Child Psy PDF

Faculty of Applied Social Sciences
ABPD1203
Child Psychology
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

ABPD1203
CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
Oh Yean Choo

Project Directors: Prof Dato’ Dr Mansor Fadzil
Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Yusof Ahmad
Open University Malaysia
Module Writer: Oh Yean Choo

Institute CECE Malaysia
Moderator: Noor Hassline Mohamed

Developed by: Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

First Edition, August 2011

Second Edition, December 2012 (rs)
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM), December 2012, ABPD1203
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the President, Open University Malaysia (OUM).

Table of Contents
Course Guide ix–xiv
Topic 1: History, Theory and Research Methods in Child Psychology 1

1.1 What is Child Psychology? 2
1.2 Historical Views of Children 3
1.3 Theories about Child Psychology 5
1.3.1 Five General Perspectives in Child Psychology 5
1.4 Issues Revolving around the Theories 19
1.5 Research Methods to Study Children 21
1.5.1 How are Child Psychology Studies Researched? 21
1.5.2 Ethical Concerns when Doing Research with Young
Children 26
Summary 27
Key Terms 28
References 28
Topic 2 Heredity and Environment 30

2.1 Biological Beginnings 31
2.1.1 Forming a New Life 31
2.1.2 Mechanism of Heredity 33
2.2 Heredity and Environment 38
2.2.1 Behavioural Genetics 39
2.2.2 How Heredity and Environment Work Together 39
2.3 Heredity and Environment Interactions 40
2.3.1 Reaction Range 40
2.3.2 Genetic-environment Correlation 41
2.3.3 Environmental Influences on Gene Expression 42
2.4 Conclusion 43
Summary 43
Key Terms 44
References 44
Topic 3 Prenatal Development and Birth 46

3.1 Prenatal Development 48
3.1.1 Course of Prenatal Development 49
3.2 Risk Factors that Affect Prenatal Development 54
3.2.1 General Risk Factors 54
3.2.2 Teratogens: Drugs, Diseases and
Environmental Hazards 58

iv  TABLE OF CONTENTS
3.3 Birthing 60
3.3.1 Complications during Birth 61
Summary 62
Key Terms 63
References 63
Topic 4 Infancy: Sensation, Perception and Learning 65

4.1 The Newborn 66
4.1.1 What are Reflexes? 66
4.1.2 The Sleeping and Awakening Pattern 68
4.1.3 Crying 69
4.1.4 Soothing Babies 70
4.2 Sensation, Perception and Learning 71
4.2.1 Sensation and Perception 71
4.2.2 Learning 75
Summary 79
Key Terms 80
References 80
Topic 5 The ChildÊs Growth: Brain, Body, Motor Skills and

Sexual Maturation 84
5.1 The Brain 85
5.1.1 Brain Structure 86
5.1.2 Brain Plasticity in Early Childhood 88
5.1.3 Genetics and Environment Interact 89
5.1.4 Deprivation 90
5.2 Physical and Motor Development 91
5.2.1 Physical Development 91
5.2.2 Motor Development 92
5.2.3 Sequential and Timing of Physical and Motor
Development of Young Children 92
5.2.4 Role of Culture in Physical Development 94
5.3 Sexual Maturation 94
5.3.1 Differences between Girls and Boys in Puberty 95
5.3.2 Factors Determining the Timing of Puberty 96
5.3.3 Some Related Problems 97
Summary 97
Key Terms 98
References 98

TABLE OF CONTENTS  v
Topic 6 Emotional Development and Attachment 100

6.1 Emotional Development 101
6.1.1 What is Emotional Development? 102
6.1.2 EriksonÊs Developmental Theory 103
6.1.3 Early Emotional Development 105
6.1.4 Empathy 111
6.2 Attachment 112
6.2.1 Attachment Theories 112
6.2.2 How is Attachment Developed? 113
6.2.3 Why is Attachment Important? 114
6.2.4 Signs of Attachment 115
6.2.5 Can Children Develop Multiple Attachment
Relationship? 115
Summary 116
Key Terms 117
References 117
Topic 7 Language and Communication 120

7.1 Beginning of Communication 122
7.2 What is Language? 123
7.2.1 How Language is Acquired? 124
7.2.2 Stages of Language Development 127
7.2.3 Sensitive Periods 131
7.2.4 Importance of Early Experiences 131
Summary 134
Key Terms 135
References 135
Topic 8 Cognitive Development 137

8.1 PiagetianÊs Cognitive Theory 138
8.1.1 PiagetÊs Theory of Cognitive Development 139
8.1.2 Stages of Cognitive Development 140
8.1.3 Critiques of PiagetÊs Theory 144
8.2 VygotskyÊs Sociocultural Theory 145
8.2.1 VygotskyÊs Sociocultural Cognitive Theory 146
8.2.2 Implication in Classroom Practices 148
8.3 Information Processing Approach 149
8.3.1 Exploring the Information Processing Approach 149
8.3.2 Memory 150
8.3.3 Solving Problems 152
Summary 154
Key Terms 155
References 155

vi  TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic 9 Intelligence and Achievement 158

9.1 Intelligence and Achievement 159
9.2 What is Intelligence? 160
9.2.1 Intelligence Tests and Achievement Test 161
9.3 Single Intelligence or Multiple Intelligences? 165
9.3.1 GardnerÊs Multiple Intelligences 166
9.3.2 SternbergÊs Triarchi Theory 168
9.4 Heridity or Environmental 169
9.5 Extremes of Intelligence: Mental Retardation and
Giftedness 172
Summary 176
Key Terms 176
References 177
Topic 10 The Family 179

10.1 The Family Structure 180
10.2 The Ecological Systems Theory 181
10.3 The Parents 185
10.3.1 Socialisation within the Family 186
10.3.2 Traits of a Successful Family 189
10.4 Socioeconomic and Ethnic Variations in Child Rearing 190
10.5 FatherÊs Involvement 191
10.6 Divorced Families 192
10.7 Siblings 194
Summary 196
Key Terms 197
References 197

COURSE GUIDE

COURSE GUIDE DESCRIPTION
You must read this Course Guide carefully from the beginning to the end. It tells
you briefly what the course is about and how you can work your way through
the course material. It also suggests the amount of time you are likely to spend in
order to complete the course successfully. Please keep on referring to Course
Guide as you go through the course material as it will help you to clarify
important study components or points that you might miss or overlook.
INTRODUCTION
ABPD1203 Child Psychology is one of the courses offered by Faculty of Applied
Social Sciencess (FASS) at Open University Malaysia (OUM). This course is
worth 3 credit hours and should be covered over 8 to 15 weeks.
COURSE AUDIENCE
This course is offered to all students taking the Bachelor of Psychology with
Honours. This module aims to impart the basic concepts and mechanisms
inherent in the process of human development from conception to adolescence.
This module should be able to form a strong foundation of knowledge in the
field of psychology.
As an open and distance learner, you should be acquainted with learning

independently and being able to optimise the learning modes and environment
available to you. Before you begin this course, please ensure that you have the
right course material and understand the course requirements as well as how the
course is conducted.
STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for every
credit. As such, for a three-credit hour course, you are expected to spend 120
study hours. Table 1 gives an estimation of how the 120 study hours could be
accumulated.

x  COURSE GUIDE
Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours
Study
Study Activities
Hours
Briefly go through the course content and participate in initial discussions 3
Study the module 60
Attend tutorial sessions 10
Online Participation 12
Revision 15
Assignment(s) and Examination(s) 20
TOTAL STUDY HOURS 120
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Explain the method used in gathering information on child development;
2. Show researches done in the past on heredity-environment influence;
3. Explain changes in physical, cognitive, emotional, intellectual ability, as the
child advances in age; and
4. Explain the effects of family and cultural influence on the behaviours of a
child.
COURSE SYNOPSIS
This course is divided into 10 topics. The synopsis for each topic can be listed as
follows:
Topic 1 introduces you to the concepts and issues in the study of children. We
first look at the history of early ideas, and then at contemporary theories about
children. We then look at the approaches or methods used to study children and
the ethics in conducting research with children.
Topic 2 describes how new lives are formed and the mechanism of heredity. This
topic highlights basic arguments on the influence of heredity and environment. It
also explains how heredity and environment work together.

COURSE GUIDE  xi
Topic 3 examines prenatal development and birth. It examines the effects of

maternal stress, fear and anxiety on the foetus.
Topic 4 discusses infants' sensation, perception and learning. It examines infants

preparedness for learning and also the biological preparedness.
Topic 5 examines the childÊs growth: brain, body, motor skills and sexual
maturation. It also discusses role of family in development.
Topic 6 discusses the emotional development and attachment of young children.

It also examines attachment relationships between parents and children.
Topic 7 discusses language and communication development of young children.

It examines social contributions to language learning.
Topic 8 examines the cognitive developmental theories of Piaget and Vygotsky.

It also discusses the information processing approach.
Topic 9 examines intelligence and achievement of young children. It also

discusses theories of intelligence.
Topic 10 focuses on the family factor; the types of family, variation in child
rearing styles, the fatherÊs involvement, divorced families and differences in
treatment of siblings that influence the childÊs socialisation.
TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Before you go through this module, it is important that you note the text
arrangement. Understanding the text arrangement will help you to organise your
study of this course in a more objective and effective way. Generally, the text
arrangement for each topic is as follows:
Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you
have completely covered a topic. As you go through each topic, you should
frequently refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously
gauge your understanding of the topic.
Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

throughout the module. It may be inserted after one sub-section or a few sub-
sections. It usually comes in the form of a question. When you come across this
component, try to reflect on what you have already learnt thus far. By attempting
to answer the question, you should be able to gauge how well you have

xii  COURSE GUIDE
understood the sub-section(s). Most of the time, the answers to the questions can
be found directly from the module itself.
Activity: Like Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various

locations or junctures throughout the module. This component may require you to
solve questions, explore short case studies, or conduct an observation or research.
It may even require you to evaluate a given scenario. When you come across an
Activity, you should try to reflect on what you have gathered from the module and
apply it to real situations. You should, at the same time, engage yourself in higher
order thinking where you might be required to analyse, synthesise and evaluate
instead of only having to recall and define.
Summary: You will find this component at the end of each topic. This component
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should
be able to gauge your knowledge retention level. Should you find points in the
summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details in the module.
Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should go
through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargon used
throughout the module. Should you find terms here that you are not able to
explain, you should look for the terms in the module.
References: The References section is where a list of relevant and useful

textbooks, journals, articles, electronic contents or sources can be found. The list
can appear in a few locations such as in the Course Guide (at the References
section), at the end of every topic or at the back of the module. You are
encouraged to read or refer to the suggested sources to obtain the additional
information needed and to enhance your overall understanding of the course.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Learners of this course are required to pass the module ABPG1103 Introduction
to Psychology.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Please refer to myINSPIRE.

COURSE GUIDE  xiii
REFERENCES
Hetherington, E. M., Parke, R. D., Gauvain, M., & Locke, V. O. (2006). Child
psychology: a contemporary viewpoint. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Morris, C. G., & Maisto, A. A. (2002). Psychology: an introduction (11th ed.). New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Schaffer, H. R. (2004). Introducing child psychology. Malden, MA: Blackwell

Publishing.
TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

DIGITAL LIBRARY
The TSDAS Digital Library has a wide range of print and online resources for the
use of its learners. This comprehensive digital library, which is accessible
through the OUM portal, provides access to more than 30 online databases
comprising e-journals, e-theses, e-books and more. Examples of databases
available are EBSCOhost, ProQuest, SpringerLink, Books24x7, InfoSci Books,
Emerald Management Plus and Ebrary Electronic Books. As an OUM learner,
you are encouraged to make full use of the resources available through this
library.

xiv  COURSE GUIDE

Topic  History,
1 Theory and
Research
Methods in
Child
Psychology
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Define child psychology;
2. Explain historical ideas of child psychology;
3. Compare different theories on child psychology;
4. Identify issues in child psychology;
5. Compare various research methods in child psychology; and
6. Explain issues relating to ethics in doing research with children.
 INTRODUCTION
Why do we need to study children? Why are children today different from
children 20, 30 or 40 years ago? How are they alike? What do you think are the
reasons for these similarities and differences?

2  TOPIC 1 HISTORY, THEORY AND RESEARCH METHODS IN CHILDPSYCHOLOGY
These are some of the questions we will investigate in this topic.
This topic introduces you to concepts and issues in studying children. We will
first look at the history of early ideas and then at contemporary theories on
children. You will learn how to use these theories and ideas by psychologists to
study children and their interaction with their surroundings. We will then look at
the approaches or methods used to study and gather information on children.
You will learn how to apply the techniques of research methodology. Finally,
you will understand the issues relating to ethics when conducting research with
children.
1.1 WHAT IS CHILD PSYCHOLOGY?

What does child psychology mean?
Child psychology is the study of the mental and emotional development of

children and is part of developmental psychology, the study of changes in
behaviour that occur through the life span. It is the branch of psychology
that studies the social and mental development of children.
Have you ever wondered how you developed into who you are today? How
does a child develop? What determines the features that humans have in
common and those that make each of us unique – whether physically, mentally,
or behaviourally? Why do some children thrive while others do not? How do we
explain how a child who faced countless tragedies could pick up the pieces and
triumph later in life while another could not?
These are some of the questions addressed by child psychology, a field devoted
to studying how children develop and grow from the moment of conception
through adolescence, until the emergence of adulthood. It is the study of age-
related changes in the behaviour of children and the application of psychological
techniques to children. It is part of a large field known as developmental
psychology or human development, which studies the processes associated with
those changes. It includes principal topics such as language acquisition and
development, motor skills, personality development, social, emotional and
intellectual growth.

TOPIC 1 HISTORY, THEORY AND RESEARCH METHODS IN CHILD PSYCHOLOGY  3
SELF-CHECK 1.1
1. Explain child psychology in your own words.
2. List five questions which are always asked in studying children.
1.2 HISTORICAL VIEWS OF CHILDREN

Children are the worldÊs most significant and important people. They have rights
and are protected by government policies from abuse. In February 1996, Malaysia
joined 187 countries in ratifying the 54-article Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC), thus accepting social, political, legal and economic responsibilities
in ensuring the security, safety and well-being of children below 18. Today, the
development and well-being of children captures public attention, the interest of
scientists and the concern of policymakers. However, it was not always like this
throughout the course of human history.
In medieval times, there were contradicting beliefs about children. Children at

that time were viewed in terms of original sin, tabula rasa and innate goodness.
(a) Original Sin

In the original sin viewpoint, children were perceived as being initially bad
and possessed by the devil and therefore needing purification through
baptism and exorcism.
(b) Tabula Rasa

Tabula rasa (Latin for „blank slate‰) view was proposed by English
philosopher John Locker (1632–1704) who argued that children were not
innately bad, but instead are like a „blank tablet,‰ a tabula rasa (Santrock,
2001). Locke believed that children begin with nothing at all and all kinds
of experiences shape their characters. He advised parents to spend time
with their children and to help them become contributing members of
society.
(c) Innate Goodness

Children are inherently good and thus, they should be permitted to grow
naturally, with minimal parental monitoring or constraint. This view was
presented by Swiss-born philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) in
the 18th century.

A century after Rousseau, the British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882)

propounded the Theory of Evolution. The theory emphasised two related
principles: natural selection and survival of the fittest. Other scientists concluded
from DarwinÊs observation that the development of the human child followed
the same general plan as the evolution of the human species. „It was through
DarwinÊs efforts that prompted other researchers to make careful observations of
all aspects of childrenÊs behaviour and attempt to document an idea about
development. Thus, scientific child study was born.‰ (Berk, 2005, p. 14).
Inspired by DarwinÊs work, G. Stanley Hall (1846–1924) and his student Arnold
Gesell (1880–1961) devised several theories based on evolutionary ideas. They
launched the normative approach, in which measures of behaviour were taken
on large numbers of individuals and age-related averages were computed to
represent typical development (Berk, 2005, p. 14). Both constructed questionnaires
and collected detailed normative information on the motor achievements, social
behaviours and personality characteristics of infants and children.
At the same time, a French psychologist, Alfred Binet (1857–1911), also took a
normative approach to child development. BinetÊs intelligent test of the Stanford-
Binet Intelligence Scale sparked tremendous interest in individual differences in
development besides providing scores that could successfully predict school
achievement. The intelligence tests rose quickly to the forefront of the „nature
versus nurture‰ controversy that has continued to this day (Berk, 2005).
In the mid-20th century, topics on children attracted increasing interest and a

variety of theories emerged, all of which continue to be relevant today.
ACTIVITY 1.1
1. What were the contradicting ideas about children during

medieval times? Discuss with your tutor and coursemates.
2. What were the main issues concerning the historical figures who
had made a contribution to the study of children?
3. Find out if your parents read any parenting advice books when
you were growing up. What questions about child rearing
concerned them the most? Do you think todayÊs parents have
concerns that differ from those of your parents? Explain.

1.3 THEORIES ABOUT CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

Theories are important when studying child psychology. According to Berk
(2005), a theory is an orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains
and predicts behaviour. Theories provide an organising framework for our
observations of children. They guide and give meaning to what we see. Also,
theories that are verified by research often serve as a sound basis for practical
action. A theory helps us understand development so that we are in a much
better position to know what to do to improve the welfare and treatment of
children.
1.3.1 Five General Perspectives in Child Psychology

There are many theories with very different ideas about what children are
like and how they learn and change. Some developmental theories emphasise
on growth; some on how learning takes place and others focus on both.
Hetherington, Parke, Gauvain & Locke (2006) organised these different theories
and presented them through five general perspectives in child psychology (Refer
Figure 1.1):
Figure 1.1: Five general perspectives in child psychology
LetÊs read further on each perspective in the following sections.
(a) Structural-organismic Perspectives

Theories with this perspective focus on the stages of development from
infancy to adulthood in a qualitative way over the course of human
development (Hetherington et al., 2006). It stresses that life is a series of
stages through which each person passes, with each stage growing from the
previous one. There are three main theories that we will explore here –
FreudÊs Psychoanalytic Theory, EriksonÊs Psychosocial Theory, and
Piagetian Theory.
(i) FreudÊs Psychoanalytic Theory

According to FreudÊs psychoanalytic perspective, children move
through a series of stages in which they are confronted with conflicts
between their biological needs and social expectations. How these
conflicts are resolved will determine the childÊs ability to learn, cope
with anxiety and get along with others. In this theory, a childÊs
personal development is controlled by three interconnected parts: the
id, the ego and the superego.
Table 1.1 shows how these three parts become integrated during a
sequence of five stages, from birth to adolescence.
Table 1.1: Development Stages of Psychosexual Stages by Freud
Stage Description
Oral BabyÊs chief source of pleasure involves mouth-
(Birth to 12–18 oriented activities (sucking and feeding).
months)
Anal Child derives sensual gratification from
(12–18 months to 3 withholding and expelling faeces. Zone of
years) gratification is anal region and toilet training is an
important activity.
Phallic Child becomes attached to parent of the other sex
(3–6 years) and later identifies with the same-sex parent.
Superego develops. Zone of gratification shifts to
genital region.
Latency Time of relative calm between more turbulent
(6 years to puberty) stages.
Genital Re-emergence of sexual impulses of phallic stage,
(Puberty through channelled into mature adult sexuality.
adulthood)
Source: Papalia, Olds & Feldman (2007).
FreudÊs psychosexual theory emphasises that the way parents manage

their childÊs sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years of life
is crucial for healthy personality development and socialisation,
especially in the areas of gender, morality, family processes and
problems and disturbances (Santrock, 2001).

(ii) EriksonÊs Psychosocial Theory

Erikson accepted FreudÊs psychosexual framework and expanded
on each stage of development. In his psychosocial theory, Erikson
emphasised that the ego does not just mediate between id impulses
and superego demands – it is also a positive force in development. He
proposed eight specific developmental stages that unfold across the
lifespan. Each stage is characterised according to the personal and
social tasks that the individual must achieve as well as the threats the
individual confronts if she or he fails to proceed through the stages
successfully.
Table 1.2 shows the six stages of EriksonÊs psychosocial stages from birth
to emerging adulthood. More details will be discussed in later topics.
Table 1.2: Six Stages of EriksonÊs Psychosocial Stages
Stage Criteria
Birth – 1 year Basic trust vs. mistrust
1–3 years Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
3–6 years Initiative vs. guilt
6–11 years Industry vs. inferiority
Adolescence Identity vs. identity confusion
Emerging adulthood Intimacy vs. isolation
(iii) Piagetian Theory

Meanwhile, Piagetian theory focuses on intellectual development
(Hetherington et al., 2006) of logical thought and socio-moral
knowledge and behaviour. According to his cognitive-development
theory, individuals gain knowledge not from the outside but through
their own active experiences. Children actively seek information and
new experiences as they manipulate and explore their world (Berk,
2005). Children organise new knowledge and adapt or respond to
new input from their environment. It is through the process of
organisation and adaptation that equilibrium is achieved.

In PiagetÊs theory, as the brain develops and childrenÊs experiences

expand, they move through four broad stages (Table 1.3):
Table 1.3: PiagetÊs Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage Description
Sensorimotor Cognitive development begins with the babyÊs use of the
(birth – 18 months) reflexes, senses and movements to explore the world.
Pre-operational Children form ideas based on their perceptions. They
(18 months–6 years) can only focus on one variable at a time and they tend to
over-generalise based on limited experience.
Concrete operational Children start to transform their thinking based on
(6–12 years) reasoning and evolve into symbolic meanings; but they
still limit their thinking to objects and familiar events
only.
Formal operational They are able to think conceptually and hypothetically.
(12 years and older) However, Piaget warned that many do not reach this
stage of development.
(b) The Learning Perspectives

A learning theory is an attempt to describe how people and animals learn,
thereby helping us understand the inherently complex process of learning.
Learning perspectives emphasise the changes in behaviour and view
development as a gradual and continuous process (Hetherington et al., 2006).
Behaviourism focuses on the learning of behaviours. It explains the process

of learning and how learning occurs. This approach focuses more on the
influence of environment on development rather than maturation. The
behaviourist approach to development is explained in the work of John B.
Watson, Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner and the information processing
approach.

In the history of child psychology, the behaviourist view is dominant.

Pavlov came up with the concept of classical conditioning. It is a type of
learning where two stimuli are repeatedly presented together until
individuals learn to respond to the unfamiliar stimulus in the same way
they respond to the familiar stimulus. For example, Pavlov conditioned
a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell by showing the meat and
simultaneously ringing the bell (Refer Figure 1.2). Whereas, Watson
conditioned an 11-month–old infant called little Albert to fear furry animals
by showing the baby (who was easily frightened by noises) a white rat and
simultaneously making a loud noise (Refer Figure 1.3) (Hetherington et al.,
2006).
Figure 1.2: PavlovÊs experiment of classical conditioning

Source: http://www.eruptingmind.com/pavlov-classical-conditioning-theory/

Figure 1.3: Summary of Watson & Little Albert experiment

Source: http://www.neuroanatomy.wisc.edu/selflearn/Conditioning.htm

In SkinnerÊs behaviourism theory, the mind, conscious or unconscious, is

not needed to explain behaviour and development. Development is
behaviour (Santrock, 2001). The operant conditioning by Skinner designates
that learning depends on the consequences of behaviour (See Figure 1.4).
Figure 1.4: SkinnerÊs operant conditioning experiment using a rat to study the
connection of reinforcement and punishment in learning
Source: http://faridatuljamalia.blogspot.com/2010/08/part-5.html
Further reading on the experiment:
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html
For Skinner, rewards and punishments in a childÊs environment will shape

his characteristics. Through interactions with family members, friends,
teachers and other adults, the child will learn to behave in a certain fashion.
If a friendly smile, specific praise or a special treat increases the likelihood
of a child exhibiting a behaviour again, it is called reinforcement. A frown,
criticism or withdrawal of privileges is called punishment (Hetherington
et al., 2006). The consequences – reinforcement or punishment – are
contingent to the childÊs behaviour (Santrock, 2001).

In social cognitive learning theory, children learn by observing and

imitating others. An experiment was conducted whereby a group of
nursery school children watched an adult punch a large Bobo doll
(Hetherington et al., 2006). As a result, the children were more likely to
attack and play aggressively with the doll than another group of children
who had not seen the adult punching the doll. You can watch the original
BanduraÊs Bobo doll experiment at this link:
http://katelouiseemp.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html
BanduraÊs most recent model of learning and development involves

behaviour, the person and the environmental factors interactively. It
indicates that behaviour can influence personal factors and vice versa.
The personÊs cognitive activities can influence the environment; the
environment can change the personÊs cognition, and so on.
The behavioural and social cognitive theories have been criticised as

emphasising too much on environmental determinants and little on
cognition. There is also inadequate attention to developmental changes
with inadequate consideration of the spontaneity and creativity of humans
(Santrock, 2001).
The Information Processing approach focuses on the ways children process

information about their world – how they manipulate, monitor and
strategise it (Santrock, 2001). It is more focused on the flow of information
through the cognitive system.
It begins with an input or stimulus and ends with an output or response, and
uses the computer as a model for the way humans think (See Figure 1.5). But
in human information processing, output may be in the form of an action, a
decision, an insight, a verbalisation or simply a memory that is stored for
later use (Hetherington et al., 2006). Information processing theorists are
fascinated with the cognitive process that a child uses to operate on
knowledge and the gradual changes over the course of development in
childrenÊs ability to use these processes. You will learn more about this in
detail in Topic 8.

Figure 1.5: Information Processing Theory

Source: http://epse501.freeservers.com/information%20processing.htm
ACTIVITY 1.2
1. Explain what is learning. What would you say about learning in

your classroom?
2. How do you know that children or students have learned in your
classroom?
(c) The Contextual Perspectives

Theories with this perspective focus on the ecological, social and
environmental factors. Two main theories are BronfenbrennerÊs Ecological
Theory and VygotskyÊs Sociocultural Theory.
(i) BronfenbrennerÊs Ecological Theory

The Ecological Theory emphasises environmental factors. Urie
Bronfenbrenner, an American psychologist, viewed the child as
developing within a complex system of relationships affected by
multiple levels of the surrounding environment (Berk, 2005). He saw
the environment as a series of nested structures which included and
extended beyond the home, school and neighbourhood settings in
which children spent their everyday lives (See Figure 1.6). Each layer
of the environment was viewed as having a powerful impact on
development.

Figure 1.6: Ecological Research Model

Source: Charlesworth, R. (2000)
Let us look at each layer of the model:
 The Microsystem: The innermost level of the environment consists

of activities and interaction patterns in the childÊs immediate
surroundings.
 The Mesosystem: The second level of BronfenbrennerÊs model,

which encompasses connections between microsystems such as
home, school, neighbourhood and child-care centre.

 The Exosystem: Made up of social settings that do not contain

children but affect their experiences in immediate settings. These
can consist of formal organisations such as parentsÊ workplaces,
their religious institutions and health and welfare services in the
community.
 The Macrosystem: The outermost level of BronfenbrennerÊs

model. It consists of cultural values, laws, customs and resources.
According to Bronfenbrenner, the environment is not static. Instead,

it is ever-changing. He believed that children were products and
producers of their environments, so both children and the
environments formed a network of interdependent effects (Berk,
2005). These emphasise the role of social contexts in development
(Santrock, 2001).
(ii) VygotskyÊs Sociocultural Theory

Today, there is a dramatic increase in studies examining the
relationship of culturally specific practices to development which
is contributed by Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934).
Vygotsky described learning as the construction of knowledge within
a social context. He believed that development could not be separated
from its social context and that learning could lead to development
(Gordon & Williams-Browne, 2004).
The socio-cultural theory focuses on how culture – the values, beliefs,

customs and skills of a social group – is transmitted to the next
generation. According to Vygotsky, social interaction – in particular,
cooperative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society –
is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking and behaving
that make up a communityÊs cultureÊ (Berk, 2005, p. 26). VygotskyÊs
theory has been especially influential in the study of childrenÊs
cognition. Vygotsky agreed with Piaget that children are active,
constructive beings. But unlike Piaget, who emphasised childrenÊs
independent efforts to make sense of their world, Vygotsky viewed
cognitive development as a socially mediated process – dependent on
the assistance that adults and more-expert peers provide as children
tackle new challenges (Berk, 2005).

ACTIVITY 1.3
1. Describe how you would apply VygotskyÊs sociocultural theory in

your classroom.
2. A famous African proverb says, „It takes the whole village to
educate a child‰. Using BronfenbrennerÊs ecology theory, explain
the parts played by parents, extended family and the community
in educating young children.
(d) Ethological and Evolutionary Perspectives

While contextual theories stress on environmental factors, ethology theory
stresses on biological factors. Ethology is concerned with the adaptive, or
survival, value of behaviour and its evolutionary history. It stresses that
behaviour is strongly influenced by biology, tied to evolution and
characterised by critical or sensitive periods (Santrock, 2001). Its roots can
be traced to the work of Darwin (Berk, 2005). Ethology stresses that the
sensitivity to different kinds of experience varies over the life span.
Ethologists believe that most psychologists underestimate the importance
of sensitive periods in early development. Ethologists also stress the
powerful roles that evolution and biological foundations play in
development (Santrock, 2001). In addition to ethological theory, another
theory that emphasises the biological aspects of human development is
evolutionary psychology.
Ethologists and Evolutionary psychologists share many of the same basic

assumptions about the origins of social organisation and behaviour.
However, evolutionary psychologists have had a major impact on the study
of cognition and cognitive development. According to this theory, the
critical components of human evolutionary change are in the areas of brain
changes and cognitive functioning (Hetherington et al., 2006).
Evolutionary psychologists believed that human beings use complex

and creative reasoning while trying to get out of troubles or dangerous
situations. In life, we face different problems in different contexts. For
example, an aboriginal child who lives in a rural area has many different
types of experiences and problem solving skills (catching fish in the river,

finding food in the jungle etc.) compared to a child who lives in a big city.
The evolutionarists believe that our human cognition is how we adapt to
the types of problems that are important to solve in the environment or
context we are in.
In short, we can say that the evolutionarists are interested in behaviours

that children develop that are important for them to survive in different
context.
(e) Dynamic Systems Perspectives

Today, a new wave of theorists has adopted a dynamic systems perspective.
According to this view, the childÊs mind, body and physical and social
worlds form an integrated system that guides mastery of new skills.
According to Berk (2005), „The system is dynamic or constantly in motion. A
change in any part of it – from brain maturation to physical and social
surroundings – disrupts the current organism-environment relationship.
When this happens, the child actively reorganises his or her behaviour so
the various components of the system work together again but in a more
complex and effective way.‰
This perspective covers a wide range of topics in child development. The

areas include how the child as a biological and psychological system
functions and grows in a physical world that both supports and challenges
his or her development (Hetherington et al., 2006). In this perspective, all
attempts to illustrate how child development comes from the system as a
whole, not from any single factor. For instance, a child who has muscle
strength but lacks balance will not walk, or a child who needs to learn to
cooperate more with others at home cannot succeed without the support
of other members of his family (Hetherington et al., 2006). This approach
has been applied to variety of developmental issues, including motor
development, perception, language, cognition and social behaviour.
The dynamic systems view draws on information-processing and contextual

theories – evolutionary developmental psychology, socio-cultural theory
and ecological systems theory. At present, dynamic systems perspective
investigators are tracking and analysing development in all its complexity.
In doing so, they hope to move closer to an all-encompassing approach to
understanding change.

In short, the five general perspectives of child psychology can be

summarised in Figure 1.7.
Figure 1.7: Summary of five general perspectives in child psychology

SELF-CHECK 1.2
1. What are theories? Why are they important?

2. What is the main issue each theory is concerned about?
3. What are the similarities and differences in these theories?
4. What are the assumptions shared by both the ethological and
evolutional theories?
ACTIVITY 1.4
1. How would you organise these theories other than the way
Hetherington et al. (2006) had organised?
2. In your opinion, which theory of child development had
influenced your development the most? Discuss.
3. If you are a teacher, which are the theories you would adopt in
your work? Discuss with your coursemates.
1.4 ISSUES REVOLVING AROUND THE

THEORIES
Although there are many theories, we can categorise and organise them easily
because they all take a stand on three basic issues raised in the study of childrenÊs
development. The three major issues are:
(a) Nature or Nurture: Which is more important?

Is childrenÊs development due more to maturation (nature, hereditary) or
more to experience (nurture, environment)? Are changes we see in children
due to internal or external influences? Some theories claim children change
because of innate, biological or genetic patterns built into the human being;
others claim that they are shaped by the environment and experiences of
life, such as parents, television, school and so on. This issue has been
discussed for centuries. The argument also refers to the nature/nurture
controversy or known as the problem of heredity versus environment.
Today, most psychologists and educators agree that the patterns of
development and learning are complex and not so simply explained.
Modern theories focus on variations that emphasise one or the other
(Berk, 2005).

(b) Continuous or discontinuous development?

Is development more continuous and smooth or more discontinuous and
stage-like? Some theories emphasise a gradual, cumulative kind of growth.
This continuity of development is usually the viewpoint of theories that
emphasise experience or nurture (Gordon & Browne, 2004). Others see
children growing in stages clearly marked by distinct changes. This view
sees each of us as passing through a sequence of stages in which change is
qualitative rather than quantitative (Santrock, 2001).
(c) Early or later experience?

To what extent is development permanently shaped by early experience,
and to what extent does later experience influence development? (Santrock,
2001; Berk, 2005; Gordon & Browne, 2004). If infants experience negative,
stressful circumstances in their lives, can those experiences be overcome by
later, more positive experiences? Or are the early experiences so critical that
they cannot be overridden by a later, better environment? Some believe that
unless infants experience warm, nurturant caregiving in the first year or so
of life, their development will never be optimal (Santrock, 2001). The later
experience advocates argue that children are malleable throughout
development and that later sensitive caregiving is just as important as
earlier sensitive caregiving. They accept that early experiences are
important contributors to development but no more important than later
experiences (Santrock, 2001).
SELF-CHECK 1.3
1. List the three main issues raised in the study of child

development.
2. Is an older childÊs ability to think in more complex ways largely
the result of an inborn timetable of growth or is it primarily
influenced by stimulation from parents and teachers?
3. Do children acquire language because they are genetically
predisposed to do so or because parents intensively tutor them
from an early age?
4. What accounts for the vast individual differences among children
– in height, weight, physical coordination, intelligence, personality
and social skills? Is nature or nurture more responsible for that?

1.5 RESEARCH METHODS TO STUDY

CHILDREN
In the following sections, we look at research strategies commonly used to study
children. We will begin with methods of gathering information, then research
designs that are used to collect the data. Finally, we will discuss special ethical
issues involved in doing research on children.
1.5.1 How are Child Psychology Studies Researched?

There are many different ways in which research on children can be approached
and there is no one right way to conduct research in children (Naughton, Rolfe &
Siraj-Blatchford, 2001). In psychology, we use scientific methods to study
children. In science, we ask and answer questions through hypothesis,
investigation, careful observation and processing or analysing of data.
To achieve their aims, psychology researchers first need to decide what the
problem or topic is and then how to measure the topic of interest. They must
then design their study, choose a method for studying and decide whether their
plan respects the rights of the individuals who would participate in the research.
We shall now discuss three approaches that are commonly done in studying
children: (a) systematic observation, (b) sampling behaviour with task; and
(c) self report (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2004).
Let us read further on each approach.
(a) Systematic Observation

We often see but we do not observe. We look at things all the time;
however, casually watching two children interacting is different from the
type of observation used in scientific studies. Scientific observation is
highly systematic (Santrock, 2001). We need to know what we are looking
for, how to conduct observation in an unbiased manner, record accurately
and categorise what we have seen and effectively communicate or report
what was observed. We can record by writing them down, or sometimes
we can use technology such as tape recorders, video cameras and
computers to make observations more efficient.

