspectives. Developmental Psychology, 22(6), 723-742

Introduction

Pediatrics will always do a development history summary. The purpose of development history taking is to analyze key growth milestones. According to Hart, Bax, and Jenkins, development history taking normally takes account of a child’s milestones. It is a form of development assessment. The question of why it is important is answered comprehensively by pediatric perspectives concerning the same, that, the value of a child’s early milestones serves as a prognostic parameter and provides a viewpoint of how the child has developed during a period when he was not under medical observation.

Background Information

The child who has had a normal birth and has shown little physical-social development problems is certainly a healthy baby. The development history form filled by a parent or guardian comprehensively provides a pediatrician with clues about the child’s milestones during the period he was not under medical surveillance. Any anomaly, illness, or conditional problem that arose during such a time is critically examined and further investigated to establish if subsequent conditions were manifested and the psychological or medical problem might have been caused and remained un-diagnosed. It is commonplace; a disease may silently manifest itself and remain un-diagnosed. It is very common for pediatricians to recommend psychiatric assessments in cases where a child shows erratic physical –social behavior.

On our ‘child development history’ health form, the child shows a history of temperament and gradual development of erratic psychological instability. On the form, it is evident that the child spends a lot of time with the house help then with the parents. Interestingly, the mother is not employed yet she does not spend time with the child. On the other hand, the house-help seems to be closer to the child but the child is gradually becoming aggressive and distant. Such a situation requires a psychiatric examination to determine the cause of this problem. However, the child has never had any serious congenital problem in his medical history to cause alarm.

Childs Development History Literature Review

Lack of attention and abuse are suspects of children’s psychological impairment. While developing social cognitive skills is vital in the child’s growth and development, abuse by parents and caregivers, specially appointed guardians, and housemaids are blamed for many percentages of child psychological impairment conditions. The child’s walking has been literary normal though the mother complains it took longer than other children she had. While such snippets of information are critical in solving the puzzle, a child’s milestones are usually recorded when the mother memorizes past events. This provides a window of inaccuracies since the mother is inclined to have forgotten crucial aspects of the development history and instead only provides insight about the child’s basic milestones like walking, sitting, and clapping.

This makes development history taking a very rough but worthwhile practice of finding out about the child’s early growth and development and subsequent milestones. Pediatrics anamnesis time demonstrates parents as only observant of development, where critical skills and psycho-motor responses are visible, like walking, seeing, hearing, and responding, but sadly have little or no memory of when the child started sitting.

According to Hart, Bax, and Jenkins, the most recalled milestones are smiling, walking, speech, naming persons and objects, and sitting (Hart, Bax, & Jenkins, 1978, p, 442-444). There are major problems associated with failure to develop such skills. However, the main problem lies with the causative agent, especially where a normal child is a cohort. The chance of prolonged exposure to constrained socio-economic conditions might cause stuttered growth and development while being subjected to undue pressure by caregivers, especially house-help and parents who might be going through a crisis might impair the child. Living conditions allow the development of key social-cognitive skills. The theory of moral development stipulates how the environment and immediate caregivers including parents, other children, and society influence the development of moral behavior and social-cognitive skills.

Temperament is a psychological problem that results from prolonged exposure to harsh psychological conditions. Harsh parents, less attentive parents and friends, beating and abuse, poor communication between the child and the caregivers, and lack of attention from important people especially parents. Being un-appreciated and constant lambasting causes erratic behavior in children. The erratic, aggressive behavior coupled with high temperament is indicative of a disorder, though it usually denotes a cry for attention.

It is important to note that there are risks and developmental “complications” associated with each aspect of developmental history. It is important to note that these deficits in these areas result or evolve into specific disorders and medical diseases later in the child’s development. It is important to note that, these disorders can result in long-term conditions.

Maria-Mengel and Linhares conducted a descriptive correlational study that sought to identify risks for children’s development problems in the first four years of age. Using logistical regression analysis, they found out that, the father’s education level determined development problems, with lowly educated fathers posing high risks of development (Maria-Mengel & Linhares, 2007, p, 837). They also found out that risks to child development could be inherent. This means the children could be the cause of the problems and that (biological components, temperament, and symptoms could be inherited from parents or the family lineage). The environment could be a main culprit and cause (socioeconomic level, social support, education, and cultural context playing the main culprit in influencing and inflicting retarded social-cognitive development) (Maria-Mengel & Linhares, 2007, p, 838).

Risks and subsequent conditions noted as prevalent when development is impaired or constrained include severe psychosocial impairment, poor social-cognitive skills development, lack of confidence, low-self esteem, temperament, poor learning skills, and slow learning. Lack of expressive language, interpersonal skills, and assertiveness may not develop in a child, whose development is hampered by such problems as poor home environment, fewer toys, economic constraints, etc. Maria-Mengel & Linhares reported family matters and personal, financial, or work difficulties as sources of stress for young children (Maria-Mengel & Linhares, 2007, p, 840). Research developing around the subject, point out family environment with fewer resources and higher adversity is a causative agent of constrained development. The environment could be marred by problems such as interpersonal relationships, which can inhibit a child’s emotional and behavioral development (Maria-Mengel & Linhares, 2007, p, 840).

To reduce the risk of development Dr. Carter proposes consistent medical examination. Regular development history taking and a pediatric examination are important. Dr. Crater singles out developmental follow-up for high-risk infants to observe their development keenly and subsequently, identify anomalies and conditions that may be manifesting. She explains that it should involve periodic screening which should focus on screening core psychomotor and social-cognitive development of the child. The screening should check for sensory impairment and any developmental delays. The doctor should also check for any other condition considered a risk to the infant (Carter, 2001). She suggests comprehensive follow-up by the pediatrician. This follow-up should involve close evaluation of the child’s medical, psychological, and social history and performance (Carter, 2001).

Reference List

Carter, S. (2001). Developmental follow-up of pre-term infants at high risk for delays.Premature Baby Premature Child, 4. Web.

Hart, H, Bax, M, Jenkins, S. (1978). The Value of a developmental history. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 20(4). Web.

Maria-Mengel, M, & Linhares, M. (2007). Risk factors for infant developmental problems. Revisit Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 15. Web.

Sensory development in the first year of life

Even though all children develop differently, baby’s sensory development usually follows the same pattern:

• Sight: fully developed at 7-12 months.
• Touch: well-developed at birth.
• Taste and smell: well-developed at birth.
• Hearing: fully developed at one month.

