CHILD AND ADOLESCENT

DEVELOPMENT
 CHILDHOOD
■ is defined as the time for a boy or girl from birth until he or
she is an adult.
■ It is the more circumscribed period of the time from infancy
to the onset of puberty.
■ According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
defines a child as “every human being below the age 18
years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority
is attained earlier.”
 ADOLESCENCE

■ According to Stuart Judge, a noted educator and

psychologist, adolescence is the period of transition
from the childhood to adulthood.
■ beginning in parallel with fertility of puberty and
ending with maturity and independence
PHYSICAL AND
MOTOR
DEVELOPMENT
■ Human Development is the pattern of movement or
change that begins at conception and continues through
life span.
■ Development includes growth and decline.
■ Physical changes happen such as changes in height
and weight
■ Motor skills acquired such as exploring
■ Manifestation of reflexes (sucking, head turning, rooting
reflex, grasping, moro response, tonic reflex
 Major Principles of Development
■ Development is relatively orderly.

■ While the pattern of development is likely to be similar, the

outcomes of development processes and the rate of
development are likely to vary among individuals.

■ Development takes place gradually.

■ Development as a process is complex because it is the

product of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes
 Patterns of Development

■ Cephalocaudal pattern– head to toe,

lengthening of neck and torso followed by the legs
■Proximodistal pattern – center outward
(internal organs develop earlier than arms and
hands)
■ General to specific pattern
 Stages of Development
■ Pre-natal Period (conception to birth)
■ Infancy ( birth to 2 years)
■ Early Childhood (3 to 5 years)
■ Middle and Late Childhood (6-12 years)
■ Adolescence (13-18 years)
■ Early Adulthood (19-29 years)
■ Middle adulthood (30-60 years)
■ Late Adulthood or Old age (61 years and above)
Prenatal Period
(from conception to birth)

■ It involves tremendous growth- from a single

cell to an organism complete with brain and
behavioral capabilities.
■ zygote embryo fetus
Infancy (birth to 2 years)

■ a time of extreme dependence on adults.

■ Many psychological activities are just
beginning – language, symbolic thought,
sensorimotor coordination and social
learning
Early Childhood ( 3 to 5 years)

■ These are the preschool years.

■ They learn to become more self-sufficient and
to care for themselves, develop school
readiness and spend many hours in play with
peers.
Middle and Late Childhood (6-12 years)

■ Elementary school years

■ The fundamental skills of reading, writing and
arithmetic are mastered.
■ The child is formally exposed to the larger world and
its culture.
■ Achievement becomes a more central theme of the
child’s world and self-control increases.
Adolescence ( 13 to 18 years)

■ Begins with rapid physical changes – dramatic gains

in height and weight, changes in body contour, and
the development of sexual characteristics such as
enlargement of the breasts, development of pubic
and facial hair, and deepening of the voice.
■ Pursuit of independence and identity are prominent.
■ Thought is more logical, abstract and idealistic.
■ More time is spent outside of the family.
Early Adulthood ( 19 to 30 years)

■ It is a time of establishing personal and

economic independence, career
development, selecting a mate, learning to
live with someone in an intimate way, starting
a family and rearing children.
Middle Adulthood ( 40 to 60 years)

■ It is a time of expanding personal and social

involvement and responsibility; of assisting the
next generation in becoming competent and
mature individuals; and of reaching and
maintaining satisfaction in a career.
Late Adulthood or Old Age ( 60 and above)

■ It is a time for adjustment to decreasing

strength and health, life review,
retirement, and adjustment to new social
roles.
 BRAIN
DEVELOPMENT
■ The brain’s ability to change from experience is
known as “plasticity.”
■ The human brain is especially plastic in early life but
declines in adulthood.
■ As a child’s brain develops, it goes through several
critical periods, a developmental phase in which the
brain requires certain environmental input or it will
not develop normally.
 Factors Affecting Development
■ Maternal Nutrition – the nutrition status of the
woman during adolescence pregnancy and lactation
has a direct impact on child’s health and
development.
■ Child Nutrition – The child’s state of nutritional
balance is crucial in his early development stages
■ Early Sensory stimulation – Toys, soothing sounds
and other sensorial stimulation contribute to the
child’s development.
 Exceptional Development
■ Physical Disabilities – Persons with physical disabilities
may experience functional, visual, orthopedic, motor, or
hearing impairment, which may impact upon their ability
to walk, play, and learn. These are also categorized by
some degree of limitation in the use of upper and lower
extremities and maintaining posture and positioning.
■ Causes are the following:
a. Prenatal factors
b. Perinatal factors
c. Postnatal factors
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