There are two types of observations:
(i) Structured observation is done in laboratories and in a controlled

setting. It takes place with many of the complex factors of the real
world removed. Each participant has an equal opportunity to display
the behaviours of interest (Berk, 2005).
(ii) Naturalistic observation is done in natural settings. Behaviour is

observed outside of a laboratory, and data is gathered in the real
everyday environment. It allows researchers to see directly the
everyday behaviours they hope to explain. Naturalistic observations
of children can be done in classrooms, at home, at play centres, in
neighbourhoods and in other settings (Santrock, 2001).
Observation is commonly used to obtain information about childrenÊs

behaviours and development. The behavioural and social cognitive theories
especially advocate the use of laboratory observation, whereas ethological
theory emphasises the importance of naturalistic observation (Santrock,
2001).
(b) Sampling Behaviour with Tasks

If we cannot observe certain behaviours directly, then we can create tasks
that are thought to sample the behaviour that we are interested to find out
about. This approach is popular because it is convenient and can be used to
study most behaviour. However, it may be invalid if the task does not
sample behaviour as it occurs naturally.
(c) Self Report

Perhaps the quickest and best way to get information about children is to
ask them or adults who know them. We can find out about childrenÊs
experiences, beliefs and feelings by interviews and questionnaires (survey).
Interviews can be face to face, over the phone or through the Internet.
Questionnaires can be given out to individuals in printed form and they are
required to answer the questions stated. This can also be done in person, by
mail or through the Internet.

One crucial limitation is that many individuals give answers that they think
are socially acceptable and desirable, rather than say what they truly think or
feel (Santrock, 2001). Also, for young children whose reading and writing
skills are still developing, filling in forms might be a challenge for them.
Of the theories discussed early in this topic, psychoanalytic theory, PiagetÊs

theory and VygotskyÊs theory all use interviews. The behavioural and
social cognitive theories and ethological theory are the least likely to use
interviews.
General Designs for Research

After selecting the approach you want to use to measure the behaviour of
interest, you must next decide on a research design that will yield useful,
relevant results. We shall now discuss primary designs that are commonly used
in child studies: experimental, co-relation and case studies.
(i) Experiments
An experiment is a research method used to determine the effectiveness
of a treatment or action on the behaviour being studied. It requires the
researcher to control all other factors that might have an influence on
the occurrence of a particular change. A carefully regulated procedure
needs to be planned in order to control these factors and minimise the
influence on the behaviour being studied. It studies the cause and effect
of a variable or variables being manipulated on the behaviour being
studied. Experimental research is the only truly reliable method of
establishing cause and effect (Santrock, 2001).
In an experimental research, it is important to control all the unrelated

factors or extraneous variables so that they do not interfere with the
findings of the study. Otherwise, any experiment regarding the causal
relationship will no longer draw any conclusion.

Some experiments have both an experimental group and a control

group. The experimental group consists of subjects who are
participating in the treatment whereas the control group consists of
subjects who do not receive the treatment. Comparison between the
two groups determines the effectiveness of the method or treatment
used. We can also compare the effectiveness of the treatment on the
dependent variable.
(ii) Co-relational Methods

The co-relational design examines relationship between two or more
variables without altering participantsÊ experiences. The correlation
coefficient is used to measure the relationship or association between
variables. A positive correlation means when one variable increases,
the other variable increases. For example, if an extra hour of
instruction is given, the marks of the students also increased. A
negative correlation means when one variable increases, the other
variable decreases. For example, the correlation between the numbers
of hours students spent watching TV and their performance in tests.
However, researchers need to be aware that correlation does not equal

causation. For example, the aforementioned correlation does not mean
that low achievement in tests is caused by TV watching. Co-relational
research can be used by most of the theoretical approaches.
(iii) Case Studies

A case study is an important source of data for psychologists to get
in-depth understanding of individuals. The method brings together
a wide range of information on one child, including interviews,
observations, test scores and sometimes psycho-physiological
measures (Berk, 2005). The aim is to obtain as complete a picture as
possible of the childÊs psychological functioning and the experiences
that led up to it. For example, case studies on what contribute to the
accomplishments of prodigies.

All the research methods we have discussed can be summarised in

Figure 1.8.
Figure 1.8: Research methods in child psychology
SELF-CHECK 1.4
1. What are the common approaches that researchers used to study

children?
2. Consider the research methodologies described and write an
example of research questions that you would ask in each method.
(a) Experimental
(b) Observation
(c) Survey

1.5.2 Ethical Concerns when Doing Research with

Young Children
When children participate in research, the ethical concerns are especially more
complex than adults, because children are more vulnerable than adults to
physical and psychological harm. Children are not mature enough to evaluate for
themselves what their participation in the research will mean.
For these reasons, American Psychological Association and Society for Research
in Child Development came out with special ethical guidelines for research on
children.
ChildrenÊs Rights:
(i) Protection from harm – Children have the right to be protected from
physical or psychological harm in research. If in doubt about the
harmful effects of research, investigators should seek the opinion of
others. When harm seems possible, investigators should find other
means for obtaining the desired information or abandon the research.
(ii) Informed consent – All research participants, including children, have
the right to have explained to them (in language appropriate to their
level of understanding) all aspects of the research that may affect their
willingness to participate. When children are participants, informed
consent of parents as well as others who act on the childÊs behalf (such
as school officials) should be obtained, preferably in writing. Children,
and the adults responsible for them, have the right to discontinue
participation in the research at any time.
(iii) Privacy – Children have the right to the concealment of their identity on
all information collected in the course of research. They also have this
right with respect to written reports and any informal discussions about
the research.
(iv) Knowledge of results – Children have the right to be informed of the
results of research in language that is appropriate to their level of
understanding.
(v) Beneficial treatments – If experimental treatments believed to be
beneficial are conducted, children in the control groups have the right to
alternative beneficial treatments if they are available.
Source: American Psychological Association, 2002; Society for Research in Child

Development, 1993. In Berk, 2003, pg. 47

ACTIVITY 1.5
1. Why do we have to be cautious about ethical concerns when

doing research with children?
2. Carry out a research on how children play in a child care
centre. Report how you observe the ethical concerns during the
research.
 In child psychology, we study how children develop and grow from the
moment of conception up to adulthood. This includes language acquisition,
motor skills, personality development, social, emotional and intellectual
growth.
 Structural-organismic, learning, contextual, ethological and evolutionary and

dynamic systems are five basic concepts/perspectives of child psychology.
 There are many issues and contradicting ideas about children throughout
history such as original sin, tabula rasa and innate goodness.
 In child psychology, the scientific method is used to study children. Among

the popular methods are systematic observation, sampling behaviour with
tasks, self report and other general designs for research like experiments and
case studies.
 We have to be ethical while doing research with children.

American Psychological Association Information processing approach

Behaviourism self report Learning perspectives
Case Study Operant conditioning
Classical conditioning Piagetian theory
Contextual and ethological perspective Psychoanalytic theory
Co-relational method Psychosocial theory
Dynamic system perspectives Sampling behaviour with task
Ethical concerns Social learning theory
Ethological approach Structural-organismic perspectives
Evolutionary approach Systematic observation
Experimental design
American Psychological Association (APA): child psychology. (n.d.).

Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved December 31, 2009, from
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/child psychology
Ball, Sir C. (1994). Start Right: The Importance of Early Learning. RSA.
Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and children (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.
Charlesworth, R. (2000). Understanding Child Development (5th ed.). NY:

Delmar.
Gordon, A. M., & Browne, K. W. (2004). Beginnings & Beyond (6th ed.). NY:
Delmar.
Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2004). Human Development: A Life-span view.

CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning

Langston, A., & Abbott, L. (2005). Birth to three matters: Supporting the
framework of effective practice. NY: Open University Press.
Santrock, J. W. (2001). Child Development (9th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.
Papilia, D. E., Olds, S. W., & Feldman, R. D. (2007). Human development

(10th ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.

Topic  Heredity and
2 Environment
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe how new lives are formed;
2. Identify the heredity mechanism;
3. Explain the basic arguments of the influence of heredity and
environment; and
4. Explain how heredity and environment work together.
 INTRODUCTION
You have probaby noticed that all children are different from one another in the
way they look and the way they act. Even siblings raised in the same family can
be very different (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007). These differences are due to the
fact that everyone has a different set of inherited characteristics or what we
call heredity. Also, everyone has different relationships, physical settings and
learning experiences, which we call the „environment„. For many years, people
have been debating on the influences of heredity and the environment on the
development of an individual. It is believed that the optimum development of an
individual depends on the interaction between both heredity and environment.
In this topic, we begin with how the creation of new life takes place, the
mechanism of heredity, the genetic code, how gender is determined, how
heredity operates in transmitting normal and abnormal traits, the relationship
between heredity and environment and how heredity and environment work
together.

TOPIC 2 HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT  31
ACTIVITY 2.1
1. In your own view, explain how children are alike and how they
are different. Why do these similarities and differences exist?
2. Interview a pair of siblings. Find out:
(a) What they think of each other; and
(b) How they are alike and how they are different. Why is it so?
2.1 BIOLOGICAL BEGINNINGS

Although all of us are born different, we share many similarities. Every one of us
has two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth. Also, most of us will go through life
the same way – from babies to adults and our skins will wrinkle when we turn old.
According to DarwinÊs evolutionary theory, human beings, like any other

species, are the way they are and develop the way they do partly because they
have a shared species heredity that has evolved through natural selection
(Sigelman & Rider, 2003). The evolutionary theory also stressed that the most
important goal in life is to ensure that the next generation is born and survives.
(Sigelman & Rider, 2003). Let us now look at how new life is formed and their
similarities and differences due to genetic makeup and the environments of those
differences.
2.1.1 Forming a New Life

Conception is the process by which male and female sex cells, which are sperm
and ovum, combine to create a single cell called a zygote. The zygote duplicates
itself again and again by cell division to produce all the cells that make up a
baby (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2007). The ovum can be fertilised by a sperm
approximately every 28 days during a period of about 24 hours. At the time of
fertilisation, the choromosomes of the mother and father unite. Figure 2.1 shows
that chromosomes are located in the nucleus of a cell and contain thousands of
genes.

32  TOPIC 2 HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT
Figure 2.1: Heredity composition of the zygote

Source: Papalia, Olds & Feldman, (2007)
Sometimes a zygote divides into two identical halves which develop separately –
hence identical twins are created. As they are from one zygote and possess the
same genetic code, these twins will look alike. However, if there are two ova
(eggs) fertilised by two sperms, the result is fraternal twins. These twins do not
share the same genetic code (Black, Puckett & Bell, 1992).

2.1.2 Mechanism of Heredity

The study of heredity is the study of inborn factors, inherited from the biological
parents that affect development. Let us examine how heredity operates in
determining the genetic makeup of babies.
Before that, we need to know about the genotype–phenotype distinction drawn

in genetics:
(a) Genotype is an organismÊs full hereditary information, even if not expressed.

It refers to the genetic traits in an organism. It has to do with the genetic
coding of an organism. Such coding is inheritable. The genotype is the
genetic load that is copied every time a cell divides and therefore is inherited
by the next generation. In other words, genotype is something you can not
see with your eyes, such as dominant, recessive and heterozygous.
(b) Phenotype is an organismÊs actual observed properties, such as

morphology, development or behaviour. It refers to observable and
physical manifestations of an organism. The phenotype includes physical
characteristics, behaviours corresponding to such species, structures,
organs, behaviours and relfexes. In other words, phenotype are things that
can be seen with your eyes, such as colours and growth.
This distinction is fundamental in the study of inheritance of traits and their

evolution. The concepts of genotype and phenotype provide a framework for
exploring the interactions of genes and environment.
So, letÊs read further on genetic code, patterns of heredity, abnormalities in genes
and chromosomes and also about genetic counselling and testing in the following
sections.
(a) The Genetic Code

The genes from the mother and the father combine and that determines
a personÊs genetic potential or genotype. Genes, composed of DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA is the substance in genes that make the
blueprint which codes the formation of chains of protein that stimulate the
development of tissue and organs and affects other genes and physiological
functions (Thompson & Thompson, 1986).
DNA is the basis of heredity (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2007). A single
DNA molecule, tightly coiled with protein, is the building block for a
chromosome. Chromosomes are structures in the nucleus of each cell that
define individual species. A unique feature of DNA is that it can duplicate

itself through a process called mitosis (Berk, 2005). This process permits a
single cell, formed at conception, to copy themselves. As a result, each new
body cell contains the same number of chromosomes and the identical
genetic information (Berk, 2005). To understand the structure of DNA, Kail
& Cavanaugh (2004) explains:
„... imagine four different colours of beads placed on two strings. The
strings complement each other precisely: Wherever a red bead appears on
one string, a blue bead appears on the other; wherever a green bead
appears on one string, a yellow one appears on the other. DNA is organised
in this way, except that the four colours of beads are actually four different
chemical compounds – adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine. The
strings, which are made up of phosphates and sugars, wrap around each
other, creating the double helix shown in the drawing. The order in which
the chemical compound ÂbeadsÊ appear is really a code that causes the cell
to create specific amino acids, proteins and enzymes – important biological
building blocks. For example, three consecutive thymine ÂbeadsÊ make up
the instruction to create the amino acid phenylalanine. Each group of
compounds that provides a specific set of biochemical instructions is a
gene. Thus, genes are the functional units of heredity, because they
determine production of chemical substances that are, ultimately, the basis
for all human characteristics and abilities.‰
Figure 2.2: Organisation of the DNA

Source: Kail & Cavanaugh (2004)

(b) Patterns of Heredity Transmission

How do you think parentsÊ genes influence their childrenÊs traits? There are
three main mechanisms of inheritance as follows (Singelman & Rider, 2003):
(i) Single Gene-pair Inheritance

Some human characteristics are influenced by only one pair of genes –
one from the mother, one from the father. For example, about three
out of four people can curl their tongues upward into a tubelike
shape. This happens because there is a dominant gene associated with
it. For example, the person who inherits one „tongue-curl‰ gene from
one parent and one „no-curl‰ gene from another parent would be able
to curl his tongue because the tongue-curl gene dominates the
recessive, no-curl gene.
(ii) Sex-linked Inheritance

Do you know what determines sex? Humans have 23 pairs of
chromosomes: 22 matching pairs called autosomes and a 23rd pair
called the sex chromosomes. Females are typically XX, meaning they
have two X chromosomes for the 23rd pair, whereas males are
typically XY (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007). At the moment of
conception, the 23 chromosomes from the sperm and the 23 from the
ovum form 23 pairs. 22 pairs are autosomes, chromosomes that are
not related to sexual expression. The 23rd pair are sex chromosomes,
one from the father and one from the mother, that determine the
babyÊs sex. When an ovum (X) is fertilised by an X-carrying sperm, the
zygote formed is XX, a genetic female. When an ovum (X) is fertilised
by a Y-carrying sperm, the resulting zygote is XY, a genetic male
(Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2007). Refer Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: Determination of sex

Source: Papalia, Olds & Feldman, (2007)
In sex-linked characteristics, some traits are influenced by single genes

located on the sex chromosomes and the vast majority of these
attributes are associated with genes located only on X chromosomes
(Sigelman & Rider, 2003). For example, more males than females
display red-green colour blindness. It is caused by a recessive gene
that appears only on X chromosomes. Haemophilia, a deficiency in
the bloodÊs ability to clot, is also more common among males than
females because it too is associated with a gene on X chromosomes.
(iii) Polygenic (or Multiple Gene) Inheritance

According to Sigelman & Rider (2003), the most important human
characteristics are influenced by multiple pairs of genes rather than by
a single pair of genes – these are polygenic traits. Examples of
polygenic traits include height and weight, intelligence, temperament,
susceptibility to cancer and depression and many others. Even today,
scientists do not know exactly how many gene pairs influence
intelligence or other polygenic traits. All they know is that unknown
numbers and combinations of genes interacting with environmental
forces create a wide range of individual differences in most important
human traits.
(iv) Mutation
Sometimes harmful genes are created due to a sudden but permanent
change in a segment of DNA. A mutation may affect only one or two
genes, or it may involve many genes. Some mutations occur simply by
chance. Others are caused by hazardous environmental agents in our
food supply or the air we breathe (Berk, 2005).
(c) Abnormalities in Genes and Chromosomes

Sometimes, numerical or structural abnormalities of chromosomes can
result in incomplete or imperfect cell formation. Many of these
abnormalities result in spontaneous abortion early in the pregnancy. If the
baby survives, these defective chromosomes can result in congenital
malformations and/or mental retardation. These physical abnormalities
may be obvious at birth or internal (Black, Pukett & Bell, 1992).
One of the most common examples of numerical chromosome

abnormalities is DownÊs syndrome. It is caused by an extra 21st
chromosome or the translocation of part of the 21st chromosome onto
another chromosome resulting in mental retardation. The most obvious
physical characteristic associated with the disorder is a distinctive
appearance that includes a thick tongue, round face and a fold of skin in the
upper eyelid (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007).
Other disorders associated with abnormal genes include cystic fibrosis, Tay
Sachs disease, thalassemia, dwarfin condition and sickle cell anemia.
(d) Genetic Counselling and Testing

Genetic counselling is information provided to parents regarding the
possibility and nature of genetic disorders in their offspring. This
information is important to couples, who can then decide whether they
should have a child. If the foetus has been formed, test can provide
information regarding the condition of the foetus.
According to Black, Pukett and Bell (1993), some common tests are:
(i) Alphafetoprotein Test (AFP) – a blood test that can identify disorders
in the brain or spinal column in the foetus;
(ii) Amniocentesis – a technique that involves extracting amniotic fluid

from the uterus for the purpose of detecting all chromosomal and
over biomedical disorders; and

(iii) Chorionic Villus Test (CVT) – a test that analyses samples of the hair-
like projections (chorionic villi) of tissue in the placenta for purposes
determining chromosomal disorders.
SELF-CHECK 2.1
1. Explain how sex is determined.
2. What is DNA?
3. What are the three main mechanisms of inheritance?
4. What is mutation? How does it happen?
5. Explain how abnormalities in genes could happen.
6. Explain how DownÊs syndrome is formed.
ACTIVITY 2.2
Now that we know children may inherit predispositions to develop a

number of problems and disorders, do you think we can assume that
any behaviour problem a child displays must be the result of bad
parenting? State your reasons.
2.2 HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT

How do scientists study the relative influences of heredity and environment and
how do heredity and environment work together?
Genes play an important role in determining the predispositions of an

individual. Scientists have made significant breakthroughs in their
understanding of the relationship between genes and human behaviour. Many
acknowledge that genetic endowment is only part of the equation; it is the
dynamic relationship between nature and nurture that shapes human
development (Shore, 1997).

2.2.1 Behavioural Genetics

Behavioural genetics is an approach to study the interactions between heredity
and environment quantitatively. Heritability is a statistical estimate that indicates
the extent to which genes contribute to individual differences in a trait in a
certain population. The estimate ranges from 0 to 1.00. For example, the value of
intelligence is about 0.50 for child and adolescent twin samples in Western
industrialised nations (Berk, 2005). This suggests that differences in genetic
makeup explain half the variation in intelligence (Plomin, 1994).
Heritability research also reveals that genetic factors are important in personality.
For frequently studied traits such as sociability, emotional expressiveness and
activity level, heritability estimates obtained on child, adolescent and emerging
adult twins are moderate at 0.40 to 0.50 (Rothbart & Bates, 1998). Siblings are
found to be more different than alike in intelligence and personality (Papalia,
Olds & Feldman, 2007).
As heritability cannot be measured directly, researchers relied on three sources of

correlational research: family, adoption and twin studies. Such studies are based
on the assumption that immediate family members are more genetically similar
than non-family members, monozygotic twins are more genetically similar than
dizygotic twins and adopted children are genetically more like their biological
families than their adoptive famiies. (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2007).
Behaviour geneticists claim that heredity accounts for most of the similarities,
and non-shared environmental effects account for the differences. However,
critics claim that the assumptions and methods did not take into account the role
of parenting and the complexity of developmental systems (Papilia, Olds &
Feldman, 2007).
2.2.2 How Heredity and Environment Work Together

Today, many developmental scientists see heredity and environment as
fundamentally interwined (Parke, 2004) and also constantly interacting to mould
the developing person (Hetherington et al., 2006). They see both as part of a
complex developmental system (Gottlieb, 1991). It is through a combination of
factors such as biological and psychological makeup, the social, economic and
culture, that help shape development (Pailia, Olds & Feldman, 2007). Horowitz
(2000) believed the more advantageous these circumstances and the experiences
to which they give rise to, the greater the likelihood of optimum development.

SELF-CHECK 2.2
In what ways are you like your mother and in what ways like your
father? How are you similar and dissimilar to your siblings? Which
differences would you guess come chiefly from heredity and which
from the environment? Can you see possible effects of both?
2.3 HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT

INTERACTIONS
As you have learnt in Topic 1, there are various viewpoints about human
development. Some scientists are biologically oriented, while others stress on
environment and experiences. However, contemporary psychologists agree that
heredity and the environment constantly interact to mould the developing
person (Hetherington et al., 2006).
So, how do heredity and environment work together? Let us look at several
concepts that will shed light on this question: reaction range; canalisation;
genetic-environmental correlation; and environmental influences on gene
expression (Berk, 2005).
2.3.1 Reaction Range

Range of reaction refers to each personÊs unique, genetically determined response
to the environment. In this concept, heredity does not rigidly determine
behaviour. Rather, it establishes a range of possible developmental outcomes that
may occur in response to different environments. Reaction range highlights two
important points:
(a) As individuals have unique genetic makeup, each of us responds
differently to the same environment.
(b) Sometimes different genetic-environmental combinations can make two
people look the same.
In conclusion, range of reaction reveals that unique blends of heredity and

environment lead to both similarities and differences in behaviour (Wahlsten, 1994).
Canalisation is a metaphor to illustrate how heredity restricts the range of

development for some traits (Papilia, Olds & Feldman, 2007). It is the tendency of
heredity to restrict the development of some characteristics to just one or a few

outcomes. For example, babiesÊ perceptual and motor development seems to be

strongly canalised because all normal human babies follow the sequence of
rolling over, reaching for objects, sitting up, crawling and walking. In contrast,
cognition, intelligence and personality are less strongly canalised since they vary
much more with changes in the environment (Berk, 2005; Papilia, Olds &
Feldman, 2007). Socio-economic status, neighbourhood conditions and
educational opportunity can powerfully shape developmental outcomes. Can
you think of some examples in the Malaysian context?
2.3.2 Genetic-environment Correlation

According to the genetic-environmental correlation concept, our genes influence
the environments to which we are exposed and the way this happens changes
with age (Berk, 2005). It is called Passive and Evocative Correlation and Active
Correlation at older ages. Let us look at each concept closely.
(a) Passive Correlation

At a younger age, passive correlation is common as the child has no control
over it. For example, parents who are active in sports emphasise outdoor
play activities and enrol their children in swimming or sports training
events. Besides getting exposed to the athletic environment, the children
may inherit their parentsÊ athletic ability. As a result, they are likely to
become good athletes for both genetic and environmental reasons.
(b) Evocative Correlation

In the evocative correlation, the child evokes responses from others that are
influenced by the childÊs heredity, and these responses strengthen the
childÊs original style. For example, an active and friendly baby will always
receive positive and encouraging responses from the parents. This will
strengthen further his or her original characteristics of being friendly and
active. The more different siblings are, the more the parents will treat them
differently both emotionally and negatively (Berk, 2005). This can be
evident in parentsÊ treatment of identical twins which is highly similar,
whereas their treatment of fraternal twins and non-twin biological siblings
is only moderately so and little resemblance exists in parentsÊ warm and
negative interactions with unrelated step-siblings (Reiss, 2003).
(c) Active Correlation

At older ages, active genetic-environmental correlation becomes more
common. As children go beyond their immediate family and have the
freedom to make more choices, they actively seek environments that fit
their genetic tendencies. The tendency to actively choose environments that
complement our heredity is called niche-picking (Scarr & McCartney, 1983).
For example, a child who inherits sporting genes from his parents will
actively participate in sporting events at school, while a child who is more
musically inclined will enrol in music lessons or choir practice in school.
ACTIVITY 2.3
1. List the concepts that illustrate how heredity and environment

work together.
2. Give examples to illustrate how environment can shape
developmental outcomes of children in the Malaysian context.
3. Do you think your parents treated you and your siblings equally?
What are the differences that make you different from your
siblings that you think are related to evocative correlation?
4. What aspects of your own development – for example, your
interests, your hobbies, your social activities and choosing the jobs
youÊre doing – are probably due to niche-picking? Explain.
2.3.3 Environmental Influences on Gene Expression

The concepts that we studied so far have put heredity as the priority. However,
some researchers argue that heredity does not dictate childrenÊs experiences or
development in a rigid way, but adults can provide children with positive
experiences that would challenge and modify the expression of heredity and
yield favourable outcomes. Evidence also reveals that the relationship between
heredity and environment is not a one-way street, from genes to environment to
behaviour. Instead, it is bidirectional: Genes affect childrenÊs behaviour and
experiences, but their experiences and behaviour also affect gene expression
(Gottlieb, 2000). Stimulation – both internal to the child (activity within the
cytoplasm of the cell, hormones released into the bloodstream) and external to
the child (home, neighbourhood, school, and society) – triggers gene activity.
Gottlieb (1998, 2000) called this the epigenetic framework. Epigenesis means
development resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity
and all levels of the environment (Berk, 2005).

2.4 CONCLUSION
The main reason researchers are interested in the nature-nurture issue is that
they want to improve environments so that children can develop as far as
possible. The concept of epigenesist reminds us that development is best
understood as a series of complex exchanges between nature and nurture.
Although children cannot be changed in any way we might desire, environments
can modify genetic influences.
The success of any attempt to improve development depends on the

characteristics we want to change, the genetic makeup of the child and the type
and timing of our intervention (Berk, 2005).
 New lives are formed at conception. Development begins when a sperm cell
from the father penetrates an ovum from the mother, forming a zygote.
 A personÊs genetic potential or genotype is determined by the genes from the

mother and the father combined.
 DNA is the substance in genes that makes the blueprint which codes the
formation of chains of protein that stimulate the development of tissue and
organs and affects other genes and physiological functions.
 Single gene-pair inheritance, sex-linked inheritance and polygenic (or

multiple gene) inheritance are the three main mechanisms of inheritance.
 Scientists today believe it is the dynamic relationship between nature and

nurture, the interplay of heridity and enviroment that determines that shape
behaviours and development.
 Behavioural genetics studies show how genes and environment contribute to

individual variations in development. Family, adoption and twin studies are
conducted to measure heredity. The studies reveal that heritability influences
intellectual performance.
 Reaction range, canalisation, genetic-environmental correlation and

environmental influences on gene expression are concepts on hereditary and
environment interactions in development.

Bidirectional Genetic code

Canalisation Genetic-environmental correlation
Chromosomes behavioral genetics Genotype
Conception Heredity
DNA Mitosis
Dominant genes Reaction range
Environment Recessive genes
Epigenesis Zygote
Genes Polygenic (or multiple gene)
inheritance
Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood

(5th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Black, J. K., Puckett, M. B., & Bell, M. J. (1992). The young child: Development
from prebirth through age eight. NY: McMillan.
Gottlieb, G. (1991). Experiential canalization of behavioral development theory.

In Papilia, Olds & Feldman, (2007). Human development (10th ed.), (p. 78).
NY: McGraw Hill.
Gottlieb, G. (2000). Environmental and behavioral influences on gene activity:

Current Directions in psychological Science, 9, 93–97. In Berk, L. E. (2005).
Infants and Children: Prenatal through middle childhood (5th ed.). MA:
Pearson.
Psychology: A contemporary viewpoint. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Horowitz, F. D. (2000). Child development and the PITS: Simple questions,

complex answers, and developmental theory. In Papilia, Olds & Feldman
(2007). Human Development (10th ed.)., (p. 78). NY: McGraw Hill.

Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2004). Human development: A Life-span View

(3rd ed.). CA: Thomson.
Papilia, D.E., Olds, S. W., & Feldman, R. D. (2001). Human development (10th
ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.
Parke, R. D. (2004). The Society for Research in Child development at 70:

Progress and promise. In Papilia, Olds & Feldman (2007). Human
development (10th ed.), (p. 78). NY: McGraw Hill.
Plomin, R. (1994). Genetics and experience: The interplay between nature and
nurture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. In Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and
Children: Prenatal through middle childhood (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Poole, D., Warren, A., & Nunez, N. (2007). The story of human development. NJ:
Pearson Education.
Scarr, S., & McCartney, K. (1983). How people make their own environments: A
theory of genotype-environment effects. In Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and
children: Prenatal through middle childhood (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2003). Life-span human development (4th ed.).
CA: Thomson.
Shore, R. (1997). ÂWhat have we learned?Ê in Rethinking the brainÊ. New York:
Families and Work Institute.
Wahlsten, D. (1994). The intelligence of heritability. In Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants

and children: Prenatal through middle childhood (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.

Topic  Prenatal
3 Development
and Birth
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe the stages of prenatal development;
2. Discuss the risk factors that affect prenatal development;
3. Explain the effects of maternal stess, fear and anxiety on prenatal
development;
4. Identify stages of birth process; and
5. Explain possible complications at birth.
 INTRODUCTION
Amy, a computer software consultant, was married when she was 31. Now after
four years of marriage, she is anxious to have a baby. She knew that age was
catching up and she had heard so much about the risk of having a baby after
35 years of age. Finally, after many stressful and anxious years, she got pregnant
while turning 35. Before that, she experienced two miscarriages, so this time she
took extra care to ensure that her third pregnancy will be a success. She worked
from home for the first three months of pregnancy in order to make sure she
got enough rest and experienced less stress from travelling to and from work.
When she went for a medical check-up, she had a few questions for her doctor
(See Figure 3.1).

TOPIC 3 PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND BIRTH  47
Figure 3.1: Some of pregnancy concerns for women at 35 and above
In this topic, we will examine some of the questions that Amy was concerned about.
Have you ever wondered how babies come about? We have learned how an egg
and a sperm unite to produce a baby. What if a different sperm had united with
that egg? If that had happened, then a different baby would have come into being.
In Topic 2, we discussed how conception takes place. What happens to the

fertilised egg, the zygote next? The zygote takes three to four days to travel
through the fallopian tube and arrive at the uterus. That is the beginning of
pregnancy and the start of prenatal development.
Understanding prenatal development helps us support families and child

development even before birth. In this topic, we will discuss the course of
prenatal development and the risk factors and hazards that affect prenatal
development. We also will investigate the effects of stress, fear and anxiety on
prenatal development. Then we will look at the birth process and explain several
complications at birth.

48  TOPIC 3 PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND BIRTH
SELF-CHECK 3.1
1. Describe briefly how fertilisation takes place.

2. Why do we need to understand prenatal development?
3.1 PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Before we begin, let us take a quiz to see how much you know about prenatal
development. State whether the statements in Figure 3.2 are true or false.
TRUE OR FALSE?
Please tick (√) if the statement is true and cross (  ) if it is false.
1. The womb provides the foetus with a stable, unchanging, silent and
dark environment in which to grow and develop.
2. The course of prenatal development is genetically determined.
3. Foetal movement is random and unimportant to development.
4. The foetus is a passive recipient of sensory stimulation.
5. The foetus is protected from maternal stress.
Figure 3.2: A quiz on prenatal development
Would it surprise you to know that all the above statements are false? They
are all common myths about prenatal development, passed on since our
grandmothersÊ time. We will look at these questions in this lesson.
ACTIVITY 3.1
Discuss the answers to the quiz questions with your group.

3.1.1 Course of Prenatal Development

After sexual intercourse, over 300 million tadpole-like spermatozoa from the
male, mixed with fluid, are expelled through the urethra. Once a spermatozoa
enters the oocyte (egg) of a female, which is released from an ovary during
ovulation, an electrochemical signal immediately blocks others from entering
(Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007).
As DNA from mother and father merge, two cells will become one. The resulting
single cell is called a zygote. Conception has taken place. The time from
conception until the baby is born is called the gestational period.
The gestational period is divided into three phases:
(a) The Germinal Period (the first two weeks after fertilisation)
The Germinal period, which lasts about 10 to 14 days, is from conception
through implantation, when the developing zygote becomes firmly
attached to the wall of the uterus (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007).
As the fertilised ovum, or zygote, travels down the fallopian tube towards
to the uterus, it multiplies rapidly through division. On the third day of
conception, it has developed into a ball-like structure, called blastocyst,
which will contain 60 to 80 cells, with an inner core and an outer shell of
cells (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007).
The inner layer of the blastocyst will become the embryo. At this point, the
endometrium (the lining of the uterus) has grown and is ready to support
the embryo. The outer layer of blastocyst becomes supporting structures for
gestation. An amniotic sac and its outer layer, the chorion, surround the
embryo and fill with fluid to provide a protected environment for growth.
Part of the chorion develops into the placenta, a fleshy disk of tissue that
provides oxygen, delivers nutrients and removes waste products. The
placenta separates the maternal and embryonic bloodstreams, keeping the
two circulatory systems separate but transferring substances back and forth
to sustain the life of the embryo. The umbilical cord is the lifeline that
connects the embryo to the placenta (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007).

The blastocyst begins to implant itself in the uterus between the seventh
and ninth day establishing a supply of nourishment from the motherÊs
blood system (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007). However, only about
10–20 percent of fertilised eggs completes this crucial task of implantation
and become embryos (Papilia, Olds & Feldman, 2007). Figure 3.3 shows the
development taking place at the germinal period.
Figure 3.3: The zygote goes through several stages of development at the Germinal
Period.
Source: Charlesworth, R. (2000)
(b) The Embryonic Period

The embryonic stage begins on the 15th day after conception and continues
until about the eighth week or until the embryo is 1.2 inches in length.
The embryonic period is critical to the healthy development of the foetus
(Charlesworth, 2000).

During this period, the cells of the embryo keep on multiplying and
the major organ systems are developing. By the end of this stage, the
developing embryo begins to resemble a miniature person. It is during this
critical period that the growing foetus is most susceptible to damage from
external sources or teratogens such as chemical substances, viruses, alcohol,
drugs, rubella, x-rays and other radiation and poor nutrition (Berk, 2005).
For example, if the woman contracts German measles during this time,
her child stands a risk of being born deaf, blind, or with heart disease
(Charlesworth, 2000).
Weeks 3–4: The heart, brain and spinal cord and gastrointestinal tract start
to form, as do the rudimentary structures that will become the eyes, ears,
nose and mouth. By the end of the fourth week, the heart has begun to beat.
At this point, the embryo is only about 1/4th of an inch long (Shaffer &
Kipp, 2007).
Weeks 5–8: The vertebra, the lower jaw, the larynx (voice box) and the
external body features such as eyes, ears and limbs are formed. We also
see the formation of the nose, jaw, palate and lung buds. By the 28th day,
all essential organs have begun to form. The tiny embryo has a peculiar
looking head, body and spinal cord (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007).
By the eighth week, the heart is almost fully developed. The facial features
continue to develop and the external ear appears. The embryo now
resembles a human being. Also, we see the beginnings of external genitalia.
By now, the embryo produces its own blood and can move. The long bones
begin to form and the muscles are able to contract. Now, the embryo is
1 inch, 1/15 ounce (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). Teratogens introduced during
this period may cause heart and lung problems, a cleft palate and
ambiguous genitalia and stunting of the fingers and toes.

