UNIT 5 DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES IN

CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Objectives
5.3 Development: The Concept
5.4 Different Perspectives in Child Development and their Educational Implications
5.4.1 Biological Perspective
5.4.1.1 Maturation Viewpoint
5.4.1.2 Attachment Viewpoint
5.4.2 Life-Span Perspective
5.4.2.1 Selective Optimization with Compensation Model (SOC)
5.4.2.2 Characteristics of Life-Span Perspective
5.4.2.3 Educational Implication of Life-Span Perspective
5.4.3 Bioecological Perspective
5.4.3.1 Educational Implication of Bioecological Perspective
5.4.4 Cognitive Perspective
5.4.4.1 Piagetian Approach or Cognitive Developmental Approach
5.4.4.2 Information-Processing Approach
5.4.4.3 Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
5.4.5 Socio-Cultural Perspective
5.4.5.1 Educational Implication of Cognitive Perspective
5.5 Let Us Sum Up
5.6 Unit-End Exercises
5.7 Answers to Check Your Progress
5.8 References and Suggested Readings

5.1 INTRODUCTION
We all have personal experience with development and are interested in understanding
behaviour of our own, our parents, children and friends. But, it is sometimes difficult
to understand as to why some of us behave and act in a particular way and others in
a different way. Among the captivating questions we shall address in this Unit are:
How do environmental influences shape human development? How do children
change physically and mentally as they age?
This Unit will help you to find answers for the above questions and thus make you
understand the reasons for different ways children behave as they grow up. We shall
begin our discussion by explaining the concept of human development. Having
acquainted with the concept of development, you will then study different perspectives
in child development. This Unit establishes the basis for the subsequent Units in
Block 2 by providing a brief introduction to different perspectives in child
development. It also presents some ways that you might use knowledge about children
to promote positive development. Finally, this unit addresses you, as a teacher/
prospective teacher, to mould your own perspectives while interacting with children
based on the underpinning of various perspectives. Hope that you will enjoy reading
this Unit and will use the knowledge gained in your classroom. 23
Growing Up : Infancy to
Adulthood 5.2 OBJECTIVES
After going through this Unit, you should be able to:
 define the concept of development;
 discuss the various perspectives in child development;
 explain the biological perspective in child development;
 examine the life-span perspective in child development;
 analyze bioecological perspective in the context of child development;
 discuss cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives of child development; and
 apply the knowledge of various perspectives in child development while dealing
with children.

5.3 DEVELOPMENT: THE CONCEPT

In Unit 4 you have studied about the terms growth and development and how each
differs from the other. Now, you know that development describes the growth of
human beings throughout the lifespan, from womb to tomb. It refers to qualitative
and quantitative changes in child’s growth. Development entails many changes which
fall into four broad domains- (i) physical development, (ii) cognitive development,
(iii) psychosocial development, and (iv) moral development. You will study these
changes in detail in Unit 6. In brief, you may explain development as a series of
overall changes that occur in an individual due to the interaction between biological
and environmental factors.

5.4 DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES IN CHILD

DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR EDUCATIONAL
IMPLICATIONS
There are various ways to analyze and understand human behaviour. A variety of
perspectives in child development can be utilized when studying as to how individuals
think, feel, and behave. What we know about child development is grounded in
various perspectives on development. Different perspectives on development explain
behaviour as well as predict behaviour that can be observed.
Let’s consider the following illustration:
Case 1: Three and a half year old Nitha has started trying to dress herself
each morning. She regularly wears her shoes on the wrong feet, and puts
on her frock inside-out. When someone comes for her help, Nitha gets angry
and shouts, “No! Me do it!”
Why does Nitha behave this way?
Is her behaviour related to her age, individual temperament, family
relationship or rearing pattern?
When you try to find answers to these questions, you have to think in various
perspectives as the way developmental psychologists do. They attempt to understand
and explain the behaviour that occurs in our lives. Different developmental
perspectives have been developed to explain the various aspects of human
24 development. You can read some of the major perspectives given in figure 5.1.
 Different Perspectives
in Child Development

Fig. 5.1 Different Perspectives in Child Development

From the above figure, you have seen that there are different perspectives by which
the development of a child can be studied. These perspectives describe and explain
human development. They offer divergent lenses through which we understand the
developmental phenomena. In the next sub-section, we shall discuss the following
perspectives:
 Biological Perspective
 Life-Span Perspective
 Bioecological Perspective
 Cognitive Perspective
 Socio-cultural Perspective

