ELEMENTS OF

CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(A basic text for students in
Psychology, Education, Home Science, Student
Teachers in Special education,
Social Work at +2 and
University levels)

Prof. K.C PANDA

M.A. (Patna), Ph.D. (Indiana, LiSA)
I—
Retd. Principal, R.I. E., Bhu banes war and
Former Dean of Education,
Utkal University
0RISSA

KALYANI PUBLISHERS
LUDHIANA . NEW DELHi • NOIDA (U.P.)
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COPYRIGHT © 1981, PANDA, K.C.

First Edition, 1981

Third Enlarged and Revised Edition, 1997
Reprinted : 2000
Reprinted : 2001

Laser Typesetting by:

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 DEDICATED
TO MY PARENTS
who never made me any more anxious than they had to
 Foreword
Child Development has emerged as an important area of scientific
work. Several disciplines are involved in understanding the growth and
development of the child. By its very nature, therefore, child development
is an interdisciplinary area of knowledge and work. Social workers and
educationists have been, for a long time, concerned more with child
development and have contributed a great deal in focusing the attention
of the people to the importance of several factors which should be taken
care of in helping the children to develop fully. Although it has been a
truism that "The Child is the Father of the Man", it is only in recent
times that scientific works in the fiel6 of Psychology, Medicine,
Sociology and Education have really developed an insight into the real
meaning of the proverb. As a result of this development, considerable
public opinion and the pressure of interested groups have led towards
greater investment of public funds as well as private funds for the cause
of child development. It is, however, necessaiy to understand the
scientific basis of child development so that public opinion can be more
informed and teachers, social workers and specialists can really contribute
-
in a large measure towards adequate care and nurturing of the children
in our countly.
Although research in this field has been in the more advanced
countries of the world, some work has been done in our country. It is,
however, very necessary to develop much greater research efforts and
mobilise resources for research, both human and otherwise, in order to
develop more specific knowledge and understanding of the problems of
child development under Indianconditions. A book like this, therefore,
is a welcome venture towards giving an elementary knowledge for
students of Psychology, Education and Home Science. As a result of this
exposure some of them might become more interested in developing
their research c'mpetence in the area of child development and contribute
later to scientific knowledge about the development of Indian children
under Indian conditions. There are specificities of the physical,
geographical, social, economic and cultural aspects of the environment
of the child in India, which need to be analytically studied in order to
increase our understanding of the problems and processes of child
development in India.
This book, which is intended to be, a textbook, describes the
general historical trends in Child Psychology stressing the practical
 (x)
applications of Child Psychology. It describes the methods of
observing child behaviour and covers stages of child development
including the development of brain. The author has discussed the factors
which help or retard owth and development and has pointed out the
kinds of research evidence which indicate suitable intervention strategies.
I am glad to see particularly the importance given to play in this book.
Usually exceptional children such as those whQ are socially disadvantaged,
mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, as well as the gifted children,
do not feature in such books. It is good that in this book author has
included a discussion of such children also.
This book should be of use not only to the students as a textbook,
but also to teachers and parents interested in understanding children.
Sd/-
(Shib K. Mitra)
Ex-Director
National Council of Educational
Research and Training
Aurbindo Marg, New Delhi

I
 V

Preface
(3rd Edition)

Why this revised edition ?

A question might be raised by those who have read the previous
editions of the text. There are veiy simple answers to the very well
provoked question.
Objectives of teaching, learning and evaluation have undergone
dramatic changes over the recent past. The student can self learn, self
evaluate and teaching is only facilitatory medium. To learn by one's
ownself requires an understanding of the vocabulary used in the text.
The student will find at the end of the text a glossary of terms with
operational definitions. These will have salutory effect on processing the
text. In the earlier volume this was a conspicuous omission.
There are several self questions embedded in the text at crucial
points to enable the student stop and think and then proceed. These are
advanced organisers introduced in the form of adjunct aids to learning,
formative evaluation and anchor points to get the most out of text.
Objective type of questions, short answer questions, and long
answer questions drawn at different levels e.g., verbatim, paraphrase,
conceptual, and higher order questions measuring knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation are
given at the end of each chapter fairly in large numbers. This aspect in
the earlier edition was more traditional. Answers to all questions are
found in the text and many more. These are but illustrative cases.
What Next?
Thematically or contentwise there are a few changes. A Hindu
theory of human development has been added in chapter 1. Chapter 6
and 7 dealing with baby care and ailments in childhood have been
updated. Socialisation process finds a place in chapter 10. Measurement
of intelligence and measurement of personality have been included in
chapter 13 and 17 to make the contents comprehensive and relevant for
the students.
 (xii)
The chapter on play in children and emotionaf development have
been thoroughly revised. Chapter 19 through 26 have been made more
exact, relevant, and polished by eliminating redundancy and emphasizing
the role of teachers, in reshaping developmental process. A chapter on
National Policy on Children, Early Childhood Care and Education as
per NPE 1986 (R) Programme of Action (1992) and various nutritional
programmes have been added for the benefit of larger audience
including students in Psychology, Education, Home Science, Special
Education and Social Work.
Child development and care is an important area of study. Infact,
the quality of life of any nation depends upon the care and upbringing
of children, an understanding of the nature of growth and development
in all its facets. Of crucial importance is the care and attention of
teachers and parents towards the growing child to develop their physical
and mental dispositions.
There are various ways of observing the child, guiding him,
controlling his movements and behaviour, providing cognitive
stimulation, enriched environment, taking care of baby, dealing with
problem behaviour and common ailments regulating his emotions and
personality, accelerating creative potential and pattern of intellectual
growth even during play. The National Policy document has recognised
the crucial importance of child development and care of children from
the beginning of life, not only after-birth.
The purpose of writing this book is to acquaint students, parents,
teachers, and social workers who are either working or are interested in
knowing about children. Since child psychology is being taught at
Universities in the Faculties of Psychology, Education, Social Work,
Special Education and Home Science students would derive benefit from
this book to a great length. Attempt has been made to make the coverage
fairly comprehensive and practically meaningful to one who is interested
in this area.
At last, I am grateful to M/s Kalyani Publishers and the production
department for bringing out this edition in a nice get-up and well in
time.

1997 K.C. PANDA

 Contents
Foreword (ix)
Preface (xi)

1. CONCEPT, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD

PSYCHOLOGY 1—17
National policy on children, What is Child Psychology?
Nature, Subject matter, Prescientific period in child
psychology, Modern period in child psychology, Theoretical
perspectives of child study, Learning theory, Cognitive
Developmental Theory, Hindu theory of child development,
Practical importance .of child study, Review exercises.

2' METHODS FOR STUDYING CHILD BEHAVIOUR

AND DEVELOPMENT 18—29
Biographical method, Controlled observation, Case history,
Behaviour ratings, Questionnaire and check-list, Experimental
method, Clinical method, Differential method, Cross section
versus longitudinal approaches, Review exercises.

3. PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 30—55

Types of changes, Principles of development, Major
developmental periods, Early experience and critical period,
compensatory education, Factors affecting development,
Maturation and Learning, Heredity and environment, Role of
heredity, Role of environment, Heredity and environment
interaction, Behaviour and physiological variables, Cultural
influence on human development, Review exercises.

4. PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
Signs of Pregnancy, Complications of pregnancy, Mendel's
59
law of heredity, Sex detemiination, Prenatal growth, Period
of ovum. Period of embryo, Period of fetus, Environmental
factors influencing prenatal development, Age of the mother,
Nutrition, Drugs, Smoking, X-ray, Infections and chronic
diseases of mother, Rh incompatibility, Maternal emotional
states, Birth hazards, Teratogenic agents affecting the embryo,
Vitamins, Reveiw exercises.
 (xiv)
5. THE NEONATE: EFFECTS OF BIRTH ON DEVELOP-
MENT 70—77
Physiological and Psychological changes, Pre-maturity, Types
of birth, Birth injury, The new born baby, Crying, Feeding,
Sleep, Pain, Sensory response development, Vision, Hearing,
Taste and smell, General behaviour, Review exercises.
6. BABY CARE AND CHILDHOOD PROBLEMS 78—88
Feeding the baby, Burping and carrying the baby, Bathing
the baby, Bed for the baby, Clothing for the baby, Sleep of
the baby, Teething in the baby, Weaning in the baby, Bed
wetting, Toilet training, The baby talk, Lead poisoning in
baby, Thumb sucking, Nail biting, Review exercises.
7. COMMON AILMENTS OF CHILDHOOD 89—10 1
Children at risk : The immunization process, Allergy, Asthma,
Common cold, Constipation, Diarrhea, Earache, Fever,
Measles, Poliomyelitis, Thrush, Whooping Cough, Wind,
Infant and ineternal mortality, hnplications, Review exercises.

8J PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 102—113

Principles of physical growth and motor development, Physical
growth, Change in body proportions, Change in height, Baby
weight, Nervous system, Motor development, Poctoral
locomotor development, Development of prehension, Pre-
school period, Elementary school years, Factors associated
with physical and motor development, Implications, Review
exercises.

9j EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 114—136

Development of emotion, Maturation and hearing,
Characteristics of childhood emotion, Common emotional
patterns—Fear, Anxiety, Anger, Jealousy, Joy, Pleasure and
delight, Factors associated with emotion, Behaviour problems,
Implications, Review exercises.

10.1 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 137—149

Socialisation process, Early childhood, Late childhood,
Adolescence, Factors influencing social development, Peers
anddWts, Family influences on human development, Family
role In human development, Review exercises.

llj PLAY IN CHILDHOOD i,o—io

Theories of play, Factors of play, Value of play, Characteristics
 (xv)
of child play, Social participation among pre-school children,
Thinking in child's play, Review exercises.
12. CHILDREN'S INTERESTS 16 1—167
Method of observing children's interest, Development of
children's interest, Types of interest, Human body,
Appearance, clothes, names, religion, sex, status, symbols,
school, vocational interest, implications, Review exercises.
13. DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE 168—176
Concept, Nature of intelligence, Development of intelligence,
Factors affecting intelligence—age, culture, rural/urban, socio-
economic status, measurement of intelligence, Uses of
intelligence tests, Review exercises.
14. INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 177—193
Season motor development, Reflex, Primary reaction,
Secondary circular reaction, Coordination of secondary
circular reaction, Tertiary reaction, Mental combination,
Reoperational period, Concrete operations, Classification,
seriation, reversibility, conservation, Mental representation
grouping, Formal operations, Combinational thought,
Implications, Review exercises.
15. DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY 194—203
Characteristics of creative child, Growth of creativity,
Measurement of creativity, Development of creativity,
Creativity and human development, Review exercises.

16./LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 204—217

During school years, Development of language habits, Speech
defects, Factors associated with language development,
Techniques of accelerating language development,
Implications, Principle of language teaching, Review
exercises.
17/ PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 2 18-252
First three years of life, Attachment, anxiety, Inadequate care
in early childhood, critical period, pre-school years, sex
motive, Aggression, Regression, Displacement, Achievement,
Motivation, Anxiety, Identification sex typing, Development
of conscience, Family, School, Infantile autism, What parents
should do ? Do not for parents, Middle childhood, Parental
influence of IQ and achievement, Review exercises.
 (xvi)
18/ MORAL DEVELOPMENT 253—261
Stages of moral development, Development of moral concepts,
Factors influencing moral development, Punishment, Rewards,
Review exercises.

19. MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 262—294

Identification, Components of the AAlvfl) behaviours scale,
Clinical classifications of Mental Retardation, Causes of
Mental Retardation, Preventive measures, Characteristics of
the mildly mentally retarded, Learning and memory,
Instructional Techniques, Personality, Physical fitness,
Creative thinking, Social and emotional characteristics,
Language characteristics, Attention and perception,
Educational provisions, Interventions, School interventions,
Integrated education, Post school adjustment, The Moderately
Retarded, The profound and severely retarded, Review
exercises.

20. EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CHILDREN 295—306

Characteristics of emotionally disturbed, Identification of
emotionally disturbed children, Types of emotional
disturbance, Causes, Educational Programme and Treatment,
Review exercises.

21. GIFTED CHILDREN 307—316

Characteristics of gifted childfen, Identification of the gifted,
Educational Provisions, Non-graded classroom, Special
schools for the gifted, Special class in a regular school,
Grade skipping, Early admission, Advanced Placement and
Credit System, Mainstreaming, Enrichment programme,
Special teaching methods, Review exercises.
22. NItUROLOGICALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN 3 17—324
Neuromuscular impairment, Poliomyelitis, Spina Bifida,
Cerebral Palsy-behavioural characteristics, Epilepsy,
Educational Placement and integrated education, Review
exercises.

23. hEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN 325—332

Identification, Testing techniques, Assessment of hearing
loss using audio meter, Causes of hearing loss, Characteristics
of hearing impaired children, Educational provisions, Role
of Teachers and instructional programme.
 (xvii)
24. VISUALLY IMPAIRD CHILDREN 333—342
Behavioural signs for identification, Assessment of visually
impaired, Causes of impairment, What can be done to
prevent and cure visual impairment, Characteristics of visually
impaired children, Integrated education of visually impaired
children, Development of visual efficiency in partially sighted,
Review exercises.

25. UNDER PRIVILEGED CHILDREN 343—364

Characteristics of under priviledged children, Nutrition,
Deprivation and Achievement, Deprivation, Discrimination
and Achievement, Integration, Intervention and achievement,
Remedial measures, Education strategies for the under-
privileged, Guidance in the service of the disadvantaged.
Review exercises.

26. LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN 365—375

Identification of learning disabled children, Behavioural
tests used to identify learning disability, Causes, Character-
istics of learning disabled children, Education of learning
disabled : The role of teachers, Integrated education setup.
Review exercises.

27. POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS FOR

THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN 376—400
Early childhood care and education — Policy, ECCE-P&A
1992, Health and Nutrition Programmes
GLOSSARY 401—406
REFERENCES 407—420
 1
Concept, Nature and Importance
of Child Psychology

A study of the psychology of childhood if conscientiously and intelligently

pursued, provides a rich background of information about children's
behaviour and psychological growth under a variety of environmental
conditions. It provides information and norms of behaviour and growth for
comparative purposes as well as understanding of basic psychologial process
and socialisation. What then is child psychology or child development.
WHAT IS CHILD PSYCHOLOGY?
Child development or child psychology as a field is defined as a branch of
"
knowledge concerned with both the nature of devlopment and regulation of
significant structural, junctional and behavioural changes occurring in
children as they advance in age and maturity. It deals with understanding the
development of characteristics of children and the process through which
development occurs. In most cases, emphasis is on collection of data and the
methods to deal with such cases. More specifically, child psychology or child
development deals with understanding of growth and development patterns
and the development of various characteristics in children.
Very often two questions arise: Are development psychology and child
psychology equivalent? Can child development be regarded as an independent
area of study? Very often developmental psychology and child psychology
are used synonymously. But there is a difference. Developmental psychology
is that branch of knowledge which studies the behaviour and behaviour
changes that occur during the entire life span i.e. from conception to death.
Child development on the other hand, deals with growth and development
of characteristics upto the age of 14 years. The second question, is it an
independent science ? It is an independent science. It is concerned with the
discovery of general laws in its area of special concerns as an end it itself.
It is concerned with interpreting and predicting individual development. It
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

is also concerned with child guidance and counselling of children. This will
be clearly known from the subject matter with which it deals.
NATURE — IS DEVELOPMENT CONTJNUOUS?
The concept of development presupposes that there is a continuity in
development. This continuity is lawful and is observed between successive
stages of an ongoing growth process and that properties of earlier phase
contributes to the properties of subsequent phase. These changes are
progressive.
Both the hereditaiy predisposition and environmental facilities contribute
to the process of change. There is also reciprocal change between organism
and the enviromnent.
Child development is a natural science. The child psychologists observe,
describe, measure and relate phenomena as they occur naturally in uncontrived
situations. For example, parent-child relationships, assimilation of cultural
values, relationship with peers over extended period of time and under
variety of situations cannot be studied experimentally. It has to be based on
naturalistic observations.
Ethically and practically it is undesirable to manipulate emotions,
attitudes, and values among children. One cannot ask mothers to deliberately
reject her children or reward and like her children according to instructions
in order to study parent child relationships. Children cannot be subjected to
physical frustration, deprivation with a view to studying their effects on
children behaviour.
SUBJECT-MATTER OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
The subject matter of child psychology includes an understanding of the
child from the time of conception, the principles by which hereditaiy traits
are transmitted to children, the prenatal care of the fetus and the mother, the
factors which need much attention such as meternal nutrition, disease, X-
ray, drugs, etc. Knowledge of preventive care constitutes a significant
dimension of study including the understanding of development of ovum,
embryo and fetus.
The next area with which child psychologists are concerned is the
behaviour of the Neonate, his sensitiveness and adjustment processes
immediately after birth upto the end of two weeks. Sensory reception and
stimulation are studied. Much attention is paid to understand the baby during
early childhood and late childhood days with emphasis on childhood growth
and development, factors associated with development, the contribution of
early experience and critical period, role of maturation and learning,
heredity and environment on development.
 CONCEPT, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 3
At the same time, how does the child acquire motor proficiency, or
language proficiency? What are the speech defects 7 How language training
can be given to children ? An understanding of the speech defects is also
another dimension and their remediation.
Childhood emotion is another area of concentration. Development of
fear, anger. anxiety, love, jealousy, and laughter, their causes and coping
strategies are also studied in the field of child psychology. Socialisation and
-social development and the extent to which family, school, peer group
contribute to socialisation. The nature of traits which later on constitutes his
personality. In order to shape the personality what parents should do and
should not do is the basic thrust in this area of study.
Intelligence, and creativity constitute major area of study including
cognitive development of children. How and to what rate cognitive growth
takes place. How does the child develop logical reasoning and thinking?
Both traditional intelligence and cognitive growth are studied by the child
psychologists. While studying these characteristics, they emphasize the
interventions and role of early childhood experience.
Play in children constitutes another area of study for the child psychologist.
The extent to which play contributes to the social intellectual development
of children are the subject matter of study including theories and values of
play. In this area, childhood interests are studied from a developmental point
of view.
In recent years, child psychologists are also studying birth hazards, care
of the baby, childhood ailments and problems and the factors which are
associated with infant and meternal mortality and deviant behaviours from
the point of view of value and moral development in children. Child
psychology thus encompasses the prenatal, perinatal and postnatal growth
and development of all the characteristics of children, the antecedents and
consequences which there by provides effective guidelines for controlling
and predicting behaviour among children.
PRESCIENTIFIC PERIOD IN CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
k Child psychology has now become a more important and vigorous discipline
r in the Western world. But until 17th century there was no special emphasis
on childhood as a separate phase of the life cycle. Plato became interested
in the growth of the child and recognised the importance of early childhood
training in the determination of the individual's aptitudes, adjustments. He
emphasized child-centered education. Within a short span, child psychology
has progressed much. It is worthwhile, therefore, to trace the history of such
developments.
In early days, the child was not considered as a child. He was regarded
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

just as some living organism in transition. In the late 15th and 16th centur
they were considered as miniature adults. Philip Aries, a French historian
has mentioned this in his writing "Centuries of Childhood".
The seventeenth century marked a great change in attitude toward
children and their morals. Parents and teachers considered children as more
lively and delicate organisms. In the Greek period the child was seen as
future citizen and as a member of family. A conception that 'Spare the rod,
spoil the child' was in practice then. An opposite view was gradually
practised by British and other contemporaiy philosophers. John Locke, the
British philosopher viewed the child's experience and education as
determinants to his development. Rousseau, the French philosopher believed
that child is endowed with an innate moral sense. The child according to him
is active. He can adjust to the environment according to the abilities.
As a result of these two new ideas and attitudes, children became proper
subject of study. Pestalozzi, like Rousseau emphasized the innate goodness
of the child and the role of his own activity in his development. In 1774
Johann Pestalozzi published observations, he had written on the development
of his three and a half year old son. For the first time, an account of sensory,
motor, language, and intellectual development of the infant upto 2.5 years
of age was published by Tiderman in 1787. He was his son. But nearly a
century passed before any appreciable volume of work on the subject of the
child appeared. For centuries, concern had been expressed for the education
and proper upbringing of children starting with infancy. Some influential
works in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were : John Locke's some
thoughts concerning Education (1693), Jean Jacques Rousseau's Ernile
(1762), Johann Pestalozzi's How Gertrude Teaches Her Children (1801) and
Froebel's Education of Man (1826).
In the 19th century, the works of Charles Darwin on 'origin of species'
stimulated greater interest in the study of child. Quite in line with evolutionary
process series ontogenetic stages were also conceived in the development of
the child. Child psychology then appeared. With Darwin the child became
a part of the scientific endeavour. Darwin suggested that by observing the
development of infant, one could catch a glimpse of the development of the
species itseff. His own notes on his infant son also drew attention to a newly
emerging method of child study. In 1840, Charles Darwin started a journal
on the development of his son in 1877, almost a hundred years after
Pestalozzi's 1774 publication. Baby biography became an important method
of child study since then.
Wilhelm Preyer, who was a physiologist originally, contributed most to
biographies. Basing the observations on his son's mental development
the first year, Preyer wrote about development of reflexes, and
 CK
Lt))/
CONCEPT, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD PSYCHOV A_jjy-
influence of learning and experience on development of behaviour. His book
"The mind of the Child" is the greatest classic in the field of child
development. These baby biographies inspite of their weaknesses of being
subjective, prepared the groundwork for a scientific child psychology to be
developed later.
Systematic study of children began towards the and of the 19th century
by 0. Stanley Hall (1846-1924) in United States of America. He was
influenced by the idea that child is a developing organism in accordance with
certain sequential stages. He devised the questionnaire method to collect data
about children. He collected written responses to questionnaires from both
parent and children and the papers were published in 1882 and 1883. His
method of obtaining responses and analysing them was definitely superior
to his predecessors. Hall observed the relationships between the child's
personality characteristics and background experience. In this sense, Hall
marks the beginning of scientific and systematic study of child in the United
States. In fact, Hall was the fore-runner of modern psychological tests. In
1883, Dr. Hall worte a book entitled "The Content of Children's Minds" an
early scientific study of the child. Hall became the President of Clark
University in 1889 and made it a famous centre for child study. One of his
student John Dewey, advocated educational reforms within a movement
known as Progressive education. Arnold Gessel was another student, who
became pediatrician and established the norms of development of children
from early childhood. A third student, Lewis Terman, became a leader in the
area of mental testing who later on developed the intelligence quotient as a
standard index of intellectual ability. He also introduced European leaders
to the American educators and hosted Sigmund Freud's only visit to the
United States in 1909.
The French Scholar, Binet also devised
intelligence test to measure IQ in Children
although it remained until 1908 and 1911
for the revised versions to appear. This is a
great contribution to mental testing especially
with children. Concurrently a major effort
was initiated by Watson, who experimented
on the conditioning technique and its use
for developing emotional response in infants.
In rejecting introspection, Watson made
infants and children legitimate subjects for G. Stanley Hall
psychological experiments.
During the 1920's and 1930's many psychologists got interested in child
psychology. Intelligence, learning, language and thinking processes, etc.
were studied with sophisticated methods. Many of the studies during this
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

period were normative, Studying the child was relegated to the back-ground,
instead, study of individual differences became prominent. Normative data
gathering was more in focus.
Lawrence Frank (1890-1968) who was a young economist gave a
vigorous push to the scientific study of the child. In 1920's he became in
charge of the Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Child Development Grants.
Under this grant a child study institute was established in 1924 at the
University of Columbia followed by Minnessota and California at Berkeley
in addition to the .Gessel Clinic of Child Development at Yale and Iowa
Child Welfare Station.
With Rockefeller Grants the focus of child study moved from the home
to the University Centre where pre-school children were observed. Infants
and Pre-schoolers became the focus of search studies in the 1920's. His idea
was to "Bring the best from all the human sciences-biology, sociology,
anthropology, phychiatiy, medicine and physiology and effect joint effort to
understand the normal development of an individual". This step contributed
to interdisciplinary research in the next decades.
From other field of psychology and allied sciences, came greater
influences for the development of child psychology. Psychologists for
example, had the greater influence in the area of motivation, understanding
the dynamics of behaviour, etc. But no less important sources of influences
were the areas of child guidance, clinical psychology, pediatrics, education,
and educational psychology without exception to cultural anthropology.
These fields virtually contributed to the development of child psychology
during modem times.
MODERN PERIOD IN CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
In the modern period, the child is seen as an individual in a total situation.
The child functions as a result of innate disposition and environmental
forces. This has resulted in multidisciplinary child development research.
The physiologists, nutrition specialists, child guidance experts, psychiatrists,
all contribute to our understanding of the child, his behaviour and growth.
Long term research projects have become the order of the day.
In recent years there has been emphasis on the process of development
rather than merely observing the pattern of development as a function of age,
sex, socio-economic status, etc. The developmental emphasis also stresses
the personality development of the child, in which the child psychologists
have an important role to play.
Basically advancement child psychology in the modem period can be
understood in terms of:
(a) Methodology of studying children behaviour
CONCEPT, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 7
(b) Contents of child study.
Looking from the points of view of objective standards in methodology,
it seems that child psychology of today has become stubbornly empirical. The
greatest virtues are objective observation, description, measurement and use
of experimental designs in child study.
Since 1900 remarkable progress have occurred in various fields of child
development. Norms for social, intellectual, physical, and emotional
developments have also been available. It is possible now to predict
intelligence. Analysis of the major developments can also be statistically
analysed and then interpreted.
There is also in increasing recognition on the part of psychologists to
unify the various developments occurring in the field of child psychology and
develop a comprehensive theory of personality, social learning, motivation,
and the like.
Various theoretical stances have also contributed quite amazingly to the
above unification of ideas. Piaget's description of cognitive development,
Sear's social learning theory, Freud's psychoanalytic orientations have
enriched the field beyond expectations. However, during the last twenty five
years certain trends in child development have become quite obvious. They
are
(a) Establishment of norms of thinking, reasoning, creative behaviour
of children,
(b) Mechanisms underlying various changes occurring in the life of
children.
(c) Antecedents and consequents of behaviour change.
(d) Studies of socialization and personality development and the factors
associated with them.
(e) Parent child relationship.
(I) Cognitive development of children.
(g) Use of experimental approach to child forsaking the traditional
correlational designs.
(h) Intervention programmes for enriching personality, linguistic and
cognitive development from early childhood.
The twentieth century has, therefore, become known as the 'Century of
the Child'.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CHILD STUDY
The growing interest in child study, as has been said in the preceding pages,
contributed to various perspectives embodied in the form of theories.
Theories infact describe, explain and predict what will happen in a given
situation.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

contributed to the development of

Freud was a medical doctor, who
psychoanalytic theory at the end of thenineteenth century. Freud's thesis was
that an individual possesses two minds : conscious and unconscious. By
the unconscious and understood
using different techniques Freud investigated
its nature. His main contribution was psychosexual theory of personality
development. The individual is matured by going through a series of stages
that are fixed in order i.e. oral, anal phallic, latency, genital.
The primary source of pleasure comes from stimulation of oral regions
of the body primarily the mouth, in the oral
stage or the infancy stage. Pleasure shifts to
the anus and activities focus on toilet
training in the anal stage. At about age
three, the child's interest shifts to the genital
region of the body and the child enters the
phallic stage of development. During the
elementary school years, the child is in a
latency period that is essentially guilt.
Adolescence brings the genital stage with a
focus on sexual development and
introduction. According to Freud the basic
personality is shaped very early in life. Sigmond Freud
Somewhat around five years of age. Feelings
about the self, development of thoughts
and attitudes are influenced by early childhood familyrelationships. Children
perceive the world very differently from adults. They lack the cognitive and
mental ability to understand all that they see and hear. The purpose of the
psychoanalysis is to appropriately gear adult functioning. Psychoanalysis is
child's development and treats childhood
a theory and therapy. it understands
problems.
One of the students of Freud, named Erik Erikson extended Freud's
psychosexual stages to include psychosocial learning and included some
is popularly known as the 'eight
ideas from cultural anthropology. His theory
stages of man'. Although Erik believes in the Freudian ideas but he places
emphasis on the cultural and social factors that influence the development
at each stage.
Erikson considered infancy as a period during which infants either learn
well their needs are met. Toddlerhood
to trust or mistrust depending upon how
presents the conflict of autonomy vs. shame and doubt which is influenced
by how others respond to the infants own attempts to gain some self-control.
as children learn
The pre-school years are concerned with initiative vs. guilt
themselves. Children who are rewarded
to undertake, plan and do things for
 CONCEPT, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

feel initiative, children who are punished feel guilt. During elementar
school years there is the development of industry vs. inferiority dependin
upon mastery over things. Adolescence is a period of identity vs. identit
diffusion during which the individual tries to become a person.
There is a great deal of crisis in
adolescence. This is best described in
the book Indentity, Youth and Crisis
(1968). Interpersonal relationship is
emphasized in early adulthood, a period
of psycho-social crisis of intimacy versus
isolation. During this period the
individual either develops a meaningful
relationship with another person or does
not. In the middle adulthood, the
individual develops a commitment to
improve the life conditions of their own
children. Erikson calls this stage
productivity vs. self-absorption. The final
stage of adulthood is integrity vs. despair.
In this stage the individual accepts the Erickson
facts of his or her life and face death
without fear.
Both Erickson and Freud considered stage specific nature of development.
Freud has emphasized biological factors. Erickson has emphasized thc
cultural factors. In any case they converge on one point that childhood forms
the basis of later personality and functioning. As such, area of child
psychology should concentrate on early influences in family, culture and
external environment. Personality is not inherited. It is learned.

Learning Theory
The behaviourists, stimulus-response and social-learning theorists all
believe that behaviour is learned, no matter whether it is by conditioning,
practice or socio-cultural conditioning. Watson's famous study with Albert
in 1920 is a case in point. How Albert developed fear response can be seen in
the chapter on emotion. The principle is stimulus generalisation. Watson said:
"Give me a dozen of healthy infants, well formed and my own specific
world to bring them up in and I will guarantee to take any one at random
and train him to become any type of specialist. I might select-doctor, lawyer,
artist, merchant, chief, and yes, even beggar man and thief regardless of his
talents, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors (1930,
P 82). Thorndike demonstrated how reward helped learning and Skinner,
the giant among the present day psychologist demonstrated the modification
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

of behaviour by gradual change or successive approximations and

reinforcements".
The recent approach to behaviour development is imitation and modelling.
The child sees, he believes, identifies, imitates and learns behaviour of the
models. Albert Bandura (1924) is the leader of this movement. The child
does not repeat the behaviour unless the model is rewarded. Both Skinner
and Bandura emphasized the modification of behaviour principles to
educational and clinical settings. They have successfully demonstrated that
aggressive behaviours, thumb sucking, nail biting, isolate behaviours, crying,
etc. can be decreased and more appropriate behaviours can be learned by
differential reinforcement.

B.F. Skinner Albert Bandura

Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Jean Piaget, the father of
cognitive psychology was the
advocate of cognitive-development
theory whose interest in science and
psychology was from a very early
age. He believe in the process of
biological adaptation. Piaget's belief
that the child's capacity for formal
logical operation is developmentally
linked and is only developed
systematically when the child reaches
the age of fifteen years.
Whatever may be the
perspective, it sheds light on the
 CONCEPT, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGy
11
problem at hand. The more we know about the area of child development,
the better equipped we are to understand the nature of the child. Perhaps it
is a bit like the story of the blind men who wanted to understand theelephant.
The one man who touched first said, "the elephant is like the snake, that can
curve and curl around itself". "No, the elephant is not like the snake, it is
more like a smooth limb of tree." The third man went upto the elephant and
said, "Oh no, the elephant is neither like the snake nor like the limb of a
tree, it is rough, wide and fall-like a wall. An elephant is like wall". "The
fourth touched the ear, and said, gentleman you are all mistaken, the
elephant is like a large leaf from the shady trees". So each man has his own
way of looking at things, a piece of truth, a perception that was helpful but
incomplete, Only by sharing the insights and accepting the realities the
picture could be complete. This is truth with the theoiy of child development.
THE HINDU THEORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Hindus have a rich cultural heritage although they have different sects within
other it. They believe in Karma (deeds) and transmigration of soul which are
universally accepted. Thomas has outlined a Hindu theory of Human
development based on 'the laws of Manu-manusmruti, The Griha Sutra, the
rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies the Dharma Sutra, Upanishad, Vedas,
Ramayan and Mahabharat,
Hindu doctrine holds that all things have derived froma Cosmic Soul
or Divine self existent. Mind or power (atman) is the essence of reality and
that the physical world of everyday life is a passingthing, a kind of illusion.
The concern therefore is development of Soul rather than human body. The
three elements which guide thinking are caste, reincarnation and Karma.
First, a person is immutably bound to his Caste by birth. Second, the
rules of living which influences development varies from one caste to
another. Failure to observe rules after the subsequent life.
A Key concept in development is the concept of justice. A person gets
what he earns and desires. Justice operates through theprinciple of Karma.
Under the principle of Karma a person accumulates the effects ofhis acts
in the four of an investment account, which is the algebraic sum of good and
bad deeds at any point of time. Associated with this in the reincarnation of
the soul i.e. a person is reborn in the form of human or an animal based on
one's Karma.
The period of development for the body extends from the moment of
biological conception to the moment of final heart beat, that signals death.
In contrast the period of development of the soul extends from the tince
individual soul emerges from the cosmic soul and countries till reunification
with the cosmic soul in future.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The goal of development is release for life after attaining masters

of
knowledge from the sacred writings, being disciplined, dutiful, devoted,
loving, and obedient, humble, unselfish, self effacing, and self sacrificing,
free from desire and aversion, exempt from ties and affection, pure speech
and thought and a confidence in elements.
The cause of development is based on free will, heredity and environment
and its interaction. Heredity in the genetic sense does not exist in Hindu
theory. A person creates his own inheritance of on earth by means of his past
deeds in his previous existence. His characteristies, which he inherits, areall
his past Karma. He is hIs own progenitor and his own heir.
A small portion of traits however, are inherited from the parents. These
are all predetermined and is known as fate.
Environment in a Hindu perspective consists of a person's surroundings
that provide opportunities which individuals use to create their own fate.
This governed by free will. People are free to choose to think and act in tenns
of their knowledge and intention. The evidences are controlled through
threat of punishment.
In Hindu theory, there are two types of learning, outer directed and inner
directed. The outer directed learning is derived form formal stuly of sacred
writings and informal interaction with the world known as experience. The
inner directed learnmg is inner spirit or atman and its method is introspection
through meditation. To motivate learning, Hindu theory emphasizes
punishment or threat of punishment. 'Knowledge must be grown in fears
equivalent to earlier western saying "Spare the rod and spoil the child".
Punishment is given in earth by the king over the populace, the parent over
the child, the teacher over the pupil. The second punishment is given by
Brahma after the present life on earth. The inner disected learning is through
meditation and Yoga.
There are three states of awareness through which the individual gains
areness (a) the waking state (b) the dreaming (c) the dreamless sleep. On
the basis of these, individual creates his own experiences and volition.
There are different stages of development especially for men. The first
stage is studentship — mastry of scriptures, vows, duties fiüm a Guru after
the individual attains maturity or shortly after. The second stage householder
which begins with marriage. The third stage is hermit in the forest. When
the individual is old he may resort to the forest saint life of an ascetic. He
forsakes his earthly ties and cencern for his physical self and looks for merger
of his atman with the cosmic soul.
Individuals differ in terms of caste, sex, age, physical attributes and
intention. They themselves determine how they will act from day to-day.
CONCEPT, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

These ideas and beliefs lead to certain practices in child rearing,

teaching and counselling. In the early childhood the parents take care if the
child, his nutrition, as well as voicing incantations through the ears of
children. As soon as he reaches adolescence, they go to a guru for studentship
which consists of drillmg the scriptures and punishment is the real motivation.
Counselling techniques logically would include sacred rites and austerities
and motivating individuals to behave as recommended by scriptures and
follow the path of righteousness.
Of course, this theory is of interest in terms of basic elements, many
seem to be oblitereted by the recent thoughts.
PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE OF CHILD STUDY
Why do we study child psychology ? Like all other fields of science, child
psychology has come of the age since World War II. Instead of only
concentrating on description of child behaviour in terms of derived norms,
child psychologists have accepted the four fold objectives of observation,
prediction, guidance and control of child behaviour and development. These
of course, presuppose a thorough understanding of the developmental trends
and norms.
It helps one to observe child behaviour
It helps one to predict child behaviour
It helps one to guide child behaviour
It helps one to control child behaviour.
For example, it enables one to, know how attachment develops between
mother and child, how the child reacts to various anxiety and frustration
producing situations, how the rate and quality of language acquisition can
be accelerated, what is the role of sensory stimulation in early childhood on
the development of behaviour, how far certain types of parental child rearing
practices are helpful to the children's development of personality, how best
early enrichment programmes can be arranged to promote growth. These
problems are of crucial importance of parents, teachers and any one who is
interested in child devlopment.
More specifically, the practical importance or child psychology can be
illustrated from the point of view of parents, teachers, and guidance experts.
For the parents, it enables them how to keep a record of the growth of
the child if they are interested. They can know what to expect at what age
of development. Whether the developments are taking place appropriately or
not. Further, a knowledge of the conditions which are responsible for the
healthy growth of the fetus during pregnancy is so valuable that nothing can
compensate for it. The expectant mother knows what to eat, what precautions
to take, which are the dangers (X'ray, drugs, alcohol) to avoid, and in what
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

way
tension during pregnancy can be avoided before the baby may be born
with damaged cerebral functioning, physical malfunctioningand deformities.
Prenatal care is as important as postnatal care. The parents after reading
child psychology become able to know what it the critical period in
development, what constitutes an enriched environment, how such facilities
can be created, how the baby will be reared democratically or under
autocratic discipline, how to deal with his curiosity etc. Even the study of
child psychology enables the parents to use healthy child rearing practices
etc. as
free of over protection, over rejection, indifference, double discipline
a result of which the child develops into a balanced personality without much
of a behaviour problem. In fact, children imitate parents. It is for the parents
to know that how best they can serve as good models for their children.
A knowledge of child psychology enable the parents to know the
technical know how for dealing with childhood emotions (fear, anger,
jealousy) and when resultant frustrations in a more healthier way than by
sparing or using the rod only. They apply the motivational and learning
principles to bring changes in their children.
They can guide their children according to childhood interest. They can
help them to develop socialisation and cognitive functioning through play.
They can provide opportunities for the developmentof cognitive growth and
creativity from early childhood by controlling and directing their own
behaviour in relation to children. A parent ignorant of child psychology is
definitely at a disadvantage. Of course knowing these does not guarantee use
of these but it is a step ahead of ignorance.
Another area where a knowledge of child psychology is useful to parents
is the area of language and socialisation. The parents' use of an elaborate
language system is immensely helpful to the child's growth of languages:
Many parents do not know this. They use threats, single repetitive directions,
they stop children when they ask questions. They do not know that they talk
elaborately during mealtime, bedtime, playtime, the child can learn more
vocabulary, usage, and applications including comprehensionof language.
This enables him to have better socialisation, contact andcommunication.
Many parents do not know that they are, responsible for stanunering,
stuttering and certain other speech defects in the absenceof any physiological
deficit. This way they know how they can contribute effectively to reduce
speech defects by their own behaviour i.e. by not criticising childhood
speech, by not embarrasing them etc. There are many such specific uses
which have been explained in detail at different places in this book.
Child psychology is practically useful to the teachers especially in the
early childhood period. A naive teacher does not know what are the basic
needs (security, safety, attachment) of children when they enter school. They
CONCEPT, NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
15

of the instructional setting.