(c) The Foetal Period

The foetal period begins at about nine weeks and extends until birth.
Table 3.1 below shows the development at this period by Boeree, C. G.
(2010).
Figure 3.4 shows the development of the foetus and the effects of teratogens
from conception to full term.
Table 3.1: Stage of Development in the Foetal Period
Stage of
Description
Pregnancy
Week 9 to 12 At this point the foetus begins to look like a human being. All the
organs that developed during the embryonic stage continue to grow
and develop rapidly. The head becomes more proportional to the
rest of the body and the limbs are more clearly differentiated
(Charlesworth, 2000). Male and female external genitalia are visible.
Weeks 13 to 16 These weeks mark the beginning of the second trimester. The skin
of the foetus is almost transparent, fine hair develops on the head
called lanugo. The foetus makes active movements, including
sucking, which leads to some swallowing of the amniotic fluid. A
thin dark substance called meconium is made in the intestinal tract.
The heart beats 120–150 beats per minute and brain waves are
detectable. Foetus size is about six inches.
Weeks 17 to 20 Eyebrows and lashes appear and nails appear on fingers and toes.
This is an exciting time for the parents: The mother can feel the
foetus moving („quickening‰) and the foetal heartbeat can be heard
with a stethoscope. Foetus size is about eight inches.
Weeks 21 to 24 All the eye components are developed, footprints and fingerprints
are forming, and the entire body is covered in cream-cheese-like
vernix caseosa. The foetus now has a startle reflex. The foetus
could survive outside of the uterus. The foetus has eyelashes and
eyebrows and the eyelids are open. It is about 11.2 inches, 1 lb.
10 oz.
Weeks 25 to 28 We are now entering the third trimester. During these weeks, we
see rapid brain development. The nervous system is developed
enough to control some body functions, and the eyelids open and
close. A baby born at this time may survive, but the chances of
complications and death are high. The foetus is about 15 inches,
2 lbs. 11 oz.

Weeks 29 to 32 These weeks see further development towards independent life.

There is a rapid increase in the amount of body fat and the foetus
begins storing its own iron, calcium and phosphorus. The bones are
fully developed, but still soft and pliable. There are rhythmic
breathing movements present, the foetal body temperature is
partially self-controlled and there is increased central nervous
system control over body functions. The foetus is about 15 to
17 inches, 4 lbs. 6 oz.
Weeks 33 to 36 The lanugo (body hair) begins to disappear. A baby born at
36 weeks has a high chance of survival. The foetus is now about 16
to 19 inches, 5 lbs. 12 oz. to 6 lbs. 12 oz.
Weeks 37 to 40 At 38 weeks, the foetus is considered full term. It fills the entire
uterus and its head is the same size around as its shoulders. The
mother supplies the foetus with the antibodies it needs to protect it
against disease. Toenails and fingernails are formed. All organs and
structures found in a full-term newborn are present. About one or
two weeks before delivery, the baby drops down into the pelvis and
is ready for birth (Boeree, 2010). Now the baby is about 19 to
21 inches 7 or 8 pounds.
Figure 3.4: The prenatal developmental sequence and the periods of greatest danger.
Source: Charlesworth, R. (2000). Understanding Child Development. 5th Ed. Pg. 183

SELF-CHECK 3.2
1. How does conception take place?

2. What are the three stages of prenatal development?
3. What happens in each stage?
ACTIVITY 3.2
1. How would you advise a friend who just got pregnant to take care
of herself and the foetus?
2. Discuss this statement with a coursemate: "The environment starts
to influence a childÊs development after he is born." Do you agree?
Give your reasons.
3.2 RISK FACTORS THAT AFFECT PRENATAL

DEVELOPMENT
As shown in Figure 3.4, the foetus is vulnerable throughout the gestation period.
Several types of prenatal development influences can affect the foetus. These can
be classified as general risk factors and teratogens (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2004). We
are going to discuss these two factors in this subtopic.
3.2.1 General Risk Factors

As the term implies, general risk factors can have widespread effects on prenatal
development. Figure 3.5 gives you a rough idea of the factors to be discussed
later in this subtopic.

Figure 3.5: Summary of general risk factors in prenatal development.
Let us read read further on each factor.
(a) Nutrition
The mother is the developing childÊs sole source of nutrition, so what a
pregnant woman eats is very important. A balanced diet of proteins,
vitamins and minerals is vital and essential for normal prenatal
development. (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2004). The diet should include proteins,
complex carbohydrates, grains, fruits and vegetables and dairy products.
According to Black, Pucket & Bell (1992), under-nutrition can interfere with
the healthy development of the foetal central nervous systems during two
critical periods of development:
(i) Between the 10th and 20th weeks of pregnancy as this is the first
major period of brain growth; and
(ii) From the 20th week of prenatal development to four to six months
after birth as this is the second major period of brain growth (Black,
Pucket & Bell, 1992).

For example, folic acid, one of the B vitamins, is important for the babyÊs
nervous system to develop properly (Shaw et al., 1995). If a mother does
not consume adequate amounts of folic acid, her baby risks getting spina
bifida, a disorder in which the embryoÊs neural tube does not close properly
during the first month of pregnancy. The result is permanent damage to
the spinal cord and the nervous system (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2004; Papilia,
Olds & Feldman, 2007).
Under-nutrition during these times can also impair brain growth, which
ultimately affects intellectual performance and physical development. If
under-nutrition occurs at these critical times, young children will not be
able to catch up with their peers, even if provided with a nutritional diet
later. Dietary deficiencies can also cause anaemia, poorly developed bones
and teeth, physical abnormalities, premature birth, low birth weight,
vulnerability to illness and complications during pregnancy and labour
(Kail & Cavanaugh, 2004).
(b) Maternal Factors
(i) Stress, Fear and Anxiety

Do you remember how your body felt the last time you were under
stress? When we experience emotional stress such as fear and anxiety,
stimulant hormones are released into our bloodstream, which signal
us to be "ready for action". A large amount of blood goes to parts of
our body involved in the defensive position, such as the brain, the
heart, muscle, legs, arms and trunk. This causes less blood to travel to
other organs, including the uterus of an expecting mother. As a result,
the foetus is deprived of a full supply of oxygen and nutrients.
Stress hormones can also cross the placenta, causing the foetusÊ heart
rate and activity to rise dramatically. Stress also weakens the immune
system, making pregnant mothers more vulnerable to infectious
disease.
Furthermore, women who often experience stress are more likely to

smoke, drink, eat poorly and engage in activities that may harm the
embryo or foetus.

(ii) Diseases and Conditions

Maternal diseases and infections can affect the foetus by crossing the
placental barrier, or they can cause damage during the birth process
itself (Lieberman & Others, 2000). Some of the maternal diseases are
as follows:
 Rubella (German measles) is a maternal disease that can cause

mental retardation, malformations, blindness, deafness and heart
problems (Santock, 2001).
 Syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease) is more damaging about

four months or more after conception; damaging organs after they
have formed and causing blindness and skin lesions. Women who
plan to have children should have a blood test before they become
pregnant to determine if they are immune to rubella and to detect
the presence of syphilis.
 Genital herpes. Newborns could contract this virus when they are
delivered through the birth canal of an inffected mother. About
one-third of the babies will die, and one-fourth will incur brain
damage (Santrock, 2001).
 HIV/AIDS. As the number of women with AIDS increases, more

newborns are born exposed to and infected with HIV (Cohen &
Others, 1996).
(iii) A MotherÊs Age

It is found that women who delay having children until their thirties
or forties face increased risk of infertility, miscarriage and babies born
with chromosomal defects (Berk, 2005). However, healthy women in
their late thirties and early forties have about the same rate of prenatal
and birth problems as those in their twenties and their newborns are
just as healthy as those of younger women (Dulitzki et al., 1998).
In the case of teenage mothers, infants are born with a higher rate of
problems for quite different reasons (Berk, 2005). It could be due to
these adolescents not having access to medical care or being afraid to
seek it. Also, stress, poor nutrition and health problems are common
among these young mothers (Coley & Chase-Lansdale, 1998).

3.2.2 Teratogens: Drugs, Diseases and

Environmental Hazards
A teratogen (from the Greek work for "monster") is any biological, chemical or
physical agent that can lead to birth defects (Davis & Palladino, 2000). Most
teratogens fall into one of these three categories: drugs, diseases and
environmental hazards. Diseases have been discussed in the previous section,
now letÊs look at the influences of drugs, alcohol and environmental hazards.
(a) Drugs
Some drugs are common substances that we may find in our daily life but
they would be very harmful on pregnant women. Nicotine, alcohol,
common drugs, caffeine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana are some of these
substances.
(i) Nicotine. Both direct cigerette smoking and second hand smoking are
equally harmful to the developing foetus. The nicotine in cigarette
smoke constricts blood vessels and thus reducing oxygen and
nutrients to reach the foetus over the placenta (Kail & Cavanaugh,
2004). Therefore, pregnant women who smoke are more likely to have
miscarriage or bear babies who are smaller in weight at birth (Ernst,
Moolchan, & Robinson, 2001). Also, as they grow, they are more likely
to show sign of impaired attention, language and cognitive skills,
along with behavioural problems (Brennan et al., 2002).
(ii) Other drugs. Many other drugs also harm developing children. For
example, mothers who are addicted to heroin deliver babies who are
also addicted; and prenatal exposure to marijuana is associated
with delayed growth before birth, attentional problems and behavior
problems. (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007). Cocaine is associated with
impaired foetal growth and numerous congenital malformations,
including urinary tract and cardiac malformations (Poole, Warren &
Nunez, 2007).
(iii) Alcohol. Children born with mothers who consumed alcohol during
pregnancy had similar physical deformities such as small heads, low
nasal bridges, thin upper lips and eye folds, which is called foetal
alcohol syndrome (FAS) (Armstrong, 1998). Children with FAS may
have the following characteristics and behaviours (Refer Table 3.2):

Table 3.2: Symptoms of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Symptoms of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Abnormal facial features, such Difficulty in school (especially
as a smooth ridge between the with math)
nose and upper lip (this ridge
is called the philtrum)
Small head size Learning disabilities
Shorter-than-average height Speech and language delays
Low body weight Intellectual disability or low IQ
Poor coordination Poor reasoning and judgement
skills
Hyperactive behaviour Sleep and sucking problems as
a baby
Difficulty paying attention Vision or hearing problems
Poor memory Problems with the heart,
kidney, or bones
Source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (2010)
Because there is no known level of alcohol use that is totally safe, no safe
time during pregnancy to drink and also no safe kind of alcohol, health
organisations advise women to avoid alcohol altogether during pregnancy
(National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, 2010).
(b) Environmental Hazards

Expecting mothers also should be aware of all the following dangers:
(i) Radiation. Medical procedures involving radiation or X-rays, increase

the risk of birth defects and cancer.
(ii) Heavy metals in fish. Pregnant women should restrict from eating
large predatory fishes – such as shark and swordfish – as mercury can
be found in the waterways these species inhabit. At high doses,
mercury can cause severe brain damage, cerebral palsy and blindness
of the foetus (Harada, 1995).
(iii) Lead. Prenatal lead exposure has been linked to neurological

impairments and numerous structural abnormalities (Poole, Warren
& Nunez, 2007).

(iv) Unsafe chemicals. There has been an increase in neo-natal deaths and
congenital abnormalities among the children of mothers and fathers
who have been exposed to certain pesticides, vapors from some
industrial chemicals and lead (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007). A
recent study indicated that women in certain occupations such as
biologists, chemical scientists, pharmacists and janitors have an
increased likelihood of giving birth to children with birth defects
(Ashkin, 2010). It was also found that cleaning products such as
disinfectants, floorcare chemicals and glass cleaners can cause health
problems and potentially be the cause for the babies of women
working as janitors to have birth defects.
SELF-CHECK 3.3
1. How do a pregnant womanÊs age, nutrition and the stress she

experiences affect the prenatal development?
2. How do drugs and enrivonmental hazards affect prenatal
development?
ACTIVITY 3.3
1. How would you advise a mother-to-be who drinks alcohol to
relieve emotional stress?
2. What would you suggest to manufacturers and medical facility
administrators to lessen the impact of chemicals on users,
especially pregnant mothers?
3. What sort of prenatal care advice would you give a friend who is
pregnant?
3.3 BIRTHING
Unless the baby is premature, birth occurs approximately after 38 or 40 weeks,
after the last menstrual period. During the seventh month of pregnancy, the foetus
begins to move into position for birth, with its head downward. At this stage, the
mother may begin to experience some discomfort as the babyÊs head presses on her
bladder. During the last month of pregnancy, the baby drops to a lower position in
the uterus, a sign that birth is imminent (Davis & Palladino, 2000).

While child-birth stories may vary widely, all births progress in a sequence of
four stages (Refer Table 3.3).
Table 3.3: Stages of Birth Progress
Stage Description
First Stage Uterine contractions become regular and force the foetus against the
cervix, thinning it and expanding the opening into the birth canal.
First stage labour typically last 12 hours or more for a womanÊs first
delivery The mother is usually relatively comfortable during the early
part of this stage. As labour progresses, contractions become longer,
stronger and occur closer together.
Second Stage The mother bears down on contractions to push the baby through the
birth canal. This process typically lasts about 1½ to 2 hours for a first
delivery, with subsequent babies arriving more quickly. The baby is
usually born over the course of several contractions with the scalp
appearing first, then the entire head, shoulders and body.
Third Stage Uterine contractions expel the placenta.
Fourth Stage Two to four hours immediately after birth, when the mother is
monitored for medical complications, such as excessive bleeding and
fluctuating blood pressure.
Source: Poole, Warren & Nunez (2007)
3.3.1 Complications during Birth

During the birth process, some babies experience anoxia or lack of oxygen. It
could be due to several reasons: the contractions may compress the umbilical
cord, the baby may squeeze the cord or the cord may be wrapped around the
baby. Medication given to the mother usually crosses the placenta and may
interfere with the babyÊs breathing, thus depriving the baby of even more
oxygen. Severe anoxia can cause cerebral palsy, a motor disability affecting the
arms, head and legs (Broman, 1979).
Being born involves considerable stress for the baby but the stress hormones
prepare the infant to adapt to the world outside the motherÊs womb. Sometimes,
babies are in distress during delivery or are not in the head-down position.
The physician may perform a caesarean section or surgical removal of the baby
from the uterus through an incision in the motherÊs abdomen. If the caesarean
section is performed before the motherÊs contractions begin, the baby may not
experience a surge of stress hormones which may account for the breathing
problems sometimes faced by babies delivered by caesarean section (Davis &
Palladino, 2000).

SELF-CHECK 3.4
1. Describe in your own words the three stages of birthing.

2. What is anoxia? What are the reasons for anoxia?
ACTIVITY 3.4
Have a class discussion on:
(a) Effects of anoxia; and
(b) Other risk factors in birthing.
 The three stages of prenatal development are: the germinal period, the
embryonic period and the foetal period.
 The risk factors during foetus development can be classified as general risk
factors and teratogens.
 General risk factors include nutrition and maternal factors that include stress,
fear and anxiety; diseases and conditions; and a motherÊs age.
 Diseases, drugs, chemicals and environmental hazards are some of the

teratogens that can harm the baby.
 Child birth is a four-stage process:

– First stage of labour – begins with contractions that dilate the cervix;
– Second stage of labour – delivery of the baby;
– Third stage of labour – the afterbirth is expelled; and
– The fourth stage – when the mother is monitored for medical
complications, such as excessive bleeding and fluctuating blood pressure
during the stages of birth process.
 Anoxia is a potential birth complication that can cause brain damage and
other defects. The stress hormones produced during childbirth prepares the
infant to adapt to the world outside the motherÊs womb.

Anoxia Morula
Blastocyte Placenta
Caesarean section Stress hormones
Critical periods Symptoms of Foetal Alcohol syndrome (FAS)
Endometrium Teratogens
Environmental hazards The foetal period
Gestational periods The germinal period
Maternal factors Zygote
Armstrong, E. M. (1998). Diagnosing moral disorder: The discovery and

evolution of foetal alcohol syndrome. In Poole, D. A., Warren, A., &
Nunez, N. (2007). The story of human development. NJ: Pearson Prentice
Hall.
Ashkin, S. (2010, January 24). Hazardous to your foetus. The Star.
Berk, L. (2005). Infants and children (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Black, J. K., Puckett, M. B., & Bell, M. J. (1993). The young child: Development
from prebirth through age eight. NY: Merrill.
Boeree, C. G. Prenatal Development, General Psychology. Retrieved February 1,

from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/genpsyfoetaldev.html.
Broman, S. (1979). Prenatal anoxia and cognitive development in early childhood.

In Davis, S. F., & Palladino, J. J. (2000). Psychology (3rd ed.). NJ: Prentice-
Hall.
Charlesworth, R. (2000). Understanding child development (5th ed.). NY:

Delmar.
Cohen, H. J., Grosz, J., Ayooh, K., & Schoen, S. (1996). Early intervention for
children with HIV infections. In Santrock, J. W. (2001). Child development
(9th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.

Coley, R, K, M., & Chase-Lansdale, P. L. (1998). Adolescent pregnancy and

parenthood: Recent evidence and future directions. In Berk, L. (2005). Infants
and children (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Davis, S. F., & Palladino, J. J. (2000). Psychology (3rd ed.). NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Dulitzki, M., Soriano, D., Schiff, E., Chetrit, A., Mashiach, S., & Seidman, D. S.
(1998). Effect of very advanced maternal age on pregnancy outcome and rate
of cesarean delivery. In Berk, L. (2005). Infants and children (5th ed.). MA:
Pearson.
Harada, M. (1995). Minamata disease: Methylmercury poisinong in Japan caused

by environmental pollution. In Poole, D. A., Warren, A., & Nunez, N. (2007).
The story of human development. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2004). Human development: A life-span view

(3rd ed.). CA: Thomson.
Lieberman, E. E., Lang, J. M., Frigoletto, F. D., Heffner, L. J., & Cohen, A. (2000)
Intrapartum maternal fever and neonatal outcome. In Santrock, J. W. (2001).
Child development (9th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (2005). Foetal

alcohol information. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd.
Papilia, D. E., Olds, S. W., & Feldman, R. D. (2007). Human development (10th
ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.
Poole, D. A., Warren, A., & Nunez, N. (2007). The story of human development.
NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Santrock, J. W. (2001). Child development (9th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.
Shaffer, R. D., & Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental psychology: Childhood &

adolescence. CA: Thomson.
Shaw, G. M., Schffer, D., Velie, E. M., Morland, K., & Harris, J. A. (1995).
Periconceptional vitamin use, dietary folate, and the occurrence of neural
tube defects. In Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2004). Human development:
A life-span view (3rd ed.). CA: Thomson.

Topic  Infancy:
4 Sensation,
Perception
and Learning
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe at least five reflexes in infants;
2. Identify the infant states of crying, sleeping and awakening hours;
3. Identify the visual, auditory and intermodel perceptions of babies;
4. Explain how infants learn; and
5. Explain operant and classical conditioning, imitations and memory
of babies and how these prepared them for learning.
 INTRODUCTION
During the first two hours of observation after Adam was born, Grandma was
there to accompany him. She held his little hands, sang nursery rhymes to him,
told him what a lovely baby he is and even read him childrenÊs storybooks. Little
Adam opened his eyes, looked around, held on to GrandmaÊs finger with his
little fingers, wiggled his little body and seemed to respond to GrandmaÊs loving
touch. The nurse did some tests on him to check his senses and reflexes. The
neonate seemed alert and was responding to the touch, sound, light and smell of
his surroundings. Two hours later, Adam was put in his mummyÊs arms.
Mummy kissed his cheek, said hello to him and called his name. Adam wiggled
and he rubbed his face on mummyÊs breast, opened his mouth and searched for
the nipple.

66  TOPIC 4 INFANCY: SENSATION, PERCEPTION AND LEARNING
At the end of the nineteenth century, philosopher-cum-psychologist William

James described the mental state of newborn babies as „a great blooming,
buzzing confusion‰ (Schaffer, 2005). This widely quoted description of early
infancy gave a picture of chaos and disorder in the early stages of infancy,
suggesting that only maturity and experience would bring order to the
developing mind (Schaffer, 2005). However, is this really true of all newborn
babies?
In this topic, we shall examine the state of the newborns. We start off by looking
at the behaviour of newborns and their inborn reflexes, the sleeping and
awakening hours and the crying. Then we shall look at the perceptions, learning
and capacities of these capable beings.
ACTIVITY 4.1
What do you think of a newborn baby? Is it a helpless and confused

being waiting for adult input? Or is it born with many capabilities that
prepare it to face the world?
4.1 THE NEWBORN

As soon as the neonates leave their mothersÊ warm and comfortable womb, they
actually have well-developed reflexes and sensory responses (despite looking
helpless and vulnerably) and are well equipped with particular strategies to get
to know the world. (Hetherington, Parke, Gauvain & Locke, 2006; Schaffer, 2004).
These strategies are reflexes which are natural physical responses a baby has, that
helps him to survive outside the womb. In this section, we will look at babiesÊ
reflexes, their sleeping patterns and also their crying.
4.1.1 What are Reflexes?

Reflexes are the inborn, automatic responses to certain form of stimulation. As
the baby grows and develops, reflexes also will disappear. Table 4.1 describes
some of the reflexes that babies normally display.

TOPIC 4 INFANCY: SENSATION, PERCEPTION AND LEARNING  67
Table 4.1: Some Reflexes that Babies Normally Display
Reflexes Stimulation Response Function

Rooting When the babyÊs cheek Turn the head in the Helps infant find
Reflex is stroked or touched direction of the touch; open the nipple
the mouth for feeding
Sucking Place finger in babyÊs Baby sucks finger Helps to ensure
Reflex mouth rhythmically they can latch onto
a bottle or nipple
during feeding
Eye-blink Shine bright light at Baby quickly close or blink Protects baby from
Reflex eyes or clap hand near the eyes bright light or
head foreign objects
Moro Hold baby horizontally Baby will throw their arms Helps baby cling
Reflex on back and let head and legs out, and their to mother
drop slightly, or heads back, then bring the
produce a sudden loud limbs back into their bodies
sound as if holding onto
something.
Palmer Place finger in infantÊs Spontaneous grasp of Prepares baby for
Grasp hand and press against finger voluntary grasping
palm
Stepping Hold baby under arms Baby will lift the legs and Prepares baby for
Reflex and permit bare feet to stretch out taking stepping voluntary walking
touch a flat surface movements
Babinski Stroke sole of foot from Toes fan out, then curl as Unknown
Reflex toe towards heel the foot twists in
Swimming Place baby face down Baby paddles and kicks in Helps baby
Reflex in pool of water swimming motion survive in water
Tonic When placed on the Whichever side the childÊs Prepares baby for
Neck abdomen, turn babyÊs head is facing, the limbs on voluntary reaching
Reflex head to one side that side will straighten, the
opposite limbs will curl.
Sources: Berk, L. (2005)
SELF-CHECK 4.1
1. What reflexes do infants demonstrate as soon as they are born?

2. Why are infants equipped with these reflexes?

4.1.2 The Sleeping and Awakening Pattern

Newborns spend most of their time alternating among these four different states
(St. James-Roberts & Plewis, 1996):
(a) Alert inactivity – the baby is calm with eyes open and attentive; and seems
to be deliberately inspecting the environment;
(b) Waking activity – the babyÊs eyes are open but they seem unfocused; the
arms or legs move in bursts of uncoordinated motion;
(c) Crying – the baby cries vigorously, usually accompanied by agitated but
uncoordinated motion; and
(d) Sleeping – the baby alternates from being still and breathing regularly to
moving gently and breathing irregularly; eyes are closed throughout.
Sleeping habits can vary greatly among infants. Full term infants usually sleep
14–16 hours a day but some may sleep only 9 hours a day in regardless of
whether it is night or day. If you are the parents of the latter, then you might find
it challenging to have good rest yourself!
Newborn infants tend to go on active sleep (similar to adults Rapid Eye

Movement sleep (REM), often associated with dreaming), followed by quiet sleep
(Non-REM). Infants will spend as much as 50% of their sleep in active sleep. This
will decrease over time.
By 4 weeks old, the infantÊs sleep will be fewer but longer; and by 8 weeks, the
infant will sleep more during the night and less during the day (Ingersoll &
Thoman, 1999). By the end of the first year, most infants will sleep through the
night, much to the relief of the parents, as the infantÊs internal bio-rhythms
become adapted to the demands of the external world (Ikonomov, Stoynev, &
Shisheva, 1998).
Sleep patterns also vary across cultures. Parents in the US prefer to put babies to
sleep alone in their own room; while many other cultures encourage co-sleeping
arrangements, with parents and infant in the same bed (Rogoff, 2003). Co-sleeping
may have specific health benefits such as regulating baby in breathing (McKenna
& Mosko, 1993) and reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
Each year in the United States about 10,000 babies die in their sleep from causes
classified as SIDS (Hetherington, Parke, Gauvain, & Locke, 2006). SIDS normally
occurs during sleep and is most common between the ages of 2 and 4 months. The

cause of SIDS is still a mystery and researchers are still trying to find the reason of
it. One possibility may be due to the breathing of babies while in deep sleep.
The latest finding, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association,
reported that babies who die from SIDS generate low amounts of the message-
carrying brain chemical serotonin needed to regulate sleep, breathing and heart
rate. The researchers said the abnormal levels of serotonin may hamper an
infantÊs breathing, especially in challenging situations such as breathing in too
much exhaled carbon dioxide while sleeping face down (Reuters, 2010). Parents
are advised to put infants on their backs to sleep, to avoid keeping rooms too
warm and to keep loose blankets and pillows away from infants.
SELF-CHECK 4.2
1. What are the four states of sleeping in newborns?

2. How would culture influence the sleeping pattern of babies?
ACTIVITY 4.2
Research Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Discuss with your

coursemates on the possibilities of SIDS.
4.1.3 Crying
New parents often feel helpless and stressed when faced with a crying baby.
However, experienced parents know that babies typically cry to get their needs
met, such as hunger, discomfort, digestive problems or fright. Crying is the only
way they communicate with the adults.
According to BowlbyÊs evolutionary theory, babies are equipped with means of

attracting the attention of their parents, such as crying, to gain or maintain their
attention and interest (Schaffer, 2004). However, sometimes babies cry a great
deal for a prolonged period for unexplained reasons and it can be frustrating and
frightening for parents.
Colic, which means pain, sometimes make babies cry for hours. Although colic is
usually harmless, in some cases it may indicate an illness, such as a hernia or an
ear infection. Parents will soon learn to differentiate the types of cries that the
infants perform.

The following clues can help you figure out why your little one is unhappy
(Edelman, 2010).
(a) „IÊm hungry.‰ These rhythmic, brief cries get more and more intense until
they result in a full-blown tearfest. Watch for visual cues: your baby may
open his mouth or start sucking on his fingers.
(b) „IÊm tired.‰ A baby who needs sleep can have an irritated, sporadic cry,
may belt out several quick wails, or will look like he wants to cry but canÊt.
In addition, heÊll yawn, rub his eyes, or turn away from you.
(c) „How boring.‰ One minute heÊs cooing with delight, then suddenly heÊs
making throaty noises and whiny moans that sound fake or exaggerated.
(d) „Ouch! Something hurts.‰ This sudden, piercing scream is often

accompanied by a wide-open mouth and clenched hands and feet. Look for
clothing pinching his skin or a thread wrapped tightly around a toe.
4.1.4 Soothing Babies

Are babies able to soothe themselves? According to Hetherington et al. (2006),
they can to some extent. Sucking is one of the ways. Research shows that
immediately after birth and before the first oral feeding, simply sucking on a
pacifier reduces a babyÊs distress (Hetherington et al., 2006). In a classic study
of how to bring an infant to a calm but alert state, holding the baby to oneÊs
shoulder was found to be the most effective method (Korner and Thoman, 1970).
Parents can help calm a baby by using techniques such as rocking, swaddling
and massaging. Swaddling is a common cultural practice in Malaysia, where the
nurses in the infant room will wrap the newborn tightly in a diaper or cloth. This
will reduce the movement of the limbs, hence calming down the neonate. Infant
massage has also been found to be an effective way of keeping an infant calm
and ensuring it sleeps better, especially when administered after a bath.

ACTIVITY 4.3
1. Our grandmothers always warn us against picking up babies as

soon as they cry. Should we ignore the babiesÊ cry or are we
„spoiling‰ the babies if we rush to their cry promptly?
2. What do Malaysian parents normally do to calm their babies?
Give examples.
3. Find out about baby massage. What are the benefits of baby
massage?
4.2 SENSATION, PERCEPTION AND LEARNING

Remember the story of Adam? He was able to open his eyes and look around as
soon as he was born. He was listening to GrandmaÊs singing. And as soon as he
was put into his motherÊs arms, he turned to look for the nipples and started to
suck. What senses did he use, what do they tell him about his world and what
has he learned from all these experiences?
How do newborns make sense of their world? Can they hear and see as we do?
What do they prefer to listen to or see? How do they learn and respond to their
environment? These are a few questions that we shall investigate in this section.
4.2.1 Sensation and Perception

Sensation and perception are two different but inseparable aspects of how we
experience the world. The boundary between these two processes is not precise.
Sensation is the process of receiving, translating and transmitting information
from the external environment by our sense organs to the brain. Perception is
the „higher level‰ process of selecting, organising and interpreting sensory
information about the objects, events and spatial layout of our surrounding
world into useful mental representations. Researchers have discovered that
babiesÊ sensory and perceptual capabilities are quite well organised even at birth,
allowing infants to begin adapting immediately to their new environment
(Hetherington et al., 2007).

Let us discuss further a few of babyÊs sensation and perceptions:
(a) Visual Stimuli

According to Haith, (1980), babies are awake at birth and they will open
their eyes if the light is not too bright. If born in darkness, they will
maintain a controlled, detailed search. In the first few weeks of birth, the
newborn has a clear vision of about 8‰ which is just the right distance to
have a good look at the mother during nursing. This enables the baby to
know the mother better.
Researchers used the visual preference method to examine infantsÊ abilities

to distinguish visual stimuli. In this technique, the researcher present two
stimuli to a baby at the same time and see which one the infant attends to.
For example, two pictures are presented to the baby to find out which one
the baby looks at. The one that the baby attends to longer is the preferred
stimulus. This method research has found that babies have a preference for
human faces (Mauer & Salapatek, 1976; Johnson & Morton, 1991). Bornstein
(1975) also discovered infants prefer red, blue, yellow and green over
colours such as violet and blue-green, which might be the reason that most
infantsÊ toys are of these colours.
According to Johnson & Morton (1991), there are two stages in the
development of face perception:
(i) The tendency of the babies turning to and looking at face-like patterns
ensures that young babies get maximum exposure to peopleÊs faces
and so have the opportunity to learn to discriminate among them.
(ii) It is also found that infants look at outer boundaries more than the
internal features of the face.
Then after several weeks of such exposure, babies develop the ability to
identify individual faces (Schaffer, 2004). Walton, Bower & Bower (1992)
discovered that newborns prefer their mothersÊ faces over the faces of
strangers. This paves the way towards social bonding (Schaffer, 2004).
(b) Depth Perception

Do infants know the dangers of depth? Gibson and Walk (1960) invented a
clever way to study infantsÊ reactions to depth. A visual cliff is built by
placing a transparent material across a shallow platform and a sharp drop-
off. Campos, Langer & Krowitz, (1970) found that younger babies show a
decreased heart rate when they are placed over the deep side, which
indicated they notice the difference between the two sides but are not yet
afraid. Berthenthal & Campos (1984) found that 6-14 month-old babies will

not cross the deep side to get to the mothers, even with encouragement
from the mothers, indicating they recognise the drop-off and are scared.
(c) Auditory Ability

At birth, the newbornÊs auditory system is more advanced and well
developed (Saffran et al., 2006) than many other systems. We noticed that
infants get startled by loud noises and soothed by soft tender sounds.
Newborns are responsive to human voices, turn their eyes towards a source
of sound and make some discrimination between sounds of different
pitches (Poole, Warren & Nunez, (2007). They are attentive especially to
high pitched female voices and are found to be able to identify the motherÊs
voice better than the fatherÊs. (Schaffran et al., 2006). However, sound needs
to be louder for newborns to hear them. Not only can newborns hear, but
the possibility has been raised that the foetus can hear even as it nestles
within its motherÊs womb (Santrock, 2001).
Researchers found that the infants, at two days of age, can produce a
preference for hearing a familiar story; for instance, Dr. SeussÊ classic story
The Cat in the Hat (DeCasper & Spence, 1986) which the mothers had been
reading twice a day over the last 6 weeks of their pregnancy. The infants
suck on a nipple in a different way when the mothers read The Cat in the
Hat, suggesting that the infants recognised its pattern and tone (Santrock,
2001). DeCasper & Spence (1986) also found that the infants will suck more
in response to hearing their motherÊs native language than they will to a
foreign language. This study reveals the remarkable ability of an infantÊs
brain to learn even before birth.
(d) Touch and Pain

Newborns respond to touch, as we have learnt from their reflexes. If we
touch the cheek, the newborn will turn the head towards that direction.
Also, if we touch the lips, it will produce a sucking movement.
Do infants feel pain? Megan Gunnar and her colleagues (1987) found that
baby boys cry intensely during circumcision, indicating that it was stressed.
However, the crying will stop within a few minutes, and the infant will
nurse and interact in a normal manner with the mother. Also, the infant
will go into a deep sleep which seems to serve as a coping mechanism
(Santrock, 2001).
(e) Smell and Taste

Infants seem to get satisfaction from the taste of milk. In one study, even at
only two hours of age, babies made different facial expressions when they
tasted sweet, sour and bitter solution (Rosenstein & Oster, 1988). Babies

also seem able to recognise the smell of their mothers within the first
few days of life (MacFarlane, 1977). In MacFarlaneÊs investigation, young
infants who were breast-fed showed a clear preference for smelling their
motherÊs breast pad when they were six days old.
(f) Intermodal Perception

It is about actively exploring objects in our environment and detecting
distinctive features through the use of two or more sensory systems, such
as vision and hearing or vision and touch. For example, when Adam was
in mummyÊs arms, he heard her voice and responded to her touch and
reached out for her nipple. Can we say that Adam has the capacity for
intermodal transfer as soon as he was born?
Kaye and Bower (1994) tested newborns that were solely breast-fed and had
no experience with a pacifier. They found that these newborns showed
a visual preference for the pacifier they had been sucking on after only
20 seconds of exposure. This study suggested that infants are probably born
with the capacity for intermodal transfer (Hetherington & et al., 2006).
Sensation and perceptual skills are important to newborns and young babies. For
example, sight, smell and touch help them recognise their mothers; smell and
taste make it much easier to learn to take their food. Early development of touch,
smell and taste and the abilities to see and hear, prepare babies to learn about the
world. Over the first year, with added experience, infants will improve further in
intermodal perception (Mauer, Stagner, & Mondloch, 1999).
SELF-CHECK 4.3
1. Why is it important for us to understand young infantsÊ sensory

and perceptions abilities? How will it help in our work with
young children?
2. How do infantsÊ visual and auditory abilities help them to
develop their relationship with their caregivers?

ACTIVITY 4.4
1. Pay a visit to child-care centres and observe the programmes the

centres offer. What kind of activities are the children engaged in?
Are there any sensory activities?
2. If you are looking for a child-care centre for your toddler, which
programme would you choose: one that emphasises social play
and communication, exposure to touch, sights and sounds, or one
that emphasises on learning the alphabet, word cards and number
drills? Explain your choice.
4.2.2 Learning
How babies learn and develop is of great interest to psychology researchers.
Learning refers to behavioural changes (Charlsworth, 2000) that result from the
child interacting with his or her environment in a new way (Shaffer & Kipp,
2007). For example, from birth, when the baby hears sounds from words, songs
and stories, he will imitate the sounds. This in turn will attract responses from
those around him, praising him; and from then onwards, he will make more of
the sounds. That is how he learns to talk.
In this section, we will explore how babies learn through association and
imitation and how this prepared the babies for learning and their memory
capabilities.
(a) Classical and Operant Conditioning

Sometimes we heard parents threatening their child by saying, „If you keep
crying, the doctor will give you a jab‰; or „the policeman will come and
catch you‰. Eventually, the child will come to associate fear with doctors
and policeman!
Hetherington & et al. (2006) demonstrated how a baby may be conditioned

to fear a doctor. Figure 4.1 shows that at the first meeting, the baby does not
show any particular reaction to the doctor, but after the doctor gives the
baby a painful injection that causes the baby to cry, the baby may expect the
same pain at his next meeting with the doctor and cry or act afraid even if
he does not see a needle in her hand.

