Basic questions...

What observations of cross-cultural education systems would you need in order to make meaningful comparisons of each system’s effectiveness?

To provide a comprehensive comparative analysis, each education system should be observed thoroughly in multiple areas. Although the school environment itself is obviously critical, the economic status and involvement of the parents and the surrounding community are important as well. According to the text, “intelligence is fostered by a stimulating and responsive environment.”  If an emphasis is placed on academic excellence in a safe and nurturing environment with compassionate instructors familiar to each individual student, positive results are consistently achieved. (Kail 2010)

The growing diversity of student populations and ethnical variances between different school districts presents the challenge of comparing performance on each of these levels without neglecting to account for differences in cultural background. Different tests are currently under development to provide culture-fair testing. The Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT) has been argued to provide fairer results than the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – III (PPVT-III). Continued research in such culturally unbiased tests will facilitate meaningful comparisons of each system’s effectiveness.

Does the research evidence, to date, support establishing joint custody, as the standard custody arrangement?

Children of divorced parents must undergo considerable adjustment in comparison to children of intact families. The behavioral and emotional adjustments affected include school achievements and general conduct, while the divorce specific adjustments tend to be more related to family relationships and self-esteem. According to our text, children and adolescence adjust more readily when the parents retain joint custody. (Kail, 2010)

This view is supported with meta-analytic research conducted on 33 studies involving over 2600 children from 1982-1999. (Bauserman, 2002) The research states quite clearly that “the results are consistent with the hypothesis that joint custody can be advantageous for children in some cases, possibly by facilitating ongoing positive involvement with both parents.” The study further concluded that the children from joint-custody families were far more similar to children of intact families than children in sole-custody settings.

Evaluate the relative contribution of heredity and environment to development during adolescence.

In the not so distant past, it was common to hear people debate the nature vs. nurture argument. Current research now commonly reflects a combined view, each theory supporting the other. In terms of adolescent development, the text states that “environmental circumstances trigger the release of hormones.” (Kail, 2010)

Many physical, mental and emotional milestones occur during puberty. From sexual characteristics to physical health to moral development, genetics and the stimuli provided in each individual’s experience both provide profound influences on development. Most research surrounding menarche also consistently supports this conclusion.

Although links exist between twins and mother-daughter menstrual periods, nutrition and health are also factors that contribute to the onset of certain pubertal changes. This is clearly illustrated in recent study investigating Life History theories proposing “that humans have evolved to be sensitive to specific features of early childhood environments and that exposure to different environments biases children toward development of different reproductive strategies.” (Ellis, 2007)

This longitudinal study then determined that maternal age at menarche, socioeconomic status, maternal support and the child’s BMI all together accurately predicted sexual development. Moreover, the “quality of parental investment emerged as a central feature of the proximal family environment in relation to pubertal timing,” confirming the life history perspective. (Ellis, 2007)

Given the evidence, would you assume that improvements in sex education would lead to reduced risks STDs and unwanted pregnancy in young adults?

For several reasons will my answer affirm this question. It is without question that “cultural factors strongly influence dating patterns.” (Kail, 2010) As it is in the nature of education to influence culture, so ignorance also contributes accordingly to development.  A national study recently confirmed that “comprehensive sex education programs are effective” because they decipher the mystery of sex and emphasize safe sex. (Kirby, 2001)

Use of contraceptives resolves many of the concerns with teenage promiscuity. Unfortunately many teens do not use them consistently. (Gordon, 1996) Ignorance is one reason, yet education provides a simple solution here. Teens possess an illusion of invulnerability, difficult to penetrate but quickened with the persistence of proper education. The lack of motivation that frequently is thought to be absolved by childbearing can be countered with the volunteer stream fateful single mothers who themselves experienced teen pregnancy, once again education. The final factor presented by Gordon is inability to acquire the contraceptives. I suggest emphasizing that a condom be a requisite item in any sexual active girls purse, instead of the cultural emphasis that suggests the male provide protection.