deal with them as guine pigs or silent spectators
knows the basic needs of children that
By reading child psychology a teacher
are to be complied in school withoutwhich the child may quit school. Unless
a teacher takes care of the basic needs he can not except the child to come
to him with a smiling face. Hence, he will not learn spontaneously in school.
It enables the teacher tobe acquainted with themilestones of development.
He can cut his coat according to the cloth. Otherwise, what he is teaching
may be beyond the developmental level of the child. At least, he knows alter
an exposure to the field of child psychology, new concepts develop, when do
they develop, how best they can develop i.e. exploration or direct teaching,
praise or reprimand.
It enables the classroom teacher to know and identif' the behaviour
problems in school. This he can do only when he knows what is normal
behaviour and at what stage. The teacher is really master tailor and the
knowledge of child psychology helps him to his jobperfectly. He becomes
acquainted with technique of socialising, rearing, learning and cognitive
development, regulating his play and leisure time activities, building his
personality, giving him remedial measures, matching his communication
level with that of the level of child etc.
More important is the use of observational techniquesby the teacher.
The teacher for understanding the development of the child uses case history,
experimental method, rating scales, checklists etc. These knowledge and
competencies he develops from his reading of child psychology.
Many teachers spoil the child and their curiositynot because they want
it but because they do not know how to develop curiosity, creativity,
intelligence, positive mental health in children. A knowledge of child
psychology this way becomes practically meaningful to him and he acts
accordingly.
Most of the practical utilities mentioned for parents arealso meaningful
in the context of teachers because the teachers in the early stage of
development become parent substitutes and mould the behaviour of children.
In fact the teacher spends more of active time with children than the parents
of children. Hence, it is all relevant for the teachers.
However, in our country child guidance service has not been developed
except in very big cities and that too very rarely they are psychologically
oriented. These are mostly medically designed with a catchy
term of 'child
guidance clinic'. This is in fact a great necessity for a developing country like
ours. Bulding a bridge, expending agriculture are as important as shaping
the child for becoming a healthy citizen of the country but seldom we care
for this. The belief is, children grow, but we must know that they can grow
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

in any direction and in any speed. Child guidance is necessary. For this
purpose thorough and comprehensive understanding of child development is
essential.
The uses of child psychology are so many and varied. The child
guidance expert contributes for helping the child who suffers from chronic
behaviour problems, speech defects, learning dysfunctions as well as in
giving advice to parents regarding the child's capabilities and deficiencies
by proper testing. Child psychology becomes extremely useful in the context
of guidance of children.
Further, an understanding of the child psychology is necessary because
it contributes to later development of personality and behaviour. 'The child
is the father of MAN' and 'as the twig is bent so grows the tree' are the
popular proverbs which explain and emphasize the practical importance of
studying child psychology.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions in about 500 words each:
1. Define child psychology. What are the objective of child study?
2. State the Nature and Importance of Child Psychology.
3. Describe briefly the development of child psychology from the prehistoric time
to the modem period.
4. What are the various theoretical perspectives of child study ? Explain each
veiw point.
5. "Child is a miniature adult". Comment.
6. What are the practical importance of child study ? Explain.
7. What is the subject matter of child psychology?
8. State the Hindu view of child development.
9. 'The child is the father of Man'. What does it mean ? What care one should
take of the children?
Answer the following personalities important in thefield of child study (within 50
words each)..
1. Stanley Hall
2. Sigmund freud
3. Robert Sears
4. Erickson
5. Skinner
6. Preyer
7. Albert Bandura
8. Charles Darwin
9. Alfred Binet
10. Jean Piaget
11. Rousseau
12. Watson.
CONCEPT, NITURE AND IMPORTANCE OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY 17
Write wu's'ers to the following questions within 50 words each:
1. Sparetherodspoilthechild.
2. Learning must occur with tears.
3. The child is the father of man.
4. Twentieth century is the century of child.
5. The child is a miniature adult.
6. Uses of Child Psychology.
7. Difference between Child Psychology and child development.
8. Idea of people about children in the prescientific period.
Answer the following In one word or sentence:
I. Who is called the father of Child Psychology?
2. Who did ite the book "Centuries of Childhood"?
3. Who did introduce "Baby Biographies"?
4. Whose theory of development is known as "Eight stages of man"?
5. Who introduced Social Learning Theory of child development?
Write whether the following statements are True or False:
1. Freud is the father of Child Psychology.
2. Child Psychology studies the child from conception to death.
3. Darwin's origin of species theory influenced the growth of Child Psychology.
4. Cognitive developmental theory of development was introduced by an associate
of Piaget known as Inhelder.
5. 17th century is known as centuiy of child.
Fill lathe blanks:
1. Until century there was no special emphasis on understanding childhood.
2. 'The contents of children's mind' yas written by
3. Freud had a orientation towards study of children.
.4. Hindu theory of development was written by
5. Developmental Psychology studies the entire span of individuals.
Methods for Studying Child
Behaviour and Development
Child psychologists use several methods for understanding, recording
and interpreting behaviour of children. Thesemethods range from incidental
procedures. In the
and subjective nature to well designed and objective
beginning when the field of child psychology was not developed more
attention was placed on ancedotes and collection of baby biographics.
As the field of child development matured many methods were dsveloped
to observe child behaviour and collect information, describe, measure, and
make inferences about child behaviour. The naturalistic approach focused on
at home observations for a specific period of time. The experimental
approach emphasized observing the child in the laboratory. Norms are
observations are made by case
established by large scale survey. Indepth
studies. Thus there are different techniques suitable for each situation.
The psychologists sutdy the child behaviour in order to understand,
control, and predict future development. Toassist him in his observation he
uses certain tools, commonly used as methods of child study. Some of the
important methods are the following:
1. BiographiCal method
2. Controlled observation method
3. Case history method
4. Behaviour rating
5. Check list and Questionnaire
6. Experimental method
7. Clinical method
S. Differential method.
1. BIOGRAPHICAL METHOD
Biographical method or collection of Baby biographies is one of the oldest
method used in the field of child psychology.
The biographer is often the
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Data for the case study of a child are obtained through interview with
the child, his parents, neighbours, relatives, teachers, physician, or any
person who knows the child. It contains information about the child's
development and types of environment in which he has been living.
Psychological test are used to ascertain his present intellectual and personality
status.
Case histories have great value in handling thaladjusted children.
There are a number of merits for using a case study approach:
(a) It helps in analyzing the problems of child having physical,
intellectual or emotional difficulties and solving these problems.
(b) It helps in getting information on any child for occasional reports,
interviews involving parents.
(c) It helps in assessing growth, development or change in an individual.
(cl) It enables us to know an individual's learning style and coping style
well enough that we can play appropriate guidance.
(e) It provides records that can be useful to other educators or specialists
as background data in future years.
For conducting a case study one nee4N to collect information concerning:
1. Physical description of the child.
2. Family background, socio-economic status.
3. School environment and achievement.
4. Activity in which the child is involved.
5. Language, motor development and cognitive skills of children.
6. Interaction pattern with peers, parents and teachers.
7. General behaviour in school.
8. Leisure time activities.
9. Coping style and reactions to frustration.
10. Early childhood experiences.
11. In case of special needs of children, opinions from various sources
are essential.
However, as a scientific method, case histories can be accepted only
with certain reservations, or demerits
(I) Casual relations deduced from case history are adhoc and not
subject to experimental verification.
(ii) Since data are collected primarily/usually from selected groups of
maladjusted children and parents the obtained data canot be
considered as representative.
(iii) It does not provide cause effect relationships.
(iv) One cannot relax on pragmatic grounds and assume that these
generalizations are sound.
 -
-Y -

frrjJ Dates 2:7—°-

METHODS FOR STUDYING CHILD BEHAV1O1.ND DEVELOPMENT 21

The criticisms of course do not apply completely to case history of

children because collecting case histories of children is an interdisciplinary
approach. The talents of psychologists, pediatricians, biochemists, physical
anthropometrics, sociologists, and other specialists are used in compiling the
case histories of children as time advanced.
4. BE1IAVIOIJR RATINGS
Many of the complex aspects of child development are as yet inaccessible to
measurement by psychological test. With the help of rating technique some
of the components of child behaviour can be quantified in a rough rule of
thumb manner. Crude measurement is usually considered superior to a
complete lack of knowledge.
Rating scales became popular as soon as they were developed. Rating
scales continue to be popular today and are used in many studies of child
development. All rating scales are not similar J.P. Guilford (1954) indentifled
five different types of rating scales :,t,i •- -. —ri
A. Graphic
B. Numerical
C.Standard U
D. Cumulative points
E.Forcedchoice .
I . .. .. ..
They differ in physical arrangemetits, t?i 11n atid number of steps on
the scale, and the level of discrimination required.
Ranking procedure is most simple. The child psychologist observes the
behaviour of children for a few days and then assigns ranks or positions i.e.
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th as regards creativity, aggression, sociability etc. Since no
standardised tests are available to measure many behaviour, ranking method
can be used to quantii' observations. The rating procedure involves an
observer indicating where he believes a child stands on a continum with
respect to some characteristics, triat or type of behaviour. The rating is
frequently made on a linear, graphic scale as the following example
illustrates.
Behaviours Rating Scale

Ii 1213141 516171
I I
Very Least or
much Average very little
1. Aggressive
2. Fearful
3. SocIal
A sequence of defined numbers is assigned to descriptive categories. The
observer or rater selects most appropriate number for the behaviour he
observes in a numerical scale.
 22 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

For example, the behaviours for measuring attentiveness may be:

1. Overt disruptive activity
2. No overt disruption
3. Follows teacher visually
4. Facial expression shows interest
5. Makes appropriate verbal or motor activities
An average is calculated on the basis of several observations regarding
a particular behaviour of the child.
Standard rating procedure is the third variation. The rater is presented
with a set of standards against which judgement of others are done. This
rating procedure is usually done by the University departments,
The format is like the following:
Traits Top 1% Top 2% Top 5% Top 10% Top 50%

Intelligence x x
Responsibility x

Cumulated points type of rating scale arranges items to be rated so that

each one acts as a separate indicator of an overall trait. There are positive
and negative characteristics. The score is positive minus negative score,
which gives a total picture of a given trait. For example, an estimate of the
character is made on the summated score of a series of characteristics of a
given trait i.e. character development, morality etc.
Forced choice ratings are slightly different. The rater or observer is
given a series of descriptive phrases and he is forced to choose one of the
alternatives. The child can be best described as:
— friendly
— cooperative
— a good leader
— hard working
Rating scale is very easy to prepare and use. It takes very little time,
usually 10 or 15 minutes. The scale is very easy to score and quantify. It is
used to study a wide range of behaviours. It requires very little training for
any one to use it, whether he is a teacher, or parent or any researcher. It can
also provide a match between a person's perception and reality.
There are however, drawbacks to the use of rating scales that make them
less reliable than other observational measures.
One of the most serious limitations of this method is the effect of
observer's prejudices, and biases on the ratings. Further, the observer may
METHODS FOR STUDYING CHILD BEHAVIOUR AND DEVELOPMENT 23
be more familiar on some traits about the child. So his observational ratings
are more appropriate for these traits than other traits or those of other
observers. However, ratings are quite useful even though the findings are to
be interpreted with caution.
Therefore, Guilford (1954) identified six potenti'1 rating errors and
biases of which the rater must be aware of.
There are : error of leniency, error of average i.e. tendency to rate
everyone as average, the halo effect i.e. other factors might influence rating:
error of logic i.e. rating in the opposite direction; and proximity error i.e.
ratings are similar to preceding items either in space or in time.
Further, itmes are sometimes so ambiguous that error of judgement is
likely to occur. Social desirability comes into play in judgement unless one
is conscintious at the time of rating. One has to weigh all these considerations
before rating any child, since most rating scales ask the observer to reflect
on past impressions to generate ratings.
5. QUESTIONNAIRE AND CHECKLIST
The questionnaire method was introduced by Stanley Hall (1891). This
instrument is very often mishandled because it appears on the surface very
simple. The questionnaire which contains a series of verbal questions has
been widely used an instrument to solicit the opinions and attitudes of
children. This is the most useful device in an exploratory study. Children's
anxiety level, feelings of security, etc. are measured by this technique.
A questionnaire because of its simplicity very often leads to obtaining
weird and confusing findings but with careful administration and collection
of information the technique yields more information in a short time.
Questionnaire is not a mere print out of random questions but it should be
prepared more accurately before it is used. It can take any form.
For example,
1. Do you think going to movies is harmful?
Here it elicits opinions attitudes of the child.
2. How many hours does your child
(a) plays?
(b) sleeps ?
(c) read?
Here the question elicits information about the child.
Validity of data depends upon the care in which data are collected and
questions are phrased as well as the sincerety of the children who respond
to the questionnaire.
24 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Checklist is an ofshoot of the questionnaire method. In tlis form a large

number of behaviour patterns are mentioned. The individual child if he can
read and write, or an individual who is acquainted vely thoroughly with the
child gives a tickmark against any or all points given in the behaviour
checklist. The procedure of giving ready made list of behaviour patterns is
useful in the sense that children and parents or observers don't know and or
timely remember the appropriate terminology to indicate the presence of
such behaviour. But again it deserves to be considered in its own merit.
A check list is prepared before doing the observation. The target
behaviours are also mentioned in the list ahead of time to note the presence
or absence of the characteristic. Thirdly, the checklist is logically organised.
It is based on the objectives set for observation.
Checklists are useful for classroom teachers and other service personnels.
They are easy to use; The teacher can identiI behavioural objectives,
translate them into specifies, and check up their behaviours against the list.
It allows recording of behaviour very quickly and very efficiently with
minimum of strain. It is a very simple method and the behaviours entered
can be reviewed. The format of the checklist is as follows
Activities
Child/Activity Social Aggressive Thoughtful

I.S. Sharma

A checklist makes it easy to incorporate recording in a flexible manner.

More specifically, a checklist serves four functions
(a) It is record of daily activities
(b) It provides diagnostic information relating to participation in the
various indoor activities.
(c) It is useful for curriculum planning
(d) It is very quick and efficient observational tool.
Checklists call for qualitative judgements about the presence or absence
of behaviours. Rating scales call for quantitative judgement about the degree
to which behaviour is present.
6. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
An experimental method is a method of observation under controlled
conditions. In child psychology, it is primarily used to determine changes in
child's behaviour as a result of certain environmental variables. Such
investigations are usually carried out with control groups; matched groups,
matched pairs of children and indentical twins.
Before the use of experimental methodology in child psychology, man
 METhODS FOR STUDYING CHILD BEHAVIOUR AND DEVELOPMENT 25
had been observing the 'whole child' for centuries. History bears witness to
the paucity of information that accrued from this approach. In experimental
method the behaviour of the child is recorded in the most reliable manner
and under high degree of control of extraneous factors. For example, if the
child psychologist wishes to study the relationship between frustration and
aggression, theE sets up conditions accordingly and exposes the child to that
situations and observes the behaviours of the child.
The technique is most commonly applied when the investigator wishes
to study a suspected causative relationship holding between a phenomenon
of some interest (dependent variable) and one or more other factor (independent
variable). A situation is constructed in such a way that the dependent variable
is readily observable, the independent variable is introduced and varied in
a systematic manner and all other variables are controlled to prevent them
from influencing the dependent variable. Changes in the dependent variables
are then stated as a function of the preceding in the independent variable.
A laboratory is simply a place in which causal factors may be brought
under the investigator's control more easily than elsewhere. Hence, the
accuracy of the data about child behaviour would depend upon the extent to
which the E has controlled:
(a) the child's present environment
(b) the child's history of interactions with his past environment
(c) the child's genetic endowment.
The first one is the best to control. For example, the child's discrimination
learning can be studied in a laboratory for some continuous days or trials and
the trend can be easily observed. Similarly development of attachment
behaviour toward mother can also be experimentally studied in children.
Matched group is technique is used to observe changes in development
of behaviour due to certain conditions. In this set up, groups of children are
matched earlier on sex, mental ability, age, or any variable or more than one
variables for better control and then the treatment is applied and after the
termination of the treatment, behaviour of the two groups are compared.
Matched pairs of children are used when it is not possible to obtain large
number of children and form matched groups. Developmental differences
are obtained by compar xig the two children. Identical twins often the most
accurate identical matching because of common heredity. Hence, if the child
psychologist wants to study the effect of heredity and environment of the
child he can very well use the identical twins. After exposing the twins into
differential treatment the behaviour development can be compared and the
cause effect relationship can be established.
Hence by experimental method, child's behaviour can be reliably
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
26
observed as compared to other techniques. But certain ethics are to be
observed because children as research subjects present problems for the
investigator different from those of adult subjects and consent of the parent
for the child is a pre-requisite to obtaining consent from the child. And the
young ones are more vulnerable to distress and as such one cannot put them
in complete isolation or in harmful positions for the sake of observation.
A common argument against the experimental method in child psychology
results in the E's losing sight of the unique distinctiveness ofthe child
because of greater involvement with methodology, theory, statistics, and
apparatus.
Secondly it is often supposed, quite wrongly of course, that experimental
method applied to child behaviour precludes the investigation of truly
relevant, real life, socially and personally significant behaviour. For example,
the child's affection for the mother cannot be studied in an experimental
laboratory. Recently it has been possible to show effects ofmother absence
on child behaviour and personality.
7. CLINICAL METHOD
Clinical method is helpful to the child when the child displays any problem
behaviour of sign or mental tension reflected in his behaviour. Themethod
offers insight for undertaking remedial measures.
During the course of analysing and understanding the child's problems,
the clinical psychologist uses data obtained by experimental anddifferential
methods in addition to using his own insight and clinical experience. The
clinician looks at the child as a person or his own right.
The clinical approach traces back into the past life to find out what has
really made the child to have some problems. As such the clinician wants
information as is necessary for diagnosing the problem and suggesting
remedial measures. All sources are used. He relies on case history reports,
experimental findings, data obtained by differential method and then traces
the cause. Observation is most crucial for the clinician. Symptoms in
children may arise due to a single cause of different causes or their
interactions. It is different from an experimental method. Religious control
cannot be used in this method. Instead, insight is more useful.
This happens becuase psychology of the child is not a finished body of
knowledge. It is rapidly changing. Therefore all methods of observation have
to offer meaningful, accurate data for child guidance. Clinical data might
lack exactitude and precision but it is necessary to understand why a child
becomes a problem, emotionally disturbed, socially maladjusted, juvenile
delinquent and so on. The information concerning these, probably, cannot
be obtained by other available techniques.
METHODS FOR STUDYING CHILD BEHAVIOUR AND DEVELOPMENT 27
8. DIFFERENTIAL METHOD
In the experimental method the investigator generally manipulates one
variable and arrives at concluding corresponding changes in the dependent
child behaviour. But sometimes such control may not be possible. So the
psychologist has to wait for some occasions where he can compare the
behaviours of one group of children with another group. Further, sometimes
it may involve violation of moral and ethical rights to observe children, for
example, deliberately placing children in deprived environmental and
comparing them with those of enrichment may contribute to our understanding
of the role of environment on child behaviour, which is not humane. In such
cases, the psychologists can locate such cases or groups and can compare the
development of behaviour. The differential method is therefore more useful.
This method enables one to observe life as it exists and offers greater
promise than does and experiment. Here the child psychologist finds a
situation. He does not arrange for it. The children are behaving in a situation
that is natural for them. In differential method we use independent variables
but we do not purposively manipulate these. We identi1 these and establish
antecendent consequent relationship. We choose children according to
certain and compare their behaviours. Hence, use of control groups is still
possible in this method. Correlational studies mostly use this differential
technique.
However, in many situations the child psychologists use a combination
of methods and techniques in observing children behaviour to make it more
meaningful, objective and comprehensive as well as reliable.

Cross Sectional Versus Longitudinal Approaches

The purpose of both the approaches is to arrive at establishing norms
and trends in development. In cross sectional method data are gathered by
studying many groups over a short period of time. The groups are selected
on a random basis. Hence, norms derived from the sampled groups become
more reliable and valid. In a short span of time it becomes possible to get
an idea about the trends in development. For example, if we want to know
the development of interest patterns in children from age 4 to 16, we can
select samples at each age level and administer the interest battery and derive
the interest scores. It is a less time taking process in the sence that we do not
have to wait for 16 years to get the data. But the merit of this method is also
cited as the srongest demerit. Because in child development it becomes
essential that norms are derived taking into consideration developmental
changes in relation to cultural and environment factors. Unless one observes
that changes in one person continuously for more years, growth changes are
to be questioned as regards their validity.
28 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Primarily for the above reason child psychologists use longitudinal

approach. Under the framework of this approach the same child has to be
observed continuously over the years at certain intervals of time. Data thus
obtained would provide trends against increase in age. This procedure is time
taking, expensive, and cumbersome. Because on many occasions morbidity,
mortality and lack of parental support create problem in following up the
same group of children over the years. In spite of the tediousness, this
approach has certain distinct advantages.
(a) It helps us to understand the growth trends of the same child and
at the same time it provides idea of growth increments of the group.
(b) Relationship between maturational and learning processes can also
be obtained from the observations of growth trends when the data
'ire obtained from the same children.
Comparison between longitudinal and cross sectional approach to child study
Characteristics Longitudinal Corss sectional
1. Method of study Same group is tested over Different groups are tested
the years repeatedly. belonging to different de-
velopmental or age levels at
a particular time.1
2. Cost and time It is expensive, and takes Less time taking and corn-
involved years to arrive at a paratively less expensive.
generalisation.
3. Interpretation It has to wait for years or Interpretation isLlone as soon
of results till the entire data are as the data are collected,
collected, since data are gathered
quickly.
Quality of data Shows individual growth Large data are collected and
and change over a period of norms can be established.
life. There is possibility of No possibility of sample loss
sample mortality, since data are collected at a
stroke.
5. Professionals Many observers and expert Relatively few persons un-
involved . researcher are needed. der a researcher can collect
the information.

Studies based on longitudinal apporach are very seldom undertaken. But

it is true beyond doubt that the findings obtained from longitudinal studies
will prove to be valid both internally and externally.
Longitudinal studies are certainly among the most complex though
sensitive methods of investigation since they combine the developmental-
psychological and differential view points and therefore come to closest to
the actuality of the psychological process.
 METHODS FOR STUDYING CHILD BEHAVIOUR AND DEVELOPMENT 29

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions in about 500 words each:
1. What are the disadvantages of behaviour ratings, as methods of observing
children's behaviour? Give examples.
2. Describe the merits and demerits of experimental method as a method of
observing children's behaviour.
3. What is a case study 7 How can you prepare a case study report ? What are
its uses?
4. What is a check list ? What preparations are necessary for recording children
behaviour using a check list?
5. What is a Baby Biography 7 What are its limitations?
6. Write a note on the clinical method with reference to understanding behaviour
problems of children.
7. Distinguish between longitudinal and cross-sectional approach to child study.
Write short notes on each of the following within 50 words each:
1. Questionnaire
2. Biographical method
3. Differential method
4. Rating scales
5. Objective observation.
Answer the following questions within 50 words each:
I. Merits of experimental method used for observing behaviour in children.
2. Uses of case study.
3. Uses of Baby biography.
4. Advantages of checklist.
5. Merits and demerits of Questionnaire.
Write the answers to the following in one word or a sentence:
I. Who introduced objective observation method?
2. Who advocated experimental study of children for the first time?
3. When is clinical method used in case of children?
4. Why is longitudinal method not prefenud to Cross Sectional method?
Fill in the blanks:
1. Stanley Hall introduced method for understanding children.
2. Cross sectional method gives very results.
3. In method same group is tested repeatedly over the years to yield results
about behaviour development in children
4. In method different groups are tested at one time belonging to different
age groups.
5 introduced conditioning method for developing fear in children.
3
Principles of Development
Child psychologists are interested understanding and predicting
behaviour. This presupposes knowledge of principles of development and
normal developmental patterns.
In the area of child psychology very often doubts arise concerning the
meaning of the two terms most commonly used : Growth and Development.
The two terms are, however, very clearly different in their meaning.
Generally growth refers to quantitative changes in physical development
while development refers to qualitative changes occurring in behavioural
characteristics of the child leading towards maturity. In course of the process
of growth and development certain basic characteristics appear and are quite
prominent. Growth and development are incremental processes.

TYPES OF CHANGE
Each year the child undergoes a series of changes in size, height, weight, etc.
Similarly as would be from the works of Piaget and cognitive developmental
theorists, the child's development also undergoes qualiativeçflgeS i.e.
sensori-motor, preconceptual, concrete and formal öations.
Proporton isjpjhçr dim ension where growth changes are noticed.
With increase in age not only the body proportions changes but also the
level of thinking. Thinking instead of based on pleasure principle
gradually becomes reality oriented. Interest patterns undergo dramatic
changes
Certain physical features do disappear such as the baby hair, baby gland,
thymus gland function, first teeth, baby reflexes, mental symptoms like
egocentrism, baby speech and so on. Instead, new features appear in children
which were not present earlier. For example, physical features undergo
changes in middle childhood, and early adolescence. Besides these,mentally
the child becomes a different one at each successive of growth. He becomes
 ,RINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 31

more curious, especially about sex and moral standards, religious habits,
language usages etc.
Further, when we speak of development be it physical or mental, it
appears that it is not a uniform process. It is very rapid in babyhood
especially upto 3 years. From a microscopic cell the baby grows into a
perceptible human being. The rate growth between six and adolescence
slower down a bit but again it makes it up during puberty. Mental
development is also quite rapid at first. It is observed that about 1/3 ó1
intelligence and mental ability is developed by age 3 years 1/3 between age
6 to 10, and the remaining 1/3 by age 16 years.
Studies in genetics have shown that behavioural development follows a
pattern even though there is individual difference among children. The
various principles of development are mentioned below:
(a) Development is similar for all children. There is a sequence in
physical as well as in mental development. The rate of development may
differ in case of average, bright, and dull children, but the baby must stand
before he walks, he must babble before speech appears.
(b) Development of behaviour proceeds from general to specific. For
example, before birth the fetus moves the whole body but is incapable of
making specific responses. In emotion, there is general excitement at the
beginning and specific emotions develop late in the process of growing-up.
(c) Development is continuous. There is no discontinuity in development.
Speech for example, is not developed overnight. Instead, it gradually
develops from cooling, babbling, monosyllablic sounds.
(d) Development proceeds at different rates for different behaviours.
Development of mental and physical traits are continuous but is never
uniform for the entire organism. The feet, hands reach their maximum level
early in adolescence; the face and shoulders are slow in development.
(e) There is correlation rather than compensation in development.
Gesell observed that there is a relationship between the development of
physical and mental traits. Development of language is related to development
of speech organs; sexual behaviour depends on the maturing of gonads;

r school readiness depends upon maturational development of the various

parts of the body. Evidence contrary to this assumption does not exist. One
cannot find someone who is above average in one trait but below the normal
in another trait. As a matter of fact, genetic studies of the genius have shown
that desired traits go together. Negative relationships are not observed.
(J) Development follows two sequences. Cephalo-caudal and proxi-
modistol sequences : The cephalo-caudal sequence means that development
spreads over the body form head to foot. That is structural and functional
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
32
/ developments occur first in head then in trunk and lastly in legs. The baby
can turn his head, lift it up before he lifts his chest or legs. At the fifth month,
movement, shoulder but he cannot
the baby can control eye movement, head
sit in the chair.
Proximodistol laws explain the development from central part of the
body towards peripheries or extremities. In the prenatal period, the head and
trunk are fairly well developed and at that time the rudimentarY limbs
and then developed into hands and fingres.
appear. Gradually arms enlarge
Proximo-distOl development is better known as side-wise development.
is predictable in some
These two sequences suggest that the development
ways:
5 years — Sociability
Onto-
4 years
— Concepts of fromlnumber
genetic
3 years Speech, Sentences
sequen — Bowel control
ces of 2 years
18 months — Larynx, words, phrases
behaviour — Legs, feet, stands
12 months
40 weeks — Trunk, fingers, sits, creeps
28 weeks — Hands, grasps, manipulates
16 weeks — Head, balance
4 weeks — Eyes occular control
0 birth — Vegetative functions, vision
24 weeks — AutonomiC Nervous System
20 weeks — Tonic neck-reflex
18 weeks — Hand closure and grip
16 weeks Perspiratory movement
10 weeks — Swallow, Babinsky reflex
8 weeks — Trunk extension
Iweeks — Embryonic stage
0 weeks — Conception
(g) All children do not reach the point of development at the same
influence of heredity and environment
age. Depending upon the interacting
children attain various behavioural characteristics at different age and in
differing degree. In other words, there is individual difference in the
development pattern. Individual differences arise due to various conditions
prevailing in the homes : emotional climate, cultural milieu, emotional
I
deprivation, socio-economiC status of the family etc.
(Ii) Early development is more important than later development.
and the child is most malleable
Early childhood is characterised by plasticity
childhood experiences such as emotional,
during this period. As such, early
cultural, and nutritional have a greater say inthe developmental progression.
 PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT
33
- In many cases, early childhood sufferings are not reversible and are not made
up by experimental manipulations. Recent research with Guatemala children
by Kagan proves that deprivation in early childhood is reversible if children
are brought up under better enviromnent.
(I) Development proceeds stage by stage. The development of the child
occurs in different stages. Each stage has certain unique characteristics, and
in each stage certain behaviours or traits stand outmore conspicuously than
others. Since there is individual difference in the rate ofgrowth, age limits
for different stages can be regarded as merely approximates and suggestive.
However, the entire period of development is divided into the following
stages
Major Developmental Periods
From conception to birth — Prenatal period
From birth to 2 weeks — Neonate
From 2 weeks to 2 years — Infant
From 2 years to 6 years — Early childhood
From 6 years to 13 years — Late chilhood
From 13 years to 16 years — Adolescence.
All children normally pass through these stages ofdevelopment around
the age levels suggested. Hence, it is necessary that training and learning
materials are planned to fit to the age levels or characteristics of the child
in a given culture. Special provisions are called for when development does
not follow normal limits and sequences or otherwise.
(j) Certain behaviours considered normal at one stage may not be
accepted as nomal in a different state of development. Supposing a child
who refused to sleep or who wants water when he is put on a bed is
considered to have shown problem behaviour'. But we must understand that
the child is acting upto his age. Lieing is a common behaviourjust before
the child enters into school, Similarly day dreaming is quite normal in early
states of school. Hence, child's behaviour is to be predicted and understood
against the expected behaviour at his stage. No problem behaviour is to be
overlooked or unduly emphasized.
EARLY EXPERIENCE AND CRITICAL PERIOD IN DEVELOPMENT
The concept of early experience implies two things providing enriched
stimulation, and accelerating development through compensatroy
programmes. Historically, the roots of the concept ofarly experience can be
traced to the writings of Rousseau, the work of Dr. Itard and Dr.Seguin with
wild Boy of Aveyron, in the tradition of infant and nursery schools in
Germany and in the writings of Montessorie.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

considered fixed
In the traditional set up, behaviour development was
and predetermined but this doctrine began to lose its force in the first quarter
oldie present century. Alter the 1940's there remained two byproducts. The
first one is whether nursery school attendance had effect on the child's
development. Secondly, the works of Skeelsand his colleagues on the use of
enriched rearing conditions with infants raised in orphanages. Although
Skeel's work has been criticised yet it has stood the test of the time.
It is said that the "childhood shows the man, as morning shows the
day". It means that the early years are critical in the child's development
more specifically the preschool years i.e.2 to 5years. On the other hand,
White (1976) remarked the first two years are more critical. If rich
then personality has its smooth
experiences are provided during this period,
growth and differentiation.
Critical period and early experience have traditionally been given
important roles in intellective, personality, social and emotional development.
These early developmental periods are critical because experiences occurring
during this period have greater impact upon later behaviour and deprivation
effects are irreversible. Whether one is extreme hereditarian, an
environmentalist, a constitutionalist, or an orthodox psychoanalyst, he is not
after the first year of life.
likely to anticipate major changes in personality
Hunt (1961) clearly stated the relevance of early experience on
development. Inadequate experience according to Hunt, retards intellectual
development. Enriched experiences can remedy the deficits in adaptive
behaviour and intellectual functioning. Early experience is emphasized so
much because it is during early childhood that evanges take place rapidly.
Hence, providing enriched experience would lead to better behavioural
change; Several infant and preschool early enrichment programmes have
been reported in the literature. These experiences vary in terms of language
lessons, exposure to new materials, training parents for early stimulation but
all these programmes have led to significant gains in intellectual functioning
Median IQ gains are between 11-15 points and average gain in IQ vary from
41-2 to 3 IQ points. Of course, the gains might appear due to motivational
factors. Yet some precise conclusions can be drawnfrom such studies. Gains
are observed when a trained educator is utilised to train mother to interact
with their children. Providing the children wide range of experience are
more meaningful and effective than specific experience. Not all children
benefit from these projects. Those who benefit, not all of them benefit
equally.
Moreover, the effects of early experience do notlast over time unless the
programmes are long term or continuous or the natural environment itself
is enriching. Hence, gains can be maintained if compensatory educational
 PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT
35
programmes are introduced to supplement the natural imput or environment.
For preschool children between age 2 and 5 the results are mixed. Gray and
klaus (1970) reported that the enrichment does not act as an inoculation
against the long term effects of inadequate environments. Adequate early
experience seems to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for later
adequate intellectual functioning.
What is an enriched environment?
Operationally and enriched environment means:
— providing children with a chance to the child to explore his
environment;
— providing a physically and socially responsive environment to the
child;
— providing variety and change in stimulation offered to the child;
— providing an environment that is rich inverbal stimulation;
— providing a high level of adult child involvement but one that does
not interfere with the child's intention and actions;
— providing adult modeling of desired cognitive skills or attitudes;
— the use of positive reinforcers;
— matching the interaction with child's level of development.
A good number of studies have raised the role of maternal deprivation
as a contributing factor to early experience and its effect on development.
Inadequacies in mothering leads to behaviour deficiencies. Bowiby (1951)
after reviewing the literature stated that mothering is essential for providing
enriched environment for the infant. Very rarely it can be substituted.
Bowlby concluded, 'that the prolonged deprivation of the young child of
maternal care may have grave and far reaching effects on his character and
so on the whole of his future life'. The meaning of deprivation or separation
may be many, temporary absence, illness or hospitalisation, desertion etc.
But the implication of the separation for the child are also many. The child
during the first six to eight months of life learns to discriminate the mother
from others, and develops a primary attachment for the mother, which can
not be substituted. This contributes to feeling of security which then
contributes to cognitive development and behavioural adjustments.
Are there research evidence in Support of Early experience?
Recent studies however, reject this notion of continuity in development.
The effects of early experience are neither enduring nor irreversible. The
evidences are
1. Early feeding, toilet training and other experiences are not correlated
with later behaviour (Kagan and Moss, 1962).
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
36
2. Most children recover from mild perinatal insult, recovery from
severe insult is much less likely.
3. A number of severely deprived children have shown much of
intellectual and social development after much of intervention
(Clarke and Clarke, 1976; Skuse, 1984).
4. Critical period does not exist according to various researches.
5. Brief intervention does not inocculate children against adverse
effects.
6. Maternal deprivation in and of itself does not provide lasting
deleterious effects upon children (Rutter, 1981).
Although early experience is still viewed as playing an important role
in human development, its role is not as pervasive as once thought. Evidence
for critical periods in some areas of development is strong (Colombo, 1982).
Further, evidence that change in normal development occurs throughoutlife
and that effects of extreme deprivation can be partially countered with
intensive therapy should not be misread as implying that plasticity is
equivalent across life. Humans are more responsive to many types of
experience at a relatively early ag Indeed, MacDonald (1985) suggeststhat
plasticity declines with age and that more intense therapy maybe necessary
with older individuals. Similarly Brown (1986) proposes a continuum of
therapeutic environments, suggesting that the greater the degree of early
impairment, the greater and more unusual may be the needed intervention.
Recovery from some early experiences will occur only in response to
therapies that are not part of the normal environment. Recovery from others
that involve manifest brain damage may not be possible under any condition.
A question of considerable current interest is whether recovery from early
brain damage is more complete than recovery after later damage. Further, we
need to distinguish between different types of early experiences and critical
periods (Brown, 1981). Areas where adverse early experiences have disrupted
a developing organic system will be more resistant to therapy than areas
where the experiences have resulted in the learning of particular behaviours.
Early interference with organization of an organic system is likely to be
permanent, whereas interference with the organization of behaviourthrough
learning can be overcome through relearning.
Parents should not be blamed for their children's autistic or schizophrenic
behaviour, nor should complete recovery of most such children, particularly
autistic ones, be expected. Much recovery from early psychological deprivation
or adverse conditions can be effected with sensitive and intensivc therapy.
Psychodynamic explanations of childhood and adult behaviour in terms of
infant experiences have little scientific support. Early intervention programs
 PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 37
canbe effective in increasing the intellective, emotional and social development
of highrisk infants and children, but they need to be intensive and long term
(Bricker, Bailey and Bruder, 1984). Finally, therapy or rehabilitation of
children with manifest brain damage should be undertaken as soon as
realistically possible in order to effect maximum recoveiy.
COMPENSATORY EDUCATION
Few aspects of education that currently command the attention is the
education of the weaker section of the community, especially at the early
childhood stage. Wastage and stagnation not only lower down the literacy
rates in the country but the children coming from lower class homes are
pushed backward in greater numbers to the pool of illiteracy because of
failure to meet the requirements of a standard curriculum, slightly alien to
their own. This is not peculiar to our society alone but this has in the recent
past created problems in the most advanced countries of the world. Advanced
countries through various enrichment programmes have been able to succeed
in combating this disease but for us, it has become an epidemic in education
and therefore demands more attention than it would normally receive. We
now think loudly for providing compensatory education, remedial education
or enrichment programmes. What is the rationale behind such a thinking?
What in reality do the previous research on compensatory education tell us?
What infact, can be undertaken within the limits of a developing economy?
Plans and thinking have been quite ideal with us but regrettably the
implementations lag behind.'
The rationale that influenced a few of the compensatory education
programme approach is the developmental assumption i.e. children coming
from weaker section of the community are slow in the rate of development.
Therefore, for these children education can start a year earlier i.e. should be
given some preschool experience. Such programmes were organised by
Parents' associations in most part, in U.S.A.
The second approach was the critical period hypotheses' akin to the
developmental process. This approach emphasized that certain structured
learning experiences are to be provided to children of the weaker section of
the community in early childhood since they suffer from environmental
deprivation including the vagaries of poverty. Infact, as much 50per cent of
the intellectual potential of an individual is determined during the preschool
period and it constitutes a kind of general critical period of intellectual
development (Bloom, 1964).
The third approach has been reinforced by the belief that is possible to
ameliorate intellectual deficits. Although Jensen (1969) in his famous article
r denied the effect of environment on intellectual ability (IQ) and asserted that
38 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

'compensatory education has been tried and it apparently has failed, a

number of well designed compensatory programmes demonstrate remarkable
achievement gains : If genetic or cultural deficits impair the learning
capacity of low SES children, such children would never be able to learn
successfully. This conclusion is not tenable, in view of the findings from
research on compensatory education.
The compensatory education progranunmes vary widely in size and
scope but have in common the dual goals of remediation and prevention.
They are remedial in the sense that they attempt to fill gaps social, cultural
or academic in the child's total education. They are preventive in that they
try to forestall either initial continuing failure in school and in later life.
The principal focus in the compensatory programmes has been on
reading and language development, arithmatic, improvement of psychomotor
ability, personal and social adustments. These programmes have operated
either at preschool years or during the elementary school years and sometimes
have been built into the regular school periods or have been introduced in
the summer breaks, so that weaker children make up the deficiencies before
entering into the next grade. The well known compensatory education
programmes are these of; Bereiter and Engleman (1966) in the area of
Reading. Arithmatic and spellinW, using drill approach; Martin Deutsch's
(1965) enrichment programmes in the areas of language, mathematics,
science, reading skills, concept formation, and personal adjustment; Susan
Gray and Klaus (1965) in the areas of perception, concept development, and
language development, during the summer break, and Spicker, Hodges and
McCandles (1967) in the areas of Psychomotor, language, intelligence, and
social adjustment. In all these studies significant gains have been achieved
but the acquired gains did not persist for long in case of short term
interventions. However, these progranunmes do suggest that children coming
from weaker section can be helped through enrichment programmes and the
degree of their efficiency depends upon how well the programme has been
formulated.
In our countiy, we have a large segment of children population in the
school who come from tribal areas, scheduled caste and families who are very
poor. These children come to school very rarely under compulsion and very
soon drop out from it. Although poverty and economic reasons do account
for school dropout, yet a great many of their children do not succeed in school
because of low ability consequent upon deprivation of one sort or another.
Sinha (1976) after examining a whole series of work on the deprived
stated that an early enrichment programme at the preschool and kindergarten
levels may be helpful in removing the arresting or reversing the cumulative
deficit. For the Indian disadvantaged tribal children Rath (1974) recommended
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 39

interventions in forms of compensatory and high intensity education as

remedial measures. The writer (Panda, 1976) has also suggested the special
requirements of an instructional design that will be suitable for the
disadvantaged children. The suggestion included moc!ification in teacher
training curriculum, changing the life style characteristics of the deprived,
use of accelerated learning programmes and changing the motivational and
affective climate of the classroom (Panda and Lynch, 1972).
Perhaps the answer may be sought in training the deprived children for
realistic goal setting, developing self attribution, developing a more analytic
way of information processing while in school and giving training for
intellectual activities and/or skills where they are deficient. But it is essential
that parental education is more crucial in so far as providing an enriched
interaction environment in early childhood is essential.
The Coleman data has proved that integration resulted in improvements
in the achie'ement test scores of Black students, in integrated schools do
better than those in equally middleclass all Black schools. Coleman suggests
that the ovelall gain in verbal ability for Blacks in .an integrated schools is
approximately of one SD. Cram and Weisman (1272) observed the problem
of achievement in relation to the integration. They defined integration (a) the
Negro students in the school with White at least for 5 years (b) no White
student did move out the school (C) the school was at least half White.
Compared to segregated school it was found nearly 1/2 of the segregated
respondents did not finish high school. 48% completed compared to 36%
students of the integrated schools. That dropout rate is reduced by 1/4 in
integrated schools. Further, integrated education seems to cut the dropout
rate for southern migrants nearly a half. Pupils of integrated schools are more
likely to finish elementary and high school and they attend and finish
college. Respondents who attended integrated high schools and segregated
elementary schools fare as well in terms of finishing high school as those
whose schooling was entirely integrated. The effects of integration are
stronger for both men and women students. Students who attended integrated
schools scored higher on the verbal Achievement test than those who
attended segregated schools. Occupying a deprived status or a minority status
in an integrated school failed to poise social and psychological strain among
the pupils. Optimism concerning the effectiveness of preschool compensatory
programme such as project Head start has waived considerably in the last few
years. Findings have been consistent that at the end of a year of Head start
type of experience children are superior to children without preschool
experience in both intellectual and social emotional functioning (Klaus and
Gray, 1968; Weikart, 1971). However0 the superiority of Head Start children
vanishes and is greatly. diminished, by the end one year of formal school
 40 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(Bronfenbrenner. 1974). In the face of this evidence some have concluded

that compensatory education or Head start in particular, is a failure (Eysenck,
1971; Jensen, 1969). It is unrealistic to expect long term effect of a short term
intervention. But it can't be denied that the programmes have in fact
succeeded in removing educational disadvantages which economically
disadvantaged children might encounter in later life (Bereiter and Engleman,
1966). For this reason the Follow Through Project has been introduced/
which is 4 year compensatory edcuation programme in USA school systew
Longitudinal data analysis revealed that the follow through progranune
assessed was not capable of ameliorating all of the negative effects of living
in an economically disadvantaged the programme was highly beneficial to
the children who participated in it. The longitudinal and cross sectional
evidence together lead to the conclusion that the gains acruing from
compensatory education programmes are comensurate with the duration and
amount of effort which are expended on these programmes. Abelson and
Zigler (1974) are thus very clear in their statement confirming the efficacy
of enrichment programmes. Developmental psychologists agree on two basic
assumptions Environmental factors help determine how fast or showly
children develop intellectual ability and second, experiences during the first
years of life strongly shape children's relative intellectual functioning.
Harvard University psychologist Prof. Kagan asks a fundamental question,
"Are the ill effects of early deprivation irreversible ? or does delayed growth
persist children 7 Only if the environment that causes the delay remains the
same," replies Kagan to his colleagues.
Kagan (1977) from his studies in Guatemala a non western culture came
to a conclusion—" Children listless, silent, apathetic infants, passive, quiet,
timid three years olds but active gay, intellectually competent 11 years old".
He said that children are more resilent, and more malleable that is more
capable of making a comeback after a poor start than most psychologists
have believed. Kagan readily admists that his data are not yet adequate to
prove the thesis he is putting forward, but they provide sufficient evidence
"for a grand jury to say, there should be trial"
In the isolated Indian village of San Morcos in Guatemala babies are
raised in small, dark huts that lack even windows. These infant are not
allowed outside where it is thought that seen or dust might harm them. In
Psychological terms, they lack experiencial variety, the very thing essential
for intellectual development and later achievements and they must contend
with malnutrition and disease which combine to retard their development as
well. By comparing the developments of some Marcos infants with American
babies of two years old, Kagan and his co-research workers found that San
Morcos children are 3 or 4 months behind.
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 41