5.4.1 Biological Perspective

Let’s begin our discussion of perspectives with the biological perspective. In the
development of psychology, physiology plays a major role and hence this perspective
is known as biological psychology. Sometimes, it is named as biopsychology or
physiological psychology due to the emphasis on the physical and biological bases
of behaviour. In biological perspective we look at how genetics influence different
behaviours or how damage to specific areas of the brain influence behaviour and
personality of an individual. It assumes that human behaviour and thought processes
have a biological basis. In this perspective, human problems and actions are looked
at and perceived in different ways.
For example, aggression has been viewed in different perspectives by different
psychologists. Psychoanalysts viewed aggression as the result of childhood
experiences and unconscious urges. Behaviourists perceived aggression as a
behaviour shaped by reinforcement and punishment. The biological perspective, on
the other hand, look at the biological roots that lie behind aggressive behaviours.
They might consider genetic factors or the type of brain aberration that may lead to
display of such behaviour.
We shall discuss some viewpoints related with biological perspective. There are
two viewpoints-(i) Maturation viewpoint of Arnold Gesell and (ii) Attachment
viewpoint of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Let us discuss each viewpoint in
detail. 25
Growing Up : Infancy to 5.4.1.1 Maturation Viewpoint
Adulthood
Gesell was one of the first psychologists to systematically describe children’s physical,
social and emotional behaviour through a quantitative study of human development.
He was a strong proponent of the maturational
viewpoint of child development. According to
maturational viewpoint, all children go through the
same stages of development based on the
maturation of their brain and body. This includes
everything from the changing ability to grasp objects
in infancy to the changing way in which children
acquire or collect objects. You might have noted
that development follows an orderly sequence and
that the biological and evolutionary history of the
species decide the order of this sequence. This
viewpoint has been criticized as it did not
Fig.5.2: Arnold Gesell acknowledge individual and cultural differences in
(1880-1961) child development. He created a foundation for
subsequent research that described both average
developmental trends and individual differences in development. Based on this
viewpoint, a normative approach for studying children was initiated. According to
the normative approach, large numbers of children at various ages are observed and
a typical ‘age’ or ‘norm’ for achieving various developmental tasks is determined.
Educational Implication of Maturational Viewpoint
We can see the impact of the maturational viewpoint of Arnold Gesell in school
readiness of children and in early childhood classrooms. According to maturational
viewpoint, readiness is seen as a phenomenon that happens ‘within the child’. Though,
we know that all children follow same stages of development, there will be differences
in rate of development due to genetic make-up.
Another area where maturational viewpoint had its impact is in early childhood
classrooms. It states that children are considered not fit for reading until they had a
mental age of six and a half years (Morphett &Washburne, 1931).Consequently, in
some preschool and kindergarten, readiness activities were developed for children
who were not ready to read yet. This theory is partially responsible for the
establishment of kindergartens and pre-schools.
5.4.1.2 Attachment Viewpoint
Next, we will examine attachment theory which was first proposed by John Bowlby
and later on by Mary Ainsworth. Before going into the details of this viewpoint let us
consider the following case:
Case 2: Roby, aged 11, attended special school from an early age due to
serious speech impediment and behavioural difficulties. His parents, despite
their own limitations caused by childhood and social deprivation, had over
a long time, been interested in his development. They had attended school
functions, taken him on annual holidays and paid particular attention to
his health. All these positive features of Roby’s life gradually disappeared
when his parents started open hostility about the child. When his father
left, he tried to maintain contact but suffered for that, to the extent that he
ran away from his angry mother to stay with his father. He, then, repenting
on his action returned to his mother, but again started feeling love towards
26
 Different Perspectives
father. Roby’s teachers found some changes in him: he could not concentrate; in Child Development
he was the last to leave school playground; he was totally unreceptive to
the speech therapy provision in his education. His intellectual achievements
within the classroom ceased.
How did Roby’s interest in studies disappear?
What kept Roby away from developing close relationship with his parents
later on?
In what ways teachers can help Roby?
These questions might have arisen in your mind while going through this case. You
can discuss with your friends about these questions. The above case throws light on
the importance of stable parent-child as well as teacher-child relationship. Subsequent
paragraphs, deal with the details of attachment viewpoint and attachments needed
during childhood and adolescence stages.
Attachment theory was first formulated by British psychiatrist John Bowbly(1907-
91), and later on elaborated by his colleague, Mary Ainsworth, an American
developmental psychologist. The theory of attachment focuses on the importance of
the early parent-child relationship in developing desirable social, emotional and
cognitive development in children. You may describe attachment as a strong affectional
tie that binds a person to an intimate companion. You know that family is the first
place where a child learns and experiences attachment. The quality of the relationship
between parent and child is important in further growth and development of the
child. Attachment starts in infancy and lasts throughout the life- span. For most of us,
the first attachment we form, around 6 to 7 months of age, is to a parent. In rare
cases, the first care-givers may be siblings or any other relatives. As studied in Unit
2, in diverse growing up contexts, there will be differences in attachment between
caregiver and child. The primary caregivers are responsible for moulding the character
and personality of the child. The mother has some kind of bond to the child naturally
because she carried her/him in womb for 9 months whereas the father has to establish
a bond after the child is born. On the basis of the interactions with caregivers, infants
build up expectation about relationships in the form of internal working models
that aid to process social relationships. Internal working model means the cognitive
representations developed within the child about herself/himself and others. Securely
attached infants will form internal working models reflecting their love seeking bond
towards others. Secure attachment is theorized to be an important foundation for
psychological development later in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. On the
contrary, insecurely attached infants subjected to abusive or neglectful care may
develop inside a feeling of rejection by everyone and consider others as unreliable.
Insecure attachment is theorized to be related to difficulties in relationships and
problems in later development.
Ainsworth’s most important contribution to attachment theory is the ‘Strange
Situation’, a well-known procedure for measuring the quality of an attachment. It
consists of eight episodes that are depicted in the table 5.1.
Table 5.1: The Episodes of the Strange Situation

Episode Events Attachment Behaviour

Observed
1. Experimenter leaves parent and
infant to play
2. Parent watches while infant plays Consider parent as secure
basis 27
3. Stranger enters and talks to parent Stranger anxiety
 basis
Growing Up : Infancy to
Adulthood
3. Stranger enters and talks to parent Stranger anxiety
4. Parent leaves; stranger lets infant Separation anxiety
play, offers comfort if needed
5. Parent returns and consoles the Reactions to reunion
infant; stranger leaves
6. Parent leaves Separation anxiety
7 Stranger enters, offers comfort Stranger anxiety
8. Parent returns, offers comfort, lets Reactions to reunion
infant return to play
(Source: Ainsworth et.al. (1978). Patterns of attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum)

The above table shows the gradual increase in the level of stress infants experience
as they react to the approach of an adult stranger and on the departure and return of
their caregiver. Ainsworth further classified four types of quality of attachment on the
basis of an infant’s pattern of behaviour across the eight episodes. Read the following
table:
Table 5.2: Attachment Classification and Developmental Outcomes

