Psychosocial Approach To Child Development

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1. Introduction:
The development of a child is referred to by the changes that a child undergoes during growth. These changes develop in relation to physical and mental health as well as emotional and social competence. Research confirms that the first three years of a child’s life are critical in shaping the architecture of the brain. (Factsforlifeglobal.org, 2015)
The development of young children, from birth to three years, will be further explained in terms of the Piagetian approach as well as the psychosocial approach. Developmental milestones will also be explained as well as delays that contribute towards meeting them.
2. The Piagetian/Cognitive approach to development:
Berk (2005) suggests that cognition refers to “the inner process
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(Berk, 2005, p.222). The ideas put forward by Piaget help infants to construct a form of knowledge (McLeod, 2009).
5. The psychosocial approach:
The psychosocial approach to child development was brought forth my Erik Erikson. The theory is composed of eight developmental stages throughout life. The stages that relate to infancy are the trust vs. Mistrust stage for birth to 18 months and the autonomy vs. Shame stage for 18 months to three years. Erikson believed that the ego developed as it successfully resolved crisis of a social nature (McLeod, 2015). According to Sokol (2009), “in a developmental sense to connote not a threat of catastrophe, but a turning point, a crucial period of increased vulnerability and heightened potential” (p.140).

6. Trust vs.
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Developmental milestones:
As defined by the University of Michigan, developmental milestones are a “set of functional skills or age-specific tasks that most children can do at a certain age range” (Med.umich.edu, 2015) .The milestones can be broken down in to six major categories, namely head control, rolling, sitting, crawling, standing and walking.
9. Fine motor development:
Berk (2005) defines fine motor development as actions that have to do with smaller movements such as reaching and grasping. Furthermore, it is the ability to coordinate small muscles in the arms and hands to perform actions (Milestones of Child Development A Guide to Young Children’s Learning and Development from Birth to Kindergarten, 2008). Fine motor skills involve head control at approximately six weeks, rolling from side to side, grasping for objects and also sitting upright. (Berk, 2005, p.143)
10. Gross motor development:
Gross motor skills are characterized by movements using the entire body or large parts of it. This includes the ability to roll, stand, walk and jump. (Milestones of Child Development A Guide to Young Children’s Learning and Development from Birth to Kindergarten, 2008).
11. Delays in meeting development

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