Figure 4.1: How a baby may be conditioned to fear a doctor

Source: Herentington & et al. (2006)
(b) Learning through Imitation

Imitation is an important element in learning. One of the most important
ways a baby solves problems is by imitating the actions of someone who is
more knowledgeable (Santrock, 2001). Imitating the motherÊs problem-
solving strategies clearly has survival value for an infant (Santrock, 2001).
Andrew Meltzoff (1990) conducted an experiment on infantsÊ imitative

abilities and believes that these abilities are biologically based. His study
showed that infants can imitate a facial expression within the first few days
after birth, even before they have had experience with other agents in their
environment. In MeltzoffÊs observations of infants in the first 72 hours of
life, the infants displayed a full imitative response to an adultÊs facial
expressions, such as tongue protrusion or a wide opening of the mouth
(Santrock, 2001).
Similarly, Tiffany Field and her colleagues (1982) examined the capabilities
of newborns within 36 hours of their birth. They found that most infants
imitate the adultÊs display of surprise by widely opening their mouths; they
frequently widened their lips when observing a happy expression. When
the adultÊs face looked sad, the infantÊs lips moved into a pouting
expression (Santrock, 2001). Refer Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2: InfantsÊ ability to imitate

Source: Kail & Cavanaugh (2004)
How do these early imitations help the infants in learning? Meltzoff &
Moore (1999) argued that these imitation capabilities equipped infants with
early mental structures that can be deployed as a discovery mechanism for
understanding persons. At the later state of infancy, we can see that infants
are able to imitate a more expanded range of behaviours. For instance, a
10-month-old may imitate an adult clapping his hands, waving her finger
back and forth or imitate another infant knocking down a tower of blocks
(Kail & Cavanaugh, 2004).
(c) Memory
Do you remember the name of a friend you have not seen for 10 years?
Where did you keep your passport since you last used it? When did you last
renew your driving license? When answering to these questions, you will
search for your memory. How about infants? Do they have memories too?
Rovee-Collier (1997) conducted an experiment on infantsÊ memories. A

ribbon from a mobile was attached to a 2 or 3-month-oldÊs leg; within a few
minutes, the baby learned to kick to make the mobile move. Rovee-Collier
found that a few days later, babies would still kick to make the mobile
move. However if the mobile was brought back to the babies several
weeks later, most babies forgot that kicking moved the mobile. When that
happened, Rovee-Collier gave them a reminder by moving the mobile

herself without attaching the ribbon to their foot. Then the baby would kick
to move the mobile again (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2004).
Rovee-CollierÊs experiments show that three important features of memory

exist as early as 2 and 3 months of age:
(i) An event from the past is remembered;
(ii) Over time, the event can no longer be recalled; and
(iii) A cue can serve to dredge up a memory that seems to have been
forgotten (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2004).
Although babies are capable of some imitation, the ability to imitate and the
amount of such behaviour the child displays change significantly with age
(Hetherington & et al., 2006). Rose, Feldman, & Jankowski (2001) found
that memory improves rapidly in older infants and toddlers. These
improvements in memory could be due to the growth in the brain area that
is critical for storing new facts and support memory (Carver & Bauer, 2001).
These changes also explain why the ability to remember faces and objects
improves around 3 months of age (Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007).
When brain structures that support memory are increasingly linked to areas
that determine the emotional significance of events, infants become afraid
of strangers. Babies at 7–10 months are more fun to play with because they
more often act on (and emotionally react to) information in working
memory which is what they are thinking about right now. For example, it is
easy to make babies laugh by establishing a pattern of hand motions and
sounds, then changing the pattern suddenly with an expression of delight
(Poole, Warren & Nunez, 2007), such as the game of „peek-a-boo‰. Peek-a-
boo is a game played with babies. In the game, the older player hides their
face, pops back into the babyÊs view and says Peekaboo! Sometimes
followed by I see you! Peekaboo is a thought by developmental
psychologists to demonstrate an infantÊs inability to understand object
permanence. Object permanence is an important stage of cognitive
development for infants. Numerous tests regarding it have been done
usually involving a toy and a crude barrier which is placed in front of the
toy and then removed, repeatedly. In early sensory-motor stages, the infant
is completely unable to comprehend object permanence. Psychologist Jean
Piaget conducted experiments with infants which led him to conclude that
this awareness was typically achieved at eight to nine months of age.
Infants before this age are too young to understand object permanence. A
lack of Object Permanence can lead to A-not-B errors, where children reach
for a thing at a place where it should not be.

SELF-CHECK 4.4
1. What is learning? How do we know if a child has learned?

2. Give an example of classical conditioning, operant conditiong,
imitation, and memory. Explain why each is useful for learning.
ACTIVITY 4.5
Tell a friend about your experience with a childÊs ability to learn and
recall what he/she has learned before.
 Some of the reflexes that babies normally display are the rooting reflex,
sucking reflex, eye-blink reflex, moro reflex, palmer grasp, stepping reflex,
babinski reflex, swimming reflex and tonic neck reflex.
 Newborns spend most of their time alternating among four different states:
alert inactivity, waking activity, crying and sleeping.
 Researchers discovered that babiesÊ sensory and perceptual capabilities are

well organised even at birth. Young babies can hear, see very well; they are
also using integrated senses that involves using more than one senses.
 Among the sensations and perceptions discussed are visual stimuli, depth
perception, auditory ability, touch and pain, smell and taste and also
intermodal perception.
 Learning results in a relatively permanent change in behaviour which results

from experience. Children learn through association and imitation and these
prepared the babies for learning and their memory capabilities.

Auditory ability Perception

Classical conditioning Reflexes
Depth perception Sensation
Imitation Sleep and awakening pattern
Intermodal perception Smell and taste
Learning Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Memory Touch and pain
Operant conditioning Visual stimuli
Berthenthal, B. I., & Campos, J. J. (1984). A reexamination of fear and its

determinants on the visual cliff. In Poole, D., Warren, A., & Nunez, N. (2007).
The Story of human development. NJ: Pearson Education.
Bornstein, M. H. (1975). Qualities of color vision in infancy. In Poole, D., Warren, A.,
& Nunez, N. (2007). The story of human development. NJ: Pearson
Education.
Campos, J. J., Langer, A., & Krowitz, A. (1970). Cardiac responses on the visual
cliff in prelocomotor human infants. In Poole, D., Warren, A., & Nunez, N.
(2007). The story of human development. NJ: Pearson Education.
Carver, L. J., & Bauer, P. J. (2001). The dawning of a past: the emergence of long-
term explicit memory in infancy. In Kail, R., & Cavanaugh, J. (2004). human
development: A life-span view. CA: Thomson.
De Casper, A., & Fifer, W. (1980). Of human bonding: Newborns prefer their
mothersÊ voices. Science, 12, 305–317. In Hetherington, E. M., Parke, R. D.,
Gauvain, M., & Locke, V. O. (2006). Child psychology: A contemporary
viewpoint. New York: McGraw-Hill.
DeCasper, A. J., & Spence, M. J. (1986). Prenatal maternal speech infuences

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development (9th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.

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http://www.parents.com/baby/care/crying/cry-baby/.
Gibson, E. J., & Walk, R.D. (1960). The Âvisual cliffÊ Scientific American, 202(4). In
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Ikonomov, O. G., Stoynev, A.G., & Shisheva, A. C. (1998). Integrative coordination

of circadian mammalian diversity: Neoronal networks and peripheral clocks.
In Hetherington, E. M., Parke, R. D., Gauvain, M., & Locke, V. O. (2006). Child
Ingersoll, E. W., & Thoman, F. B. (1999). Sleep/wake states of preterm infants:

Stability, developmental change, diurnal variation, and relation with
caregiving activity. Child Development, 70, 1–10.
Johnson, M. H., & Morton, J. (1991). Biology and Cognitive Development:

The Case of Face Recognition. In Schaffer, H. R. (2004). Introducing child
development. MA: Blackwell.
Kail, R. V. & Cavanaugh, J. (2004). Human development: A life-span view

(3rd ed.). CA:Thomson.
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information in newborns, Psychological science, 5, 286–288. In Hetherington,
E. M., Parke, R. D., Gauvain, M., & Locke, V. O. (2006). Child psychology:
A contemporary viewpoint. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Korner, A. F., & Thomas, E. (1970). Visual alertness in neonates as evoked by

maternal care. In Hetherington, E. M., Parke, R. D., Gauvain, M., & Locke, V. O.
(2006). Child psychology: A contemporary viewpoint. New York: McGraw-
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MacFarlane, A. (1977). The psychology of child-birth. In Black, J. K., Puckett, M. B.,

& Bell, M. J. (1992). The young child: Development from prebirth through age
eight. NY: Macmillian.

Mauer, D., & Salapatek, P. (1976). Developmental changes in the scaning of faces
by young infants. Child Developmet, 47, 523–527. In Hetherington, E. M.,
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contemporary viewpoint. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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is difficult to demonstrate in one-month-olds. Child Development, 70, 1047–
1057. In Hetherington, E. M., Parke, R. D., Gauvain, M., & Locke, V. O. (2006).
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study of infant-parent co-sleeping and its implications for SIDS. In
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Topic  The ChildÊs
5 Growth: Brain,
Body, Motor
Skills and
Sexual
Maturation
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain how the brain develops in a child and the importance of
early experiences;
2. Explain the motor development of a child;
3. Describe how a child grows physically; and
4. Discuss a childÊs sexual maturation.
 INTRODUCTION
Mrs Ling is anxious about her son Hayden, a Year Five student, who is having
trouble with math. She is apologetic and blames herself by saying, „I was
hopeless in math too, though I was good in other subjects during high school.‰
What would have accounted for HaydenÊs math problem? Environment or

genes? If youÊre HaydenÊs teacher, what advice would you give to Mrs Ling?
How would you help Haydan?
TOPIC 5 THE CHILD’S GROWTH: BRAIN, BODY, MOTOR SKILLS AND  85
SEXUAL MATURATION
From the previous topics, we have learned that it is the interplay between the
genes and the environment that form the basic structures of our brain network.
In this topic, we will look at the importance of early experiences and how these
experiences complete the brain, making us who we are.
Motor development is influenced by a variety of factors. Genes, nutrients,

motivations and even culture play a part in the timing of childrenÊs physical
development. We will also discuss the proposition that some cultures are more
skilled in certain motor areas than others.
We often heard that todayÊs children are reaching their puberty stage at a
younger age. Are there any differences in the process of puberty between boys
and girls? What factors account for these differences?
Let us read further to find out more about this.
5.1 THE BRAIN

We have known from the previous topics that genes formed the basic structures
of our brain network. Is the brain completely developed when the baby is born?
What do we know about the brain development during prenatal stage? Is a
toddlerÊs brain less active than the brain of a college student? Is talking to a baby
important? Can he or she understand what we are saying? Do children need
special help and specific educational toys to develop their brainpower? How do
early experiences shape the young brain? These are a few of the questions that
we will explore in this topic.
In the past, we assumed that the brainÊs development was determined genetically,
and that brain growth followed a biologically predetermined path. Now the
scientists know that early experiences impact the development of the brain and
influence the specific way in which the circuits of the brain become „wired.‰
Let us recall what we might have observed in young children:

(a) Baby Adam gazed intently at his motherÊs face while being breastfed;
(b) Toddler Sharon tried to make a tower with construction blocks;
(c) Six-month old Baby Sham rocked his body to and fro, dancing when he
listens to some familiar tune;
(d) Baby Kim goes to sleep in the caregivers arms while she sings the lullaby;
and

86  TOPIC 5 THE CHILD’S GROWTH: BRAIN, BODY, MOTOR SKILLS AND
SEXUAL MATURATION
 Toddler Lisa, 18-months old, wants the mother to repeat a storybook that she
has read many times before.
These are the experiences that the child absorbs through his or her senses: smell,
taste, sight, sound and touch. Why are these experiences important? How do
these help in the development of the childÊs brain? Let us explore the human
brain more closely.
5.1.1 Brain Structure

The brain is part of the central nervous system, and plays a decisive role in
controlling many bodily functions. The basic elements of the human brain
include the following (Refer Figure 5.1):
Figure 5.1: Side view of the brain

Source: Brothersom (2005)
(a) The brainstem is at the base of the skull and it controls most basic life
activities, including blood pressure and body temperature;
(b) The midbrain is at the top of the brainstem and it controls motor activity,
appetite and sleep;

SEXUAL MATURATION
(c) The cerebellum is behind the brainstem and it coordinates movement and
balance;
(d) The limbic system is in the central part of the brain and it controls
emotions, attachment and memory; and
(e) The cortex is the top layer of the brain and is about the depth of two dimes
placed on top of each other. The cortex is the „executive branch‰ of the
brain that regulates decision-making and controls thinking, reasoning and
language.
The cerebral cortex contains 80 percent of the neurons in the brain. Because it
is the least developed part of the brain at birth and keeps developing until
adolescence and even beyond, the cortex is more sensitive to experiences than
other parts of the brain (Brothersom, 2005).
The brain and nervous system contain billions of interconnected neurons.

Often referred to as the neocortex, or simply the cortex, the „thinking brain‰ is
composed of six layers of nerve cells (neurons) and supporting glial cells that
form a blanket over the lower areas (Healy, 2004).
Neurons form trillions of connections and the pathways. The number and
organisation of these connections influence everything, from the ability to
recognise letters to the maintenance of relationships. Because the quality of these
message systems depends heavily on environmental input, they provide a map
for parents to help their children develop strong mental equipment for learning
(Healy, 2004).
Neurons, the basic building blocks of the brain, develop rapidly even before
birth. In fact, a foetusÊ brain produces roughly twice as many neurons as it will
eventually need. At birth, an infant has roughly 100 billion brain cells – a safety
margin that gives newborns the best possible chance of coming into the world
with healthy brains. However, connections or wiring between these cells is
incomplete and connections have to be organised into systems for perceiving,
thinking, talking, and remembering. The first two years are a period of dynamic
change for the cortex (Healy, 2004).
Every neuron has an axon (usually only one). The axon is an „output‰ fibre that
sends impulses to other neurons. Each neuron also has many dendrites – short,
hair-like „input‰ fibres that receive impulses from other neurons. (Graham,
2010). In this way, neurons are perfectly constructed to form connections (Shore,
1997).

SEXUAL MATURATION
Between birth and 8 months, synapses form rapidly. One neuron can connect
with 15,000 other neurons. In the first 3 months of life, the synapses multiply
more than 20 times. At 3 months, the baby has more than 1,000 trillion synapses.
A 3-year-old child has twice as many connections as an adult. By 10 years, a child
has nearly 500 trillion synapses, which is the same as the average adult. Synaptic
connections are strengthened by repeated use; if they fail to connect, they die off
(Healy, 2004).
Figure 5.2 shows the density of the synapses at different ages:
Figure 5.2: Synaptic density in the human brain

Source: Brothersom (2005)
5.1.2 Brain Plasticity in Early Childhood

Connections are made permanent continuing from early infancy to early
childhood. Early childhood experiences physically determine how the brain is
wired. Early sensory experiences create new synapses. As we mature, the brain
physically changes due to outside experiences. The first three years see the most
rapid changes due to the bombardment of experience, because everything is new!

SEXUAL MATURATION
At this time, the brain is most flexible and prepared to learn (plasticity).
Repetition of experiences strengthens them. The number of connections can go
up or down by 25% or more, depending on the enrichment of the environment.
Those synapses that arenÊt used are removed by pruning. In fact, pruning starts
after the first birthday. At about age 10, the brain begins to dramatically prune
extra connections and make order of the tangled circuitry of the brain. Pruning
occurs for about 12 years but the brain maintains flexibility for future learning.
New synapses grow throughout life. The capacity of our learning is greatest
when we are very young, but as we grow older, it diminishes. Adults continue to
learn, but they do not master new skills so quickly (Healy, 2000).
There are optimal periods referred to as a window of opportunity – „prime

times‰, „critical‰ or „sensitive‰ periods – when skill practice or teaching will be
most effective. These are times during which the brain is particularly efficient at
specific types of learning (Shore, 1997). At these times, skills may need a certain
degree of stimulation in order to develop fully. For instance, scientists have
determined that the neurons for vision begin sending messages back and forth
rapidly at 2 to 4 months of age, peaking in intensity at 8 months (Graham, 2010).
Being able to see the world around them is important because that helps both
eyes finetune the connections among brain cells so they develop normally
(Brothersom, 2005).
5.1.3 Genetics and Environment Interact

The impact of environmental factors and early experiences on the young childÊs
brain development is dramatic, altering the way genes are expressed in the
developing brain (Shore, 1997). The sensory stimulation of touch, sound, sight,
taste, and smell not only influence the general direction of development; but
actually affecting how the intricate circuitry of the human brain is „wired‰ and
how it builds connections (Shore, 1997). How the young child develops and
learns depends critically and continually on the interplay between the genetic
endowment and the nutrition, surroundings, care, stimulation and teaching that
are either provided or withheld.
Warm and responsive early care helps babies to thrive and plays a vital role in
healthy development. Touch is also key to brain development. Research on infant
massage suggests that in premature babies, massages cause faster growth and
development (McClure, 2000). The infant needs security in order to grow steadily
because the most fundamental task of an infant is to learn how to meet his needs.
For example, if adults respond predictably to his cries and provide for his needs,
the infant feels secure. He then focuses his attention on exploring, allowing his
brain to develop. However, if his needs are met only sporadically, the infant will

SEXUAL MATURATION
focus his energies on meeting his needs. He will have more and more difficulty
interacting with people and objects in his environment. His brain will shut out
the stimulation it needs to develop healthy cognitive and social skills.
Movement, particularly stimulation by rocking, spinning, or hanging upside

down, helps develop a large and important area behind the brain stem: the
cerebellum. The cerebellum interacts with higher, frontal levels in the brain for
cognitive skills such as language, social interaction, music, the ability to perform
repetitive activities automatically, such as handwriting and attention. Physical
activities are one of the childÊs main means of advancing physical, intellectual,
and emotional growth, so we should encourage many forms of body movement
(Healy, 2004).
5.1.4 Deprivation
Infants in environmentally-deprived facilities have smaller brains than those of
children who grow up in sensually rich environments. Studies of over 1,000
abused and neglected children found that children who were rarely touched or
spoken to had brains 20–30% smaller than most children their age (Newberger,
1997). These risk factors frequently are associated with or exacerbated by
poverty. For children growing up in poverty, economic deprivation affects their
nutrition, access to medical care, the safety and predictability of their physical
environment, the level of family stress and the quality and continuity of their
day-to-day care (Shore, 1997).
SELF-CHECK 5.1
1. Explain why early experiences are important for the brain to

develop.
2. How would parents, teachers or adults who are caring for young
children take care of the childrenÊs brains and how can we help to
develop their brains?
ACTIVITY 5.1
1. What do you think of HaydenÊs case? Is it genetic or
environmental? Have a debate.
2. How do you think you could help Mrs Ling and Hayden?

SEXUAL MATURATION
5.2 PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Physical and motor development is influenced by a variety of factors. Genes,
nutrients, motivations and even culture play a role in the timing of childrenÊs
physical development. What role does culture play in the timing of childrenÊs
physical abilities? We shall also discuss the proposition that some cultures are
more skilled in certain motor areas than others.
5.2.1 Physical Development

Physical growth is rapid in infancy. Babies acquire many new motor abilities and
self-help skills during this developmental period. They also acquire new
perceptual abilities; they can see hear, touch, taste, and smell as well as adults
by 6 months of age. Physical growth and perceptual and motor development
progress is a relatively fixed order. For example, babies swipe at objects before
they can grasp them; they hold objects between fingers and palm before they can
use their pincer grasp.
Although children follow certain sequence in the physical development, we must

also remember that children grow and mature at individual rates; and they need
to build on what they know, going from simple to complex. Also different types
of physical movements are important in their physical development. Adults who
take care of them should understand the patterns of their physical development
so as to support in developing their physical abilities.
Seeing a baby roll over for the first time, seeing him taking his first step, or
watching a preschooler learn to kick a ball are precious and wonderful moments
in the life of a parent or caregiver. Rolling over, holding a bottle or cup, eating
with a spoon, crawling around or under objects and more are examples of
physical development. These are some of the physical abilities that a child must
develop to adjust to the world and they play an important role in a childÊs life.
These are complex physical tasks that require strength, coordination and
perception. They also are developmental moments, those windows of time when
parents or caregivers can see the ways in which a young child is growing and
developing new skills and abilities.

SEXUAL MATURATION
5.2.2 Motor Development

The term motor development refers to growth in the ability of children to use
their bodies and physical and motor skills. It is often defined as the process in
which a child acquires movement patterns and skills. Table 5.1 describes three
types of physical movement that the children are involved in:
Table 5.1: Three Types of Physical Movements
Type of Physical
Description Example
Movement
Locomotor It involves the movement of the Crawling, walking,
Movement body from place to place. hopping, running, leaping,
These movements help in the galloping and skipping.
development of the gross-motor
skills which involve the use of the
leg muscles.
Non-locomotor Physical abilities where the body Pushing, pulling, twisting,
Movement stays in one place when the limbs are turning, wiggling, and
involved in these movement. This rising.
type of movement helps to develop
the childÊs balancing and
coordination skills.
Manipulative Movement that deals with using of Grasping food to put into
Movement the hands and fingers that helps to their mouths, holding a
develop the childÊs fine-motor skills bottle or a spoon, picking
as well as eye-hand coordination. up toys, fixing the puzzle
and writing or drawing
with crayons.
5.2.3 Sequential and Timing of Physical and Motor

Development of Young Children
According to the Maturational viewpoint (Shirley, 1933), „motor development
is the unfolding of a genetically programmed sequence of events in which the
nerves and muscles mature in a downward and outward direction. As a result,
children gradually gain more control over the lower and peripheral parts of their
bodies, displaying those sequential motor skills‰ (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007).

SEXUAL MATURATION
Without denying that maturation contributes to motor development, the

experiential viewpoint also believes that opportunities to practice motor skills are
important. Dennis (1960) observed infants who were not given the opportunities
to sit, move around, play with objects in an orphanage in Iran. It was found that
half of the 1–2 year olds could not sit unaided and none of them could walk.
Only 15 per cent of the 3- to 4-year-olds could walk well alone (Shaffer & Kipp,
2007).
However, the new dynamical systems theory differs from the earlier theory
although they agree with both maturation and experience contribute to the
physical and motor development of young children. They view each new skill
as „a construction that emerges as infants actively reorganise existing motor
capabilities into new and more complex action systems‰ (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007).
The dynamic system theory believes that infants hope to acquire and perfect new
motor skills that will help them to get to interesting objects they hope to explore
or to accomplish other goals they may have in mind (Thelen, 1995). Hence,
though maturation plays a very important role, Shaffer & Kipp (2007) concludes
that „the first 2 years do not simple unfold as part of natureÊs grand plan. Rather,
they emerge largely because goal-driven infants are constantly recoding actions
they can perform into new and more complex action systems that will help them
to achieve their objectives‰.
SELF-CHECK 5.2
1. Name three types of physical movement that are important to

childrenÊs physical development. Explain why they are important.
2. Describe the three viewpoints on physical and motor development
of young children.
ACTIVITY 5.2
Observe two children in the same age group, one boy and one girl,
engaged in physical play in the playground. What are the types of
motor movement are they involved in? Are there any differences
between the boy and the girl? Observe how their physical motor skills
affect other developmental areas. Make a report to the class.

SEXUAL MATURATION
5.2.4 Role of Culture in Physical Development

The findings of a variety of research efforts suggest that parentsÊ physical
development-related goals for their children often vary across cultures and
socioeconomic groups. Thus, the expectations parents have for a childÊs physical
development depends on culture, family status or the presence of physical
limitation.
The games parents play with their babies, their carrying practices and the kinds
of toys available can affect physical competence. For example, in a culture where
a sport such as football is played early and very competitively, a parentÊs
assessment of a childÊs physical abilities may be linked to performance on the
football field. Parents who love to play badminton will encourage their children
to play the game at young age. Therefore, culture may be one factor that
influences the pace of motor development. But the basic patterns of physical
development in children are universal.
ACTIVITY 5.3
1. What do you think is the role that Malaysian culture plays in the
physical development of our children's achievements in sports?
2. What are the roles that the family play in the physical
development of young children?
5.3 SEXUAL MATURATION

Sexual maturity is the time when both girls and boys gain the capability to
reproduce. It normally begins when the child reaches 10 years of age. It occurs
roughly the same time as the adolescent growth spurt and follows a predictable
sequence for girls and boys (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). The process with physical
changes by which a childÊs body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction
is called puberty. Puberty is initiated by hormone signals from the brain to the
gonads which are the ovaries of girls and testes of boys. In response, the gonads
produce a variety of hormones that stimulate the growth, function, or
transformation of brain, bones, muscle, skin, breasts and reproductive organs.

SEXUAL MATURATION
5.3.1 Differences between Girls and Boys in Puberty

For girls, puberty is signalled by a rising level of the female hormone, oestrogen.
There will be a spurt in height and the growth of underarm and pubic hair
and followed by the development of the pelvis and the breasts. Then, the first
menstrual cycle or menarche occurs.
For boys, the average age for first signs of testicle enlargement is 11.5 years. It
followed by the appearance of unpigmented pubic hair. (Pinyerd & Zipf, 2005).
Meanwhile, the penis lengthens and widens. At about age 13 to 14½, sperm
production begins (Pinyerd & Zipf, 2005). The penis will be fully developed at
age 14 to 15. By then, most boys will have reached puberty and are now capable
of fathering a child (Tanner, 1990). Table 5.2 illustrates a timetable of sexual
maturation for boys and girls.
Table 5.2: Sexual Maturation: A Timetable
Average
Age of Girls Boys
Onset
10 Breasts (breast buds) begin to develop.
11 Pubic hair appears; it is sparse and Testes and scrotum begin to grow.
slightly pigmented.
12 Pubic hair, lightly pigmented,
begins to appear.
13 Breasts continue to enlarge; areola and Spermache: first ejaculation of
nipple project above contour of breast. semen.
13–14 Menarche: beginning of menstruation.
14 Pubic hair becomes denser, but area Underarm and facial hair begins
covered is smaller than in adult to appear.
woman.
15 Breasts and pubic hair coverage are Penis, testes are fully developed;
fully mature. pubic hair coverage is complete;
moustache and beard hair begin
to grow.
Source: Heatherington, et al. (2005)

SEXUAL MATURATION
Puberty normally begins as early as age 10 and is usually completed by age 17.
However, just like physical development, there are many individual differences
in the timing of sexual maturation as well. According to Shaffer & Kipp (2007), an
early-maturing girl who develops breast buds at age 8, may start her growth
spurt at age 9½, and reaches menarche at age 10½. She may complete her growth
and pubertal development before the late developing girls in the class have even
begun. For boys, puberty may not begin until age 16 and continue in a random
fashion beyond age 20.
5.3.2 Factors Determining the Timing of Puberty

Today, we often heard about children reaching puberty at earlier ages than in the
past. In fact, it is common to find children who have reached their puberty when
they are in primary standard four or five, especially for girls.
A few factors could have played the role in the timing of puberty: food;
inheritance; environment; and parent-child relationships.
(a) Food
It could be due to the fact that health and nutrition have improved over the
past few generations.
(b) Inheritance
Girls whose mothers matured early tend to mature early themselves
(Hetherington, Parke, Gauvain & Locke, 2006).
(c) Environmental
Environmental factors also could play a role. For example, the choice of a
profession such as gymnasts, figure skaters and ballet dancers who practice
intensively, perform regularly and diet to keep fit may delay the onset of
menstruation by as much as one year (Brooks-Gunn & Warren, 1985).
(d) Parent-child Relationship

According to Brooks-Gun & Warren (1985), parent-child relationships can
also alter the timing of sexual maturation. Steinberg (1987) found that
family relationship may affect maturation but this maturation also affected
family relationship. Steinberg found that puberty causes a distancing
between child and parent. Steinberg also found that the greater the distance
between the generations, the earlier young people tended to reach sexual
maturity, whereas the closer parent and child were, the slower the process
of maturation seemed to be (Heatherington, et al., 2006).

SEXUAL MATURATION
5.3.3 Some Related Problems

Children face great stress, both physically and emotionally during puberty. To
some parents, some topics are difficult to address. Charlesworth (2000) suggested
that parents should be the major sex educators, but teachers also have to deal
with these problems at school. Communication must also be open and honest.
Experts suggest that parents begin short and casual discussions about the body
changes that occur in puberty with their children by the age of seven or eight.
Providing the child with healthy reading materials about puberty can impart
information to the young person without the awkwardness that may characterise
the parent-child conversations. Parents could offer their children opportunities
to ask questions or to discuss any aspects of puberty and sexuality that may
arise from their reading. This will also prevent children from getting wrong
information from unhealthy sources.
SELF-CHECK 5.3
1. Why do you think young people are reaching sexual maturity at

earlier ages than in the past?
2. What are the roles of parents in assisting children during this
stressful period?
 Early experiences are important because they enable the neurons in the
brain to make all the connections and wiring through the synapses. These
experiences complete the brain in making who we are.
 Physical development refers to the physical change in height and weight of

children. Family, genes, nutrients, motivation and even culture affect the
physical development of children.
 Physical development also includes gross and small motor development;

locomotor and non-locomotor movement.
 TodayÊs children are reaching their puberty stage at a younger age. It could
be due to the following factors: food, inheritance, environmental and also
parent-child relationship.

SEXUAL MATURATION
 Puberty is a physically and emotionally stressed period, and these young

people need the parentsÊ guidance and support to overcome any problems or
questions that they might meet.
Axons Locomotor and Nonlocomotor

Balanced and Coordination Skills Midbrain
Brainstem Neurons
Cerebellum Oestrogen
Cortex Plasticity
Critical Periods Pruning
Dentrites Puberty
Gonads Small Motor Development
Gross Motor Development Synapses
Limbic System
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Warren, W. P. (1985). The effects of delayed menarche in

different contexts: Dance and nondance students. In Heatherington, E. M.,
Parke, R. D., Gauvain, M., & Locke, V. O. (2006). Child Psychology: A
contemporary viewpoint (6th ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.
Brothersom, S. (2005). Understanding Brain Development in Young Children.

Family Science Specialist, NDSU Extension Service. Retrieved March 11,
2010, from http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/famsci/fs609w.htm.
Dennis, W. (1960). Causes of retardation among institutional children: Iran. In

Shaffer, R. D., & Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood &
Adolescence (7th ed.). CA: Thomson.

SEXUAL MATURATION
Charlsworth, R. (2000). Understanding child development (5th ed.). NY: Delmar.
Graham, J. (2010). What we know about how children learn. Retrieved March 8,
2010, from http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4356.ht.
Healy, J. M. (2004). Your childÊs growing mind. NY: Broadway.
Heatherington, E. M., Parke, R. D., Gauvain, M., & Locke, V. O. (2006). Child
Psychology: A contemporary viewpoint (6th ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.
McClure, V. (2000). Infant Massage: A handbook for loving parents. NY: Bantam
Books.
Newberger, J. J. (1997). „New Brain Development Research: A Wonderful

Window of Opportunity to Build Public Support for Early Childhood
Education.‰ Young Children, 52 (4), pp. 4–7.
Pinyerd, B., & Zipf, W. B. (2005). Puberty-timing is everything. In Shaffer, R. D.,

& Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence
(7th ed.). CA: Thomson.
Shaffer, R. D., & Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood &

Shirley, M. M. (1933). The first two years: A study of 23 babies. In Shaffer, R. D.,
& Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence
(7th ed.). CA: Thomson.
Shore, R. (1997). Rethinking the Brain: New insights into early development.
New York: Families and Work Institute.
Tanner, J. M. (1990). Foetus into man. In Shaffer, R. D., & Kipp, K. (2007).
Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence (7th ed.). CA:
Thomson.
Thellan, E. (1995). Motor development: A new synthesis. In Shaffer, R. D., &

Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence (7th
ed.). CA: Thomson.

Topic  Emotional
6 Development
and
Attachment
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain the importance of emotional development and how it relates
to social development;
2. Describe different types of emotions in young children;
3. Explain attachment theories; and
4. Demonstrate how attachment affects learning and later development
of young children.
 INTRODUCTION
Joyce and Ray are anxious about the arrival of their first baby and have started
early to prepare everything for their new infant. They have prepared the babyÊs
room, decorated the baby cot and bought diapers, clothes and outfits in all sizes
and even the baby formula. They have colourful toys, mobiles, storybooks,
classical music, baby songs and rhymes ready. They also attended childbirth
class. But are they truly ready? They seem to have forgotten one very important
aspect of their babyÊs life – his emotional development.

TOPIC 6 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ATTACHMENT  101
What are emotions? According to Hetherington, Parke, Gauvain & Locke (2006),
emotions, such as joy, anger and fear, have several important aspects:
(a) They are subjective reactions to the environment;
(b) They are usually experienced cognitively as either pleasant or unpleasant;
(c) They generally are accompanied by some form of physiological arousal;
and
(d) They can be communicated to others by some behaviour.
For example, 12-month old Amy was used to being breast-fed by her mother.
When AmyÊs mother decided to stop breast feeding her and started feeding her
with formula, Amy reacted strongly to the taste of the formula, finding it
unpleasant and spitting out the milk. As Amy was not able to use words to
describe her feelings, she cried, refused to drink and pushed the bottle away.
ACTIVITY 6.1
What was your most unforgettable experience of your childhood? What

was the impact of that experience? How was it related to your emotion?
6.1 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

From birth, infants develop their abilities to experience and express different
emotions and feelings at the same time as their motor, thinking and language
skills. Yet emotional development often receives relatively less recognition as a
core emerging capacity in the early years (Bales, Boyce, Heckman & Rolnick,
2007). Although we all know the importance of emotions in everyday life, many
educators and parents often overlook this important area.

102  TOPIC 6 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ATTACHMENT
A survey released by the organisation Zero To Three revealed that parents have
relatively little knowledge and information about their childrenÊs emotional
development. Despite knowing that what they do as parents has the greatest
influence on their childrenÊs emotional development, they have the least
information in this area. Joyce and Ray are no exception. The lack of knowledge
is no fault of theirs, as emotional development is not something that is obvious
like physical or language development.
This lack of information about childrenÊs emotional development may be due to

the fact that emotions are internal processes that are difficult to study. Today, the
emotional development of infants and children are studied empirically, as
developmental scientists agree that the study of emotions is central to an
understanding of child development. Also, emotional development is a critical
aspect of the development of overall brain architecture that begins early in life
and has enormous consequences over the course of a lifetime. Additionally, more
sophisticated methods have been developed to study emotions (Zeman, 2001)
especially in brain research (Caldwell, 1998).
6.1.1 What is Emotional Development?

The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child states that ÂThe core
features of emotional development include the ability to identify and understand
oneÊs own feelings, to accurately read and comprehend emotional states in
others, to manage strong emotions and their expression in a constructive manner,
to regulate oneÊs own behaviour, to develop empathy for others and to establish
and sustain relationshipsÊ (Bales, Boyce, Heckman, & Rolnick, 2007).
Emotional development is how a young childÊs emotions develop. Since babies

do not speak, emotional expressions are the language of early relationships.
Infants around the world use the same facial expressions to communicate basic
human emotions (Gilkerson, 1998). In the beginning, babies seek out the things
that they want or feel by crying. As they grow up, their emotional capabilities
expand; and as they mature, they find new emotions and begin replacing these
actions with other means of communication like smiles, laughter, whining or
screaming. It all develops naturally over time.