Type of Main Idea Possible Developmental

Attachment Outcomes in Children
Secure Relationship in which  High social
attachment infants have come to trust competence
and depend on their  Maintain warm,
mothers trusting and long
lasting relationships
with others
 Better school
adjustment
 More positive
perception of self
Resistant/ Relationship in which,after  Frequent conflict
Ambivalent a brief separation, infants between parents and
attachment remain angry and are adolescents
difficult to console  More likely to be
pampered by teachers
 More likely to be
victims at school
 Anxiety disorders
Avoidant/ Relationship in which  Difficulty with
Dismissing infants keep away from emotional closeness
attachment parents when they are  Less socially
reunited following a brief competent
separation  More likely to be
victims at school
 More likely to be
rejected by teachers
Disorganized/ Relationship in which  Problems with
Disoriented infants do not understand integration of identity
attachment what’s happening when  Exhibit substantial
separated and later reunited aggression
with their mothers  Self-injury
 Conduct disorders
28
From the table 5.2 you have understood that quality of attachment in childhood has Different Perspectives
in Child Development
greater impact in later stages of life. You have seen children who are respectful and
closer and some who misbehave with you. We all are conversant with some parents
complaining that their children in adolescence show less attachment towards them
and more to their peers. As the peers have the same mind set as that of adolescents,
their relationship becomes stronger. Attachment relationships provide the foundation
of social learning.
Just like infants, adolescents need security and support of parents to become
independent and self-sufficient individuals. Sometimes you may observe that
adolescents who enjoy secure attachment relationships with their parents generally
have a stronger sense of identity, higher self-esteem, greater social competence,
better emotional control and less behavioural problems. The next section will elaborate
on how attachment is important in school context.
Educational Implication of Attachment Viewpoint
As the child grows up, s/he starts mingling with the outside world. Schools may be
considered as the first social system outside the family where children develop
attachment towards peers and teachers. That’s why a school is considering as a
‘home away from home’. You might have dealt with adolescents who express some
kind of behavioural problems especially while dealing with teachers and peers. Let
us go through this case.
Case 3: Sneha became part of boarding school at the age of seven and her
parents left abroad with the second child. In her infancy stage, her parents
failed to fulfill her needs. Now she is admitted to a boarding school and a
fear of abandonment develops in her mind. She shows distrust in the
classroom. She shuts down emotionally and freezes out at something sad
or infuriating. She dislikes timetable routine in the boarding school and
started misbehaving with her friends and teachers. She used to express
that her parents went with her younger brother as she is an ‘unwanted
child’.
What is Sneha’s problem? What type of attachment her parents gave to her? Though
her parents provide money for her studies, why does she still feel as an unwanted
child? What would be your response if you would be Sneha’s class teacher?
From Sneha’s case we may conclude that a secure environment is needed in fostering
of a child. With a secure sense of self, children will be able to share with their teacher
and their peer group. They consider the teacher acting as the substitute attachment
figure. They believe that interactions with adults will be affirming of their own worth.
This frees them to take risks and tolerate frustrations in the learning process.
However, children with attachment difficulties will typically show distrust in the
classroom which may manifest as lack of concentration. Attachment awareness in
schools is needed to resolve the issues involved and to support children with
attachment difficulties, thereby help improvement in behaviour and overall well-being
of both children and staff. Though the teacher cannot be a mother of a child, they
can act as a surrogate of the child. It is also necessary to understand the psychosocial
and learning needs of their children.
It is a common belief in psychology that “nature gives parents a baby; the end result
depends on how they nurture it. Good nurturing can make up for many of nature’s
mistakes: lack of nurturing can trash nature’s best effort” (Harris, 1998, p. 2). Now
let us discuss the life - span perspective.
29
Growing Up : Infancy to
Adulthood Check Your Progress 1
Notes: (a) Write your answer in the space given below.
(b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of the unit.
i) How does maturational viewpoint differ from attachment viewpoint in their
explanation of child development?
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5.4.2 Life-Span Perspective