■ Is a neurologically based medical problem which interferes the

individual’s ability to focus (inattention), regulate activity level
(hyperactivity), and inhibit behavior (impulsivity).
■ caused by the imbalance in certain neurotransmitters most likely
dopamine and serotonine
■ usually 9 to 17 years of age is affected
■ common in boy than in girl
 ADHD ADD
Decision Making Impulsive Sluggish

Attention Seeking Short off Modest

Egotistical Shy
Relishes in being the worst Often Socially withdrawn
Assertiveness Bossy Under-assertive
Often Irritating Overly polite and docile

Recognizing boundaries Intrusive Honors boundaries

Occasionally rebellious Usually polite and obedient

Popularity Attract new friends but has Bonds but does not easily
difficulty bonding attract friends

Associated diagnoses Oppositional defiance Depression

Conduct Disorder
LINGUISTIC AND
LITERACY
DEVELOPMENT
Language Development
■ Isa process that starts early in human life, when a person begins
to acquire language by learning it as it is spoken and by mimicry.
■ Children’s language development moves from simplicity to
complexity.
■ Noam Chomsky – a nativist who asserts that language
development happens because children have Language
Acquisition Device (LAD) that enables them to learn a language
early and quickly.
■ Jerome Bruner –proposes the Language Acquisition Support
System (LASS) which emphasizes the critical roles of the parents
and other early caregivers play in language development.
■ Biological Preconditions – our ability to acquire such
complicated system is specific to human species. Furthermore, our
ability to learn language may have been developed the evolutionary
process and that the foundation for language may be passed down
genetically.

■ Social Preconditions – It is crucial that children are allowed to

socially interact with people who can vocalize and respond to
questions. For language acquisition to develop successfully, children
must be in environment that allows them to communicate socially in
that language.
 Theories of Language Development
■ Imitation theory – language is acquired through
imitation. However this proves to be more of a
folktale than anything.
■ Psychological perspective – it focuses on the
mental processes involved in children language
learning.
■ Functional perspective – looks at the social
processes involved in learning the first language.
 Bilingual Language Development

■ Simultaneous Bilingualism – the child acquires two languages at

the same time before the age of 3 years. These children may mix
words or parts of words from both languages in the first stage.
■ Sequential bilingualism – occurs at 4 years and older when
distinction between the two language takes place and the child uses
each language separately.
■ Advantages and Disadvantages of Bilingualism
 Exceptional Development
■ Aphasia (aphemia) –
■ is a loss of the ability to produce and or comprehend language, due to
injury to brain areas specialized for these functions.
■ Depending on the area and extent of damage, someone suffering from
aphasia may be able to speak but not write, being able to write but not
to speak and being able to sing but not to speak.

■ Dyslexia
■ is a specific learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty
with written language, particularly with reading and spelling
 Learning Disabilities
■ dyslexia – reading
■ Dysgraphia – writing
■ Visual agnosia – sight
■ Motor aphasia – speaking
■ Dysarthria – stuttering
■ auditory agnosia – hearing
■ Olfactory agnosia – smelling
■ dyscalculia – math

■ general causes of learning disabilities are problematic pregnancies,

biochemical imbalance, and environmental factors
PROPONENTS AND
THEIR THEORIES
 VYGOTSKY’S SOCIO-
CULTURAL THEORY OF
COGNITIVE DEV’T
Lev Vygotsky
 Lev Vygotsky (1996-1934)
■ He asserted that children learn through socially meaningful
interactions and that language is both social and important facilitator
of learning
■ Vygotsky described the two levels in acquiring learning :

a. the actual developmental level – level at which children can perform

a task independently

b. the potential development level – level at which children can

perform a task with assistance
■ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
■ He used the term “scaffolding” as a metaphor to describe adult’s
contributions to children’s learning.
BRUNER’S THEORY OF
COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
Jerome Bruner
■ Also known as “Instrumental Conceptualism” which denotes
that learning involves three simultaneous processes:
a. Acquisition
b. Transformation
c. evaluation