In the study of child care, it is crucial to understand theoretical perspectives on child development. The most pertinent theories and their impact on current frameworks are considered in this presentation. Firstly, it is necessary to understand the sensory development in the first year of life. A baby begins to experience the new world through 5 senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. During the first twelve months, senses develop faster than they will be during the rest of life, so it is essential to encourage development.

Neurological and brain development in the early years

Three theories by Johnson:

• the maturational perspective (cognitive abilities develop as cortex areas related to them mature);
• the interactive specialization (cognitive abilities develop as cortex areas related to them expand interactions);
• the skill-learning hypothesis (some areas are active during skill-learning, others – after skills are learned).

Brain development in the early years is particularly important for the infant’s further interaction with the world. Johnson suggested three theories of neurological and brain development in humans. In general, it depends on experience and brain maturation, so it is recommended to encourage the baby’s interaction with the environment. As mentioned before, the infant’s vision develops fully only by the age of one year, so parents ensure that babies can see their faces by holding them close. Overall, current practices aim at developing connections in the cortex and effectively activating the brain.

Cognitive development

The theory by Piaget describes four stages:

• Sensorimotor: basic reflexes, senses, responses;
• Preoperational: using language and thinking;
• Concrete operational: logical but concrete thinking;
• Formal operational: abstract logical thinking.

In the early years, the baby’s brain is developing rapidly, resulting in a significant improvement in cognitive abilities. A theory suggested by Piaget claims children play an active role in acquiring knowledge and interacting with the world. They gradually improve their cognitive skills from sensory experience to understanding abstract ideas. Piaget’s theory showed that children are not passive recipients of new information. Thus, it had a significant impact on methods of studying for children. The idea of discovery learning has been implemented in kindergartens and schools to support children’s learning through active exploration.

The definition of speech, language, and communication

• Speech: the ability to articulate sounds, forming words.
• Language: the way of human communication.
• Communication: conveying and receiving messages and information.
• Speech and language skills are needed for effective communication.

In order to understand theoretical perspectives related to speech, language, and communication development, it is necessary to define these terms first. All babies need help to learn to talk, and speech and communication do not develop on their own as it might seem. Speech refers to the ability to articulate sounds to express thoughts. Language is used by people to communicate and means using words in a conventional and structured way. Communication is the act of transferring information, which can be done in a verbal and nonverbal manner. In short, speech and language are the skills used for communication.

Speech, language and communication development

The theory of language development by Vygotsky:

• emphasis on language’s role in cognitive growth;
• language development results from social interactions;
• dependence of language on thought;
• three forms of language: social speech, private speech, silent inner speech.

Speech, language, and communication are connected, and all skills need to be present for comprehensive child development. Vygotsky believed that language plays a special role in cognitive development and that language and thought merge at the age of three years, producing inner speech. Language is seen as a way of transmitting information to children and, at the same time, a prevailing means of intellectual adaptation. Therefore, Vygotsky’s theory is relevant for current practices, and his idea of the connection between thought and speech is used for teaching children in classrooms.

Physical development

Gesell’s Development Maturational Theory:

• physical development is based on biological aspects and occurs sequentially, in patterns;
• individual genetic can influence maturation;
• developmental age norms to monitor the child’s growth.

Understanding the aspects of children’s physical development is also essential for child care. Gesell suggested a Development Maturational Theory based on several assumptions. He believed that the reason for developmental changes in children lies primarily in aging processes. In other words, growth happens in a determined sequence and orderly stages. Besides, Gesell connected physical maturation with other developmental aspects of children. Unlike many other theorists, he suggested that learning and life experience are not the cause of development, but maturation is. The age norms for physical growth suggested by Gesell are still used in child care as they enable the specialists to monitor the child’s development.

Personal, social and emotional development

• Skinner’spersonality theory: people learn through reinforcement and association.
• Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development: social interaction and experience throughout life.
• Bowlby’s attachment theory: relationships with caregivers influence social and emotional growth.

Personal, social, and emotional aspects of development are interrelated, and many factors influence the child’s growth in these fields. Skinner suggested a personality theory and claimed that learning occurs when behavioral patterns are established. He believed it could happen directly, through reward and punishment, or indirectly, through observation and learning. In terms of social growth, Erikson described eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to death. He thought that social challenges and conflicts impact the development of an individual throughout life. Bowlby’s Attachment Theory considers social and emotional growth and views the connection between the child and the caregiver as the primary factor for establishing healthy behaviors. All three theories are still used today by parents and teachers, who ensure to provide the proper environment for children’s development.

Conclusion

• Early sensory and brain development is crucial;
• Cognitive and communication development encourages learning;
• Speech and language are skills for communication;
• Physical development impacts all other aspects;
• Personal, social, and emotional development help establish healthy behavior and interactions with others.

To sum up, the main theoretical perspectives on child development were discussed in terms of sensory, neurological, brain, cognitive, speech, language, communication, physical, personal, social, and emotional growth. Besides, the impact of developmental models on current frameworks was considered. It can be concluded that prominent theorists have played a significant role in establishing contemporary child care practices. Most of the developmental aspects are interrelated, such as the brain and cognitive, social and emotional, speech and communication development, etc. The principles discussed in this presentation allow parents and teachers to monitor the child’s progress and encourage healthy growth.

Introduction

Toilet training is the teaching of a toddler to enable it to identify its body warning signs for urinating and having bowel movement as well as making use of a potty chair (or toilet) properly and at the correct times. Gaining toileting abilities is practically a developmental landmark for toddlers and those overseeing their growth i.e. parents, nannies, nurses, teachers and other child care professionals. A parent, especially the mother (or the person who replaces her) is the initial and most important educator of a child and thus must have acquired the qualities and knowledge necessary for the upbringing of a child (UNESCOUNICEF, 1979:1). According to Michel (1999:240) there is need for guidance for those overseeing the development and growth of children. Such guidance helps in recognizing when a child is ready to start acquiring toileting skills, how to assist the child gain those skills, and how to tackle problems in the course of the toilet teaching process. The challenges that face parents and those involved in the toilet training process include refusal to cooperate, withholding of stool, and constipation (Michel, 1999:240). The existing analyses on toilet training are founded in the physical and psychosocial growth of the child which includes culture diversity. This paper seeks to explain the significance of the toilet training process in child development and growth as well as the components of successful toilet training process.