The perspectives of child development discussed so far have paid little attention to
the adult years of the life–span. While examining the modern perspectives, we could
realize that they emphasize the importance of viewing human development as a life-
long process. If development continues from conception to death, the science of
development consists of the study of those changes and continuities which the life -
span perspective takes into consideration. It is not related to a specific area of
development (for example, psycho-social) or age period (adolescence) rather, it
attempts to understand the development of an individual throughout the life within a
changing socio-cultural context. Think of yourself as an infant, as a child, as an
adolescent and an adult and imagine how those years influenced the kind of individual
you are today. Let us now explore the concept of life-span development and its
importance in understanding development of an individual, and also discuss various
sources of contextual influences. Before entering into the details of life-span
perspective, let us reflect on the following questions:
 How does our understanding of the world grow and change throughout
our lives?
 How do our personalities and relationships develop through the entire
span of life?
 How does achievement motivation of a child vary from childhood through
adulthood?
The above highlighted questions emphasize that a life span perspective is essential in
order to get responses. According to the life-span perspective, human development
is multiply determined and cannot be understood within the scope of a single
framework. It is a field of study that examines patterns of growth, change and stability
in behaviour that occur the entire life-span. We all know that no single stage of a
person’s life (such as infancy, early childhood, later childhood, adolescence, adulthood
and old age) can be understood apart from its origins and its consequences. To
understand a specific stage, the interplay of social, environmental and historical
changes must also be considered. In the next section we will discuss a model
developed by Paul Bates and his colleagues.
5.4.2.1 Selective Optimization with Compensation Model (SOC)
Paul Baltes and his colleagues developed a model named Selective Optimization
with CompensationModel (SOC) wherein an interaction between three processes,
i.e., selection, compensation and optimization are depicted. Selection processes
serve to choose goals, and life tasks, whereas optimization and compensation lead
30 to enhancing chosen goals. For example, older musicians may reduce the number of
pieces they play (selection), rehearse them more often (optimization), and sing them Different Perspectives
in Child Development
in a lower key (compensation).This way they continue their music concerts. Take
another example, suppose a child’s ambition is to become a doctor, among the
various careers s/he has opted for the profession of a doctor (selection) based on
her/his interests and aptitude. S/he has to work hard to score good marks in science
subjects (optimization). If s/he lacks current scientific knowledge will do additional
readings to increase the knowledge in new scientific areas (compensation).Here
you can see that for achieving desired ambition, the child acquired and applied goal-
relevant means and practise goal-relevant skills.. The basic assumption of the selective
optimization with compensation (SOC) model is that the three processes form a
system of behavioural action that generates and regulates development and aging.
By becoming older, individuals select from a range of possibilities due to two reasons-
i) Elective selection and ii) Loss based selection. Elective selection occurs when
one chooses to reduce one’s involvement to fewer domains as a result of new tasks.
For example, during 10th class, students drop out of some social organizations because
of more time required for her/his studies. Loss based selection occurs when one
reduced involvement in some other activities as a result of expected losses in personal
or environmental resources. Or it refers to restructuring of one’s goal hierarchy by
emphasizing on the most important goal. Compensation means the use of alternative
methods when the earlier preferred methods lost its effectiveness. It is different from
selection in the sense that selection refers to choice of goals whereas compensation
refers to choice of methods. For example, a visually impaired student who loses her/
his ability in reading may compensate in reading by using Braille system.
The last process is optimization which refers to the application of methods adopted
to achieve selected goals. Optimization involves minimizing losses and maximizing
gains. The focus of optimization is on the best match possible between one’s resources
(biological, psychological, and socio-cultural) and one’s desired goals. As individuals
cannot achieve optimal outcomes in everything, development becomes an active
process of selecting the right goals and sometimes compensating to achieve the
desired goal.
5.4.2.2 Characteristics of Life-Span Perspective
Life-span development expert, Paul Bates and his colleagues provide many of the
main approaches to human development based on this perspective. They highlighted
the following features of life-span perspective as follows:
Table 5.3: Characteristics of Life-Span Perspective

Key Features Main Idea Example

 Development is a  It rejects the traditional notion that childhood is Spiritual development
life-long process the main period of development
 No age period dominates development
 Development is best seen in the context of the
whole life-span
 Development is  At every age mind, body, interest, emotion and Memory, Thinking,
multidimensional relationship change and affect one another. Intelligence, Information
Development occurs at various dimensions processing, attention are
such as physical, psycho-social, cognitive some of the components
dimensions of cognitive dimension.
 Each dimension has various components
  Acquiring one language

31
Growing Up : Infancy to
Adulthood
 Development is  Different capacities show different patterns of Acquiring one language
multidirectional change over time in early developmental
 Development involves both growth and decline stage is easier than
 In one’s life time, some dimensions expand and acquiring another
others shrink language in later
developmental stage
 Development is  Plasticity refers to the capacity to change in Older adults who
characterized by response to positive or negative environmental regularly engage in
lifelong plasticity influences. mentally alert activities
 One’s capacity is not predetermined. such as playing chess,
 Through practice many skills can be improved. participating in debates
 Plasticity continues into later life-that aging etc. have less chance to
process is not fixed but rather can be changed develop Alzheimer’s
considerably depending on the individual’s disease (Vergheseet.al.
experiences. 2003).
 Development is  Human development is the product of many Two children growing
the result of interacting causes. It can be either internal and up in the same family
multiple external forces or both biological and will have different
causation environmental. experiences if one is a
 Some experiences are common to all at similar differently abled child
ages, others are common to people of a and the other a normal
particular generation and still others are unique one.
to the individual.
 Understanding  Human development is influenced by various Influence of family and
development aspects ranging from biochemical reactions to schools on the social
requires multiple historical events. Hence the study of human development of child
disciplines development is more interdisciplinary.
 Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, Influence of heredity and
biologists, historians etc. have something to environment on the
contribute to unlock the mysteries of intellectual development
development throughout life- span. of child
 Development  Gain and loss are intertwined during every As children gain
involves both phase of the life span. command over language,
gain and loss  Baltes states that gain inevitably brings with it they lose their ability to
loss of some kind, and loss brings gain. Gain use ‘babble sounds’.
and loss occur jointly.
 Development is  All development occurs within a context such Behaviour of a child
contextual as family, orphanage, school, peer groups, reared in a dysfunctional
cities, neighbourhoods and so on. family is different from
 Each of the contexts is influenced by historical, that of a child grown up
social, political and cultural factors. in a normal family.
 As result of changes, contexts exert three types
of influences-(i) normative age-graded
influences, (ii) normative history graded
influences and (iii) nonnormative life events.
(i) Normative age-graded influences imply Attaining puberty,
commonalities and experiences shared by beginning schooling,
individuals within a given age-range. retirement from job
(ii)Normative history graded influences are Terrorist attack, Indo-
impacted by ideological, demographic and Pak war
other social context variables.
 Nonnormative life events are unusual Teenage pregnancy, loss
occurrences that affected an individual’s life. of sight during
childhood
32
5.4.2.3 Educational Implication of Life-Span Perspective Different Perspectives
in Child Development
The major contribution of life-span perspective in the field of education reflects in
the concept and goals of education. Traditionally, you may define the goal of education
in terms of either normative or differential views of individual development. You may
know that a normative pattern of development has led to the focus on developmental
tasks. On the contrary, the focus on individual differences emphasizes on differentiation
and individualization of educational objectives. But in life-span perspective, both
normative and differential developmental patterns that take place in various socio-
cultural contexts are taken into consideration. Moreover, educational goals must be
responsive to social change and education can also direct the nature of such change.
Through this perspective, the role of education that helps individuals to acquire the
generic skills for adapting and optimizing their development in relation to social change
and future change is possible.
Another area where this perspective has contributed is in instructional methodology.
Individual differences in almost every type of intellectual capacity increases through
out one’s life-span. Here lies the importance for individualized instruction in education.
Open and distance learning which caters most to the needs of adult learners has
taken into account the aspect of individual differences and the instructional
methodology to be used. Based on the life-span perspective, your role as a teacher
is to be a facilitator instead of director of learning. When society and teacher determine
education of children, it is children’s freedom to decide the method of learning. You
may feel that how developmental changes in the children across the life-span focus
the need for developmentally appropriate classroom. It is a classroom where children
can initiate their own learning and meets the needs of each child by providing materials
that are age appropriate, individually appropriate, and culturally appropriate. This
perspective also underlines the need for qualitatively different types of training for
teacher trainees working with different age groups. In order to facilitate and optimize
the development of learners, it is necessary to provide varying educational
opportunities. In short, through the life-span perspective the concept of education
broadens beyond the traditional concept of education.
Activity 1
Describe an event in your development that differs from your parent or
grandparent when s/he was your age. Using key features of life-span perspective,
explain this diversity in development.
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5.4.3 Bioecological Perspective