Emotional development also encompasses the feelings that we have about

ourselves and others. It will affect how we interact with people and the
environment, as well as our capabilities to function well in the social world.
ChildrenÊs emotional development is as important as their brain and physical
development. It is the desire to connect with others that motivates them to learn.
And their sense of who they are in the world deeply impacts how much and how
well they learn, as well as the quality of the relationships they build with others.
According to Erikson (1902–1994), social competence and healthy personality are

closely linked to emotional security (Hyson, 2004). Emotional security that the
child experienced will affect the childÊs later ability to function effectively in
school and to form successful relationships, lasting friendships, effective
parenting, work well with others and become a contributing member of the
society later on in life.
6.1.2 Erikson’s Developmental Theory

EriksonÊs developmental theory of the socialisation process consists of eight
phases – the „eight stages of man.‰ Each stage is regarded as a „psychosocial
crisis‰ that arises and demands resolution before the next stage can be
satisfactorily negotiated. These stages are conceived in an almost architectural
sense: satisfactory learning and resolution of each crisis is necessary if the child is
to manage the next and subsequent ones satisfactorily. Erikson believed that
childhood is very important in personality development (Davis & Clifton, 1995).
The first six stages are from infancy to adolescence as shown in Table 6.1.
These stages of development described how personality develops. It provides a

guide for the parents and adults who care for children the knowledge of what
sort of environment will result, for example, in traits of trust versus distrust, or
clear personal identity versus diffusion. These understandings would help the
child through the various stages at difficult times.

Table 6.1: EriksonÊs Developmental Stages
Age Stage Characteristics
Birth – 1 year Basic trust vs. If well-handled, nurtured and loved, the child develops trust and
mistrust security and optimistic. If badly handled, he becomes insecure and
distrustful.
1–3 years Autonomy vs. The „well-parented‰ child emerges from this stage sure of himself,
shame and elated with his new found control and proud rather than ashamed.
doubt However, autonomy is not entirely synonymous with assured self-
possession, initiative and independence; but at least for children in
the early part of this psychosocial crisis, also includes stormy self-
will, tantrums, stubbornness, and negativism such as the Terrible
Twos.
3–6 years Initiative vs. The healthily developing child learns to imagine; to broaden his
guilt skills through active play of all sorts, including fantasy; to cooperate
with others; to lead as well as to follow. Immobilised by guilt, he is
fearful, hangs on the fringes of groups; continues to depend unduly
on adults; and is restricted both in the development of play skills
and in imagination.
6–11 years Industry vs. The child learns to master the more formal skills of life: relating with
inferiority peers according to rules; progressing from free play to play that may
be elaborately structured by rules and may demand formal
teamwork, such as baseball; mastering social studies, reading,
arithmetic;. and the need for self-discipline increases yearly. The
child with his successive and successful resolutions of earlier
psychosocial crisis is trusting, autonomous, full of initiative and will
learn easily enough to be industrious. However, the mistrusting
child will doubt the future. The shame- and guilt-filled child will
experience defeat and inferiority.
Adolescence Identity vs. The adolescent child learns how to answer satisfactorily and happily
identity the question of „Who am I?‰ The young person acquires self-
confusion certainty as opposed to self-consciousness and self-doubt. He
actually anticipates achievement and achieves, rather than being
„paralysed‰ by feelings of inferiority. In later adolescence, clear
sexual identity – manhood or womanhood – is established. The
adolescent seeks leadership (someone to inspire him) and gradually
develops a set of ideals (socially congruent and desirable, in the case
of the successful adolescent).
Emerging Intimacy vs. The successful young adult, for the first time, can experience true
adulthood isolation intimacy – the sort of intimacy that makes possible good marriage or
a genuine and enduring friendship.
Source: Child Development Institute, Stages of Social-emotional Development in

Children and Teenagers. Retrieved 4-3-2010.
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/erickson.shtml]

6.1.3 Early Emotional Development

Hall (2008) stated that the infantÊs ability to express emotions is a universally
adaptive behaviour that facilitates adultsÊ interest in the newborn. In this section,
we discuss some of the common emotions that young children demonstrate from
birth to early childhood and why they are important for later development. It can
be summed up in Figure 6.1.
Figure 6.1: Early emotional development in infants
Let us discuss it further.
(a) First Year of Life

During their first year, infants grow and develop rapidly, secure in the
comfort and reassurance of family and familiar surroundings. Some
emotions shown at this early stage are smiles, laughter, fear and anger.
(i) Smiles and Laughter

At birth, a smile always appears on the newborn. This is called the
reflex smiles (Wolff, 1987). At about six weeks, a social smile emerges,
including cooing and mouthing, in response to adultsÊ smiles, faces,
voices and light touches or gentle play. This social smile engages a
person in a social act, which gives pleasure and encourages the
caregiver to cuddle and talk to the baby (Heather, et al., 2006). This
social interaction also indicates that the baby is willingly to establish a
social relationship with the caregiver. This will bring about a mutually
reinforcing pattern in which both the infant and the caregiver gain
pleasure from (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007).

Smiles are also considered to be developmental as the baby becomes

more aware of their environment. They smile when they see a familiar
face, a favourite toy or praise from a familiar caregiver.
It was around 3 or 4 months that laughter begins. It demonstrates that

the baby can now recognise incongruity as laughter is usually elicited
by something that is different from the norm, such as playing
peek-a-boo, or seeing something funny. Laughter promotes social
development as it fosters close relationship and interactions with
others.
(ii) Fear: one of the first negative emotions

Between 6 to 8 months, infants begin expressing fear, disgust and
anger because of the maturation of cognitive abilities. Anger is a
common emotion at any developmental period. The infants usually
use „cry‰ to express their anger. Anger also serves as an adaptive
function, letting the caregivers know that they are uncomfortable or
feeling displeasure and something has to be changed or attended to.
The causes of anger could change across childhood. For instance, at
six months old, Aaron may become angry because he is hungry, or
because he has soiled the diaper. This anger occurs because AaronÊs
basic needs are not being met. At 18 months, Aaron may become
angry because his sister, Sharon took his toys, with this anger
occurring as a result of conflicts over materials, play and space. With
increasing age, anger is more likely to result from how one is treated,
and it is mostly related to socialisation.
Fear also emerges at about seven months, when infants are able to
compare an unfamiliar event, situation, object with what they know.
Unfamiliar adults will also elicit fear responses in infants. One
example is staying overnight in somewhere else other than their own
home, or the presence of an adult stranger. For example, at eight
months, May, who stays in an apartment in Kuala Lumpur, visited the
wooden house of her grandparents in the village. The unfamiliar
environment and faces kept May crying and staying closed to the
mother for the entire night.
Another factor is the infantÊs temperament. Temperament (the innate

or genetic component of an individualÊs personality) can affect how
children respond to the world emotionally. Children who have more
easy-going temperaments tend to have an easier time learning to
regulate their own emotions. they are also able to respond to other
peopleÊs emotions more positively. Children who have difficult or

slow-to-warm-up temperaments tend to struggle to regulate their

own emotions and will typically react to other peopleÊs strong
emotions by becoming distressed themselves (Oswalt, 2008). For
instance, Carol is a happy, easy-going child and she settles down in
the childcare centre on the first day, playing with the caregiver and
other children. Whereas Mike, who has difficult temperaments took
three months to settle down in the same childcare centre. This is also
called separation anxiety, which appears normally at seven to twelve
months old.
(b) Second Year of Life

With mobility, toddlers are increasingly active and curious. They love to
explore their environment and start to use words to express themselves.
They need reassurance and encouragement from the caregivers and like to
have them around. Children feel more secure when they know their limits
and their routines. Adults need to establish consistency and let them know
what they are allowed to do and what are not.
During the second year, infants express emotions of shame or

embarrassment and pride. These emotions mature in all children, and
adults contribute to their development. However, the reason for the shame
or pride is learned. Different cultures value and families develop display
rules or different actions that influence which emotions can be shown, in
what context, and to what degree (Gilkerson, 1998). One culture may teach
its children to express pride upon winning a competitive event, whereas
another may teach children to dampen their cheer, to be humble or even to
feel shame at another personÊs loss. Parents are one of the primary sources
that socialise children to communicate emotional experience in culturally
specific ways. That is, through such processes as role modelling, direct
instruction and imitation, parents teach their children which emotional
expressions are appropriate to express within their specific sub-culture and
the broader social context (Gilkerson, 1998).
In the second year of life, the caregiverÊs job switches from nurturer to
socialiser. The mother now has to set limits on behaviours that the toddler
loves to do such as fondling his penis. When the toddler does not find the
excitement in the adultÊs face that he has come to expect and be refuelled
by, he experiences a sudden deflation of positive emotions. The child would
generalise this to a feeling of being ashamed of himself (Greenberg, 2000).
With this feeling, you may see childrenÊs bodies curl up, heads and eyes go
down, as if they want to hide and be unseen (Gilkerson, 1998).

Plattner (2003) advised that to grant children their emotions would also
mean letting them feel sorry for themselves (instead of feeling ashamed).
Only if children are allowed to feel sorry for themselves will it help children
to differentiate between what benefits and what causes harm to their well-
being. Pride helps children to become aware of themselves as valuable
persons. Children who are allowed to feel proud of their abilities and
capabilities learn to believe in themselves and develop self-confidence as
well as self-esteem.
Help from the caregiver is needed to re-engage and re-establish the

pre-existing positive feelings. In fact, this is one definition of resiliency in
relationships – the ability to transition from positive to negative and back to
positive states.
For example: Aiden, 18 months old, was throwing his books around and
stepping on them. The father, Paul said: „Elmo (The Sesame Street character
whom Aiden likes to watch) said, youÊre not supposed to throw books and
step on them‰. Aiden stopped, looked at the books, covered his face with
his hands and started to cry. Aiden is feeling guilty and ashamed. Paul then
held him in his arms and said, „Are you feeling sorry that youÊve thrown
the books and stepped on them? LetÊs pick up the books and put them back
on the shelves.‰ Aiden then started to put the books on the shelves with his
fatherÊs help, who then says, „Good job, Aiden, youÊve put all the books
back on the shelves!‰. Aiden smiled and went on to play with other toys.
ACTIVITY 6.2
1. Explain how would you help children learn about resilience.

2. How do you think culture and family values had moulded our
emotions? Give examples.
(c) The Third and Fourth Year

The third and fourth years of early childhood are a time of noticeable
change in a childÊs social maturity and independence. Most will be toilet
trained during the day and will help with dressing and undressing. Play is
more focused, and the child should be quite comfortable about going to
play with friends or to a playgroup or day care. They will soon be ready for
the benefits of a nursery or preschool programme.

(i) The Terrible Twos

How often have you been in a store where a toddler is kicking,
screaming and throwing tantrums? Parents who have this experience
are well aware of what it feels like, for this is the typical characteristic
of toddlers who turned two or may happen slightly earlier than two.
The toddlers seem to be negative about most things and often saying
„no‰. This is the stage that is usually referred to as the terrible two
when the toddlers have frequent mood changes and temper tantrums.
Terrible two behaviours are a common and necessary step in normal
healthy child development (Ramswell, 2008).
As caregivers, we should try to understand that the child is not trying

to be naughty or rebellious on purpose. He is just trying to express his
growing independence but does not have the language skills to
express his needs easily. This could also be the reason why the child
frequently gets frustrated and resorts to hitting, biting and temper
tantrums when he does not get his way.
(ii) Language, Cognitive and Emotional Development

Caldwell (1998) reminded us that while we are studying child
development, we must constantly keep in mind the inter-
connectedness of development and that the child must be dealt with
holistically. Bredekamp and Copple (1997) stated that „Domains of
childrenÊs development – physical, social, emotional and cognitive –
are closely related. Development in one domain influences and is
influenced by development in other domains‰.
The inter-connection between cognitive, language and emotional

development is particularly important. As stated by Bales, Boyce,
Heckman, Rolnick, (2007): „Cognitive, emotional and social
capabilities are inextricably intertwined throughout the life course,
and their interactive relationship develops in a continuous process
over time. The brain is a highly integrated organ and its multiple
functions operate in a richly coordinated fashion. All of our human
capabilities develop through a process that is both simultaneous
and deeply inter-connected. Thus, emotional well-being, social
competence and emerging cognitive abilities are highly inter-related,
and together they are the bricks and mortar that comprise the
foundation for human development‰.

Children at three years of age are well developed in abstract thinking

and language (Oswalt, 2008). Hence, they become better able at
labelling and discussing their emotions with others. For example, they
can let Mom and Dad know that they are feeling sad or scared, rather
than just crying or screaming. Similarly, children can explain that a
friend is „sad because his pet dog had just died.‰
(iii) Self-conscious and Self-awareness

During early childhood, children typically start to develop self-
conscious emotions as they start evaluating themselves, instead of
purely reacting to caregiversÊ or other adultsÊ evaluations (Oswalt,
2008). For instance, an older baby or a younger toddler may be
perfectly happy covering his hair and face with food during mealtime,
and will not experience a negative emotion until caregivers express
their displeasure at the messy situation. Children in the early
childhood stage may still enjoy eating and messing around, but as
soon as they see Mom coming, shame and/or guilt may emerge as a
result of evaluating the situation. A child may also experience a sense
of pride when Daddy says, „Well done. IÊm proud of you‰.
As children become increasingly self-aware, more effective at

communicating and better at understanding the thoughts and feelings
of others, their social skills increase. Children in the early childhood
stage become skilled at modifying and expressing their emotions to fit
different social situations (Oswalt, 2008). For example, Daniel may feel
angry, but he knows that having a tantrum at school is inappropriate.
Similarly, Christine learns to act pleasant and happy even if she does
not like the present that her aunt gives her. According to Oswalt,
changing or controlling oneÊs emotions in social situations is an
important skill that allows children to fit in with groups and start to
create interpersonal relationships.
According to EriksonÊs developmental theory, children who start to

evaluate themselves have entered the stage of „autonomy versus
shame and doubt.‰ At the end of this stage, young childrenÊs self-
evaluations are either autonomous and positive, or negative and
ashamed. Young children who feel autonomous see themselves as
good, valuable people who are able to do what is expected of them in
a positive way. In contrast, young children who feel ashamed will feel
worthless and incapable of doing what is expected of them.

6.1.4 Empathy
Another emotional capacity that develops during early childhood, empathy, is
also an important component of positive social behaviour. Again, as with other
emotions, the development of empathy depends on cognitive and language
development. Children who cannot engage in abstract thinking or take someone
elseÊs perspective are typically unlikely to respond with empathy. The emotional
understanding of another personÊs perspective is the ability to understand what
theyÊre feeling (Hall, 2008). It was SallyÊs first day in preschool and she was upset
and crying. Samantha, who has been through the same experience as Sally, went
toward her and asked, ÂAre you sad?Ê Samantha has noted the emotions of Sally,
labelled it and responded with caring.
Are very young children able to show empathy too? Here is an observation from
a nursery room: Sarah, 14 months old, was crying because her mother had left
her. Nadal who was the same age as Sarah, looked sympathetically at her but
didnÊt know what to do. She took out her pacifier from her mouth and offered it
to Sarah. This shows that Nadal, despite the lack of language skills, has the
ability to notice and correctly interpret the needs and wants of Sarah.
ACTIVITY 6.3
Observe two children, one who is always happy and one who always
moody, in an early childhood setting. Observe how their emotional
behaviour affects their relationship with other people around them,
such as other children, the teachers or caregivers and their parents.
Describe how you would help the moody child.
SELF-CHECK 6.1
1. Describe the emotions that are displayed by young children from

first year to the fourth year of life.
2. How does emotional development relate to other developmental
areas such as social, language and cognitive?
3. Can young children show empathy? Give one example.

6.2 ATTACHMENT
Joyce and Nick are expecting their first baby. Joyce is a working mother holding
a managerial post in a well established company. Nick was recently retrenched
and unemployed. The couple has learned about the attachment theory and
wanted to use this approach when the baby is born. They read that the theory
emphasises on the relationship between the mother and the baby and stresses the
importance of breast feeding the baby.
Can Nick be the stay-home dad while Joyce returns to work after confinement?
Or should they leave the baby with the grandparents who live out of town?
Should they leave the baby with caregivers in child care centres? Who are the
people looking after their babies in the child care centres and are they trained to
do the job properly? These are the dilemmas that Joyce and Nick are facing.
In this subtopic, we shall examine Bowlby and AintsworthÊs attachment theories

and the contemporary theories on attachment. We will also discuss why
attachment relationship between parents and the child is so important. Can
babies develop attachment with other adults besides their mothers? How does
attachment affect learning? What are the benefits of a secure attachment?
6.2.1 Attachment Theories

Over the years, we have read about attachment, bonding, separation and
stranger anxiety, attachment relationship and the impact of all these. The terms
seem confusing and some are used synonymously. Sometimes they make parents
feel guilty of themselves, as they think they are not giving enough to their
children (especially working mothers who have no choice but to leave their
newborns with someone else). It will be easier if the caregivers are someone you
know like grandparents, aunts or a close friend or even neighbours. However,
the feelings would be more uncomfortable if they are leaving the baby with
„strangers‰ such as the caregivers in the child care centres: Can I trust this person
to take care of my baby and will she love and protect my baby as her own? How
about the fathers? Can fathers do as well as mothers?
In the study of young children, the name John Bowlby is considered synonymous
with attachment theory (Karen, 1998). Bowlby (1985) stated that „It is in our first
relationship, usually with our mother, that much of our future well-being is
determined‰. Bowlby (1982) defined attachment as: „The dimension of the infant-
caregiver relationship involving protection and security regulation. Within this
theoretic framework, attachment is conceptualised as an intense and enduring

affectional bond that the infant develops with the mother figure, a bond that is
biologically rooted in the function of protection from danger‰.
Another earliest theorist to study attachment was Mary Ainsworth (1967), who
defined attachment as: „An affectional tie that one person or animal forms
between himself and another specific one – a tie that binds them together in
space and endures over time‰.
Contemporary theorists such as Honig (2000) defined attachment as: „A strong

emotional bond between a baby or young child and a caring adult who is part of
the childÊs everyday life – the childÊs attachment figure‰.
Riley, Juan, Klinkner & Ramminger (2008) defined it as: „Attachment means a
long-standing and emotionally strong tie between two people. It is the special
bond between young children and those who care for them‰.
Bowlby (1998) and Ainsworth (1978) established the importance of a „secure

base‰ in early childhood. According to their theory, when children feel they can
count on important, loved people to provide comfort, they have a strong
foundation of confidence that allows them to explore their surroundings (Hyson,
2004). The child would not move beyond the eyesight of the caregiver and will
detect the reaction of the caregiver regarding safety and security of their
exploration. Infants look to caregivers cues when approached by a stranger. If
infant sees that the stranger is someone whom the caregiver knows, the infant is
likely to respond favourably; otherwise the infant will respond with anxiety and
distress.
The Bowlby-Ainsworth attachment theory is very specific about the secure base
aspect of close relationships, especially with the mother figure. Later works use the
words mother, father or significant adult (Mooney, 2010). Recent research has
considered fathersÊ contributions to childrenÊs well-being and the influence on early
development of fathersÊ ways of making eye contact, playing with children and
using vocalisation. Although there is some research on fathers who are their young
childrenÊs primary caregivers, more work is needed in this area (Shore, 1997).
6.2.2 How is Attachment Developed?

In the earliest months, babies quickly forget their parents or caregivers when
they are not present. They are not particular about who cares for them as long as
the caregiver is sensitive to their needs. From two months onwards, infants can
recognise familiar people and thatÊs the beginning of social smiles. However,
they are still at the state of „out of sight, out of mind‰. From six to eight months,

they develop specific attachments and will respond to those who care for them
differently from those who are not. They start to have stranger anxiety and
separation anxiety.
Table 6.2 illustrates BowlbyÊs stages in the development of attachment.
Table 6.2: BowlbyÊs Stages in the Development of Attachment
Age Range
Stage ChildÊs Behaviour
(Months)
Pre-attachment 0 to 2 Indiscriminate responsiveness to

different people
Attachment-in-the-making 2 to 7 Recognition of familiar people
Clear-cut attachment 7 to 24 Separation protest; increasing fear or

wariness of strangers
Goal-corrected partnership 24 onwards Understanding of caregiversÊ needs;

more two-sided, mutual relationship
Source: Riley, Juan, Klinkner & Ramminger (2008)
6.2.3 Why is Attachment Important?

Shore (1997) pointed out that „... children are not only affected by a breach of
attachment but qualitative differences in attachment can have long-term
psychological consequences.‰ (p. 29). Siegel (1999) suggested that the
orbitofrontal cortex of the young brain is responsible for social and emotional
development. This region depends upon the nature of interpersonal
communication during the early years in order to make connections. Interactions
with attachment figures are essential to create the contingent, collaborative
communication for the proper emotional development of the child. Attachment
relationships are important in the unfolding of the emotional and social
development of the child. Trusting, secure relationships help children do well in
many areas of their life, including social, emotional and cognitive domains
(Hartzell, 2004; Juan, Klinkner & Ramminger, Riley, 2008). Riley et al. believed
that children who are securely attached explore more and tend to learn more
because feeling safe makes exploration possible.
Children learn in the context of important relationships (Shore, 1997). According

to Shore, „the best way to help very young children grow into curious, confident,
able learners is to give them warm, consistent care so that they can form secure

attachments to those who care for them.‰ (p. 29). Hall (2008) stated that the
reciprocal bonds or attachment between caregivers and children are the
foundation of the first learning environment. Those infants and caregivers who
have a healthy psychological bond have interactions that promote a sense of
comfort and readiness for the infant to explore the world. They also are more
compliant with adults and have better peer relationship later on in life.
6.2.4 Signs of Attachment

How do you know if a child has become attached to you? Riley, Juan, Klinkner &
Ramminger (2008) suggested you look for these signs:
(a) The child looks at you and moves toward you following a separation;
(b) The child clings to you when upset and finds comfort in you; and
(c) In your presence, the child feels safe enough to start looking around and
exploring.
SELF-CHECK 6.2
1. Define „attachment relationship‰ based on your own

understanding. What are the differences between traditional and
contemporary views on attachment?
2. Explain why forming attachment with somebody who is
significant in young children is important. How will it affect the
child's personality later on in life?
3. How do you know if a child has become attached to you?
6.2.5 Can Children Develop Multiple Attachment

Relationship?
According to Riley, et al. (2008), „young children form strong attachments not
only with their parents, but also with the other people who care for them
consistently, including their early childhood teachers. These attachments can
have a huge impact on childrenÊs futures. The attachment bonds children form
with their teachers also predict the quality of relationship they will have with
future teachers and other adults.‰ (p. 6).

Siegel (1999) stated that „attachment can involve a few selected individuals,
including parents, grandparents, other relatives, nannies, child care providers,
and preschool teachers depending on the nature of the specific patterns in
communication and interaction. These 'selective attachments' offer children the
chance to develop an internal model of security about the world and allow their
minds to develop a sense of emotional well-being and psychological resilience.‰
Adults who are sensitive to a childÊs needs and signals, who can offer consistent
and predictable behaviours and who care about the childÊs internal experiences
are those that are likely to foster a secure attachment (Siegel, 1999). For example,
Samuel, 36 months old, has a secure relationship with the mother who breastfed
him until he was two. He also has a close relationship with the stay-home dad
who looked after his needs and played with him. When grandparents came to
visit, he develops a very close relationship with the grandpa who plays with him,
takes him to playground, swimming, gardening and many other outdoor
activities. He also enjoys going to his nursery class and has attached himself to
the nursery teacher.
ACTIVITY 6.4
1. What advice would you give to Joyce and Nick about the
attachment approach that they wish to carry out with their baby?
2. What should we do now that we understand the importance of
attachment relationship of the young child and the adults who are
caring for him/her? What are the implications on early care and
education of our young children?
 Young children need to feel safe and secure in order to learn. These are also
the basic ingredients of a healthy personality. The study of emotions is central
to an understanding of child development. Emotional development is
also a critical aspect of the early brain development that has enormous
consequences throughout life.
 Young children are able to demonstrate various emotions such as smiles and
interests at birth. Anger, sadness and fear normally appear by the middle of
the first year. Pride, guilt and shame emerge in the second or third year.

 Emotional well-being, cognitive abilities, social competence and language

development are highly inter-related. Together they form the foundation or
the basis for human development.
 Recent attachment theories emphasise the importance of a Âsecure baseÊ in

early childhood. Children need to feel they are safe and can count on
someone who loves them, and who can provide comfort before they have the
confidence that allows them to explore their surrounding.
 Children may establish multiple attachment relationships with different

people in their life. Secure attachment during infancy predicts intellectual
growth and social competence later in childhood.
Attachment Multiple attachments

Basic emotions Secure base
Bonding Self-conscious and Self-awareness
Complex emotions Separation anxiety
Emotional development Stranger anxiety
Empathy Temperament
EriksonÊs Developmental Theories
Ainsworth, M. (1967). Infancy in Uganda: infant care and the growth of love. In
Mooney, C. G. (2010). Theories of attachment: An introduction to Bowlby,
Ainsworth, Gerber, Brazelton, Kennell, and Klaus. MN: Redleaf.
Bales, S. N., Boyce, W. T., Heckman, J., & Rolnick, A. J. (2007). The Science
of Early Childhood Development. National Scientifc Council on the
Developing Child.
(http://developingchild.net/pubs/persp/pdf/Science_ Early_Childhood_
Development.pdf)
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment. Vol. 1 of Attachment and loss. NY: Basic Books.

Bowlby, J. (1985). Working and Caring. In Mooney, C. G. (2010). Theories of

attachment: An introduction to Bowlby, Ainsworth, Gerber, Brazelton,
Kennell, and Klaus. MN: Redleaf.
Bredekamp, S., & C. Copple. (1997). Developmentally Appropriate Practice

in Early Childhood Programs, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: National
Association for the Education of Young Children.
Caldwell, B. (1998). Early Experiences Shape Social Development. Child Care

Information Exchange, May/June 1998.
Davis, D., & Clifton, A. (1995). Psychosocial Theory: Erikson. Retrieved March 4,
2010, from
http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/erikson.stages.html.
Gilkerson, L. (1998). Brain Care: Supporting Healthy Emotional Development.

Child Care Information Exchange, May/June 1998.
Greenberg, P. (2000). Character Development: Encouraging self-esteem & Self-

discipline in Infants, Toddlers, & Two-year-olds. Washington: NAEYC.
Hall, S. K. (2008). Raising kids in the 21st century. UK: Blackwell.
Hartzell, M. (2004). Emotional Attachment and Healthy Development. Child

Care Information Exchange. May/June 2004.
Honig, A. S. (2002). Secure relationships: Nurturing infant/toddler attachment in

early care settings. In Mooney, C. G. (2010). Theories of attachment: An
introduction to Bowlby, Ainsworth, Gerber, Brazelton, Kennell, and Klaus.
MN: Redleaf.
Hyson, M. (2004). The Emotional Development of Young Children: Building an

Emotion-centered Curriculum (2nd ed.). NY: Teachers College Press.
Karen, R. (1998). Becoming attached: First relationships and how they shape our
capacity to love. In Mooney, C. G. (2010). Theories of attachment: An
introduction to Bowlby, Ainsworth, Gerber, Brazelton, Kennell, and Klaus.
MN: Redleaf.
Mooney, C. G. (2010). Theories of attachment: an introduction to Bowlby,

Ainsworth, Gerber, Brazelton, Kennell, and Klaus. MN: Redleaf.

Oswalt, A. (2008). Early Childhood Emotional and Social Development. MSW

Retrieved March 31, 2010, from
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php
type=doc&id=12765&cn=462.
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Exchange, July/Aug 2003.
Ramswell, P. M. (2008). Terrible Two Behaviours: Common Manifestations of

Toddler Tantrums. RetrievedMarch 4, 2010, from
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this.
Riley, D., Juan, R. R. S., Klinkner, J., Ramminger, A. (2008). Social and emotional
development: connecting science and practice in early childhood settings.
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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2602/is_0002/ai_2602000223/.

Topic  Language
7 and
Communication
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain the theories that have shaped practices in language
acquisition;
2. Relate what brain research tells us about language acquisition and
communication;
3. Describe the developmental stages of language of young children; and
4. Explain the roles of family in fostering reading, writing and
communication among young children.
 INTRODUCTION
As a start, let us look at the following scenarios:
Scenario 1
As soon as Joan was born, her mother held her in her arms, smiled lovingly at
her, kissed her cheeks and whispered, „Hi Joan, welcome to the world, I love
you‰. Then she took out a book and read it to her.
We might wonder, „What does the newborn know? IsnÊt that too early to be
talking or reading to a newborn baby?‰

TOPIC 7 LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION  121
Scenario 2
When Sunny was 18 months old, he could understand many things, follow
instructions and figure things out; but he could not talk yet. He could only use
single words like „dada‰, „mama‰, „wiwi‰ and only has about five identifiable
words. His mother, Lynda was concerned because other children of his age or
younger are able to combine words to make two-word phrases like, „Daddy
gone‰, „Mama go away‰, and „all gone‰. She has been talking, reading, singing
and interacting with him since infancy. However, as soon as Sunny turned 19
months old, he suddenly burst out with words and word combinations such as,
„Where is it?‰, „I want...‰, and everyday he came out with new words. Lynda
was amazed.
Imagine the first time a baby looks at you and smiles, or says „mumummum‰ or
„dadada.‰ Then you respond with joy, „oh, youÊre calling mummy, mummy give
you a kiss‰; and she continues saying, „mumumummum...‰ while kicking her
legs and waving her arms excitedly. What is happening at that moment?
How do babies communicate? Babies communicate with you well before they
could talk. When they are born, they cry – that is when they have started
communicating with you. Your babyÊs cries generally tell you about their needs:
that something is wrong, or about an empty belly, a wet bottom, cold feet, being
tired, or a need to be held and cuddled, etc.
When babies are about 6 to 8 months, they started to utter their first sounds such
as cooing and babbling. Those sounds will continue to grow and are the
beginning of their first words, then second words and so on. Most parents will
agree that speaking, communicating and being able to use language are all
important in child development. Language is the integral part of any learning
because we need language to communicate our ideas, thoughts and emotions. It
is the key for life-long learning (Willis 1998).
What is language anyway? Why focus on language? How is language and

communication developed from infancy to adolescence? What do learning
theories tell us about language development? What does socialisation contribute
to language and communication? DoesnÊt every child learn to speak sooner or
later? So why bother? What are the roles of the adults and the family? These are
the few questions that we are exploring in this topic.

122  TOPIC 7 LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION
ACTIVITY 7.1
If you are a parent of a young infant and you could only have one kind
of toy or material, what would you get for him? Explain why you
choose that toy or material. What if you are an early childhood
educator? What would you get for your children?
7.1 BEGINNING OF COMMUNICATION

Babies enter the world communicating; as we can see with JoanÊs interaction with
her mother as soon as she was born. Although it may be several months or even a
year before babies utter their first meaningful words, they are nevertheless
communicating (nonverbally) even within a few hours of birth. Cowley (1997)
claimed that even before birth, a baby responds to her motherÊs voice, and is
already beginning to learn communication skills. Immediately after a child is
born, she quickly learns to respond to the general rhythm and cadence of speech;
and by four days (some feel even by a few hours), she begins to distinguish
between sounds (phonemes) specific to the languages she hears the most.
According to Willis (1998), an infant takes in information and communicates with

others long before she speaks. For example, when a baby cries when she is hungry
or wet, she is communicating. So again, it is important that we are attentive in
responding accordingly to these efforts. By six months of age, a child has become a
language specialist, focusing on the sounds he hears most frequently.
At first, these sounds may seem random to the newborn, but the more the sounds
of his language are heard, the more maps are formed. By 12 months of age, an
infantÊs auditory map is formed (Begley, 1997). Experiences are vital in helping
the child build vocabulary. The more a child uses his senses to explore the world
around him, the more experiences he has to communicate about. The size of a
childÊs vocabulary is strongly correlated with how much a child is talked to,
cuddled, and interacted with. Recent research shows that at 20 months of age,
children who have mothers who frequently talk to them average 131 more words
than children of less talkative mothers (Begley, 1997).

Having said that, what do you think could be the factors that influence
communication for babies? Consider this: what will happen if a person you are
trying to communicate with does not reply your message, emails or phone calls
even after many attempts? Soon you will stop trying to contact him, wonÊt you?
Young children are no exception. For effective communication, a child needs a
way (form), a reason to communicate (function) and something to communicate
about (content) (Willis, 1998). Willis warned us that even though a child has the
ability to communicate, without the needs or experiences, the child will lack a
reason to communicate and eventually stops trying. That is, if a childÊs attempts
to communicate go unnoticed, he will not have a need to communicate and those
attempts will diminish. A child may try to communicate in a few different ways.
Some of them are non-symbolic (gestures or by pointing) and some are symbolic
(words). A child progresses naturally from non-symbolic communication
(pointing at the window to mean go outside) to symbolic communication, when
the child says „out go‰ or „me go out.‰ Spoken language is by far the most
common form of symbolic language (Willis, 1998).
SELF-CHECK 7.1
1. When and how do young babies communicate with their

caregivers?
2. Why do some children stop communicating with adults?
7.2 WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

Humans are the only living beings on earth that talk and communicate with
language. We use language to express or share our thoughts, ideas or emotions
with others. Language is a basic form of communication. According to Fowler
(1990), „language is an abstract code for representing and communicating ideas
about the world through speech and writing‰. In speech, many different forms of
spoken languages and dialects are used through varying experiences of different
cultures and subcultures. Writing is a code used to represent the spoken
languages.

As we all know, language is important because it enables us to talk about the

world and represent things in abstract terms. Language is also a tool to express
our feelings in meaningful, intricate and in various ways. „Without language,
our complex social world of work and play could not even be imagined, let alone
developed, and human history would remain unremembered, untold in stories,
and by extension in its written form, unrecorded through books‰ (Fowler, 1990).
7.2.1 How Language is Acquired?

How is language acquired? Is language learned? Does language develop innately?
Does social context play a part in language development? Although researchers
are still looking for answers about language acquisition, there are many theories
that help explain how babies learn to speak and acquire a language.
Generally there are three views of how language is acquired:
(a) The Behaviourist Perspective

According to SkinnerÊs Behaviourist Theory, children are stimulated to
imitate the language used by other language users in their environment. It
emphasises the importance of imitation, modelling and reinforcement as
playing the most significant in language acquisition. Skinner believed that
children learn language because people around their environment provide
the models for them to follow. Skinner argued that adults shape the speech
of children by reinforcing the babbling of infants that sound most like
words. For example, when the infant says, „mummumum‰, mummy will
be joyful and says, „oh, youÊre calling mama, call again‰, and gives the
baby a big kiss. Also, the system of reinforcement supports the
development of language, as incorrect and inappropriate forms of language
are not reinforced while desired ones are praised and hence, reinforced. For
example, David said „big dog‰ as he pointed to a cow. His parents told him
that the large animal was really a cow and he repeated the word. His
successful learning of the new word was awarded by the parents who
showed pleasure in DavidÊs vocabulary development.
However, the behaviourist theory cannot account for the rapid rate of
development in childrenÊs language. By age of 2 or 3, children have
developed almost half of their everyday working vocabulary; by age of 4 or
5, children have learned a language effectively, with almost all the
grammatical and syntactic information required to make meaning in their
native language. The theory also provides insufficient explanations for how
children are able to generate novel sentences they have never heard and
therefore could not have learned by means of copying from someone else.