Determining the Appropriate Age for Toilet Training

Before the onset of toilet training, there are developmental stages through which the child passes in enhancing control over several bodily functions. Toilet training involves some degree of growth, because in a situation where development is hindered the child will be unable to learn and respond as per the parent or instructor’s wishes. Establishing the correct age to begin toilet training is one of the points of consternation for those overseeing the growth and development of toddlers. Tracing the literature back as far as Freud, it is evident that particular psychologists did not feel that toilet training was a natural process. It needs to be cultivated and enhanced among kids. Freud (cited in Stadtler, Gorski & Brazelton (1999:1359) believed that, wrong application of this process occasioned a high possibility for developmental trauma. From the literature reviewed there seems to be an agreement that there is a specific age at which young children ought to be taught the toilet training process. Most childcare practitioners and professionals across different cultures suggest that two years is the most appropriate age to commence toilet training. It emerges that there is most certainly a range of years that needs to be considered by parents and child care professionals in order to maximize the effectiveness of toilet training. It also comes out that toilet training at a certain age is most often a function of social pressures. The society therefore requires the child to learn voluntary control of bladder and bowel in order to void at an acceptable time and place.

It is strongly recommended that parents (or those involved in child care) avoid forcing children into toilet training. It is suggested that the process should begin only when the child is developmentally ready or portrays signs of readiness (Stadtler, et. al, 1999: 1360).

Factors Affecting Toilet Training and Strategies to Respond to these Factors

Zweiback (1998:7) observes that several children have temperamental differences which affect toilet training. She defines temperamental differences as the inborn differences which parents recognize among babies. The temperamental differences which affect toilet training include activity level, regularity or rythmicity, attention and intensity. A more active baby is harder to train than a passive baby. The predictability of a child’s toilet habits also affects the training with a more predictable child creating an enabling environment for training than a child who is not predictable. The attention span of a child also affects toilet training where a child with a longer attention span becomes easier to train than the one with a short attention span. Intensity relates to the way a baby expresses itself. An intense baby is the one that expresses itself passionately and persistently. Such a baby is harder to train than the one which is indifferent (Zweiback, 1998:7-9). Apart from temperamental differences there are other factors which affect toilet training. These include the availability of disposable diapers, the family size and the passion and commitment of the “trainers”.

Toilet training, as a developmental phase, is complicated by the fact that the need for the baby to kowtow to parental and social demands occur concurrently with a child’s growing need for self-actualization and freedom. While the parent wants to have control over the training the child on the other hand struggles to be in control, leading to quarrels and disquiet. Such struggle for supremacy once in place affects (negatively) the parent-child bond which is an essential factor for successful toilet training. This could also result to physical complications such as enuresis, encopresis, and even child abuse. These conditions further derail the course of toilet training in both the short term and in the long run.

To ensure that toilet training is successful in the shortest but practical time possible, child care experts usually recommend a strategy that utilizes praise as a motivator, has little demands from the parents or those involved, and is enjoyable for the baby (Sarah, n.d.). It has been confirmed that, when the toilet learning process begins after a toddler has managed the greatest feasible degree of readiness, the process becomes easier, quicker, and experiences minor lapses. There is also a need to emphasize letting the child proceed at his own pace while being motivated by his/her personal objectives. The toilet training process also needs adjustments to suit children who have special physical or emotional needs or to support a positive experience founded on the child’s temperament.

Conclusion

The different stages in the child’s overall development constitute markers providing parents and child care professionals with essential elements for assessing the child’s progress and providing him/her with the necessary care and motivation. There is a need for those charged with the task of overseeing the growth and development of a child to be flexible, versatile and be informed. They need to be undertaking training in order to relate the specific personal and socio-cultural characteristics under which the child is developing. Such training needs to take into consideration the cultural facets of the environment, meet the demands and ambitions of the family and of the society in which the child lives. The use of praise and encouragement as a motivator when a child cooperates has been a point of consensus among child care practitioners and scholars. Toilet mastery is beyond doubt a developmental high point in a child’s life; as it is a time when children find out and improve their bodily abilities, perception and reaction to relationship dynamics. In this stage they also face and respond to external pressures. However, it is worth noting that with every step accomplished, self-esteem increases.

Reference

Michel, R. S. (1999). Toilet Training, Pediatrics Review. Vol. 20 (7); pp.240-246

Sarah. H. (n.d.). Developmental milestone: Toilet training. 2009. Web.

Stadtler, A. C., Gorski, P. A., & Brazelton, T. B. (1999). Toilet Training Methods, Clinical Interventions, and Recommendations, Pediatrics Review. Vol. 103 (6), pp. 1359-1361.

UNESCO/UNICEF. (1979). The Child and his Development from birth to six Years: Aid to Programming UNICEF Assistance to Education. 2009. Web.

Zweiback, M. (1998). Keys to Toilet Training. Barron’s Educational Series.

Psychologists have made tremendous progress in their attempts to explain how development occurs among human beings. Over a long period of time, developmental psychologists have been engaged in controversies in their understanding of development as either continuous or stage oriented (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008).

Those who propose that human development is discontinuous argue that it involves distinct stages which are uniquely identified by significant behavioral differences. Psychological theorists who say that development is a continuous process have very contrary explanations.

There are several theories that have been advanced in support of the stage oriented development. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast three major developmental theories as advanced by Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget. The key concepts of the three theories are discussed in the paper. The outstanding similarities and differences of these theories are elaborated.

Moreover, the interactions of cognitive, physical and emotional development on the overall development of the child are discussed. The paper also provides explanations of the importance of understanding the normal child and adolescent development as far as assisting each child to reach their full potential is concerned.

According to Papalia, Olds, and Feldman (2007), theories that explain human development are characterized by models of how individuals undergo transformation (and stay unchanged) over time.

Sigmund Freud is considered the pioneer of the psychoanalytic school of thought of human development. He developed this theory towards the close of 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century. Freud advanced the psychosexual theory of human development with emphasize on sexual drive being crucial in influencing behavior.

According to Freud, human beings have sexual instincts that unfold in distinct stages right from birth (Zerucha, 2003). This sexual drive is referred to as libido. The source of the drive is peculiar to each stage and is called the erogenous zone and shifts with time. This theory has three major components.

The first is the dynamic component or the economic concept. Freud too up the concept of energy and applied it to human behavior (Papalia et al., 2007). He identified the psychic energy which operates the different parts of an organism. This energy is biological based and always available in same form. The source of this energy, according to Freud, is instinctual in nature which implies that it is not learnt. The most powerful of the instincts are those dealing with creation and sustenance of life, the sexual instinct.

