The Impact of Family on Child Development - Research Paper Example

Your full December 8, Assignment The Impact of Family on Child Development In understanding the patterns of cognitive development in infants and children and how families affect their development, the contributions of Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Erik Erikson (1902-1994) hold a very significant importance. Children go through a number of cognitive stages in intellectual development (Piaget, qtd. in Coon 112), and they learn to develop emotional attachment right from their infancy with the help of “a number of attributes that help them to maintain contact with others and do elicit care giving” (Shaffer 142). Piaget proposes that caregivers and the family play a very important role in infants’ emotional and cognitive development. This is because the infants get attached to those people around them who are responsive and provide them comfort. According to Evans and Erikson (12), in the first stage of cognitive development in infants, trust versus mistrust, infants get close to and develop trust on their parents and the family members from whom they find reassurance. How the family interacts with an infant or a young child defines how he is going to make a schema of the world inside his mind. If the family is going to offer him warmth and dependable fondness, the child is going to develop a trustworthy relationship not only with the family but with everyone he will meet in his life; whereas, if the family provides him with insecurities and the child does not feel that his basic needs are being fulfilled, he will develop a sense of mistrust. Thus, the active participation of family and how they meet the basic needs of the infant define if the child is going to trust others, or is going to mistrust others and feel them unreliable and undependable. If the family has been abusive toward the child, he will grow up to be abusive toward the world and will perceive the world as a dangerous place to live in. The form of relationship the parents develop with their children is a very important indicator of what type of early education the children are receiving at their homes when they are in their infancy. Parents tend to be authoritative, authoritarian or permissive, and each kind tends to educate the child in a totally different way. Very strict standards, that leave no room for communication with children, will make the child obey but will not enable him to learn the logic and reasoning. Permissive parents have very lenient rules which results in the child getting disobedient and even violent at times. Hence, for infants and young children, early education which starts at their homes, is very important for their cognitive development and in defining what sort of individuals they will grow into. Literature also discusses the importance of healthy attachment between the family and infants. According to Kaduson and Schaefer (267), “a healthy attachment allows for a balance between the toddler’s developmentally appropriate exploratory drive and need for emotional reassurance and support.” A healthy attachment between an infant and the caregiver has two components. First component is the infant’s needs that he wants the caregiver to fulfill, and the second component is the timely response of the caregiver. The attachment occurs when the infant has a sure feeling that the family will always be there to fulfill his needs of hunger, thirst, clothing, cleaning, and the like. When the family gives a timely response to the infant, this gives rise to trust. Kaduson and Schaefer (148) state that, “The impact of attachment disruptions on children’s lives can be devastating and far-reaching”. According to Bowlby (qtd. in Holmes), the attachment between the infants and the caregivers has a long-lasting effect. Bowlby is of the view that the survival chances are also increased when the child remains close to the mother. When the mother is readily available to meet the infant’s needs, he becomes sure that he is safe and secure and that the world is a protected place to live in. When something frightens the child, he will turn to the primary caregiver in search of comfort. He will also try to be physically close to the caregiver in order to ensure his safety. When he is taken apart from the caregiver, he will feel irritated and annoyed to the point of crying hysterically. This is how the family of infants and children affects their cognitive development. 2. Parents and preschool teachers can make best use of Erikson’s psychosocial theory in building good psychosocial relationships with children and in motivating them to bring the best out of them (Rathus 12). Seifert asserts that “early childhood education is not about young children as such, but about how teachers and children form relationships that mutually influence each other and that especially influence children.” In infant stage, parents act as teachers. When children are at preschool, teachers should use this knowledge to develop such relationships with them which should motivate them to make new ideas and bring them to reality through physical and mental activities. Hence, parents and teachers should make use of psychosocial theories of child development to provide them with physical and moral support so that they learn to trust; control their bodily activities; make innovations; and, feel proud of their accomplishments. Parents and teachers should be there for them when they need them during the sensitive stage of adolescence when they are discovering themselves. 3. There is a lot of research that discusses the impact of parents, siblings, and other caregivers on child development. Future research needs to focus on how building strong relationships with children helps the well-being of parents and the whole family. This is a reverse approach, and little research focuses on parents’ well-being that comes with healthy bonding with children. This research should inspire policymakers to devise such policies like giving off family vacations at workplaces so that families can spend ample time together to strengthen their bond. Teachers can arrange parent-teacher meetings after office hours so that those members of the family can also attend their children’s meetings who work in offices or live at distant places. Works Cited Coon, Dennis. “Cognitive Development? How do Children Learn to Think.” Psychology: A Journey. USA: Cengage Learning, 2009. Evans, Richard Isadore., & Erikson, Erik H. Dialogue with Erik Erikson. USA: Praeger, 1995. Holmes, Jeremy. John Bowlby and Attachment Theory. USA: Routledge, 1993. Kaduson, H., & Schaefer, C.E. Short-term Play Therapy for Children. USA: Guilford Press, 2006. Rathus, Spencer A. Childhood: Voyages in Development. USA: Cengage Learning, 2010. Seifert, Kelvin L. Cognitive Development and the Education of Young Children. University of Manitoba, 2004. Web. 8 Dec 2011. . Shaffer, David R. Social and Personality Development. USA: Cengage Learning, 2009. Assignment# 2 Human Development This paper is an analysis of an article which is, ‘Genetically modified humans: here and more coming soon’, written by Nick Lane, an honorary