Analysis And Application Of Early Childhood Developmental Psychology

Psychology is diverse, and there are many diverse specialty areas available to individuals seeking a career in the field of psychology. Most Psychologists choose to specialize in subfields that focus on specific subjects. Obtaining a profession in any of the specialty areas would require graduate study in that area of interest. Some professionals have a broad general knowledge, are skilled in several areas, and work with a range of clients. Some are specialist in treating a specific type of psychological disorder, or work with a specific age group. For those interested in specializing in a psychology career, developmental Psychology is one of the many fields available.

Today?s legal system states that children between the ages two to six should not be held liable for criminal actions. There are several developmental characteristics that support this claim. These characteristics come from biological, cognitive, and psychosocial areas. For those who are religious, one can also find spiritual support in Scripture that validates young children cannot reason as older children or adults can. Until a child?s brain matures, it is likely that a child may act impulsively and could commit a crime without reasoning beforehand that he or she

Considering the behaviors of an adolescent in the same manner as that of an adult is unfair. Juvenile brains are still developing, which means that they perform differently than adult brains (AACAP). Adolescents are more likely to act on impulse, get involved in fights, and engage in risky or dangerous behavior. They are less likely to think before they act or consider the consequences of their actions (AACAP). Weighing this scientific fact, it is unfair to assume that a juvenile committed a delinquent act with the same forethought of an adult. The mental development of a juvenile makes it difficult to prove that they established the mens rea equal to that of an adult guilty of the same offense.

The juvenile court was founded on the belief that juveniles just don't posses the cognitive capacity to fully understand the repercussions of their actions. The juvenile court used to use all its resources to focus on how to rehabilitate juveniles, now all the court proceeding are to establish the legal guilt of a juvenile offender and a small percentage of the legal process establishing adequate punishment. Research on the brain over the last twenty years gives us more knowledge about how children develop and think. Until recently scientists believed the brain was fully developed by age 12. With brain imaging research we now know that this is not true(4 walker). The May 10, 2004 issue of Time Magazine discusses the development of the teen brain in great detail. Dr. Ruben Gur, a professor and director of the Brain Behavior Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania states that impulse control is the last area of the brain to develop and the first to fail as we age(4 walker). Teens do not think like adults due to the lack of impulse control and raging hormones. Hormones fuel emotional responses in teens. Drug use during these formative years damages brain development. How teens spend their time may affect the development of the brain(4 walker). Other research at the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that full

It is understood that at an early age, it is impossible to some advocates, for children to have the mental ability like that of a normal adult, to plan and execute a crime and moreover to understand the consequences of it. Therefore it is controversial where or not to try them as adults. During the adolescent years, it is asserted that a child becomes mature and begins to understand important concepts like society and expectations they are still trying to deal with society, their own inner battles of peer pressure, lack of direction, impulsiveness and lack of identity, according to the Legal and Justice Center. At

However, to understand the impact of adversity on young children’s development and learning, our genes supply the basic blueprint for brain development. “Thus, toxic stress in early childhood not only is a risk factor for later risky behavior but also can be a direct source of biological injury or disruption that may have lifelong consequences independent of whatever circumstances might follow later in life (Shonoff and Garner, 2012, page 238). Poverty, neglect, or family stress can make it especially difficult for young children to develop the self-discipline and habits of mind they will need to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Researchers have found that chronic, sustained stress, such as that caused by neglect, abuse, or deprivation,

Despite the fact that trying juveniles as an adult is a controversial idea, a vast majority of the people support the ideology that trying youth offenders and putting them into adult prisons will not provide the specific support and guidance the youth offenders need. Furthermore, juveniles accused of felonious crimes should not be tried as adults because the adult system is not created to adjust behavior. In order to understand the behavior of a child, psychologist have done in depth research on the brain of an adolescent. They found proof that the brain of a child holds greater differences than one of an adult, which leads them to be held at different standards.

