Infants and Children in Context. Tara L. Kuther

specifically, classical conditioning and operant conditioning, as well as observational learning. Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory describes cognitive development as an active process and proceeding through four stages. Information processing theorists study the steps involved in cognition: perceiving and attending, representing, encoding, retrieving, and problem solving. Sociocultural systems theorists, such as Vygotsky, look to the importance of context in shaping development. Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model explains development as a function of the ongoing reciprocal interaction among biological and psychological changes in the person and his or her changing context. Evolutionary developmental psychology integrates Darwinian principles of evolution and scientific knowledge about the interactive influence of genetic and environmental mechanisms. Dynamic systems theory views children’s developmental capacities, goals, and context as an integrated system that influences the development of new abilities.

       1.4 Describe the methods and research designs used to study human development and the ethical principles that guide researchers’ work.A case study is an in-depth examination of an individual. Interviews and questionnaires are called self-report measures because they ask the persons under study questions about their own experiences, attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and behavior. Observational measures are methods that scientists use to collect and organize information based on watching and monitoring people’s behavior. Physiological measures gather the body’s physiological responses as data. Scientists use correlational research to describe relations among measured characteristics, behaviors, and events. To test hypotheses about causal relationships among variables, scientists employ experimental research. Developmental designs include cross-sectional research, which compares groups of people at different ages simultaneously, and longitudinal research, which studies one group of participants at many points in time. Cross-sequential research combines the best features of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs by assessing multiple cohorts over time. Researchers must maximize the benefits to research participants and minimize the harms, safeguarding participants’ welfare. They also must respect participants’ autonomy by seeking informed consent and child assent.

      Review Questions

       1.1 What are the periods, domains, and contexts of development?

       1.2 What position do most developmental scientists take on three basic issues in developmental science?

       1.3 How do six theoretical perspectives explain development?

       1.4 What methods are used for collecting data and answering research questions?

       1.5 What designs do researchers use to study development?

       1.6 To what ethical principles must researchers adhere?

      Descriptions of Images and Figures

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      The details are as follows.

      Physical domain: a boy pitching a baseball

      Cognitive domain: a girl in the classroom

      Socioemotional domain: two girls talking as they walk back from school

      Caption: Advances in physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development interact, permitting children to play sports, learn more efficiently, and develop close friendships.

      Back to Figure

      The details are as follows.

      On the left: a) Continuous development

      The four stages of a human’s physical development are shown above a convex slope.

      On the right: b) Discontinuous development

      The four stages of a human’s physical development are shown above four different steps of an ascending staircase.

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      The horizontal axis shows the age and the vertical axis shows the length from 58 centimeters to 74 centimeters in increments of 2 centimeters.

      A graph line which connects various points marked on the graph area resembles an ascending step pattern.

      A caption below reads: Infants’ growth occurs in a random series of roughly 1-centimeter spurts in height that occur over 24 hours or less. The overall pattern of growth entails increases in height, but whether the growth appears to be continuous or discontinuous depends on our point of view.

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      The diagram consists of two concentric bands around a circle.

      The details of significant relationships within each are as follows.

      Circle: Microsystem with the child at the center

       relationships with peers and adults

      Mesosytem: home; school; playground; neighborhood, religious settings

       relationships with siblings and parents; with students and teachers

      First band: Exosystem—school board; local government; mass media; religious setting; parent’s workplace

      Second band: Macrosystem—customs; cultural values; government laws/policies

      Bidirectional arrows connect the exosystem with the macrosystem.

      Below the figure is a dotted arrow indicating time pointing to the right. A caption above the arrow reads: Chronosystem—environmental changes and transitions over the lifespan

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      The details of the diagram are as follows.

      Genetics influences:

       Directly, the process of Conception; Birth; Childhood; Adolescence; Adulthood

       Indirectly, through genetic susceptibility to environmental effects and through the environment, resulting in epigenetic factors, leading to the process of Conception; Birth; Childhood; Adolescence; Adulthood

      A caption says: Development is influenced by the dynamic interplay of genetic andenvironmental factors. Genetic predispositions may influence howwe experience environmental factors, and environmental factorsmay influence how genes are expressed.

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      The diagram consists of a table with four columns and four rows. The four columns represent four years; namely, 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2026.

      The four rows from the top downward represent, 1^st grade, 3^rd grade, 5^th grade, and 7^th grade, respectively.

      A cross-sectional research design includes all data in the first column; namely, 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th grade for the year 2020.

      A longitudinal research design runs diagonally across columns; for example, 1^st grade in 2020, 3^rd grade in 2022, 5^th grade in 2024, and 7^th grade in 2026.

      A cross-sequential study design includes the data from the longitudinal design as well as for the diagonal rows above and below.

      2 Biological and Environmental Foundations of Development

      The average person cannot tell twin siblings apart because twins are virtually identical. Or are they? Consider these twin girls: Maria has strikingly dark hair and deep brown eyes, similar to her father. Maria’s twin sister, Anna, seems to take after their mother, with blond hair and blue eyes. Maria and Anna not only differ in appearance, but they like different foods, have different interests, and have somewhat different personalities. Although Maria is more outgoing and sociable than Anna, they both enjoy spending quiet solitary time in their room reading, drawing, and daydreaming. As twins, Maria and Anna shared a womb and many early experiences. Shouldn’t they be more similar?