He named them Eros. There are other instincts that were identified but the sexual instinct becomes a main life instinct which is necessary for the survival of species (Rayner, Joyce & Clulow, 2005). Sigmund also identified another class of instincts called Thanatos which represented death and aggression.

Libido is the special form of energy used by the Eros. Freud believed that human behavior occurs unconsciously. This means that the development of human behaviour is out of awareness and the unconscious part of the brain stores up all experiences, memories and repressed material and motivations.

The second component of Freud’s theory is the structural component which illustrates three levels of personality. The Id is the inborn, biological structure and its main purpose is immediate gratification and reduction of tension through the pleasure principle (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008).

This part is illogical, blind, demanding, insistent, and unconscious, lacks organization, and cannot tolerate tension. The Id never matures and remains the spoilt part of human personality. The Ego, on the other hand, deals with the interaction between the individual and the environment. It is ruled by the reality principle (Papalia et al., 2007).

This is the part that is responsible for ensuring realistic human behavior and logical thinking. It formulates plans of actions for satisfying individual needs. The ego is the seat of intelligence and rationality since it checks and controls the blind impulses of the id. The third part of personality, according to Feud, is the Superego.

It is the judicial part of personality since it represents the internalized standards, values, and attitudes. The ego-ideal component has the ideal standards while the conscience deals with the judge and punishing agency that leads the child to experience guilt each time the standards of the ego-ideal are violated (Rayner et al., 2005).

The third and the most significant component of psychosexual theory is the stage component. It has five main stages of human development. In this theory, Freud explains the development of child from birth to the adolescence stage. He observed that the demands of each of the stages must be fulfilled, otherwise the individual becomes fixated.

Fixation refers to the arrested development at one of the psychosexual stages because of under or over-gratification of a need (Zerucha, 2003). The following are the five stages of Freud’s model of human development.

The first is the oral stage which starts from birth to one year of age. The primary focus of stimulation is the mouth and lips. The child gets gratification in feeding through the oral cavity. One main source of a child at this stage is breastfeeding.

An adult who show excessive oral needs such as excessive eating, chewing, talking, smoking, drinking, gossip, hostility, aggression, and greediness, according to Freud, may have oral fixation (Rayner et al., 2005). He proposed that children should be breastfed, given food and love if this problem is to be avoided.

The second is the anal stage which is experienced at age 1 to three. The anal area becomes the erogenous zone where the child derives pleasure. Children will get bowel as well as bladder elimination pleasurable (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008). This stage is naturally oriented to coincide with toilet-training and the method of training affects the formation of particular personality traits.

Individuals fixated at this stage will display cruelty, inappropriate display of anger, extreme disorderliness, and anal aggressive personality. These behavior characteristics occur when the individual perceives the waste from the body as not useful.

If the waste is perceived as useful, the person will develop extreme orderliness, hoarding, stubbornness, and meanness. In general, the fixated person exhibits anal retentive personality characterized by selfishness.

The third is the phallic stage occurring at between age three to six. The focus is on the genital zone where the child derives pleasure from manipulating its genitals (Papalia et al., 2007).

A child at this stage faces a crisis which must be resolved. A boy-child experiences Oedipus complex where the boy desires to posses the mother as she is possessed by the father. However, the boy fears creating trouble wit the father. According to Freud, the boy develops castration fear or anxiety and resolves this problem by identifying with the father (Rayner et al., 2005).

This implies that the boy possesses the mother vicariously and engages in manly activities. Faced with similar conflict, the girl-child experiences Electra complex; the penis envy. To resolve this problem with the mother, she identifies with the mother and posses the father vicariously and develops gender roles.

The fourth stage in Freud’s psychosexual theory is the latency stage experienced between age six and 11. At this stage, there is loss of interest in sexual gratification and their energy is channeled to other behaviors like developing affection with others; parents, age mates, school mates, and sports (Zerucha, 2003). This marks a period of socialization.

The last is the genital stage which sets off at puberty to 18 and beyond. This stage is characterized by the maturity of sexual interests. The old sexual themes of the phallic stage are revived.

The adolescents develop interest in the opposite sex and there is some sexual experimentation (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008). The individual assumes responsibility and the conflicts at the phallic stage have been solved through socialization.

The second developmental theory was advanced by Erik Erikson who was Freud’s student. Erik extended Freud’s work and emphasized the role played by the social and environmental factors in human development. He was also a member of the psychoanalytic school of thought. Erik’s theory is commonly referred to as the psychosocial theory which focuses on the entire life span of an individual. Just like Freud, he examined the consequences of early experiences on later behavior in life (Zerucha, 2003).

Erik also developed the idea of crisis/conflict which must be resolved in constructive and satisfactory manner for the enhancement of human development. He observed that if resolved in an unsatisfactory manner, the negative quality will hinder further development which may manifest itself in psychopathology (Rayner et al., 2005). Eight developmental stages are outlined under the psychosocial theory.

The human development as explained by the psychosocial theory uses the crisis approach where there are two direct opposites to be experienced. The first is the early infancy stage starting at birth to one year of age.

The crisis here is the trust versus mistrust and centers on the development of trust (Zerucha, 2003). The child develops trust through being given support, provision of basic needs, and continuous and prompt response. If there is lack of trust, mistrust will result from inconsistency, frustration and deprivation.

The second stage is the late infancy and spans ages 2 and 3. It starts when the child learns to control and regulate its behavior (Papalia et al., 2007). Activities indicating control include toilet-training. The issue at this stage is autonomy and shame and doubt.

For a child to exercise autonomy, he should not be criticized, ridiculed or laughed at incase of failure to perform some activities as expected. This is because the child will doubt themselves and always seek approval, hence lowering their self-esteem (Zerucha, 2003). If this crisis is not resolved, the child develops defensive behaviors like projection, and drug abuse.

Thirdly, there is the early childhood (4-6 years) stage which is characterized by initiative and guilt crisis. Initiative indicates that the child feels sure to take positive actions of its own, like dressing and feeding oneself (Rayner et al., 2005).

Failure to solve the problems at the autonomy stage will delay initiative or destroy it completely. Parents, according to Erik, should encourage children’s self-initiated behavior. If the child lacks initiative, he will experience guilt, low self confidence and self control.

The fourth stage is the middle childhood or the industry versus inferiority crisis stage (6-11 years). This is a period of learning and mastering more basic skills necessary in the society (Zerucha, 2003). Children ought to learn to take pride in their work through well cultivated attitudes.