Hence, the critique is that it is not realistic to theorise that children have
developed so much knowledge and skill about their language through
repeated interactions with enabling adults about every item of a language.
(b) The Nativist Perspective

The Nativist theory argues that humans are biologically programmed to
gain knowledge and language. Chomsky (1965), Lennenberg (1967) and
McNeil (1970) described the nativist theory and they contend that language
develops innately. The ability to use language sets humans apart from all
other animals. That is available to us by virtue of being human, specified
somehow to our genetic makeup (Chomsky, 1965). They argued that it is
unlikely for adults to model and reinforce every rule and structure of a
language that the child comes to learn. They believed that children figure
out how language works by internalising the rules of grammar, which
enable them to produce an infinite number of sentences (Morrow, 1997).
Chomsky and Lennenberg believed that children are natural language
learners. Children actually develop or generate their own rules for using
language, e.g. „my chair is broked‰. Chomsky suggests that the human
infant is essentially an innate linguist, born with the ability to acquire the
language used in its environment. Through a series of transformations,
children derive all the rules that are unique to their first language or mother
tongue. Lennenberg (1967) finds nothing in the childÊs environment to
account for language development. Rather, he believes that language
acquisition is motivated inside children; learning language is a natural
ability (Morrow, 2005).
However, the Nativists do not highlight the role of others in the

development of childrenÊs language, such as the importance of the social
environment in which children acquire their first language.
(c) The Interactionist Perspective

Interactionists believe that language development is both biological and
social. Interactionists argue that language learning is influenced by
the childrenÊs desire to communicate with others. This interactionist
perspective comes from the constructivist theory of Piaget and Vygostky.
Constructivists described language as an active and social process and
children are able to create their own language (Morrow, 2005). The
constructivists believe that children do not simply imitate adult language.
As they need to express themselves but do not have enough conventional
language to draw upon, so they create their own language (Morrow, 2005).
Although children will make errors while constructing their own language,
the adults need to accept the errors, as making errors is a necessary process
of learning.

The interactionists believe that the process of acquiring language is

continuous and interactive and it takes place in the social context of the
childÊs interaction with others. Children learn about linguistic forms and
rules by interacting with the people in the environment around them. Both
Piaget and Vygotsky believe that language is developed in social contexts
in which the child as being an active participant in the learning process
(Morrow, 2005). Vygotsky stated that all learning is mediated by the social
group and that language and cognitive development result from active and
meaningful learning in social and culture context, dependent on the
support that adults and more mature peers provide as children attempt
new learning tasks (Mooney, 2000; Ebbeck, 1996). VygostkyÊs model of
collaborative learning stated that conversations with adults or other older
children can help children both cognitively and linguistically (Mooney,
2000).
Bruner (1983) uses the term „language acquisition support system‰ (LASS)
in an effective attempt to highlight the importance of the social contribution
to the development of language, especially the importance of the role of
parents and other adults, which provides that environment in which
children learn to talk and to mean. Children learn because they have access
to and get the attention of supportive adults such as parents, teachers, peers
or caregivers.
After looking at the three perspectives of language acquisition, may be we should

look at what does the brain research say. As we now know, the brain is born
incomplete and it continues to grow and develop after birth. Brain research also
tells us that the brain development hinges on a complex interplay between the
genes we are born with and the experiences we have (Shore, 2003). In other
words, biology (nature) serves as the blueprint for the childÊs brain, while input
from the environment (nurture) and early experiences help to shape the
architecture of the brain (Willis, 1998). Willis also stated that early experiences
and interactions do not just create a context; they directly affect the way the brain
develops. Shore (2003) stated that brain development is non-linear: there are
prime times for acquiring different kinds of knowledge and skills throughout
life. This is especially true for language development. ChildrenÊs language
development has stages and there are also spurts in their development. If we are
aware of when these times occur, we can build experiences that will enhance not
only the wiring of the brain but the way in which the brain stores, uses and
applies new and existing information (Shore, 2003).

These various theories help us to understand how language is acquired. Each one
has something to offer; but none contribute to the whole picture by itself. We do
know that children do not learn language in a vacuum. It is through the interplay
of nature and nurture that language is acquire as mentioned by the brain
research. Although language acquisition could be due to maturity, children
need to explore and interact with adults or older children in a social context
as indicated by several theories. In other words, children need to explore,
experiment, interact and make errors in order to learn a language. The brain
research seems to support all the theories in one way or the other.
ACTIVITY 7.2
1. Observe a group of children at play. Record their conversation

on tape. Identify which characteristics of their language can be
described by which theory of language acquisition.
2. After studying the different theories described above, what do
you think about Case One? How do you think you can help Sunny
in Case Two? How would you use the brain research to support
your points?
7.2.2 Stages of Language Development

The most intensive period of speech and language development for children is
during the first three years of life, a period when the brain is developing and
maturing. Research shows that these skills appear to develop best in a world that
is rich with sounds, sights and consistent exposure to the speech and language of
others (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001).
Children move through a few stages in acquiring a language. In the process, they
learn the rules or different aspects of a language – specifically, the phonology
(sound), syntax (grammar) and semantics (meaning) (Morrow, 2005).

All languages are made of sounds. It is with sounds that we produce oral
language. Children who grow up in a language rich environment will pick up
these sounds of their native language easily. In English language, it is the
phonology. Syntax refers to the rules that govern how words work together in
phrases, clauses and sentences (Morrow, 2005). Children come to understand
these rules by listening to; internalising the rules; and being allowed to make
errors. Semantic is about the meaning that is communicated through language. It
carries the meaning or functions of the language.
In the following section, we shall discuss the stages of language development.

While doing so, we should be reminded that all children are individuals, so the
pace of development may differ from child to child. Also there are spurts in all
development and language is with no exceptions. So the stages of growth are not
always uniform and there will also be overlaps between two stages.
(a) From Birth to One Year

According to Willis (1998), babies come into the world ready to learn
communication. Their brains are prepared to receive and process
information immediately. Brain research tells us that even before a child is
born, his brain has laid the groundwork for how he will process, develop,
and categorise information (Cowley, 1997).
When an infant learns that a cry will bring food, comfort, and
companionship during the first few days of life, the signs of communication
have begun to occur. The newborn also begins to recognise important
sounds such as the parentÊs voice in his or her environment. In order for an
infant to make a controlled sound, the speech mechanism such as the jaw,
lips and tongue and the voice must mature. As they grow, infants begin to
sort out the speech sounds (phonemes) or building blocks that compose the
words of their language.
Research has shown that by six months of age, most children recognise the
basic sounds of their native language. The infant usually will babble or
produce repetitive syllable such as „da, da, da‰; or „mumumum‰. By the
end of their first year, most children have mastered the ability to say a few
simple words. They are most likely unaware of the meaning of these words
but as they received positive response from those around them, they soon
learn that these sounds carry meanings. They may use this holophrastic
speech – one-word utterances to mean a sentence. For example, a baby
might say „dada‰, which could mean „Daddy, take me out please‰, or
„daddy, I want to play.‰

(b) From One to Two

A childÊs oral language continues to grow a great deal between ages one
and two. Children begin to use telegraphic speech, which uses content
words but omits function words. This development from 12 months
onwards begins to show their knowledge of syntax. For example, a toddler
may use „all gone‰, meaning „all my cookies are gone‰ or „mummy home‰
meaning „mummy is coming home soon‰. From 18–24 months, the child
will probably acquire most sounds of his native language. Language grows
by leaps and bounds once the child begins to combine words.
However, not all children develop at the same rate. The case of 18-month-
old Sunny who could only say a few identifiable words, worried his mother
Lynda. „But not all children follow this pattern,‰ his paediatrician said.
„ThereÊs wide variability in speech development at this age. Some children
simply acquire words more gradually.‰ According to her paediatrician,
there may be a word explosion anytime between 18–24 months. It is only
when he still cannot speak with clarity when he is three years old that
Lynda needs to seek specialist help.
(c) From Two to Three

This period could probably be the most dramatic in a childÊs language
development (Enz & Morrow, 2009). The child may have acquired a
vocabulary of 300 words to 1000. Between 2–3 years old, children move into
multi-word phrases and complete sentences with extended syntax almost
without notice. At this point, the beginning of full speech has arrived
(Fowler, 1990). As their language ability grows, children gain confidence.
They love to play with language by repeating new words and phrases and
making up nonsense words. They enjoy rhymes, patterns of language, and
repetition (Brown, 1973). The sentences could now be like: „Water all
gone‰; „Where is book?‰; „Daddy is home‰.
(d) From Three to Four

At three to four, the childÊs vocabulary rapidly increases, and he or she
begins to master the rules of language. However they may be prone to
over-generalisation in using these structures. For example, „I broked the
vase‰; or „Many fishes in the tank‰; As they approach four, children may
have acquired all the elements of adult language and apply the basic rules
that govern it. They are also engaged in representational or pretend play.
When playing at the home corner, Jenny said to herself, „IÊm going to
change your diaper. You sit still ..... IÊm going to make milk for you .....
Now, drink your milk, IÊm going to feed you.‰ As she talked, she did the
work, words and actions coinciding.

(e) From Five to Six

At this stage, children sound very much like adults when they speak. They
have vocabularies of approximately 2500 words and they are extremely
articulate (Enz & Morrow, 2009). They may now use concepts such as
„ask/tell‰ and „promise‰ and changing the word order in the sentence
accordingly. For example: „Ask her what time it is‰ or „Daddy promised to
help‰. Children are at preschools now and their language will be expanding
and they may talk a lot and tend to be noisy to some adults. Table 7.1 shows
the course of early language development from 0 month to 4 years of age.
Table 7.1: The Course of Early Language Development
Age Ranges of Acquisition

Stage Step
(months)
Sounds Miscellaneous sounds 0–1
(Vocalisation)
Vowels and Consonants 1–5
2 syllable repetitions 6–7
Babbled strings 7–8
Words Understanding (recognises 8–9
name of some objects)
Says ma-ma, da-da (and other 9–10
names)
Imitates words 11–12
First real words 18–20
Phrases and Imitates 2 to 3 word 18–20
Sentences combinations
Two-word combinations 20–22
Three-word phrase-sentences 22–24
Talks in sentences 24–27
Connected Relates experiences 33–36
speech
Uses basic rules of grammar 48
Source: Fowler (1990)
Parents are always concerned when the first words do not appear as indicated in
the developmental chart. Roiphe & Roiphe (1985) reminded us that „Albert
Einstein did not speak until he was close to four‰ and „Professors of English and
presidents have been among the last on their blocks to begin naming objects and
stringing words into sentences‰. Fowler (1990) reminded us that the course of

development is a path all children will go through to acquire the basic

beginnings of language. The stages of development are universal, but we have to
bear in mind that children develop at different rates and with some variations
according to the environment and experiences that they have gone through.
However, under normal circumstances we would begin to be concerned about a
child who has shown no signs of speech development at all by eighteen months
(Roiphe & Roiphe, 1985).
7.2.3 Sensitive Periods

There is increasing evidence suggesting that there are „critical‰ or „sensitive‰
periods for speech and language development in infants and young children.
Montessori spoke of sensitive periods, when children are better able to learn
certain things than at other times (Moonie, 2000). This means that the developing
brain is best able to absorb a language, any language, during this period. The
ability to learn a language will be more difficult, and perhaps less efficient or
effective, if these critical periods are allowed to pass without early exposure to a
language. For example, the literature on feral children – those who have grown
up without exposure to human language – suggests that they learn to speak most
successfully if they are brought into contact with human society in the first
decade of life (Curtiss, 1981) as it is the period that is critical in language
acquisition.
Shore (2003) explained that, „This is evident in young children who move to a
new country pick up the language easily, while their adolescent brothers and
sisters can have a harder time shedding their accents and their parents struggle
to make themselves understood at all. This is not news. But now we understand
that a young child does so because the brain cells that process language are in the
process of being wired and are therefore especially responsive to experience‰.
The understanding of sensitive periods implies the importance of early
experiences for young children.
7.2.4 Importance of Early Experiences

What does Joan experience when the mother read to her on the first day she was
born? What is happening in her brain? What is happening at the moment the
baby was smiling and kicking her legs when you respond to her?
According to Shore (2003), at that moment, thousands of cells in the childÊs

growing brain are responding. Some brain cells are triggered by this experience,
and many existing connections among brain cells are being strengthened. Shore
stated that „early experiences that fill a babyÊs first days, months and years help

to shape the architecture of the brain. When a mother plays ÂPeekabooÊ with her
baby and the baby responds ÂbeebebbeebebeÊ waving her hands excitedly,
thousands of cells in the childÊs growing brain respond. ÂMany existing
connections among brain cells are strengthened ...... new connections are formedÊ.
Willis (1998) explained that as a child grows and develops, his brain creates
many more synapses than he will possibly use. Which ones become permanent
and which ones are discarded depends on the positive reinforcement a child
receives from his environment. The more synapses are reinforced, the more
permanent they become. If synapses are not reinforced, then the brain eliminates
them through a pruning process designed to maintain efficiency. That is why
experience is not only a key to wiring the brain, but it is also a key to language
development (Willis, 1998). Shore (2003) also stated that brain development is a
Âuse it or lose itÊ process. ÂAs synaptic growth and pruning occur in the second
decade of life, those synapses that have been reinforced by virtue of repeated
experience tend to become permanent; the synapses that were not used often
enough before tend to be eliminated. In this way the experiences – positive or
negative – that children have, shape their brains‰.
Morrow (1997) stated that both vocabulary and conceptual understanding of

children are enhanced by experiences. She suggested for one- to two-year-olds,
adults should select songs, rhymes and books that use language they can
understand. Frequent outings such as visits to the post office, supermarket,
library story telling and park provide experiences to talk about and new concepts
to explore. We can also involve them in household tasks such as putting their
laundry in the washing machine, giving a stir or two in the cake batter that is
being prepared, helping to wash some vegetables under the tap. Schickedanz
(1990) suggested that during these daily routines, surround the activity with
language, identifying new objects for the baby and asking for responses related
to each activity.
Children need rich language experiences (Jones, 1995). Jones suggested that
parents, caregivers and early childhood educators provide plenty of
opportunities to impart valuable language experiences in their settings such as
homes, nurseries, child care centres, preschools or kindergartens. She listed the
activities and experiences as follows:
(a) Adults greet children;
(b) Adults engage children in conversation – genuine questions and warm
responds;
(c) Adults give children information they want or need;

(d) Adults provide experiences worth talking about and many opportunities
for children to talk spontaneously with each other;
(e) Adults model useful language while mediating conflicts;
(f) Adults read stories from books. Books are a source of delight, wisdom and
useful information. Children being read to and looking at books themselves
discover that literacy is a skill worth mastering;
(g) Adults share songs, chants and poems, play games with words and
respond appreciatively to childrenÊs word play. Language is a set of sound
patterns as well as of meanings and spontaneous play with its rhymes and
rhythms is one of the many ways children begin to learn the phonics useful
in reading;
(h) Adults re-tell to children the stories of their lives together, letting them
know that their actions and words are the stuff of stories too;
(i) Adults set the stage for childrenÊs own storytelling;
(j) Adults respect the importance of private speech in early development;
(k) Adults respect childrenÊs home language;
(l) Adults stay alert to naturally occurring opportunities to teach concepts and
vocabulary to children, rather than playing teacher in developmentally
inappropriate group lessons;
(m) Adults acknowledge that face-to-face talk provides better language
experience than TV;
(n) Adults use transitions as teachable moments both smoothed and enriched
by interesting activities; and
(o) Adults reflect on all the things they do, examining their potential for
enriching childrenÊs language.
Source: Jones (1995)
ACTIVITY 7.3
1. Based on the experiences listed by Jones, give examples of what

you can do with young children to facilitate their language
development.
2. Plan an early childhood programme that focuses on providing
rich language experiences for young children.

SELF-CHECK 7.2
1. What is the sensitive period in language development?

2. Why is it important that adults need to provide early experiences
for young children?
3. How could adults help in fostering young childrenÊs language
development?
 Learning theorists, Nativists and Interactionist are three major theoretical

perspectives on language acquisition. Brain research seems to support all
these perspectives.
 Babies take in information and communicate with others long before they can
speak. They begin to communicate through crying as soon as they are born.
Adults should be attentive in responding to their cues.
 For effective communication, a child needs a way, a reason and content.
 A child may try to communicate through both non-symbolic and symbolic

ways.
 Children develop their language in stages. In the process, they learn the rules
or different aspects of a language such as phonology, syntax and semantics.
 Sensitive period is the time when the developing brain is best able to absorb a
language, any language.
 Children also need rich experiences in acquiring language. It is through these

experiences that the synapses in the brain cells will make all the connections
and being reinforced.
 Adults play important roles in providing language experiences such

as singing, reciting poems or rhymes, story telling and having a lot of
interaction with children in fostering reading, writing and communication of
young children.

Behaviourist perspective Phonemes

Brain research Phonology
Communication Semantic
Experiences Sensitive periods
Interactivist perspective Symbolic
Nativist perspective Syntax
Non-symbolic
Begley, S. (1997). How to Build a BabyÊs Brain. Newsweek, Spring/Summer, 1997,

28–32.
Bruner, J. (1975). The ontogenesis of speech acts. In Morrow, L. M. (1997). Literacy

development in the early years: helping children read and write (3rd ed.).
MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Cowley, G. (1997). The Language Explosion. Newsweek, Spring/Summer, 1997,

16–22.
Curtiss, S. (1981). Feral children. In Shore, R. (2003). Rethinking the brain: New
insights into early development. NY: Families and Work Institute.
Dickinson, D. K., & Tabors, P. O. (eds.) (2001). Beginning literacy with language:
young children learning at home and school. Maryland: Paul H. Brookes
Publishing Co.
Enz, B. J., & Morrow, L. M. (2009). Assessing preschool literacy development:

informal and formal measures to guide instruction. DE: International
Reading Association.
Fowler, W. (1990). Talking from infancy: how to nurture and cultivate early
language. MA: Brookline Books
Jones, E. (1995). Children need rich language experiences. Child Care Information
Exchange. 11/95. p. 61–64.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1975). Learning how to mean: Exploration in the development

of language. In Morrow, L. M. (1997). Literacy development in the early
years: helping children read and write (3rd ed.). MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Liu, M. (2010). Chomsky and Knowledge of Language. Retrieved April 20, 2010,
from www.chomsky.info/onchomsky/199812.
Mooney, C. G. (2000). An introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget &

Vygotsky. MN: Redleaf Press.
Morrow, L. M. (2005). Literacy development in the early years: helping children

read and write (5th ed.). MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Roiphe, H., & Roiphe, A. (1985). Your childÊs mind: The complete book of infant
and child mental health care. NY: St. MartinÊs/Marek.
Schickedanz, J. A., York, M. E., Steward, I. S., & White, A. (1990). Strategies for
teaching young children. In Morrow, L. M. (1997). Literacy development in
the early years: helping children read and write (3rd ed.). MA: Allyn &
Bacon.
Schiller, P. (2003). A joyful journey to literacy: The great debate. Child Care
Information Exchange. Nov/Dec 2003. p. 6–9.
Shore, R. (2003). Rethinking the brain: New insights into early development. NY:
Willis, C. (1998). Language development: A key to lifelong learning. Childcare

Information Exchange, 5/98. Redmond, WA.

Topic  Cognitive
8 Development
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define cognition;
2. Explain PiagetÊs stages of cognitive development;
3. Explain the sociocultural theory of Vygotsky;
4. Compare Piagetian and VygotskyÊs theories on cognitive
development;
5. Describe information processing approach; and
6. Explain about memory and problem solving.
 INTRODUCTION
Four-year-old Allen, was making sand castles at the beach. Suddenly water
started to appear. „Where did the water come from?‰ asked his mother. Allen
thought for a while and said, „ThereÊs a pipe underneath here‰.
Where does the sun go to during night time? Three-year-old Joey replied, „The
sun has gone home to sleep.‰
What are clouds made of?
„Cotton‰, replied five-year-old Jeannie.

138  TOPIC 8 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Most of us take all these questions for granted, but to young children they may
think and give their naive answers based on the limited knowledge that they
have, much to the amusement of adults.
Why are childrenÊs thoughts so different from adults? When and how would
they come to the same understanding as the adults? These are a few questions
that we seek answers to in this topic: the cognitive development of young
children.
In this topic, we will discuss the theories that explain cognitive development. We
shall explore the most well known PiagetÊs theory of cognitive development
which emphasises on how young children think, how they acquire knowledge
and the stages that they go through when developing their thinking skills.
Next, we shall look at Lev VygotskyÊs sociocultural theory of cognitive

development, which suggests the importance of interactions in social contexts,
which will help children to reach their potential. Then we will explore the
information-processing approach which focuses on how we process information,
how memory is formed and how we solve problems.
ACTIVITY 8.1
Find a book or an article on childrenÊs cognitive development. After

reading the article, write a short summary and your reaction to the
article. Make copies of your summary for the class and discuss the
article during discussion time.
8.1 PIAGETIAN’S COGNITIVE THEORY

The word ÂcognitiveÊ pertains to the mind and how it works (Charlesworth,
2000). It refers both to what the child knows and how the child thinks. Cognition
is the term used to describe the mental activity through which human beings
acquire, remember and learn to use knowledge (Hetherington, Parke, Gauvain &
Locke, 2006). Cognitive development is about how we process our thinking,
which includes reasoning, memory, problem solving, perception, and decision-
making from early childhood to adolescence. It is about how young children
make sense of their world through the interaction of genetic and learned
factors such as biological, environmental, experiential, social, and motivational
(Hetherington, Parke, Gauvain & Locke, 2006). It refers to changes in our mind
and thinking that may take place over time.
TOPIC 8 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT  139
8.1.1 Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Various theories have tried to explain how children think and learn. While most
of them asked the questions of what and when children learn and gain
knowledge, Piaget investigated how children think and how they learn. Jean
Piaget (1896–1980) was an epistemologist (someone who studies the nature and
the beginning of knowledge) though he was frequently referred to as a
psychologist (Mooney, 2000). He became interested in how children think when
he was working in France, standardising IQ tests and interviewing children.
Piaget began to notice children tend to give similar wrong answers at certain
ages and he began to wonder what thought processes they were using (Mooney,
2000). He later found out that there were indeed patterns of intellectual growth
that were age-related. They can also be divided into several stages that were
found to hold true across races and cultures (Krogh & Morehouse, 2008).
Piagetian theory focuses on intellectual development of logical thought and

socio-moral knowledge and behaviour (Hetherington et al., 2006). PiagetÊs
theory, first published in 1952, grew out of decades of extensive observation of
children, including his own, in their natural environments as opposed to the
laboratory experiments of the behaviourists. According to PiagetÊs cognitive
development theory, knowledge is something that children gain through their
own active involvement and experience. Children actively seek information and
new experiences as they manipulate and explore their world (Berk, 2005). Piaget
envisioned a childÊs knowledge as composed of schemas, which is the basic
unit of knowledge used to organise past experiences and serve as a basis for
understanding new ones. Schemas are continually being modified by two
complementary processes that Piaget termed assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation refers to the process of taking in new information by incorporating

it into an existing knowledge or schema. In other words, people assimilate new
experiences by relating them to things that they already know. For example, two-
year-old Jenny sees a dog and daddy said, „Look at the doggie, it has four legs.‰
The next day, Jenny begins to call all animals with four legs „doggie‰. On the
other hand, accommodation is what happens when the children adjust to new
information or knowledge. For example, as Daddy started to point out the
differences between a dog and a cat or a goat, Jenny begins to see the differences
and name the animals appropriately. According to Piaget, cognitive development
involves an ongoing attempt to achieve a balance between assimilation and
accommodation that he termed equilibration. Children organise new knowledge
and adapt or response to the new input from their environment. It is through the
process of assimilation and accommodation that equilibration is achieved.

8.1.2 Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget also believed that as the brain develops and childrenÊs experiences
expand, they move through four distinct, universal stages. Each of the stages is
age-related and characterised by distinct ways of thinking (Santrock, 2001). These
stages always occur in the same order and each builds on what was learned in
the previous stage. They are as follows:
(a) Sensorimotor Stage (birth – 2 years)

Cognitive development begins when infants explore their environment and
take in information through their senses – touch, taste, sight, sound, and
smell. Children also learn and grow through their motor activity, such as
grasping, crawling, creeping, standing, and walking. Piaget believed that
this was the basis of knowledge (Rodd, 1996). Children acquire object
permanence (knowing that objects continue to exist even thought they are
out of sight) at about seven months of age and continue to develop until the
middle of the second year when the adult and child can enjoy a game of
peek-a-boo (Charlesworth, 2000) or hide and seek.
Another sensorimotor ability of object recognition (learning to use features

such as colour, shape, size, and texture to identify objects) is acquired as
early as sixteen weeks of age. Some symbolic (language) abilities are
developed at the end of this stage. For example, at eighteen months,
toddlers are able to understand 20 to 50 words. By two years old, the
toddlers are actively discovering and learning about the world.
(b) Pre-operational Stage (2–7 years)

The term pre-operational emphasises that the child at this stage does not
yet think in an operational way (Santrock, 2001). That means that they
cannot internalise sets of actions mentally before doing something
physically. The child views the world from ideas based on his own
perceptions and they are termed as egocentric. He can only focus on one
variable at a time and he tends to over-generalise based on limited
experience. For example, three-year-old Sherlin was always reminded by
adults to be careful while using a knife as she might get hurt. When Sherlin
saw her teacher Ms Khoo using a knife to cut the noodles, she said, „DonÊt
cut the noodles, teacher, youÊre hurting the noodles‰.

Children also lack conservation skills and are unable to mentally reverse
actions (Santrock, 2001). For example, three-year-old Adam rolls out his
dough and says, „See, I have more dough now‰.
Between ages five and seven, there is a transition period, during which the
child moves into the next stage (Charlesworth, 2000). The transition period
is very important, as it is during this time that the way the child thinks
changes from pre-operational to concrete operational period. This sub-stage
is called the intuitive thought sub-stage. It is called intuitive because, on
one hand, the child seems so sure of his knowledge, yet, he is unaware of
how he knows what he knows (Charlesworth, 2000). The child starts to use
language to direct his or her own activities and he is able to see anotherÊs
point of view or be less egocentric. However, the children still lack
conservation skills. For example, five-year-old Daniel is presented with two
beakers with equal amount of water. He is asked whether the two beakers
have the same amount of water. He will usually say yes. Then the water of
one of the beakers is poured into a taller and thinner beaker and Daniel is
asked if the two beakers are still having the same amount of water. He will
usually say no, the reason being the second beaker is taller, hence it seems
to have more water.
Children at this stage love pretend play as they cannot separate fantasy
from reality (Rodd, 1996). Piaget believed that the childÊs ability to think or
reason logically is restricted in this stage and it cannot be taught by adults.
Any effort of correcting young children is an inappropriate response. Only
maturity and the opportunity to interact with the environment will enable
the child to learn to reason or think logically (Rodd, 1996).
(c) Concrete Operational Stage (7–12 years)

In this stage, the child is able to mentally reverse transformations in
conservation problems such as number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area,
and volume. The child relies less on the most obvious aspect of a problem
and can retain several variables in mind at the same time (Charlesworth,
2000). „The child can also reverse thought, can decenter and their thinking
is more in line with that of adults‰. However, Charlesworth cautions that
they still limit their thinking to objects and familiar events which are still

concrete – present or mentally represented. They deal with „what is‰ rather
than what „could be‰ (Miller, 1989, p. 64). One important skill that
characterises concrete operational children is the ability to classify or divide
things into sets or subsets, and to consider their interrelationships.
Classification is the ability to sort and categorise items with similar

attributes. For example, the child is able to sort a pile of animal pictures into
groups of sea animals, land animals and animals that fly. Operational
thinking develops (mental actions that are reversible), which is when
children are able to do seriation, one-to-one correspondence, counting,
addition and subtraction problems. They also develop spatial concepts such
as in, on, over, under, into together, beside, between, on top, inside, outside
etc (Charlesworth, 2000). Young children at this stage will have many
„why‰ questions and Piaget suggests that adults let the children solve
problems on their own rather than provide them with the answers. A
teacher should be a facilitator and guide, not a director. A teacher should
provide support and prepare the environment for children to explore their
world and discover knowledge.
(d) Formal Operational Stage (12 year and older)

They are able to think abstractly, conceptually and hypothetically and
reason logically. While the concrete operational thinker needs concrete
elements to solve a problem; the formal operational thinker can solve the
problem when it is merely presented verbally (Santrock, 2001). „They begin
to think more like a scientist thinks, devising plans to solve problems and
systematically testing solutions‰. However, Piaget warned that many do
not reach this stage of development and many people do not think formally
during adulthood. A summary of PiagetÊs stages of development is
illustrated in Table 8.1.

Table 8.1: Summary of PiagetÊs Stages of Cognitive Development

(Adapted from: Charlesworth, R. (2000). Understanding child development, 5th Ed. NY:
Delmar. P. 217 & 234)
Age & Stage Concept Characteristics

Sensory Stage  Object  Infant takes in information through their
(0–2 years) permanence senses and motor activities.
 Object  Develops concepts regarding object identify
recognition and object permanence.
Pre-  Preoperational  The child does not yet think in an operational
operational thought way.
Stage  Egocentrism  Views the world from ideas based on their
(2–5 years) own perceptions.
 Can only focus on one variable at a time and
tends to over-generalise based on limited
experience.
Transition:  Use of  Intuitive thought: on one hand, the child
Intuitive language seems so sure of his knowledge, yet, he is
thought  Less unaware of how he knows what he knows.
Substage egocentric  Starts to use language to direct his or her own
(5–7 years)  Lacks activities.
conservation  Able to see anotherÊs point of view or less
skills egocentric.
 Lacks conservation skills.
 Loves pretend play.
Concrete  Conservation  Able to mentally reverse transformations in
Operations skills conservation problems such as number,
(7–11 years)  Reverse length, liquid, mass, weight, area, and
thought volume.
 Think like an  Can reverse thought, can decenter, and their
adult thinking is more in line with that of adults.
 Able to classify groups of objects into
subgroups and see its interrelations.
Formal  Abstract  Able to think abstractly, conceptually and
Operations thoughts hypothetically and reason logically.
(11years –  Systematically  Can solve problem when it is merely
adulthood) testing presented verbally
solutions  Begin to think more like a scientist thinks,
devising plans to solve problems and
systematically testing solutions.

SELF-CHECK 8.1
1. Write a definition of cognition using your own words.

2. Based on your understanding, explain PiagetianÊs theory of how
knowledge is acquired.
3. What are the four stages of cognitive development stated by
Piaget?
8.1.3 Critiques of Piaget’s Theory

Without doubt, Piaget contributed tremendously in the field of developmental
psychology, especially in examining the way children think and learn. He also
showed us inventive ways to discover how children act on and adapt to their
world by careful observations (Santrock, 2001). His belief that young children
think differently about the world from adults also prompted adults to be
cautious when interpreting young childrenÊs behaviour (Rodd, 1996). His theory
on the stages of cognitive development is widely accepted by educationists, as is
evident in our school education system. For instance: 0–2 year-old children are in
infant or nursery classes; 3–6 year-old children are in pre-schools or
kindergarten; 7–12 year-old children are in primary schools and 12–18 year-old
children are in secondary schools.
However, PiagetÊs theory has not gone unchallenged (Santrock, 2001). Later
studies question his estimates of childrenÊs competence at different
developmental levels and suggest that young children display a wide array of
understandings earlier than Piaget believed (Berk, 2005). For example, between
six and 12 months, infants will search for objects hidden in more than one
location (Ahmed & Ruffman, 1998) showing that they have some notion of object
permanence.

Piaget also believed that children are not able to reason at higher levels even with
adultsÊ assistance. However, Goswami (1996) argued that children can solve
problems by analogy, imitating and applying relevant strategies across
increasingly dissimilar situations. Piaget did not pay much importance on the
influence of culture and education (Santrock, 2001). Recent research has shown
that with adults teaching and guiding them, children can reach the next stage of
development at an earlier age.
ACTIVITY 8.2
Husin holds up six-month-old NurulÊs favourite teddy bear and puts it

under a cushion and shows her his empty hand. Nurul looks puzzled,
but does not make any attempt to look for it. Instead, she looks away,
searching for another toy to play with. Explain NurulÊs behaviour using
PiagetÊs theory of stages of cognitive development.
8.2 VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY

Like Piaget, Russian Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) also believed that children
actively construct their knowledge. However, Vygotsky emphasised the social
cultural context that the children are in. VygotskyÊs social-cultural cognitive
theory emphasises developmental analysis, the role of language and social
relations.
Vygotsky was born in the same year as Piaget in Russia, but died of tuberculosis
in 1934 at the young age of 38. He became interested in children and their
approach to learning new things when he was teaching literature in secondary
school. He found that in a group of children at the same developmental level,
some children were able to learn with a little help, while other children were
not (Mooney, 2000). That prompted his theory on how children learn. Vygotsky
took a socio-cultural perspective that was different from PiagetÊs cognitive
development theory.

8.2.1 Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory

Vygotsky described learning as the construction of knowledge within a social
context, stressing the importance of adultsÊ roles in relation to young childrenÊs
learning. Vygotsky agreed with Piaget that children are active, constructive beings
but unlike Piaget, who emphasised childrenÊs independent efforts to make sense of
their world, Vygotsky viewed cognitive development as a socially mediated
process. Vygotsky argued that the social and cultural context had a marked impact
on childrenÊs thinking and it is with the assistance that adults and more-expert
peers provide that enable children to tackle new challenges (Berk, 2005).
Piaget believed that development preceded and drove learning; whereas

Vygotsky believed that development could not be separated from its social
context and that learning could lead development (Gordon & Williams-Browne,
2004). He also argued that good learning preceded and drove development
(Rodd, 1996) and good teaching should precede childrenÊs development levels
because „teaching stimulated the maturation of childrenÊs cognitive function‰.
Vygotsky believed that young children are able to move to higher developmental
levels if they are stimulated and guided by sensitive adults. When adults provide
guidance and interactional support in the zone of proximal development, young
children exhibit greater competence in their thinking (Gordon & Williams-
Browne, 2004).
The zone of proximal development (ZPD) refers to a range of tasks that the child
cannot yet handle alone but can do with the help of more skilled partners (Berk,
2005). For example, Mimi assists her two-year-old son Mark in stacking up a
tower through gentle physical support and simple words. With MimiÊs help,
Mark was able to build the tower. Vygotsky used the metaphor „scaffolding‰ to
describe the interactional guidance and support that responsive adults offer
young children and their intellectual efforts. „Scaffolding means changing the
level of support. Over the course of a teaching session, a more skilled person,
such as a teacher or more advanced peer, adjusts the amount of guidance to fit
the studentÊs current performance‰ (Santrock, 2001). The more skilled person
could provide a certain amount of guidance through direct instruction if the child
is totally new to the experience; and as the childÊs competence increases, less
guidance could be provided. For example, Mimi stands aside when Mike has
mastered the skills in building the tower. Figure 8.1 illustrate the ZPD.

Figure 8.1: The zone of proximal development illustrated

Source: http://mahara.tdm.info/view/view.php?id=29
Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the sociocultural

context in which they act and interact in shared experiences (Crawford, 1996).
According to Vygotsky, humans use tools that develop from a culture, such as
speech and writing, to mediate their social environments. Initially children
develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to communicate
needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalisation of these tools led to higher
thinking skills.
The socio-cultural theory focuses on how culture – the values, beliefs, customs,
and skills of a social group – is transmitted to the next generation. According
to Vygotsky, social interaction (especially cooperative dialogues with more
knowledgeable members of society) is necessary for children to acquire the ways
of thinking and behaving that make up a communityÊs culture (Berk, 2005). For
example, Ray and May are aware of the importance of using culture tools, such
as literacy. So they involve their children in extensive conversations long before
they go to kindergarten, and they provide their young children with picture
books and read stories to them at bedtime as part of their daily routine.