Bauserman, R. (2002). Child adjustment in joint-custody versus sole-custody arrangements: A meta-analytic view. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 91-102

Ellis, B. J. and Essex, M. J. (2007). Family Environments, Adrenarche, and Sexual Maturation: A Longitudinal Test of a Life History Model. Child Development, 78: 1799–1817.

Gordon, C.P. (1996). Adolescent decision making: A broadly based theory and its application to the prevention of early pregnancy. Adolescence, 31, 561-584.

Kail, R.V. and Cavanaugh, J.C. (2010). Human Development: A Life-Span View. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Kirby, D. (2001). Emerging answers: Research findings on programs to reduce teen pregnancy. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

McCabe, A. & Champion, T.B. (2010). A Matter of Vocabulary II: Low-Income African American Children’s Performance on the Expressive Vocabulary Test. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 31, 162-169.

Parenting Criteria

It seems apparent that there are already many necessary criteria that must be continuously fulfilled in order to be allowed to raise children, and thankfully so. As a minimum, all state’s laws require intervention upon occurrence of “Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.”

Beyond these bare minimums which are wonderful ideals to enforce, most states include various laws concerning neglectful parents. These mothers and fathers are frequently defined by the failure to responsibly provide “the child needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision such that the child's health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm.” Just as important are the clauses that further protect the child from “injury to the psychological capacity or emotional stability as evidenced by an observable or substantial change in behavior, emotional response, or cognition, or as evidenced by anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or aggressive behavior.”(Gateway, 2009) Some states go further by investigating cases of paternal illicit drug usage and cases involving child abandonment. Other states would do well to follow suit.

So, above and beyond the current system I may have to agree with my fellow students that too many further measures may become questionably unethical. Yet, I will suggest one further basic requirement. Every parent should have a basic knowledge of the course of child development; the government could fund a continuing education program in every community that ensured every parent was sufficiently prepared intellectually to foster optimal development.

Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget laid out the basic principles of cognitive development early in the 20^th century. Because of their natural curiosity, children constructed an understanding of the world with schemes. Then as new experiences are gained, they can be assimilated into existing schemes or used to accommodate a modification. Thus children are constantly losing and gaining equilibrium throughout the various stages of development.  According to Piaget, the only way to progress from the first to last stage was by effectively gaining all the skills necessary in the in between periods. Unfortunately his theory does not account for the unique progression each child actually experiences through these stages and lacks appropriate recognition of Sociocultural influences.

Lev Vygotsky proposed that collaboration with skilled partners provided children with the most important contributions to cognitive development. So called guided participation allows for a shared understanding of expert knowledge with a child. Depending on a child’s zone of proximal development, a parent can gauge the level of scaffolding that will foster the greatest learning for any occasion. Vygotsky recognized that private speech is children’s way of guiding themselves and is what will eventually develop into inner speech. His unfortunate early death prevented him from fully developing his theory, but nonetheless his contributions are very important.

The other main approach to how human thinking develops is based on considering the human mind to have both mental hardware and mental software. With the information processing view, children learn to accomplish specific tasks with a combination of these structures and programs. Essential to this argument is the ability to pay attention by orienting oneself to stimulus in the environment. Repetition leads to habituation, which helps reveal to infants what is significant when learning. With both classical and operant conditioning, children gain expectations and natural responses to stimuli in the environment. The information processing approach provides comprehensive accounts of cognitive change in specific domains and is best understood when used in combination with the other theories.

To boob, or not to boob...

Only in very rare cases would I advise the mother not to breastfeed. Such cases include when the infant is diagnosed with a rare genetic metabolic disorder, galactosemia, or if the mother has a medical condition that can affect the condition of human milk. Several such situations are when the mother has HIV or active tuberculosis, the use illicit drugs or when undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapies (Lawrence, 2005).  This list is by no means exhaustive, yet most mothers fortunately are not in one of these scenarios here in America.