Consider this case:
Case 4: Thara is a teacher working in a junior high school in a rural area.
She received all her education from urban institutions. She faced difficulties
in managing her classroom. Observing children’s behavioural patterns
towards teachers as well as peers, she felt that it was tough to handle these
children. Her colleagues told that these children come from various socio-
economic background and diverse nurturing contexts such as single-parent
33
Growing Up : Infancy to
Adulthood family, extended family, nuclear family, orphanages etc. Most of the children
are first generation learners. Some children are aggressive in nature and
some short-tempered. Her first year was tough. Being constantly alert in
preparing various activities, showing attachment to children, meeting
parents and conducting remedial classes after school hours demanded lot
of time and energy on her part. She tried to understand their family
background. She found that parents deliberatively disengaged from
children’s learning process at home either due to lack of education or
interest. She implemented group activities in the classroom to arouse interest
in children and paid more attention in developing their reading and writing
skills. She convinced parents to take interest in their children’s studies.
Here, we find that Thara is a teacher with bioecological perspective in the development
of her children and in their learning process. She tried to understand her children and
their background. She interacted with children, parents and fellow teachers.From
her understandings she derived some common developmental needs and
competencies such as secure relations with teachers and caregivers, get control
over one’s own behaviour and individual differences among children. You cannot
understand the life course of a child without understanding how that child interacts
with her /his environment. In the 1970s, Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) developed
the ecological viewpoint to explain how all aspects of the environment affect the
child and in turn how the child affects her/his environment. The word ‘ecology’
describes how living things fit in with their environment. Later, it is renamed as
bioecological model of development as it emphasizes how biology and environment
interact to produce development. This model provides a scheme for understanding
how different social processes influence development in different periods. In
bioecological viewpoint, human development is inseparable from the environmental
contexts in which a child develops. It considers that all aspects of development are
like the threads of a spider’s web, so that no aspect of development can be isolated
from others. Bronfenbrenner divided the environment into the four levels as shown
in figure 5.3.

Microsystem
(Parents/caregivers and child)

Mesosystem
(Neighbourhoods, school,peers,
Time

religious institutions)
Exosystem
(Parents' workplace, mass media,
government and social policy)
Macrosystem
Chronosystem (Historical events, attitudes and
ideas of the culture, ethnic group)