Failure to be productive results in inferiority feelings. Children will withdraw and regress to dependent behavior (Papalia et al., 2007). They may direct their energies to socially unacceptable behaviors in defense.

Identity versus role confusion crisis characterizes the fifth stage and occurs at age 12 to 18; the adolescence stage. At this stage, the individual is expected to develop identity and role clarity. Due to physical, emotional, social, and intellectual changes, there is change of expectations.

The adolescents are no longer sure of the roles they are supposed to play. In order to resolve these confusions, identity grows out of identification with parents, teachers, friends, and other role models (Zerucha, 2003). According to Erikson, this is the most sensitive stage since identity grows out of the preceding stages.

The sixth stage is the early adulthood (19- about 40 years). It is marked by intimacy versus isolation crisis. Once the sense of identity has been developed, it is ready to be fused with another identity of another person especially of the opposite sex (Zerucha, 2003).

There is manifestation of true love between two people with intimate/mutual relationship. Failure to achieve intimacy, there is development of feelings of isolation even when married and with children.

Stage seven of Erikson’s theory occurs between the age of 40 and 60 and is referred to as the middle adulthood. The crisis at this stage is generativity versus stagnation. It involves the achievement of productive, purposeful, and creative personality (Zerucha, 2003). The negative aspect of this stage is the feeling of stagnation.

The last stage is the old age at 60 and beyond. It characterized y the ego integrity versus despair crisis. The individuals at this stage look back in their lives and are content because they know that they have done it! Failure to develop a sense of integrity leads to despair and regret (Papalia et al., 2007).

The third human development theory was advanced by Jean Piaget. His theory focuses mostly on human cognitive development and describes four stages of how children think and reason about their environment (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008).

Piaget believed that all children go through these stages in the same way and warned that no skipping of one stage. Differences in the stages are both qualitative and quantitative.

The first is the sensori-motor stage which occurs in children from birth up to 2 years. At this stage, children evolve from reflexive creatures into reflective planful problem solvers (Zerucha, 2003). He divided this stage six other sub-stages.

The second stage is the pre-operational stage (2-7 years) where children are more proficient at constructing and using mental images to think about objects, situations and events they encounter. Piaget divided this stage into two more sub-stages; the pre-conceptual period (2-4 years) and the intuitive period (4-7 years).

The third stage identified by Piaget is the concrete operational stage from age 7 to 11. Piaget believe that children at this stage can apply their operations to objects and events that are real or imaginable (Papalia et al., 2007). The child achieves class inclusion, mental representation and has concrete operation as well as reversibility.

The fourth stage of Piaget’s cognitive development theory is the formal operational stage starting at age 12 and above. A child at this stage is able to reason logically, give creative responses, and exhibit systematic problem-solving approaches (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2008).

A number of factors, according to Piaget, play a role in influencing human cognitive development. These include; biological, educational, socio-cultural, and the physical environment.

From the above discussion, it is evident that there are a number of similarities and differences between the three developmental theories.

The theories provide very reach information on the physical, emotional, and cognitive development in human beings. The explanations given are convincing and can be used in guiding the general development of the child from the formative stages. Erikson’s psychosocial theory provides a comprehensive analysis of human development from birth to death.

This enables the handling of life experiences from a knowledgeable perspective and to make necessary amends. In general, it is important to understand the normal child as well as adolescent in order to help them attain full potential in life.

The paper has compared and contrasted three major developmental theories using the block method as advanced by Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget. The key concepts of the three theories have been discussed in the paper. The outstanding similarities and differences of these theories have emerged from the discussion.

Moreover, the interactions of cognitive, physical and emotional development on the overall development of the child have been highlighted. The paper has also provided an explanation of the importance of understanding the normal child and adolescent development as far as assisting each child to reach their full potential is concerned.

References

Kail, R. V. & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2008). Human development: a life-span perspective (5^th ed). Cengage Learning.

Papalia, D., Olds, S. & Feldman, R. (2007). A Childs World (11^th ed). McGraw-Hill Plc.

Rayner, E., Joyce, A. & Clulow, C. (2005). Human development; psychodynamics of growth, maturity, and ageing (4^th ed). Psychology Press.

Zerucha, T. (2003). Understanding human development. Infobase Plc.

Introduction

It is hard to disagree that child development, learning and behaviour are extremely significant processes that can be affected by various external and internal factors. While a parent may wonder why their child has suddenly become aggressive and violent or unexpectedly shy and avoiding, their own wrong attitudes may impact the kid’s actions. Therefore, it is of vital importance to raise awareness of the influence that various factors have on child behaviour and study the role of behavioural theories and childcare educators. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impacts of the aforementioned concepts and processes.

Explaining the Terms

Before discussing child development, learning and behaviour, it is essential to define these terms. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.), child development is the acquisition of the necessary emotional, thought, physical and language skills and changes. Learning is the process of searching for and processing new information by observing other people or using other sources of information to acquire new skills and expand awareness. Finally, behaviour is an observable reaction of kids to various internal or external factors.

Influences on Children’s Behaviour

Parenting Styles

One may agree that the development and attitudes of children and teenagers depend mostly on the way their parents or guardians raise them. Overall, several different parenting styles are authoritative, uninvolved, authoritarian, and permissive (Kuppens and Ceulemans, 2019). Depending on the selected style, a parent may focus on either supportive, caring and loving or frightening, aggressive and toxic relationships with their kids. Consequently, if a child grows up in a safe and tolerant household where moral principles are valued, it is more likely for this girl or boy to behave correctly and ethically, as well as become calm and adequate in general. At the same time, as stated by Kuppens and Ceulemans (2019), authoritarian and uninvolved parenting can promote aggressive behaviour in children and teenagers.

Relationships with Peers

Another factor that can significantly affect children’s behaviour and attitudes is the influence of peers. It is evident that one’s social circle and surrounding people, in general, are of significant importance. Bullies can make a teenager want to disappear, and the behaviour and reactions of this boy or girl will adapt to the negative circumstances, becoming closed, nervous and maybe even aggressive (Elenbaas, 2019). It is usually obvious when a child is bullied because they become less sociable, can eat and sleep more or less, avoid reality and spoil their relationships with parents (The Pragmatic Parent, n.d.). As for the positive effects, peers can promote an active lifestyle, encourage each other to study more, support one another, eat healthier and find interesting hobbies.

