PSY311H5 Chapter Notes -Observational Learning, Track Geometry, Heredity
Document Summary
The study of children"s development is a relatively recent enterprise. In the medieval period ppl viewed children as miniature adults and did not even recognize childhood as a distinctive period deserving attention. Essentially took a while for people to recognize children"s value and vulnerability. Scientific study of children"s development began with the pioneering work of evolutionary biologist, Newborns can recognize their own mothers by smell. Aggressive behaviour in an 8yr old can predict criminal behaviour at age 30. Infants in orphanages have lower levels of the love hormone. Child abuse can lead to changes in children"s brain functioning. Having a close friend can make up for being rejected by classmates. Adolescent girls who have grown up without a father have a 1 in 3 chance of becoming a teen mother. Today most scholars have moved away from the simple view. Early scholars tended to believe that children were simply passive organisms who were shaped.