Other than that, the benefits for both parents and child participating in this blessed occurrence are practically limitless. The bonding experience between mother and baby is a wonderful joy and feelings of warmth, comfort and relaxation have oft been reported by others when near a mother breastfeeding an infant. As worthy of note is the perfect nutrition that only the mother can provide. The mother’s body spent as long as 38 weeks assembling this bundle of awareness before introducing the world to another human being, it seems likely that the same body may know precisely when to provide what continuing for quite some time after birth occurs. As there are no electricity or transportation cost involved, the cost savings of producing your own formula can be reallocated towards the child’s future education. This illuminates a new point, the health benefits for both mother and child. Not only does breast milk contain disease-fighting antibodies, but breastfeeding also lowers the risk of breast cancer and type 2 diabetes.

A woman must be aware that breastfeeding is a learned skill requiring patience and practice, but the special occurrence is unique in that it is perfect for continuing optimum development. It is an amazing usage of time and will help develop the maternal bond that lasts throughout all of life.

Niche-picking: A Valid Compromise

A genetically inspired inclination in behavior is an extraordinary proposition. Although a developing human may have a chance to perform a large variety of physical maneuvers and intellectual tasks, how one comes to specialize into an individual involves practice with some abilities and dismissal of others.

The concept of niche-picking attempts to account for the processes of this phenomenon by suggesting each human is born with certain capacities which later cause related tendencies to seek out particular nurturing experiences. This selectivity of behavior would therefore be due in part to the unique sequences within inherited genetic codes and also to each human being’s exposure to external influences in the environment.

Many monotheistic interpretations of the events, occupations and outcome of an individual life are quite resolute in accepting that all they are and ever will be is already firmly recorded in the book of life, which is rather similar to the strictly nature approach. A more philosophical approach would lead one to encounter those who suppose that we are merely creatures of collected experiences mechanically responding to environmental influences under the illusion of free will, which reeks rather heavily of a strictly nurture argument. The theory of niche-picking seems most probable simply because it recognizes the combined effect of genes and opportunity upon human development.

How should Ethical standards be set?

With the utmost respect to all those directly participating in any developmental research, the concern for perfect ethical treatment must be balanced to provide the most good for the most people (Steiner 237), including those people in the future who stand to benefit from some particular research findings. Opportunity costs, or the trade-offs, in ethical cases can be a delicate matter, requiring thorough discussions with a diverse representation of any groups involved with the research before decisions are ever considered.  

When conducting a study, researchers are obligated to follow certain codes of conduct: risk should be minimized, participants should be informed of the research, deception should be avoided and the results should be anonymous or confidential. (Kail 32)Without compromising these essential guidelines highlighted in the text, and considering the study is approved by a panel of experts and community representative, the research must consider all possible utility in hypothetical findings. Members of the panel must carefully weigh any ethical questionability with the possible benefit future generations may receive from results of the research. In the end, ethical standards should provide the optimum overall utility, presently and in later generations.

Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. ( 2010). Human Development: A Life-Span View. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Steiner, John F. (2009). Business, Government, and Society: A Managerial Perspective. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Developmental Theories

In human development, a developmental theory is an organized set of ideas that is designed to explain behavior and development. There are five general perspectives that influence current research on human development:

The Psychodynamic theory – Holds that development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages. In Psychosocial theory, Eric Ericson proposed that personality development is determined by the interaction of an internal maturation plan and external societal demands. It involves eight biologically fixed stages representing people at particular ages and each stage has challenges that must be met with a combination of these inner psychological influences and outer social influences. Once they are met successfully, people are well prepared to meet the challenge in the next stage.  The sequence of stages in Ericson’s theory is based on the epigenetic principle, which means that each psychosocial strength has its own special period of particular importance. So it takes a lifetime to acquire all of the psychosocial strengths.