Lifestyle

Further, a child’s lifestyle, including sleeping patterns, eating habits and exercising, can either worsen or benefit their behaviour. For example, a chronic lack of proper sleep usually makes teenagers more depressed, irritable, frustrated, willing to avoid reality and unable to concentrate (Reynaud et al., 2018). What is more, as noticed by researchers, sleep deprived children are less alert and tend to avoid social life and interactions with their family (The Pragmatic Parent, n.d.). As for the eating habits, if teenagers prefer nutritious food, their bodies are healthier, which in turn makes these children more friendly, active, able to study and willing to explore the world. Finally, regular sports activities alter kids’ behaviour, encouraging them to be responsible, involved in real life, confident in themselves and socially active.

Screen Time

Finally, it is difficult to disagree that one of the most powerful modern factors is the involvement in the digital world. Researchers state that the more time a child spends online, the less interesting the real world becomes for them (Guerrero et al., 2019). Uncontrolled screen time promotes aggressiveness in kids, increases their explosive reactions, “unfavourable behavioural conduct, lower fitness and lower self-esteem” (Guerrero et al., 2019, p. 1). If screen time is limited, children can feel relieved and calmer, replenish energy for real-life communication and reduce stress, which are the positive effects on their behaviour.

Age-Appropriate Behaviour

One cannot overestimate the necessity of allowing children to behave according to their age. Age-appropriate behaviour during certain stages of development may be challenging for parents to handle, but this concept enables kids to progress correctly in their learning and social development. However, the aforementioned factors can interfere with age-appropriate behaviour and make teenagers act more like an adult or a younger kid (The Pragmatic Parent, n.d.). In the first case, an unsafe environment or negative impacts of peers and parents can make an adolescent grow up mentally much faster and stop enjoying the events and things a young child or teenager should enjoy.

Applying Behavioural Theories

The first effective theory to be discussed is behavioural modelling and observational learning formulated by psychologist Albert Bandura. According to him, children “are naturally inclined to engage in observation and learn from others”, so it is common for kids to copy the actions and attitudes of adults (Jones, 2019, para. 1). Consequently, it is possible for childcare professionals to adopt such an approach and demonstrate ethical behaviour, act morally and orient on positive principles. Such an example will foster moral behaviour among children (Jones, 2019). Another useful theory is operant conditioning: it states that punishment and reinforcement can be effective for modifying behaviours. Thus, childcare educators can adopt rewards and sanctions systems, which will encourage children to behave correctly and avoid being unethical and aggressive.

Possible Impacts of Childcare Professionals

Finally, it is essential to mention that childcare educators play significant roles in kids’ development and learning. The positive effect may be illustrated with the help of the following example: a childcare professional reads a book in which bravery, sincerity, love, care and justice are celebrated. In this case, the educator has a rather positive impact on children’s behaviour, encouraging them to act morally. One of the negative effects is that the carer may accidentally pass on their wrong attitudes, fears or mental trauma to the child. For instance, if the educator tends to react aggressively to dogs because of their own childhood trauma, a kid who sees this may develop a violent attitude towards dogs or all animals.

Conclusion

To draw a conclusion, one may say that numerous concepts and processes have to be considered when raising or working with kids and adolescents. While parents and childcare professionals may be quite effective in their roles, peers or other severe external factors can negatively change a teenager’s behaviour. Therefore, it is needed to adopt a comprehensive approach when trying to help children develop adequately. Thankfully, behavioural theories appear to be quite helpful in this professional context.

Reference List

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) Child development basics. Web.

Elenbaas, L. (2019) ‘Interwealth contact and young children’s concern for equity’, Child Development, 90(1), pp. 108-116.

Guerrero, M. D. et al. (2019) ‘Screen time and problem behaviours in children: exploring the mediating role of sleep duration’, International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, 16(1), pp. 1-10.

Jones, K. (2019) “Child see, child do” – behavioural modelling and observational learning. Web.

Kuppens, S. and Ceulemans, E. (2019) ‘Parenting styles: a closer look at a well-known concept’, Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(1), pp. 168-181.

The Pragmatic Parent (n.d.) 14 factors that influence a child’s behaviour or trigger their misbehaviour. Web.

Reynaud, E. et al. (2018) ‘Sleep and its relation to cognition and behaviour in preschool‐aged children of the general population: a systematic review’, Journal of Sleep Research, 27(3).

Aim

To create a developmentally appropriate toy to foster the cognitive and linguistic development of children aged 6-24 months.

Literature Review

The cognitive development and linguistic development of young children are connected.

Children learn concepts presented in words and names of people and objects (Chan, Meints, Lieven, & Tomasello, 2010).

Snedeker, Geren, and Shafto (2012) also state that the first words of young children are associated with naming people and objects.

Children learn how to follow instructions and how to act while hearing certain verbs.

At this developmental stage, children only start distinguishing verbs of actions (Chan et al., 2010).

2-year-old children can use verbs for determining daily activities and routines (Snedeker, Geren, & Shafto, 2012).

Parents and educators should use special tools like books and toys to enhance the cognitive and linguistic development of children (Snedeker et al., 2012).

Toys and books can be actively used to represent objects for naming and demonstrate certain actions to children (Chan et al., 2010).

The success of the cognitive development and linguistic development of young children is based on their active involvement in the vocabulary development and concept understanding through instructions, demonstration, action, and repetition (Jalongo & Sobolak, 2011).

Description of Toy

• The proposed novel toy is a board book with moving, felt, soft parts, and vivid illustrations to allow children to play with it.
• Book title: Time to Play
• Book size: 12×6 inches
• Material: Cardboard, felt, and soft material
• Pages: 10 pages
• Number of moving figures: 6
• Number of pictures to touch: 4
• The book includes images of animals and objects (rainbow, ball, square, and others).
• Each book spread includes depictions of objects and verbs representing actions.
• A child is expected to introduce oneself and name an object.
• A child is expected to imitate the sound produced by an animal.
• Each book spread includes moving parts cut out of the cardboard to imitate actions and soft parts to touch.
• A child is expected to touch the picture, imitate actions or movements.
• Each book spread includes moving parts cut out of the cardboard that hide other pictures or objects.
• A child is expected to move parts and name objects.

Toy Function

Linguistic Development

• At this developmental stage, children learn to point to named pictures.
• The book allows parents to name objects for children to imitate.
• A child can learn new nouns such as names of animals and natural objects.
• The book enhances the linguistic development providing verbs supported with stable and moving pictures.
• A child learns to point to objects in a book without the parents’ help.

