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Essay on The Development of the "Perfect" Child
Child development has remained an important issue since the beginning of the Psychological thought. One fundamental question is how much developmental change is due to nature-hereditary factors-and how much to nature- environmental factors. Most developmental psychologists believe that heredity defines the upper limits of out growth and change, whereas the environment affects the degree to which the upper limits are reached.
The newborn, or neonate, has many capabilities. Among them are the rooting reflex, the startle reflex, and the Babinski reflex. After birth, physical development is rapid; children typically triple their birth weights in a year.Perceptual abilities also increase rapidly; infants can distinguish color and depth after just one month. Other sensory capabilities are also impressive at birth; infants can distinguish sounds and discriminate tastes and smells.However, the development of more sophisticated perceptual abilities depends on increased cognitive abilities.
Social development in infancy is marked by the phenomenon of attachment- the positive emotional bond between a child and a particular individual. As children become older, the nature of their social interactions with peers changes. Initially play occurs relatively independently but it becomes increasingly cooperative. Play enhances social competence and self-control.Different styles of child rearing result in differing outcomes. Authoritarian parents are firm, punitive and strict. Their children tend to be unsociable and withdrawn. Permissive parents provide lax or inconsistent discipline, although they are warm.
Their children tend to be immature, moody, dependent, and low in self-control. Finally, authoritative parents are firm, setting limits, but using reasoning and explanations. Their children tend to be likable, self reliant, independent, and high In social skills. Of course, there are many exceptions, depending in part on the children's temperament and on the culture in which they are raised.In trying to trace the course of social development, some theorists have considered how society and culture present challenges that the change as an individual matures......