■ Models of Cognitive Development

■ ENACTIVE – sensory stimuli (actions)
■ ICONIC – concrete representations ( images)
■ SYMBOLIC – abstract representations (language, word and
symbol)
PIAGET’S STAGES OF
COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
Jean Piaget
 Basic Cognitive Concepts
■ Cognition – is the process of learning in the broadest sense that includes
perception, memory, judgment, and thinking.
■ Schema – (schemata) refers to an organized unit of knowledge and use by the
child to be able to understand a situation or an experience and which will serve as
basis for organizing actions to respond to the environment.
■ Organization – is the predisposition to combine simple physical or psychological
structures into more complex systems.
■ Adaptation – is adjusting one’s thinking according to environmental demands.

A. Assimilation – this is the process of making use of an

existing schema to a new experience.

B. Accommodation - is the process of modifying an existing

schema to make it work in a new experience.
■ Equilibration – is achieving proper balance between assimilation and
accommodation.
 Stage 1 – Sensorimotor Stage
■ Birth to infancy
■ The prominence of the senses and muscle movement
■ The child uses internal representation of events without relying on congenital
reflexes.
■ Internal representations include symbolic thought and deferred imitation
■ Reflex schema – birth to 6 weeks manifested with the development of reflexes
■ Primary circular reactions – 6 weeks to 4 months – repeating of actions or habits occur
■ Secondary circular reaction – 4 to 9 months – coordination between vision and apprehension
■ Coordination of Secondary circular reaction – 9 to 12 months- Object permanence,
development of logic, and the coordination of means and ends. This is called the proper intelligence
and the most important sub-stage.
■ Tertiary circular reaction – 12 to 18 months – children are called young scientists
■ Beginning of Symbolic Representation – beginning of insight and true creativity, the
beginning of trial and error
 Stage 2 – Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
■ Symbolic functioning – characterized by the use of mental symbols, words, or
pictures, which the child uses to represent something which is not physically
present.
■ Centration – characterized by a child focusing or attending to only one aspect of
a stimulus or situation.
■ Intuitive thought – occurs when the child is able to believe in something
without knowing why she or he believes it.
■ Egocentrism – a version of centration, this denotes a tendency of a child to
only think from her own point of view. Also, the inability of a child to take the point
of view of others.
■ Inability to conserve – the child lacks of conservation of mass, volume, and
number after the original form has changed.
■ Animism – the child believes that inanimate objects have “lifelike’ qualities and
are capable of action. In this way, they are using their imagination.
Stage 3 – Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 yrs)
■ Appropriate use of logic
■ Seriation – the ability to arrange object in an order according to size, shape, or
any other characteristics.
■ Classification – the ability to name and identify sets of objects according to
appearance, size or other characteristics including the idea that one set of objects
can include another.
■ Decentering – where the child takes into account multiple aspects of a problem
to solve it.
■ Reversibility – where the child understands the numbers or objects can be
changed then returned to their original state.
■ Conservation – understanding that quantity, length or number of items is
unrelated to the arrangement or appearance of the object or items.
■ Elimination of Egocentrism – the ability to view things from another’s perspective
(even if they think incorrectly).
 Stage 4 – Formal Operational Stage (11-Adulthood)

■ This is characterized by acquisition of the ability to think

abstractly, reason logically and draw conclusions from the
information available.
■ During this stage the young adult is able to understand such
things as love, logical proofs, and values.
■ Hypothetical reasoning, Analogical reasoning and Deductive
reasoning.
 INFORMATION
PROCESSING THEORY
■ This theory takes the human mind as a system that process
information.
■ This is similar to computer programming where the processes involved
are subjct to limitations and observance of logical rules.

There are three (3) primary stages in IP theory:

■ Encoding – Information is sensed, perceived, and attended to.