Kagan had sampling problems but his one year observation of children
"with pale cheeks and vacant stares had the quality of tiny ghosts' '—would
suggest that infant's development was infact retarded.
By age 3 or so the children still seemed inordinately inhibited and shy
but says Kagan, "they began to look like children". Cross sectional studies
using American children did well on a few culturally fairer memoiy and
intellectual ability tests than 8-9 years old Guatemale, at age 10 and 11 no
such difference was observed between the two groups. Kagan attributes the
make up' to change of enviromnents of the San Morcos children to an urban
setting. Whatever may be but you can get there" because there is inherent
resilency in human development. Kagan in no way implies that the early
environment is not important—or that in an age-graded schooling system
parents should not be concerned with nurturing children's early growth. But
he emphasizes the reversibility of early deprivation through the provision of
a better environment. This hopeful message needs additional research to
confirm or refute.
It seems that the evidences are quite convincing that cultural deprivation
and consequent discrimination do create psychological disability which in
turn arrests school achievement. It is true that deprived children remain in
an impoverished environment which hampers their school achievement. But
the school is a part of that environment and school integration is a simple
and effective method of cultural enrichment. School integration of course
represents a partial solution to the problems of underachievement of the
deprived.
Conditions which promote early childhood development in terms of
enriched experience are
(a) Favourable interpersonal relationship
(b) Emotional acceptance by parents
(c) Democratic but not permissive family atmosphere
(d) Early role play with increasing confidence
(e) Small family structure
(j) Stimulating environment.
The child tends to use his abilities spontaneously. The famous child
psychologist Jersild has said, that the child's capacities for doing, thinking
and feeling emerge in the process of growth. He has an impulse to put them
to use. This is what he calls indigenous motivation. The child has a tendency
to speak, to search, to explore, to seek out new stimuli. In earlier years of
schooling this behaviour is prominent and often wanes as the child reaches
upper grades due to pressure for conformity. This is not hereditary. Therefore,
a great responsibility lies on the teachers to foster this sense of curiosity,
drive and interest of the child for spontaneous expression. Then only
 42 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
4
understanding the nature and pnnciples of growth will be meaningful.
FACTORS AFFECTING DEVELOPMENT
The development of physical and mental characteristics are influenced by a
host of factors. These factors can be grouped under certain broad areas:
(a) Maturation and Learning
(b) Heredity and Environment.
/Maturation and Learning
Maturation refers to the unfolding of traits potentially present in the
individual resulting from his hereditary endowment. Some of these are
insensitive to environmental influence while others are dependent upon
environmental influence while other are dependent upon environmental
conditions. For example, crawling, sitting, standing, walking etc., appear
with physiological maturation of the system, whereas swimming, cycling etc.
require training or practice. Further mental abilities simply do not depend
upon maturation but on enviromnental conditions in which children are
brought up.
On the other hand, learning refers to the acquisition of a few behaviour
or modification of the previous behaviour consequent upon some kind of
practice, exercise or effort on the part of the Individual. The child shows
certain changes in his physical structure and other behaviours. A child may
have a mechanical aptitude but if in the environment he does not get a chance
to play and manipulate different mechanical activities, then his mechanical
aptitude will not develop. Hereditary potential may remain in extinct state.
Learning may take place under imitation, identification or training under
different conditions of motivation. But the fact remains that behavioural
manifestations are the product of learning. Maturation and learning
interpretations offer two conflicting view points for description and
development of behaviour.
The methods of isolation and cotwin control have invariably resulted in
bringing inadequate and inconclusive evidences regarding the relative
contribution of maturation and learning on behaviour. The issue can be dealt
more effectively if we analyse the relative importance of maturation and
learning in relation to prenatal/postnatal periods and physical/mental
development.
It is true tht the prenatal development is mostly rather solely influenced
by maturation. Fetus which are most well developed and active appear to
acquire skills most readily in postnatal life than those who were less active.
But the child learns many things from society, culture and the neighbourhood
where he lives. If he is physically and mentally well developed, he assimilates
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT
43
does not have a well
and accommodates from experience than the child who
developed structure. It can be stated that maturation in and by itself does not
produce much of the changes in and organismbut it provides the ground for
further behavioural development to occur due to learning.
Piaget has said, the child tries to adapt himself to the environment and
behaviours in a coordinated
in this process of adaptation he acquires new
sequence. This concept of coordinated sequence automatically confirms the
notion that physiological maturation of the organism does have a role to play.
Learning helps in acquisition of new behaviour but the sequence in which
different developments occur are age specific in (approximately) character.
In other words, maturation sets a limit beyond which development cannot go
even when learning is encouraged.
This concept of limit is quite meaningful from genetic and pedagogy
points of view. The genetic specialist like Gesell would insist that growth can
be guided but not created.
No behaviour will appear unless there is genetictransmission or genetic
basis for it. Learning is limited to the genetic potential. It has therefore,
pedagogic significance because if learning is pushedbeyond the maturational
level or the genetic endowment. Psychological damage may occur to
individual child.
Here again an optimistic note comes from Watson, the behaviourist.
Watson emphasized excessively on the role of environmentand development
of behaviour through conditioning. The over emphasis onthe role of learning
or environment has been abandoned. Evidence for such a statement comes
form the studies on education of mentally handicappedchildren, and failure
in increasing IQ and aptitudes to a considerable degree.
Learning techniques are nevertheless helpful. Wherever there is a block
to progress, on individual's inability to improve further, change in the
method of learning has brought improvements in the activities of the
individual. In other words, innate capacities must be stimulated by
environmental factors. If children are brought up under deprivedand under-
nourished enviromnent, there is no doubt that their intellectual and physical
growth will be rçtarded. For example. Bloom has very recently stated that if
the fetus during the last two weeks before birth and upto six weeks of
postnatal life fails to get nutritious food, mental and physical growth will be
retarded i.e. he cannot function in accordance with his genetic potential.
Similarly, children coming from poor socioeconomic status groups, broken
homes, crowded and slum areas fail to get rich stimulation, suffer
developmentally. In rare cases such deprivation effects are reversible but
usually not so. Hence, even with large genetic potential for mental ability,
 44 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

childrenunder—achieve in a classroom and are developmentally below their

age in adaptive behaviours.
Parental expectancy, aspiration, child rearing habits have a lot to do in
engineering development of the new born upto the age of maturity. Under
a high achievement atmosphere, the child sets up goal, tries to achieve it,
makes attempts to reach it and become self-directed or self motivated.
Invariably such as motivational set helps the average child to achieve
superior status in life.
The relationship between maturation and learning can be examined
from point of view of readiness. The developmental cognitive theorists like
Piaget and Kohlberg believe that a child cannot learn unless he is ready to
learn. Whether one talks of motor activities, sensoiy conditioning, or higher
forms of learning, maturational readiness of the physical and mental
apparatus is a must. You cannot teach a child the concept of reversibility at
4 years of age; the concept of volume at age seven; the grasping behaviour
at 2 months no matter how much practive you give. The system has to take
it and it must be ready for it structurally. Studies have shown that teaching
reading at 13 months brought little improvement in vocalization until
they reached 17 months of age. Training is ineffective until the baby is
matured.
The concept of readiness is vital for educating the children. It is
ascertained by means of (a) the child's interest in learning (b) the duration
of sustained attention or persistence in a task, and (c) the improvement that
comes as a result of his practising the task. An assessment and undertaking
is necessary for teachers in making instruction effective. It thus seems logical
to state that both maturation and learning age necessaiy for development of
the child. Maturation besides bringing some automatic changes, provides the
ground for learning to occur. Further, acquisitions of skills reflect a better
maturational status of the children. Hence, both are interrelated and interactive.
In any case, maturation is a necessary condition for learning.
Heredity and Environment
The word environment is so broad that is includes a large variety of
factors e.g. family, peers, school, culture, socio-economic stitus, nutrition,
child rearing practices and so on. The term heredity is also quite inclusive
and generic to cover effects of sex hormones, sex, twin birth, chromosomal
anomalies. Each of these factors have been discussed at appropriate levels in
respective sections on development of physical, social, intellectual and
emotional, abilities. As such, there is no need to present a general picture
here excepting discussing the main interacting factors i.e. heredity and
environment in detail. Gregor Johan Mendel (1822-1884), an Austrian
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 45
Monk, the father of modern genetics, published certain laws of hereditary
transmission on the basis of his observation on peas. He observed that
hereditary characteristics are trasmitted from parents to children through
genes. Like begets like was hi general promiseof operation. He crossed pure
strain of white and purple flowers. In the first generation all the offsprings
had purple flowers. Here one was the parent characteristics because dominant
(purple) and the other was recessive (while). In the second generation grand
parental traits appeared in a ratio of 3 : 1. This was Mendel's first law i.e.
law of segregation. It means that genes occur in pairs and one member of the
pair is contributed by each parent. When sperm and ovum unite a new and
unique gene pair is transmitted to the offspring. His second laws is that of
independent assortment. This means that every character is inherited
independently of any other character. The paternal and maternal genes
present in the offspring of the hybrid will undergo independenP assortnient
for the production of all the combination of genes in the gametes. The
result is that in each generation random combination of characters are
present.
After some years of Mendelian theory the law of mutation was introduced.
According to this law characters which are not present in parental generations
do appear in children due to chance and cannot be explained by hereditary
principles.
Many times we feel whether we inherit any thing from our parents
except the property rights. Do we carry the culture ? More precisely. Is
human behaviour inheritdd or is it a result of environment ? This way of
putting a question is equivocal. Because such question cannotbe answered
in either manner. All behaviours infact are the result of the interplay or
interaction of both heredity and environment. Their relative contribution
however, differ from traits to traits.
ROLE OF HEREDITY
In most case, genetic studies of behaviour have been conducted on animals
than on human beings. This has been a practive because animal behaviour
is less complex, animal environment can be controlled at ease and breeding
rate of animals is faster. Although animal studies can not be generalised to
human beings yet they certainly prove the genetic influence.
Mendel's laws of hereditary transmission have now been established for
many traits such as eye colour, baldness, hereditary diseases and a condition
known as albinism. The albino individual is born with white hair, pigmentless
skin, pink eyes. These persons are sensitive to light, and their vision is
always poor. Taste is also found to be inherited, particularly with reference
 46 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

to phenyl theocarbainide. Nearly 30

per cent of the population cannot taste
it. - EMOTIOMAL

In case of emotional behaviour also

the role of heredity has been demons- S
trated by Hall (1951). Hall inbred the 3 MONEMOTIONM.
most and the least emotional rats and
observed the emotionality in 12 112 4.GENIRAIION
6 $ 10 1213
generation of rats. The figure shows the PARE WV S
emotional behaviour of rats for 12 EMOTIONAUTY IN 12 GENERATIoNS
generations. It is quite clear that emotion- (HALL., 1951)
ality in rats has a genetic base.
Tryon (1942) demonstrated the role of heredity in maze learning ability
of rats. He selected 142 rats and gave them 19 trials in a complex maze. Some
animals learned the maze very late and others learned it very quickly. The
bright rates were met each other and the dull rats were met with each other.
Both sets of the offsprings were followed and the process was repeated for
eight generations. By the eighth generation there was practically no overlap
in maze learning ability between "bright" and "dulls". This is seen from
the graph where learning ability shown in trials.

'U.
U

0
a
I

* -
TOTAl. BLIND ALLEY ENTRANCE IN 141
(TRVQN-1942)
EFFECT OF HEREDITY ON LEARNING

From this experiment it is clear that maze learning ability and heredity
are related. Selective breeding could demonstrate this genetic basis very
clearly.
The question may arise here. Is intelligence also inherited ? Twin studies
after some meaningful answer to this question. The correlations and
heritability ratios and shown here to Indicate the role of heredity (Vandenberg,
1972).
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 47

Countiy Year Identical Fraternal Heritability ratio

Twins Twins (H = V genetic
V Environment)
1933 .84 .65 .54
England
1954 .76 .44 .57

1958 .97 .55 .93

1966
U.S.A. 1932 .92 .61 .80
1937 .90 .62 .74

1965 .87 .63 .65

1968 .80 .48 .62

France 1960 .90 .60 .75

Sweden 1952 .89 .72 .61

1953 .90 .70 .67

Studies of identical twins reared apart have been powerful in substantiating

the role of heredity on development of intelligence. Vandenberg 1971 (b)
have obtained correlations between IQ scores when children are reared apart
and when they are raised together. The data are
Country Year Identical Twins Raised together
U.S.A. 1937 .77 .98
England 1962 .77 .76
1958 .86 .92
England

Cyril Burt's (1955) study is veiy well known in this field although there
is some concern about his data after his death. Skoddak and Skeels (1949)
examined the intelligence scores of 100 adopted children who were tested for
a period of 16 years. It was found that with increasing age the IQ the adopted
children became highly correlated with the educational level of biological
parents than with that of their adoptive parents. This was reflected in the
aso1utv sc.ci c Q.
LQ. Correlation From Child Adoption Studies

Study Adopted child vs. Own child vs. Control child vs.
Adoptive parents Adoptive parents True parents
(averaged J.Q.) (averaged I.Q.) (averaged J.Q.)
Freeman et al. (1928) 0.39 (N = 169) 0.35 (N = 28)
Burks (1928) 0.20 (N = 174) 0.52 (N = 100)
Leahy (1935) 0.18 (N = 117) 0.6 (N = 20) 0.36 (N = 137)
Pooling all studies
(Kamin 1974) 0.26 (N 520) 0.35 (N = 48) 0.57 (N = 237)
 48 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

There is also strong evidence that verbal ability, word fluency, and
spatial ability have larger genetic component (Thurstone, 1941). Jensen
(1969) in his most widely circulated paper proved that IQ is inherited and
the heritability scores are reported in large number of studies prepared by
Burt (1966).
Correlations between Relatives
Correlations between No. of No. of Mediun: Theoretical
studies pairs Correlation Value

With parents 13 374 0.54 0.49

With parents (as children) 1 106 0.56 0.49
With grandparents 2 132 0.24 0.31
Between identical twins
reared together 13 95 0.87 1.00
Between identical twins
reared apart 3 54 0.75 1.00
Between identical twins
same sex 8 71 0.56 0.54
Between fraternal twins
different sex 6 56 0.49 0.50
Between sibling reared together 36 264 0.55 0.52
Between siblings reared apart 33 151 0.47 0.52
Between uncle (or aunt) and
nephew (or neice) 1 161 0.34 0.31
Between first cousins 2 215 0.26 0.18
Between second cousins 1 127 0.16 0.14
Foster parent and child 3 88 0.20 0.00
Children reared together 4 136 0.23 0.00
Children reared apart 2 200 0.01 0.00
These results clearly show that intelligence is inherited and 20 per cent
variation occurs due to environment.
A deaf child on the other hand suffers from intellectual ratardation but
in such cases hereditary handicap may be offset by training procedures. In
case of blood groups the relation to specific genes is so close that no other
concomitant heredity or environment can alter the outcome. Certain
characteristics on the other hand are hereditary. Sex, and skin colour,
including general body build depend upon heredity. By citing correlations
from the studies of identical twins, fraternal twins, twins reared apart and
together in one environment and siblings with regard to presence of
intelligence, Burt proved that intelligence is hereditary. So also Jensen, who
reviewed a large number of studies to establish that there is evidence for
genotypic intelligence or what Cattell calls the fluid intelligenece. This is
hereditary to the extent that 80% of common variance is attributable to
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 49
hereditary factors. Only 20% remains to be accounted for by environment
and measurement factors. However, estimates regarding the contribution of
heredity is only indirect and is based on logical inferences. The actual
position is rather more complex, and there is infact, a range of variations.
There are many others who believe that enriched environment will increase
the depressed intelligence and other behavioural characteristics. The preschool
projects and compensatory education projects are not cent per cent ineffective
in enhancing the rate of development of mental abilities in children. Short
term intervention might have resulted in equivocal findings..
ROLE OF ENVIRONMENT
Many studies have examined the role environment in the development of
behaviour in animals and human beings. What precisely we mean by
environment?
Environment refers to all the external events to which the individual is
subjected including prenatal and neonatal conditions, nutrition, medical
care, parents child rearing practice, cultural millieu, educational experiences,
types and place of occupation, and even the climate of residence and epoch
in which the person lives.
The importance of environment is determining physical traits can be
seen in study of Himalayan rabbits. When rabbits are raised under natural
conditions, these rabbits have a white body with black extremities. When the
same rabbits are raised in warm case, they do not develop the black
pigmentation. This indicates that rabbits with same genetic make up have
different phenotypic appearance as a result of environmental factors.
In case of human beings similar things do appear. A man's physique is
strongly determined by genetic factors, but environmental influence like
nutrition, has strong influence on the size and weight at any point in time.
In case of mental ability also, a highly intelligent man may not recall
anything under stress. Hence, each genotype or hereditary trait may show
itself in many phenotypic characteristics depending upon environmental
influences, but within limits. -

An experimental evidence by Freedman (1958) can be cited here.

Freedman (1958) reared four types of pups under either indulgent or
disciplined regiments. At eight weeks each pup was tested for inhibition of
eating by being punished by the person who reared the animal and left the
place. It was observed that the Baseujis (a type of pup) ate as soon as the
trainer left regardless of whether their rearing has been indulgent or
disciplined. Shetland sheep dogs did not eat the food no matter how they
have been reared. The indulged beagles and terriers were more inhibited by
punishment than those of the same type reared under strict discipline.
Environment had precisely effect on their behaviour.
 50 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The role of environment on behavioural development can be analysed

with reference to stimuli (a) producing organic changes which influence
behaviour and (b) those directly produce psychological reactions or behaviours.
Mental deficiency or retardation sometimes result from cerebral birth
injuiy and prenatal nutritional deficiencies. In the absence of any neurological
impairment resulting from injury in the brain, there are evidences of cerebral
palsy or motor disorders, which in turn affects lowering the mental ability
of the child. In other words, because of environmental factors there is organic
damage and that damage in turn leads to behavioural deficiency.
Social class membership may serve an illustration of broad, pervasive
and enduring environmental factors. It has wider influence on the behaviour
development. Bernstein has proved that the language spoken at home has far
reaching effect on the language development of the child. In slums, parents
use restricted language and as such the linguistic competence, of slum child
or lower socio-economic child is further restricted. One's aspiration and
expectations are also shaped by parental, especially mother's expectations
about the child. Highly restricted environment in early childhood determine
to a large extent the development of intellectual competencies in children.
Emotional and social traits may likewise be influenced by the nature of
interpersonal relations characterising the homes at different SES levels.
Personality traits are very much influenced by environmental factors
compared to intellectual ability. Studies of Margaret Mead, Malinowski and
Ruth Benedict, the well known cultural anthropologists of the world have
demonstrated the role of the culture is shaping personality characteristics.
The emphasis on early childhood emotional experience in the family by
Freudians also has great significance on personality development of the
child. Details of parent's child rearing habits and child's personality
development are described in the social learning section of this volume.
Early learning and experience contributed to the maze learning ability
of the dogs. This was demonstrated further by Fuller (1967). There were two
breeds of dog and same pups of each breed was bred normally and others in
isolation. The effect of isolation was observed in each breed and environment
had differential effect on each breed. Fuller observed that dogs reared in
isolation demonstrated a poorer learning ability because of emotional factors.
When this was controlled their maze learning performance increased,
Fuller's work demonstrated a lot of truth as the how deprivation starts quite
yearly in life in case of human children.
Cooper and Zubek (1958) studied the role of environment on maze
learning ability of bright and dull rats reared under there different
environments : enriched, restricted, and natural. At sixtyfive days of age
each groups was tested for maze learning. The enriched environment helped
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 51

the "dull" but did not affect the "bright". The restricted environment had
no dulls but depressed the "brights". It seems that instead of environment
having a direct effect on genotypes, it has an interacting effect.
Some theorists believe that social experience are of utmost importance
to intellectual development and that social deprivation can cause IQ changes.
Skeels (1966) studied 25 children who were in orphanages devoid of early
stimulation and personal attention. At the age of 11.12 year thirteen of these
children were transferred to an institution of retarded women. These children
had IQ of 64 at that time. Each child was nourished by a retarded woman
and recieved much affection. They were given toys to play and were taken
on field trips. It was found these children had their IQ by 28 points. In the
mean time children who remained in orphanage had 20 points of droppage
in IQ. These studies raise many issues. Whether early deprivation is
reversible ? Is there any direct relation between social deprivation and IQ or
intellectual development?
Kagan's (1977) study in Guatemala is convincing. In these villages
children are confined to dark huts. Adults seldom pay with infants. At the
age of 2 they are listless, apathetic, and retarded in development. But when
these children do learn to walk, they leave the huts and begin to participate
in community life. By the age of eleven they are active children and
intellectually competent.
Dennis (1973) found that in case of children living in orphanage home
in Lebanon, under extreme social deprivation, they become mentally retarded
and the IQ is around 55 if they continue to live in such atmosphere upto
adolescence. But children who were adopted before age 2, they had varying
degree of decline in intellectual development. Social deprivation therefore
affects adversely the intellectual functions depending upon how long the
deprivation continued and how early it started.
It is obvious from the previous discussions that range and nature of
influence of heredity and environment on the behavioural development of
children are quite varied. It is clear that all the evidences regarding the
presence or absence of one of the other variable, is based on biographical
follow-up data or correlational studies. In recent years the trend has changed.
There is more emphases on verifying explanatory hypotheses and observing
changes in behaviour as a result of intervention of changes in situations.
HEREDITY ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
An organism basically inherits a range of characteristics and there is a limit
of their modifiability. Each genotype can specify a range of phenotypes.
Environment can have very little influence on it. On the other hand, there
are traits which are greatly modifiable by environment. Experimental
52 ELEMENTS OF CRILD DEVELOPMENT

evidences can be cited to make this interactional view points more precise
and clear.
In one of the studies Haldane (1946) demonstrated that individuals with
genotype 'A' always scored higher than genotype 'B' but then they were
exposed to two different environments 'X' and 'Y'. It was found that both
the genotypes improved under environment 'Y' than under 'X'. This was an
ordinal interaction. Better nutrition increases the heights of both men and
women although in general men are taller than woman.
In certain situations the interaction is disordinal. For example, there are
two genotypes 'A' & 'B'. There are two enviromnent 'X' and 'Y'. Genotype
'A' Develops better under environment 'X' but genotype 'B' performs better
under 'Y' environment. Europeans outlive Blacks in Europe because of their
resistance to Tuberculosis where in Africa Blacks outlive Europeans because
of their resistance to yellow fever (Haldane, 1946).
In some cases environment has no effect on one genotype but dramatic
effect on the other. An illustration can be drawn from classroom instruction
on two methods of teaching reading to 18 pairs of identical twins. Out of 18
pairs some of the twins pairs are average intelligence and some were superior
in intelligence. One of the twin in each pair was assigned to a classroom and
the other to another classroom instruction. Reading was taught l' the phonic
method in one room and sight method in another room. Within each room
there were the average and superior children. It was observed that the
average children learned better by the phonic method where as the gifted
ones learned better by both the sight and phonic methods. In other words,
two environments had same effect on the gifted but different effect on the
average children.
The above findings show that environment acts on the genotype but
genotype does not act on the environment. But this assumption is not true
completely. Growth does not proceed in a simple reflex manner in relation
to certain environmental manipulation. Rather there are evidences where
heredity sets a limit in which environmental influences can act. The
individual can act on the environment and control, manipulate and change
the envfronment to his experiential level. In other words there is reciprocal
relation between the individual and his environment. For example:
"There are parents who abuse their children tend to be impulsive, self-
centred, imatured, self critical and less intelligent. Not all children activate
these abuses. Only certain children do i.e. the chronically sick, the
unmanageable ones, the malnourished. Hence, neither heredity nor
environment alone determine behaviour, the emphasis is upon one or the
other but both the factors interplay in determining the course of development.
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 53
create
But the fact remains, that we can easily manipulate the environment,
environment and produce behaviour change. Manipulation of heredity is a
stupendous task, often baffling the genetists" (Panda, 1983).
Seven types of investigations have been undertaken by different
psychologists to explain the process through which such influences operate.
Selective Breeding. This pratice was used to identify specific hereditary
conditions underlying the observed behavioural differences. Rather than
simply telling that 'maze learning ability' is inherited, attemptswere made
to find out what chemical properties of the genes ultimately lead to
behavioural characteristics. A follow up study on Maze bright and Maze dull
rats developed by Tryon on various breeds and cross breeds of dogs it was
crystal clear that 'difference in performance are produced bydifferences in
emotional, motivation, and peripheral processes and the genetically caused
differences in central processes may be light or non-existent'. Breeding
differences in physiological characteristics were established.
BEHAVIOUR AND PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIABLES
Research on electroencephalograph recordings, autonomic balance,metabolic
process and chemical factors substantiate that defective genes of dominant1
recessive genes through metabolic process cuase cerebral malftmnctioning
such as PKU, feeblemindedness, schizophrenic reactions.
PRENATAL ENVIRONMENT
Prenatal and paranatal deficiencies are significantly related to mental defect
and psychiatric disorders in children. These deficiencies mostly occurin low
socio-economiC homes. Direct evidence on maternal nutrition andchild's IQ
has also been obtained in a study made by Haldane and his associates. Two
groups of pregnant women were e1ectedfrom the lower SES. One group was
given a supplementary diet during the period of pregnancy and lactation. The
other group was left to their nonnal diet. The children of these mothers were
tested at age 3 and 4. Higher IQ was observed for the children of experimental
mothers than those of the control.
SENSORY DEPRiVATION STUDIES
Animal studies in many cases offered most crucial evidence. Studies on
prenatal radiation and neonatal asphyzia upon cerebral anomalies and
subsequent behaviour development have established quite clearly the role of
environmental factors. Sensory deprivation studies also demonstrate
deficiencies in development of perceptual responses motor activity, learning,
ernolionality, and social reactions, and when animals are again put in
nourished environment they invariably regain their depressed.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
54
COMPARATiVE STUDIES ON CHILD REARING PRACTICES
Whiting and Child (1953) analysed the dat on child rearing practices of
different primitive societies and clearly stated that personality development
of children are influenced directly by child rearing practices. Whether we
analyse from psychoanalytic orientation, or cultural orientation the fact
clearly emerges that parent-child interaction contributes to the personality
development of the child no matter what his genetic endowments may be.
SOMATOPSYCI1OLOGICAL FACTORS
Although Sheldon, Kretshmer and a few others have explained personality
characteristics of the child according to the body physique yet direct
evidences are wanting. More of research in necessaly to find out the direct
relationship between the two variables. But in any case it will merely provide
an indirect estimate about hereditary influence.
TWIN STUDIES
Whatever information has been obtained regarding the role of heredity or
environment it is primarily by comparing identical twins, fraternal twins
under different child rearing conditions by using the cot-win control method
over a short term period. It longitudinal studies are undertaken from very
early age though school age the effect of heredity and environment will be
more readily identified with regard to intellectual and personality changes
in the twins.
These principles and factors of developipent are necessary for parents
and teachers to know in order to regulate the development of their children
and also to observe if there is any deviation. Successful development infact
requires guidance for which a knowledge of normal developmental pattern
is required. Lack of opportunity and lack of encouragement may delay
developmental sequence.

F REVIEW EXERCISES]
Answer the following questions in 500 words each:
1. What are the principles of development? Explain the principles by giving
examples.
2. Point out the relationship between maturation and learning.
3. Discuss the relative importance of heredity and environment on the development
of the child.
4. Write a note on the sensory deprivation studies in relation to development of
behaviour.
5. What is the role of early experience on development?
6. What are the views of Piaget and Watson on role of environment in the
development of children?
 PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT 55
Write notes on in 50 words each of the following
,-1 Stages of development

.
,2 Concept of growth and development
3. Selective breeding
4. Sensoiy deprivation
5. Twin studies
6. Role of enriched environment
7. Heritability of Intelligence.
Write the answers to the following questions within 50 words each:
.1 Stages of development.
2' Types of growth.
3. Rate of development.
4. Difference between growth and development.
5i Cephalo-caudal sequence in development.
Proxiino-distal sequence in development.
7. Enriched environment.
8. Heredity.
9. Environment.
10. Size of the head.
Write whether the statements are True or False:
1. Mental development and physical development are not uniform processes.
2. Development is very rapid upto 3 years.
3. Development proceeds at different rate for difficult behaviour.
4. There compensation rather than correlation in development.
5. All children donot reach the development at the same age.
6. A child cannot come back after a poor start.
7. Child develops in a continuous manner.-
8. There is a difference in rate of physical development.
9. It is not possible to accelerate development.
10. There is discontinuity in development.
Fill in the blaths
1 is the beginning of development.
2. Development proceeds from to specific.
3. Early childhood is more important than childhood.
4. There is in the development of children.
5. Child hood shows the man as morning shows the
6. The period from 2 weeks to 2 years is known as
2 Th ar t
8. The period from 6 years to 13 years is knwon as
en

9. The period from 13 years to 16 years is known as

P
10. The effects of early experiences are neither enduring nor
4
Prenatal Development

Life of an individual begins when a sperm from the male enters into the
wall of an ovum from the female. This movement or union is called
conception. The characteristics of the parents are transmitted to their
children at conception. The mechanism through which such hereditary
characteristics are transmitted is knwon as 'mechanism of hereditary
transmission.'
Each fertilised egg. otherwise called 'Zygote' contains 23 pairs of
chromosomes equally released from both parents. The chromosomes contain
genes. Genes are the carrier of heredity. Each gene is composed of a chemical
called DNA. This DNA is actually the molecule of heredity. There are
about 1,000,000 genes in a human cell, approximately 20,000 in each
chromosome.
Inspite of this common carrier of heredity children born to same parents
are not identical. Because each child inherits only half of each parent's
genes. This combination occurs during the process of cell division. Only in
case of identical twins heredity remains same, as in this case same fertilised
egg splits into two individuals and the 46 chromosbmes in the germ cell are
divided always in the same way. It is possible only in rare case.
SIGNS OF PREGNANCY
The first symptom of pregnancy is a missed menstrual period although this
may occur due to fear of pregnancy. Nausea or morning sickness occurs after
about two weeks of conception and lasts until end of 3rd month. Tingling
sensations appear in the breasts after about a month of conception with
nipples becoming large and areas around these becomes dark. Frequent
urination especially at night is another indication of pregnancy. Medical
examination reveals that around sixth week the lower portion of the womb
becomes soft. There is swelling of the abdomen by twelfth week. Various a
tests are conducted to ensure pregnancy by physicians such as frog test. rabbit
tests etc. The average lasts about 280 days from the date of conception to the
date of child birth.
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT - 57
COMPLICATIONS OF PREGNANCY
There are a few conditions which are more succeptible than others during
pregnancy.
Cystitis is an infection of the bladder. The symptoms are frequent desire
to urinate, pain and burning sensation during urination. It responds to sulfa
drugs and antibiotics and fluid intake.
Ectopic pregnancy results when the fertilised egg implants itself in the
Fallopian tube instead of the wall of the womb. Since the tube is small it tends
to burst when the embryo increases in size. Surgeiy in necessaiy to save the
mother.
Toxemia i.e. puffness in face and hands, persistent vomiting, severe
strain in vision, rapid gain in weight indicates medical attention and control
of salt intake and sufficient rest. Otherwise this leads to another complication
i.e. Eclampsia whose symptoms are difficulty in breathing, convulsions and
in extreme cases coma. These occurs primarily in the case of first pregnancy
and lasts 3 months during pregnancy.
There may also be premature misplacement and separation of placenta
demanding immediate medical care for saving the mother and baby as well.
MENDEL'S LAW OF HEREDITY
The basic principles of heredity were formulated in 1865 by Gregor Johann
Mendel (1822-1884), an Austrian monk. He has pollinated red and white
flowers of true breeding species of a garden pea which is selipollinating and
which he called parental generation (P). Then their seeds were collected to
grow the first fillial generation of Fl; these were self pollinated to produce
offsprings of the second filial generation
or F2. Alter many years of experiment
Mendel concluded that:
(a) the flowers of the first filial
generation had both characteristics of
redness and whiteness. Mendel called
such individual or offspring having dual
characters as hybrid.
(b) that something takes place by
which the two characters (redness and
whiteness) are segregated or separated
in the next fIlial generation.
These experiments can be
graphically represented.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
58
Evely man and eveiy woman
at conception receIves 23 chromosomes
-
from each parents.

23
23

23

46

The heredity of the child is

determIned by 46 chromosomes
i.e. 23 chromosomes from each parent.
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT 59
Red flowers X White Parents
(Pure) (Crossed) (flowers) (P)
All red flowers (hybrid) First ifihial
generation

Red Red Red White ...F2

Another example can be given to illustrate Mendel's contribution to

heredity. He crossed a Tall (F) variety of pea with a dwarf (D) variety. The
resulting seeds when planted always produced Tall plants (Fl—the first
fillial generation). The character for dwarfness did not appear at all in the
Fl generation hybrids. Then Mendel permitted Fl hybrids to self pollinate.
He found that the F2 generation has mixed progeny of all and dwarf plants.
The original parental types (tall and dwarf) appeared to the F2 generation
in the approximate ratio of 3: 1. This shows that dwarfness disappeared only
in the Fl generation but was not completely lost. When the F2 dwarfs were
self pollinated they produced only dwarf offsprings in the F3 generation. The
F2 Tall plants were of two kinds. One third (25% of the total F2 progeny)
on self pollination produce only tall plants in the F3 generation and were
therefore pure talls. The remaining two third (50% of the total F2 plants)
when self pollinated produced both Tall and dwarf in the'ratio of 3 : 1. These
experiments are graphically presented below:
P (generation) Tall X d
crossed (dwarf)

Fl generation T (tall)
I I I

T T T d

F2 generation T d
I I I I I
T Td T
I I

T T T d
On the basis of the above experiments, Mendel, propounded certain
laws The important laws are:
(a) Mendel's law of dominance
This states that in crossings between organisms, for a pair or contrasting
characters, only one character of the pair appears in the Fl generation. The
60 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

character that expresses itself in the hybrid is called dominant and the
alternative or that fails to show itself is called recessive.

(b) The law of segregation

According to this law, the Fl hybrid tall peas of Mendel's experiment
will produce two kinds of gametes, some carrying the factor of Tallness and
an equal number carrying the factor for dwarfness. This law can also be
defined as non-mixing of genes in the hybrid. A gamete is pure for a
character.

(c) The law of independent assortment

Every character is inherited independently of every other character. The
different maternal and paternal characters (or other genes) present in the
offspring of the hybrid will undergo independent assortment for the production
of all the combinations of genes in the gametes. The result is that in each
generation random combination of characters or their genes takes place.
After some years law of mutation was introduced. According to this law
some characteristics which are not present in parental generation do appear
due to chance factors and that cannot be explained by Mendel's laws of
heredity.

SEX DETERMINATION
A curious question often arises, as to how the sex of the offspring is
determined ? Recent advances in the field of biology have made it possible
to explain. Out of the 23 pairs of chormosomes, one pair is responsible for
detennining the sex of the child. In the female this pair contains XX
chromosomes which are large in size. In the male, there is one large
chromosome (X) and another small chromosome known as (Y) chromosome.
When mating between a male and female occurs and the ovum containing
X unites with a sperm containing Y choromosome, the result is a boy (XY).
On the other hand, when sperm and ovum are united each carrying X
chromosomes, there is the development of a female baby (XX).
PRENATAL GROWTH
It has been already stated that life beings at conception and not from the
time of birth. Birth is only a point in the continuity of development.
Conception occurs during mating of a male with a female. And there are
particular periods when mating results in conception. In other words, around
the middle of menstrual cycle, an ovum ripens in one of the two ovaries. It
then enters into the Fallopian tube and marches towards the uterus. This
ripening of the ovum occurs only once in every 28 days. Further, during the
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT 61

Father produces sperms of two kinds, in equal numbers:

(a) with large X sexchromosome. (b) with small V chromosome

Mother produces eggs all of one kind,

each with a large X sexchromosome.

1.-If sperm with X enters egg:

xx

A Girl

A Boy

2. If sperm with V enters egg:

Sex determinatioi.
62 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

courseof its journey to the uterus, if it unites with a sperm, as a result of

mating at this time of menstrual cycle, then conception occurs.
At the beginning of this union of sperm and ovum, the chromosomes
line up and split, and the process of development begins. The fertilised ovum
or Zygote is very small at conception, about 1/175 of an inch in diameter.
The period from conception upto the time of birth is best known as Prenatal
period, which is again subdivided into three phases period of ovum,
embryo, and fetus. The 10 lunar months (280 days) are marked off into these
divisions.
PERIOD OF OVUM
The period of ovum extends from the time of fertilization upto the end
of second week of life. During this period the size of the ovum is about the
size of a pinhead and the size hardly changes because it does not receive any
external nourishment. Around 10 to 14 days after fertilization the ovum will
attach itself to the uterine wall. Before the 10th day it was unattached and
free moving. When it becomes attached to the uterine wall, it derives
nourishment from the mother. The period of ovum then comes to an end.
PERIOD OF EMBRYO
The period of embryo extends from third week to the end of second lunar
month. Growth of the embryo becomes rapid. By the end of this period the
embryo has all the important external and internal features of the human
being. The embryo begins to function by the end of 3rd week. By the end of
second month the embryo is approximately 11-2 to 2 inches long and weight
2 grams to 2/3 ounce.
In fact, the inner cell of the fertilised egg which develops into an embryo
begins to differentiate into 3 layers from which different organs develop.
(a) Ectoderm. The outer from which skin, hair, nails etc. develop.
(b) Mesoderm. The middle layer out of which muscles, skeleton,
circulatory and excretary organs develop.
(c) Endoderm. The inner layer from which the gastrointestinal tract,
Eustachian tube, lungs, lines, pancreas, salivaiy glands etc. develop.
Various nutritional substances om the mother passes to the embryo
through the placenta. The placenta egulates the embryonic development.
PERIOD OF FETUS
This period extends from the end of second lunar month to birth. Upto this
time the fetus was passive and was floating quitely in the amniotic fluid. It
becomes capable of reacting to tactile stimulation. By the end of 3rd month,
 PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT 63
*
it becomes about 3 inches long and weights 3/4 of an ounce. Muscles are well
developed. Eyelids and nails are developed. The sex of the fetus can also be
distinguished.
In the fourth month there is rapid increase in growth. The fetus now
becomes 7 inches in length and weighs approximately 4 ounces. The head
is disproportionately large. The digestive system is fairly well established.
The fetus is active. The food intake, oxygen and water is increased. The
eyebrows and genetal organs are fairly noticeable.
Around 5th month, the mother begins to feel the movements of thefetus.
By this time the fetus has become 4 V2 inches long. By the end of 5th month
it becomes 10 inches long and in weight, it is about 8 or 9 ounces. T* fetus
resembles a human baby. The fingers grip; eyes blink; mouth opehs and
closes. The skin is developed which protects the fetus. The eyelids are still
fused and shut. Except lungs all other internal organs are matured. The fetus
has now both sleeping and waking moments.
The sixth month fetus is over a foot in length and is about 1 Vz pound
in weight. It looks as a miniature baby. The eyelids are separated. Finger
nails appear. The fetus can now make eyelids are separated. Finger nails
appear. The fetus can now make a fist. Bones have become gradually hard.
Sometimes babies are born at this stage but they very rarely survive.
During the third trimester i.e. seventh to ninth month there is rapid
growth and increase of weight. The weight is about 6 pounds and height 1 Y2
to 2 ft. Crying, breathing and thumb sucking appears in the seventh month
The uterus becomes cramped. The brain stem is developed but neural
functioning is not perfect. That is why there are respiration problems if
babies are born at the seventh month. By seventh month almost all sensory
functions appear in the fetus excepting sensitivity to pain. Many children are
born at this stage and they reveal the following characteristics:
Movement and muscle tones are poor; avoidance to bright stimulation;
breathing is irregular; head turns to sides; crying is absent; and no definite
period of waking and sleeping. These functions are all modified and well
developed when the fetus reaches the end of 10th lunar month. The nervous
* system is now adequately developed and it functions independently.
/ENVIRONMIINTAL FACTORS INFLUENCING PRENATAL DEVELOP-
/ MINT
Human development is complex. Neither heredity nor environment shapes
the course of development. It is as a result of the interaction of the two that
various growth and behavioural characteristics are manifested in human
beings. It is true that genes carry hereditary influences but genes develop
64 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

under different environments. Recent researches have established some

crucial factors which influence the development of the child during prenatal
period.
Age of the Mother
Age of the mother during pregnancy is responsible for the mental
development of the child. If mothers become pregnant before they reach 20
years or after they attain 35 years, there is a greater possibility that less
intelligent children will be born to such mothers. Especially the danger of
having retarded children is more when mothers become pregnant in their late
40's. Studies have shown the best age for women to have children is between
21 to 28.
Nutrition
During pregnancy the mother not only needs better food for herself but
also for the growing fetus. The fetus derives the food from the blood stream
of the mother through placenta and umbilical cord. Hence, if the mother
suffers from malnutrition, complications such as aneamia, toxemia, premature
and still birth, miscarriages do arise more frequently. If thçjnother is poorly
fed during first four to five months of pregnancy the baby born to such
mothers suffer from pneumonia, ncket, cold bronchitis, immediately after
birth. Burke has observed that lack of sufficient protein in mother's diet is
responsible for premature birth and neural defects in the infant. Mental
retardation of the baby has also been associated with maternal malnutrition
in the prenatal stage.
Drugs
Intaking of drugs by the mother has a deleterious effect on the
development of fetus. For example, if the mother takes thalidomide of fetus.
For example, if the mother takes thalidomide durii?g pregnancy, the child is
born with anatomical defects. Respiratory troubles in children are seen if the
mother has taken barbiturate drugs during labour period. Use of seconal
sodium during labour also results in low cortical activitas as revealed from
EEG records. Besides, permanent brain damage to infants occur if the
mother remains under excessive drugs during pregnancy.