Cognitive Development

• The book enhances the cognitive development allowing children to follow easy instructions read by parents (“Flop bee’s wings and drone!”).
• At this stage, children learn how to finds hidden things, and the moving pictures develop this skills.
• Colorful pictures (for example, rainbow) can be used to teach how to sort colors.

Subjects

• Target Gender: Male and female.
• Age: 6-24 months.
• Books should be used while playing with parents or caregivers.

Need for Toy

The toy market needs a book that combines the elements effective to foster both cognitive and linguistic development of young hildren.

At this stage, the cognitive and linguistic development is based on the sensory and movement development.

Elements in this book allow the cognitive and linguistic development while touching, moving, and manipulating objects.

The book provides the complex base for the cognitive and linguistic development without the necessity of using additional materials to learn names of natural objects, sounds, verbs, and colors.

Tools for the cognitive and linguistic development are combined in this book.

A child learns how to follow instructions after learning nouns and verbs.

Possible Bias

• Children with physical disabilities can experience difficulties while moving the parts of the book.
  • Modifications:
    1. Moving parts can be changed with illustrations.
    2. Moving parts of the book can be made of the elastic material to change the form and move with an easy touch.
• Colorblind children can experience difficulties while recognizing colors on pictures.
  • Modifications:
    1. The focus in the book should be on primary colors generally recognized by colorblind children.

Conclusion

The proposed book is designed to foster the young children’s cognitive and linguistic behavior.

The book allows children to receive the new knowledge based on their sensory feelings developed earlier.

Children can learn new sounds, nouns, and verbs while touching and moving the parts of the book and following instructions that are easy to understand.

The future toy improvement involves the addition of more pages, moving figures and pictures for touching. It is possible to add more animals and verbs determining their activities.

References

Chan, A., Meints, K., Lieven, E., & Tomasello, M. (2010). Young children’s comprehension of English SVO word order revisited: Testing the same children in act-out and intermodal preferential looking tasks. CognitiveDevelopment, 25(1), 30-45.

Jalongo, M. R., & Sobolak, M. J. (2011). Supporting young children’s vocabulary growth: The challenges, the benefits, and evidence-based strategies. Early Childhood Education Journal, 38(6), 421-429.

Snedeker, J., Geren, J., & Shafto, C. L. (2012). Disentangling the effects of cognitive development and linguistic expertise: A longitudinal study of the acquisition of English in internationally-adopted children. CognitivePsychology, 65(1), 39-76.

Behaviour is an element of inborn traits and socialisation factors; at birth, an infant behaviour is influenced by hereditary factors from its parents. As the child grows, some behaviour are developed and reinforced by beliefs, culture, and societal norms practiced in the community the child lives.

Reinforcements of behaviour can be positive or negative; when positive, certain behaviour is encouraged whereas when negative, certain behaviours are discouraged. The result of inborn traits and socialisation reinforcements results to one’s behaviour (Robertson, 2010). This paper traces the origin of cognitive behaviour and one social-emotional-behaviour from infancy to pre-natal stage; it will use attitude and emotions as examples of cognitive and social-emotional-behaviour respectively.

Attitude

Attitude is an enduring perception that a person has regarding certain things. At birth, a child is objective to the world around him, as he develops to prenatal stage, he gets a chance to listen, see and touch those things that surround him. At the toddler age, he has the power to listen, recognise touches and can read and understand different moods of the parents. What he is introduced to shapes the attitude he will develop toward such a thing.

For example, in most case, when parents want to stop breast feeding their children, they create a feeling that breast milk in not good and the child develops such a feeling, at extreme case parents may have pepper on the breast to have the child get the bitterness. The result is a negative attitude for breast milk.

As children grow, they want to be emotionally attached to their parents; skin contacts communicate and give confidence and high self-esteem to toddlers. If positive cognitive behaviours are reinforced where the child is shown how to respect those people around him, then such traits are likely to follow and form part of his behaviour to adulthood.

Emotions

At birth a child, have some traits that he inherits from the parents; every family have some factors that are deep in their system and they have little they can do to them. A child from such a family is likely to have the same traits. For example, there are families that are emotional and cry fast while come families hardly cry.

As the child breast-feed and grows to prenatal stage, there is skin contact with the mother and this creates a repo and emotional attachments; at this stage the child gets emotionally attached to people around him and wants to spend time with them. Father is encouraged to ensure that at early ages they have skin contacts to develop emotional attachments with their children. Psychologists recommend that father should hold their children with a bare chest so as they can create needed attachment.

The emotional attachment developed determines the “role model” or the person whom the child will follow for guidance and whom the child will consider right. With the emotional attachment, the child is likely to take up behaviour of the person whom he is emotionally connected.

For example, id the child is attached to the mother, he is likely to have repellence behaviour to the father at young age and probably the same will follow the child to adulthood. For morally upright child both parents should ensure they create emotional attachment to their children (Jansen, 2007).

Conclusion

At birth, the behaviour of children is influenced by inborn traits inherited from their parents. Between infancy and prenatal stage, child’s behaviour is shaped by values, believes, culture and attitudes of the people around, mostly care givers. Socialisation has an effect on children emotions and attitude.

References

Jansen, G. (2007). Child Development: Its nature and course. New York: McGraw- Hill Hayes.

Robertson, D. (2010). The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy: Stoicism as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy. London: Karnac.

Introduction

The term temperament in psychology is used to refer to those facets of a person’s personality, for instance, extroversion and introversion, which are often deemed as intrinsic, rather than acquired from learning. There have been several classificatory schemes with regard to temperament but apparently, none has been approved in the field of academia. The historic perspective of temperament has it that, temperament was a section of the four humors’ theory, and it was believed that there were four temperaments.

The concept of temperament was very imperative in pre-modern psychology and was looked into by philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, David W. Keirsey and Hermann Lotze (Klein 553). Temperament is assessed through certain unique behavioral profiles, with a focus on those that are easier to measure and test in early childhood.

Modern scientists have sought ways of establishing the relationship between temperament and character through the use of biological evidence. However, regardless of the fact that scientists have hypothesized that there is an association between temperament and biological factors, there have been difficulties in testing this association directly.

Discussion

Parents will always observe that their children behave differently in similar situations. What may work out for one child may not work out for another. Temperament is this difference in behavior as well as in personality (Rothbart, Stephan and David 123).