reader at University College, London. This article discusses a very current issue regarding human development. The focal point of this article is that a baby can be created by two mothers genetically, which can save him from inheriting dreadful diseases, and this procedure can lead to the development of designer babies. In his article, Lane has illustrated the genetic modification of human beings and has described the procedure that can be used to create babies using the eggs of two women. He tells about the research work that is being carried out by a research team in UK whose purpose is the creation of an embryo with the participation of three parents and without any chance of the baby inheriting dreadful diseases. Lane further tells the role of mitochondria in the procedure. If the egg from one woman contains defective mitochondria, then these can be replaced by those attained from the donor egg from another woman, and since a mitochondrion itself contains DNA, this would mean that the baby is going to have genes from two different women or mothers. This variation in genes, on one hand, eliminates the chance of delivering mitochondrial diseases to the baby, and on the other, can affect the baby’s whole personality. However, this procedure gives the baby chance to live with the healthiest genes. Moreover, Male mitochondria has nothing to do with the procedure as these are only present in the sperm tail and do not get the chance of penetrating the egg. Lane further talks about the ooplasmic transfer technique that was used in 1990s to control infertility but was afterwards banned by the FDA due to its vague consequences. He tells that the researchers from UK’s Newcastle University are trying another technique that involves the transfer of cell nucleus only and not the mitochondria. The nucleus of the egg with defective mitochondria is transferred to the donor egg. This will be a more convenient approach. Another interesting point that comes with this latest research is that male infertility can also be cured by injecting healthy mitochondria into the sperm tail which helps in sperm motility. Hence, this procedure will be very helpful in future to treat male infertility. The procedure of creating babies with the use of two eggs is the best to help the mother who has all mutant mitochondria. This prevents her from passing on fatal or serious diseases from her faulty mitochondria onto her baby. However, the chance of mitochondrial diseases to be transferred to the baby still persists as some faulty mitochondria can remain attached to the transferred nucleus. Variations in mitochondrial DNA may result in the occurrence of diseases like Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Mitochondrial incompatibilities may also lead to fatal diseases like early miscarriages caused by the death of embryo. In short, only future will tell if the concept of designer babies can be brought to reality or not. Works Cited Lane, Nick. “Genetically Modified Human: Here and More Coming Soon.” NewScientist. Reed Business Information Ltd, 2008. Web. 8 Dec 2011. . Assignment# 3 Human Development One current issue in human development is regarding how brain is directly associated with the development of aggressive and criminally violent conduct. Although environmental factors do play their part in influencing an individual’s behavior, biological factors are found to be primarily responsible which are eventually scheduled and worked by the brain. This paper discusses a causal relationship between abnormal brain chemistry and violent crime, and how it relates to abnormal human development. Kotulak (78) asserts that Marie Asberg in 1976 first discovered the linkage between brain and aggression/violence by detailing “a link between low serotonin and violent suicides.” She found that people who had low serotonin levels were ten times more at risk of violent death than those who had the same grade of depression but with higher serotonin which is the most important neurotransmitter or chemical messenger in the brain responsible for controlling an individual’s behavior. Its reduced activity results in raised impulsivity and aggression. People with low serotonin have been found suffering from conduct disorder in their adolescence that includes behavior like physically harming other people and damaging their property. Another hormone called noradrenaline, that directs the brain how to function in emergencies, also has a great impact. When high noradrenaline combines with low serotonin, the person acts violent toward others; however, when low noradrenaline is overlaid with low serotonin, the person maintains the aggression within himself that leads to depression (Kotulak). Elliot (qtd. in Jones) also suggests that neurochemicals are majorly responsible for invoking certain behavioral patterns in specific areas of the brain, and these include “monoamine oxidase (MAO), epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine”. Low MAO activity in the brain causes impulsivity which is a main trait of anti-social behavior. Dysfunctional MAO activity is commonly diagnosed in criminals or people with personality disorders. MAO is said to be related to various other neurochemicals in the brain which are all responsible for psychosis. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter present in the brain that is linked with pleasure and aggression. Its abnormal levels activate affective and predatory aggression that finally leads to disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Browner and Price (720) found that abnormalities in the frontal lobe of the brain are responsible for “the actions of some persons charged with, or convicted of, violent crimes, who apparently fail to inhibit impulsive, trivially motivated, or habitual aggression.” Frontal lobe injury or dysfunction has been found to cause anti-social personality disorder. Damage to orbitofrontal cortex results in poor control over behavioral patterns involving violent aggression aimed at other people, vulgar language and insensitive relationships. This abnormality is often termed as pseudo-psychopathy because of its association with aggression and violent criminality. Hence, it is evident by research that there is great genetic contribution in the development of aggressive and violent criminality in a human behavior, directed and planned by brain. Abnormal levels of neurochemicals in the brain or specific brain injuries have been found to be major causes of psychotic disorders and violent acts inflicted upon oneself or others. Thus, brain chemistry significantly affects human development and behavior. Works Cited Browner, M.C., and B.H. Price. “Advances in Neuropsychiatry.” J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 71(2001): 720-726. Jones, Caitlin M. “Neurochemicals in Criminal and Anti-social Behavior.” Genetic and Environmental Influences on Criminal Behavior. Rochester Institute of Technology, 2009. Web. 8 Dec 2011. . Kotulak, Ronald. “How the Brain Gets Damaged.” Inside the Brain: Revolutionary Discoveries of How the Mind Works. United States of America: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1997. Read More