Smoking
Smoking by pregnant mother affects adversely the development of fetus.
Heart rate of the fetus is often accelerated following mother's smoking. It
may lead to impairment in the heart and circulatory sytem. Alcohol,
tobacco, etc. have similar adverse effects.
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT 65

4 WK$ —

WKS

3M0S —

Prenatal development of the human baby

 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

X-Ray Treatment
It has become a fancy even with the rich and educated elite to check the
pregnant mother and development of the fetus by frequent exposure to X'ray.
Medical science has shoii that frequent X'ray treatment precipitate abortions
and other damages. In-addition usually physical and mental abnormalities
appear. In a research investigation, 75 full term babies were observed whose
mothers underment frequent X'ray treatment. Of the 75 babies, 25 had
mental and physical abnormalities; 16 became microcephalic; and 8 were
blind and physically deformed; 20 had severe disturbances in their central
nervous system. The disaster is still more if X'ray treatment is applied at the
early stage of pregnancy.
INFECTIONS AND CHRONIC DISEASES OF MOTHER
Mothers who suffer from syphilis face miscarriage. Their children become
extremely weak and mentally deficient.
If the mother gets infection by German measles during early pregnancy,
the child is more likely to be mentally retarded. Nearly 47 per cent of the
children born suffer from mental retardation if the mother gets an infection
of Rubella or German measles in first month of pregnancy; 22 per cent of
these become victim to deficiency in case of the infection if occurs in 2nd
month of pregnancy and nearly 7 per cent suffer in case of infection during
the 3rd month of pregnancy. Besides mental deficiency such infections do
produce deafmutism, cardiac lessions, contracts etc. Mothers who suffer
from diabetis during pregnancy give birth to children with respiratory and
circulatory troubles. Toxemia i.e. swelling of the limbs during pregnancy
leads to kidney troubles in the mother and intellectual deficiency in
children.

Rh-incompatibility
Differences in blood composition of the fetus and the mother leads to
bio-chemical incompatibility. TheRh-positive fetus produces antigens which
enter into mother's blood stream. Antibodies are formed in the mother's
circulatory system and these antibodies are passed into the fetus through
placenta. The red blood cells of the fetus are destroyed and it also prevents
supply of oxygen to the fetus. Consequently it creates erythroblastosis
leading to death of the child in most cases. In case of chance survival, the
child suffers from paralysis. The first born children are not affected by this
blood incompatibility. Recent advances in medical sciences have been able
to take care of this incompatibility by blood transfusion when detected early
in pregnancy.
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT 67
Maternal emotional states
Mother's emotion influence the fetus through glandular changes caused
by her emotions. Whatever may be the cause, if the mother remains in
tension, anxiety, and depression during the pregnancy periodit leads to
increased fetal activity which makes the baby leaner than the normal
baby. Again, if tensions occur early in pregnancy then damage dome to the
fetus is more. A woman resents to be pregnant but becomes pregnant is
emotionally more upset for having a child. This emotional attitude is more
damaging not only for the fetus but for future psychological adjustment of
the baby.
Birth hazards
Certain factors at the time of birth also cause damage to the unborn
child: (a) hemorrhaging and (b) failure to breathe early. In case of birth
injury or injury to the head during delivery the blood vessels in the brain are
destroyed. Hence, supply of oxygen to the brain becomes limited. The brain
cells die for want of oxygen. As a result, the child may die or become
deficient. When the cells of the brain stem are damaged motor defects are
likely to occur. The child may also have difficulty to speak.
It is clear partly from the foregoing discussions that hereditary factors
might affect an individual in important ways but the prenatal influences
certainly contribute greatly how the Zygote has to develope itself into a full
grown baby. The prenatal period is a critical period for the to-be-born
child in as much as the first three years is for the new born baby. All effects
of deprivation can be offset but enrichment studies are not very
convincing.

Teratogenic Agents affecting the Embryo

It is any substance that causes a change in the genetic code. This in turn
produces abnormalities in growth and behaviour of the baby. Teratogenic
agents environmental or genetic affect genes and protein poduction. The
genes may be damaged or become incapable. Ezymes may be blocked or
totally destroyed. As a result of these, there may be developmental halts,
incomplete development or overgrowth. Thallidomide is a dangerous drug
which affects development of arms and legs as would be seen from the
following summary table which contains other agents which inhibit
growth.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Categoy Cause Effect

Physical. X'ray of the mother Malformation of any organ, depend-
during pregnancy ing upon stage or development of the
embryo
Infections Rubella Brain damage, Mental Retardation,
sensory loss in hearing and visual
field
Chemical Quinine Possible deafliess and malformation.

Thalidomide Taken after 21 days of pregnancy

creates absence of external cars,
cranial nerve paralysis. After 25-27
days creates agnesis of anus, after
28-29 days creates agnesis of legs.

Vitamin A Large dosage taken during pregnancy

creates cleft palate, eye damage,
congenital abnormalities

Vitamin D Large dosage taken during pregnancy

cause mental retardation

Alcohol Mental subnormality.

Vitamins
Deficiencies of vitamin C, B-6, B-12, D, and K in mothàr are especially
responsible for inhibiting prenatal development of the fetus.
These factors are therefore, very essential for maternal care of the
pregnant mother and unborn baby.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer thefollowing questions in 500 worth each:
1. What is Mendel's law of heredity ? Explain the mechanism of hereditary
transmission.
2. Describe the prenatal environmental influence on the development of the
fetus.
3. What physical and psychological changes take place after birth?
4. What care the mother might take to give birth to a healthier child ? Describe
briefly.
5. What are some signs of pregnancy and complication of pregnancy?
6. Explain the effect of the following:
(a) Rh-incompatibility on growth of fetus.
(b) X'ray on infant behaviour.
(c) German measles on mental characteristics of children.
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT 69
(d) Maternal intoxication on growth of new born baby.
Write notes on in 50 words each:
1. Period of Ovum
2. Detennination of Sex
3. Law of dominance
4. Period of embryo
5. Period of fetus
6. Conception
7. Maternal emotional states
8. Birth hazards.
9. Contribution of Mendel to Child Psychology
10. Hereditary transmission process
11. Law of dominance
12. Law of independent assortment
13. Zygote
14. Rh-factor.
Write whether the statements are True or Fake:
1. Identical twins reared apart develop in similar way.
2. Childs sex is determined by combination of XY chromosome.
3. There are 47 chromosomes in a mentally subnormal child.
4. Heredity sets the limit of development.
5. Fraternal twins have common heredity.
6. DNA is the molecule of heredity.
7. Each gene is composed of a chemical called DNA.
Fill in the blimks:
I is the carrier of heredity.
2. X chromosome when combined with chromosome of the mother produces
a male child.
3. X chromosome when combined with chromosome of the mother produces
a female child.
4. Personality of the identical twin is when they are reared apart.
5. Ovum period extends from concept on to
6. There are pairs of chromosomes in a fertilised egg.
7 is responsible for sex determination.
8. When sperm and ovum one united is formed
9. Sex of fraternal twins are
10. Mother in case of Drugs have a effect on child.
 5
The Neonate : Effects of Birth on
Development
Life does not begin at birth, it begins at conception. Birth is merely an
interruption. "Birth represents a transition from a parasitic type of sheltered
existence in a relatively invariable environment to a physiologically
autonomous existence in a less protected and highly variable environment"—
Ausubel and Sullivan (1971). Because of birth, the organic system and sense
modalities are brought into use for the first time. These organic system need
time for adaptation and adjustment.
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CHANGES
Immediately after birth the neonate starts the respiration for his own
survival. A few infants have difficulty in establishing respiration after birth.
Birth cry becomes the first sign of life after birth. But breathing is imperfect
and irregular. At birth, respirations are mostly of the abdominal type and
during sleep average about thirtytwo per minute as compared to 20 in the
adult. There is change from fetal to nasal respiration because the former is
not adequate for the full term fetus. In fact, during the last few weeks of
prenatal life the amount of oxygen available from the placental circulation
-becomes insufficient leading to severe anoxia if pregnancy is prolonged
beyond term. There is high mortality rate in post-masture infants due to
oxygen deficit.
The two major cardiovascular changes at birth are (a) termination of the
placental circulation that links maternal and fetal blood systems.
(b) Obliteration of the shunts and channel fetal blood away from the lungs
at birth. The fetus oxygenate his own blood and the lungs are inflated with
air. Neonatal pulse rate is approximately twice as that of the adult, and blood
pressure is only half as high as that of the adult, and blood pressure is only
half as high as that of the adult.
For the first time ingestion and digestion of food occur after birth. The
neonate looses weight during the first few days of life but tends to regain has
THE NEONATE : EFFECTS OF BIRTH ON DEVELOPMENT 71

birth weight after a week. First born children loose less weight than do later
borns. Infants born in summer and autumn regain their weight sooner than
those born in winter and spring. The kidneys also become functional at this
time since wastes can not be disposed of through the placental channel.
Birth has certain psychological effects. Birth is considered asa catastrophe
in the life of the child. The feeling of oneness with the mother and the
serenity of the womb always remind the child when the child feels helpless
and insecured. This feeling becomes the primal basis for later anxiety.
Clinical studies support such kind of mental reactions.
PREMATURITY
There is variability in period of gestation and in the rate of prenatal
development. Because of these reasons children vaiy in degree of maturity
at birth. The Mean length of the gestation period is 280 days with an upper
limit of 334 and lower limit of 180 days (Carmichael, 1954). Approximately
one third of all post-mature infants fail to survive if the mother is prinüparous
andover 26 years of age (Clifford, 1954). Prematurity is most likely to occur
among first born children.
Nearly 5 to 10 per cent of all live births are prematurely born. Veiy
rarely children born before 26 weeks of age swvive. Survival infáct, varies
according to the period of gestation and weight of the baby.
Prematurity is associated with unmarried motherhood and advanced age
of the mother, with maternal infection of Rubella, congenial Syphilis and
Rh-incompatibility and inadequate maternal nutrition.
Prematurity accounts for physiological and anatomical anomalies.
Prematurity is casual factor in more than half of all neonatal deaths.
General activity level is lower and required responses are rudimentaiy. His
respirations are shallow. His body is very weak. He is unable to regluate body
temperature effectively. Prematurity is ascertained primarily on the basisof
birth weight which is less than 5 lbs. The head circumference is less than 33
cm. Scalp hairs are shorter that 2 cm. Crown-Tump length is less than 32
cm.
The prematured born infant requires. a special environment for
improvement, most- nutritional adequacy. The prematurely born child
experiences retardation in postural, locomotive and manipulative activities.
The prematurely born child does differ from the normal baby. The fetus
is likely to be restless, distractible and displays motor and cognitive deficits
during the flrt year of development. n case, the child weighs less than 4 lbs,
he hardly suivives and in case he survives, he becomes a severely brain
damaged child. After the 9th month no damage occurs to the baby due to
premature birth. Nearly 10 per cent of the children are born prematurely and
 72 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

most of them are due to maternal malnutrition, anoxia, toxemia and

emotional stress.
Prematurely born infants are show in physical growth. They have more
physical illness. They are slow in motor development and are mentally
deficient and are retarded in language development. They are highly
sensitive to sounds and noises and are easily distracted. Nervous symptoms
i.e. thumb sucking, irritability, tempertantrums are seen among these
children. In early childhood they are shy, dependent but later óñ problem
behaviours are more often seen.
TYPES OF BIRTH
The effects of Birth injury on development dçpcnds largely upon the types
of birth. Hurlock (1972) describes four different types ofbirth: Spontaneous
or normal birth, Breech birth, Transverse-presentation birth, and Caesarean-
section birth. In spontaneous birth no external aid is required. The head
appears first, followed by one shoulder and the other and so on. This is
normal and no complication occurs usually. The breech birth uses instrument
to get the baby out since the buttocks appear first in the birth canal followed
by the legs, arms and finally the head. In the Transverse-presentation birth,
the fetus lies cross-wise in the uterus. The child is born only after instruments
are used. When fetus is large enough to pass through the birth canal with a
difficult and prolonged labour. Surgical methods are applied to deliver the
child through maternal abdominal wall. Although in case of the birth
through prolonged labour, the later developments of the infant are affected
adversely, it may also happen in normal deliveries if the mother is emotionally
tense and fearful of child birth.
BIRTH INJURY
When the neonate is born after prolonged difficult labour Asphyxia becomes
a common complication. Sometimes fracture in the skill, intra-cranial
hemorrhage and cerebral laceration may result. Development becomes
retarded in the first two years of life, perceptual and motor defects do appear.
Inter-cranial injury may lead to convulsive disorders, cerebral palsy and
mental retardation.
Anoxia refers to interruption of oxygen supply to the brain. This is more
common and damaging than Asphyxia i.e. pressure on the brain. A total lack
of oxygen to the brain will kill the brain cells in 18 seconds. Anoxia is caused
by prematurity or abnormality in circulation.
Epilepsy is most common in breech birth because of damage to the brain
call due to oxygen deprivation. The transverse type of birth which uses
instruments, if applied to fetal head, causes brain injury. The infant born
 THE NEONATE: EFFECTS OF BIRTH ON DEVELOPMENT 73

through caesarean method is less likely to have brain injury but has difficulty
of respiration and the brain cells might suffer from oxygen deprivation. Less
serious disorders are : Loss in auditory acuity, slow breathing less initial
activity following birth, hyper irritability and general Psychomotor problems,
lower attention level, reading disability etc. Prematurity also affects birth
process and development adversely.
THE NEW BORN BABY
The neonate makes certain major adjustments. These are adjustment to
temperature, breathing, nourishment, elimination process because of the vast
differences in internal and external environment.
Several reflexes appear at this stage. Moro or startling reflex appears in
the new born due to loud noise, bumping crib, sudden loss of support. The
neonate draws legs up, arms are brought forward in hugging. It must appear
in normal babies. Its absence indicates brain damage. Hands grasp objects
with firm grip than let go. Toes curl downward. Absence of this grasping
reflex indicates neural depression. Absence of sucking while touching lips
indicates immaturity, brain injury, retardation. Hot milk bottle, pinpncks
induce withdrawal behaviour. The neonate cries in pain. Absence of this
behaviour indicates immaturity and damage of brain.
Babinski reflex appears when there is stimulation in the foot. The
neonate spreads the toes. If it persiss it indicates malfunction. These are
r
some of the reflexes which appear in the neonate.
The first two weeks or a month of postnatal life refers to the period of
neonate. The neonate's general appearance indicates disproportionate head,
eyes, trunk, and limbs in relation to childhood standards. Mean weight at
birth is between seven and one half pounds and mean length is 20 inches.
First born infants tend to be smaller at birth than later borns. Infants from
lower socio-economic levels tend to be smaller and lighter at birth.
The behaviour of the new born is general and of gross nature. There is
little cortical inhibition of control which is necessary for specific and directed
movements, as well as for integration and coordination of movements. The
whole body is almost involved even in simple act like sucking. The neonate
shows eyelid closure in relation to illumination or a blast of air, pupilliary
contraction and dilation in response to change in illumination, nystagmus
sneezing urination, defection, balancing, movements of the head in response
to change in bodily position, tonic neck reflexes, knee and ankle jerks,
Gradually specific behaviour develops. The grasping reflex is replaced by
voltitional reflex which again is replaced by voltitional grasping involving
the thumb. Reflex behaviour undergoes relatively little developmental
change after the neonatal period.
74 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

CRYING
Crying and whinning are the only sounds the new born is able to utter and
are invariably accompanied by mass activity. Crying is not under cortical
control and serves no communicativó purpose and is different from speech
sounds. At the earlier stage it is involuntary but later on its casual
relationship to need reduction is established.
Hunger accounts for 1/3rd of all crying. Its incidence is Just prior to
feeding. Infants cry less when there is some type of auditory stimulation
present and if they are kept in a prone position.
FEEDING
Neonates suck when they are awake or aroused irrespective of degree of
hunger. Ordinarily the neonate sucks milk from any thing that is soft. The
older neonate sucks more vigorously and is less responsive to
irrelevant stimuli. Gradually the neonates are placed on a feeding schedule.
Breast-fed babies are more agitated and show more sucking than bottlefed
babies.
SLEEP
The younger the child, the longer he sleeps. The neonate sleeps from 16 to
20 hours a day. But individual periods of sleeps are relatively short,
approximately three hours in duration. At birth, almost equal amounts of
sleep occur during day and night but by the 16th week twice as much sleep
occurs at night as during the day. With increase in age total time for sleep
decreases. Most of this decrease occurs during the first three months of life.
Further, individual periods of sleep and wakefulness become longer in the
older infant.
PAIN
The infant is sensiti'e to pain and this sensitivity painful stimuli increases
during the first four days of life. A little pin prick, produces pain in the
infant. The infant's reaction to pain is not enbanced by anticipatory anxiety
or emotional reactions to threatening stimuli but by painful physical stimulus.
All skin sensitivities are highly developed in female than in male infants.
SENSORY — RESPONSE DEVELOPMENT
The sensory response capacity of the neonate is little different from that
of a full term fetus. The neonate is exposed to a greater degree of exposure
to adequate stimuli in postnatal life.
VISION
At birth the eyes appear to function quite independently. Monocular vision
 THE NEONATE EFFECTS OF BIRTh ON DEVELOPMENT 75
occursduring the first six weeks and binocular vision thereafter. The neonate
responds to light vezy repidly. Intense stimuli of short duration elicit
pupiliaiy contraction, eyelid closure, the Morn and startle reflexes etc.
Brightness discrimination undergoes rapid improvement during the first two
month of life. Visual acuity increases with age. The infant prefers familiar
faces to desings of pictures. The infant is able to discriminate patterns, forms,
shapes at a crude level but color discrimination is late to develop.
Robert Fantz (1965) conducted experiments on visual acuity of young
infants. The young infant typically looks for longer time at the stimulus that
- is tall. If he is shown two stimuli with differing amount of contours or height
he will look longer at one of them. This indicates that he differentiates
between the two.
Fantz concluded that as two weeks of age the infants can detect the
difference between a grey patch and a square of stripes that are only 1/8 of
an inch wide, at a distance of 9 inches from his face. At 3 months of age,
the infants will look longer at stripes of 1/64 inches wide than at a grey patch,
at a distance of 15 inches.
By the time the infant becomes half year old, his visual acuity is
comparable to that of any child or adult.
Fantz (1965) did another study to study differences in fixation time for
six different patterns for infants of varying ages. All five stimuli with
Black and White contours hold the infants' attention longer than the plain
grey patch, as early as 2 days of age. This is not due to learning but due to
the result of biological characteristics of the central nervous system. This
enables the child to focus on the mother's eyes because of black and white
contrast.
REARING
Because of presence of amniotic fluid or mucous in the middle ear and
Eustachian tubes the neonate's auditory acuity is still poor. The Neonate is
less sensitive to sounds. Even when a sound occurs over 10 seconds the
neonate is not very clear. Most infants can discriminate the location of sound
within the first 3 to 4 days after birth.
In fact, much less is known about hearing of the child between 2 weeks
and lyear of age. The new born is capable of hearing at birth, and is sensitive
to location of sound as well as to frequency. Experiments have shown that
newborns can discriminate between tones of 200 and 1000 cycles per second
i.e. between a fog horn and a clarinet whether he responds to tones or
not can be known from his motor movements, babbling, heart rate changes
etc.
76 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Thenew born reacts differently to sounds differing in frequency or pitch.

Low frequency sound causes more of motor behaviour (200 to 600 cycles).
High frequency sound (4000 cycles leads to freezing behaviour and a
dramatic alerting behaviour as if the child is asking, what is it?
Sounds of short duration have a minimal effect (less than a
second). Sounds of 5 to 15 seconds have maximal effect on the activity level
of the new born. If sounds last too long, and the infant becomes less
responsive.
Third quality of sound is rhythm. New born responds quickly to
rhythmic sound than two dysrhythñiic sounds. This is a learned rection. Low
frequency rhythmic sounds tend to stop baby's crying. This is why learning
over a baby and rhythmical repeating hello.., hello... in a low voice is often
very effective in quieting an upset infant.
TASTE AND SMELL
Taste and smell sensitivity of the neonate is minima!. The neonate reacts
positively to sweet stimuli and negatively to bitter ones during sucking. Taste
discrimination tends to improve dupng the neonatal period. Taste and smell
sensitivity is knwon from facial grimaces, respiration and circuItion, crying
etc. Olfactory sensitivity is not well studied and well developed in the
neonate.
These early neonatal indeces are tiseflil for diagnostic and prognostic
purposes when early infant complications are seen.
GENERAL BEHAVIOUR
The neonate exhibits generalised or undifferentiated excitement in emotional
situations. These occur mainly due to loud noises and other abrupt or intense
stimuli. Smiling occurs to familiar faces. Although some conditioning of
behaviour and discrimination appear at the neonatal level yet much of these
activities are at the subcortical level, and are reflexive. This gradually gives
way to more cortically controlled activities. Early environmental stimulation
has significant effects on the growth of the neonatal system and his
characteristic ways of functioning.
An understanding of the effects of birth on development of the new born
reveals various significant features and characteristics which are the result
of interaction between genetic endowments and environmental pressures and
forces. In general, the characteristics and trends have far reaching use for
parents and teachers of early childhood in understanding the children in
their right perspective. Knowledge of such development would enable
parents to have preventive steps.
THE NEONATE: EFFECTS OF BIRTH ON DEVELOPMENT 77

(REVIEW EXERCISES
A,.swer the following questions in 500 words each:
1. What are the effects of prematurity andbiith injury on mental development of
children?
2. Describe the characteristics of the new born.
3. Write a note on the sensory development of the new born.
4. 'Birth is the greatest of human frustration'— Discuss.
5. 'Life does not begin at birth, it begins at conception'- Discuss.
6. What are the various types of birth? Explain their characteristics.
7. What is Moro Reflex? At what stage of development it is found?
Answor the following within 50 words each:
1. Prematurity
2. Neonate
3. Birth injury
4. Fantz's experiments or perception.
Write whether the Statements twe True or False:
1. Birth represents a transition from parasitic type existence to a variable
environment.
2. Nearly 5 to 10 percent children are inimaturely born.
3. Anoxia refers to lack of oxygen supply to Brain.
4. Epilepsy is most common in breach 1?nrth.
5. Amniotic fluid cause poor auditory acuity.
6. The neonate exhibits undifferentiated emotion.
Fill in the blanks:
1. Prematurity born infants are in physical growth.
2 Reflex appears when there is stimulation in foot.
3 vision occurs during the first six weeks after birth.
4. The first weeks after birth refers to Neonatal period.
5. A total lack of oxygen supply to Brain will kill brain cells in seconds.
 Baby Care and Childhood Problems

There are certain specific activities which need special attention of

mothers in order to regulate and control development of children in a
wholesome way. Many mOthers are not conscious of these and they let
children go on their own. Others become extra conscious and expect things
to happen before the child is ready. From the point of child development, it
is imperative that some care activities are known to mothers and the ways
they should perceive and handle these so that concern is not created in them
and their children. Quite often unnecessary concerns have led to development
of behaviour problems in children. The present section discusses some of
these aspects.
FEEDING THE BAB'
Infants are gven liquid foods after birth. After three weeks, solid foods are
added to their diet. Variety of soft foods are given to infants and babies: rice,
barley cereal and mashed banaras. The baby learns the swallowing process.
First solid foods are added with enough milk. Once the baby is accustomed
to swallowing process the milk mixed in the food can be reduced. Mashed
beans, peas, can be given in small quantity. But solid foods should not be
given more at a time. Do not speed up the process of feeding. Do not be
critical how he eats when he does it independently.

t
Breast Feeding
There are two issues: Whether baby be breast fed or use formula milk ? This
is a controversial issue which is difficult to resolve. Upto 1950 when formula
\t 'xvat 'at? lctt cnj 'va o p. 'tast
feeding promotes close psychological and physiologial blending between
mothers and infants. It also prevents allergy conditions (Caplan, 1973).
Mothers if in good health do feel relaxed, peaceful, and calm.
Breast milk is the natural food for the infant. The fetus remains
dependent on the mother for its nutritIonal requirements and after birth the
BABY CARE AND CHILDHOOD PROBLEMS 79
newborn depends solely on breast milk for its healthy development uptô 4-
6 months.
In our country infants belonging to poor families are breast fed for
several mothers. Children upto age six months donot suffer from malnutrition
if breast fed but only after that protein calorie malnutrition, starts.
The National Institute of Nutrition has emphasised the nutritive value
of brest milk. Soon after delivery the mother secretes a thick milk like fluid
called colostrum. Its quantity may not be much but it makes a good food for
the new born. It contains high amount of vitamin 'A'. Unfortunately our
mothers do not feed this milk to the newborn due to false belief. Since
vitamin 'A' is deficiency is very common in children in our country this
colostrum should not be wasted.
A study covering 400 nursing mothers showed that 90% of them breast
fed their infants upto six months. About half of children are breast fed upto
one year.
It is also a common practice among the poor mothers to continue
lactation even till the ouset of next'pregnancy. The Indian mother maintains
nutritional standard of her milk even at the expense of her own body rescue.
Only after six months breast milk would not be enough and hence needs to
be supplemented by other food.

Bottle Feeding
When mother's milk is not available due to sickness or otherwise, cow's milk
is desirable for infant feeding. Milk should be boiled well and stored in a cool
place. Milk bottles should be kept clean. The cows milk should be properly
diluted in 2 1 ratio (milk water), in the first month. By 4 months whole
milk can be given. Amount of sugar per day in milk should be increased from
69ms (1 teaspoon in the first week to 4 teaspoonfuls) at 6 months about 24
gms.
There cannot be any better substitute to mother's milk. It is therefore
advisable to contiiue breast feeding as long as feasible, particularly in poor
communities.
Bottle feeding has certain advantages. It is mobile and the mother can
use anywhere she likes. While some mothers welcome bottle feeding, others
feel terribly embarrashed socially to use it (Newton, 1972). No scientific
evidence is available on either.
Babies are now a days fed with bottle than from the breast. The formula
foi bottle fed babies is basically made of cow's milk, water, and sugar and
th proportions depend upon each baby. The formula can be made at home
or commercially purchased. Mothers and baby can get off good start in bottle
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
80
It is
feeding if the feeding experience is being held in the mother's arms.
advisable to hold the baby even when bottle fed. The baby gets plenty of
cuddling and is held for most of his feelings.
For bottle feeding the equipment must be sterilised in hot water or
refrigerated. In either case, it is good. But if the mother. wants to give warm
milk, the bottle can be heated in a pan with water. The milk should be luke
warm not hot. The milk bottle should be tipped high enough to keep the
nipple full of milk so that the baby does not swallow too much of air. The
hole of the nipple should be of right size so that it is safe for the baby.
Bottle feeding can be given on demand feeding basis or four hour
schedule. Babies differ in widely in their appetites and the waytheir systems
function. Demand feeding is therefore, desirable. At early period, the gap
may be less and it increases as the baby grows.
Mother's attitude is quite important on whether the baby will bebrestfed
or be kept on formula. Breast milk is most digestible and it contains all
nutrients needed by the baby; it is safe and clean. It also containsantibodies
which works against infections. The act of nursing also satisfies many needs.
Breast feeding is an economy measure and it does not prevent further
conception. However, breast feeding need rest and gooddiet so that she does
not feel tired and milk supply is regular.
Babies, of course, need vitamines. To prevent rickets a babyshould have
vitamin D from the time he is two weeks old. Vitamin C is another vitamin
the babies should get. Small babies are given vitamin A,C,D in small drops
dissolved in water in dropper. As they grow the amount is increased.
Milk alone does not contain some nutrients essential for keeping the
children's teeth healthy and strong. That is why from six months on words
children can be given seasonal fruits, orange, tomato grapes. Fruit juice in
small doses can be given even from third month with little dilution, twice
or thrice a day.
Instead of milk, porridge made from milk, Ragi flour, wheat flour, suji,
rice or sage may be used for preparing the porridge leafy vegetables maybe
boiled in water and water filtered. This water may be fed after adding a pinch
of salt to it. Mashed potatos with salt, pulses with salt can be given, yellow
part of the boiled egg can be given after six months. Shark liver oil can be
given after sixth month onwards to help children to grow and it is good for
eyes. From 2 to 3 drops the amount can be increased to one spoonful for a
day. This may continue till they are five years old.
For a preschool child soon after he gets up from bed a glass of milk
sweetened with sugar.
 BABY CARE AND CHILDHOOD PROBLEMS
81
10 Am-rice, 'dal, or cereal-pulse mixture, boiled egg, haifa glass milk
or half glass of fruit juice is ideal.
1 Pm—rice, cooked vegetables, dal, or fish.
3 Pm—milk 1/2 glass, with shark liver oil.
7 Pm-two spoons porridge from cereal with milk.
Before bed-Half glass milk.
Between 3rd and sixth year milk quantity can be decreasedand quantity
of food increased. Sweets particularly those remain for long should be
avoided to prevent dental disorders.
MALNUTRITION
Nutrition food is veiy essential to provide resistance against diseases. It
consists of good amount of pulses, leaI' vegetables, andfruits, and food with
proportionate nutrients. Proteins e.g., milk, eggs, flesh food vitamin 'A' in
leafS' vegetables, carrot and fruits are essentials. If children at one to 3 years
of age are not given good nutrients particularly proteins and calories they
became prey to nutritional deficiencies and diseases.
Kwasiworker is a nutritional deficiency disease which arises due to
protein deficiency among children between 1st to 6 years. The word Kwasi
worker is an African word which means "the disease of the displaced child",
a disease normally affects the first child when the second in born. This is
common in our country. Why does this occur? How can we prevent it? Will
this disease have effect on the future health ? Where its symptoms ?
The first main symptom is lack of growth in children. Swelling of the
body on hands, feet, face, reduced muscles, dullness and inactivity, hairturns
pale are some other symptoms. Liver disorders are also seen. Stuntedgrowth
of the child, frequent diarrhoea, occurrence of respiratory diseases may be
considered as signs of impending Kwasiworker. The disease can be
prevented by nutritious food described earlier in addition to mother's millc.
But when disease sets in, easily digestible proteins should be given, more
food to increase calorie and protein intake. Bannana is a good supplement.
As appetite increases, more food can be given. Kwasiworker condition or
protein calorie malnutrition leads to mental retardation and inextreme cases
may be responsible for premature death of the child. Hence, parents ought
to take care to the maximum if such symptoms are noticed intheir children.
BURPING AND CARRYING THE BABY
Babies have small stomach, If they swallow a large amount of air when
nursing or taking the bottle, they are likely to feel uncomfortable on full.
Burping is therefore necessary. if the baby sleeps on his stomach, he himself
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

producesburp rather than on his back. It helps the baby to take enough food.
Rubbing the back of the baby helps to a great extent, and pat his stomach.
Some babies do not even require burping because they are breast fed than
bottle fed.
Parents are often uncertain to carty their babies. They think the baby too
fragile, as a result they carry the baby in such. a way that the child is not
feeling secured. While carrying the baby the child should get enough
physical support and a Sense of confidence. The craddle technique is the
more common. This technique brings the baby against the mother's shoulder
and in the foot ball' technique, he rests against her lips which is not
comfortable. A firm grip in carrying the baby gives him feeling of confidence
and security.
BATIIING THE BABY
Bath serves as a means of maintaining cleanliness, relaxation and a sense of
well being. In infancy, the baby should take bath at the same time and the
timings may change as the baby grows older. Upto 2 weeks the baby should
have sponz baths in warm water and only after that, they can have their first
bath. The vessel in which the baby should take his bath should be convenient
and comfortable. The following things are necessaly. Soft washcloth, towel,
clean set of colthing, mild soap, oil. Wash the baby's face and ears quickly
with soft cloth from most of the water has been squeezed out so that little of
it drips into his eyes or ear canals. No need to wash his mouth and eyes. Wash
the scalp with water but only very little. After the bath, the baby can be
dressed. As the child becomes grown up or 4/5 years old, they regulate their
bath habits and it can take place daily.
BED FOR THE BABY
The baby can sleep on a firm mattress with no bumps. The child can be
placed in a crib which is fairly long enough so that he can use it for 3 to 4
years. The crib can be kept clean. Do not use heavy, stiff covers such as quilts
and pillow. A baby's bones grow but his posture develops properly when
head lies perfectly flat. A pillow also may present the danger of suffocation.
Put water proof under the mattress pad. If the child suffers for any ailment
it is better to clean the mattress.
Getting a child to bed sometimes creates. problems and concerns for
parents. If properly handled, it can be relaxed and rewarding time both for
parent and child. Children often get a sense of security from being allowed
to sleep with a favourite toy. Many bed time problems arise because the
parents think that the child should sleep more than he does.
Most infants will sleep as much as they need to but it does not match
BABY CARE AND CHILDHOOD PROBLEMS 83
with that of parents. There is a stress on self demand feeding and attending
to child's ciy whenever the situation occurs.
Real sleep problems start when the child is about 2 years old. The
parents should be affectionate and relaxed but firm at the time of taking
children to bed. Give the water to the child before going to bed and take him
to bathroom and thereafter try to be consistently firm to control him on bed
otherwise the child will ask for these things and keep himself awake.
Children cry at the time of going to bed, they scream, and hold onto the
furniture. Do not sneak away before the child sleep. This will increase his
terror. Most of the sleep rthlems at this age is called separation anxiety. He
realises that after he sleeps the parents will run away from him by putting
him to sleep. Bed time stories should not be terrifying to children. Rather it
should be pleasant and entertaining inducing children to sleep.
Another problem of bed time is jealousy and fear of the dark which is
seen among children of 5 to 6 years of age. ut the child should learn tothink
of bed time as a regular rule. Bed time stories make the habit regular and
choosing a story is no problem with children of two or so. One can narrate
what they have done during the day. For others, story should not be terrifying
and it must be interesting.
CLOTHING FOR THE BABY
Infant clothing are very quickly outgrown and one must have only a few of
them. Only essential items are required in proper quantity than to acquire a
variety of useless clothes. Cotton knit is the best material. Shirt should have
easily extended necks. Night clothes that are easy to lie are easy to cope with.
Sweaters should have large bottoms. Too much triming is not necessary. The
child may prefer a particular colour by age three to four then he should be
given the same.
SLEEP OF THE BABY
Sleeping is absolutely essential for the physical and emotional well being of
children as it is for adults. It is as important as food. There is no hard and
fast rule but the baby must be put in a schedule so that he gets proper amount
of sleep. At the very yaung stage the baby has regular patterns of hunger,
wakefulness, and readiness for sleep. Sometimes they are so tired that they
literally cry for sleep. Mornings should be kept as quiet as possible so that
they sleep well.
The child at 3 to 4 sleeps almost 12 hours at night and about ito 2 hours
during day. From five to six there are great variations in sleep needs. Sleep
indicates the emotional and physical well being of the child. In periods of
rapid growth there is also a definite need for additional sleep. His sleep is
 ELEMNT OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

reduced as the adjusts to school. By age 12 the child should have sleep abo3lt
10 hours a night. The child should not be given heavy meal before he goes
to bed. The bed should be comfortable and the room should be free of noise
and other disturbing activities. Serious problems in sleep can occur in
families where discipline is too strict and unyielding. The alternative is also
true when the child is left on his own. Hence, a regularity in sleep is essential
for development.
TEETHING IN 11ff BABY
By the time the child is born his baby teeth as well as his permanent six years
molars are developed inside his jaw. There are babies who are even with one
or two teeth. There is no fixed age at which such development would occur
but tooth development is influenced chiefly by heredity, parental conditions,
nutritions, serious illness etc. It takes about full 21.2 years before the full set
of twenty teeth to appear.
Sometimes teething brings loose motion or fever. The baby refuses to
take a bottle at that time. A teething bay often finds relief in chewing. There
is constant crying because of teething pain. The rubbing the baby's gums
frequently makes him feel better. But nq medicine should be applied. In the
beginning there is nothing, no pain but around age 1-2 when molarsippear,
the babies feel discomfort and cry. A few comforting words and something
to drink may keep the baby asleep. When teething appeals it should be shown
to doctors regularly.
WEANING IN THE BABY
The age at which weaning process starts varies a great deal with children.
In some children, it continues upto one year. In others weaning starts at six
mothers and the babies are interested in outside food. Weaning is a slow
process. The mother should be careful to know its signswhen the baby wants
to cooperate. Most mothers postpone weaning and go on breast feeding
beyond the time required. Some mothers even look at every drop of milkin
the milk bottle and can not rist it to be left out.
In general, between sixth to tenth month babies start weaning. It is
related to teething at this time. It is therefore desirable to introduce a cup or
glass (small) for taking milk after six months which may be of bright
coloured plastic. Obviously at initial stages milk will be spiled, dabbled and
wasted. Parents therefore should not get angry, worried, and they will see
that the babies will have fuU control using cups by the 19th month. There
is nothing to be upset. The baby is sure to wean by the end of one year. Extra
cuddling, holding, or singing and talking to the baby may help him toward
weaning. If during weaning the milk intake is reduced, weight is reduced,
this should not cause qoncern to the mothers so much because this is natural.
 BABY CARE AND CHILDHOOQ PROBLEMS 85

The child can be given some solids to munch or chew on. The child will be
left to complete his own weaning.
BED WETTING
A Most children wet their beds. It is called enuresis. If it is occasional, it is not
a problem but if it continues after certain age it is a problem. Theydo not
wet the bed by the age of three to six. It is sometimes suggested that a child
will be less likely to wet his bed if he is awakened and taken to toilet durmg
night. Sometimes the child is not given enough of fluid before going tobed.
As the child grows older it can be reduced or eliminated.
Emotional factors are sometimes the reason. This is true with children
to revert to bed wetting after a period of control. Too early efforts bladder
control also results in bed wetting because of a feeling of insecurity. He wets
in bed for getting unconsciously the attention of parents.
Scolding and sparking for bed wetting does not help and they should not
make this as an important issue. Neither should they be overpraised nor
overprótected for toilet training. A relaxed home atmosphere reduces bed
wetting in a general way.
TOILET TRAINING
Toilet training is a milestone in the life of children. It varies widery with
individual child. There is no uniform way to deal with such training. Until
the end of 1st year of development, the bladder and bowel function remain
a completely involuntary process beyond the baby's conscious control. That
is why the early toilet training is a waste of time. The mother keeps a track
of child's pattern of elimination. Attempts to early toilet training may create
a veiy angry feeling in the child.
Normally children respond to toilet training when the baby is 2 years
old. He is able to respond to body needs and he uses language. He
understands and imitates adults. He e,cpresses interest to be neat and clean
and dry. Children become interested in this routine behaviour and cooperate
with parents. Neither extreme praise nor scolding is essential for this
training.
Studies show that bowel control precedes bladder control. Boys achieve,
bowel control somewhat earlier than girls whereas girls gain bladder control
earlier than boys. Usually a potty seat is provided to the baby inside the toilet
and the mother accompanies the baby to the otty seat and helps him to sit
on it. He can see the bowel as he is curious to watch it. Neither parents should
show disgust nor tenseness in cleaning the child. Some children may go
through constipation because of this discomfort.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Sometimes during 2.5 to 3 years they do it independently and want

privacy. They tell the mother to leave. They control their movement nw.
Bladder control especially at night is a slower process and a comptex
too. Before the end of first year the baby can hold urine for 3 hours but he
is not yet ready for conscious control. By two he follows a routine of going
for urination. By 2.5 its span becomes about five hours, Some children make
up at age 3 and go for urination from this on there is wide variation of bladder
control. Some children achieve control earlier because of muscular agility,
talking, social awareness but others go on upto age six and have bed wetting
due to emotional factors. Toilet training therefore is a delicate area of
concern which parents should be aware of.
THE BABY TALK
Most babies talk to themselves before they are six months old but they learn
a single word like 'baba', 'mama' by one year. The mental process in which
this talk develops is a remarkable mile stone in the process of development.
Babies normally avoid complicated sounds and substitute with baby talk,
which is easier sounds. The babies learn language by imitation. Parents
should not imitate baby talk because the babies will not learn the right
pronunciation. In case of faulty pronunciation they should ignore it. They
should not tense him, or caution him or make him self-conscious about his
talk and faulty pronunciation if any. It sometimes leads to greater speech
problems. The technique should be leave him alone and he will learn.
Sometimes a child who has no problem of laThing has taken recourse to
baby talk especially when the child is jealous about the other siblings. In such
cases, the parents should give more attention to the child so that he is not
unhappy. Often lisping, stammering and stuttering defects are seen due to
this emotioiial difficulties.
LEAD POISONING IN BABY
Now a days infants and toddlers are victims of lead poisoning who are
likely to put edible objects into their mouths. The most common source of
lead poisoning is crumbling plaster from walls painted with lead paint. A
child may eat paint flaking off window sills, furniture, crib rails, toys, battery
cases. Unfortunately these are discovered only after the child has it enough
and it has produced certain symptoms. Effects of lead poisoning are seen in
weightioss, anenüal stomach, cramps, and constipation, mental depression,
irritability, convulsions etc. Since lead is retained in the body the effect of
poisons grow more serious as the amount of lead teken into the body
increases. ft might result in brain dmiigeand mental retardation. Prevention
is more important than cure which is very difficult.
BABY CARE AND CHILDHOOD PROBLEMS 87

THUMB SUCKING
Thumb sucking is a normal infant activity. The instinct is present from birth.
The infant desires both pleasure and nourishment frcrn nursing. Thumb
sucking is thus a continuation and it appears in almost all children. It does
not result in any facial deformity. When it continues for some years it
becomes a warning signof nervousness. Parents put bad taste thing on thumb
which has bad effects. Instead, he needs ecouragement in doing other activity
during the day. Sometimes he gives up the habit when he enters the school.
When he clings to do it for long years it indicated nervous tension. In such
cases parents should try to find out the cause of tension and reduce the causes
which are bothering him.
NAIL BiTING
Nail biting may begin when thumb sucking stops even among those who
were quite relaxed during childhood. When the pressures are more especially
in school home, classroom competitions nailbiting starts. Usually it is a
symbol of nervousness and a means of reducing tension. It has an unpleasant
social effect. In order to remove this habit, try to build up confidence and
reassurance. The nail biting can be mentioned in passing but without
pointing toward it. Diverting the attention of the child when he/she bites the
nail to some other substitute is anoter way. Punishment and ragging do not
help in removing the habit. Once tensions are over nail biting is eliminated
automatically.

