Psy 600 - Developmental Profile Paper

Developmental Profile Paper

Ashley Stringer-Franco

PSY/ 600 Developmental Psychology

Tanya Semcescen

June 10, 2013

Developmental Profile Paper

Early childhood and middle childhood are two of the most important developmental stages that a child will go through. In early childhood it is a period of outstanding physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. During early childhood a child starts to develop new motor, cognitive, learning how to talk, and social skills and it has always been a source of astonishment among parents and caretakers alike. In middle childhood a child goes through the hardships of being a big kid but not quite at the teenage years yet. In this awkward time children begin their social, emotional, and cognitive development but the biggest one of all is what happens physically. Both early and middle childhood can be a scary time for parent, caretaker, and child but as long as everyone comes to realize what to expect it will be fine. It is important that everyone understands this so that the physical development for the child (Berk, 2010).

As child develop in early and middle childhood, his or her nervous system starts to grow into its' mature stage. As this mature stage happens, the child is able to do more and more complex things that they were never able to do before. The speed a child emerges with their motor skills can scare a parent to death, especially if their child is not developing motor skills at the same time as other children. Caretakers often worry about if their children is developing their motor skills at a normal speed especially if someone tells them that their child should already being doing these skills by now. Of course the speed of which a child learns their motor skills may differ from child to child. However, almost every child starts to show these motor skills at a reasonably steady speed unless the child has an underlying disability (Bayley, 1993).

When it comes to motor skills there have been known to be motor skills. The first gross skill is called gross (or large) motor skills. These contain the bigger muscles which include the arms and legs. In this motor skill it is basically talking about the actions of walking, running, balance, and coordination. When estimating gross motor skills, the features that professionals look for include strength, muscle tone, movement quality and the range of movement. The last and final motor skill is called the fine (or small) motor skills. These contain the little muscles that are found in the fingers, toes, eyes, and other areas. In this motor skill it is basically talking about the actions tend to be more complicated, which include drawing, writing, grabbing things, throwing, waving, and catching (Bayley, 1993).

Physical growth in the early and middle childhood stages has been known to follow a certain outline. First the biggest muscles in the body develop before the smallest muscles in the body. Muscles in the body's center, legs and arms, grow before the muscles in the fingers and in the hands. For example in early and middle childhood, a child discovers how to execute gross motor skills, like walking, before they discover how to execute fine motor skills, like writing. Second the core of the body grows first before the external areas. Muscles found in the center of the body start to become stronger and grow quicker than those in the feet and hands. And finally the physical growth happens from top to the bottom of the body. This explains why an infant's first milestone is learning how to hold their head up first before they even start crawling or walking (Bayley, 1993).

Early and middle childhood is more than just outstanding physical growth, it also happens to be a period of amazing mental development. Cognitive skills start to emerge, like memory, reasoning, problem-solving, and thinking all throughout the early and middle childhood period. One of the most renowned theorists came up with a few theories of cognitive development and his name is Jean Piaget. One of the important ideas in Piaget's theory is the way he employs schemas. Schemas are cognitive structures or ideas that