Fig.5.3 : Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Development

Bronfenbrenner proposed that individuals grow and develop within a nested set of
influences that is classified as the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and
34
macrosystem. The microsystem is the immediate environment in which the child Different Perspectives
in Child Development
lives in. We know that the primary microsystem for a child is the family. The developing
child may also experience other microsystems such as day care centre (crèche) or
grandmother’s house, neighbourhood environments, etc. You would agree with us
that interactions with immediate environment have an effect on the growing up of the
child. Microsystems really influence development. The more encouraging and nurturing
these relationships and places are, the better the child’s growth will be. Furthermore,
how a child acts or reacts to these people in the microsystem will depend on how
they treat her/him in return. You have realized the importance of family, day care
centers, peer groups, schools and neighbourhood environments on child development.
The mesosystem consists of the interrelationships or linkages between two or more
microsystems. Microsystems themselves are connected to create the mesosystem.
For example, a marital conflict in the family (one microsystem) could make a child
withdraw from teachers and friends in the school (a second microsystem) and as a
result her/his experience there become less intellectually stimulating. Take another
example that a child’s parent or caregiver (one microsystem) takes an active role in
her /his schooling such as participating in parent-teacher meetings (a second
microsystem) and enquiring about the progress of the child, this will help to ensure
the overall growth of the child. Thus, you have come to know that mesosystem
provides linkages across microsystems, because what happens in one microsystem
is likely to influence others.
The exosystem refers to social settings that a child may not experience directly but
that can influence her/his development. For example, if a child’s parent lost job that
may have negative effects on the child as she/he may feel difficulty in paying fees and
purchasing other items. On the other side, a promotion of parent with hike in salary
may have a positive influence on the child reassuring the ability to meet her/his
educational needs.
The macrosystem is the largest cultural context in which the microsystem,
mesosystem and exosystem are embedded. It consists of cultural norms that guide
the nature of the organizations and places that make up one’s everyday life. A mother,
her workplace, her child and the child’s school are part of a larger cultural setting.
For example, the macrosystem in India includes the ideology of democracy and
individual freedom which affect the growth of the child as a responsible citizen. The
macrosystem evolves over time and each posterity may develop in a unique
macrosystem.
In addition to the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem,
Bronfenbrenner introduced the concept of the chronosystem (‘chrono’ means time)
to obtain the idea that changes in people and their environment occur in a time
frame. We cannot study development in a static stage; we must use a video camera
and understand how one event leads to another. For example, societal events like
economic depressions, social policies, wars and technological breakthroughs change
individual development while individuals, in turn, affect the course of history. (Modell
& Elder, 2002).
You might be thinking how to analyze a problem using Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological
model. For example, suppose you have come across that most of the teenagers are
using alcohol in your school how might you intervene in each of Bronfenbrenner’s
environmental systems? Thinking of the family and peer group microsystems in which
adolescents develop, you could provide an alcohol prevention programme to students,
parents or caregivers. In the case of mesosystem, you could use students who are
peer leaders to convince victimized students to keep away from alcohol. You could
also conduct alcohol-free social events at school to reduce the alcohol usage menace. 35
Growing Up : Infancy to Considering the exosystem, the government policy that no liquor shops should be
Adulthood
established close to the educational institutions (for example, the ruling of Madras
High Court that no liquor shops could be established around school campuses and
a minimum distance of 100 metres is required in case of location of liquor shop from
the school) might be effective. Finally, you may conclude that the real source of the
problem lies in the macrosystem (culture) that tolerates drinking among adolescents
especially in the Indian context of reducing the age for alcohol drinking from 21 to
18 years, a community campaign against alcohol consumption could be conducted.
5.4.3.1 Educational Implication of Bioecological Perspective
From bioecological viewpoint, environment influence development by providing
opportunities or setting constraints in children’s everyday activities. You may agree
that the contribution of nature and nurture cannot be separated easily as they are
part of a dynamic system and has dire implications in various contexts like family,
school, media and the wider community. You have studied that how this perspective
focuses on the importance of understanding a child, not on her/his own but within a
macro context evolving through a time frame. It emphasizes that children are affected
by family members and friends and indirectly by social systems such as
neighbourhoods and religious institutions which, in turn, are affected by the beliefs
and heritage of one’s culture. In case 4, teachers like Thara may reflect on her
classroom environment the message that a child is being raised in different socio-
economic backgrounds. Such a teacher may also continue her partenership with
child’s family and other teachers by engaging in frequent dialogues about this topic.
It is necessary for caregivers and schools to provide long- term relationships to the
child. In learning process, it is the duty of teachers to know each child in his/her
microsystem, thereby linking to the mesosystem. This ecological perspective serves
as a basis for understanding the development of social competence in preschoolers.
Instead of looking at single variable like socio-economic status or family stress as
predictors of children’s social competence, it examined a nested array of variables
that would influence social competence. Such variables are individual characteristics,
family characteristics, teacher behaviour and classroom climate. The issues among
adolescents which you will study in Unit 9 of Block III should be comprehended in
terms of bioecological perspective instead of treating them as individual issues.
Another contribution of bioecological perspective is the application of theory to
policy, action research, and making change happen. The ecological belief that all
levels of society impact human development is involved in framing social policy and
programmes at all levels of government. This perspective has practical applications
in work with children and with adolescents. It expresses that the environment of the
child, the community setting of the mother or childcare institutions and the political
structures within which they are living are all relevant when considering programmes
to protect and improve children’s development. This perspective makes us to
understand that the development of children in one culture or one group within a
culture may not apply equally to children in other societies or cultural groups. In
short, it is better to conclude that a child is not merely an outcome of development
but a shaper of it.
Check Your Progress 2
Notes: (a) Write your answers in the space given below.
(b) Compare your answers with the one given at the end of the unit.
i) Match each statement with the correct level of the ecological system that is
given in bracket.
(microsystem, mesosystem, macrosystem, exosystem, chronosystem)
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 Different Perspectives
Sl.No. Statement Level in Child Development
a. A parent attends parent-teacher meeting to
know the progress of the child
b. The number of employed parents who send
their children under the age of 3 to crèche has
increased recently when compared with earlier
days.
c. A parent lost a job that made him to re-plan
his expenditure.
d. A child’s preschool teacher taught her/him to
sing ‘twinkle twinkle little star’.
e. In India, a male (government servant) is
entitled to avail 15 days paternity leave during
wife’s confinement.

ii) What are the five levels of ‘ecology’ that influence child development according
to Bronfenbrenner?
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5.4.4 Cognitive Perspective

Case 5: When 3-year old Faizal is asked how rain drops look like, he answers
“it looks like tear drops”. When his 11 year-old sister, Amina is asked the
same question, she replies: “the shape of raindrops is based on their size. If
it is small, it is spherical in shape and if it is large, the shape gets distorted
until it breaks into smaller drops.” And the answer of their cousin Bushra,
studying meteorology in graduation, includes a discussion on the shape,
surface tension of water and air pressure pushing on the falling raindrops.
A developmentalist using cognitive perspective will analyze the above answers in
terms of one’s degree of knowledge and understanding or cognition. The cognitive
perspective is concerned with the development of a person’s thought processes. It
looks into how we think and interact with the world. We have noted in the above
case that children’s construction of knowledge changes over time. In the cognitive-
developmental perspective, we will discuss three approaches related with cognitive
development. They are:
 Piagetian Approach or Cognitive Developmental Approach;
 Information-Processing Approach; and
 Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
5.4.4.1 Piagetian Approach or Cognitive Developmental Approach
Famous cognitive psychologist, Jean Piaget proposed an important theory of cognitive
development. This perspective focuses on how children construct their understanding
of the world as they pass through four stages of cognitive development through
assimilation (responding according to existing schemas) and accommodation
(modifying a schema to fit new information). Each of these age-related stages consists
of different ways of thinking. Each stage represents a fundamental change in how
children understand and organize their environment. In Piaget’s words, it is said that
‘Children think differently from adults’. A child’s cognition is qualitatively different
from one stage to another as shown in the following table:
37
Growing Up : Infancy to Table 5.4: Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Adulthood
Stage Approximate Features
Age
Sensorimotor stage Birth to 2 years Infants gain knowledge of the
world through their senses and
motor skills.
Preoperational 2 to 7 years Children begin to use words and
stage numbers to represent aspects of
the world through her or his
perspective.
Concrete 7 to 11 years Children begin to think logically
operational stage about concrete things but have
difficulty in understanding
abstract concepts.
Formal 11 years and Adolescents think about abstract
Operational stage beyond and theoretical concepts; use
logic to find creative solutions to
problems.