1iivIEw EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. Explain the importance and need for taking care of the baby?
2. What are some of the most essential babycare activities?
3. What problems are seen in childhood?
4. How can you prevent lead poisoning, bed wetting, Thumb sucking and Nail
biting?
5. What should a mother do to help the growth and development of the baby?
Answer the following questions within 50 words each:
1. Bottle feeding vs Breast feeding
2. Burping the baby
3. Bathing the baby
4. Bed wetting
5. Clothing
6. Sleep
7. Weaning
8. Toilet Training
88 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

9. Lead Poisoning
10. Baby talk
Write whether the statements are True or Fake:
1. Solid foods are added to the food of diet of the baby only after 3 weeks.
2. Breast feeding promotes close psychological and physical blending between
mothers and infants.
3. To prevent rickets in a baby vitamin A in given from the time the baby is two
weeks old.
4. The child should not be given heavy food before he/she goes to Bed.
5. Emotional factors are the reasons for bed wetting.
 7
Common Ailments of Childhood

According to UNICEF figures nearly 750 ciildren in India are affected

by poliomyeletis. A few die but the future of nearly all of them is shattered.
For those who survive, live in quiet desperation, leading sadly diminished
lives. Their genetic potential is destroyed forwant of a simple in-expensive
intervention. Every two minutes in India there is a child death directly
out of every 100. Among malnourished groups the
related to measles i.e. two
fatal proportion is 10 to 100. About 250,000 infants die each year of neonatal
tetanus. Hundreds of thousands of children in India are affected by tuberculosis.
Those who do not die they are prone to suffer permanent brain damage.
of hunderds of thousands
Whoofing cough ravages the respiratory systems
infants and children. The situation is a burden on social conscience and a
from the points of view of child
drag on national development. Therefore,
care and development there is a need to know the common childhood
ailments, their prevention and care by parents and the schedule of
iminunisation in order to save children from decay and despair and deal in
a certain cases.
Hence, the organisation of this chapter includes an awareness of
imniunisation programme and a brief discussion on someselected chilhood
ailments which are common, frequent and damaging for the physical and
intellectual growth of children. In this context, it has meaning and significance.
CHILDREN AT RISK: THE IMMUNISATION PROCESS
Inununisation has become a programme of utmost priority. Immunisation of
all children against the six diseases Diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough,
poliomy elitis, tuberculosis and measles is necessaly. The schedule is given
below which is meaningful by itself
Immunisation Schedule
Prenatal
16-20 weeks Tetanus Toxoid 1st dose
20-24 weeks Tetanus Toxoid 2nd dose
36-48 weeks Tetanus Toxoid 3rd dose
 90 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Children
3 to S months Small Pox Vaccine Booster dose
BCG Vaccine
5 to 7 months Diptheria-perusis at an interval-of 1-2
month.
Tetanus, Poliomylitis 3 doses at an interval of
1-2 months.
9 to 12 months Measles Booster dose
18 to 24 months Poliomyelitis Booster dose
5 to 6 years Diptheria Booster dose
Typhoid One dose
10 Years Tetanus Toxoid Booster dose
16 Years Typhoid Booster dose
A new vaccine schedule is also available (Vijay Kumar, The Tribune, 1987,
May 10).
0-3 days Polio I BCG
6 weeks Polio II DPT-I
10 weeks Polio ifi DPT-ll
14 weeks Polio IV DPT-ffl
9 months Measles —
18 months Polio Booster
ALLERGY
Allergy is a condition, children are sensitive to certain substances. For
example pollen of plants to which some children are allergic. They experience
streaming eyes, running noses sneezing normally found in hay fever. Pollen
is thus an allergen. Allergens enter the body by being inhaled, swallowed
touched, or unjected. Some of the common allergens are: milk, animal hairs,
dusts, foods, feathers, dyes, detergents, cosmetics, plastics, pencilhin. Allergy
reactions can take place anywhere in the body. It does not develop in the first
contact but on first contact of the allergen antibodies are formed and remain
in the body tissues. Sometimes it develops in second contactor even after.
Most common allergies affect the skin and respiratory system. Hay
fever, asthma, itchy swellings or gives, eczema, erruptions in the skin are
allergy symptoms. Irritant soap, insect bites, poisonous plants, create skin
allergy. Precautions are therfore necessary. Skin tests are often done to
identi1t allergy.
A particular allergy is not inherited from parents orgrandparents but the
tendency to be allergic can be inherited. Anxiety, fear, anger and strong
excitement are likely to precipitate allergy attack.
A doctor's advise is always necessary whenever such allergies occur.
The cause of allergy is identified by applying minute quantity of the
suspected allergens to the skin of the child's fore arm using patch test or
COMMON AILMENTS OF CHILDHOOD 91

scratch test. The tests are not painful. Therefore patients should take care to
see. that allergens are tested. After ascertaining the allergens by the doctor
they should avoid children to come in contact with such conditions or agents.
Dust allergy is quite common. Hence, parents should not keep things in room
wlich will make dust due to crowdings. Clean the room thoroughly and do
not allow the child to remain present during cleaning.
The next allergy is food. Certain foods like eggs, milk chocolate, seaflsh
do produce allergy in certain children. Breast fed babies are seldom allergic
to milk. In case of mild allergy a doctor may prescribe antihistamines or
decongestants but in severe cases desensitization treatments are necessary.
Parents should after identification keep a note the substance to which their
children are allergic as a precautionary measure and avoid exposure to or use
of these allergens.
ASTHMA
Asthma is a breathing disorder. It appears in the child periodically. It ranges
from slight difficulty in breathing to severe suffocation and attacks. Quite
often childhood asthmatic attacks disappear after adloescence. In astluna,
there is a sudden contraction of bronchial tubes charactensed by spasm
which carry air from the wind pipe to lungs. There is irritation and coughing.
It is reduced after taking proper medical care and more often it is a nuisance
and hazard to health. It can also be quite dangerous.
The first attack is quite frightening for parents. But they should work
with patience and care so that the fears of child are lessened. The child lie
down can in the bed and rest so that his attention can be diverted. Proper and
expert medical care is necessary because by repeated treatment the bronchial
tubes may be damaged.
The causes of asthma are quite complicate4. It may arise out of dust
allergy. One should not use the medicines which worked with other babies
for asthmatic attack for each child because the cause may be different. Three
types of causes are identified : Allergy, infections and nervous tensions. It
occours along with hay fever, due to irritating pollens, other allergy
conditions such as dust. Hence, allergy sensitivity should be diagnosed and
identified while treating asthmatic patients.
Sometimes bacterial infections especially of sinuses, throat and nose
cause asthmatic attacks. Nervous tension and emotional problems are also
precipitating factors. For this reason, it is often known as a psychosomatic
disease.
When a child is suffering from asthma the best way is to take medical
advice and personal care. Parents often think to shift their place of residence
from one part of the country to another part but it has questionable effects.
92 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

COMMON COLD
Most of the viruses are transmitted through air. Overerowding, bad sanitation
and malnutrition are precipitating ftctors. The chilling or dampness also
increase succeptibiity to infection. Onsetis abrupt often beginning with
sharp rise in temperature or insiduous with running or stiffliess of the nose
followed by cough. Sometimes decreased appetite, inactivity, irritability, and
diarrhoea precide common cold. This lasts ito 7 days but at times there are
complications.
Children are more succeptible to cold. Cold as such is not more
important but it leads to a few complications such as earache, whooping
cough etc. Hence, it needs are and attention by parents.
Colds are caused by virus which run to as many as 20 in number. There
is no preventive vaccine for this. In spite of all hygienic care, nutrition, rest,
exercises babies and children catch common cold. But one should not invite
this by sheer negligence and lack of care.
In case of common cold babies and children should get enough rest and
are kept preferably under warm condition in homes. If there is fever, plenty
of liquids should be given to the child in small quantities but freqienthy. This
will prevent dehydration and its consequent effects. Nasal drops are
recommended. Good health habits prevent cold by developing resistance but
it cannot be completely prevented.
CONSTIPATION
Constipation occours in children and young babies no matter how mild it is.
The frequency of bowel movements vary in children according to body make
up, eating habits, physical activity. One bowel movement in a day is average
but it is not necessarily right for all children. It is best not to express any
concern about the baby's bowel movement. Rather they should see that the
baby is getting normal food which is balanced for him, plenty of fluids or
milk. Sufficient movement is also necessary. Unless the baby feels pain one
can wait 4 to 5 days for bowel movements to occur. Sometimes constipation
occurs due to toilet training reactions. Chronic constipation however, needs
medical care and advice.
DIARRHEA
Once upon a time diarrhea was fatal. Now a days because of improved
nutrition and medical science it has become less fatal. Since diarrhea causes
dehydration because of liquid bowel movement it should be controlled
immediately.
 COMMON AILMENTS OF CHILDHOOD
93
in
Diarrhea results out of infection in the intestine, too much sugar
formula milk, rapid changes in the formula, new food intake,too much fruits
and vegetables and in older children overeating, allergy, tension.
The infant therefore should be kept away from infectious persons,
used bottle and other utensils must be clean and sterilised orwashed in hot
water.
Young babies have between one to four timesbowel movements in a day.
In the first six weeks many babies may have 10 to 12 times of bowel
movements in a day. But if it becomes loose, theircolor becomes greenish,
then doctors have to be consulted.
The danger in diarrhea however mild it may be, is loss of warter, salt
and other minerals from the body leading to dehydration.Therefore, it needs
to be checked immediately, in consultation with physicians.
Certain temporary precuations have to be taken to controldiarrhea. In
case of mild diarrhea, discontinue usual formula food and instead take a
liquid consisting of 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon table salt, 1 quart boiled
water, and repeat this intake in small quantities every one/two hours. This
can continue for 12 to 18 hours. Then substituteit with diluted skimmed milk
or diluted formula. This is applicable to the babies on formula.
If the baby is breast fed, then give some boiled water before nursing the
baby. Omit unusual things from the mother's diet, and omit orange juice etc.
from the baby's food...
Proper diet, care and medical attention would prevent all cases of
diarrhea if treated at its onest.
Diarrhea is caused mostly by 'unclean feedingbottles, dirty water, spoilt
food, dirty nails, flies, dirty toilets etc.
The following are the danger signs of dehydration when one must see
the 4octor and take care of the baby.
(a) Eyes are Sunken and dry
(b) Tongue dry, thirsty
• (c) No firmness in skin, looks wrinkled
(d) Voice hoarse
(e) Fast breathing
(j) Convulsions
(g) No Urination
(h) Stomach is disturbed.
EARACHE
in the middle
Babies have earaches. It is caused due to bacterial infections
ear among other casues. The middle ear is most common sign of ear infection
94 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

in children. Bacteria enter the eustachian tube during respiratory infection,

sore throat, head colds and pressure in the ear. There is ringing in the ear.
In infants fever and irritability are the signs. Unless treated very timely it
may lead to perforation, or soaring of the ear drums and hearing impairment.
Medicines such as suipha drugs and antibotics have made ear infections easy
to control. Until the doctor attends one can control it by using a heating pad
or hot water bottle against the affected ear or using aspirins made for infants
and children.
EYE PROBLEMS
Eye injuries in children are by and large preventable. On several occasions
of festivity, crackers, bow and arrow games, sharpened househod articles like
needle, knife, and pointed toys cause eye injuries. Watering is a common eye
problem in infants which starts a few days after birth. This results due to non
canalisation of the membrane at the lower end of lacrimal passage. So the
tears donot drain into nose. If not treated early it can lead to ulceration and
other serious problems. Eye specialist are to be consulted. In the mean time
eye drops like soframycin, gentainicin can be used 3 to 4 times a day.
Conjuctivities are also seen in children due to infections. Eyes itch, look
reddish, and thready discharge takes place. A frequent eye wash with tap
water and antibiotic eye drops are the main treatment.
Vitamin A deficiency also causes blindness and comeal problems.
Retinoblastoma is the commonest intraocular tumour in children which
appears during 1-2 years. The child may also have a cats eye i.e., white
reflex. This has to be treated immediately without ignoring it.
BLIM)NESS
Blindness or partial sightedness children are due to vitamin 'A' deficiency.
Nearly 30,000 children go blind due to vitamin A deficiency in India. The
national programme for control of blindness initiated in 1976 aims at
reduction in incidence of blindness for 1.4 per cent in 1982-83 to 0.3 per cent
by 2000 AD. Lack of vitamin C causes scruvy, and are more seen among
bottle fed babies.
FEVER
Fever is an elevated abnormal body temperature from the normal body
temperature. It disturbs the baby and the balanced mechanism that regulates
body temperature. Since it can be destructive, as high fevers usually are,
attempts should be made to reduce the body temperature from high to normal
temperature. Normally rectal thermomeier is usedin case of babies and the
temperature reading in this case is three quarters of a degree higher then
COMMON AILMENTS OF CHILDHOOD 95

mouth temperature. Mouth thermometer however, can be used with

children.
Normally children have a slightly high temperature than the normal
98.4 degree during the later part of day, after play, or lively activity or
emotional excitement but these situations are not causes of concern.
In some diseases fever is present. For example, common cold, influence,.
scarlet fever, sore throat, influenza, measles, diptheria, hooping cough, cuts,
burns, appendicitis. In such cases temperature should be taken after every
four hours.
The child who suffers from fever is weak. There is softness in muscles
and bones and chills, headache, thirst, loss of appetite, dry skin, coated
tongue, etc. Occasionally there is convulsion but not serious. Pulse rate is
increased by 8 to 10 beats per minute for each degree of temperature rise. The
need for fluid is increased. Urine become darkish and frequent.
When temperature exceeds 100 degree by mouth and 101 degree by
rectal it is necessary to take immediate care. But certain precautions are
necessary. The child should be given plenty of water, liquid food or fluids.
When the temperature is very high give the child aspirin or crocin to bring
the temperature down and consult the physician or give 1 baby aspirin every
4 hours, whereas a five year old may take one adult aspirin to reduce the high
temperature. A wet rub is also advisable is case of sudden high temperature.
This can be repeated every half an hour if the temperature does not decline.
Medical care is a must even though such preventive care is taken by
parents.
MEASLES
it is a highly contagious virus disease of childhood. Although it has been
eradicated and/or prevented yet it does occur in children. It is an airborne
disease which is transmitted from sneezing, coughing or talking, touching
an article which was used a measles attacked child such as handkerchief,
towels. It appears during winter and spring. Its incubation period is eleven
days. When the child catches the disease he can give it to others three/four
days before the rash appears. One attack of measles gives a life time
immunity to the individual.
The child when gets the attack has cold, running nose, fever. He feels
tired, uncomfortable, cough, pain in head and neck. His eyes are reddened
and he can not see light easily. The second stage begins on 3rd/4th day of
attack. Temperature becomes 103 degree to 104 degree. Small white dot like
grains of salt are seen in cheeks. Rash appears in the whole body within a
day and half. After five/six days the rash disappears.
96 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

When the child gets the attack he should be given rest and he should lie
down as long as fever and rash continue. Water and fluids can be given in
plenty and the room should be well ventilated and warm.
If care is not taken, it might lead to encephalitis causing mental
retardation. If the symptoms continue after the rash disappears, doctors
should be consulted to prevent further damage to the child. Preventive
inunumsation against measles is given by 1 year or before exposure to the
disease.
POLIOMYELITIS
This is a serious disease. Every child should be vaccinated or immunised
against this at an early stage. Even at times immunisationdoes not guarantee
attack. Hence, parents need to remain careful about the symptoms and
causative factors.
This is an infantile disease by a virus. It attacks the central nervous
system by destroying the motor nerve cells in spinal cord that move the
muscles. Polio ordinarily occurs in legs but it can occur in the breathing and
swallowing organs. However, it does not affect the mind or sensory nerves.
This disease is not a killer but it affects the motor functions quite significantly.
It is an airborne disease. The polio virus is found in the throat during first
few days and then it enters the intestines where it remains as much as 4
months or a little more. The incubation period is one to two weeks.
The symptoms include high fever, vomiting, sore throat, pain and
stiffness in back and neck and drowsiness. Polio may be paralytic type and
non-paralytic type. Many common childhood diseases begin with similar
symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary for parents to take medical advice.
There is no full cure of polio excepting that proper care and treatment
reduces the magnitude of crippling effects. Bulbar polio cases which happens
in case of swallowing and breathing difficulties, have to be treated in
hospitals.
For prevention purposes both the salk and sabin vaccines have good
effects in terms of safety and effectiveness. When any one suffers from Polio
nearby the children should be kept aloof. They should keep their hands clean,
they should not be over tired and should take rest. These children can be
rehabilitated safely.
THRUSh
it is a mouth infection which is caused by a yeasthke fungus. It is
characterised by white patches that may occur any where in the mouth
although they are most likely to appear on the inner cheeks. Pain and fever

A
COMMON AILMENTS OF CHILDHOOD 97
are occasionally present. In case of the new born one notices this thrush quite
often.
The cause may lie in use of antibiotics. These are harmless bacteria in
the mouth. These antibiotics destroy these bacteria which prevent the thrush
causing fungus. Children with sore throat have thrushes. They should be
treated otherwise they enlarge themselves, become inflamed and will even
bleed.
WHOOPING COUGH
It is a contagious disease. The child coughs excessively, grasps, and
sometimes becomes out of breath. It is quite frequent in babies and children
under five although it is also seen among children upto age 10. It is infected
from others while sneezing, coughing or by touching objects which the other
affected baby has used. It is caused by a germ which is settled in throat.
Infants are vaccinated against whooping cough quite early in a series of
injections.
It starts with a common cold, running nose, slight fever. After 2 weeks
he begins to cough eight to ten times at a stretch. This forces air from his
lungs and the face turns purple or blue. Then the child catches his breath in
a long noisy intake. Often vomiting appears in whooping cough. It is usually
severe at night and lasts about six weeks from its first occurrence. During
the first three weeks the child should be kept isolated so that infections do
not spread. Isolation is recommended till the germs are killed and treated on
thç basis of bacterial culture of his sputum.
The child or infant should be properly guarded from people who suffer
from cough/cold. Once they get the attack they should be isolated. Cough
provoking atmosphere in the room may be avoided and the child is given
rest. Antibiotics are given to prevent secondaiy infection. Constant nursing
and care of the baby is essential. A proper diet may be given as per doctor's
advice to prevent vomiting. But the baby should be inimunised against this
at a very early age.
WIND
Formation of wind or gas formation is quite common in infants since food
is not well regulated in the beginning. This causes pain because air
accumulates in the stomach or intestine and exert pressure and then lead to
feeling of pain sensation. There is swelling of abdomen, belching and
discharge of gas or wind from the rectum. Whether the infant is breast fed
or fed through formula unless the wind swallowed is removed by burping of
the baby it may cause gas pains. In older babies, gas pains or wind
formulation may occur due to over eating, hasty eating, poor diet, allergy to
food, spices, eating under tension.
98 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Use of laxatives and other forms of treatment conventionally used in

homes are found to be harmful and therefore should not ordinarily find a
place in the treatment for wind or gas pain. It is always desirable to seek
medical advice as soon as the syndrome are seen.
DIPTHERIA
Diptheria is a bacterial disease which can be mild or life threatening. In
developing countries where sanitation and hygiene are poor it appears as a
skin disease primarily. One Out of 10 children having throat Diptheria die.
It is acquired through personal contact. It is contagious upto 4 weeks.
Initial symptoms include fever, malaise, mild sore throat. Membranes may
develop in throat. It produces a toxin which passes into blood and may
attack the heart or the nervous system with fatal results. There are also
paralysis of the palate, eye muscles, throat, respiratory tract, arm or legs.
DPT vaccine is given in three doses at 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age of the
child.
TUBERCULOSIS
All forms of the disease begin initially as pulmonary (Lung) tuberculosis. TB
can affect the brain, spinal cord, bones, joints, kidneys.
TB afflicts approximately 10 million a year and of these 2 million are
under age five. It is often a family disease which spreads from person to
person without treatment. Olcourse treatment is very long. Pulmonary TB is
contagious and fatal.
The symptoms in this case include, low fever, cough, blood in the
sputum, chest pain, sweating at night, weight loss. This often leads to
meningeal type (Brain and spinal cord) or other types. Once a person is
affected by TB its bacilli remain dormant and can be active at any time when
resistance is lowered due to malnutrition, extreme fatigue, and stress. BCG
provides protection against TB during childhood as per immunisation
schedule.
INFANT MORTALITY
Infant mortality rate is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live
birth in one year. Infant means a child who has not attained one year of age.
In India the infant mortality rate is 146. It is the largest single age category
of mortality. Death at this age is due to a particular disease or conditions to
which the infant is exposed. Due to improvement in child care and health
there is a steady decline in infant mortality rates.
Advances in standards of living, better control of communicable disease,
advances in chemotherapy, antibiotics, better nutrition, and better obstetrics
 COMMON AILMENTS OF CHILDHOOD 99
have reduced infant mortality rate. In developing countries however the rate
Is high. In India the infant mortality rates were 204 in 1911-1915, 161 in
1936-1940, 146 in 1963, 140 in 1969 and 146 at the present. Situation has
not drastically changed from 1970.
The c are:
Neonatal mortality (0-4 weeks) Postneonatal mortality
(1-12 months)
Inunaturity Birth injwy and Ententis and diarrhea
difficult labour Respiratory infection
Congenital anomalies Whooping cough
Haemolytic disease Malnutrition
Conditions of placenta and cord Congenital anomalies accidents
• Enteritis and other diarrheal
diseases
Acute respiratory functions
Besides these medical causes the biological causes are : less birth
weight, young age of the mother (under 20) order of birth (1st borns), short
interval between births, multiple births, large family size leading to maternal
deprivation, high fertility.
Low social-econom c status, illiteracy of parents, lack of breast feeding,
ignorance of child care, broken families, poor sanitation, illegitimacy, brutal
habits, the indgenous dal, differential attention to female child are some of
the socio-cultural factors that are responsible for infant mortality.
It is usually prevented by prenatal care of mother, immunization, breast
feeding, family planning, medical care, improvement in standard of living.
Health education in India, and postneonatal mortality is dominated by
environmental socio-cultural factors and the causes of death are due to
combination of malnutrition and infection.

MATERNAL MORTALITY
Maternal morality rate is a fine measure of the quality of maternity
services. It is defined as the number of deaths from puerperal causes per 1000
live births. The causes include complications of pregnancy, child birth and
puerperiurn. It occurs during pregnancy, child birth and puerperium. It
occurs during pregnancy or within six weeks of delivery. In India, during
1969 the maternal mortality rate is 3.0. Maternal mortality rates are separate
for Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Delhi hospitals and these range from 0.9 to
6.1 in rural areas. It has however declined from 20 in 1946 to 3 in 1969.
100 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The causes of maternal mortality are both medical and social. Social
causes sometimes preceeds the medical causes.
The medical causes in India are Toxemia of pregnancy, Haemorrhage,
sepsis, vascular accidents, anaesthesia, Transfusion, shocks or accidents,
anaemia, cardiac, nenal, hepatic, metabolic infection, malignancy, accidents.
The social causes are : age of mother at birth, birth interval and parity,
too close pregnancies, large family size, malnutrition, poverty, illiteracy,
ignorance of health habits, lack of maternity service, delivery by untrained
dais, poor environmental sanitation, social customs, poor transport.
Antinatal, intranatal and postnatal care are necessary for prevention of
maternal mortality in India. The measure also should include-community
improvement, improvement in environmental sanitation, nutrition education
and care of the mother. Infact, in any society mothers and children constitute
priority group. In India, children and mothers constitute nearly 65 per cent
of the total population. They are not only the large group but they are the
vunerable group. The risk is connected with child bearing in case of women
and growth, development and survival in case of infants and children.
Therefore, maternal and child care ar important areas of concern.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 werds each:
1. What are some of the common childhood ailments?
2. Write a note on infant and maternal mortality.
3. Write the characteristics, causes and preventions of each of the following
ailments : (each within 200 words)
(a) Asthma
(b) Allergy
(c) Common cold
(d) Constipation
(e) Polio myelitis
(/) Fever
(g) Diarrhea
(h) Earache.
Write the answers to the following in about 50 were:
1. Allergy
2. Asthma
3. Common Cold
4. Constipation
5. Earache
6. Fever
7. Measles
8. Polio
COMMON AILMENTS OF CHILDHOOD 101

9. Thnish
10. Whooping Cough
Write whether the statement' are True or FaLce:
1. Asthma is a breathing disorder
2. ORT is applied to Diarrhea
3. Ear ache is caused by bacterial infection
4. National mortality is the number of deaths from puerperal causes as per 1000
births.
5. Infant mortality is the number of infant death per 1000 like birth in one year.
6. A particular allergy is not inherited.
7. Booster doses are given for measles when the child is to 12 month old.
 8
Physical and Motor Development

A child's ability to perform a physical task is based not only on certain

maturational phenomena in the brain but also upon the muscle and skeletal
systems. The concept of growth therefore involves a sequence of physiological
events which results out of interacting influence of heredity and environment.
Physical growth is one of the more overt and impressive indication of
children's development. It is necessary, therefore, to know the normative
growth changes. Physical growth illustrates many of the principles of
development. It has an important impact on motor and other aspects of
development. An understanding of physical growth reveals various age level
uniformities as well as orderliness. Growth in the form of age level changes
can be characterised as qualitative, quantitative and sequential. Directly, it
influences what an individual can not do and indirectly, the attitudes one has
towards self and others.
PRINCIPLES OF PHYSICAL GROWTH AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Physical growth
Physical growth is an indication of children's development. It follows
cephalo-caudal and proxirnodistal sequences. Two basic principles
concerning physical and motor development need mention here. These
are Cephalo-caudal, and Proximodistal. The cephalo-caudal principle
refers to the fact that growth and motor development proceed in general,
from head to the foot. At birth, the head of the child most closely
approximates the adult size and the legs least closely approximate the adult
size. The baby first lifts head from a suiface when the baby is in prone
position. Only later on, he moves arm' shoulder and abdominal muscles.
After that comes the movement and lifting of the legs.
The second principle deals with proximodistal development that proceeds
from the axis of the body outward to the periphery. The baby makes gross
PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 103

movements of the shoulder to reach something and bands are used. During
the later part of his first year the baby makes independent finger movements.
These two principles have been explained in earlier section in more.detail.
There is, however, a third principle which indicat's progression from
general to specific action patterns. The infant cries when pricked with a pin
and there is reaction all over the body. But at 6 months he reacts much more
specifically and adaptively. He may cry but he also withdraws effectively.
Early grasping is clear example of gross or general behaviour and only after
muscular development co-ordination and specific uses of finger muscles

Growth rates are affected by a number of environmental conditions such

as dietary improvement, parental care, social-economic status, depressions
etc. But heredity has more influence on physical growth.
Longitudinal studies have shown certain growth trends (Meredith,
1935).
(a) Growth is very rapid in the first three years of life.
(b) Growth continues at a diminishing rate until about two years before
the beginning of pubescence.
(c) Before the advent of puberty, a significant increase in growth rate
appears.
(d) Following puberty there is a continuous declaration of the rate of
growth.
(e) The shape of the growth curve for both sexes is very similar but the
timings of adolescent growth spurt tends to distwb the growth
curves for boys and girls.
The body does not grow as a whole and in all direction at once. Growth
changes in organic system can be divided into four types : Neural, Lymphoid,
general (Skeletal and visceral) and Genital. During the prenatal period these
four kinds of growth follow parallel development but they differ markedily
after birth. Neural growth is most rapid. Nearly 80 per cent of this is
complete by age four after which it tapers off greatly. Lymphoid tissue
reaches the adult level at age six, becomes double at age 12 and then declines
until maturity. Genital growth occurs markedly after pubescence. Growth of
Skeletal system is quite rapid at birth and at the time of pubescence,
following a decline after each spurt of rise. Respiratory and vascular organs
tend to grow at the same rate as bones and muscle tissues. Throughout the
childhood, the heart grows more rapidly than the arterial system.
Important qualitative changes take place in the bones during the course
of skeletal development. Degree of skeletal maturity is affected by hereditary
104 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
*
factors and is positively related to social class status. Girls are more mature
in their skeletal development and the sex differences increases with age.
Muscular growth parallels general body and skeletal growth throughout
childhood and it shows a marked spurt at pubescence.
-p -

12

AGE IN YEARS

Nature of Types of Growth

Lymphoid Type 1. Thymus, lymph nodes and intestinal

lymphoid masses.
Neural Type 2. Brain and its parts. Dura, Spinal cord
optic apparatus, head dimensions.
General Type 3. Body as a whole, external dimensions
(with exception of head and neck)
Respiratory and digestive organs kidneys,
pulmonary trunks, spleen, Musclature as
a whole, skeleton as a whole, Blood
volume.
Genital Type 4. Testes, Ovary, Epididymus, Uterine tube,
prostate, prostatic urethra, Seminal
resides.
CHANGE IN BODY PROPORTIONS
Physical growth follows cephalo-caudal and proximodistal sequence during
fetal period. At birth, the head and trunk are disproportionately large and
extremities are disproportionately short. The rate of increase in head
circumference is greater in males from birth through 15 months, and in
females from the second through the twelfth year. After the first year the
head grows more slowly and its proportion to the total body decreases
progressively. The legs grow more rapidly than the trunk through childhood.
Beginning with adolescence the reverse trend is seen.
 PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT I 05

CHANGES IN HEIGHT
Growth in height is not evenly distributed over the first twenty years of life.
At birth the height of the baby is between 17 and 21 inches. The growth rate
is rapid during the first two years. At 4 months, the child measures 23 to 24
inches. At S months, 26 to 28 inches and at one year 28 to 30 inches. At 2
years, it is 32 to 34 inches tall. Yearly increments in stature are small and
relatively constant untill the second growth spurt in pre—and early
adolescence. Boys are slightly taller than girls until the age of!! after which
there is a reversal of the trend upto 15 and again boys regain their superiority:
Height is normally distributed and mostly genetic. The adequacy ofnutrition
plays an important role in growth of height within genetic limitations.
Deficit in protein calorie malnutrition affects height adversely. Because of
genetic factors skeletal growth occurs more uniformly throughout the growth
span. A child who is tall or short at birth also tends to be similarly tall or
short at age six and nineteen. Change in height is a significant inidicator of
physical growth.
CHANGES IN BODY WEIGHT
The average weight of the new born baby is between 6 to 8 pounds. Baby
weight is also an index of growth. It is also an index of nutritional status.
Body weight depends upon age, sex, physical and pubescent status.Trend of
growth curve of weight parallels that for height but the rate is rapid in case
weight. The child ordinarily doubles his birth weight in six months or less
A but requires four years to double his height.
Boys weigh more than girls during infancy and childhood. A reversal
occurs at the ages of ten and thirteen during the female growth spurt and
another reversal again favouring boys at age 13. Weight is a normally
distributed trait but is less affected by genetic factors compared to height.
Weight is much more influenced by exercise, disease, socio-emotional
adjustment, and nutrition. Certain anatomical changes are seen as the child
advances in age from. birth i.e. changes in number of teeth, position,
pigmentation, texture, ossification or hardening of bones.
For example, the teeth begin to form in the jaw from the 3rd prenatal
month. The last tooth appears between 21 to 25 years of age. During this
period two sets of teeth appear: the baby teeth and the permanent teeth.
Appearance time of the baby teeth depends upon health, nutrition, race, sex,
and related factors. By age 9 months children have generally 2 to 3 teeth.
Girls get their teeth earlier than do boys. But eventually boys are aheadof
girls. Around 6 years of age the child has ito 2 permanent teeth. He has 10
or 11 teeth by age 8 years, 14 to 16 age 10 years, 24 to 26 by age 12 years,
27 to 28 by age 13 years. Last 4 teeth appear by 25 years of age. Girlsshed
their temporary teeth and get permanent teeth earlier than boys.
 106 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Skeletal and muscular growth provide the substrata for the development
of strength and motor skill. A correlation exists between height, weight and
complex motor skills.
NERVOUS SYSTEM
The nervous system grows very rapidly before birth and in the first 3 to 4
years after birth. After this, the rate of growth is relatively slow. At birth
brain, weight is about 1/8th of the body weight, at 10 years 1/18th, at 15 years
1/30th and at maturity 1/40th. It grows more during the first '2 years of life.
The growth of the brain affects all aspects of child's development. Physical
growth occurs in orderly and predictable cycles for different age groups and
different parts of the body.
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
A child's motor development, his development of strength, coordination,
speed, precision in the use of his arms, legs and other body muscles in an
important feature in his total development. The child satisfies most of his
aspiration with the help of motor development. It does influence his social
and emotional adjustment.
The new born baby is helpless and lacks volitional control. Motor ability
of a child helps him to cope with the environment. It helps the child to get
a status in the home, school, peer
group and helps him to attain
volitional independence. Motor
activity is an important outlet for
emotional expression e.g. fear,
fright, rage, etc. as well as a source
of self expression and satisfaction,
social participation, and adjust-
ment. Boys with fewer physical
abilities tend to enjoy low social
prestige in the group.
The child passes through
various relatively uniform developmental sequences in the acquisition of
postural, locomotor and prehensible functions following the cephalo-caudal
and proximodistal sequences. For example, the development of cortical
control over eye limb co-ordination preceeds in a cephalo-caudal trend.
Proximodistal development is illustrated by earlier development of eye-palm
co-ordination as compared to eye-finger co-ordination.
PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 107

The sequence of motor development from birth to 15 months

The Average child develops his motor skills on this schedule.
Ig ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

POSTURAL.LOCOMOTOR DEVELOPMENT
This is relatively uniform for all children despite individual difference
in age of occurrence. The following is a brief time table of the more salient
landmarks and their median age of occurrence.
Lifting the chin form prone position 3 weeks
Raising the head and chest from the prone position 9 weeks
Sitting alone for 1 minute 31 weeks
Crawling 37 weeks
Standing, holding on 42 weeks
Creeping 44 weeks
Standing alone 62 weeks
Walking alone 64 weeks
Overall physical growth occurs at their maximum during the first 3
M
years of life. As brain cells develop children reach a state of readiness. Motor
functions also develop accordingly.

DEVELOPMENT OF PREHENSION
Prehension is the ability to group objects the fingers and thumb. The neonate
is born with a grasp reflex but this grasping is different from the cortically
controlled individual movements of fingers and thumbs that produce
prehension. Grasping as a reflex disappears by the 4th month and only after
that prehension appears following a sequential pattern (White, 1971). The
eye-hand co-ordination increase after that. Prehension abilities actually
develop after one year.
Prehension involves co-ordination of relatively distinct senonmotor
systems such as eye, arm, hand, and the tactual motor systems of the hands.
They occur at various times before fmal co-ordination. At 2 months of
age object-oriented movements are observed by babies. During the third
and 4th months of age bilateral arm approaches increase. Grasping
appears at 4 months of age. At about 6 months of age, the infant uses palm
and fingers to grasp objects but co-ordinated grasping occurs at age 36
weeks. This development is discontinuous functionally but one can
notice progressive improvement in aim, precision, and smoothness of an
activity.
Consistent preference for a particular hand develops slowly. By the end
of second year about 85 per cent of all children are predominantly right
handed. Males show a slightly higher percentage of left handedness than
females.
PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 109

PRESCHOOL PERIOD
After rudimentary locomotion and prehension are established the child
acquires a repertoire of other motor skills. During late infancy and preschool
years he learns to walk backwards and jump, hit, skip etc. Two and three year
old children also button and unbutton and begin to undress themselves and
a year later they are.capable of dressing themselves. Between 21 to 24 months
the child merely pushes and pulls object repeatedly. Shortly thereafter he can
concentrate on separate part and acquires muscular control. Between 24 to
48 months complex skills are practised and integrated. Writing skills are also
developed gradually. At age 5 to 6 year he is able to make recognisable
letters.
Individual difference in the rate of development are largely determined
by genetic factors. Extreme emotional deprivation has been found to retard
the rate of early motor development. Motor skills are also influenced by
practice and motive incentive conditions. Provision for environmental
stimulation encourage acceleration of motor behaviour. Maturation, however,
plays an important part in the learning of ontogenetic skills. The child will
not gain anything unless the neuromuscular growth is equal to the demands
of the task.
Individual differences in the acquisition of ontogenetic motor skills are
determined by genetic factors, by motivational emotional, and personality
factors and opportunities for practice. First borns have higher motor
performance than subsequent children, possibly because of more maternal
care and time spent with the first child.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL YEARS
During school years changes are generally seen in strength, speed, versatility,
precision and smoothness of execution. Progressive gains are registered in
the speed of running, accuracy amd distance throwing, height and distance
ofjiimping, and balan'ç. Motor reaction decrease with age. Fine motor skills
and sensoiy skills imirove during this period. Improvement in writing
occurs with good slant alignment and proportion before the age of nine.
Motor ability tends to be relatively specific in nature. Speed and strength
are independent factors. Wherever there is any relationship, it tends to
decrease with increasing age. Boys are stronger than girls at all ages but the
difference in strength first becomes significant for practical purposes during
adolescence. Throughout childhood boys are superior to girls in most gross
motor skills but in elementary schools girls have better balance but this is
reversed in later years. Boy's reaction time is faster than girl's and they are
a year in advance. Sex difference in motor skills reflect cultural expectations
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

and sex typing of games. During adolescence there exists a greater sex
difference. Children from overprotecting homes tend to be physically
apprehensive and relatively retarded in gross motor development. Difficulties
in motor functioning are also associated with low frustration tolerance and
anxiety.
From the above discussions a few generalisations can be made. Motor
development depends upon both maturation and learning. In fact, learning
skills cannot occur if the child is not maturationally ready. Of course,
maturation itself does not produce learning of skills to occur. Motor
development follows a predictable pattern. This predictability is explained in
terms of Cephalo-caudal and proximodistal sequence. And finally there is
individual difference in the rate of motor development. Skills or motor
development occur by using trial and error learning, imitation and training.
Sex difference in motor development is reduced to minimum if boys and girls
are given same training, scope for practice, incentives and encouragement.
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOP-
MENT
The sex glands in the body influence physical and motor development. Sex
glands produce hormones called androgen and ostrogen. Androgen is
responsible for male characteristics and ostrogen is responsible for female
characteristics. Physical development in boys and girls are affected by the
hormones.
Physical characteristics are more striking in identical twins than in
fraternal twins. In other words, heredity has a greater effect on the physical
and motor development e.g. size, strength, appearance, metabolism etc.
There are also certain prenatal conditions such as maternal malnutrition,
infections of the mother, disease, birth injury, intoxication, X-rays, and
emotional trauma during pregnancy including low SES which Vitally affect
the development. For example, deficiency and over dose vitamin A in mother
during pregnancy leads to congenital blindness in children. Defects are seen
in children if the mother suffers from infectious diseases e.g. Germen
Measles at the early stage; of pregnancy. There are physical as well as mental
abnormalities and deficiencies in children born from such mothers. Birth
injury, too frequent X-ray exposure of the mother during pregnancy, and
emotional tensions damage physical as well as mental development of fetus.
SES or Socio-economic status is a general factor whose effects are seen
in development of children, physical or mental because these are directly
related to nutrition, health and early stimulation.
Nutrition in early childhood directly influences, body growth, static•
control and physical ability. Children who suffer from protein deficiency are
 PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 111
stunted and are retarded in development. Porper nourishment is necessary
for good development. Sex of the child is related to physical and motor
development. Boys are superior to girls in most of the motor skills but girls
are superior in fine muscular co-ordination. This appears more due to
cultural training and labelling than due to basic genetic differences. Practice
and motivation to undertake physical and motor activities or exercises do
constitute salient factors influencing development of the skills. More
stimulating environments, therefore becomes a part of physical and motor
skill development.
IMPLICATIONS
There are certain Psychological and Educational implications of physical
and motor development. Physical growth has effects on the self-image of the
child. It helps to satisfy his needs. Staunted growth sometimes creates feeling
of organic inferiority. Any physical inadequacy has similar adverse effects.
It is for the teacher to lead all other toward increased self-acceptance. Self-
acceptance is related to acceptance of others. Social and emotional
development are greatly facilitated by physical growth, attractiveness, size
and strength. It has a total effect on personality development.
The elementary school teacher is concerned with motor co-ordination of
children to start with. The relationships between gross motor co-ordination
and height, weight etc. are low but positive. Certain skills e.g. running,
jumping, throwing, catching, striking and kicking are basic to performance
in many motor activities for grade four, five and six.
It is for the teachers to know that simple skills and gross motor
development depend upon maturation and general practice but for five
muscular co-ordination direct training is required e.g. embroidary, drawing,
precision, movement. Lilly (1909) did develop some 60 lessons to increase
the motor development of low SES children and found quite impressive
findings. Psychomotor ability can vary in the following way with regard to
specific skills. This is concerned with manipulative skills involving muscular
or motor responses requiring neuromuscular co-ordination. The five levels
of the Psychomotor Domain from the simplest to the most complex are as
follows
1. Imitation. Copy of an observed act but lacking neuromuscular co-
ordination.
2. Manipulation. Copy of an observed act usually following instruction,
displaying some neuromuscular co-ordination.
3. Articulation. Competent performance of a physical act involving co-
ordination of a series of other acts.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
112
4. Precision. Performance of a physical act with accuracy, proportion
and exactness.
5. Naturalization. Routinisation of physical act to the extent that it
becomes an automatic, spontaneous and ultimately a subconscious response.
This system of classification provides a basis for checking that a given
set of objectives cover an appropriate breadth of categories at suitable levels
of achievement.
Motor abilities are specific in nature. A student who is a good runner
may not be a good jumper and vice versa. The co-ordination between various
motor abilities are less. The child's interest and experience contribute highly
to the development of motor abilities. Slow learners and low SES children
are alright in gross motor development but they are slow and retarded in finer
skills of speed, movement, static and dynamic precision, flexibility, and co-
ordination. However, they do profit considerably from training of these
skills. Like physical growth, it has also adverse affect on self-concept if the
child lacks in adequate motor control and proficiency. The child's play
interests are also contingent upon motor development. Children shouldbe
encouraged to develop interest in motor development. Unfortunately in
school, the contrary things happen. Only those who are proficientin games
and sports are encouraged to undertake such activities whereas those who
need to participate in athletic activities for their development are ignored.