■ Storage – information is stored for either a brief or extended period of

time dependeng upon the processes following encoding.

■ Retrieval – information is found at the appropriate time, and reactivated

for use on a current task, the true test of effective memory.
■ Short term Memory – limited and lasts for a second
■ Long term Memory – unlimited; indefinite
■ Metacognition – is the individual’s knowledge and control of cognitive activities, This is knowledge
that develop through time, over childhood and which includes knowledge of the self, his frame of
mind, knowledge about tasks and the strategies that can be applied
■ Forgetting – the inability to access information when needed
a. Decay – information fades away and not attended to
b. Interferrence – new or old information blocks the acess of the other information
Ways to Increase the Propability of Remembering
■ Organization
■ Generation
■ Deep processing
■ Elaboration
■ Context
■ Personalization
■ Memorization
■ Use of acronym, mnemonics, keyword
STERNBERG’S TRIARCHIC
THEORY OF
INTELLIGENCE
Robert J. Sternberg
■ This theory points to three major components of
intelligent behavior:
1. information processing skills
2. experience with a given task or situation
3. ability to adjust one’s behavior to the demands of
the context
■ Analytical abilities – refer to the power to apply logical
reasoning to arrive at the best answer to a question.
■ Creative Abilities – involve imagining and devising new
ways of addressing issues and concerns including
present demands.
■ Practical abilities – involve the use of tacit knowledge
or common sense
GENDER SCHEMA
THEORY
Sandra Bem
■ This theory postulates an organizational pattern of behavior
that enables children to sort out perceived information.
■ The organized information revolves around what the society
defines and classifies in terms of accepted behavior patterns,
individual differences and the principle of gender.
■ Society’s Gender Schema makes the children develop a self
concept that fits this particular schema, adapting for
themselves the society’s notion of male and female.
■ Examples, boys do a different set of tasks more complicated
than of girls and girls also go for ribbons and laces while boys
are interested in balls and wagons.
 Gender Concepts
■ Gender based beliefs – are ideas and expectations about
what is appropriate behavior for males and females
■ Gender stereotypes – are beliefs and characteristics typified
in the behavior of males and females which are deemed
appropriate and therefore acceptable.

