Child development

Child Development Word Count: 500 (2 pages) Chapter 1a Application: A 4-year-old becomes frightened of the dark and refuses to go to sleep at night. How would a psychoanalyst and a behaviorist differ in their views of how this problem developed and what should be done about it. NOTE: Do more than summarize the concepts of the two approaches, here—you must explain concretely how each would explain the problem of fear of the dark and how the perspectives would differ.
A psychoanalyst would probably have the young four-year-old recount how the dark made the young child felt internally, and explore “ feelings”, while the behaviorist would take a more practical approach and try to show the young child that there was indeed nothing to fear in the dark externally.
Chapter 2 
2a Connection: Read the description of the study investigating antisocial boys and their friendships on page 44 of your text. The data collection method was structured observation. What type of research design did the researchers use, and why?
The researchers used qualitative research in order to study antisocial boys and their friendships. 1 Structured observation is a more qualitative type of measurement than necessarily a quantitative one would be. The type of research design should be correlational; this method should be utilized because it would probably be the most fruitful.
Chapter 3
3a Application: Nora, pregnant for the first time, has heard about the teratogenic impact of alcohol and tobacco. Nevertheless, she believes that a few cigarettes and a glass of wine a day wont be harmful. Provide Nora with research-based reasons for not smoking or drinking.
Nora should know that research shows that expectant mothers who smoke typically have lower birth weights and are much more likely to be born premature. Also, drinking alcohol while pregnant may pose a significant development risk to the fetus, and continued drinking (of one glass per day) could give the child Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is characterized by certain facial deformities.
Chapter 4
4b Application: After several weeks of crawling, Benji learned to avoid going headfirst down a steep incline. Now he has started to walk. Can his mother trust him not to try walking down the steep surface? Explain, using the concept of affordances.
Benji’s mother should not trust the baby to walk down a steep surface even though he has stopped going headfirst down a steep decline. His balance might not totally be adjusted yet since he is just learning to walk. The baby must use the concept of affordances to derive (by induction) that he definitely shouldn’t try to walk unsupervised down a steeper incline because he could revert to crawling again and could fall down.
Chapter 5
5b Application: Lucia had a mild brain hemorrhage shortly after birth. Using what you know about brain plasticity, explain why her doctors believe her mental development will be normal, or near normal.
Lucia having had a mild brain hemorrhage shortly after birth, as long as it was not excessive, should not have a significant impact upon the child’s mental development. The brain is able to compensate in young newborns. Therefore, the child’s likelihood of surviving a small hemorrhage without brain damage is high.
Chapter 6
6a Application: Bretts preschool teacher creates many opportunities for sociodramatic play in his classroom. Bretts mother wonders whether Brett is learning anything from so much pretending. Using research findings, respond to her concern.
Research has shown that young children need playtime in order for their brains to develop. Thus, playtime is just as important as having work tasks to do, if not more important. Since childrens’ brains at the preschool age are still formulating their schemas of the world, it only makes sense that pretend play and sociodramatic kinds of activities can only help, and not hinder, his development. Children learn a wide variety of soft skills through sociodramatic play as well, including social skills, listening skills, and speaking skills.
Chapter 7
7b Application: When asked what happens at kindergarten, 5-year-old Ali replies, ” First, you have circle time and center time. Sometimes you listen to a story. Next is snack and outdoor play.” But Ali cant remember what she did during center time two days ago. Explain Alis memory performance. Why is this type of reconstructive memory useful?
Ali’s needs to focus on reconstructive memory. Her memory performance is probably not good enough because she needs to use her memory in order to reconstruct stories about what has happened in the past. This type of memory is useful because it can help children like Ali figure out what they have done during the course of a period of several days. It might help students to remember by having them just remember a script, even if they are schemas of what students did.
Chapter 8:
8a Application: Eight-year-old Regina, an immigrant from Mexico, couldnt answer test items asking for word definitions and general information. But she figured out which number comes next in a complex series and solved puzzles easily. How does Regina score in crystallized and fluid intelligence, and what might explain the difference?
In crystallized intelligence, Regina might not score well due to the fact that those test questions are fixed and her verbal abilities are not best demonstrated through this. Regina’s fluid intelligence, however, would probably score pretty highly. Fluid intelligence is measured more by the ability to think logically. So, in essence, it is due to the fact that her English needs improvement which has affected her verbal scoring.
WORKS CITED
Berk, L. E. Child Development, 8th Ed. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon/Longman Publishers,
2009. Pp. 44.