An introduction to child development, a book by Thomas Keenan, is an intriguing book that covers predominant issues in development of a child. The book is written well and it offers an exceptional covers of developmental psychology theories and techniques. Notably, the author has provided a grounding of principles which directs theory and research in modern child growth. Evidently, the book reviews research methods and theories which are quite significant in gaining substantial knowledge in developmental psychology. The book is wonderfully organized thereby making it easier for readers to gain clear and comprehensive understanding.
Of note is that the author has provided aims and objectives of each topic covered in each chapter. He has provided this at the beginning of each chapter. In addition, at the end of each chapter the author has made available learning points, word list, summaries of chapter as well as propositions for supplementary reading. The book also contains some sample questions which act to check on student’s understanding. More importantly, this outstanding book has new contents on moral growth and biological fundamentals of development thereby making it a choice for scores of learners as well as instructors (Keenan, 2002).
Thomas Keenan’s book has ten chapters which are clearly outlined. These chapters seek to highlight some of the issues that children face during their physical and psychological growth. It is worth noting that most of the issues that children face are well explained through development theories which Thomas has significantly provided for the reader. The author of has explained development as way of moving from one stage to another. He asserts that development encompasses several capacities which usually take different ways as well as depict different transformations or steadiness.
The book highlights key philosophies of growth such as the belief that growth includes both losses and gains. Such principles have also be backed by other writers such as Baltes who asserts that the process of development entail features of development and decline. The author has visibly provided major theories of development. Among the major theories included in this outstanding book is human personality theory by Freud. Freud states that development is as a result of conscious needs to fit to the reality and unconscious drives.
In this theory, a child goes through five developmental stages which are “oral, anal, phallic, latency as well as genital stage. Each an every stage spins around the progress of sexual inclinations. An infant of less than two years directs his/her interest on the mouth whereby he/she bits, sucks or chews. According to Thomas, children at this stage enjoy such behaviors. They find such behaviors as a source for contentment. However, as provided in the book, during the second year of a child’s life, he/she enters the anal stage whereby the enjoyment shifts from the mouth to eliminative function.
From this stage the child shifts to phallic stage which takes place between three and six years of age. In this stage the child’s interest revolves around his/her genitals. At some point in this stage, if the child is a boy, he becomes more attracted to his mother while a girl child becomes more attracted to her father. This subsequently leads to latency stage which goes through puberty where the child becomes more interested in developing both intellectual skills and social skills. The final stage otherwise known as genital stage takes place during puberty whereby the adolescent child awakens his/her sexual desires.
All through this stage the child seeks for suitable peers rather than family members (Keenan, 2002). .Conspicuously, the book mentions some other major theories which influence a child growth. Some of these theories mentioned in the book are Piaget development theory, Erickson timeline theory, and Vygotsky social cultural theory among others. Before a child becomes of an adult there are various changes that takes place in her/his physical body and more importantly the mental growth. Notably, a child’s development comes with various issues and concerns.
Thomas Keenan has provided a book that seeks to highlight these stages in different categories. The issues that children face are eloquently discussed in various developmental stages. The author first focused on perceptual development. The book highlights a child’s perceptual abilities and competencies which are enhanced by the surrounding environment. A child becomes very keen on every aspect of his/her surrounding environment. The reaction to the environment is as a result of the child’s perception to that particular environment.
A child’s motor activities and perceptual activities are obstinately linked. A child’s perception begins at birth. A child’s perceptions changes during the first few days of his/her lives. Some children perceptual capacities are genetically inherited while others gain their perceptions from nature and the environment through in which they are nurtured. Conversely, the book stresses that a child’s perception is as a result of the relationship between nurture and nature. A child’s visual, olfactory, taste and tactile perceptions helps the child in interrelating with other human beings.
It is therefore important that a child develop perceptions since they support biological growth although these perceptions usually have reflective effects on their cognition and social development. The book has provided some major theories on perception development such as the Gibson’s theory whose major concept is the idea of affordances which are perceived through utilizing invariance in the visual surrounding. Notably, affordances are qualities of an object that allows a child to interact with a particular object in various ways (Keenan, 2002).
Another issues discussed in the book is cognitive development which emphasizes on a child’s intelligence development. Cognition also stresses on the role of brain power process which include, how a child thinks, remembers and analyzes a particular issue. To highlight the different ways through which a child develops and overcomes cognition issues, Thomas a provided some of the major cognitive development theories which include and Piaget’s cognitive theory. Jeans Piaget proposes that a child’s develops cognition through four different stages.
The stages demonstrate a child’s knowledge structure eventually leading to characteristic way of thinking. As highlighted in this book, the stages include sensorimotor whereby the child acts on the world. The second stage is the preoperational stage. In this stage the child uses figurative presentations while in concrete operational stage the child develops logical thinking. In the final; stage a child acquires the capacity to think more conceptually. Another issue that faces a child during his/her growth is development of emotions.
It is worth noting that Infants cannot be in a position to utter a single understandable word until they are a year old for children with a normal and sound mind. There are different ways in which a child can try to seek the attention of his/her parents and also ways in which a child shows and demonstrates her anger, sorrow, fear, happiness among other feelings. It is quite evident that an infant communicates through emotions in response to activities, behaviors of people and the environment around them.
It is for this reason that they need to develop emotions which helps them in communicating with the surrounding environment. As a child grow his/her emotion advances with age as provided by Eriksson development theory. Keenan has used this theory to underline a child’s development of emotions (Keenan, 2002). However, it is worth noting that Eriksson theory of development basically addresses different stages of an individual’s life as well as questions individuals ask in each development stage. Each stage has a timeline which according to him is the literal point one is during her/her life.
Notably, a child’s points in life are usually identified by what he/she need or require at that time in life. Thomas has provided an intriguing outline which highlights the major issues that a child experiences during his/her growth. Since a child cannot use emotions for the rest of her/his life, he/she develops a language that makes his interaction to the environment easier. A child struggles to develop language skills. This is highlighted through theories of moral reasoning which involves the brain as the central aspect.
Keenan states that an infant at birth has a brain that weighs 25 percent of an adult growth . A child brain grows constantly and smoothly thereby enhancing the child’s physical and mental growth. An infant also develops social skills which enhances his/her social life. Notably social interactions are crucial in enhancing a child’s cognitive developments as well as emotions build up. In the book, the author has used social development theories such Vygotsky social cultural theory. It is evident that a child’s physical and mental growth is enhanced through the environment, genes as well as hereditary factors.
Keenan has provided both environments, biological and psychological aspects that support a child development. However, there are various issues that make it possible for a child’s growth. These issues include emotions, language, social skills as well as perceptions. Keenan has provided a book that offers clear understanding to students; it has provided major theories and research methods that help students in understanding human development from childhood to adulthood. The author has also enhanced student’s understanding through provision of learning points, chapter expectation and glossaries (Keenan, 2002).
Reference
Keenan,T.(2002).An introduction to child development. London: SAGE Publication