Vygotsky also believed that language was central to young childrenÊs

development, with speech being an essential tool that allows children to plan and
carry out action, deal with incidents and events and control their own behaviour
(Vygotsky, 1986). By contrast, Piaget emphasised young childrenÊs egocentric
and non-social speech (Santrock, 2001). Vygotsky believed that children must
communicate and use language with others before they can focus inward on their
own thoughts, which involves talking to themselves or inner speech (Vygotsky,
1986). For Vygotsky, when children are talking to themselves, they are using
language to govern their behaviour and guide themselves. However, Piaget
considered self-talking as reflecting immaturity (Santrock, 2001).
8.2.2 Implication in Classroom Practices

Recently, VygotskyÊs theory has been embraced by many teachers and has been
successfully applied, especially in the early childhood education. The Reggio
Emilia Approach from Italy, which has been voted as the best early childhood
program in the world by Times magazine, implemented VygotskyÊs theory and
turned the spotlight on VygotskyÊs work. Early childhood educators are urged
not to rush or hurry young children into learning, but to focus on scaffolding and
work on the zone of proximal development of young children. The educators
should facilitate young childrenÊs cognitive development and learning by
providing a child-focused, play-oriented, developmental curriculum or
programme. The role of the educators is that of a facilitator or guide and
becoming sensitive social partners who are aware of what young children can do
and understand. Early childhood educators can affect good educational
outcomes for young children by being warm, capturing the Âteachable momentÊ
and engaging in challenging practices (Rodd, 1996).
SELF-CHECK 8.2
1. Explain VygotskyÊs theories using your own words.

2. Compare PiagetÊs and VygotskyÊs theories. What are the
similiarities and differences?
3. Explain how you would apply VygotskyÊs theory in your
classroom.

8.3 INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH

In the early 1970s, dissatisfaction with PiagetÊs ideas led to the development of
the information processing theory (Black, Puckett & Bell, 1992). A primary focus
of this approach is on memory, which involves the storage and retrieval of
information. The most widely accepted theory is labelled the „stage theory,‰
based on the work of Atkinson and Shriffin (1968).
The information processing theory also focuses more on how a child solves
problems. For example, when a child is working on the PiagetÊs conservation
task; instead of observing the end solution, information processing researchers
will look at how the child solved the problem. Did he count the coins to see if the
numbers are equal? Did he examine the group that takes up more space has more
objects? Did he use one-to-one correspondence to check if the two groups match?
In other words, how the child arrives at a solution is emphasised, rather than the
solution itself (Charlesworth, 2000).
In this section, we shall first explore the general characteristics of the information
processing approach and then look at Memory and Problem Solving.
8.3.1 Exploring the Information Processing Approach

The Information Processing approach „focuses on the ways children process
information about their world – how they manipulate the information, monitor
it, and strategise about it‰ (Santrock, 2001). According to the approach, children
develop a gradually increasing capacity for processing information, which allows
them to acquire increasingly complex knowledge and skills (Stevenson, Hofer, &
Randel, 1999).
Siegler (1998) described three main characteristics of the information processing

approach: Thinking, Change mechanisms and Self-modification. According to
him, thinking is highly flexible and when children are thinking, they are learning
about the world. However, our thinking abilities are constrained as we can
attend to limited amount of information that we can process at any one time. We
are also affected by the speed we can process information.

Siegler (1998) further stressed on the role of mechanisms of change play in

development. The four main mechanisms that work together to create changes in
childrenÊs thinking skills are:
(a) Encoding – is a mechanism by which information gets into memory. Some

aspects of encoding are:
(i) Attention – the ability to concentrate on relevant information and
ignore irrelevant ones;
(ii) Rehearsal – the conscious repetition of information so as to remember
better;
(iii) Elaboration – thinking of examples to elaborate on the information;
(iv) Constructing images – using images to help in retaining memory; and
(v) Organisation – organising information in meaningful ways.
(b) Automatisation – is the ability to process information with little difficulty.

According to Siegler, as children gain experience they are increasingly able
to automatically process information which allows them to make
connections among ideas and events with ease.
(c) Strategy construction – involves the discovery of a new way or strategy to

process information. Children need to encode key information about a
problem and relate it to their prior knowledge to solve the problem.
(d) Generalisation – involves generalising or applying information to other

problems or situation.
The information-processing approach also emphasises that children play an

active role in their own development. This relates to self-modification where
children build new and more sophisticated responses based on prior knowledge.
They can also think about own thinking. (Santrock, 2001).
8.3.2 Memory
All learning has to do with memory. If we cannot remember from our past
experiences, then we cannot learn anything new (Phillips, 2007). Memory „is the
retention of information over time and involves encoding, storage, and retrieval‰
(Santrock, 2001). The most widely accepted theory is labelled the „stage theory,‰
based on the work of Atkinson and Shriffin (1968) which proposes that
information is processed and stored in three stages: Sensory Memory, Short-term

Memory and Long-term Memory . Information is thought to be processed in a

serial, discontinuous manner as it moves from one stage to the next (Huitt, 2003).
The three stages are illustrated in Figure 8.2.
Figure 8.2: Three stages of memory (Atkinson and Shriffin, 1968).

Source: Huitt (2003)
It begins with an input or stimulus and ends with an output or response. It used
the computer as a model for the way humans think. But, in human information
processing, output may be in the form of an action, a decision, an insight, a
verbalisation, or simply a memory that is stored for later use (Hetherington
et al., 2006).
Let us look at each of the memory:
(a) Sensory Memory

We take in information from our environment through a variety of sources
such as light, sound, smell, heat, cold, etc., but the brain only will focus on
information that has been attended to (Phillips, 2007). Sensory memory is
very short: less than ½ second for vision; about 3 seconds for hearing (Huitt,
2003).

(b) Short-term Memory (STM)

Short-term memory is also called working memory and relates to what we
are thinking about at any given moment in time. It is created by our paying
attention to an external stimulus, an internal thought, or both. It will
initially last somewhere around 15 to 20 seconds unless it is repeated over
time (called maintenance rehearsal) at which point it may be available for
up to 20 minutes. For example, you are trying to remember an important
telephone number by repeating it over and over again until you dial it. Or
give it meaning by relating it to something we already know (elaborative
rehearsal); for example, students recall relevant prior learning before we
begin our presentation (Huitt, 2003).
(c) Long-term Memory (LTM)

Long-term memory „is a type of memory that holds enormous amounts of
information for a long period of time in a relatively permanent fashion‰
(Santrock, 2001). Information that is encoded and rehearsed is stored in
long-term memory as a network and the more we use it, the more we will
remember (Phillips, 2007). For example, if you think a telephone number is
important and you have used it for several times, you will be able to
retrieve the number from your memory without referring to the directory.
Think about your own long-term memory. Who was your best friend in the
primary school? When is your wedding anniversary? What is your
address? Surely you can come out with answers instantly.
8.3.3 Solving Problems

Solving problems is another focus of Information Processing Approach. Problem
solving involves finding an appropriate way to attain a goal (Santrock, 2001).
Santrock identified four steps that individuals go through in effectively solving
problems and are summarised as below:
(a) Find and frame problems – recognise a problem and define it;
(b) Develop good problem-solving strategies – once a problem is recognised,

develop strategies for solving it that includes:
(i) Setting subgoals: setting intermediate goals that put one in a better
position of reaching the final goal;
(ii) Using algorithms: using strategies that guarantee a solution to a
problem e.g. following a set procedure;

(iii) Calling on heuristics: using strategies that may have a solution but do
not guarantee a solution; and
(iv) Means-end analysis: identify things that need to be done.
(c) Evaluate solutions – find out if the solutions really worked; and
(d) Rethink and redefine problems and solutions over time – An important
final step in problem solving is to continually rethink and redefine
problems and solutions over time (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993). Evaluate
how the solution can be further improved and fine-tuned.
Information-processing research has contributed greatly to our view of how

young children think but it has not yet provided a broad, comprehensive theory
of childrenÊs thinking (Berk, 2008). Today, a more recent approach has tried to
combine PiagetÊs theory with the information-processing approach which is
termed a dynamic systems perspective (Refer Topic One, page 13) to early
cognition. This approach viewed the childÊs mind, body, and physical and social
worlds as a dynamic, integrated system. It is hoped that by tracking and
analysing development in all its complexity, we will move closer to an all-
encompassing approach to understanding change (Berk, 2008).
SELF-CHECK 8.3
1. What are the main characteristics of the Information Processing
approach?
2. Compare the Information Processing approach to cognitive
developmental theories. Explain how each theoretical perspective
regards children as active contributors to their cognitive
development.
ACTIVITY 8.3
1. Now that we have studied cognitive development theories and
the information processing approach, what do you think are the
implications in classroom practices that will encourage young
children to think and solve problems?
2. If you are given a project that requires you to organise a seminar,
how would you go about organising it? Use the problem-solving
strategies to help you.

 Cognition refers to our mind and how it works.
 Cognitive development includes reasoning, memory, problem solving,

perception and decision-making from early childhood to adolescence and is
about how we process our thinking.
 Piaget believed children are active learners who can construct their own
knowledge through the environment. Piaget described children construct
schemes and modified through the processes of organisation and adaptation
to establish cognitive equilibrium.
 Sensorimotor period (age 0–2 years old), preoperational period (age 2 to 7

years old), concrete operations (age 7 to 11 years old), and formal operations
(age 11 or 12 and beyond) are the four stages of cognitive development stated
by Piaget.
 VygotskyÊs sociocultural theory stresses on social and cultural influences on

intellectual growth. As each culture transmits beliefs, values and preferred
methods of thinking or problem solving to the next generation.
 The zone of proximal development refers to a range of tasks that the child
cannot yet handle alone but can do with the help of more skilled partners or
adults who scaffold their intervention.
 Vygotsky believed that language was central to young childrenÊs

development. It is with speech that the child is able to plan and carry out
action, deal with incidents and events and control their own behaviour.
 The information processing theorists focuses on the three processes of how

children process information: thinking, change mechanisms, and self-
modification. It uses the analogy of the human mind as a computer, where
information flow through a system composed of mental hardware and
software.
 Encoding, automatisation, strategy construction and generalisation are the

four mechanisms that work together to create changes in childrenÊs thinking
skills.

 The information processing approach also focuses on how we store memory

and problem solving.
 Sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory are the three
stages in how we store information, for easy retrieval later on.
 Find and frame problems, develop good problem-solving strategies, evaluate

solutions, rethink and redefine problems and solutions over time, are the four
steps that individuals go through in effectively solving problems.
Accommodation Pre-operational stage

Assimilation Scaffolding
Concrete operational stage Schema
Dynamic systems perspective Sensory memory
Equilibration Sensory stage
Formal operational stage Short-term memory
Long-term memory VygotskyÊs Sociocultural Theory
Memory Zone of Proximal Development
PiagetÊs Cognitive Development
Ahmed, A., & Ruffman, T. (1998). Why do infants make A not B errors in a search
task, yet show memory for the location of hidden objects in a nonsearch
task? In Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and Children (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.
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control processes. In Phillips, J.A. (2007). Foundation, principles and theory.
KL: OUM.
Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and children (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.

Berk, L. E. (2008). Infants, children, and adolescents (6th ed.). MA: Pearson.
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Huitt, W. (2004). Connecting cognitive development and constructivism:
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the Human Sciences, 9(1), 67–90.
Charlesworth, R. (2000). Understanding child development, (5th ed.). NY:

Delmar.
Gordon, A. M., & Browne, K. W. (2004). Beginnings & Beyond (6th ed.). NY:
Delmar.
Goswami, U. (1996). Analogical reasoning and cognitive development. In

Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and Children (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Huitt, W. (2003). The information processing approach to cognition. Educational

Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved
May 11, 2010, from
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cogsys/infoproc.html.
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constructivism: Implications from theory for instruction and assessment.
Constructivism in the Human Sciences, 9(1), 67–90.
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limits on our capacity for processing information. In Huitt, W. (2003). The
information processing approach to cognition. Educational Psychology
Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved May 11,
2010, from
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Vygotsky. MN: Redleaf Press.
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Rodd, J. (1996). Understanding young childrenÊs behavior. NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Santrock, J. W. (2001). Child Development (9th ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.

Siegler, R. S. (1998). ChildrenÊs thinking (3rd ed.). In Santrock, J.W. (2001). Child
Development (9th ed.). NY: McGraw Hill.
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Vygotsky, (1986). Thought and language. London: The MIT Press.

Topic  Intelligence and
9 Achievement
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define intelligence;
2. Describe the intelligence tests;
3. Explain theories of intelligence;
4. Describe the controversies and issues in intelligence; and
5. Identify the two extremes of intelligence.
 INTRODUCTION
Before we begin, let us look back in the past at several Malaysian children who
were considered prodigies at the time.
In 1976, a toddler named Mohd Sohkeri Hadafi from Baling, Kedah, made
headlines because by the tender age of four he could read passages from
newspapers and magazines. But today, the former „boy wonder‰, is now a
35-year-old chicken seller in Baling, having worked as labourer for two years
from 1989 to 1991 while selling roti canai.
On January 8, 2007, newspaper headlines reported the death of Chiang Ti Ming,

the boy genius who was the youngest student ever to be admitted into the
prestigious California Institute of Technology (CalTech) almost two decades
ago. It was reported in 2002 that he had been admitted into a hospital in
Kuala Lumpur with depression and withdrawal symptoms.
And do not forget Sufiah Yusuf, the math genius who later chose an unhealthy
path of life though now she regretted it all.

TOPIC 9 INTELLIGENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT  159
Upon reading news like these, one cannot help but feel sad for these brilliant
children who could have been useful contributing citizens of our nation. What
went wrong? Is there a place for children like them?
Here are the few questions that we will try to find out in this topic:
(a) What exactly is intelligence?
(b) How do we determine whether or not a child is intelligent?
(c) How do we assess intelligence?
(d) Can intelligence be identified at an early stage?
(e) Do children have one intelligence or multiple intelligences?
(f) What are the intelligence theories?
(g) Is intelligence hereditary or environmental?
(h) Can intelligence be learned?
(i) How should intelligent children be taught and learned?
(j) What is achievement?
(k) What are achievement tests?
(l) Do intelligence and achievement mean the same thing?
9.1 INTELLIGENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT

We often hear people saying, „He is a gifted child‰ or „he is so talented‰ or „he is a
genius‰. From these, we understand that the child must be smart or intelligent. But
do they mean the same thing? People always get confused over the terms
intelligence, giftedness, talent and genius. According to Piirto (1999), historically,
these terms have different origins, but they have come to be used somewhat
interchangeably. Gardner (1993) believed that human cognitive competence is
better described in terms of a set of abilities, talents or mental skills, which we call
„intelligences‰. Armstrong (1998) stated that every student is a genius, but he
further explained that by that he did not mean an individual must score above the
99th percentile on a standardised measure of intelligence to qualify.
Intelligence is often equated with a score on an IQ test, with the score of the test
determining how gifted a child is (Plucker, 2001). Plucker also stated that „the
study of giftedness has closely paralleled the study of intelligence. Many scholars
who were concerned with matters of intelligence also focused on manifestations
of talent and genius. The inter-relationship between intelligence and gifted
education continues today. Intelligence theory influences the way we identify
160  TOPIC 9 INTELLIGENCE AND ACHIEVEMENT
and assess students, our attitudes toward giftedness and gifted students, the
models upon which we base our programs and interventions, and many other
aspects of gifted education.‰
However, what is an IQ test? What does it measure? Recent thinkers have started
to question whether a single test could predict the future of a child. What about
children with other talents, such as physical ability or communicative ability?
Can these talents be measured by the same test? Would a child who scores high
in mathematics do so in literature as well? Before we investigate those questions,
let us find out what is „intelligence‰.
9.2 WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE?

Before we discuss the section on intelligence further, let us first look at the
definition:
(a) The American Heritage Dictionary defines intelligence as the capacity to
acquire and apply knowledge.
(b) Kamp (2005) defines intelligence as „general cognitive problem solving
skills‰.
(c) (Acton, 2006), defines intelligence broadly as facility at solving problems.
(d) Santrock (2001) defines intelligence as „verbal ability, problem-solving
skills, and the ability to adapt to and learn from lifeÊs everyday
experiences‰.
Other definitions of intelligence include: the behaviour that arises from a

personÊs intellectual abilities such as to reason or understand; or mental
quickness and mental flexibility.
Recent researchers try to define intelligence with the information-processing

approach. As we can see from the definitions, components of intelligence are
very similar to the information processing approach, which deals mostly with
memories, thinking and problem solving that we have discussed in Topic 8.
People who score high on IQ tests seem to have cognitive characteristics such as
good memory and also the ability to think and solve unfamiliar problems. They
are said to learn more rapidly (Berk, 2005). Berk argued that unless we can
identify the cognitive processes responsible for those factors, the intelligence tests
have limited usefulness (Berk, 2004).

ACTIVITY 9.1
1. Based on the definitions given earlier, construct your own

understanding of „intelligence‰. Share and discuss in your class.
2. If you were Mohd Sohkeri HadafiÊs parents, what would you have
done?
3. Study this scenario:
Is Zi Yi considered as an intelligent child or a gifted child? How
could we find out? If he is a gifted child as identified by
Ms Jacky, why didnÊt he like the tasks or learning that he could do
with the older children? If you were Zi YiÊs parents, what would
you do?
When Zi Yi entered preschool at four years of age, he was able to read

storybooks, and loved to draw and write. He could draw in detail what he had
experienced, as compared to other children who could only scribble. Ms Jacky
the Principal considered him a gifted child and changed him from class to class
to meet his advanced stage of developmental and he eventually landed in the six-
year-old group, who were doing more formal learning as they were preparing to
enter primary school.
When this happened, Zi Yi was not happy anymore and his mother had to drag
him to school every morning. Eventually, his mother changed him to another
preschool; where the Principal, Ms Loh, put him with the four-year-old group.
She provided him opportunities to read, write and draw as he liked, but also
joined the 4-year-olds in other activities such as singing, dancing, painting and
dramatic play. Zi Yi was happy again and was looking forward to go to school
every day.
9.2.1 Intelligence Tests and Achievement Test

Now, let us discuss intelligence tests and achievement tests. What do you think
are the differences between the two?
(a) Intelligence Test

It is a test that measures abilities that have been designated as a sign of
intelligence. It can be administered to children or adults on an individual
basis or in a group. The two most widely used tests of intelligence are the
Binet tests and Wechsler scales (Berk, 2005).
(i) Binet Tests

In 1904 psychologist Alfred Binet was asked to devise a method that
would determine which students did not profit from typical school
instruction by the French Ministry of Education. Binet and his student
Theophile Simon developed an intelligence test to meet this request.
Binet developed the concept of mental age (MA) which is an
individualÊs level of mental development relative to others. Average
mental age (MA) scores correspond to chronological age (CA), which
is age from birth. A bright child has an MA considerably above his
CA; a dull child has an MA considerably below his CA.
(Santrock, 2001).
A German psychologist, William Stern, made a better suggestion. He

theorised that a mathematical formula, dividing the childÊs mental age
by the childÊs chronological age and multiplying that by a standard of
100, would yield a quotient of intelligence. Thus, the term intelligence
quotient (IQ) was born (Piirto, 1999).
IQ = MA  100
CA
The equation works this way:

 If MA is the same as CA, then the individualÊs IQ is 100;
 If MA is above CA, the IQ is more than 100; and
 If MA is below CA, the IQ is less than 100.
Scores noticeably above 100 are considered above average; those

considerably below are considered below average. Over the years,
thousands of children and adults have taken the tests and it was
found that intelligence measured by the Binet approximates a normal
distribution. A normal distribution is symmetrical, with a majority of
cases falling in the middle of the possible range of scores, and a few
scores appearing toward the extremes of the range (Santrock, 2001).
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is the modern descendent

of BinetÊs successful intelligence test (Berk, 2001). It is designed
for children of aged two to adulthood. It measures both general
intelligence and four intellectual factors: verbal reasoning,
quantitative reasoning, abstract/visual (spatial) reasoning, and short-
term memory (Thorndike, Hagen & Sattler, 1986).

(ii) The Wechsler Scales

The other most widely used intelligence tests is the Wechsler scales,
developed by David Wechsler (Santrock, 2005). The Wechsler scales
have been edited, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–IV
(WISC-IV) is the latest edition for children 6- through 16-year-olds
(Berk, 2005). The WISC-IV has four broad intellectual factors: verbal
reasoning, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing
speed. Each factor is made up of two or three subtests, yielding ten
separate scores in all. According to the test designers, the result is the
most theoretically current and „culture-fair‰ intelligence test available
as its samples also includes ethnic minorities (Williams, Weis &
Rolfhus, 2003).
(b) Infant Tests

Stanford-Biner or Wechsler tests are not suitable for testing children
younger than three because these tests rely heavily on language. So how do
we measure intelligence in infants and toddlers who are still unable to talk
very well and may have difficulty in following directions? Most infant tests
emphasise perceptual and motor responses which requires the researcher to
present the infants or toddlers with stimuli, coax them to respond, and
observe their behaviour (Berk, 2008).
The Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Bayley, 1969, 1993) is a widely

used test for infants. The most recent edition, the Bayley-III, has three main
subtests:
(i) The cognitive scale, which includes such items as attention to familiar
and unfamiliar objects, looking for a fallen object and pretend play;
(ii) The language scale, which taps understanding and expressions of

language, e.g. recognition of objects and people, following simple
directions and naming objects and pictures; and
(iii) The motor scale, which includes gross and fine motor skills such as
grasping, sitting, stacking blocks and climbing stairs (Bayley, 2005).
These tests helped in identifying infants and toddlers with serious

developmental delays and also serve as general predictive tool to forecast
later IQ scores or school performance (Bee & Boyd, 2007).
(c) Achievement Test

We are all probably familiar with achievement test which we took during
our primary and secondary school times. This is a test that measures what

children have learned in school. The achievement test does not give you an
IQ score, but the result is compared to other children in the same grade
across the nation. Examples of these tests are the UPSR, SRP, SPM and
STPM in Malaysia.
The difference between an IQ test and an achievement test is that an IQ test

is intended to reveal something about how well a child can think and learn.
It includes items that are designed to tap fairly fundamental intellectual
processes such as comparison and analysis. On the other hand, an
achievement test tells something about what a child has already learned in
school such as spelling, comprehension, arithmetic computation or science
concepts.
Figure 9.1 sums up all the tests discussed.
Figure 9.1: Types of test to measure intelligence
Can an IQ score predict school performance? According to Palaniappan, (2005),

„Although many external factors such as gender, socio-economic status (SES) and
types of school, to name a few, have been shown to affect academic achievement,
an innate quality necessary for higher educational achievement is intelligence.
The ability to exercise the cognitive and rational capabilities of the mind,
understand complex patterns of information, the ability to use and transform
number concepts and vocabulary recognition seem to determine the ability to
perform well in examinations‰.

Research findings do indicate a positive correlation between a childÊs IQ test

score and her grades or performance in school achievement tests; meaning IQ
scores predict future grades as well as current grades (Bee, 2007). Bee stated that
„Preschool children with high IQ scores tend to do better when they enter school
than those with lower scores; elementary school children with higher IQ scores
do better later in high school‰. However, IQ tests do not tell us everything. They
cannot tell us if a child has other specific talents such as in sports, arts or music.
It cannot tell us if the child will grow up to be successful adults who can get
along with others in the world, or whether they will understand their own
emotions and that of others. In other words, „these tests do not predict how
well a particular person may perform other cognitive tasks requiring skills
such as creativity, insight, „street smarts‰ or ability to read social cues‰
(Bee & Boyd, 2007).
In the following section, we will explore these other intelligences that IQ tests do
not measure.
SELF-CHECK 9.1
1. What is an IQ test? How is IQ measured?

2. Explain how we should test an infant or toddlerÊs intelligence.
3. How is an IQ test different from an achievement test?
4. Is it appropriate to judge a childÊs intelligence based on one single
test score? How else could we understand the child better?
9.3 SINGLE INTELLIGENCE OR MULTIPLE

INTELLIGENCES?
There are basically two camps on the theory of intelligence: those who believe in
one unilinear construct of general intelligence; and those who believe in many
different intelligences. The early view of mental age and IQ fits in with the view
of a general intelligence which Spearman (1927) proposed. Spearman theorised
that intelligence was a sort of faculty, a general capacity, present in all special
abilities. This came to be called spearmanÊs „g‰, or „general intelligence‰ (Piirto,
1999).

However, some researchers disagreed with the idea of a general intelligence and
believed that intelligence consists of multiple abilities (Santrock, 2001). One of
them is L. L. ThurstoneÊs (1938) Multiple-factor theory. Thurstone believed that
intelligence consists of seven primary mental abilities: verbal comprehension,
number ability, word fluency, spatial visualisation, associative memory,
reasoning and perceptual speed (Santrock, 2001). The more recent ones are
GardnerÊs (1983, 1993) Multiple Intelligences and SternbergÊs (1986, 1999)
Triarchic Theory.
9.3.1 Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences

Howard Gardner (1993) diverges from the traditional view that „intelligence is
defined operationally as the ability to answer items on tests of intelligence .... and
that intelligence does not change much with age or with training or experience. It
is an inborn attribute or faculty of the individual‰.
Garder (1993) believes that there are eight types of intelligence, though it has
grown to nine since then. The eight intelligences are as showed in Figure 9.2.
Figure 9.2: GardnerÊs Multiple Intelligences

Here is a brief explanation on each of GardnerÊs Multiple Intelligence:
(a) Linguistic intelligence – the ability to think in words and to use language to
express meaning;
(b) Logical-mathematical intelligence – the ability to carry out mathematical

operations;
(c) Spatial intelligence – the ability to form a mental model of a spatial world
and to be able to manoeuvre and operate using that model;
(d) Musical intelligence – sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm and tone;
(e) Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence – the ability to solve problems or to fashion

products using oneÊs whole body or parts of the body;
(f) Interpersonal intelligence – the ability to understand other people; what

motivates them, how they work and how to work cooperatively with them;
(g) Intrapersonal intelligence – a correlative ability, turned inward; a capacity

to form an accurate, veridical model of oneself and to be able to use that
model to operate effectively in life; and
(h) Naturalistic intelligence – has to do with nature, nurturing and relating

information to oneÊs natural surroundings.
According to Gardner (1993), the first two abilities are what intelligence tests
normally test for. If one could not score well in these two areas, „their abilities in
other areas may be obscured‰. He wrote that „once we begin to try to assess
other kinds of intelligences directly, I am confident that particular students will
reveal strengths in quite different areas and the notion of general brightness will
disappear or become greatly attenuated‰. GardnerÊs theory has much to offer to
the psychology and education fields. However, there are critics claiming that
GardnerÊs view has little empirical support or confirmation by experiments;
hence, some questioned whether multiple intelligence is really a „theory‰. Some
questioned the usage of the term „intelligence‰ by Garder as those intelligences
stated are actually skills (Gardner, 1993). All the same, Gardner has provided us
with a multidimensional view of intelligence and enabled us to have a better
understanding of individual differences (Bee & Boyd, 2007).

9.3.2 Sternberg’s Triarchi Theory

Sternberg (1986, 1999) believed that there are three intelligences compared to
GardnerÊs eight. SternbergÊs Triarchi Theory believes that intelligence consists of:
(a) Analytical (originally labelled componential) Intelligence

This intelligence is similar to the intelligence that is measured by the
standardised intelligence tests. It is the basic unit in intelligence and it is a
component which could be defined as a basic unit of information
processing such as the ability to acquire or store information; to retain or
retrieve information; to transfer information; to plan, make decisions, and
solve problems; and to translate our thoughts into performance (Santrock,
2001). These are the students who are considered as „good‰ and „smart‰
who will score high in achievement tests and have good grades and
proceed to college or tertiary education.
(b) Creative (originally labelled experiential) Intelligence

According to Sternberg, intellectual people have the ability to solve new
problems quickly, but they also learn how to solve familiar problems in an
automatic, rote way so their minds are free to handle other problems that
require insight and display „creativity‰ intelligence (Gardner, 1999). These
students do not normally relate well to the demands of school but they
frequently do well outside of the classrooms. As adults, they sometimes
become successful managers, entrepreneurs, or politicians, yet have
undistinguished school records (Santrock, 2001).
(c) Practical (originally labelled contextual) Intelligence

Practical intelligence is the ability to get out of trouble, to do tasks like
replacing a fuse, and to get along with people. According to Sternberg these
abilities are important as they allow us to get along in the real world that
we are not taught in school. This intelligence is not taught in school but is
important skill to survive in the world. This intelligence is what we called
„street wise‰ or „street smarts‰.

Based on all these, the Analytical intelligence is similar to the type of skills
measured in an IQ test. Although these skills are important when we consider
oneÊs intelligence, Sternberg reminded us that we have to look beyond the
demands of achievement in schools. We have to consider the variations in
creative or practice intelligence (Bee & Boyd, 2007).
SELF-CHECK 9.2
1. In your own words, explain the „g‰ factor.

2. Describe Howard GarderÊs Multiple Intelligences.
3. What are the three intelligences stated by Sternberg? From your
experience as a teacher, give examples of students showing these
intelligences.
ACTIVITY 9.2
1. Sharon, a four-year-old girl, is able to read and write and solve

mathematical problems. Her mother is anxious to know if Sharon
is a gifted child and wants to send her for an IQ test. What would
you, as the preschool teacher, advise her?
2. Does it make sense to decide on a childÊs intelligence based on a
single IQ test? How else could you determine whether a child is
gifted or not?
9.4 HERIDITY OR ENVIRONMENTAL

Is intelligence nurtured or inherited? This is another question that psychologists
and educators are still pondering. Which parts of a personÊs abilities are inherited
and which ones are produced by their environment?

Researchers have been studying identical twins in search for the answer to that
question. If identical twins who are raised apart show more differences than any
other two human beings, then the environmental viewpoint that environment or
experience, shapes intelligence and behaviour would prevail. If they had more
similarities, the hereditarian viewpoint would prevail.
The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart Project at the University of

Minnesota (Bouchard, Lykken, McGue, Segal & Tellegen, 1990) revealed great
similarities between twins raised apart, though the greatest similarities were
between identical twins raised together. They found that about 70% of the
difference in IQ was attributed to genetics (Piirto, 1999).
Binet saw intelligence as something that resulted from an active transaction

between the individual and external stimuli (Sarason & Doris, 1979). He viewed
intelligence as educable and wrote in 1911 that the educability of intelligence was
the basis for pioneering early intervention work (Ysseldyke, Algozzine, &
Thurlow, 2000). Similarly, todayÊs researchers believe that both genes and
environment are necessary for a person to even exist (Santrock, 2001). Heredity
and environment operate together to produce a personÊs intelligence,
temperament, ability to read and so on (Santrock, 2001).
Today, researchers are more interested in manipulating the early environment of

children who are at risk of impoverished intelligence (Blair & Ramey, 1996). The
Head Start programmes found that early interventions by working to improve
the quality of life and skills of parents; as well as providing the child with an
enriched environment (McLoyd, 1998) are especially powerful in reducing the
IQ differences between African-American and Caucasian American children
(Santrock, 2001).
It is also found that scores of IQ tests have increased so fast that a high
percentage of people regarded as having average intelligence at the turn of the
century would be considered below average in intelligence today (Hall, 1998).
Researchers believe that the increase cannot be due to heredity because it has
taken place in a relatively short period of time, but rather may be due to
environmental factors such as the explosion of information that people are
exposed to (Santrock, 2001).
Recent brain researches showed that environmental influences can actually affect
whether or not and how genes are expressed (National Scientific Council on the
Developing Child, 2010). Scientists have stressed the importance of early
experiences, because the way a brain develops hinges on a complex interplay
between the genes we are born with and the experiences we have (Shore, 2003).
Shore also stated that even identical twins, born with the same genetic

endowment, will develop differently based on how and when various

environmental factors effect the development of their brains.
From 1972 to 1985, Craig Ramey and his colleagues carried out the Carolina
Abecedarian Project, which provided sustained services to young children and
their low-income and poorly-educated families (Ramey & Campbell, 1984,
Ramey & Ramey, 1998). The children started as young as the first months of life
and received services through elementary school. Services included high quality,
full-day child care for preschools and regular support and education for the
parents. The day-care programme included game-like learning activities aimed
at enhancing cognitive, language, perceptual-motor and social development
(Santrock, 2001). Follow-up assessments were conducted at ages 8, 12 and 15.
The study found that:
(a) Young childrenÊs involvement in high quality programs had positive effects
on intellectual development and academic achievement;
(b) At age 12, participating children had IQ scores that averaged 5.3 points
higher than a comparison group of non-participants
(c) At age 15, compared to the comparison group, participants showed higher
achievement test scores and had 50 percent fewer special education
placements (Shore, 2003).
In Piirto Pyramid of Talent Development (Piirto, 1999), Piirto identified five

„suns‰ which he likened to certain factors in the environment (Refer Figure 9.3):
Figure 9.3: Piirto five „suns‰ regarding environmental factors that can affect intelligence

We have come across people who had outstanding talent but did not develop that
talent because of circumstances such as represented by these „suns‰. For example,
Janerine, was identified as a bright and intelligent child when she was a
preschooler. However, her home life was disturbed when her parents were going
through a divorce; and from then, she went through a series of traumatising events
such as changing from school to school, moving from place to place, running and
hiding away from one parent and under the care of a single parent. Later, her
school achievement tests showed that she is a below average child.
An example given by Piirto (1999) explained that in a racist society, the genes
that produce oneÊs race are acted upon environmentally; a person of a certain
race may be treated differently in different environments. Piirto stated that
„oneÊs resilience is crucial and oneÊs ability to create an image or metaphor out of
pain is as well.... One grows through pain, not in avoiding pain‰. Piirto stated
that schools should find and help these children who are born with intelligence
and yet not so „lucky‰ to permit them to nurture their potentials.
ACTIVITY 9.3
Conduct a debate in the class, titled: „Is intelligence hereditary or

environmental?‰. What facts does each side need to know when you
prepare for the debate?
9.5 EXTREMES OF INTELLIGENCE: MENTAL

RETARDATION AND GIFTEDNESS
Intelligence tests have been used to identify children with special abilities and at
the same time to identify children with special needs. However, Santrock (2001)
reminds us that an intelligence test should not be used as the sole indicator of
mental retardation and giftedness.

Mental retardation is defined as a „condition of limited mental ability in which

the individual has low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional intelligence test, has
difficulty adapting to everyday life, and has an onset of these characteristics
during the so-called developmental period – by age 18‰ (Santrock, 2001). Two
types of mental retardation commonly found are:
(a) Organic Retardation – is caused by a genetic disorder or by brain damage.