Thomas and Chess have been two great researchers involved in the study of temperament through a description of nine characteristics of behavior in children. These characteristics are useful in describing children’s temperament or those stable, individual variations in activity level, self-regulation, attention and emotional reactivity (Rothbart, Stephan and David 123-125).

Personality is evaluated through an interaction of temperament traits with the surrounding environment. This interaction is very vital as it determines how a child values himself and others. Thomas, Cheese and others were the first to conduct the New York Longitudinal Study during the early 1950s in infant temperament (Rothbart 1-4). The study was on how temperamental qualities influence adjustment throughout one’s life cycle.

Thomas, Cheese and others made use of nine temperament characteristics to study how each of characteristic, by itself or in combination with another, affected child’s development in the context of school, home and friends. Behaviors for each trait are progressive, that is, each characteristic is on a scale that range from mild to intense.

It would be a cause of alarm if a child is inclined towards the high or low end of the scale. Redundancies were realized between the established categories leading to the development of a revised list that is frequently used by psychologists in today’s world (Rothbart 1-4).

Laboratory measures of fear, positive affect and anger have been used to predict temperament among the seven-year-olds but, attention has shown minimal stability since infancy. This can be associated with the relatively dwindled development of the executive attention system, whose development determines a child’s ability to control emotions, thoughts and behaviors.

The tendency of children to control activities governed by rewards leads to the prediction of greater success and emotional control in adolescence. Caspi and Silva (1995) implied that children, who portrayed a higher approach or confidence when they were only three to four years, indicated greater impulsive ability at age 18 and had a higher level of social potency.

Fearful children aged between 3 and 4 stayed away from harmful situations and possessed a lower score on social potency and aggression. Children between the ages of 3 to 4 with a higher tendency of distress proneness and who lacked attentional control were expected to manifest higher distress tendencies at age 18 (Sanson 142-150).

It is important to understand that most behavioral tendencies are innate and not a consequence of bad parenting as most people would presume. Examining of a child’s temperament is apparent in case the child shows bad behavior.

Interviews, observations and questionnaires are the tools used to measure the nine temperaments as suggested by Thomas, Cheese and others. These temperaments are measured while utilizing a spectrum that indicates mild to intense reactions in a continuous style. It is very important that parents understand their children’s temperaments and should work towards coping with these traits in their children instead of changing them (Kochanska 744-759).

The nine kinds of traits are compressed to form three basic kinds of temperaments. Around 65% of all children fall in one of three patterns; of these, 40% are deemed easy or flexible, 15% are within the range of slow to warm up (cautious) while the rest 10% are regarded to be difficult, feisty or active.

The other 35% of children indicate a combination of all these patterns. When parents understand these patterns, they will be able to tailor their parenting approach to suit the children’s needs with regard to expectation, discipline and encouragement (Center of Excellence 2-3).

Easy or flexible children are basically calm, sleep regularly, are happy, have regular eating habits, can adapt in a new environment with ease and are not easily upset (Oates, Andrew and Clare 172-173). Their easy traits create a need for parents to spare special periods to talk with the children about their hurts and frustrations because the child/ren will not instigate such a talk.

Children who are considered difficulty, feisty and active tend to be fussy during most times, will not sleep regularly and have very poor eating habits. They fear new people and situations, are easily upset by commotion and noise and respond to situations in an intense manner (Henig MM1). Children with such disorders ought to be provided with adequate room, where they can expend stored up frustrations and energy.

In addition, they require enough space so that they can exercise their freedom of choice. Cautious children are relatively fussy and inactive and are seen to react in a negative way, or withdraw from new situations.

However, their reactions become positive in a gradual process after continued exposure. Such a child should be placed on a routine program and should be given a lot of assurance as well. Adequate time is necessary for the child to adapt to new situations so that he or she can acquire independence that is necessary for him or her to unfold (Clakins, 1-6).

Temperaments are presumed to have relative stability since birth and are deemed as be enduring characteristics, which in reality can never be good or bad (Center of Excellence 2-3). The perception of these temperaments is what determines the perception by children of these temperaments as to whether they are bad or good.

Comprehending children’s temperaments is the most appropriate solution for parents rather than blaming themselves for their children’s normal temperaments. This understanding would enable parents to guide their children in the right way as they would learn to anticipate challenging situations that may present before their children (Oates, Andrew and Clare, 171-185).

When the environment, while taking into focus people’s expectations and demand, is compatible with a child’s temperament, then a goodness-of-fit is said to exist. Incompatibility exists when there is personality conflict. In early childhood, parents can cope with their children’s temperamental traits instead of opposing them. Later on when the children mature, parents can assist the children to adapt to the world by fitting in, in their temperamental traits (Howell 1-6).

Conclusion

A lot of children will possess some level of magnitude on various temperament traits. However, one trait will always be dominant. Negative labels such as lazy, cry baby or worrywart should not be used. The adult in a child’s life has a great influence on the development of the child’s temperaments. Therefore, adults should take up their parenting roles in an appropriate way that will positively guide the child’s natural style of reacting to the world.

Most scientists argue that temperament is associated with genetic and biological aspects despite the fact that environmental factors and maturations affect the way in which a child’s personality is expressed. The differences in child temperament are vital for family life as they govern the interactions that prevail in a family.

The goodness-of-fit is a critical determining factor of the relationship between a parent and his or her child. It determines the harmony between them. Temperament changes across the life cycle have been evident due to family environment and life experiences which influence one’s temperamental development process.

Early socialization of caregivers and their children and especially the use of the affective tone in these relationships have a very profound effect on the child’s developmental process. A caregiver influences a child’s developmental process by helping the child learn how to take charge of their behaviors and talk about their emotions. A child will develop more functional social and emotional interactions with his or her peers if a caregiver appropriately responds to a child’s emotional needs.

It is very important that a parent reacts to a child’s emotional upsets by acknowledging the child’s distress and comforting him or her rather than negating it. It is the interactions between caregivers and their children that affect how these children interact with others. A positive interaction with the caregiver will foster a positive interaction between the child and others, and the converse is also true.

The possession of temperaments by a child is a very normal process. However, the kind of temperament possessed is very important and a parent is the key determinant of this temperamental development process as he or she is the first person, who is in direct contact with the child.

Social and emotional readiness is equally important as it helps a child in making a successful transition through a kindergarten, early grades and later in life. Social competency and emotional readiness enable a child to achieve success in school as they are able to comprehend their own emotions and those of others. This way, they are able to relate well with others and understand what they want to achieve. Consequently, they are able to become successful in school and in later life years (Klein 552-556).