[REvIEw EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. What are the principles of physical growth and motor development?
2. Describe the milestones of physical growth?
3. Describe the motor development during elementary school years. What can be
done to accelerate development?
4. What are the various types of physical growth? What are their characteristics?
5. What factors are associated with physical growth and motor development?
6. What factors are associated with physkal motor development?
Write notes on the following questions in 50 words each
Development of prehension
2. Locomotor functions
3. Height
4. Weight
5. Prehension
6. Factors associated with physical growth
7. Factors associated with mental growth
S. Psychomotor skills
9. Preschool period
 PHYSICAL AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 113
10. Postural development.
Write whether the following statements are True or False:
1. Prehension is the ability to group objects between the fmgers and thumb.
2. Cephalo-caudal indicates progression from general to specific.
3. Proximodistal development proceeds from axis of the body outward to the
peripheiy.
4. Growth is veiy rapid with first three years of life.
5. Growth continues at a diminishing rate until about two years before the
beginning of pubescence.
Fill us the blanks:
1. The shape of growth curve for both sexes is very
2. The timings of adolescent growth tends to disturb the growth curves of
boys and girls.
3. There are types of growth.
Ør 4. The rate of increase in head circumference isin males from birth to 15
months.
5. The girls get their teeth than boys.
6. The nervous system growth very rapidly before birth and in the month
after birth.
7. Before the advent of a significant increase in growth appears.
8. Sex difference is seen more during period.
9. Boy's reaction time is than girls.
10. Learning skills do occur in children unless they are
 -s

9
Emotional Development

Emotions add zest to life and living and at times sorrow and grief.
Emotions are of special importance because they organise behaviour, energize
behaviour but when acute they also disrupt behaviour. They are responsible
for seif-actualisation and are integral part of the personality. Emotions are
generally defined as a stirredup state of the organism, involving the
organism as a whole. They are conscious processes involving bodily changes
and they arise out of variety of causes. Neurophysiologically emotions are
under the control of the autonomic nervous system which is relatively
independent of voluntary control.
Emotions play an important role in the life of children. It adds to the
pleasure of everyday experience, serves as a motive to actionand determines
finally the characteristic pattern of adjustment to life. Every child is born
with potentialities for both pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Parents and
teachers ought to be aware of these properties and provide happy living at
least during the early years of life.

DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTION
Each child has the ability to respond emotionally. The first sign of
emotional behaviour in the new born infant is general excitement due to
intense stimulation. Further, child's emotions are first diffused and not very
clearcut. As such, for a few months, specific emotional patterns are not
recognised and identified..
Bridges (1932) has made the most systematic investigation about the
development of emotional pattern following the state of general excitement.
By 3 months of age the general excitement becomes differentiated into
distress and delight. Distress further becomes more specific and three basic
emotions appear: fear, anger, disgust. This happens around the age of 6
months. Around one year, delight gives rise to elation and affection. Joy
appears a little after 1.5 years of development. Affection becomes further
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 115
differentiated to children and adults from the age of 1.5 year. Jealousy is seen
around 15 months. In short, even before the child becomes one year old, his
emotional expressions are recognizably similar to that of adults with regard
to general pattern. However, the age at which differentiation of the various
emotions takes place, varies somewhat from child to child.
Birth 3 months 6 months 12 months 18 months 24 months
For children
For adults
Affection
Elation
Delight Joy
Excitement
Distress
Anger
Jealousy
Disgust
Fear

With age emotional responses

become less diffuse and random. For
example, at first the child expresses
displeasure by screaming, ciying but
later his reactions include resisting,
throwing objects, stiffening of the
body, turning away, riding himself
using verbal expressions etc. As the
child becomes older and older
linguistic responses increase and
motor responses decrease especially
in fear and anger provoking situation.
Besides, the course of development
of different types of emotion is also
different.

Robert Bridges

Differences in health and environment produce individual variations in

the frequency, intensity, and duration of emotions. For example, a baby who
is kept in calm atmosphere and whose needs are solved most promptly and
consistently is less likely to suffer from nervous tension as he grows older
Than the one who lives in a noisy and exciting environment and who must
cry before any of his needs are fulfilled.
 116 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

MATURATION AND LEAIN1NG

Although emotional expressions are seen right from birth, yet emotional
development is a joint functions of maturation and learning.
Experimental studies regarding removal of the cortex show that maturation
of the frontal lobe is responsible for matured emotional behaviours. With age
there is increase in intellectual development which enables the child to
perceive meaning and become responsive to various stimuli. Development of
endocrine glands is likewise essential to the development of a mature level
of emotional behaviour. In case of adrenal gland which plays a dominant role
in emotion, it has been found that there is a rapid decrease in size after birth.
Upto 5 years it is rapid, slow from 5 to 11 and more upto the age of 16. Until
the growth in size has increased, there is less adrenalin. This has a marked
influence on the emotional states in childhood.
From the study of Goodenough (1932) the role of maturation becomes
more clear. She found a blind and a deaf girl display the same emotions as
normal children despite the restrictions on their ability to learn.
Conditioning and imitalion do influence the development of emotional
patterns in childhood. The famous eperiment of Watson on Alb,ert showed
how a baby learns fear. When Albert, was nine months old, he was shown
various objects namely, rabbit, dog, cotton wool and white rats. In no
instance he displayed fear. Later he was conditioned to develop fear to words
the white rat in the following manner. The rat was presented to him and the
moment he reached for it, a loud noise was sounded behind his head. This
resulted in a startled response on Albert's part and he fell forward on his
face. After 5 more continuous presentations of noise and the rat, the rat
was presented alone. Albert cried, withdrew and showed typical fear
response.
Children acquire many irrational fears in this way. Conditioning of fears
occurs easily and quickly during the early years of life because the young
child lacks reasoning ability and experience. Conditional fears or emotion
also spread to similar people, objects, situations with which it was originally
associated. Albert's fear for the rat has also spread to the rabbit, the dog, the
cotton wool etc., for which he was not at all afraid. A child's preference for
the mother rather than the father is often due to the fact that the mother is
more warm and understanding than the father. Similarly he may actually
dislike a sibling who teases or ignores him.
The child also demonstrates a kind of emotional response just by
imitating others. Babies less than 4 weeks old have been found to refuse
breast if the mother was tense. Older babies the sometimes resist food from
a mother who is tense but eat well if fed by a relaxed person. Babies who are
 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
117

in close contact with some persons can imitate their emotional responses
quite easily. Imitation also permits development of healthy emotions.

' CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDHOOD EMOTION

Individual differences are inevitable because of differences inmaturational
level and learning opportunities. However, there are certain
features of children's emotions.
characteristic

1. Children's emotions are brief. The young child's emotion lasts only
a few minutes and then end abruptly. He expresses his emotion in overt
actions.
2. Children's emotions are intense. The child reacts very strongly to
even minor emotional situations. There is no gradation of emotion with
regard to intensity. When they feel happy they feel it totheir maximum and
we can observe it from the various facial changes.
3. Children's emotions are transitory. The child shifts his emotion
from one type to another vary quickly i.e. from smile to anger, jealousy to
affection etc. This happens because he has a short attention span. When he
becomes adult his emotions do not change that often.
4. Children's emotions appear frequently but as the child grows
older he learns to adjust to emotion arousing situations and react to them
is socially accepted ways. It happens because the children do not have a
sense of disapproval or punishment. They feel very delicate to show
particular type of emotion quite frequently.
5. Children's emotional responses are different. For example, one
child will turn out of the room when he is frightened, another will hide
behind his mother, another may stand and cry. This happens because of the
influences of learning and environment. From facial expressionsand visceral
changes we can observe what a child has experiended.
6. Emotions can be identified from symptoms of behaviour. Children
express their emotions so overtly that it is easy to konw whether a child is
angry, afraid or happy. Adult emotions are disguised.
7. Emotions change in strength. Some emotions are stomg in early
childhood. Later on they disappear. Others are very mild in earlychildhood
but increase in strength in late childhood. For example, timidity decreases
with age, so also does temper tantrum.
8. Patterns of emotional expressions change. In early childhood the
child does whatever he wants but as he grows older he controls theemotional
expressions due to parental instructions or social pressures. Earlier he does
not consider whether this will be harmful to himself or to others.
 118 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

COMMON EMOTIONAL PATTERNS

FEAR
Before the end of 1st year of life fear producing situations begin to affect him.
Fears are learned. Some are learned by direct associations or experiences
with stimuli that naturally arouse fear i.e. loud or harsh noise. Few fears are
learned by imitation of the behaviour of parents, siblings and at other times
they develop as after effects of certain experiences such as fear for doctors,
dentists, hospitals, large animals. Fears also arise out of imagined experiences.
Fears depend upon certain ecological factors as well as causative factors.
The sex of the child, age, soical status, intellectual development all effect the
development or occurrence of fear. It reaches a peak at the age of and again
at the age of 11. During early peak period they arise mainly due to
situationally determined factors namely people, animals, objects, fear for
darkness, etc. During the second peak, the cause is purely anxiety or wony.
There is rather gradual change from specific to general fears. And as the
children grow older, there are sex differences in fears.

Animals School
3
Boys —Upper N-179 Boys —Upper N-179 Boys
2 Lower N-383 —Upper N-179

5
0
T383
03
I
Girls Girls
C —_—Upper N-178 Upper N-178
N390

9101112131415161718 9101112131415161718
Age
Age

Fears and worries as related to chronological age, sex, and soclo-economjc status.
Most common fears of babyhood are because of loud noises, animals,
strange persons, places and objects, dark rooms, high places; sudden
displacement, being alone, and pain. Young children are afraid of more
things than either the babies or the older children. A few types of fear
 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 119

decrease with age but imaginary fears increase with age i.e.fear for ghosts,
robbers, skeletons and being alone etc. There is a definite and consistent
decrease in fear emotions after the pre-school period. For example for 3 years
old the mean is 5.5 as against 3.2 for the six years old. When children enter
4 schools, the fears are due to characters recalled from sto?ies, movies, comics,
ridicules etc. On the whole girls show more fears than the boys.
Fears also arise in early infancy because of organic pain, loss of support,
sudden change in visual presentations, deep voices, masked faces, and
strange faces, irritated voice of animals, barking of dogs and fear for
darkness, fear for strange persons, sight of dogs, sight of snakes appear after
age 11-2 to 2 years. Imagined fear appears later on in life.
The very idea of fear infact implies incompetence and fear become more
if feeling of incompetence is greater. Over protected and insecured children
are more afraid. Overt expression of fear become subdued with age especially
in boys.
The causes arousing fear also change with age. The infant is apparently
afraid of any intense and sudden stimuli. In later childhood cause of fear
becomes imaginary, guilt conscience, fear of examinations, loss of security etc.
This figure indicates the percentage of children at various age levels who
should fear response to several situations originally observed by Jersild, well
known for the contributions to emotion.

C
•0
()
0
C
C.)
ci)
a.

24-35 36-47 48-59 60-71

Aqe in months
The percentage of childen at various age levels
The child's fear are many and varied, most of these the child has
learned. Many fears arise out of stimulus generalisation. These are also
120 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

disruptive fears which cause people to faint or to stand frozen in horror. Fear
promotes later failure. The child in the classroom avoids showing his
ignorance in not reciting becomes as a result progressively more inadequate.
Teachers need to be alert for these situations which progressively become
disgustive and self destructive. Kingsley and Garry (1957) have stated that
"The great bulk of the fears that torment children and adults are needless
and detrimental. Fear is the enemy of the mental and bodily health. It
destroys courage and self-confidence, and undermines morale. It weakens
and supresses purposive action, distorts perspective, and inhibits clear
thinking. It lessons the chances for success, and is often the cause of
mediocrity and failure.
Adults veiy often use fear as a means of securing child's good behaviour.
Such a step is definitely harmful. Children are often disciplined through
fear. But the positive approach of inculcating respects for parents, policemen,
teachers would benefit all concerned.
For many children school itself is a fear producing situation i.e., fear of
criticism, fear of rejection by the teacher and/or the fear of the group, fear
of punishment, fear of embarashment and fear of examinations, fear of
ridicule. Because of fear many children cease to do homework.
The best way is to build security and confidence so that child feels
secure. Removing fear is generally slow and difficult. Verbal reassurance
and explanation may be helpful but emotions are not matter of logic.
Imitation is a better process of learning. Parents and teachers therefore are
to be calm and confident. Social facilitation are more effective than any of
the techniques.
Fear can be eliminated by using certain techniques. In school, a child's
competence can be enhances by using a graded approach. For example, if the
child is afraid of reciting let him first respond with unison with others, or
be called upon to speak only when the teacher is sure that he has the answer.
Success experience can be built through gradual shaping and successive
approximations in the words of Skinner.
Table 1. Situations which Cause Fear
Situalions First Appearance
1. Organic pain From the time of birth
2. Loss of support -do-
3. Sudden loud noise -do-
4. Sudden changes in the visual
persentation End of second month
5. Deep voices, masked faces and
strange faces Seventh month
 121
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

6. New and odd sounds like the

imitations of the voices of animals Eighth month
7. Barking dogs Ninth month
8. Fear of persons in black dress even
when they are friendly Seventeenth and eighteenth months
Twenty first month
9. Carried close by sea
10. Sight of dogs Second year
11. Sight of snakes above two years (Jones)
Source: Child Development (NCERT)
A characteristic of all fear stimuli is their suddenness and unexpected
occurrences as well as unfamiliar or novel objects. Fear is more harmful to
a child. Hence, it should be prevented.
CAUSES & FREQUENCY OF FEARAT DIFFERENT
AGES (JERSILD, 1960)

U
z
LU

0
LU

2.4 4.6 0.2 2.4 4.6

0.2

1. Noise 5. Imaginary cause

6. Animals
2. Strange objects
3. Failing from high place 7. Threat of danger
4. Sudden movement 8. Fear in others

Some common techniques applied to reduce and or prevent occurrence

of fear among children are
1. Diverting the attention of the child from something he might fear.
2. Reconditioning the child from fearful object.
3. Helping the child or creating an opportunity for the child to be
acquainted with unfamiliar objects.
4. The acquaintance must be gradual and free from coercion or
compulsion.
5. Explaining and assuring the child about the harmlessness of the
objects or the individual.
6. Teaching some reactions to actual fearful situations.

ANXIETY
Anxiety is a painful uneasiness of mind concerning apprehended ill or
 122 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

danger. Anxiety is an internal fear. There are many theories of anxiety and
many concepts of anxiety as well. Our concern is anxiety as a painful state
in the child's mind arising out of either imagined danger or out of chronic
frustrations for which he does not do well in school and social activities.
Anxiety may arise out of conflicts, criticisms, denial, or any such factor, but
it is a kind of fear that is often aroused and gradually it is learned and
sustained to form a trait in the child or it may refer to a particular state and
disappear often. In any case, a mild anxiety is desirable for healthy
adjustment, in learning, in problem solving etc. but acute anxiety will have
disruptive effects on behaviour. Hence, it has been repeatedly discussed that
the classroom atmosphere should not create anxiety or anxiety proneness in
the individual pupils considered both from the broader aim and specific aim
of educational experiences and anxiety appear quite frequently for loss of
affection and security in early childhood and during adolescent period
various other anxiety and worries relating to sex activities appear. It is for
the school to monitor such worries and help to reduce their occurrence by
substitute forms, in cultural activities, in games and in social activities ofany
sort. Anxiety can be reduced greatly by discussion, self analysis and
relaxation therapy.
ANGER
Anger is a more frequent emotional response in childhood that fear. Anger
reactions increase with age whereas fear decreases. The child gradually
realizes that there is no need for fear, whereas anger is the best way to fulfil
his desires and get the attention of others.
Tle environments of home and that of the school play an important role
in detenrnning the intensity and frequency of a child's anger. Tempertantrums
are frequent in the presence of guests. Boys at every age are more angry than
girls. Children who are more subjected to an autocratic child rearing practice
tend to show more of anger than do the children who are brought up in a
permissive atmosphere.
Robert Bridges has developed the trends in expression of anger. The
Diagrams which are based on situation causing crying among nursery school
children at home and at school.
In general, situations which rise to give anger are those involving body
restraint, interference with the childs movement : blocking of activities
already in progress; denial of wishes, plans, and purposes; the child's
thwarting wants to carry Out intentions.
Children may become angry for various reasons. From the point of view
of development, children under one year become angry when there are
disturbing movements, minor physical discomforts, delayed feeding, or they
are being put to bed forcibly. They seek attention drawing behaviour, or they
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 123

Situations Percent of incidents

U) Eating 3%
0)
c Night Sleep
Dressing 6%
Bathing •?:f1 5%
Nap
uia Eli mi nation
Hairbrushing 1%
U)
a) Conflict with adults 21%
> Conflict with sibs 14%
0 Conflict with other child 3%
>, Frustrated by materials 3%
Frustrated by pets
Injury and treatment 12%
Fear J /0
a) Fussiness 2%
0 Coming to nursery school 2%
Medical and dental care t•tO/
U /0

A
Situations Mean percent of crying incidents
Attack on childs person
24.4%
Attack on childs property 125%

7/////////IL1 10.8%
Frustrated by another child

Accidental injury 18.6%

12.2%
Frustrated by inanimate object

Conflict with adult Boys

• 4.4% E• Girls
Fear

B
The immediate situations causing crying among preschool-aged children (A) in
the home and (B) in the nursery.
124 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

are not given food whenever they want. Between the first and second year,
the causes of anger include not pennitted to do certain activities as desired,
adults try to help children forcibly, inability to express desire followed by
asking the child to eat when he is to play, strict toilet training, punishment,
frustration during the 3rd year of development. During 4th year and onwards
when the child's activities are prevented by others, the child is unable to
share possession, desires to posses someone by else's things, disagreement
with play-mates, refusal of help adults, refusal to do small tasks, objections
to some particular way of dressing etc. the child expresses anger. Later on
criticisms or denial of ego by others, insult to self or conscience becomes the
causes of anger.
Table 2 Situations Provocative of Anger
Si. Situations First Appearance Peak Frequency
No.
1. Hampering movements Form the moment Under one year
of birth
2. Minor physical discomforts (wet clothes etc.) Under one year -do-
3. Impatience at having to wait for feeding -do- -do-
4. Thwarting of movements of withdrawal Under one year Under one year
5. Being put to bed forcibly -do- -do-
6. Objections to specific kinds of food -do- -do-
7. A general desire for attention -do- -do-
8. Desire for food between meals -do- -do-
9. Not permitted to carry out desired activity One year one year •Oneyear-one year
11 months 11 months
10. Adult assistance forced upon the child -do- -do-
11. Inability to make desires understood -do- -do-
12. Forcibly taken to meals when the child One year-one year Two years-two years
wished to play 11 months 11 months
13. Routine physical habits interfered with -do- -do-
14. Resentment at punishment -do- -do-
15. Resentment at having to take logical One year-one year -do-
consequences of one's own act 11 months
16. Unsuccessflul attempt to manipulate -do- Two-years-Two years
some object 11 months
17. Mother's inpatience at child's slowness Two years-Two years -do-
11 months
18. Desire to share in the activity of others One year-one Three years-three
prevented years
11 months
19. Unwillingness to share possessions One year-one year -do-
11 months
20. Desire for someone else's possessions -do- -do-
21. Disagreements with playmates Under one year Three years and above
22. Refbsal of adult help to perform activities One year-one year Four years and above
11 months
23. Refusal to perform some small task Two years-Two Four years and above
year 11 months -1
24. Objection to some particular article One year-one year -do-
of clothing 11 months
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 125

Veiy young babies respond with anger to mild discomforts, interferences

with physical activities, activities connected with physical care and dressing.
If his possessions are interfered with or he does not get as much attention
as he wants to get, has gets irritated and angry. Preschool children get angry
when their toys do not work. Older children get angry when teased or
ridiculed for no fault of theirs.
The general reaction in such a situation is anger or temper tantrum,
which decreases with age and at first 3 years it remains at 68 percent level
for boys and at 62 percent for girls. In anger, the baby cries, screams, kicks,
arches his back, struggles and twists his whole body. The peak in these
responses come around age 3 but the decline in frequency and intensity is
slower for boys than for girls. Older children use verbal attacks when they
get angry and replace bodily attacks. He may refuse doing some tasks, or does
these as badly as possible when he is angry. In general, boys are more
aggressive than girls in early childhood.

Age in years
The frequency of anger outhursts at various levels.

Anger ranges from mild stage to annoyance, irritation, hatred, resentment

and jealousy. It results out of a blow to one's self esteem or interferences with
its purposes, threat to one's sense of values. Whether an individual child will
be angry or not depends upon his past experiences nature of situations, his
sense of security, his capabilities, his competence etc. There are some
children who are anger prone. They have faced cumulative frustrations since
quite early in life. In some cases teachers might project their own behaviour
on children and induce anger.
There is a change in the causation of anger with age and as well as
change in the reaction to angry situations. Godenough (1931) found that
 126 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

temper tantrum reached a peak around the third year after which it declined
in frequency and intensity. The use of language provides the child with a new
tool to express his anger more subtly. In school the child expresses his anger
by being noisy, disrupting the class, engaging in passive sabotage, asking
questions just to embarrash teachers and annoying him. Sears has shown if
the teachers try to suppress aggression through counter agression or threat
or using punitive measures, it leads to increase of anger in children. The
ways the children under these circumstances use are dübions and hard to
understand. The anger is displaced i.e., cruelty to animals, meanness,
prejudice formation.
There are of course, situations where a little anger is necessary for self
actualisation. A person becomes aggressive to himself because he failed, and
then laboured hard to succeed. Aggressiveness as a trait for a masculine
personality. Hence, anger ai such is not bad per se. Its worth depends upon
its orientation. Guiding anger to success behaviour is more desirable than
supressing it. Punishment for anger leads to more of anger.
Instead, if it is possible to build sense of security in the children,
chanalise his competencies in a way that it would achieve the goal by
reducing a too high aspiration. These are two of the constructive approaches
to reduce anger. Criticisms of behaviour can be made even without insulting
the child or hurting the child in the classroom instead of using buldozer type
of criticism which aggravate the situation. Criticism should be constructive
and be directed at the behaviour but not to the child followed by creating a
sense of confidence in him that he will do well.
When children become too angry and too frequently, there is a need to
analyse it more carefully. Diagnostic approach is necessary than retaliation.
Sometimes a child does poor in school to express his hostility towards his
parents. Therefore, it is not necessary to have too many restraints in home
and in school. Many times anger is reinforced because parents encourage
children to get what they want by becoming angry. Similarly Crow and Crow
(1956) stated a teacher who meets temper with temper, besides giving public
proof of his lack of self-confidence and sell-control is not going to be
effective in dealing with either offense or offender.
Anger can be reduced by using the following devices:
1. Aggressive responses can be eliminated by using social reinforcement
i.e., praise, patting for positive reactions.
2. Aggressive behaviour can be extinguished by discontinuing
reinforcement i.e. extinction procedure.
3. Rechannalising his responses to constructive activities.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 127
4. Ignore the behaviour when it appears.
5. Building a sense of security and positive self concept among
children.
6. Accepting their feelings in early childhood.
Anger can be turned to useful purpose if a teacher can ask himself and
encourage pupils to ask themselves, soon after anger, 'why did I go mad?'
'Why did make me angry?' Such a sell enquiry makes valuable contributions
for dissipating anger.
JEALOUSY
Jealousy is a normal response to loss of affection. It is an outgrowth of anger
or attitude of resentment. Jealousy is expressed in an outburst similar to
anger or temper tantrum.
In young children jealousy is seen when there is the birth of a sibling.
Because the older child thinks he can no longer get the affection and
attention from the parents any more and he feels neglected. Hence he
becomes resentful toward both mother and the new baby. Similarly the young
child is jealous of the older one because of the privileges given to older ones.
Jealousy arises out of a social cause. It involves people especially for
whom the child has some liking or affection. In young children jealousy is
seen when there is birth of a sibling. The older child thinks that he can no
longer get the affection and attention from the parents any more and he feels
neglected. Hence, he becomes resentful towards both mother and the new
baby. Similarly, the young child is jealous of the older one because of the
privileges given to older ones.
Parental favouritism for the attractive, affectionate or gifted child
creates jealousy behaviour in children. According to Jersild competitive
attitude of parents i.e. comparing one child's performance with another, is
responsible for developing jealousy in children. When the child enters the
school he becomes jealous of classmates, and jealousy becomes flared up
'wtie tbtt coitiat tatx cht. Qt t%\.t otkxet 1'at, owt i.s
jealous of another if he excels in athletics; if some one is more popular than
himself Girls are often jealous of boys in their classes. The child is also
jealous of other children if they have greater material possession i.e., more
toys, more clothes etc.
Jealousy is expressed in mild annoyance and as well as in extreme
hostility.
Reactions of very young children including active attention seeking
from parents, finger sucking, verbal aggression towards the baby and
parents. These reactions may be direct and indirect. Direct reactions include
hitting, kicking, biting, pushing, punching, or scratching the person whose
128 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

attention he craves or the child about whom he is jealous. Indirect responses

include infantile behaviour like bedwetting, thumbsucking, general
naughtiness, destructiveness, name calling, venting feeling on toys or
animals. Among older children jealousy responses are more varied and
indirect than those among younger children.
Two out of three jealous children are girls. There are also age differences
in jealousy i.e. peak occurs at age 3 and another peak at eleven. More girls
show jealousy at an early age and more boys at a later age. There is more
jealousy in higher intellectual levels than the lower. Jealousy is more in girl-
girl combination than in boy-boy or boy-girl combination in the family.
Inconsistency in the application of discipline tends to increase jealousy. But
if the mother pays less attention to children her children are less likely to
show jealousy.
JOY, PLEASURE, AND DELIGHT
It is satisfactory expression of drives within the children, undifferentiated at
the beginning. Boys on the whole, tend to be more overtly happy than the
girls. Mainly pleasant emotions appear from physical wellbeing, cooing,
babbling, standing, walking, running, overcoming an obstacle, comics etc.
Table 3. Situations in relation to the first appearance of
laughter and smiling
SI. Situations Laughter First appearance
No. of smiling
LLaughter or Pleasure
1. Satisfaction after hunger has
been fully appeared 26th day
2. Bright coloured objects (as
moving tassels of bright
colours hung over the craddle) 5th week 23rd day
3. Hearing musical sounds (as the Eighth week
piano)
4. Joy at familiar and pleasing
impressions (as the face of
mother) Six to nine weeks
5. Sight of toys End of eight month
(Hatzer)
6. Awakening from sleep End of eight month
(Hatzer)
I!. The Social Smile
7. Smile of the familiar adult 26th day
8. Sight of a friendly person End of second month
9. Chirrupping and talking to Three months Two Months
the child (Washburn)
 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 129
10. Friendly nodding of adult Sixth Month
11. Laughter at mirror image
of oneself 8 month
III. Laughter of Defeat or Mild Thwarting
12. Peak-a-boo (cloth between 4-6 months 2-4 months
examiner and child)
13. Rhythmical kneedrop 5 month 2-4 months
14. Threatening head (sudden 4 months 4 months
booing near face of child)
15. Elevator play (sudden rising 6 months 4 months
and lowering of child)
16. Tickling 6 months 4 months
17. Rhythmical hand clapping 5 months 5 months
18. Sudden appearance 6-li months 5 months
19. Sumbling on the floor, 8 months
while sitting
20. Unexpected sound (adult 9 months
imitating birds and animals)
21. Effort to stand with support 9-12 months
22. Strange, masked faces 10-11 months
10-Il months
/
23. Playful disobedience or
defiance of adults
24. Nervous, self-conscious 10-11 months
laughter at being noticed

Understanding of emotion, and its dynamics are very crucial for a

classroom teacher. Especially, if there is emotionally disturbed child in a
classroom much of the teacher's time is spent to control him than to man tge
the classroom problems. A teacher must not only know what and why of
emotion but how to handle such critical cases. Details of emotional problems
are described below.
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH EMOTION
Factors which are responsible for development of emotion are many and
varied. It ranges from secretion of glands to parental child rearing practices
as well to effects of peers, school, cultural and health of the children and his
experiences etc. Continued frustrations in school, in life situations, rejection

r by parents, double discipline, broken homes; sibling rivarly do constitute

significant dimensions which have been already discussed in the text.
Deprivation of psychological activities and negative emotional reactions in
emotional situations are common. Parental directions or training to children's
as to how to handle emotions are lacking in our country. Hence, there are
many emotional outbursts.
First born children, and children who are single are noted for constant
affection and as such suffer from overprotection. Children in large families
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

are neglected and have feelings of depression, inferiority and insecurity.

Sibling jealousy, parental negligence, and discrimination contribute
significantly to emotional development. At the same time, there are sex roles,
and cultural imperatives which help children to show emotional behaviours
in order to confonn to role expectations. The male child behaves as a male
and the female as a female.
Maturation plays a dominat role in emotion. With increase in age
memory improves and ability to imagine increases. These lead to new
dimensions in emotional response. The endocrine system also helps to
regulate bodily functions and soon after birth the adrenal gland increase in
size rapidly upto 5 and from age 10 to 12 it becomes slow. These influence
mood states.
Environment such as a healthy emotional climate is a physical and
psychological setting in which, the child feels safe, develops trust in others,
and build a sense of confidence and trust. Childhood experiences both in
family and community with genuine affection and happiness set the tone for
healthy emotional development.
'COGNITION
Every emotion has a cognitive component and every thought is influenced
by emotional factors. Both emotion and thought one intimately in dialectical
unity. Feelings reinforce ideas and ideas in turn reinforce feelings. Emotions
are characterised by specific cognitive meanings supplemented by facial
expressions, voice tone, and body gestures. It is not possible to learn to
control emotion. A person who experiences fear cannot eliminate fear it self. '1
He knows how to cope with it. I am afraid, what should 1 do?

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Children learn variety of ways to let their feelings be known. With
language and verbal skills they talk more about their feelings. Until age 7
or 8 most children are frank to talk about their feelings. As they grow
they learn to control their feelings and to be more discreet about expressing
them.

SO(flALISATION
Children's emotion through spontaneous are influenced by their social
interaction. Child expresses emotion freely when there is some one who is
to listen to him. Models help them to learn emotion and express in socially
accepted ways. Children who are forced to suppress their emotion are usually
emotionally disturbed. Emotional deprivation suppress the child's overall
development. Children who are deprived of positive emotional interactions
 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
131
seldom develop self esteem and are self centred and are demanding and
appathetic. These deprivations lead to hostility and aggression.
PERSONALITY AND TEMPERAMENT
She is an angry child, he is a hostile boy, she is a happy girl. These statements
reflected that children's emotions are a reflection of their personality. They
are also a reflection of internal states. Hence, emotional expressions differ
according to personality characteristics and temperament which vaiy with
time, place and circumstances.
MOTIVATION
Emotion and motivation one intimately related. With emotion there is
usually an impulse to work or act. Feelings are also essential which act as
9 motions for action. They are bound together in human interaction.

BEhAVIOUR PROBLEMS IN CIIILDHOOD

As children grow their behaviour changes. Child's behaviour in each
stage is marked and changed by his own personality. At the age of two, for
every thing the child says "No". This is a healthy sign because the child is
beginning to act as an individual.
A behaviour problem is some form of behaviour that is not appropriate
to the child's age and development. Thumb sucking is not a problem for a
child of 12 months but certainly it,is, if seen at the age of five years. It usually
indicates that something is wrotig.
Sometimes the reasons for'the child's behaviour problems can be easily
understood. A three years old who refuses to eat solid food after the arrival
of a new baby is using this to attract the attention. But in many instances the
reasons lie in deepseated emotions and the child's behaviour is baffling to
his parents. A child who feels that his older brother outshines him may wet
his bed in the unconscious hope that he will again be treated with the special
attention a baby receives, or as a way of showing anger at not having his
parent's esteem. That's why it is always desirable to know what underlies
behaviour problem than treating the problem only. It is as if treating scarlet
fever by putting make-up over the rash.
There are various problems which parents might face and which require
special attention for a healthy personality development.
Eating problems are seen at about age two. At this point it is better to
keep the child in humour and see that he eats, rather than forcing him to eat
something. This latter instance may be associated with punishment and
become more severe to deal with. Sleep problems are seen because of
reluctance to leave the family, fear of darkness, nightmares etc. A provision
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
132
of a night high takes care of many of the minor sleep problem, but if it is
a sign of negativism, then it has to be dealt with care.
Discipline problems are common to all children in some degrec. The
children beginning from age 2 test their parents to see how much they can
do away with. But a child who is defiant, disobedient, and even aggressive
poses a serious problem. These appear as a reaction against overstrict
discipline.
Bedwetting may be seen as sign of emotional disturbance but it can be
reduced by not making this an important issue. Arelaxed home atmosphere,
providing the child with plenty of normal interests and activities, the
problem is gradually reduced. Undue over praise for not wetting the bed
should also be avoided. Leaving aside the medical reasons, the emotional
problems responsible for bedwetting can be taken care of parents. Scolding
or spanking him will make him only more upset and lessable to regain
bladder control. Most children take the natural pride in acquiring grownup
habits and are likely to be just as concerned as their parents about the
problem of bed wetting.
Irrational fears are seen in afl children. Temper-tantrums are quite
common in between 11-2 and 3 years. Nervous habits such as 'thub sucking
and nail biting after the age of five are seen becauseof emotional problems.
technique. The child who
These can be removed by using reconditioning
always day-dreams needs serious help.
Sex problems depend upon the attitude of parents. If they strongly
disapprove the normal curiosity of the child, they may both increase his
curiosity and drive underground. Therefore, many of the problems arise due
to wrong understanding of the problem bythe parents. The chapter on Social
Development will specify besides the measures described above, the attitudes
and behaviours of parents to words rearing children.
iMPLICATIONS
Among the instances of infantile emotional behaviour the most common
problems are temper tantrums, jealousy, resentment, dependency, over
dependence, not only among infants but among grown upchildren. Perhaps
this is due to the fact that our schools emphasize intellectual growth at the
should be acquainted with the emotional
cost of affective growth. The teacher
growth of children. They should build up atmosphere for security and self-
acceptance.
Education aims at balanced development of personalitywhere emotions
child's learning is directly related to the
occupy a significant place. Further,
emotional life of the pupils. Continued tensions upset the individual and
distract the children from the learning task.
 EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 133
Children many times imitate aggressive models and become aggressive.
They feel inferior because of imagined frustrations or failures. They become
insecured when they do not get enough parental affection in home. But if the
child has experienced security in early years of life in home and school he
can face the world with confidence and can tolerate frustrations.
School is very important, because many children come from home
without any security and it is the teacher's responsibility therefore, to give
him security and make him free from emotional stress. It is the responsibility
of the teachers to see that no student is faced with a steady diet of fear, failure,
and frustration as a result of school activity.
School and teachers should also promote emotional maturity. This is
done through (a) by giving security (b) by helping him to sublimate
emotional tension and (c) by making the classroom atmosphere free where
childs feeling are accepted, tolerated and respected. A sense of human, a
little sympathetic understanding will help the children in a long way in
developing within him a sense of belongingness to the class, institution and
learnIng. He therefore never entertains any feeling of retaliation and
rejection. This child can also develop frustration tolerance.
School and teachers should encourage emotional expression rather than
repression. A sense of school spirit, sport, cultural activities are the mediums
through which many emotional feelings can be expressed well under control
rather than being repressed and forming a body of agrieved feelings which
might burst later on.
In order to help children to behave in a matured manner it is necessary
for the teachers to be matured also. The teachers should not show signs of
emotional immaturity, otherwise the children will imitate. If the teachers are
respected, ideal, sound, they act as good models for imitation.
What is obvious here is that teachers should handle the emotion of the
children with utmost care so that they develop healthy adjustments in life,
learn from instruction, and became socio-emotionally adjusted. Teasing,
reprimanding and annoying children result is negative consequences.
4 Moreover if the school programme is suitable to the pupils they derive
joy and feeling of achievement. If the programme is not stimulating and upto
this level they certainly face failure and that becomes a cause of annoyance
and displeasure. Emotions are constantly involved in the teacher pupil
relations at school. There may be under current of anxiety and resentment
among competing students. Hence, to do an effective teaching the teacher
must be sensitive to the emotions of the children in school as well as his own.
He must appreciate the feelings of pupils and save themselves from unnecessary
ridicule and embarrashment. The teacher must help the individual child to
134 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

realise his potentialities as aperson, learn to face reality, accept himself and
live comfortably with his thoughts and emotions.
School has significant contribution for emotional development especially
through the encounters of success and failure, through self-acceptance and
self rejection. Teacher's discriminative attitude contributes to emotional
bickerings. Under-achievement sometimes results out of this subjective
emotional experiences, that I am not liked, the teacher hates me'. Positive
emotions on the hand are so much inspiring that students achieved very high
success. There are discepancies in achievement depending upon the emotional
issues. Hence, one has to give a great deal of attention to emotion.
Much that influences child's emotional life comes before he goes to
school. But we must not assume that his attitudes are completely impervious
to any influence. Past emotional experience can be modified to a considerable
degree.
Probably the most important factor in a child's life is the affection he
receives from others, and the affection he develops for others. The love of
parents, the love of a teacher, the love of peers all leave a mark on everything
that goes on eveiy day in his life. The child who is accepted will have lot a
freedom to try things Out, to explore, to make mistakes and learn by that. He
will not be fearful. Where there is mutual acceptance there is much room for
spontaneous expression. A teacher therefore refrains from displaying obvious
favouritism which hurts the feelings of others.
If parents and teachers do not show affection from eaiy age, the children
become quite defensive. As he grows older, the restrictions and restraints, the
do's and don'ts seem quite arbilraiy and exaggerating to him. He becomes
suspicious. He begins to doubt his own worth. He may resort to do all kinds
of devices to bolster his self esteem. Responses to lack of affection may take
a turn of aggression or very compliant and self-effacing turn. As he grows
older such a child may go to great length in his efforts to be all things to all
men.
It a child gives much energy to protect himself or vindicate himself,
there is very little thing that he can do either at home or in school. Reaction
to rejection in school may lead to many behaviours : unwillingness to learn,
restlessness, destruction of property, tardiness, absenteism, and the like. A
pupil's feeling are bound to be affected. Io matter what the teachers do at
school or how good they are. Certainly the child will be reminded of his
limitations no matter how unpleasant it is. Still if schools attempt to
eliminate unwanted frustrations, uncalled for rejection and make the school
climate free from tension much of the problem behaviour can be saved and
a new attraction will develop between pupils and school. I have on many
 135
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

occasions said that school drop-out has the major cause in rejection and
discriminationS by teachers of pupils.
and realistic.
Classroom atmosphere should be meaningful, challenging
school wc.rk is often a source
k The child must set his goals. For the dull child
of frustration rather than challenge. This gifted do suffer
in
because
organising
for
the
them
work
there is no challenge. Some teachers are competent
satisfying. Fear will be
of the school so that experiences are educationally
reduced with increased security. Learning can occurin an affective climate.

rRvIEw EXERCIii
Answer the following questions within 500 wordseach:What are the effects of
1. Outline the development of emotion in children.
maturation and learning on emotion?
2. "Children emotions are characteristically different from adult emotions".
Explain.
3. Whatare the common emotional patterns in childhood? Explain.
4. What is fear? How can you reduce fear children?
5. What is anger ? How can you reduce anger in children?
6. Write a note on the characteristics of childhood emotion.
7. Write a note on joy, pleasure, delight.
Answer the following questions in 50 word.s each:
1. Bridges and classification of emotion.
2. Watson and conditioning of fear.
3. Role of school in emotional development.
4. Role of parents in emotional development.
5. Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.
6. How is jealousy created in children?
7. What is tamper tantrum?
8. Causes of anger.
9. Contribution of Robert Bridges to emotion.
10. Method to reducing fear in children.
11. Role of maturation in emotion.
12. Anxiety in children.
13. Method for reducing anger.
14. Social smile.
15. Behaviour problems in children.
Write whether the statements are Ture or False:
1. Child's emotional states are intense.
2. Child's emotions are inherited.
3. Watson's experiment on Albert to show fear emotion is a failure.
4. There is no relation between mental development and emotional development.
5. Anxiety is an internal fear.
6. Jealousy appear at one year of age.
136 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Fill in (he blanks: I
1. Children emotions in term of duration one
2. Children emotions in term of degree one
3. Emotions change in
4. Pattern of emotions are for different types of emotions.
5. Anger reactions increase with age whereas fear
6. After preschool period fear emotions
7. Anger can be reduced by
their feelings during early childhood.
8. Emotions can be identified from expressions.
9. Emotions appear quite
10. The first emotional expression is excitement.
 10
Social Development

of
The child is not born social. He learns to be social. The process
child at
life beginning from infancy. The
socialisatiOfl continues throughout
and social activities through play
first is egocentric and only after language him
socialised. In the process of making
etc. are developed he becomes neighbourhoOd, the culture, the
socialised the family, the school, society,
their significant role.
peer group and many other interacting factors play individualiSation
Because of these factors or forces, the young child moves from
towards socialisation.
'Social development' or its synonym
What is understood by the term is
'Socialisatlon' ? Mc Guire and Havighurst (1947) defined, 'SocialiSatiOn
alternate channels for individualbehaviour together
+ theprocess of presenting which will lead to acceptance of some
with positive and negative sanctions formal and
and rejection of others. it emphasizes the influence social groups,
individual.' This definition although
informal upon the personality of the
not make the meaning clear. Socialisation
quite comprehensive yet - does which an individual child acquires traits,
simply refers to a process through social norms or
values and attitudes, beliefs, behaviour in conformity with well as
standards. In other words, his behaviour is accepted by others as
social cultural conditioning and personal
appreciated. It is acquired through
conditioning.
it involves three kinds of processes:
individual behaves according to the norms of his own group.
(a) The roles and other roles and
(b) The individual plays appropriate sex children etc.
defined by the group, parents, and
(c) He develops proper social attitudes.
in one who behaves in an approved
A child or pupil who is social
manner, plays the role that society defines for him and has favourable
other
activities. A nonsocial child on the
attitudes towards people and social
hand, fails to behave in the above
manner in one or more areas of behaviour.
 138 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
An antisocial on the other hand does just the
opposite of what the society
expects him to do. He is disobedient, quarrelsome, and
destructive.
Social behavjour is learned. This takes from early childhood experiences,
and the opportunities given to the child in early childhood for social
interaction, the motivation of the child, the willingness to learn from parents,
elders, teachers, the methods of making best social contacts. When all these
conditions are favourable the child
develops socially accepted behaviour
patterns. If the child from the beginning of his life is
not given opportunities
for social contacts then he would face later problems in interpersonal
relationships. Infact, children who remain in foster homes have restrictions
in social participation. In other cases, the interacting group must be selected,
otherwise the child may learn some undersirable traits.
Social development or social learning is a slow process. There are
periods of development. It is quite rapid at first. Hence, early experiences are
important.
Social development follows a pattern. In the infancy the young child
lacks group feeling. Heis possessive and egocentric. Then it is followed by
sharing and co-operating with others in play. Only in late childhood the child
enjoys a group life. Interest in group activities and
adulthood. participation increases in