■ Gender identity – is the perception of oneself as either

masculine or feminine.
■ Gender roles – are the composites of behaviors typical of
the male or female in a given culture.
■ Gender preference – are the ideas of your own choice
 GARDNER’S THEORY OF
MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Howard Gardner
 Multiple Intelligences
• LINGUISTIC ability to use language effectively, can speak, write, and possess
language
• LOGICAL - facility with numbers and logical problem solving
MATHEMATICAL
• VISUAL-SPATIAL Ability to appreciate works of art like paintings and sculptures
• BODILY KINESTHETIC ability to move in a coordinated way usually common among
athletes
• MUSICAL Ability to produce and appreciate music
• INTERPERSONAL Sensitivity to the behavior, moods, and needs of others
• INTRAPERSONAL ability to understand oneself, able to understand one’s strength
and goals in life
• NATURALIST Ability to attracted to the natural words, able to identify between
flora and fauna
• SPIRITUAL or Ability to question and wonder the existence of life
EXISTENTIAL
FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYTIC
/PSYCHOSEXUAL THEORY
Sigmund Freud
■ According to Freud, a person goes through the sequence
of five stages and along the way there are needs to be
met.
■ Whether these needs are met or not, determines
whether the person will develop a healthy personality or
not.
■ The theory is quite interesting for many because Freud
identified specific erogenous zones for each stage of
development which are specific “pleasure areas” that
become focal points for the particular stage.
■ If needs are not met along the area, a fixation occurs.
 Five Stages of Psychosexual Development
■ Oral Stage – ( birth to 18 months) the erogenous zone is the mouth, oral pleasure (sucking)
a. Oral receptive – stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, overeating
b. Oral aggressive – tendency to bite his/her nails, use curse words, gossip
 Anal Stage – ( 18 months to 3 years) – anus is the erogenous zone, find satisfaction in
eliminating or retaining feces.
a. Anal retentive – an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, control
b. Anal expulsive – become messy and disorganized
 Phallic Stage – (3 to 6 years) – the pleasure is the genitals, interested in the making of girls and
boys, and fondling their genitals. Weak and confused sexual identity become the fixed behavior.
a. Oedipus complex - boy unconscious sexual desire for his mother
b. Electra complex – girl unconscious sexual desire for her father
 Latency Stage – (6 to puberty) – it is during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed. The
children’s focus is the acquisition of physical and academic skills.
 Genital Stage – ( puberty onwards) – begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once
again awakened. Focus on their sexual urges towards the opposite sex peers, with the pleasure
centered on the genitals.
 Freud’s Personality Component
■ Id – it operates on the pleasure principle and focuses on
immediate gratification or satisfaction of its needs
■ Ego – it operates the reality principle and knows that others
also have needs to be met. It is practical in the sense that
being impulsive or selfish can result a negative
consequences later so it reasons and considers the best
response to situation.
■ Superego – it embodies the person’s moral aspect and is
likened to conscience because it exerts influence on what
one considers right and wrong.
 ERIKSON’S PSYCHO-
SOCIAL THEORY OF DEV’T
Erik Homburger Erikson
■ Erikson considered development as resulting from the
interaction between internal drives and cultural
demands; thus, his theory is about psychosocial stages
and not psychosexual ones.
■ Each of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development
are marked by a conflict or crisis, for which successful
resolution will result in a favourable outcome called
“virtue”.
 Period Stage Positive Characteristics Gained and Typical Activities
Birth to 1 year Trust vs. Mistrust HOPE : trust in primary caregiver and in one’s own ability to
make things happen
1 to 3 years Autonomy vs. WILL: new physical skills lead to demand for more choices, most
Shame and Doubt often saying “no” to caregivers; child learns self-care skills such
as toileting
3 to 6 years Initiative vs Guilt PURPOSE: ability to organize activities around some goals; more
assertiveness and aggressiveness)
6 to 12 years Industry vs Inferiority COMPETENCE: cultural skills and norms, including school skills
and tools use
12 to 18 years Identity vs. Role Confusion FIDELITY: adaptation of sense of self to pubertal changes,
consideration of future choices, achievement of a more mature
sexual identity
18 to 30 years Intimacy vs. Isolation LOVE: person develops intimate relationships beyond adolescent
love; many become parents
30 to Old age Generativity vs Stagnation CARE: people rear children, focus on occupational achievement
or creativity, and train the next generation; turn outward from
the elf toward others
Old Age Integrity vs. Despair WISDOM: person conducts a life review, integrates earlier stages
and comes to terms with basic identity; develops self-
acceptance
BANDURA’S SOCIAL
COGNITIVE THEORY
Albert Bandura
■ Individual’s knowledge acquisition can be directly related to
observing others within the context of social interactions,
experience, and outside media influences.
■ This is called “Observational Learning or Modeling”
■ Reinforcement also involves in this theory – Direct, Vicarious, and
Self-Reinforcement
■ Maturation
■ This involved four sets processes which include –
■ Perception
■ Retention
■ Reproduction
■ Motivation
GOLEMAN’S EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE
Daniel Goleman
 Emotional Intelligence (EI)
■ often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an
ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of
one’s self, of others, and of group.
■ There are three components of EQ:
1. the awareness of one’s own emotions
2. the ability to express one’s emotions appropriately; and
3. the capacity to channel emotions into the pursuit of worthwhile objectives
■ Major Qualities that Make up Emotional Intelligence
a. Self-awareness – ability to read one’s emotions
b. Mood Management – the ability to change mood from good to bad and
vice versa
c. Self-motivation – trying to feel more enthusiastic and developing more zeal
and confidence
d. Impulse control – self-regulation to delay impulse in the service of a goal
e. People skill – the ability to feel for another person
KOHLBERG’S MORAL
DEVELOPMENT
THEORY
Lawrence Kohlberg
■ Child’s cognitive capabilities determine the growth
of his moral reasoning.
 Stages of Moral Development
■ Pre-conventional Morality
STAGE 1 – Obedience and Punishment Orientation
STAGE 2 – Naïve Hedonistic and Instrumental Orientation
■ Conventional Morality
STAGE 3 – Interpersonal Accord and Conformity
STAGE 4 – Authority and Social-Order Maintaining
Orientation
■ Post-Conventional Morality
STAGE 5 – Morality of Contract: Individual Rights and
Democratically Accepted Law
STAGE 6 – Morality of Individual Principles and Conscience
 Factors Affecting Moral Development
■ Parenting , Role Models, Peer-Interactions
■ Diana Baumrind proposed Four Styles of Parenting in terms of differences in
parental responsiveness and demandingness.
Parenting Style Characteristics Resulting Social Behavior in Child
Demanding, encourages, Social comptence and responsibility
1. Authoritative independence, responsive, warm and
nurturing, disciplines with
explanation; maintains open dialogue
Demanding; consistent in enforcing Ineffective social interaction; inactive
2. Authoritarian and standards; restrictive; controlling