The Learning theory – The view of the learning theorists is that experiences propel people along their developmental journeys. Behaviorism is a learning theory. John Watson argued early in the 20^th century that people were blank slates. BF Skinner did research studying operant conditioning in which the consequences of a behavior determined whether a behavior was repeated in the future. This consisted of reinforcements and punishments. In social learning theory, people learn much by simply watching those around them. This is known as imitational or observational learning. This is a very complex process that is more than sheer mimicry. People are not mechanically copying what they see and hear. Instead they look to others for information about appropriate behavior. When peers are reinforced for behaving in a particular way, this encourages imitation.

Cognitive theory – Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory suggests that people actively try to understand what goes on in their world and because of reinforcement and punishment, what other people do is an important source of information about the world. He argues that experience gives people a sense of self-efficacy, which refers to peoples beliefs about their own abilities and talents. Due to self-efficacy, whether an individual imitates others depends on who the other person is, on whether that person’s behavior is rewarded and on the individuals beliefs about his or her own abilities. So Bandura’s social cognitive theory is a far cry from skinners operant conditioning. The operant conditioned person who responds mechanically to reinforcement and punishment has been replaced by the social cognitive person who actively interprets these and other events.

Lev Vygotsky was one of the first theorists to theorize that children’s thinking does not develop in a vacuum but is influenced by the Sociocultural context in which the children grow up. Children’s’ thinking becomes more sophisticated as they develop, so by helping children to understand themselves, their growth and the world, thus providing positive cultural transmission, children will respond with an optimum development.

Cognitive development theory focuses on thought processes and the construction of knowledge. The key is how people think and how thinking changes over time. There are two approaches:

The first approach postulates that thinking develops in a universal sequence of stages, the best known example of which is Pieget’s theory of cognitive development. Pieget believed that children naturally tried to make sense of their world. Youngsters want to understand the working of both the physical and the social world. In their efforts to understand their world, children act like scientists, creating theories about physical and social worlds. They try to weave all that they know into a complete theory which is tested daily by experience. Because their theories lead children to expect certain things to happen: when predicted events do occur the belief grows stronger and when they do not, the child must revise their theory. Piagets theory had enormous influence on how developmentalists and practioneers think about cognitive development. This theory is divided into four stages:

·         Sensorymotor – just until they are two, when they develop their senses and motor skills and by the end use mental representation.

·         Preoperational thought – until they are six, where they learn to use symbols. Such as words and numbers, but relate to the world only through one perspective.

·         Concrete operational thought – occurs around 7 until adolescences where the child understands and applies logical operations to experiences, provided they are focused on the here and now.

·         Formal operational thought – occurs beyond adolescences where abstract thought occurs and hypothetical situations and speculate on what may be possible.

The second approach suggests that people process information as computers do, just becoming more efficient over much of the lifespan. Information processing theory is an example of this view. Information processing theory proposes that human cognition consists of mental hardware and mental software. To explain developmental changes in thinking, they suggest thinking about improvements in personal computers and how the software and hardware has improved.

Ecological theory and systems

The ecological and systems approach focuses on the complexities of the environments and their links to development. In ecological theory, human development is inseparable from the environmental context in which a person develops. Urie Bronfenbrenner proposed that the developing person is embedded in a series of complex and interactive systems. He divided the environment into four levels:

·         A microsystem –consists of people and objects in an individual’s immediate environment, i.e. parents and child

·         The mesosystem –provides connections across Microsystems, because what happens in one microsystem is likely to influence another, i.e. school and friends

·         The exosystem –refers to the social setting that a person may not experience firsthand but that still influences development, i.e. parents social network and coworkers

·         Macrosystem –the broadest environmental context, the cultures and subcultures in which all other systems are embedded, i.e. historical events, culture and ethnic groups

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory emphasizes the many levels of influence on human development. People are affected directly by family and friends and indirectly by social systems, which in turn are affected by the beliefs and heritage of one’s culture.