From case 5, you have read the various responses given by children in different age
groups regarding the appearance of rain drops. By using the cognitive perspective,
developmental researchers try to explain how children and adolescents process
information and how their understandings affect their behaviour.
The criticism levelled against Piagetian perspective is that his theory perceives cognitive
development as discontinuous. You have read how Piaget presented the four distinct
stages in which the quality of cognition differs from one stage to the next. However,
in the view of developmentalists, growth is considered as a continuous process.
They have put forward another perspective known as the information processing
approach which we will discuss in the next paragraph.
5.4.4.2 Information-Processing Approach
Information-Processing approach traces the ways individuals manipulate information,
monitor it and strategize about the information. As this approach is built from Piagetian
research, it is also known as Neo-Piagetian approach. It explains how the thinking
process of children develops through childhood and adolescence. Unlike children,
adolescents develop a larger capacity for processing information enabling them acquire
more complex knowledge. Like computers, human cognition also consists of mental
hardware and mental software. Mental hardware consists of cognitive structures,
including different memories where information is stored; whereas mental software
includes organized sets of cognitive processes that assist individuals to complete
specific tasks. For example, if a student wants to do well in an examination, s/he
must encode the information during reading, store it in memory, and then retrieve the
necessary information during the examination.
Let us understand how this approach explains thinking process during childhood
and adolescence stages. It is similar with the advancements made in personal
computers. Compare the computers built a decade ago with that of modern
computers. The modern computers have better hardware and software. Likewise,
older children and adolescents have better hardware and better software. You may
get more vividness when you observe that older children easily solve mathematics
problems better than younger children who rely more on calculators. An important
aspect of development is to learn good strategies for processing information. In the
38
next paragraph, we will examine the third approach, i.e. Developmental Cognitive Different Perspectives
in Child Development
Neuroscience approach in detail.
5.4.4.3 Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
The goal of developmental cognitive neuroscience is to know how brain function
gives rise to mental processes such as logical thinking, reasoning, and vision. This
approach looks at cognitive development through the lens of brain processes.
‘Developmental cognitive neuroscience is an interdisciplinary scientific field
devoted to understanding psychological processes and their neurological bases in
the developing organism. It examines how the mind changes as children grow up,
interrelations between that and how the brain is changing, and environmental and
biological influences on the developing mind and brain’ (Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia). The two main principles around which this approach revolves on
are:
 Different information-processing operations are performed at different brain
areas; and
 A cognitive performance consists of breaking down the overall task into
component information processing activities and determining the area of brain
that performs the activity.
From the above principles, we may notice a brain-based approach in studying the
mental operations. This approach has taken into account the neurological activity
that underlies thinking, reasoning and other cognitive behaviour. For example, consider
the interrelation between motor skills and visual-motor coordination that requires
high cognitive functions which attains maturity by late adolescence. We see children
suffering from Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a developmental
disorder that affects both cognitive and motor functioning. In many children with
cognitive developmental disorders, movement deficits are evident. More research is
underway on dyslexia, specific language disorder and autism. Interaction of genetic
and environmental factors during development is another area of concern of
developmental cognitive neuroscience psychologists. Thus, this approach studies
how the physical brain and nervous system along with other intangible factors lead
to patterns of thought and behaviour.
When we go through the Piagetian information processing and developmental
cognitive neuroscience approaches, we may see that they do not take into account
the socio-cultural context in which development takes place. Though socio-cultural
perspective comes under the category of cognitive perspective, we will discuss this
perspective in detail in the forthcoming paragraphs.
Check Your Progress 3
Notes: (a) Write your answer in the space given below.
(b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of the unit.
i) How information-processing approach and developmental cognitive
neuroscience approach are differing from each other?
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Growing Up : Infancy to 5.4.5 Socio-Cultural Perspective
Adulthood
Socio-cultural perspective emphasizes the role of culture and social interaction in
the process of child development. Lev Vygotsky, the propounder of socio-cultural
perspective, focuses that a child’s thinking does not develop in a vacuum but rather
is influenced by the sociocultural context in which s/he grows up. Vygotsky believed
that the development of memory, attention and reasoning includes learning to use the
language, mathematical systems and memory strategies that is prevalent in a society.
Thus, it is clear that each culture provides its members with certain tools of thought.
The ways in which individuals in various cultures passed information to posterity is
embodied in various languages; thereby shape thoughts. Hence we may say that
thinking varies across social and historical contexts.
The collaborative strategy that is used in classrooms with which you are familiar is
developed from this socio-cultural perspective. In this strategy, knowledge is not
generated from within the individual but rather is constructed through interaction
with other people who have different thought processes and who belong to various
cultures. When Piaget considered children as independent explorers, Vygotsky tended
to see them as social beings who develop their minds through their interactions with
parents, teachers, and others as scaffold.
Check Your Progress 4
Notes: (a) Write your answer in the space given below.
(b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of the unit.
i) What role does culture play in child development?
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5.4.5.1 Educational Implication of Cognitive Perspective
Piagetian perspective on qualitative development had an important impact on
education. We may note that many educational programmes are now built upon the
belief that children should be taught at the level for which they are developmentally
appropriate. Piaget’s theory has been applied in many ways –from the creation of
innovative learning toys for children to the ways teachers plan lessons. Beyond this,
a number of instructional strategies have been derived from Piaget’s work that includes
providing a supportive environment, utilizing social interactions and peer teaching.
Information-processing approach has great implications in teaching and learning
process especially for students with learning and behavioural problems. As a teacher
or prospective teacher, you could modify your teaching-learning environment to
facilitate the attention of students through various meta-cognitive strategies. You
could use various teaching skills to retain information for a long time active in working
memory. This approach also led to the development of Atkinson and Shiffrin model
of memory which is similar to computer analogy. According to this model memory,
information is processed in a series of steps. Memory has three distinct stages such
as sensory memory, short-term memory and long- term memory. The developmental
cognitive neuroscience approach opened new window into normal and abnormal
development. It suggested different types of treatment in abnormalities which is useful
40 for handling children in an inclusive set up.
The socio-cultural perspective focuses on the role of culture and environment in Different Perspectives
in Child Development
defining the readiness of child for schooling. It rejects the notion of considering
readiness as something ‘within the child’ and as external evidences of learning. It
considers that readiness for schooling is shaped by the family members and people
in communities. In this viewpoint, you can see that the responsibility of readiness for
schooling shift from the child to the community. However, under this viewpoint, the
readiness may differ from one community to the other.
Check Your Progress 5
Notes: (a) Write your answer in the space given below.
(b) Compare your answer with the one given at the end of the unit.
i) Explain the educational implication of cognitive perspective in child development.
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5.5 LET US SUM UP