Responsive; warm and nurturing, Social competence; well-adjusted;

3. Indulgent undemanding; uses punishment peer-orieted; misconduct
inconsistently and infrequently; little
control
Unresponsive; little warmth and Poor orientation to work and school;
4. Neglectful nurturance; undemanding; sets few behavior problems
limits and little supervision
BROFENBRENNER’S
ECOLOGICAL THEORY
Urie Brofenbrenner
■ Also known as Bioecological Systems theory presents
child development within the context of relationship
systems that comprise the child’s environment.
■ It explains the relationship between people and their
environments, or contexts.
 BIOECOLOGICAL MODEL
■ Microsystem – is the layer nearest the child which directly
influence the child like families, schools, religious institutions and
neighborhood.
■ Mesosystem – this layer serves as the connection between the
structures of the child’s microsystem such as the link between the
parents and teachers.
■ Exosystem – this layer pertains to the bigger social system in
which the child does not function directly. It is the socioecomic
context.
■ Macrosystem – the outermost layer in the child’s environment
which includes the cultural values, customs, and laws
■ Chronosystem – covers the element of time as it relates to a
child’s environments and involves “patterns of stability and
change” in child’s life.
NEED HEIRARCHY
THEORY
Abraham Maslow
■ Human beings have wants and desires which influence
their behavior; only unsatisfied needs cannot.
■ Since needs are many, they are arranged in order of
importance, from the basic to the complex.
■ The person advances to the next level only after the lower
need is atleast minimally satisfied.
■ The further the progress up the heirarchy, the more
individuality, humanness and psychological health a
person will show.
 Self Actualization

Self Esteem Need

Social Need

Safety and Security Needs

Physiological Needs
LEARNING THEORIES
Learning
■ Is the acquisition and development of memories and
behaviors, including skills, knowledge, understanding,
values, and wisdom.
■ It is the goal of education, and the product of
experience.
■ It is therefore, a relatively permanent change in
behavior.
CONNECTIONISM/
ASSOCIATIONISM
THEORY
Edward Lee Thorndike
■ This theory takes that human learning is based on
association between stimulus and response

a. Law of Effect

b. Law of Readiness

c. Law of Exercise
 CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING
Ivan Pavlov
■ It is based on ADHESIVE principle which means that a
response is attached to a stimulus thorugh the stimulus
occuring just prior to the response so that recurrence of
the stimulus will evoke or cause the response.

■ Example, Dog’s salivation when the bell rings

 OPERANT
CONDITIONING
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
■ Organism has to do something in order to get a reward that is, it must operate
on its environment.
■ Reinforcement is any behavioral consequence that strenghtens behavior. It
increases the likelihood of the recurrence of a particular type of response.

Types of Reinforcement
■ Positive Reinforcement – increases response frequency
■ Negative Reinforcement – strenghthens behavior by their
removal
■ Primary reinforcement – food, water, sleep
■ Secondary Reinforcement – money, grades, stars, tokens,
etc.
 Types of Learning
■ Cognitive Learning – is concerned with the development of
ideas and concepts.

■ Affective Learning – involves assimilation of values, emotional

reactions, and acquisition of attitudes.

■ Psychomotor Learning – understanding the external world

through the senses and muscles.
 Prepared by:
GEROBEL R. VALENZUELA, LPT