The development of a child’s brain relates to whether kid should be tried as adults. “The adolescent cannot really think things through at the same level as an adult” (Packard 1) says all thought they may not be able to think things through as an would adult; children are still able to determine the basics of what is right and what is wrong. Children are also “impulsive” (Packard 2) if they feel like something is a good decision they will just do it. They should not be tried as an adult because they are not thinking about their actions in the time but they still committed a crime and all of this should be accounted for when trying the child. There is a link “between adolescent emotions and brain development”(Packard 3).

After reading all four articles on juvenile justice it is clear that Paul Thompson who wrote the article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” (2001), has the strongest ethos. His main argument of the article was that teens should not be tried as adults in adult court system. Paul Thompson is an assistant professor of neurology at UCLA who studies brain growth as he states, “My own research group at UCLA...have developed technology to map the patterns and brain growth in individual children and teenagers” (5). This information that he is a neurology professor and has mapped teenage brains tells the reader that Paul is a very trustworthy and credible

While murder is taken as one of the most offensive crime, children of six years and below are not punishable under the law. The category is believed to be incapable of planning and executing crimes regardless of the magnitude of the crime committed. Between the ages of two to six years, the child is engaged in many trial activities which he does not understand their consequences. Again, the brain of the child is at the stage of developing high memory capacity. Unfortunately, the most permanently stored information is that of activities undertaken and which involved emotional feelings. They are, therefore, likely to remember and act by their feelings and not much about their thinking. At the age of six, the children are eager to understand why the rules exist and how they operate. The brain is at the stage where it does not configure much and can, therefore, fail to control the actions of the body. Also, the age represents the child most unstable emotional stage. When angry, they do not know how to solve it and what lies as alternative problem-solving methods.

In the light of extreme juvenile cases, the juvenile system has conceded age exceptions, by allowing juveniles that commit heinous crimes to be divided into a system where they aren’t tried as an adult based on the fact that they’re only kids. If the belief that they are only kids, shouldn’t they learn that when their kids, the actions they commit have consequences. Although it’s understandable if the juvenile system argues, that for many kids, their parents play a huge part on their developments, but in the case that there is parental neglect, and they don’t know the consequences of their actions, then they shouldn’t be tried as an adult, largely based on the fact that they don’t have parents to teach them values, and the result is that their brains are incapable of knowing the capacities of their actions. If this is the result, then the reasons to not tried them as an adult, is correct, but the reasons to

“The cornerstone principle of the juvenile justice system in the United States is the idea that young people are different from adults.” (American Civil Liberties Union). Yet the current American juvenile justice system has, and continues to rely heavily on incarceration as means of deterrence and punishment, which is the same strategy used in the adult justice system. “Adolescents differ from adults in the way they behave, solve problems, and make decisions. There is a biological explanation for this difference. Studies have shown that brains continue to mature and develop throughout childhood and adolescence and well into early adulthood. Scientists have identified a specific region of the brain called frontal cortex, that controls reasoning and helps us think before we act, and is still

It is unfair for American children to know that though they can be innocent, they are treated as adults when they turn thirteen in some states. Although children have to learn the difference between what is right and wrong in their first years of life, most of them do not have enough experience to show that they are capable of living within society independently. Nonetheless, when they commit a serious crime-accidentally or purposely, the state mandate allows the judicatures to try them as an adult. There is a flaw here because they do not have a set personality, nor they can readily understand how humans abide by the law, nor do they have the cognitive ability to understand how to live in society. This paper will argue that the idea of

Developmental Psychology has widened my perspective and knowledge of the nature of development from humans’ infancy to adolescence and emerging adulthood. Although I have learned about biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes and periods of development, I am especially interested in socioemotional development in infancy because it is the foundation for a child’s future development. That is to say, if children have a healthy socioemotional development from infancy, they will have a healthy life later on. By understanding the developmental process in infancy, I will be fully prepared when I have children or when my family’s members do.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary (1828), “observation is an act of recognizing and noting a fact or occurrence.” Observation in Early Childhood is important so teachers are able to meet developmental needs of young children through evaluation and assessment. The purpose of this case study is to observe the characteristics and behaviors of a child’s stages of development in an early childhood class; the child’s dominant stages of play would also be highlighted based on Parten’s stages of play. Activities and strategies would also be recommended to improve areas in which the child can be assisted. These areas would be the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.