From the above paragraphs, you might have learned about the various perspectives
in child development. Each of the perspectives portrays different ways of explaining
human development. Biological perspective studies the physical basis of human
behaviour. Life-span perspective examines the pattern of growth and change in
behaviour that occur the entire life-span. Regarding cognitive perspectives, a person’s
thought process is taken into consideration. In bioecological and sociocultural
perspectives, you have seen how ideas about development have originated according
to environment and culture. After understanding the essence of each theory, you
may conclude that no single theory provides a complete explanation of all aspects of
development. Our understanding of child development has changed and will continue
to change, as we go through one perspective to the other.

5.6 UNIT-END EXERCISES

1. Using an example from a ‘child growing up in orphanage’, use Bronfenbrenner’s
bioecological model to describe relevant features which have influenced her/
his development.
2. Which of the theories do you consider more appropriate to explain your own
development? Why?
3. How do any two of the perspectives discussed in this unit explain the
development of children?

GLOSSARY
Multiply determined: Something that is caused by more than one factor or event.
Schema: A cognitive framework that places a concept into categories and
associations.
Reinforcement: A response to a behaviour that causes that behaviour to happen
more.
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Growing Up : Infancy to Punishment: Administering a negative consequence or taking away a positive
Adulthood
reinforcement to reduce the likelihood of an undesirable behaviour occurring.
Scaffold: Refers to an adult who helps the child to construct knowledge by providing
guidance and support.
Metacognition: Awareness or analysis of one’s own learning or thinking processes
(Merriam- Webster, 2012).

5.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Refer section 5.4.1.1 and 5.4.1.2
2. i) a. Mesosystem
b. Chronosystem
c. Exosystem
d. Microsystem
e. Macrosystem
ii) Microsystem, mesosystem, macrosystem, exosystem and chronosystem
3. Refer section 5.4.4.2 and 5.4.4.3
4. Refer section 5.4.5
5. Refer section 5.4.5.1

5.8 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of
attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Allen, J. & Land, D. (1999). Attachment in adolescence. In J. Cassidy & P. Shaver
(Eds.), Handbook of attachment. New York: Guilford.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Attachment (Vol. 1). New York: Basic.
Harris, J. R. (1998). The nurture assumption: Why children turn out the way
they do. New York: Free Press.
Kail, Robert V & Cavanaugh, John C. (2013). Human development- A life-span
view (6thed.).United States: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Levine, Laura E. &Munsch, Joyce. (2011). Child development-an active learning
approach. California, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
Markeiwicz, D., Doyle, A. B., & Brendgen, M. (2001). The quality of adolescents’
friendships: Associations with mothers’ interpersonal relationships, attachments to
parents and friends, and prosocial behaviours. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 429-
445.
Meisels, S.J. (1999). Assessing readiness in R.R. Pianta& M.M. Cox (eds.) The
transition to kindergarten. Baltimore, MD: Paul Brookes, 39-66. Retrieved from
http://www.gulfbend.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=10105.
Riley,M.W.(1979).Introduction. In M.W. Riley (Ed.), Aging from birth to death:
Interdisciplinary perspectives; Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

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Sigelman, Carol K. & Rider, Elizabeth A. (2003). Human development. New Different Perspectives
in Child Development
Delhi: Cengage Learning India Private Limited.
St. Rosemary Educational Institution. Growth and development theory: ARNOLD
GESELL (1880 – 1961). http://schoolworkhelper.net/. St. Rosemary Educational
Institution, Last Update: 2015. Web. Retrieved from http://schoolworkhelper.net/
growth-and-development-theory-arnold-gesell-1880-%e2%80%93-1961 on
05/12/2015.
Santrock, John W. (2007). Adolescence (11th ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company Limited.
Verghese, J., Lipton, R.B., Katz, M.J., Hall, C.B.,Derby, C. A.,Kuslansky,G.,
Ambrose, A.F., Sliwinski,M., &Buschke, H.(2003). Leisure activities and the risk
of dementia in the elderly. New England Journal of Medicine, 348, 2508-2516.

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