Study Guide Questions

1. What are the major theoretical perspectives on child development?
   
   
2. Identify the major tenets of the social-constructivist perspective.
   
   
3. How have ecological models influenced assessment and educational practices?
   
   
4. What is your own view on what children need to develop and learn?
   
   
5. How are theory, research, and practice related? Identify an instance in your professional life that illustrates the relationship among them.

Answer Key

1. Nativist — Development is genetically determined and occurs through maturation.
   
   Behavioral — Development is viewed as resulting from the external reinforcement of associations between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses.
   
   Interactionist — Development is viewed as resulting from interactions between an organism and its environment.
   
   Information processing — Development is viewed in terms of changes in memory storage capacities and use of different types of cognitive strategies.
   
   Connectionist — Development or the acquisition of knowledge is similar to the central nervous system, in which neurons activate and inhibit each other in complex networks.
   
   Social-constructivist — Development is viewed as the internalization and transformation of routines, skills, and ideas that children learn through participation in shared activities with adults or more capable peers.
   
   Systems theory — Development occurs as a result of complex interactions among interdependent subcomponents of a system. New global patterns of behavior emerge that are different from the sum of their individual components.
   
   
   
2. a. Children progress from simple to more complex behaviors primarily through the introduction of new knowledge at the social level by a more advanced individual.
   
   b. Development is viewed as the internalization and transformation of routines, skills, and ideas that children learn through participation in shared activities with adults or more capable peers.
   
   c. This perspective emphasizes the concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD).
   
   d. This perspective emphasizes the role played by mediation.
   
   
   
3. The involvement of families in the assessment and intervention process is essential to the implementation of ecologically valid practices. A child cannot be isolated from the family, the community, and the values and institutions of the society where he or she is developing. This model stresses cultural awareness in the assessment and intervention process.
   
   
   
4. Any logical response is acceptable!
   
   
   
5. Clinical and educational assessment and intervention tools have been developed based on different theories and assumptions of child development. Adherence to a theoretical perspective on child development informs clinical decision making and choices regarding assessment and intervention tools, procedures, materials, instruments, and interactions.
   
   Again, any logical response is acceptable!