Social development is predictable. The two year old is solitary in his

play. He of course imitates others. At 21-2 year of age the child grabs from
others and rarely shares them with others. By the time the child reaches third
year of development, he engages himself in group play or team spirit is
developed. By age 4, he listens to thegroup influences and respects for group
develops, true socialisaijon begins in school. Theremay be little variation but
it follows this sequence.
In the stage of infancy beginning from birth, the infant has no interest
in people. His activities are directedtowards satisfaction of the physiological
needs. The child at the first 2 months of life does not even distinguish the
human voice .and other noises. Form the
3rd month, the baby likes the
company of others and feels discontented when left alone inthe crib or bed.
Smiling is the first social behaviour that appears at the third month.
Kicking the bed and waving the hand at the sight of mother or adult figure
who is nursing the baby are also seen. They show fear responses to strange
persons at around third month.
Around fourth month the baby makes
anticipatoiy responses pays
selective attention, discriminates between familiar and unfamiliar persons.
At sixth month he grabs his nose, pull's the adult's hair. He imitates the
speech sound of others at the 9th month. He responds to adult's no-no sound
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 139

or directions. From the fifteenth month the baby shows increasing interest
in adults and a desire to be with them. Around second year the childbecomes
an active member of the family.
With regard to other children in the family the child shows interest in
looking, smiling, and reaching out and touching other children. They fight
among themselves and become when a toy is taken away by one child. But
they start imitating each other during the second year. They adjust and
cooperate in play by the time they become three years olds.
But the end of second year and beginning of third year is a strange age
The child hides the face in the lap of the mother when some one offers him
something. He refuses to speak. He is self conscious and shy. In case of
children suffering from insecurity such behaviours are seen even at later
stages. Rivalry and resistant behaviour appear duringthis period and they
dissipate by the third year.
The early socialisation that develops between the infant and the mother
is called attachment. Social development is affected by this infant attachment
and affiliative experiences. This helps in the development of feeling of
security. Attachment is a security blanket in the words of Harlow. In the
absence of the mother the child feels separation anxiety. Even the child looks
for a mother surrogate.
EARLY CHILDHOOD
From third year the child develops into a distinctly socialised individual.
These years i.e. 3 to six are called pre-gang age. Social behaviour developed
during the preschool stage persist with very little change. At this stage the
kind of social experience that the child has is more important than the
number of experiences. Nursery school experiences are more beneficial for
the social development of children, under the guidance of trained teachers,
because in our society younger children are quite often teased by grown up
children. As such they develop negative attitudes towards adults which
might influence his future adjustment.
With increasing age the total time that the child spends with his peers
are more than that he spends with adults. The three year old resists adult
influence and wants to be independent. The four and five year old gradually
becomes more friendly and cooperative and wants to avoid the displeasure
of others. However, children's social attitudes are greatly shaped by the
attitudes of teachers.
After age three, the size of the play group increases with age. Children
become selective in play. There is an increase of friendly relation with
increasing age and there is frequent interactions between them. But through
out the years of early childhood, the child is selicentred in his social
 140 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

behaviour, although the change takes place from solitary to cooperative play
systematically. He soon learns to share and adjust. Negativism or resistant
behaviour results out of aggressive discipline and frustrations in early
childhood arising out of adult interference and inconsistent discipline.
Negativism becomes high at about 1.5 years. Another peak occurs between
three to six years and after that it declines rapidly. For boys, another peak
occurs at age eleven.
Negativism is a common behaviour but if it occurs repeatedly or quite
often it becomes an antisocial character. Children having these traits fail to
carry Out orders, pretend that they are not listening, quite stubborn in
connection with all routine activities, demanding, destructive, and moody.
The socially adjusted child expresses negative reaction directly but less
adjusted children express it in a diffused and generalised way. Verbal
expressions increase replacing physical expressions with increase in age.
Negativism as such is not desirable but they certainly contribute to vitality
and strong motivation for later adjustment.
Aggression is another such behaviour which is seen during childhood.
It reaches its peak between 41-2 and 51-2 years. It is a reaction to frustrating
expriences : Physical punishment, disthimination by parents apd teachers,
unnecessary blame, rejection etc. Verbal reactions to aggression fncrease
with age and physical reactions decrease. Quarrelling is a common
characteristic which is seen among children. It is an educational experience
for the child. It teaches him what others will and will not tolerate. He soon
realises that picking fights makes him unpopular and can lead to physical
discomfort and pain. With guidance, he learns that his ends can be achieved
by using-pleasant ways i.e. co-operation than quarrelling.
At the age of two, children do not display rivalry. At age three some
competition appears. By age six most children have a well developed
competitive spirit. Rivalry is more common when the children want to draw
the attention of a common man or figure. Rivalry exists in all homes due to
sibling jealousy. In nursery school all children want to get the attention of
the teacher. Teacher's pet or mother's pet is a cause of jealousy. Children
brought up by more democratic child training methods becomes more
cooperative.
With increase in age the child becomes increasingly anxious to win the
approval of others, first of adults and later of individuals his own age. In this
process, he often comes in conflict with adult regulations and the codes of
the social group. Since his desire is to get attention from others, he tries even
the unacceptable ways.
During this period children emerge as individual's by developing their
personality i-aits and self concept They learn certain values in the Nursery
 141
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
time negative self image
school. Cultural values are also learnt. At the same undesirable
may be learnt if the child identifies with a model who possesses
traits (Kagan, 1971). The peer group has a significant effect at this
stage.
LATE CHILDHOOD
During late childhood the child enters into the school. The individual games
child's circle of friendship widens. This stage
gives way to group games. The
is known as the gang age during which conscience develops rapidly. This is
tasks. Which the children of same age feel
one of the major developmental in group play from the sixth to
and act together. There is a gradual increase
in socialisation also. The child
the eighth year. There is a gradual change
becomes less selfish, less sell centered, and less aggressive. Instead, he
and group conscious. The typical
becomes more cooperative, outgoing,
lead to mischief making.
child's gang is a play group which sometimes may
The children at six and after have their own sex groups, normally small
ones. This group begins to dominate their life. They develop their own mores
which protects their own identity as in groups. Boys as a rule from gangs
earlier than girls and both as a rule from gangs earlier than girls and both
loose a interest in gangs at puberty. The boys and girls crave approval of the
group, for their speech, dress and behaviour. Craving for attention stems
from insecurity, and is associated with such traits as timidity, jealousy,
moodiness, and over dependency. First born girls demand more attention
become oversensitive. This is
like the only children. At this age level they
a common could which eveiy one has it. For boys oversensitiveness reaches
abruptly. For girls it continues
the peak at eleven years of age and then drops
upto puberty.
The children at school age i.e. six and seven years, are highly suggestible.
They are more loyal to the group and the leader. They engage themselves
occasionally in destructive activities. Rivalry and competition are also
observed in them. But child soon learns to play the rules of the game.
Cooperation and sharing mentality is well developed around 9 to 10 years.
They develop also sense of responsibility. Dependency decreases giving rise
Children at this stage should be
to increased motor and speech development.
sell confidence and be independent. They
given responsibility to acquire
develop social insight. This insight also increases with age. The children
discover things for themselves and perceive the meaning of the behaviour
shown by others. Social insight is a requirement for social adjustment.
Prejudice and negative attitudes are also learned at this stage from home
and school. A democratic child rearing practice reduces this prejudice
continues. They be little
formation to a considerable degree. Sex antagonism
 142 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

each other's interests, skills, and activities. Strong sex antagonism is seen q
around fifth to seventh grade i.e. 10 to 13 years, which is at the peak. The
reasons for this may be cultural as well as maturational. School text books
sometimes promoter this antagonism by stating that males are superior to
female in different mental abilities etc. which influence the interpersonal
attitudes. Children from low SES show more of these antagonistic feelings 4
than the high SES. This arises out of social inadequacy or insecurity. Sex
antagonism has adverse effects on social skills and social adjustments.
It can be said that gang life of children helps children to be sociable, to
develop a conscience, to learn appropriate social attitudes, to acquire
personal independence. It develops sell control, fair play, courage and many
other social traits. Although gang activities are occasionally mischievious,
it depends upon. how learning experiences in the gang are planned.
ADOLESCENCE
With puberty there is a change is social attitudes, a decline in interest of
group activities, and a tendency to prefer solitude. This stage may rightly be
called antisocial stage or a period of disequillibrium. There is marked
individual difference in the age of sexual maturing and as such it is difficult
to state the characteristic age-specific changes. The children develop a
definite self concept, a set of social attitudes, which vary both in positive and
negative ways. There is a decrease of sociability, co-operativeness, generocity,
popularity etc. There is antagonistic attitude towards everyone. Social
insight disappears abruptly. There is more of day dreaming, high sex
antagonism, withdrawal from group, resistence to authority, lack of proper
communication with teachers and others which are necessary for social
development. These are again changed in the positive direction once
children enter adulthood and pass away from puberty a adolescence. The
early maturity brings with it exaggerated forms of antisocial behaviour. The
child becomes overtly aggressive, demanding attention and previleges,
rebels against authority, quarrelling type argumentative, and hypersensitive.
But gradually with emergence of adulthood such behavioural characteristics
are replaced by more positive and stable pattern of behaviour. But it all
depends upon how the individual child passes through the stages of
socialisation.
An Abstract of Social Development
Stage Infance 0-3 yrs. Characteristics strong attachment to mother
anxiety for strange persons. Separation anxiety if
the mother is absent. Beginning of peer interaction.
Dependency on parental figures. Immature
scia1isation skills. Highly egocentric and self
centred obedience, and attachment.
 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 143
Early Childhood 3-6 yrs. Egocentrism continues. Same sex friendships.
Nursery school experience and extended
friendships. More peer contact and less parent
contact. Conformity to peer group norms. Early
sex typed behaviour Aggression, Rivalry,
Negativism.
Middle Childhood Sensitiveness, Self-consciousness, Continued sep-
6-12 yrs. aration of the sexes, Co-operation and empathy
increase structured social activities, Social com-
munication, Sex typing behaviour, Respect for
authority.
Adolescence 13-16 yrs. Identity formation, Independence and autonomy.
Peer group as agent of socialisation, Conformity
to norms, Heterosexual relationships, Develop-
ment of conscience. Antisocial behaviour due to
early pubertal changes.
According to Erickson (1956) socialisation consists of eight stages
commonly known as "The Eight stages of Man". Each stage is a psychological
cirsis which arises and demands resolution before the next stage is reached.
The eight stages are
1. Learning trust vs. The child well handled, nurtured, loved develops
distrust (0-1 or 2 trust, security. Badly handled, he becomes insecure
years infancy) and mistrustful.
2. Learning autonomy The well parented child emerges as sure of himself,
vs. shame (1 Yr. to 3 elated and proud rather than ashamed. The child
yrs. infancy) develops a self will, stubborness, negativism.
3. Learning initiative vs. This the play age or pre-school years correspon-
guilt (3 yrs to six ding to early childhood. The child imagines
year) through active play, fantasy, co-operation. He is
also fearful, depends upon group.
4. Learning Industry School age as is commonly called the child learns
vs. inferiority 6 yr- to master formal skills of life, relating with peers
12 yrs. (Middle accoding to rules, progressing from freeplay to
Childhood) play that is elaborately structured by rules and
formal team works. He learns self discipline.
5. Learning identity vs. This is a stage of who am I ? There are minor

/
identity diffusion delinquent problems, oscillations self doubts,
(adolescence) antisocial thoughts.
13 to 20 years
144 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

6. Learning intimacy The adults experience true intimacy, genuine and

vs. isolation enduring friendship.
(adulthood)
7. Learning generativity This stage is characterised by marriage, parenthood
vs. self absorption and creative production.
8. Learning integrity Peak of adjustment, integrity, well defined role
vs. despair in life. The individual feels happy without strain,
guilt, regret, or lack of realism. He is proud of his
hobbies: If one of the earlier stages is not properly
developed, then he may view life with disgust and
despair.
Socialisation then is a learning to learn process. It enables human
beings to move from the infant state of helplessness to a state of conformity
and independent creativity.
FACTORS INFLUENCING SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
It has been stated earlier that the child becomes socialised because of the
influence of a host of factors. Home is the first and foremost influence on the
socialisation of the child. Early infantile and emotional relationships between
parents and children are responsible for later characteristics. Children
identify with parents, interrogate their qualities and display sex appropriate
behaviour. Children who are hated, rejected, and illtreated developed
antisocial characteristics. Chidren who are over protected develop traits of
dependancy and are completely insecured. The culture of the home, the
language spoken in the home, the behaviours displayed by parents and elders
slowly but surely become a part of the child's personality and socialisation.
Hence, what the child is, depends mostly upon how he is brought up in home.
How emotion are reacted to ? How are his physiological needs satisfied?
What models he sees to imitate ? All these have significant influence in the
process of Socialisation. Effect.; of maternal care in development Of desirable
traits have already been discussed.
It has also been found that father contributes significantly to early
stimulation and this influences the child's overall emotion, social, and
intellectual development. Academic achievement and IQ are affected by the
absence of a positive father-son relationship.
The socio-economic status of the home, the language codesused by
parents, the nature of the family interaction i.e., broken home, home with
double discipline, etc. have contributory effects. Delinquency is more
prevalent in areas that are declining and where family life is not stable. The
child's ordinal position i.e., whether he is eldest, only, youngest, middle all
 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
145
these affect his adjustment process. Children from democratic
homes usually
make the best of social adjustments.
Childhood is quite plastic. There is also a predictable pattern of
development. As child grows he becomes more succeptible togroup pressure,
cultural values than when they were veiy young. The child spends more time
outward than in home. He has the needs to be accepted by others. Hence,
when he is rejected by parents, teachers adults he falls on the peer groups
and learns their standards of behaviour. The child feels secured when he is
accepted by the group.
Culture is one of the powerful socialising agent in the life of an
individual. Examples of ancient or tribal societiesas well as modern societies
substantiate its impact. Margarett Mead one of the famous cultural
anthropologist cites the patterns of culture in three tribes : Arapesh,
Mundugumor, and Tchambuli. The Arapesh society is one which is not
organised. There is loose kinship. There is no feeling of status. People are
co-operative. No rigid child rearing system is followed. Any nursing mother
can feed the child. The child is weaned by 3rd of 4th year. In such a society
children become docile, less aggressive. They love and trust others, There is
strong father-son affection and no threat of punishment. The children
therefore develop respect for elders and have a sense of guilt. They imitate
and develop these qualities. Girls many at age 10 and stay with their
husband. The children in general have no tendency for self assertion, no ago,
no striving for achievement.
On the other hand, in the Mundugumor society there is severe sex
segregation. No co-operation exists among member of the society. Parents
are indifferent and rejecting type towards their children, There is very little
breast feeding, irregular feeding, and severetraining in discipline. Punishment
is used for toilet training. There is strong sibling rivalry. Older children are
aggressive towards young. There is father-son hostility. This is a society full
of conflicts, competition, jealousy and envy including intense husband-wife
conflict. There is little or no parent child relationship. Head hunting and
cannibalism are in vogue including severe punishment of children but there
is no orderly training of children. It is a highly individualistic society. Boys
help the mother and girls help the father. Hence, childrendevelop strong self
assertion, ambivalent feelings, split personality, sense of egocentrism or
possessiveness, leadership, aggressiveness.
The Tchambuji society is quite different. It is a patriarchal society with
a strong organisation. There is sex difference in occupation. There is high
stress on ceremony. Woman are important in economics. No rigid discipline
is followed. There is casual protection of children mother, but she is quite
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
146
generous with regard to breast feeding. There is normal weaving and no rigid
toilet training. Women are more aggressive than men. There is sex rivahy
between older and younger men. Mother is affectionate to sons a little more
than to daughters. Severe discipline in late childhood are followed. Till age
6 or 7 years. Same training is given to both sexes. Afterwords, girls are
taught to be sexually aggressive. Men are ceremonial. They stay in home, use
make ups to attract women. Women work in the fields. In such a society male
children become docile, shy, artistic, feminine_iiisecuredAggreSS1Ve men
are considered deviants, neurotics, and hystorical. Hence, it is quite clear
from the tribal societies as to how social development of children are
patterned by the culture in which the child lives.
Contemporaiy society also tells the same stoiy. The Japanese society is
a mixture of medieval and industrialised culture with a rigid class system.
The economy of the state is under state control. The family system is
patriarchal. There is rigid toilet training, maternal indulgence, overfeeding
of children, and weaniung at 2.3 years. From third year the male child is
exposed to aggressive training. Girls are trained in docility. There is strong
family indentification and child care. As a result, the children develop
complete obedience to authority, they are polite; they show 'difference to
authority and power. They are secured and selfassertive. The females develop
docility and passivity.
On the other hand, in America we find a strong individualistic society
with open class system, competition, high moral and legal code. Maternal
authority and influence care quite strong. Aggression and competitions are
encouraged. Weaning takes place in the first year. Sibling rivalry is strong.
Love and indulgence of parents for children are seen in early years. Father
dominates in theory, but mother works in reality. The children in this society
become more success oriented with a strong status drive, sense of authority,
status, and pride. There is strong sense of personal drive for power, sense of
shame and belief in fair mindedness.
In Germany, the social structure is in between. It is an industrialised
society. It is authoritarian and patriarchal. There is much stress on
masculinity, aggression, rigid and regularised training and habits. Regular
toilet training and punishment for wrong actions are emphasized by parents.
Sibling rivalry is quite common. Boys are aggressive and girls are docile.
Maternal love and paternal discipline are existent. The children develop
strong sense authority, sense of guilt, dual identification with parents, are
ambivalent, and possess an intense drive for power. Ego and security develop
in strong discipline.
In our culture child rearing system varies from state to state, and class
to class. As such, it is difficult to draw and distinct line regarding the
 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 147

influence of child rearing practice and effect of culture. But on the whole
children in our culture become docile, submissive, less aggressive, more
external i.e., having faith in luck, chance, fate etc. than on themselves, have
a lower level of aspiration, are more dependent and have less striving for
success. In case of poor families, children become insecured and aggressive
due to severe frustrations : social economic etc. Further, the family life is
often characterised by a mixture of discipline system to permit any clear
model for the child. Socialisation and personality development are negatively
affected because of inconsistent values which are fast emerging in a
transitional phase of agrarian culture to industrialisation. Social development
in short is the subjective aspect of culture which are integrated the behaviour
pattern of the child.
PEERS AND ADULTS
Child's social behaviour are affected and influenced by the peers and adults
in the school, in the neighbourhood. Even pre-school children imitate the
pattern of social behaviour of their peers to get social acceptance. They
become more mature by imitating the behaviour of adults. Attitudes which
are learned in the group are sometimes slightly changed inthe peer contact.
Social behaviour is quite consistent unless there is veiy adverse situations in
life. By the end of childhood the child has acquired many social attitudes
from his parents, teachers, and peer groups from his personal experiences,
and from books, and other medias of communication and contact. Negative
attitudes are also learned the same way when the child enters school. He
begins to reap the rewards or suffer the ills which flow from thefirst six years
of life.
Peers have significant effect on child's learning bacause they give
approval and attention, they show affection, they provide model. But the
amount of effect depends upon the degree of intimacy between them, the
tendency to submit or dominate, the ability to cooperate etc. Imitationis easy
in the peer group which can be used in either way.
Twins spend more time together, have more interests in common in
outside companionship as compared to other siblings. They also imitate each
other and show similar feelings toward each other.
Family size also affects the social and personality development of
children. While small families secure greater economic advantage theydo
produce problems of over protection and occasional tensions in th child.
Joint or large families provide less economic advantage, but ensure greater
-— case of weaning from parental influence. Social adjustment as well as
independence are greater because the child develops greater degree of co-
operation. At the same time, due to inconsistent relationships there maybe
148 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

rejection, hostility, and unhealthy traits.

Education and occupation of parents have significant effects on social
development of children in so far as they provide models for observation and
imitation. Working mothers have different effects on the child's development
than non-working mothers because of the time spent on childcare.
Urbamsation and modernisation can have a desirable as well as
undesirable influence. It provides greater stimulation at the same time
greater diversion for undesirable habits, insecurity, lost of identity etc.
Malnutrition of the child influences his social development. Malnourished
children are apathetically listless, inactive, withdrawing type, who generally
avoid group activities. They lack confidence and optimism. There is a high
incidence of feeling of inferiority in these children.
Intelligence as a factor of social development has significant influence.
Children whose intellectual development is rapid are socially well adjusted
too. They develop social insight which enables them to interact more
appropriately in social situations as well as in self-adjustment. High intelligent
and high active children are normally more popular in school and respected.
Low intelligent children cany a stigma with them and are hated. Consequently
they develop negative self concepts and traits.
Although by adult standards young children's behaviour in social
situation appear to be unsocial, but it is often not so. Parents and teachers
overlook the social and only attend to the unsocial.
Secondly adults must show right kinds of attitudes, tolerance and
understanding of the unsocial behaviour of young children. The child has to
be taught social behaviour. Mere tolerance is not enough.
The child needs guidance and help to learn how to act in a socially
approved manner. He should be given demonstrations in real life situations.
All the needs of children are to be simultaneously satisfied with proper
guidance.
Socialisation begins at home but is taught in schools. Habits and
character are crystallised in school. Character education or socialisation is
very much emphasized in our schools. It should be a part of school
curriculum. The teachers and parents occupy crucial finger posts at the cross
road of socialisation of the child. The schools should therefore be a playhouse
for such development in addition to its knowledge giving function.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. Describe the social development of the child during early childhood.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 149
2. Describe the social development of the child during late childhood.
3. What factors are associated with social development?
4. What are the role of peers and adults in social development?
Write whether the statements are True or False:
1. The child is born social.
2. Social behaviour is learned.
3. Social learning is a slow process.
4. Social development is predictable.
5. Smiling is the first social behaviour that appear in the third month.
6. Age 3 to 6 are called progress age.
7. After age 3, the size of the play group increases.
8. Negativism is antisocial in character.
9. Rivalry appears at ages five to six.
10. With increase in age the child becomes extremly anxious.
Filhinlheblw,ks:
1. The children at age 6/7 are highly
2. Learning Trust vs. Distrust appears between years.
3. Learning autonomy vs. shame appears between years.
4. Initiative vs. guilt appear for years.
5. Industry vs. uniformity appear from years.
6. Children are quite
7. There is a predictable in development.
8. Socialisations begins at home but taught in
9. Egocentrism is not an index of
10. Foundation of socialisation is laid in childhood.
 I

'11
Play in Childhood
The UN Declaration of the rights of the child has stated that "The child
shall have full opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed
to the same puipose as education; society and the public authorities shall
endeavour to promote the enjoyment of this Right".
Play is a natural occupation of childhood and an instrument of learning.
It is carried out for its own sake. It is spontaneous and innate in all human
beings. People say it is a safety value against all frustration and a window
to the child's mind. Play is a natural occupation of childhood and an
instrument of learning.
Play is a very curious activity. Practically every form of psychological
activity is initially enacted in play (Piaget, 1968b). Erickson (1950) has
written that he considers play to be the most self-healing activity engaged in
by children.
Play is an agency for socialization. Piaget believes that the child during
the preoperational stage remains engaged in various forms of play and
imitational activities. Through the medium of these activities he becomes
socialised in his speech and action, children do play with a free will. In this
context, Gullick's concept of play is very appropriate. He defined, "play is
what we do, when we are free to do, what we will". Free play, of course,
decreases. with age.

THEORIES OF PLAY

Surplus energy theory

There are various theoretical formulations regarding the concept and
value of play. Regardless of the origin of the theory, it is true that babies
squeal and kick, children skip and jump, run and play balls for no other
reason but to work off surplus energy. Both Schiller and Spencer, are
associated with this theory. It is true that children spend their surplus energy
 151
PLAY IN CHILDHOOD
interests from age in
through play but this theory does not explain why play
the growing child.
Children continue to play even after exhaustion. Sick children who
donot have surplus energy also play. It therefore seemurwarranted to accept
that play has a surplus energy component which does nothave experimental
support
The recreational theory of play
Lazaraus and Sthainthel formulated the recreation theory of play. Play
is a recreation after hard days labour which freshes the individual. What
about young children ? They play in school in their recreation period which
has a significant value derived from the word recreate i.e., come with a fresh
mind to take up creative work. This is basically related to adult life although
children enjoy recreation time as fun.

Preparatory for life theory

Gross regarded play as a preparation for future life. This concept of play
is very popular. He considered further that it is aninstinctive desire on the
part of every child to prepare for the arduous tasks in adult life. For example,
the little girl is playing with the doll is preparing how to care for the baby.
It is true the child learns much through play but he does playto learn either
consciously or unconsciously. Hence, the instinctive preparation theory of
play does not seem warranted at present. Me Dougallcalled this is instinctive
theory of play.
Recapitulation theory
Stanley Hall, the father of child psychology was the proponent of the
recapitulation theory of play. According to the interpretation, the child learns
the racial experiences of the past which is alluring and attractive. He
believes, that through play one develops the motor capacities, impulses, and
fundamental forms of our past heritage. For some time this theoryinfluenced
the elementary curriculum. But doubts arose, if acquired characteristiCs can
ever be inherited. Because of this doubt, the theory lost faith among the
scientists of the present century.

Relaxation theory
Relaxation is the main function of play. As such Patrick said that play
relieves fatigue which results from peiforming daily tasks oflife. He said that
daily works and worries in modern civilization puts severe strain upon the
adults and brings about rapid fatigue. Relief is obtained through play.Hence,
the relaxation theory came into existence. The theory appears veryappealing
but experimental evidences are needed to support this interpretation.
 152 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

John Dewey believes that play can be explained in terms of the basic
nature of organisms. All living organisms are by nature active. Because of
inter-organic stimuli, the organism is in a constant state of action. Activity
is very essence of life according to Dewey. The only thing necessary is to state
the conditions under which organic activity takes this or that form. In this
sense, developmental views appear most acceptable.
FACTORS OF PLAY
Play is pleasurable because the attitude toward it is favourable. It involves
freedom and is a highly motivated form of activity. While children in all
parts of the world and society play and love to play there are certain factors
which influence it. These factors are : age, intelligence, environment etc.
For example, certain ontogenetic trends may be observed in plays of
children. A baby finds pleasure in kicking, waving his arms; later on he gests
pleasure in cooing blowing bubbles and so on. As the child grows more older
he becomes more social in his play and he engages himself in more and
varied activities. With increase in age a child becomes more selective in play
and as such the variety of play decreases.

Sex differences is also observed in play and is more prominent during

8 to 10 years of age. Children around this age choose playmates of same age
and sex.. During adolescence boys engage in more competitive games and
skill activities.

Age
Age is also a factor determining play activities in children. There are 4
basic stages of play. Parents should know and recognise these stages so that
they do not expect more of their child than he is ready for.
The infant and toddler play alone. If there is another child in the room
they do not play. By age two he will play with a child of his age but there
is no real contact between them even though they may be playing using the
same toy. This is known as parallel play.
Between age 3 and 4 the child engages himself in cooperative play
group. Organised play appears when the child is grade one or two. At this
age children play games with rules and involving team work.
Health
Healthier children have more active play. They take part in games and
sports compared to weaker ones. It is also other way around. Play, sports
games increases physical agility.
PLAY IN CHILDHOOD 153

Intelligence
Bright children at each age are more active than less intelligent ones.
Their play shows greater ingenuity, intellectual, constructive and have a
balance between play and academic.
SES
Children coming from higher or upper socio-economic strata can afford
to play games etc. which have become expensive over the years where as
children from low SES and rural areas play less than high SES and urban
children.
Leisure time
Amount of play time depends upon primarily on the family's economic
status, involvement on household duties, and out of school time available.

Value of Play
Play in childhood is satisfring and pleasant. Besides the affective values,
play makes the child physically stronger. The blood circulates more freely
and the elimination of waste matters becomes greater. Muscles become more
developed, motor skill increases, resistence to diseases decreases, agility and
body control are increased. In other words, play has tremendous physical
values which are beneficial to children.
Thinking capacity increase through manipulation of play materials. The
child gets new ideas, becomes inspired, his vocabulaly increases because of
verbal communication among playmates and in describing materials associated
with play. There are creative play materials to increase thinking in children.
After a little play, the child concentrates much better in his studies. Play has
thus educative value for the child.
Play is essentially social. The child gets pleasure from being in a group.
He learns through play the value of cooperation, realistic competition and
initiative for achieving success. He adopts himself to many situations and
groups. He internalizes rules and regulations. Good play habits help the child
to overcome timidity, shyness, moodiness, senstiveness and irritability. It
provides an outlet for emotional satisfaction and avoid day dreaming and
phantasy.
In other words, play has both socialising and stabilising influencing
emotion. In view of the later, it can be stated that play has a therapeutic value.
Play help the child to express his pent up emotions in socially accepted ways
and with approval of others. Fantasies or make believe plays serve as outlets
for anxieties. Many of the frustrations and unfulfilled desires are freely
expressed in play in a sublimated form and as such relieves the child from
tension and anxiety.
154 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Above all, play helps the child to learn some social and moral values.
He learns to toe the mark more quickly and more completely in play than in
any other method. He expresses his whole personality during play. The baby
who habitually smiles through his tears when he falls down experimenting
with the new motor a tivity of walking yet continues to preserve, is the youth
who fights to win bu smiles even when he lost the game and like an adult
who is self-reliant in the face of defeat. An individual who is in harmony with
others develops an integrated personality. Play helps the child in doing this.
Play offers an outlet to express natural instincts and emotions. It
prepares children to be able to express themselves. Play has therapeutic value
and it acts as a cathars is for release of pent-up-feelings. It enables the child
to control the emotion, and distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Free and spontaneous paly are mostly found in early childhood. For the
most part these plays have no restrictions in time and rules. But as soon as
the child becomes older these plays seem to lose their popularity and more
competitive games are introduced. Boys are more active and at same time
destructive in such play compared to girls who display greater coordination
and less destructive mentality.
Dramatic plays occur between age 0.5 or 2 years of age and 5.5 years
of age. Bright children and usually girls enjoy dramatic play much more than
low intelligent and poor ability children. Since reasoning ability begins to
develop early in the more intelligent children they begin to spend less time
on Dramatic play. Dramatic plays are also known as make believe plays.
About the time the child is ready for school or reaches the school daydreaming
replaces make believe play. Daydream is at height during puberty. The
degree of satisfaction or enjoyment from play that the child derives depends
upon the nature of play activities available to meet his personal need and
values.
Role of play in development has been recognised. It is said that a child
in play is a scientist in his laboratory. While playing he is observing and
learning the world around him. While playing with colours he understands
two colours are mixed to produce a third one. He while arranging
blocks understands that unbalanced thing's fall-i.e., gravity from play 4

experience. They put so much energy that play becomes direct route to
learning.
Play helps him to practice whatever is taught in the class, If he is taught
counting, arithmatic he works it through play with marbles, sticks, stones.
The child prepares a house using sand. His power of observation and
imagination are increase play becomes thereby an essential part of learning
process. He connects the world of knowledge with the world of play.
 155
PLAY IN CHILDHOOD
All children
Playing with others helps the child develop social taste.
benefit from this but it is particularly helpful to the only child.
Play also helps develop the child's body, both his strength and
coordination. He learns to achieve his movements better.
Play is a royal road to the child's conscious and unconscious inner
world and help him with it we must
world. If we want to understand his inner
learn to walk this road: A child does not play spontaneously only to while
away the time although we think so. The play is motivated by inner
processes, desires, problems and anxieties. Besides, play has a positive effect
on the development of socio-emotioflal characteristics.
CHARACTERISTIC OF CHILD-PLAY
Play follows a pattern of development. In early childhood, children play
with motor activities, and then play
by looking at people, involve themselves
with toys. Irrespective of culture, by age 4 to 5 they become interested in
playing with children of their own age group.
In spite of the fact that there is a general pattern, yet play is influenced
by traditions. Certain sex appropriate plays are prevalent inspite of the
children's preferences. The type of play also differs in relation to socio-
economic status of the family.
Play activities decrease in number with increase in age. Average
number of play that children have per week gives us a better idea about the
above age-play relationship. At age 8 years the mean number of play is 40.11
per week and at age 20 years the mean drops to 17.71 per week. Play
activities involving other children also decrease with age. The total time
28 I 2-25 Years
24
2- 5.3 Years
w 3— 3,5 Years
2c o 3-5 4Yeors
O 4-4 5 Years
16
w 12

z
4
LJ

.
.a
a
3
aa!
go
a.
5.
.x
>.

.a
Social Participation Among P,re-schoOl Children (Parten, 1932)
 156 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

spend in play decreases with age. On the contrary, the total time spent in a
single play increases with age. For example, at age 2 years children normally
spend about 6 to 7 minutes on a specific play but when the reach age 5 years,
the average time for a specific play comes to 12 to 13 minutes. In other
words, as children become older they do not change from play to play but
devote more time in a single play.
Childhood play is informal and spontaneous. The child plays regardless
of place, time and type of toy. Later on he needs special places, time, play
group and gradually becomes more formal.
Similarly with increase in age physical play decreases. The child
becomes more involved in listening to radio, reading novels, indoor games etc.
Sometimes the child daydreams. Daydream thus becomes a wishful play.
In case of poorly adjusted child, daydream becomes a substitute for constructive
play. In other words, in play really there is more of ego satisfaction and relief
as one finds in daydreaming. It is most satisfying to children when life at
school or in home becomes most ego threatening and monotonous.
Plays is influenced by tradition. Young children imitate the play of
older children. It appears they have traditionally inherited to play specific
type of play on the basis of culture, caste, sex, etc. The nuinb.r of playmates
decrease with age.

Stages of play in development

Exploratory Stage. Until babies reach age 3 months or more, they look
around people, objects, random grabing of objects. There after hands and
arms came under voluntary control and they can examine everything they
reach.
Toy Stage. It begins in 1st year and reaches peak around 5and 6 years.
Between 2 and 3 years they think their toys can think, grasp, talk, feel. Toy
play is solitary. Hence they decrease with age and children look for
companion. Toy play is baby play.
Play Stage. Children enter to school. Play increases, science alone with
toys but mostly with classmates, agemates in games, sports, hobbies and
more matured forms of play.
Day dream stage. As children reach puberty, they engage themselves
in daydreams usually of martyr type i.e., they ridicule themselves in play.
THINKING IS CHILD'S PLAY
Piaget considered the child to be very active, experimenting and explorative.
His activities reflect greater dynamism and curiosity for which he thought,
child's thinking can be developed more ihrough play than any other medium.
PLAY IN CHILDHOOD 157
Froebel and Montessori the two well known educators also looked at play in
children from these view points. Play is iot trivial. It is highly serious and
has deep significance for development of intellect. Play is a way of learning.
It is not merely a relaxation.
A child at play is a scientist in his laboratory. He is investigating the
world around him and learning new facts about it. The toddler trying to
balance one block over the other is studying gravity. If a child plays with
finger paints or water colours, he finds out the mixture of two colours giving
rise to another colour. These are first hand experiences. For example, when
child is in the elementary school he can conserve the concept of area by using
play materials. The diagram given here illustrates the concept of conservation.

*
L - ____
ri i
L_ __
(Conservation of Area)

There are two table mats and sixteen playing cards. In phase one, the
two cards are placed one on each mat. The child brings one card places it
on the top of the other and says it is same. Then he places two cards in one,
close to each other and two in separate places in another mat. By means of
direct comparison he comes to know no matter how the two cards are
158 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

arranged the area covered on the mat is same. When the number of cards are
eight in each, spread in different order, the child conceives these as same if
he has reached the stage of concrete operations. He does this by manipulation
and playful comparison. Many such materials can be used for intellectual
playful comparison. Many such materials can be used for intellectual
development. It gives to the child infact, the way of connecting what he has
learned and what is the reality.
Child's play during the first two years of life is mostly through
sensorimotor experience including imitation of motor responses. Manipulation
of concrete objects and grouping appear gradually during the period of 7-11
years and play provides enough situations for experimentation and assimilation.
It is through innumerable varieties of play experiences involving objects and
people that the child gradually assimilates the realities of the world around
him. Symbolic play appears gradually after the end of the sensoiy motor
stage. Symbolic play is at its peak during the pre-conceptual stage (2-4
years). Doll play fuffils the emotional needs of the child. The symbolic games
are of three types. Type-I includes such things as pretending to be asleep and
making the doll sleep. In Type lithe child makes use of his body to represent
other things. For example, the child may crawl and say "I am a tiger". Type
III gaines are more complex. A whole act is directed by the child through
toys, i.e. how to take a bath, preparing a dish etc. It does include compensatory
play. He compensates or fulfils some of his ambition through "doll play".
During pre-conceptual stage (4-7) the child's play are more socially oriented.
During 7-il, children need more of outdoor games, skills. Playing with sand,
creating a bridge, tunnels etc. help the child to develop his thinking ability
and creativity.
This suggests that in schools, teachers would encourage children to
preparing creative toys, which would promote creation, through imaginative
and experimental play and arts. The play room in a house must have enough
space and toys as the child has to identify and classify various toys. As the
children grow it is difficult to provide play equipments which enable the
child to practice the skills already acquired.
Educational games and play games as techniques and exercises should
be happily blended in teaching different curriculum subjects. There should
be scope for projects and group work.
The values already discussed above make it obligatory of reflect on the
educational significance of play. Over almost 100 years ago Froebel said,"play
is the highest achievement of child development, of human development, at
this stage, since it is the spontaneous, expression, according to the necessity
of its own nature, of the child's inner being.. .Play at this stage of life is not
a trivial pursuit, it is a serious occupation and has a deep significance". He
 PLAY IN CHILDHOOD 159
introduced various fonns of play like activities for the young children. While
in school, these children played with activities like paper folding, mat
weaving, clay modelling, symbolic games, music and developed their
imaginative and creative talents. This kind of approach to play also is
£ currently in vogue in many nurseiy and kindergarten schools. Piagetian
concepts have also been brought to the level of play like activities to which
children are exposed and they learn the concept of form, number, and
vocabulary also becomes large enough.
'Education through the senses' introduced by Montessone also stresses
the significance of play for children. She believed that the child must use the
didactic materials in spontaneous play. The teacher of course, gives some
guidance but in most cases the pupils find their own choice and improve their
thought through these materials.
Although there is a basic difference in two approaches of Froebel and
Montessone, the facts remain that play-way in education is a basic principle.
In early childhood, the child can learn much through doll play, spontaneous
play, make believe play, constructive play materials and symbolic plays. The
progressive nursery schools cater for all these and give a lot of freedom to
child to develop thinking and conceptual abilities through play.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. Discuss the importance of play in life of children.
2. What are the characteristics of child's play?
3. 'Thinking is child's play'? Explain.
4. What are the various theories of play? What factors are associated with child's
play?
5. What are the various types of play? How do they differ at different stages of
development?
6. What are educational significance of childhood play?
flMe.the contributions of the following to piay within 50 words each:
1. Stanley Hall
2. Gross
3. Patrick
4. Dewey
5. Schiller and Spencer
6. Meaning of play
7. Recapitulation theory
8. Relaxation theory
9. Surplus energy theory
10. Therapeutic value of play
160 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Write whether the following statements are True or False:

1. l'hinking is child's play.
2. There is no difference in play of boys and girls in early childhood.
3. Socialisation takes place through play.
4. Play time increases with increase in age.
5. Play has no meaning for the child.
Fill in the blanks:
1. With increase in age number of play activity
2. With increase in age time spent in a specific play
3. Play differs at different of development.
4. There is in type of play with increase in age.
5 defined play initially.
6 regarded play as a preparation for future life.
7 talked of recapitulation theory of play.
S only plays alone.
9. Childhood play is informal and
10. Play is for social development.
 12
Children's Interests

Interest is an organismic condition that results in a desire for further

stimulation from a particular type of object, idea cfr experience. How do then
interest emerge ? How can we know them 7 What are the types of interests?.
Are they related to general behaviour ? Observations of individual difference
in interests date back to as early as Plato's comment in the Republic "No two
persons are born exactly alike, but each differs from each in natural
endowments, one being suited for one occupation atid another for another"
Formal observation on interest began in the 20th centuiy.
Strong (1955) conceived interests as an aspect of consciousness similar
to feeling. It has three characteristics ersistent attention, feeling, activity
and direction. Interests are also characterised by intensity and duration.
Interests have been designated operationally as vocational, educational or
personal depending upon the measures of interest. It is an expression or likes
and dislikes, preferences of choices.
The child's interests in certain activities are knwon from the things he
choses to do. If be is not interested in certain activities no amount of training
or force can help him to get things done. Before the age of two, a child shows
little spontaneous interest in dressing himself, handling buttons but later
insists on doing these things. A child's interests are closely related to his
abilities and as the child becomes older he acquires certain new interests. The
range of children's interest is quite restricted compared to the interest they
acquire later on. An inteitst is a learned motive. The child indentifies his
well being with this.
METHOD OF OBSERVING CHILDREN'S INTEREST
How does one know the interests of children? The child's interert can be
determined by various methods broadly characterised as testing and
- observation. At the early childhood stage it is observation that helps one to
know about interest because the child cannot answer to formalised tests. His
activities will speak of his interests but it is always better to supplement
 162 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

observation or use varieties of observational techniques. Hurlock (1972)

suggested the following techniques:
Observation of Activities
One can observe the children in play. What objects he prefers to play
with; the objects he buys; the activities in which the child is spontaneously
engaged. Inferences about his interests can be made easily from these
samples of behaviour.
Question
The child by nature is curious for many things. After the age of 3 years,
he starts asking series of questions, regarding plants, animals, human beings
or anything that he sees in the environment. The nature of the question, the
frequency of a particular question indicates the type of interest the child has.
Parents by encouraging the child for asking questions can easily know what
the child's interests are.
Conversation
After speech develops the child plays with his age mates, talks to them;
talks with elders; listens and participates in family conversation. In his
conversation he expresses certain likes and dislikes. If one closely watches
the conversation of the child which is very clear, spontaneous, and seldom
defensive, one can deduce the type of interest that he has.
Reading
Another way is, analysis of the reading materials after the child enters
into school. He becomes interested in reading various types of books. One
can observe very dispassionately the type of books the child is reading other
than his text, whether novel books, story books cartoons, travels etc. Reading
materials are really great indicators of interest of the child. If the child enters
into a book shop what does he select will depend upon his interest and
therefore his selection indicates his interests.

