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Early childhood development is the period of rapid physical, psychological and social growth and change that begins before birth and extends into early childhood. [1] While early childhood is not well defined, one source asserts that the early years begin in utero and last until 3 years of age.
Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan. [1]
When an aspect of development is strongly affected by early experience, it is said to show a high degree of plasticity; when the genetic make-up is the primary cause of development, plasticity is said to be low. [60] Plasticity may involve guidance by endogenous factors like hormones as well as by exogenous factors like infection. [57]
In psychology, the term early childhood is usually defined as the time period from birth until the age of five or six years, [1] therefore covering infancy, Pre-K, kindergarten and first grade. There are three simultaneous development stages: [ 2 ] It is distinct from early childhood education , and does not necessarily refer to the same ...
Infant cognitive development is the first stage of human cognitive development, in the youngest children. The academic field of infant cognitive development studies of how psychological processes involved in thinking and knowing develop in young children. [ 1 ]
In psychology, developmental stage theories are theories that divide psychological development into distinct stages which are characterized by qualitative differences in behavior. [ 1 ] There are several different views about psychological and physical development and how they proceed throughout the life span.
The Maturational Theory of child development was introduced in 1925 [1] by Dr. Arnold Gesell, an American educator, pediatrician and clinical psychologist whose studies focused on "the course, the pattern and the rate of maturational growth in normal and exceptional children"(Gesell 1928). [2]
The Gesell Developmental Schedules claimed that an appraisal of the developmental status of infants and young children could be made. The Gesell Developmental Schedule believes that human development unfolds in stages, or in sequences over a given time period. These stages were considered milestones, or the manifestations of mental development. [1]