According to the Competence Environmental press theory people adapt most effectively when there is a good match between their competence or abilities and the environmental press, or the demands put on them by the environment. The theory was originally proposed to account for the ways in which older adults function in their environment, but it applies as well throughout the lifespan. This theory also emphasizes that in order to understand people’s functioning, it is essential to understand the systems in which they live.

Ecological theory expands learning theory by insisting that the environment means much more than reinforcements, punishments and observations. Such a theorists would emphasize the different levels of environmental influence in the microsystem used to  balance a home and work in the mesosystem skillfully to contribute to development as well as participation in a cultural group as an exosystem that emphasized the value of success.

Theories involving the Lifespan Perspective, Selective Optimization with Compensation and the Life-course perspective

As modern perspectives emphasize the importance of viewing human development as a lifelong process, the Lifespan Perspective Selective Optimization with Compensation and Life-course perspective ideas developed.

According to the lifespan perspective, human development is multiply determined and cannot be understood within the scope of a single framework. No single period of a person’s life can be understood apart from its origins and its consequences. How one’s life is played out is affected by social, environmental, and historical change, thus the experiences of one generation may not be the same as the experiences of another. A model that has influenced a wide range of research on adult development and aging suggests that human development is complex and cannot be understood from a single discipline. The lifespan perspective suggested by Baltes and his colleagues proposed that lifespan development consisted of a dynamic interplay between growth, maintenance and loss regulation. They identify four key features of the lifespan perspective:

·         Multidirectionality – where development involves both growth and decline.

·         Plasticity – where one’s capacity is not predetermined or carved in stone, but many skills can be learned or improved with practice.

·         Historical context – where each of us develops within a particular set of circumstances determined by the historical time in which we are born and the culture in which we grew up.

·         Multiple causation – how we develop results from biological, psychological, Sociocultural and life-cycle forces.

Taken together the principles of the lifespan perspective create a way to describe and explain the successful adaptation of people to the changes that occur with aging by proposing an interaction between three processes: Selection, compensation and optimization. The basic assumption of SOC is that the three processes form a system of behavioral action that generates and regulates development and aging. Selection occurs for two main reasons:

·         Elective selection – occurs when one chooses to reduce one’s involvement to fewer domains as a result of new demands or tasks.

·         Loss based selection – results when this reduced involvement happens as a result of anticipated losses in personal or environmental resources.

In either case, selection can involve continuation of previous goals on a lesser scale, or the substitution of new goals and it may be either proactive or reactive.

Compensation occurs when a person’s skills have decreased so they no longer function well in a particular domain, causing a search for an alternative way to accomplish the goal sometimes requiring learning a new skill. This differs from selection in the sense that the task, or goal, is maintained, although other means are used to achieve it.

And optimization involves minimizing losses and maximizing gains. The main idea is to find the best match possible between ones resources, biological, psychological, and Sociocultural, and one’s goals. Because people cannot achieve optimum outcomes in everything, development becomes a dynamic process of selecting the right goals and compensating when possible to help maximize the odds of achieving them.

The lifespan perspective and SOC model have provided important approaches to the contemporary study of human development. Finally, the Life-course perspective describes the ways in which the various generations experience the biological, psychological and sociocultural forces of development in their respective historical context. The key feature of the life-course perspective is the dynamic interplay between the individual and society. This interplay creates three major dimensions, which all involve timing and underlie the life-course perspective:

·         The individual timing of life events in relation to historical external events

·         The synchronization of individual transitions with collective familial ones

·         The impact of earlier life events as shaped by historical events on subsequent ones

Research shows that clearly that major life transitions can occur at many different ages, across people and generations. First appearing in adolescence research has shown that life transitions are more continuous and multidirectional than previously thought. The emphasis in life-course perspective on interrelations between the individual in society with reference to historical time has made it a dominant view in the social sciences.