People who have organic retardation normally have IQs that range between
0 and 50 (Santrock, 2001). One common form of organic retardation is
Down Syndrome, which is caused by an extra chromosome present in the
genetic makeup.
(b) Cultural-familial Retardation – is a mental deficit for which no evidence of

organic brain damage can be found; individualsÊ IQs range from 55 to 70.
Children with cultural-familial can be detected in schools where they often
fail, need tangible rewards, and are highly sensitive towards others
(Santrock, 2001).
Now, what about giftedness? In 1971, The Marland Report defined „Gifted and
talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who by
virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance. These are
children who require differentiated educational programs and services beyond
those normally provided by regular school programs in order to realise their
potential.‰ (Piirto, 1999).
Schools usually use IQ tests to determine whether a child is gifted or not. They
normally have an IQ of 120 or above and with superior talent for something
(Santrock, 2001). As these tests focus mostly on the intellectual and mathematical
knowledge of students, this may overlook those children who have other talents
such as in visual and performing arts or sports.
In 1991, the U.S. Office of Educational Research and Improvement proposed a

revised definition of gifted and talented children. The new definition was as follows:

Neuro-science and cognitive psychology have given us new insights into what it
means for children and youth to be exceptionally talented and require us to develop a
new definition of this population. The term "gifted" connotes a mature power rather
than a developing ability and, therefore, is antithetic to recent research findings about
children. The following definition, based on the definition used in the federal Javits
Gifted and talented Education Act, reflects the knowledge and thinking of today.
Children and youth with outstanding talent perform or show the potential for
performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others
of their age, experience, or environment.
These children and youth exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative,
and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership capacity, or excel in specific academic
fields. They require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools.
Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across
all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavour.
To put this definition into practice, schools must develop a system to identify gifted
and talented students that accomplishes the following:
(a) Seeks variety. It must look throughout a range of disciplines for students with
diverse talents.
(b) Uses many assessment measures. It must use a variety of appraisals so that
schools can find students in different talent areas and at different ages.
(c) Is free of bias. It must use assessment procedures that can accommodate students
who develop at different rates and whose interests may change as they mature.
(d) Is fluid. It must discover talents that are not readily apparent in students as
well as those that are obvious.
(e) Assesses motivation. It must take into account the drive and passion that play a
key role in accomplishment. (Piirto, 1999).
This definition proposes that giftedness occurs in all groups across all cultures;
and is not necessarily seen in test scores, but in a personÊs „high performance
capability‰ in the intellectual, in the creative and in the artistic domain. The word
gifted was eliminated and the terms outstanding talent and exceptional talent
were embraced.

There are always some whiz kids in class who are reading novels at a young age,
or doing high school mathematics at primary school level. How do schools cater
to these types of students? Unfortunately, Malaysia has no programme for the
gifted in our school system. In fact, some known cases of prodigies are reported
to have sad endings such as Mohd Sohkeri Hadafi, Chiang Ti Min in the opening
stories; and Sufiah Yusof, the Math genius who won a place at Oxford University
when she was just 13.
The good news is gifted children in the country can now look forward to having
their learning needs addressed in the country as the Government will channel
more effort to meet their educational requirements (The Star, 2009). Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak recognised there was a need to create
programmes for the exceptionally gifted children as there was currently a
„vacuum‰. He said that educational programmes, which emphasised
„differentiated learning‰, would be created to match the gifted studentsÊ
thinking, learning and reading capabilities. „It is time that Malaysia has such
programmes for gifted students as developed and other developing countries
already possess such programmes,‰ he said. (Star Online, 2009).
SELF-CHECK 9.3
1. What are the two extremes of intelligence?

2. Explain how you could identify these children in your classroom.
ACTIVITY 9.4
1. What do you think a programme for gifted children should look

like? How would you help them to achieve their potential?
2. If you are asked to design a curriculum for gifted children, which
theory or theories would you base it on? Explain your choice.

 Intelligence is defined as having the cognitive characteristics of good memory

and the ability to think and solve unfamiliar problems effectively, which is
very similar to information-processing approach.
 There are hundreds of intelligence tests. The most widely used is the
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Children (WISC-IV).
 The Bayley III tests for infants helped in identifying infants and toddlers with
serious developmental delays and also serve as general predictive tool to
forecast later IQ scores or school performance.
 An achievement test tells us something about what a child has already

learned in school.
 The two main theories of intelligences are single-intelligence and multiple-

intelligences.
 The two main issues in intelligence are: Is intelligence inherited or

environmental? Can intelligence be learned?
 The mental retardation and giftedness are the two extremes of intelligence.
Achievement test Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Binet tests Mental Age (MA)
Chronological Age (MA) Mental retardation
General intelligence (g) Multiple intelligences
Gifted education Multiple-factor theory
Giftedness Normal distribution
Infant tests Triarchi theory
Intelligence Wechsler scales

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Topic  The Family
10
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Define the Ecological Systems Perspective;
2. Describe parenting style;
3. Explain parenting styles across SES, ethnic and culture;
4. Explain fatherÊs involvement in child development;
5. Discuss the impact of divorce on children; and
6. Identify differential treatment of siblings.
 INTRODUCTION
What does the word „family‰ mean? Close your eyes and imagine a family. Does
this image fit the concept of a family? Look around at symbols for families and
logos of agencies that serve families. Do they convey the real image of families in
our society today?
In previous topics, we looked at the development and achievements of young

children. The language learning, socio-emotional development and intellectual
development, occur in the context of close relationship, especially with the
parents or the primary care givers. In this topic, we will focus on the family factor
to see how the types of family the child enters – the parenting styles, the family
income and socio-economic status, the ethnic and cultural differences, the
fatherÊs involvement, divorced families and differences in treatment of siblings –
that will influence the childÊs socialisation.

180  TOPIC 10 THE FAMILY
Socialisation is seen as the process by which parents and other adults ensure that
a childÊs behaviour is modified to meet or conform closely to those deemed
appropriate in the social or cultural context that the child is in. Generally, we see
parents as the ones who influence the behaviour of their children but their
children also influence them and, in fact, play an active role in their own
socialisation (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006).
10.1 THE FAMILY STRUCTURE

When we think of a family, the traditional model is of one male, one female, with
one or two children come to mind. But is that always the case? Look around us.
There are many different ways a family can vary from the mother-father-child
model. There are single-father, single-mother families, where each family may
have more or fewer children; families where both parents are of the same gender;
and families that may or may not involve marriage. They could also include a
few people who are not related at all but living under the same roof; members
that may or may not share the same family name; or composed of individuals
coming together as a couple who each have children of their own. Other
variations may be cross-national, interracial or inter-religious marriage. Children
may come into the family by adoption, fostering or less formal arrangements.
Various names are given to these different kinds of families, such as nuclear,
insular, extended, embedded, single-parent, step, blended, adoptive, foster,
communal, kinship networks, gay and lesbian.
Though the forms of families may vary greatly, virtually all families experience
stress (Mena, 2009). Certainly, this stress will affect children who are living in
those contexts. The question for us is: what can we do to support these children
so they have less stress and more success? Mena (2009) also cautions that family
structure alone does not tell us how well the family functions. „It only tells us
that it is different from what has been regarded as a traditional family‰.

TOPIC 10 THE FAMILY  181
We all agreed that there is no substitute for the influence of family. The family is
the first context for a child entering the physical world. It provides for love, play,
and exploration of objects and the world. It is where bonding and attachments
are formed with parents or siblings, so that relationships for lifetime are
established. Within the family, the child learns language, skills, social and moral
values of their culture (Berk, 2005). What the young children learn, how they
respond to people around them and what they expect for themselves and others
are deeply affected by their relationships with parents, the behaviour of parents
and the environment of the homes in which they live (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000).
Bronfenbrenner viewed the family as a network of interdependent relationships –

each member influencing the behaviour of the other, in direct and indirect ways.
Within this network, the children themselves have a significant influence. This
perspective looks beyond the ages and stages of child development to the large
context in which children grow (Gorden & Browne, 2004).
We will re-examine BronfenbrennerÊs ecological systems theory discussed in

Topic 1 to see how the childÊs socialisation and development is influenced by the
environment and vice versa.
10.2 THE ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY

According to BronfenbrennerÊs Ecological Systems Theory, the child is influenced
by their social context. The child is not passive and the child does not grow in
isolation. The influence of family, communities, culture, social institutions and
government has a significant impact on the child (Nixon & Gould, 2005). The
neighbourhood that the child is in, child care centre, pre-schools or schools will
make a difference to each of these places. In turn, the community and its
resources, childrenÊs services and schools the child attends will help to shape the
growing child (Nixon & Gould, 2005).

Let us look at Figure 10.1 on BronfenbrennerÊs ecological systems theory again.

The discussion for each system will follow right after.
Figure 10.1: Outlines of BronfenbrennerÊs ecological system
(a) The Microsystem

The Microsystem concerns all the relationships and interactions between
the child and the immediate environment such as their families, preschools,
child care centres, home-based care setting or playgroup. For example,
babies are born with different temperament. Some appear to be more active
and adaptable; some tend to be more withdrawn and slow to warm up. The
ways that the mothers, family members or the caregivers relate or respond
to the babies will affect their development and will either reinforce or
discourage the behaviour of the children.
(b) The Mesosystem

The Mesosystem is the inter-relationships and connections among the
settings mentioned above. It includes the relationships between the parents
and the caregivers, or with other parents in the playgroup. For example,
eight-month-old Xuan is cared for by a home-care provider. Her mother
will send her to the care provider every morning on the way to work and
pick her up in the evening on the way home. She will tell the care-provider
the routines at home so that Xuan will have a same consistent routine. The
care-provider will tell her about XuanÊs behaviour and progress when she
comes to pick Xuan up. In this way, there is a connection between the home
and the care provider.
(c) The Exosystem

The Exosystem is the social settings that affect but do not directly involve
the child; yet have a direct impact on the child. It could include parentsÊ
employment, workplace, neighbourhood support and organisation, the
economy and social policies. The existence of the child also may influence
the choice of work the parents choose. The government policy such as
funding, accrediting, regulating and monitoring childrenÊs services are
examples of how government policies will affect the child and their
settings.
For example, after Nurul was born, the mother decided to move nearer to
her office so that she could cut down on travelling time and spend more
time with Nurul. Also, she could come back during lunch time to
breastfeed Nurul. In her workplace, there is a „mummyÊs room‰ which
provides facility for mothers to pump and keep their breast milk. The
family-friendly policies greatly influence the quality time Nurul has with
the mother. When Nurul was two years old, the parents brought her to the
district library, which has storytelling time every week for young children.
It also has a resource centre where parents could borrow toys and
storybooks for the children. ThereÊs also a playground which the parents
could bring their children to play and socialise. Nurul will be joining a
nursery class soon as the parents want her to have friends and socialise
more with other children.
(d) The Macrosystem

The Macrosystem is the values and beliefs of the society and culture that
will affect activities and interactions at all inner layers. The views of
childhood and beliefs about the importance of early years care and
education will influence government policy in ensuring quality care and
education for the young citizens. The macrosystem is reflected in the laws,
regulations and customs of a society (Nixon & Morehouse, 2005). In recent
years, Malaysian government has realised the importance of early
childhood care and education and has supported programmes and plans
targeted at young children. The Ninth Malaysia Plan commits to access to

preschool education to all children ages five and six by 2010. It also
commits to improvements in the quality of the teaching and learning in
preschools through enhancing the capacity of teachers and increasing the
number of teachers and teacher assistants. It also calls for the introduction
of public preschool education for children aged zero to four and extend the
current services for children with special needs (MOE, 2008). The policies
and implementation of the government will definitely benefit Malaysian
young childrenÊs development.
(e) The Chronosystem

The Chronosystem is not a specific context. Instead, it refers to the dynamic,
ever changing nature of the personÊs environment. It refers to the social and
historical time frame in which a childÊs life is set.
BronfenbrennerÊs ecological systems theory views the child as developing within

a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding
environment. Each level is seen as having a powerful impact on the child
development (Berk, 2005). It enables us to look at children in a number of
contexts when we are assessing their development. It sees the child as active and
influential in their settings and takes note of how the child is affected from our
caregiving settings.
In short, BronfenbrennerÊs ecological system theory can be summarised in

Figure 10.2.
Figure 10.2: Summary of BronfenbrennerÊs Ecological System

SELF-CHECK 10.1
1. Define BronfenbrennerÊs Ecological Systems Theory.

2. Explain how each level will affect child development in the
Malaysian context.
10.3 THE PARENTS

When someone calls a child kurang ajar or boh kah si, it is an insult directed at
the parents, who did not do a good job in raising or bringing up the child
properly. Parents are usually the ones to be blamed when their children are
found to be involved in unhealthy social activities such as loitering, gambling,
smoking, using drugs, teenage pregnancy and so on. It is believed that these
social ills can be improved if the children are brought up in the secure
environment of the family. But what is happening in the family unit?
It was reported that nowadays family members do not have time for one another
and there is no close relationship between them anymore. Some parents who are
busy working do not even bother to ask about their childrenÊs daily activities
(Nazri, 1996). Nazri reported that social ills usually occur in urban areas because
some parents are not involved in their childÊs development. Parents and children
are engaged in too many activities to even have time for one another, thus
creating an impersonal environment. These young people do not like to go back
to an empty home or being the „latchkey children‰ and they often feel neglected
by their families.
According to Berk (2009), the family is the childÊs first and longest-lasting,
context for development. „It is within this context that children experience their
first social conflicts. Discipline by parents and arguments with siblings provide
important lessons in compliance and cooperation and opportunities to learn how
to influence the behaviour of others‰.
Parental behaviour contributes to the development of prosocial behaviour

(Eisenber, 1992). Berk (2009) stated that when parents of altruistic children create
a loving and warm family climate; and such warmth is combined with clear
explanations and rules about what to do as well as what not to do, so the children
are even more likely to behave altruistically. Also, parents who demonstrate
consistency between what they say and what they do is another contributing
factor (Berk, 2009). In the next section, we will look at how a family functions and
the parenting styles that parents bring up their children.

10.3.1 Socialisation within the Family

Diana Baumrid (1972) focuses on four aspects of family socialisation:
(a) Warmth or Nurturance

Children with nurturing and warm parents are more securely attached in
the first two years of life than those with more rejecting parents. They also
have higher self-esteem and are more empathetic and more responsive to
othersÊ hurts or distress. They also have high IQs, are more compliant in
preschool and elementary school, do better in school and are less likely to
show delinquent behaviour in adolescence or criminal behaviour in
adulthood (Boyd & Bee, 2010).
(b) Clarity and Consistency of Rules

Patterson, (1980) found that parents with clear, consistently applied rules
have children who are much less likely to be defiant or non-compliant. Such
children are also more competent and sure of themselves and less aggressive.
(c) Level of Expectations

Baumrid (1972) describes level of expectations in terms of „maturity
demands‰. Children whose parents have high expectations also fare better.
Such children have higher self-esteem and show more generosity toward
others.
(d) Communication between Parents and Child

Open and regular communication between parent and child has been
linked to more positive outcomes. When parents pay attention to what the
child is saying, they convey the message that what he said is important to
them and that his ideas contribute to familyÊs decisions. Children of such
parents have been found to be more emotionally and socially mature (Bell
& Bell, 1982).

Boumrid (1972) also identified four types of parenting styles based on how a
family functions:
(a) Permissive Parenting Style

A style of parenting that is high in nurturance but low in maturity
demands, control and communication; parents are either overindulgent or
inattentive and, thus, engage in little control. Children of permissive
parents are impulsive, disobedient and rebellious; overly demanding and
dependent on adults; show less persistence on tasks, poorer school
achievement and have more anti-social behaviour.
(b) Authoritarian Parenting Style

A style of parenting that is high in control and maturity demands but low
in nurturance and communication. Parents appear cold and rejecting;
frequently degrade their child by mocking and putting her down. To exert
control, they yell, command, criticise and threaten; and resort to force and
punishment if the child does not accept their word unquestioningly.
Children of authoritarian parents are anxious, unhappy and low in self-
esteem and self-reliance, aggressive, withdrawn and defiant.
(c) Authoritative Parenting Style

A style of parenting that is high in nurturance, maturity demands, control,
and communication. Authoritative parents are warm, attentive and
sensitive to their childÊs needs; exercise firm, reasonable control. Children
of authoritative parents are competent with an upbeat mood, self-control,
task persistence, cooperativeness, high self-esteem, responsiveness to
parentsÊ views, social and moral maturity and have favourable school
performances.
(d) Uninvolved Parenting Style

A style of parenting that is low in nurturance, maturity demands, control,
and communication. Uninvolved parents are neglectful, cold, emotionally
detached and depressed and have little time or energy for their children.
Children of uninvolved parents display many behavioural problems such
as poor emotional self-regulation, school achievement difficulties, and
antisocial behaviour.

The summary of the child-rearing style, parentsÊ and childÊs behaviour is

illustrated in Table 10.1. BaumridÊs research allows us to see clearly how children
are affected by the way their parents treat them.
Table 10.1: Summary of Parenting Styles
Child-rearing Style ParentsÊ Behaviour ChildÊs Characteristics
Authoritative Warm, attentive and sensitive Competent, self-control, task

High in nurturance, to their childÊs needs; exercise persistence, cooperative,
maturity demands, firm, reasonable control. high self-esteem,
control and responsiveness to parentsÊ
communication. views, social and moral
maturity and favourable
school performance.
Authoritarian Cold and rejecting, degrade Anxious, unhappy and low

High in control and their child by mocking and in self-esteem and self-
maturity demands putting him/her down. To reliance, aggressive,
but low in nurturance exert control, they yell, withdrawn and defiant.
and communication. command, criticise and
threaten; resort to force and
punishment if their words are
not accepted unquestioningly.
Permissive Either overindulgent or Impulsive, disobedient and

High in nurturance inattentive and engage in little rebellious; overly demanding
but low in maturity control. and dependent on adults;
demands, control and show less persistence on
communication. tasks, poorer school
achievement, and more anti-
social behaviour.
Uninvolved Neglectful, cold, emotionally Display many behavioural

Low in nurturance, detached and depressed, have problems poor emotional
maturity demands, little time or energy for their self-regulation, school
control and children. achievement difficulties and
communication. antisocial behaviour.

That leads us to the question: what makes a successful family? We will discuss
further in the next section.
10.3.2 Traits of a Successful Family

According to Mena (2009), successful families come in all sizes, shapes,
configurations and financial conditions; and no family is 100 percent successful.
However, successful families seem to share some similar characteristics.
Mena identified the traits of a successful family, summarised below:

(a) People in successful families understand the importance of independence
and healthy interdependence;
(b) Successful families tend to build and maintain self-esteem in their
members, instead of continually tearing it down;
(c) Successful families know how to communicate effectively;
(d) Successful families know how to protect their members, providing a secure
environment within the home;
(e) Successful families have rules that work for each member and for the family
as a whole; and
(f) Parents and elders in successful families know how to pass on values to the
next generation, through modelling, discussion, teaching and problem
solving. They also know how to accept differences when value conflicts
arise.
SELF-CHECK 10.2
1. Describe how parents could encourage socialisation within the

family.
2. Discuss the features that differentiate major child-rearing styles
and explain how effective parents adapt child rearing to childrenÊs
growing competence during childhood and adolescence.
3. Give examples of three of the traits of successful families that are
present in a family that you know of.

10.4 SOCIOECONOMIC AND ETHNIC

VARIATIONS IN CHILD REARING
According to Berk (2009), child rearing practices vary widely across these two
factors: socio-economic status (SES) and also ethnic differences and culture:
(a) Socioeconomic Status (SES)

SES composed of educational attainment, occupational prestige and skill
and income. SES is linked to timing of parenthood and to family size (Berk,
2009). Research showed that people who work in skilled and semi-skilled
manual occupations tend to marry and have children earlier, as well as give
birth to more children, than people in professional and technical
occupations. They differ in child-rearing values and expectations too.
Lower-SES parents tend to emphasise external characteristics, such as
obedience, politeness, neatness and cleanliness while higher-SES parents
emphasise psychological traits, such as curiosity, happiness, self-direction
and cognitive and social maturity (Duncan & Magnusson, 2003).
Another difference is in family interaction (Berk, 2009). Parents higher in

SES tend to talk more, provide more object labels, sustain conversational
topics longer, respond more contingently to their childrenÊs speech and
elicit more talk from their children (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000), read to and
stimulate their babies and preschoolers more (Berk, 2009). Commands such
as „Do that because I told you to‰, criticism and physical punishment occur
more often in low-SES households (Bradley & Corwyn, 2003).
Shore (2003) reported that „Economic deprivation also affects the motherÊs
and childÊs nutrition, access to medical care, the safety and predictability of
their physical environment, the level of stress experienced by their parents
and other caregivers and the quality and continuity of their day-to day care.
Poverty also affects childrenÊs in-home and out-of-home stimulation and
their exposure to extreme stress and violence. Epidemiological surveys
confirm the impact of these conditions: the risk for poor school readiness
and mental retardation is highest among children from families with the
lowest socioeconomic status‰.
(b) Ethnicity Differences and Culture

Authoritative parenting style may have differences across ethnic groups
and culture. For example, compared with Western parents, Chinese parents
are seen as less warm and more controlling because they withhold praise;
which they believe results in self-satisfied and poorly motivated children
(Chao, 1994; Chen, 2001). High control reflects the Confucian belief in strict

discipline, respect for elders and socially desirable behaviour, taught by

deeply involved parents (Berk, 2009). Some ethnic groups pair respect for
parental authority with high parental warmth and to promote self-reliance,
self-regulation and a watchful attitude in risky surroundings, which
protects children from becoming victims of crime (Berk, 2009). This is true
as we always hear of child abductions, missing children and child abused
cases in our neighbourhood these days.
ACTIVITY 10.1
1. How is family structure related to childrenÊs development?

2. How would you classify your parentsÊ parenting style and how is
it different from your own belief?
3. Share with your coursemates on how you were brought up.
Discuss whether there are any ethnic or cultural differences. Give
examples.
10.5 FATHER’S INVOLVEMENT

Most discussions on parenting focus on mothering. Fathering, in contrast, has
received less attention (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Traditionally fathers are the
breadwinners of the family. However, since more women are educated and
joining the workforce, there has been a change in this scenario. We have seen a
change in the past decades, where rearing children is seen as a shared duty and
responsibility. Today, more researchers are exploring how a fatherÊs involvement
will affect the growing-up of young children.
During the economy downturn a few years ago, Simon was forced to close down
his business. The wife was holding an important post in a computer firm. He
decided to stay home to look after their newborn baby instead of putting him
under child care. Today, Simon is a proud father of a healthy, confident and
intelligent preschooler who has developed a very close attachment bond with
him.
Lately, a fatherÊs involvement in bringing up their children has gone beyond the
role of economic contributions to their families. More fathers are taking over the
mothersÊ tasks such as transporting the child to and from child care, monitoring
the childÊs safety and whereabouts and scheduling play and daily activities.
There are more single fathers raising children and more „stay-at-home dads‰

whose wives are in the work force and fathers are spending more time with their
children (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). In fact, child care provided by fathers while
mothers work, has crept upward from 15 to 21 percent of all infant and toddler
care arrangements between 1977 and 1994 in the U.S. (U.S. Bureau of the Census,
1997). Fathers provided one in four of the first child care arrangements made for
the infants in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (NICHD Early Child Care
Research Network, 1997).
Children will develop secure attachments to their fathers that do not depend on
the security they drive from their attachments to mothers. This emotional quality
of the father-child relationship also appears to be extremely important to
childrenÊs well-being. Studies in the United States show that fathers spend more
time playing with a baby, using more physical roughhousing while mothers
spend more time in routine caregiving, and they talk to and smile to their babies
more (Bee & Boyd, 2007). Researchers found that fathers in England and India
have higher levels of physical play than the mothers, but fathers in Sweden,
Israel, Italy, China and Malaysia do not (Parke & Buriel, 1998). This indicates that
patterns of a fatherÊs behaviour are influenced by varying cultural expectations
and training (Bee & Boyd, 2007).
SELF-CHECK 10.3
1. Discuss how fathersÊ involvement in bringing up children has

changed over the years.
2. List the differences in the way fathers and mothers respond to
their children.
3. How do patterns in fathersÊ involvement differ cross-culturally?
What do you think are the reasons in the differences?
10.6 DIVORCED FAMILIES

Malaysia has a very high divorce rate. The average of divorce cases based on
statistics reaches up to 20% per year (Kausar, 2005). Chavez (1996) reported that
children from broken homes are worse off than those who grow up in intact
families. Children whose parents have divorced are more likely to avoid school
and generally perform poorly in school. Some parents understood this and
would stay together as an obligation on their part until their children were older.
However, there are cases of self-fulfilment and personal happiness that has
replaced the ethic of self-sacrifice and concern for the best interest of oneÊs

children (Chavez, 1996). Many divorced parents put their own desires and needs
ahead of those of their children and then rationalise their actions by claiming
their children will be better off if their parents are happy.
When Janice was eight years of age, her parents divorced and her mother left to
Singapore. Janice stayed with her single-parent father. Life was miserable as
Janice was very attached to her mother since young. Her mother visited every
few months and would take her to Singapore during school holidays. She would
take Janice out to eat, play and buy her beautiful dresses and anything she
wanted. She would often paint a bad picture on the father in front of Janice. Back
home, when Janice was with her father, who was struggling with his job and
looking after her, Janice would miss her mother more. She would object to her
father and reject him. Her father blamed the mother, who focused on fun and
took no responsibility for JaniceÊs upbringing.
To make ends meet, JaniceÊs father had to work from morning to night. Janice
was left alone at home after school, eating instant noodles and watching TV. She
felt lazy, found it hard to study and her schoolwork suffered. Her grandpa and
grandma who lived out of town noticed her situation and invited Janice to visit
and stay over during weekends. They listened to Janice, encouraged her and
helped her with schoolwork. Janice spent more and more time with her
grandparents. A few years later when Janice finally finished her Form Five, she
attributed her well-being to her grandparentsÊ warmth, encouragement and
guidance.
When a marriage breaks up, the husband and the wife are not the only parties
whose lives are thrown apart. The children will also be caught in the turmoil and
have a tough time making sense of the situation and coming to terms with the
fact that the two people whom they love most and who are supposed to love
them most cannot live under the same roof. According to psychologist
Kanagasingam, studies have shown children cope better with the death of one
parent rather than a divorce (Chavez, 1996). „When parents get divorced, most
children develop a tendency to blame themselves. They feel they have been too
naughty and as a result their parents are constantly fighting. They feel they are
the ones responsible for driving their parents apart‰ (Chavez, 1996).
Young children who experienced parental divorce display higher rates of early
sexual activity and adolescent parenthood (Wolfinger, 2000). Some will
experience other lasting difficulties such as low educational attainment, troubled
relationships and unsatisfying parent-child relationships (Berk, 2009). Children
need the support of the family. They need the family to give them motivation
and love in order to learn and develop. When children lack a satisfactory,
supportive family like Janice, they find compassion in extended family or

another special adult (Berk, 2009). Janice was lucky to have her grandparents
around to guide her. Luvisa, however, was not as lucky.
When LuvisaÊs parents were separated, she was only 5 years of age. LuvisaÊs
father left the family for another woman and never returned; leaving LuvisaÊs
mother with two other siblings. Being an uneducated single parent and having to
look after three children, LuvisaÊs mother found it hard to make ends meet. She
fell in love with another man but he was not willing to look after her three
children, she was forced to leave the children in a welfare institution run by a
charity organisation. Luvisa and her two brothers were brought up in the home
with about eighty other children from broken families and never saw their
parents again. The three children never did well in their school work. They failed
their public examinations and eventually dropped out of school.
SELF-CHECK 10.4
How does divorce affect childrenÊs behaviour in early childhood and in

later years? Give examples to support your explanation.
ACTIVITY 10.2
1. Mr and Mrs Chan are in a marriage dilemma and they plan to

separate and divorce. They have two children, ages 3 and 6 and
are in your child-care centre. What and how should they tell the
children?
2. If both parents come to see you and tell you about their problems,
explain how you as the caregiver of their children, would help
them.
10.7 SIBLINGS
Relationships with siblings make unique contributions to childrenÊs development
(Bee & Boyd, 2006). Although siblings may be in the same household
experiencing the same parenting style from their parents, no two children have
the same environment and no environment is experienced in exactly the same
way by two different children (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Children growing up
in the same family may end up quite different. Parents may express warmth and
pride toward one child and scorn toward another, may be lenient toward one

and strict with another (Deater-Deckard, Dun & Lussier, 2002). According to
Bee & Boyd (2006), parents treat children different for many reasons which
may include their ages and temperament. Birth order is also associated with
differences and variations in sibling relationship (Santrock, 2001).
Two siblings living in the same home influence each other and are affected by the
other members of the family in unique ways. If one child is active and aggressive
and the other is passive and subdued, each will elicit different responses from
the parents – and each will be influenced differently by the behaviour of the
other (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). The childÊs characteristics will also affect
the relationship between mother and child. Babies are born with different
temperaments. Some appear to be more active and adaptable; some tend to be
more withdrawn and slow to warm up. The ways that the mothers, family or the
caregivers relate or respond to the babies will affect their emotions and will
either reinforce or discourage the emotions of the children.
Kai Yee, six, and Kai Ting, four, both girls, go to the same kindergarten. Kai Yee
is a bright and happy child while Kai Ting is more withdrawn and moody. The
teacher noticed that Kai Yee always comes to school neat, clean and well dressed
and well fed. Kai Ting is always in a shabby state with her face not washed,
wearing dirty dresses and she always beats and snatches food from other
children. Sometimes there are cane marks on her hands and feet. After
observation and conversations with their mother, the teacher found out that the
mother actually treated the two daughters differently. The mother loves Kai Yee
as she is the first child, bright and pretty and she showers her love on Kai Yee.
When Kai Ting was born, according to the mother, she was crying most of the
time. At the same time, the father faced bankruptcy and the family was in
financial difficulty. The parents blamed Kai Ting for bringing bad luck to the
family and never treated her like the elder sister.
According to Bee & Boyd (2007), parents treat children differently for many
reasons. Differences in age, behaviours, temperament and gender and to
variations in the childrenÊs skills or talents, will all create a unique pattern of
interaction for each child. Such differences in treatment will affect the internal
model of self and contribute greatly to variations in behaviour among children
growing up in the same family (Feinberg & Hetherington, 2001).

SELF-CHECK 10.5
1. Describe how siblings growing up in the same family could turn

out to be very different from each other.
2. Explain how differential treatment of siblings will affect child
development.
ACTIVITY 10.3
1. If you were Kai TingÊs teacher, how would you help her? What
would you tell her mother?
2. Discuss with your coursemates whether birth order has affected
how you developed into the person today.
 The family is the primary agent of socialisation by which children acquire the
beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviours considered appropriate in their
society.
 The Ecological Systems Perspective believes that family, communities,

culture, social institutions and government have a significant impact on the
child. It looks at how the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem
and chronosystem affects child development.
 Permissive, authoritarian, authoritative and uninvolved parenting style are

the four different parenting styles that are commonly found.
 Parenting styles differ across social economics status, ethnic and culture.
 More and more fathers are involved in bringing up young children and the
emotional quality of the father-child relationship also appears to be extremely
important to childrenÊs well-being.

 The impact of divorce on young children is devastating. Young children who

experienced parental divorce display higher rates of early sexual activity,
adolescent parenthood, low educational attainment, troubled relationships
and unsatisfying parent-child relationships
 Differential treatment of siblings brings about differences in childrenÊs

development.
Authoritarian style Parenting style

Authoritative style Permissive style
Divorce Siblings
Family structure Socialisation
FatherÊs involvement Uninvolved style
Baumrid, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. In Berk, L. E. (2009).

Child development (8th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Bee, H., & Boyd, D. (2006). The developing child. MA: Pearson.
Bell, L. C., & Bell, D. C. (1982). Family climate and the role of the female
adolescent. In Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2010). The growing child. MA: Pearson.
Berk, L. E. (2005). Infants and children (5th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Berk, L. E. (2009). Child development (8th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. (2003). Age and ethnic variations in family
process mediators of SES. In Berk, L. E. (2009). Child development (8th ed.).
MA: Pearson.
Chao, R. K. (1994). Beyond parental control and authoritarian parenting style:

Understanding Chinese parenting through the cultural notion of training.
In Berk, L. E. (2009). Child development (8th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Chavez, L. (1996). Pity the children. Sun Magazine, Sept 16.

Chen, X. (2001). Growing up in a collectivistic culture: Socialization and socio-

emotional developmetn in Chinese children. In Berk, L.E. (2009). Child
development (8th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Deater-Deckard, K., Dunn, J., & Lussier, G. (2002). Sibling relationships and
social-emotional adjustment in different family contexts. In Bee, H. & Boyd,
D. (2006). The developing child. MA: Pearson.
Duncan, G. J., & Magnusson, K. A. (2003). Off with Hollingshead: Socioeconomic

resources, parenting, and child development. In Berk, L. E. (2009). Child
development (8th ed.). MA: Pearson.
Eisenber, N. (1992). The caring child. In Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2010). The growing
child. MA: Pearson.
Kausar, Z. (2005). Social ills in Malaysia: Causes and remedies. IIUM. Retrieved
June 23, 2010, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/69145/High-Rate-of-
Divorce-in-Malaysia.
MOE (Ministry of Education Malaysia) (2007). Early childhood care and

education policy implementation review. Curriculum Development Center,
MOE, Malaysia.
Nazri, F. (1996). Breakdown of the family unit. New Strait Times. Oct. 1.
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, (1997). Child care in the first
year of life. In Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (2000). From Neurons to
neighborhood. Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press.
Parke, R. D., & Buriel, R. (1998). Socialization in the family: Ethnic and ecological
perspectives In Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2010). The growing child. MA: Pearson.
Patterson, J. (1980). Mothers: The unacknowledged victims. In Boyd, D., &

Bee, H. (2010). The growing child. MA: Pearson.
Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (2000). From Neurons to neighborhood.

Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press.
U.S. Bureau of the Census (1997). Who is minding our preschoolers. In

Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (2000). From Neurons to neighborhood.
Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press.

MODULE FEEDBACK
MAKLUM BALAS MODUL
If you have any comment or feedback, you are welcome to:
1. E-mail your comment or feedback to modulefeedback@oum.edu.my
OR
2. Fill in the Print Module online evaluation form available on myINSPIRE.
Thank you.
Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

(Pusat Reka Bentuk Pengajaran dan Teknologi )
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Faculty of Applied Social Sciences

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Module Writer: Oh Yean Choo

Moderator: Noor Hassline Mohamed

Developed by: Centre for Instructional Design and Technology

First Edition, August 2011

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 1: History, Theory and Research Methods in Child Psychology 1

Topic 2 Heredity and Environment 30

Topic 3 Prenatal Development and Birth 46

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 4 Infancy: Sensation, Perception and Learning 65

Topic 5 The ChildÊs Growth: Brain, Body, Motor Skills and

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 6 Emotional Development and Attachment 100

Topic 7 Language and Communication 120

Topic 8 Cognitive Development 137

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 9 Intelligence and Achievement 158

Topic 10 The Family 179

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

As an open and distance learner, you should be acquainted with learning

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Table 1: Estimation of Time Accumulation of Study Hours

Briefly go through the course content and participate in initial discussions 3

Study the module 60

Attend tutorial sessions 10

Assignment(s) and Examination(s) 20

TOTAL STUDY HOURS 120

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Topic 3 examines prenatal development and birth. It examines the effects of

Topic 4 discusses infants' sensation, perception and learning. It examines infants

Topic 6 discusses the emotional development and attachment of young children.

Topic 7 discusses language and communication development of young children.

Topic 8 examines the cognitive developmental theories of Piaget and Vygotsky.

Topic 9 examines intelligence and achievement of young children. It also

TEXT ARRANGEMENT GUIDE

Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Activity: Like Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various

References: The References section is where a list of relevant and useful

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Schaffer, H. R. (2004). Introducing child psychology. Malden, MA: Blackwell

TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

These are some of the questions we will investigate in this topic.

1.1 WHAT IS CHILD PSYCHOLOGY?

Child psychology is the study of the mental and emotional development of

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)

1.2 HISTORICAL VIEWS OF CHILDREN

In medieval times, there were contradicting beliefs about children. Children at

(a) Original Sin

(b) Tabula Rasa

(c) Innate Goodness

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A century after Rousseau, the British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882)

In the mid-20th century, topics on children attracted increasing interest and a

1. What were the contradicting ideas about children during

Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)