Drawings
Childhood stage is the most formative period of life during which many
things come in. In his free time, the child draws sketches in pencil, in chalks,
plays with clay and prepares toys. Hence, from the type of drawing one can
infer the interest of the child because it is interest that manifests in action.
Drawings are sublimated reactions of childhood frustrations but at the same
time are considered interest indicators. The time spent on drawing also
provides clues for interest measurement.
 CHILDREN'S INTERESTS 163
Wishes
There is a proverb "if wishes were horses then beggars would ride upon
them". The wishes expressed by children are mostly imaginary than real.
But when you ask the child what would you do if you get some money. The
child then comes up with certain wishes. These are his interests. Hence, one
can know childhood interests by observation of various forms of children
activities.
At the elementary level the childhood interest are more egocentric and
this continues upto sixth grade. After this interests become social. At this
stage one can directly ask the child to write down what are the things in
p
which they are interested. This is a direct approach to measure interests.
Standardised interest inventories are available, but they primarily measure
vocational interests.
REPORT ABOIJT INTEREST
When they are asked to write about their interests one can easily draw
inferences about the interest patterns of those children.
Standardised interest inventories can be given to children after they gain
the working reading knowledge and written expression. These are Kuder
Preference Record and Strong Interest Blanks.
When pupils were asked their interest in school, the junior and senior
high school age children less often mentioned academic subjects than did the
younger children. Older children mentioned spoils, industrial and mechanical
arts, intellectual sell improvement, vocational preparation and relations with
other persons of their own age. Young children give a great deal of emphasis
to people and relationships with people. Older children's interests are
influenced to a great extent by what happens to be available in their
environment. As they move through school there is a decline on interest in
the schools academic programme and greater interest in social contacts.
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN'S INTEREST
The child is not born will all interests. Interest develop through learning and
experience. The child learns various interests by trial and error processes; by
identifying with a person he likes, generally peers or adults, and by guidance
and direction.
Children's interest parallel their physical and motor development.
Interests like other characteristics undergo changes. It changes from simple
play to games and sports with involve rules and skilled movements.
Acquiring new interests depends upon his readiness to learn and the
opportunities available. On many occasions interests become limited bacause
of physical handicap, pressure of academic, cultural demands, the emotional
164 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

experiences of the child with other objects, persons and activities. Persistence
on how long and how frequently and individual works on a particular
problem tells us about his interests.
There is individual difference in the interest patterns of children. Very
bright children have different interests from that of dulones. Children
coming from rural homes, slums, low SES homes have different interest
patterns. Development of interest depends upon readiness to learn, his
mental capacity, and physical development.
Moreover, the opportunities available for the child are also important.
The first born child has more range of interests than later borns. The later
borns mostly imitate the siblings. Interests increase in case of good family,
large family, good neighbourhood, good peer groups. Interests change with
age. Childhood interests are different from that of adolescence period.
Interests are rather general and specific as well.
Dwing early childhood the interests of children are egocentric. Gradually
contacts with peer groups increase. His interests become socialised. He is
more influenced by his friends in developing interests and other environmental
pressures.

TYPES OF INTERESTS

Human Body
The baby is interested more in himself and his own activities upto age
31/2 years. He is interested also in his own products; urines, feces etc. Before
they attain school age, their interests in sex difference begins to grow, and
in the latter parts of childhood it reaches a peak. They become interested in
genitalia and other sex characteristics at the onset of puberty.
At the beginning the child is interested in the external parts of the body
but gradually he explores the internal systems, their names, functions which
he gets by exploring his own body and asking questions to others. A sick
child becomes more interested in health but in normal cases, by adolescence
the child becomes interested in health, appearance, and related activities.
Interest in health becomes an obsession in most cases.

Appearance
The young child is very little concerned about his appearance. Boys,
however, are more interested in sex appropriateness of appearance. They
play with their own sexmates. Boys and girls appear masculine or faniinine
by using appropriate dresses. The peer group has lot of pressure in this
regard. Of course, peer group pressures are reinforced by social acceptance
or rejection.
CHILDREN'S INTERESTS 165

Clothes
Clothes satisiS' the interest of the child to a veiy great extent. The baby
satisfies his sense of autonomy by selecting the types of clothes. He selects
clothes that gives the feel that he is growing up. He selects attention getting
clothes, bright, coloured, new or ornamental. At times he tries to maintain
his individuality by wearing clothes like his peer group but with different
colour. Before they reach adolescence, they do show the interest in sex
appropriate clothes. -

Names
The child accepts his name as he accepts his body. Gradually the child
becomes interested in his name. He likes his names if social reactions are
favourable. Children iave a strong interest in their nicknames. Nicknames
and pet names become focal points of interest.
They dislike old names, common names, good long names, short names,
and sex in-appropriate names.

Religion
Religious practice is more often seen in younger children and religious
faith is seen among the grown ups. For development of his interest in religion
the home is more responsible than any thing else. Regardless of religious
belief every child is cunous to know who is God ? Where is heaven 7 How
do you get that ? His concept of religion changes as he develops. Their belief
also vary depending upon training and experience in home and outside. They
show interest in religious stories, prayer, idols, and attend religious functions.

Sex
Sex interest becomes more strong after they enter school and have more
intimate contacts. The child until by puberty spends most of the time in sex
interests. It is assessed through his curious questions and activities. The
preschool child asks more questions about sex, origin of babies etc.

Status Symbols
Status symbols are prestige symbols. It differs for various age groups and
social groups. The name of the school becomes a prestige symbol for
attracting children's interests. A status symbol gives the child satisfaction
and attention he craves. The child becomes interested in these status symbols
which are concrete and visible. He is not interested in club membership or
family background as such unless is helps him to grow.
In early childhood material possessions are the most universal status
symbols. The child understands the values of toys, clothes, and other
166 ELEMENTS OF CHILD D•EVELOPMENT

possessions. The child is interested in the father's occupation and relate it

to his economic status by the time the child reaches fourth and fifth grade.
Each year children become interested in role and status and these play a great
role in social acceptance. Girls are more interested in status symbols than
boys. From early childhood; children change their emphasis on quantity of
status symbols i.e. toys and possessions, to quality when they become older.
When he reaches age six, he explores his own sex organs. Exploration
of sex interest may take various forms. They play with members of the same
sex, and obtain many incorrect information about sex life.
School
The young child becomes interested in school but as he spends more
time in school, his interest declines. His interest in play, games and sport
increases. He develops disinterest in teacher and home work interest in
school not only changes but children develop specific interest either in
academics or in extra curricular activities.
Decline in interest in school is because of various factors. The influence
of parents is quite great in developing the interest in school and in school
subjects. Young children's activities are also influenced by siblings and peer
attitudes. Teacher pupil relationships, and emotional climate in school
contributes to children's interest to a significant degree. Sex appropriateness
in interest is also seen among boys and girls in school. Boys like many
subjects such as: reading, arts, social activities, language etc. Girls on the
other hand like these subjects than mathematics and science. Truancy is an
expression of negative interest in school. Underachievement and interest in
school and school phobia result out of negative interests.
Vocational Interest
Children development their interest in future vocations by reading
stories, visiting films, looking at others, hearing people talk of vocations and
so on. Vocational interests, undergo changes quite often in early childhood
because it is not based on reason but emotional identification. It is related
to mental abilities of children. But around secondary school stage stability
in realistic vocational interests are seen rather than fantasy choices. Prestige
value of occupations, his own attitudes, interest and aspirations in addition
to cultural stereotypes influence vocational choice. However, three distinct
patterns are seen in the vocational interests of children. Fantasy choices
oontinue into the age of 11 or 12 years. Choices and interests become
sensitive from 11 to 12 to end of high school period. After the age of 17
interests in vocations or choices of vocation become more realistic and are
based on various considerations.
CHILDREN'S INTERESTS 167

A teacher should know the interests of each pupil in the school.

Instruction should be related and should begin at the point of interest of the
child. Unless instruction is related to child's interest it is difficult to gain
much, it is not enough to channel learning through the interests of children
but broaden the interests of children. Teachers can use optimum of sensory
stimulation in a learning situation. Vocational literature can be supplied to
boys and girls. Teachers can point out vocational aspects of the subject matter
taught. Field trips offer opportunities for observation of people working at
various jobs. School canS contribute quite effectively for promoting children's
interests in school and other activities arranging them in a co-ordinated
programme.

REVIEW EXERCISES]
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. What is interest 7 How does it develop?
2. Describe the methods of ascertaining childhood interests.
3. What are the various types of interest that children displays?
Write short notes on the following within 50 words each:
1. Vocational Interest
2. School and interest development
3. Implications of childhood interests
4. Hurlock's contribution
5. Strong's interest Blank
6. Question
7. Conversation
8. Reading
9. Drawings
10. Wishes
Write whether the statements are True or False:
1. Strong conceived interest as an aspect akin to feeling.
2. An interest is a learned motive.
3. Children's interest parallel their physical and motor development.
4. The baby's is interested in himself and his body upto age 3 '/ years.
5. Sex interest becomes more strong after they enter schools and have more
intimate contacts.
6. Interest in others decline in schools.
7. After age 17 interests in vocations become more realistic.
8. In early childhood material possessions are the most important status symbols.
Development of Intelligence
Since intelligence is related to so many aspects of behaviour and
psychological growth, it is of interest to parents and teachers also to promote
the welfare of children. What is intelligence any way ? What does an IQ 130
mean ? Are bright children abnormal in any way? Are children with very
large head brighter than other boys and girls?
Intelligence is first of all a descriptive concept—meaning brightness,
brainy, and the like that was a smart things to do, that was a stupid things
to do many such remarks.
But what is really intelligence ? Intelligence is what the intelligence tests
measure. It is a reasonable definition which does not serve any purpose.
Probably no area of psychology has been the subject of so much
controversy as that of intelligence. Psychologists have not agreed upon the
basic concept and nature of intelligence. The first idea of defining and
measuring intelligence was done by Alfred Binet, who at the turn of the
present century was asked by the French Govt. to investigate the causes of
retardation in the schools of Paris. Binet conceived intelligence as the sine
qua non of scholastic achievement. Terman (1921) defined 'intelligence is
the capacity for abstract thinking" although Binet did not really define
intelligence in any cut and dry manner. For Binet, "it is Judgement or
common sense, initiative, the. ability to adapt oneself and capacity to learn".
Wechsler's (1958) definition of intelligence runs as follows. "Intelligence
operationally defined as the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to
act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with the
environment". For Ravens, it is a capacity for logical thinking and abstract
reasoning. One of the operational definition of intelligence was given by
Stoddard (1941) which is "Intelligence is the ability to undertake activities
that are characterised by difficulty, complexity, abstractness, economy,
adaptiveness to a goal, social value, and the emergence of originals, and that
it includes the ability to maintain such as activities under conditions that
demand concentration of energy and resistance to emotional forces."
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE
169

NATURE OF INTELUGENCE
Spearman (1904) stated that in intelligence, there is a general factor of
ability ('g') which is found in all performance varying from individual to
individual and a large number of specific abilities ('s') which operates in
certain performance but not in others. Hence, the nature of intelligence is
explained interms of 'g' and 's'. This is known as two factor theory of
intelligence. Thurstone (1938) proposed a set of factors known under the
concept 'Primary Abilities' (PMA). Theseabilities are : verbal comprehension,
word fluency, number, object associations, memory, perceptual speed and
induction, and general reasoning. While the nature of intelligence is limited
to seven primary factors, Guilford (1956) conceived hypothetically 120
factors of which a great majority are not yet identified. Thorndike (1927)
conceived intelligence as abstract, practical and social. Thorndike defined
intelligence in terms of the test; completion, arithmetic, vocabulary and
directions (CAVD). This concept of intelligence was very much used by
educationists in theory and practice.
The British psychologist, Vernon (1950) conceived intelligence in a
different way. He gave a hierarchical nature of intelligencewith Spearman'S
'0' at the top. The next factors are verbal educational abilities and practical
mechanical aptitudes. These were further subdivided into minor factors. The
American Psychologist Hebb (1948), a professor of Psychology at the
University of McGill talked of three kinds of intelligence, A, B, C,
Intelligence 'A' innate neither observable nor measurable. 'B' measures
school and related works: 'C' is measured in an intelligencetest. Intelligence,
'A' is responsible for the development of 'Schemata'. Cognitiveabilities are
reflected in intelligence 'B'. Early experience is important in the development
of 'intelligence'. The Piagetian concept of intellectual development was not
psychometrically measured intelligence but it is one that explains intelligence
in terms of assimilation and accomodation and the resultingschemata.
Raymond Cattell's views on fluid and Crystallised intelligence is a
synthesis of the British and American view points. Fluid intelligence is a
general relation perceiving capacity which operatedin all flelds Crystallised
general intellige1ce is represented by those cognitive performancesin which
habits become crystillised from the application of some prior, more
fundamental general ability to these fields. Before 15-20 years of age
individual differences between fluid and Crystallised intelligence reflect
cultural opportunity and interest. Among adults it reflects 'Age'. Recently
Das (1995) suggested PASS Theory of IQ, and Sternberg (1994)a triarchic
theory of intelligence considering this as a planning process. This is a brief
presentation of the nature of intelligence which is in fact, much varied and
extended.
 170 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence does not continue throughout the entire period of one's life. It
begins to slow down in rate during the early teens reaches its peak
somewhere in the middle twenties. The general shape of the curve is given
in Fig. below.

25
20

15
10

5
0 5 l01520253035404551J55
Chronological age
Nature of Mental Growth Curve For Three 10 Levels
It is said that nearly 1/3rd intelligence is developed by age three, 1/3rd
intelligence is developed by 6-10, and the remaining 1/3rd by age 16-18.
After that it takes a flat rate. From the practical point of view oflearning
ability and effectiveness of behaviour, the experience gained by older
individuals compensate the decline in intelligence if any, after its optimal
development around age 16-18. Therefore, the early experience isvery vital
for depressing or accelerating development of intelligence.
Range of individual difference in LQ
The distribution of intelligence is fairly normal. The distribution of
intelligence obtained from Stanford-Bmet Intelligence tests has been calibrated
with mean as 100 and SD as 16 show in the figure given below. For
Wechsler, the mean IQ is 100 and SD is 15. Deviation IQ is calculated along
these lines.

•0
S
U
*S
a
E

0 $0 SO O0 00 *aO ISO P

Distribution of 10 In the Population

There are current many tests to measure intelligence in children.
 DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE 171

Measurement of Intelligence
p
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. In about 1890 the French Psychologist
Alfred Binet bacame interested in investigating reasoning and judgement.
The original scale came up in 1904 which was modified in 1908, and 1911
and later by Terman in 1910 arid in 1916, the second revision of the Stanford
Binet scale was produced. The second revision of the Stanford Binet scale
under the leadership of Terman and Merril came up in 1937 and the third
devision was published in 1960 having a single form. The most radical
change in the 1960 revision was in the IQ tables which gives deviation or
standard score IQs. Thi was a departure from the previous method of MA!
CA X 100. The revised IQ is a standard score with a mean of 100 and a
standard deviation of 16.
This is a verbal test and scoring is done for eveiy six months. This is
—' a very reliable and valid test but it is not culture free. It is administered to
individuals from age two onwards.
WECHSLER SCALES
Wechsler's first scale of intelligence was developed primarily for adults. The
test which was known as Wechsler Bellevue scale was changed as Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) measuring intelligence from 16 to 75 age.
It has eleven subtests. The verbal subtests are six and performance tests are
five. Both the scales are combined to make a full scale.
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children (WISC) was developed in
1949 and a revised WISC-R was published in 1974. In the WISCR there are
10 basic tests and two alternates.
Verbal Performance
General information Picture completion
General comprehension Picture arrangement
Arithmatic Block design
Similarities Object Assembly
Vocabulary Coding or Mazes
Digit span (Alternate) (Alternate)
This W1SC-R is meant for use with children 6Y2 to 16½ years. There
is a Wechsler Preschool and Primary scale of intelligence. (WPPSI) published
iii 1967 meant 4 to 6 year olds having six verbal tests with one alternate
(Sentence) and five performance tests.
Baw scores on each subtest are converted into scaled scores. The
mean in 100 and the SD is 16. The scales are highly reliable and valid and
are always above 90. The scores indicate certain degree of intellectual
functioning.
172 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

CULTURE FAIR TEST

Culture fair tests are nonlanguage tests. In earlier period the term "culture
free" was used to denote this but this has been dropped from the literature.
One of the first attempt was made by Cattell to prepare the culture fair
intelligence scale. This test is based upon the premise that general intelligence
is a matter of seeing relationship in other things with which we have to deal,
that the ability to see relationships, can be tested with simple diagramatic or
pictorial material and that for a test to be usable in different cultures the
pictures are universal and not pertaining to any cultural group.
Another "Culture fair" test was developed in Great Britain by Raven
(1938) is known under the brand name "Progressive Matrices." It is a
nonverbal test series requiring the subject to solve problems presented in
Abstract figures and designs. There are three forms of the scale.
Standard Progressive Matrices-containing set A, B, C, D, E; each
having 12 matrices is meant for adults ranging from age 11 /2 onwards.
Coloured Progressive Matrices containing sets A, Ab, and B each having 12
matrices are meant for children beten ad 5 to 11 '/2. Advanced Progressive
Matrices Part 11 with 12 matrices and Part 11 with 24 mattics are meant
for quick assessment of individual's ability. The tests are fairly reliable and
valid and are widely used as measures of general intelligence and reasoning
this is a group as well as individually as administered test.
PIAGETIAN SCALE
One test that has been prepared based on Piagetian approach is the concept
assessment Kit-Conservation Kit. It is meant for children for four to seven
years old and measures the qualitative change in thinking about physical
objects that a child attains in moving from the preoperational stage to the
stage of concrete operations.
The child is shown two physical objects such as two glasses of water.
One object is then changed in appearance. The child has attained conservation
when he knows that the quantity remains same even though it looks different.
The younger child has attained conservation when he knows that the quantity
remains same even though it looks different. The younger child attends to
perceptions while the older child can over ride perceptions to make logical
conclusion with concerte objects. This test has 3 forms Form A, Form B, and
Form C. Form A and B have both six subjects. Two dimensional space,
Number, Substance, Continuous quantity, Weight and discontinuous quantity.
Form C has the above six subtests and the test on area and length. The
statistical information available on the test area generally and indicate this
as a promissing instrument.
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELUGENCE 173

FACTORS AFFECTING INTELLIGENCE

Heredity
The role of heredity and environment on intelligence hasbeen discussed
as examples of the general problem of nature vs. nurture and shall not be
repeated here excepting stating broad generalisations. The general evidence
goes in favour that intelligence is inherited and the influence of environment
is contributoly to the tune of 20 per cent.

Age
Age curves of intelligence have always been a question of great
importance Studies of Bayley (1955) and Terman and Merril (1937) have
shown that there is improvement in mean scores until the late teens or early
twenties. Our knowledge about Indian child is limited asstudies in India are
test centered than child or norm centered.

Culture
Responses in a psychological test is influenced and coloured by culture
in which the individual lives. Even there are cultures where time is not
considered important. Hence, intelligence test having a speedfactor and time
component is likely to show cultural variations in measured test scores than
the culture fairness of the test developed. Culture affects through child
reading, in providing early experience but within limits of heredity.
Rural Urban Difference
Rural children as a group score lower than urban children on intelligence
tests. Terman and Merril observed wide difference among rural-urban
children between 15 to 18 years of age by using Stanford-Binet test of
intelligence. The difference was as great as 12.2 pointsof IQ. On the WISC
the rural children scored less than the Urban children and the difference was
large in the performance scale. In our studies (Panda, 1981) rural children
also scored less in Raven's progressive matrices test thanurban children.
Socio-economics Status
Socio-economic status is highly linked with urban rural origin. It is true
that interactions in lower class homes are restricted, impoverished and as
such there is the adverse effect in the development of intelligence. The test
scores become low because children are used to such testing in lower class
homes. They can't in many cases understand the language of the items and
as such they score low and give evidence of low intelligence. Since 40 to 50
per cent Indians are below the poverty line this has large implications for
Indian people.
 174 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Deprivation and malnutrition are concommitant effects of low SES and

thereby affects adversely the development of intelligence. Even though the
child inherits intelligence, because of early malnutrition, lack of stimulation,
emotional and general deprivation intelligence scores are depressed. It is a
vicious circular notion but the facts remain that intelligence can develop well
under favourable conditions of nourishment than otherwise within the limits
of heredity.
Use of Intelligence Test
In recent years intelligence has not been accepted as the sole predictor
of learning and achievement. It explains however, nearly 50per cent of the
total variation in learning. It permits greater understanding of pupil behaviours
and ability in school.
Intelligence is being used alongwith adaptive behaviour scores for
tracking children into special schools and special classes. The imbeciles and
idiots are denied admission to school or any academic programme they can't
learn.
Intelligence scores tell the teacher what the child could do, not what he
will do since motivation, emotional blocking, work habits, teacher behaviour
etc. are related to learning. Inspite. of these, there is a strong relationship
between IQ and school learning.
It is true that the measuies used for assessing intelligence may have wide
limitations for giving a correct score regarding the intelligence level of a
child because of measurement errors, cultural variation, socio-economic
factors etc. but there is nothing wrong with the concept of IQ and its use. It
still remains as the greatest predictor of learning, if not sole predictor.
Intelligence test which measure verbal and quantitative ability separately
offer a promise for diagnosis of learning difficulties as well as offer a scope
for applying remediation. Factorial measures enable us fair point on the
weakness of a given factor or factors.
In the field of intelligence, a strong notion persists i.e. inteffigence
remains relatively constant over the years, a dull child becomes a dull adult,
a gifted child becomes gifted etc. This does not mean that if determined
efforts are made changes in IQ will not be made. There is a considerable
empirical evidence pointing out IQ changeidue to interaction of environment
especially during the early years of life and as a result of continuous and
comprehensive enrichment programme. Hence, IQ does not remain exactly
constant over the years.
Correlations between TQ of children with their own IQ at age 16 are
given below for showing that IQ is not always constant over the years
 175
DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENCE

although wide variability is also not expected.

Boys Girls
Age
7 .58 .54
8 .64 .58
9 .58 .53
10 .74 .70
11 .75 .73
12 .79 .79
13 .78 .81
14 .83 .82
15 .90 .91

This indicates increased stability after age 14 or 15. The relation

between child's intelligence at 1 with that of 16 is zero. Oniy after 4th year
one can expert some degree of consistancy.
Teachers and parents need to concentrate on providingeach child which
further which the child candevelop
a psychologically enriched enviromnentactualisation. They should also not
his maximum potential and attain self
expect dramatic effects i.e. a dull child becoming light or an average child
becoming gifted. It develops within reasonable limits but a good environment
definitely prevents depression of inherited ability. This should be the
consolation for us even if we cannot increase the substantially as IQ is
relatively constant.

[i1VIEW EXERCIJ
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. What is intelligence 7 Howdoes it develop in children?
2. What is the role of heredity environment on the development of intelligence?
3. What is the significance of intelligence?
4. What are M.A. & IQ? How intelligence is measured?
5. What is the nature of intelligence?
Write within 50 wordi each:
1. Stoddard's view on intelligence.
2. Raven's view on intelligence.
3. Spearnian'S 'g' and 's' factor.
4. Thurstone'S Primaiy Mental Abilities.
5. Hebb's ABC intelligence.
6. Deviation IQ.
7. MA and IQ.
8. Race and IQ.
9. SES and IQ.
10. Rural/urban andlQ.
176 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Write whether the statements are True or False
1. Tennan defined intelligence as capacity for abstract thinking.
2. Raven develop progressive matrices test.
3. For Binet intelligence isa judgement the ability to adapt one self and capacity
to learn.
4. Wecshler thought intelligence is a global capacity to act purposefully, to think
rationally and to deal effectively with environment.
5. Measurement of intelligence by using tests are not that accurate so far real
intelligence of the individual is concerned.
6. Des developed the planthng process concept of intelligence.
7. Triarchic theoiy of intelligence is recently developed by Steinberg.

*
 14
Intellectual Development

Jean Piaget (1896-1980), born in Switzerland is known throughout the

world for his contributions to intellectual development. He is a biologist by
training. But he was a philosopher, logician, psychologist and an educator.
His researches and theorizing of intellectual development are based on
observations of his own children : Laurent, Jacqueline, and Lucienne. Piaget
calls himself as a genetic expistemologist. He has an outstanding record of
achievement.
At the age of 10, he published his first research article on "Albino
Sparrow" in the journal of Natural Histoty of Neuchatel. He was immediately
invited by the Director of the Geneva Museum of Natural History to join as
a Curator, which was withdrawn when his age was discovered.
M a University student majoring in Biology he became interested in
Psychology. He studied in the psychological laboratories at the University of
Zurich in 1918 and in the experimental laboratory of Binet in Paris from
1919 to 1921. His first major work was published during 1924-1932. The
first notable book caine out in 1928. "The Judgement and Reasoning in the
Child" which brought him wide reputation both in USA and Europe. From
1929 to 1939 he formulated his concepts of 'Grouping' and published the
book. "The Child's Conception of Number" in 1941. "The Child's
Conception of Space" was published in 1948 and "The Child's Conception
of geometry" was published in 1960 followed by the early growth of logic
in 1964. Piaget is a genetic epistemologist who was concerned with nature
of knowledge, the structure and processes by which it is acquired. Piaget
argued "that much of our knowledge comes not from without but from
within by the forces of our own logic.. .a fact often forgotten in education."
Piaget was strongly influenced, by his training as a biologist. As such
he makes constant reference to the interaction between an active organism
and the environment. According to him intellectual activities are adaptive.
Intelligence is seen as an aspect of biological adaptation. It helps the child
to cope, to organise and to reorganise. thought and action. Piaget describes
178 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

this adaptation as a balance between assimilation and accomodation. This

dual process determines intellectual development throughout life.
Assimilation means 'incorporation and organization of experience into
existing schemata', something new is interpreted in terms of a past experience
with which the individual is familiar. For example, a young child while
playing catches a ball and relates the experience to a 'grasping' schema. In
a classroom situation the child who understands and follows what the teacher
is telling is really assimilating the incoming information into his won
schema of learning. The child fits unfamiliar stimuli into his own available
mental structure or Oganization i.e. all flying objects are 'birds'. Hence,
assimilation is somewhat similar to the concept of generalisation.
For intellectual development, a child must also be capable of adapting
its schemata to accomodate perceptions, stimuli, and inputs which were
previously impossible to assimilate. It involves the formation of a new
schemata. It depends on the ability of the child to change his schema or
structure in order to adapt to the new environment.
For example, suppose a four year child who expects to see girls dressed
in skirts and boys in pants', sees a child with both long hair and pant playing
with a toy. He will probably perceive this person as a girl and accommodate
to the situation.
Imitation of parent's behaviour is the most clear example of accomodation.
Assimilation and accomodation are complementary to each other.
Succintly speaking assimilation is the force which makes one want to act and
think in terms of past experience. On the contrary,accomodation is the force
which makes one to modify action and thought to meet demands of new or
changed situation. The concept of a balance between the two theoretical
constructs is central to Piaget's theory of intellectual development.
Piaget's theory is both genetic and hierarchical. He believes that mental
development is a process that begins the day the infant is born and
intellectual behaviour at any age evolves directly from prior levels of
behaviour. The roots of all intellectual development are in early sensori-
motor behaviour.
Piaget divides the entire period of intellectual development into four
basic stages
1. Sensori-motor period (0-2 yrs)
2. 'Preoperational period (2-'7 yrs)
(a) Preconceptual (2-4)
(b) Intuitive (4-7)
3. Concrete operations (7-11)
4. Formal operations (12 +)
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 179

It may appear from this categorisation that the stages are specific. But
Piaget uses the term 'stage' or 'period' in a more wider sense and for ease
of recognition. The age specifications are not fixed boundaries rather these
are approximations. It simply suggests that all stages of development
subsequent to the initial stage incorporate all previous stages. This is the
sequence of events which is important rather than the ages which are
suggested.

SENSORI-MOTOR PERIOD
Piaget uses the term 'Sensori-motor' to describe this period because it
involves co-ordination of sensoiy perceptions and motor movements. This
period is sub-divided into six stages through which progressively complex
pattern of intellectual behaviour appears.

Reflex (0-1 month)

During this stage an infant's motor responses are largely innate reflex
actions; such as; sucking movements to nipple become more prominent,
Grasping, crying, movement of arms, trunk, head also appear regardless of
stimuli. The infant assimilates all stimuli through reflex activities. Just after
a few weeks of birth one can observe simple accomodation in children. For
example, the infant begins to search for the nipple if it cannot be seen. At
birth he has no awareness about the permanence of objects. Further he is
unable to differentiate between himseff and the environment. The child is
completely egocentric.
Primary Circular Reaction (1-4 months)
The child after one month of post-natal life begins to make simple co-
ordinated movements between hand and itiouth. Simple activities appear
repeatedly such as : repetitive sucking, closing and opening of the fists,
fingering the bed etc. The child does these activities without any intent or
purpose. Thumb-sucking becomes habitual. Eyes follow the moving objects.
Such co-ordination implies accomodation, on the part of the child. Yet the
child's activities lack purpose or deliberate intention.

Secondary Circular Reaction (4-8 months)

Mter aoixt louìt monXìs ol age arturtlartt mes poselrt rrtoNertten
to achieve a simple aim and actions like grasping are extended to shaking
and pulling. Movements of the hand, eye and mouth are co-ordinated. The
child repeats responses which produce interesting results e.g. the child
repeatedly kicks his legs in order to produce a swinging movement in a toy
suspended over his crib. Child's behaviour becomes increasingly oriented
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

forward objects and events beyond his body. Intentionality appears at this
stage and there are clear rigns to sustain and repeat acts. Piaget calls this act
as reproductive assimilation i.e. the infant tries to reproduce events that are
unique to him. Children look for objects or toys in places where he predicts
they have fallen. He develops awareness of permanence of objects. But the
child still remains egocentric. He sees himself as the primary cause of all
activity.
Co-ordination of Secondary Circular reactions (8-12 months)
The child now is able o solve simple problems. He uses a response
already learned to obtain a specific goal object. For example, he moves away
the pillow in order to obtain a toy hidden behind it. The child establishes
means-end-relationships. He begins to see that other objects in the environment
as sources of activity (causality). He selects certain means or ways of
responding before initiating the final behaviour. In other words, he
demonstrates the ability of anticipation or provision and meaning of certain
events. In the previous-stage actions of the child were always dependent on
the immediate actions in the environment. Jacqueline would cry when
alcohol is put on the cut, not before it. the child acquires constancy of shape
and size of objects. Learning that an object continues to exist in space even
if it cannot be seen makes an important step forward in mental development
of the child. It indicates the beginning of reasoning and anticipatory
tendencies.

Tertiary Circular reactions (12-18 months)

In the beginning of second year of life the child attains higher level of
operations. He begins to form new schemata to solve new problems. The
child engages in active experimentation and exploration and the balance
shifts from assimilation to accommodation.
The child begins to experiment and through a trial and error process
develops new means. Piaget describes this active trial-and error
experimentation as the tertiary reaction or a stage of problem solving
behaviour. For example, the childhood previously knocked the pillow with
his feet to get the toy may now do the same with his feet or use a rattle to
push it down. The child varies his movements instead of repeating something
mechanically or in a stereotyped fashion. The child begins to manifest the
cônst.ructive original elements that Piaget regards as characteristic of
intelligence. When a rattle is hidden in 'A', it is searched for in A; when it
is hidden in 'B', it is searched for in B. Thus elementary problem solving
behaviours appear in children at this stage of development.
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 181

Mental Combinations
Between 18 and 24 months, the child shows evidence of symbolic or
representational behaviour. In a very elementary fashion he begins to
represent senson-motor movements in mental acts. Piaget calls this stage the
stage of mental combinations. It is characterised by "invention of new means
through internal mental combinations." When the child wishes to obtain
some end for which he has no habitual available means, he invents one. He
does this by internal experimentation and not by overt trial and error process.
For example, when Lucienne plays with a doll carriage where handle comes
to the height of her face, she rolls it over the carpet by pushing it. When she
comes against a wall, she pulls walking backward. Since this position is not
comfortable, she takes a pause, turns back pushes the carriage.
The dual process of representation and invention are basic development
of this stage. The child Is able to use imaginary manipulation of reality. The
child imitates the behaviour of others and begins to show conceptual
symbolic behaviour. As a result of Piaget's observations of cognitive
processes in infants, Ricciuti, (1965) has tried to examine the mental
development of children. One year old infants recognised similarities among
objects, suggesting the presence of primitive conceptual skill. When a tray
containing 4 yellow cubes and four gray balls are kept in a scattered manner
the one year old could touch successively either the yellow cubes or 4 gray
balls but when objects are subtle, infants do not display this primitive
conceptual behaviour or grouping. This study suggests certain individual
difference in rate of conceptual growth of children but the basic pattern or
sequence which Piaget emphasized remained the same. Form here on the
child moves into the preoperational period during language and cognitive
skills develop.

PREOPERATIONAL PERIOD
This stage is sometimes referred to as 'preconceptual' or beginning of
symbolization in thinking. The term preconceptual was used because the
infant is only capable of forming a concept of single dbject rather than a class
of objects. The period includes the age raige of 2 Jo 4 years.
During this period the child construáts symbols, uses language, and
indulges in make-believe play. He begins to develop imagery, distinguishes
between 'words' and 'things'. The range of cognitive functioning and
thinking are expanded. Play and imitation begin to appear although the child
cannot immediately construct such operations. The child does not understand
the nature of classes and class memberships. He regards every object or
situation as an 'instance'. He does not have the ability to understand the
182 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

dimensionality of an object. For example, he takes a 'red pen' as 'red pen'.

He does not understand that 'red' is one of the colours and 'pen' is one type
of article used for writing. When young children during this age range are
given toys sort out, it was found that they only sort them on the basis of
similarity or superficial quality. They cannot give a verbalisation that
accurately describes the grouping. Neither the child follows a deductive or
inductive method in his thinking activities.
Preconceptual thought is extremely concrete and strikingly egocentric.
The child thinks everything in terms of his own point of view and does not
regard other opinions as valid. For example, you ask a young child of 4 years,
what does the moon do ? The child simply says that the moon follows him
(egocentrism).
Egocentrism is a major hindrance to cognitive development. The child
of 4 to 6 does not reflect on his thoughts. He never questions his thinking
even when contradictory evidence exist. Egocentrism or self centeredness is
not intent but the child is unaware that he is egocentric and consequently
never tries to resolve it. Around 6-7 egocentric thought begins to give way
to social pressure and the child begins to accommodate others. Interaction
with pears and playmates dissolve egocentrism.
In the area of language and thinking also the child tends to display
egocentric attitudes and centration. The child at this stage makes little
attempt to adapt his speech to the needs and interest of his listeners. The
preschool child's thinking tends to be static, focusing at one feature at a time.
He is unable to combine various features into integrative patterns. This is
known as centration. Centration means the child's habit of attending to one
salient aspect of a problem neglecting other ones, thus distorting reasoning.
For example, you put water of equal quantity in two indentical tall thin vase.
if the contents of one of these is poured into a broad jar, the child will deny
that the quantities are identical. Instead, he will say that the tall vase has
more water. This means, he has centered only on height and failed to
decenter that width and height both determine the amount of water.
The child knows at age 4 that 9 is greater than 7 but when we put 9 dots
close in one line and seven dots far apart in another line, the child of 4
invariably says that the second line contains moie dots. This is because the
child is unable to decenter and his perceptual evaluation dominate the
cognitive evaluation. This behaviour pattern continues upto age 6-7.
1st line 000000000 (9)
Second Line 0000000 (7)
Piaget also uses the term transductive reasoning to describe that the
child during this stage fluctuates in his reasoning from the particular to the
 INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 183
particular without logical sequence and generalization e.g. 'I have not had
my sleep, so it is not morning'. In this case the child argues by implication
that occurrence sleep is followed by occurrence of morning even though the
two events are not related to each other.
Further, if a pencil is held upright and allowed to fall, there are series
of changes But even after noticing the fall, the preoperational child cannot
reproduce, the steps. This transductive
reasoning hinders the cognitive growth and ft
does not enable the child to follow transfor-
mation.
II // #\
At this age children are unaware of the
inconsistencies in their thinking. Two —
common forms of transductive thought are
identified by Piaget. These are Juxta position and syncretism. In syncretism,
the child fails to relate various observations into a consistent whole. For
example, a child at this age may say, an aeroplane flies because it has engine
and it is heavy; a bird flies because it has wings and it is light. Similarly in
juxta position children display thawing the pictures of various parts of
bicycle and putting them in a non-function relationship. Such behaviour
indicating indiscriminate relationships are examples of Juxta position. The
children are often selfish and difficult at this stage.
During age 4 to 7 there is decrease of gross absurdity in thinking and
reasoning. The child conceptualises more. He has now some ideas of classes
or concepts. He groups objects by similarity. He uses the words 'some', 'all'
but still his aAlity for logical thought is limited. He continues to centre and
cannot conserve problems. For him tall big = more are same and convey
the same meaning.
One of the most important characteristics of this stage is irreversibility.
Reversibility means the ability of the child to maintain equivalence in spite
of change in the perceptual field. if A=B, then B must be equal to A. But
child at this stage cannot conceive of this reversible operations. Another
example can be used to illustrate this phenomenon. A child is shown two
rows of 8 coins each.
00000000
00000000
He agress that they are same. Then one of the line is stretched.
00000000
000000000000
Now the child says, these are different. He cannot maintain equivalence
of number in the face of perceptual change. In other words the child during
 184 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

ages 4-7 does not develop a concept of invariance. His thinking is still
dominated by perceptual process. He fails to realise that if water is poured
back to the thinner and taller container it will be same as original. In
reversible thinking the individual can retrace these steps mentally and arrive
at the conclusion that the amount of water has not been changed.
The child's understanding at this stage is restricted to his own perception
and his comprehension of objects is still based on single salient perceptual
aspects of a stimulus. He intuitively equates the height of a container with
the amount of liquid it can hold as if he had learned an equation that reads
long = big = tall = more.
Many of these changes in conceptualisation and ability to group objects
are related to his language abilities at this age and these are very important
in verbal mediation, concept formation, and problem solving. Gradually the
child's thought processes are liberated from perceptual dominance and
become less centered.
Conservation is the conceptualization that the amount or quantity
remains same regardless of any change in shape or position. Conservation
of number appears around age 6-7 years. So also conservation of substance
begins to appear towards the end of 7th year. Various attempts have been
made to increase the ability of the child to conserve through instruction and
using various reinforcement techniques. But Piaget always states 'experience
is the key'. It comes through exposure, manipulation but not by teaching the
child how to conserve. Children remaining at home give evidence of
conservation almost around the same age as school going children, across all
cultures. Qualitatively the thought of the pre-operational child is different
from that of the sensori-motor child.
Acèording to Piaget language serves three consequences to mental
development.
(1) The child exchanges his ideas with other persons which helps the
socialization process.
(ii) There is the beginning of thought and the child thinks internally by
using words and signs.
(iii) There is internalization of action and actions become more symbolic
rather than perceptual-motor
Piaget further observes that there are two types of speech:
(a) Egocentric Speech
(b) Socialised Speech
From age 2 to 4 the child lacks communicative speech. His speech is
egocentrics. He speaks in the presence of others but not necessarily to others.
The child repeatedly uses 'I' 'I Say', 'I have', 'Jam' etc. in his communication -
 INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 185
with others. But between age 4 to 7 language becomes intercommunicative.
Children clearly exchange ideas. Use of 'you', 'she', 'he', 'they' are added
while conversing with others. Speech becomes socialised. Language facilitates
logical thought. In deal and mute children logical thought starts a bit late or
at an interval of 1 to 2 years delay.
SOCIALISATION OF BEHAVIOUR
Behaviour is considerd social when it involves clear exchanges of ideas and
the child's socialization begins when the child starts initiatingother people.
At age 2 the child reproduces imitations even when the persons or objects
are not present. During pre-operational period the child plays games with
rules, and makes verbal communication with others. While in play he shows
development of co-operative behaviour, awareness, and observance of rules.
As a result of social activity, especially sharing and playing with other
children and linguistic development the child slowly gains awareness of
alternative points of view. His thought processes become liberated from
perceptual dominance.
CONCRETE OPERATIONS (7-11)
During this period the child's reasoning process becomes logical in relation
to concrete operations or objects or persons. His thought processes are no
longer perception-bound, egocentric and transductive. Instead, children are
able to understand transformation. It is not the final stage in thought
development because the child is still restricted to concrete as opposed to
* abstract thinking.
Piaget believes that the child after age seven is able to classify objects
on the basis of similarities, classify ideas into a logical systems or
ordered system. Upto the age of about seven years a child quite easily picks
out all the red counters from a set of counters of different colours. In
doing so, he performs an external action with concreteobjects. A time comes
when he thinks of a set of red counters in the absence of any counter
physically in front of him. This stage of affairs is called internalisation of a
concept.
The most important systems or concepts of classifications a child is
capable of handling are described below:
CLASSIFICATION
An example will illustrate the operation clearly. A child is shown a box
containing 13 wooden beads of which 11 were brown and 2 are white. The
child is given two other box and is asked to put them in the separate boxes.
When the child does this, he shows the ability to classify.
186 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Once this is done, the child is asked, 'Are there, more Wooden beads
or more brown beads?' At ages
2-7 years the child says more brown beads
7-11 years the child says more wooden beads

0000 0000
0000 0000
o0 00 0000
Brown White All Beads

At the concrete operation stage the child can simultaneously consider

two kinds of classes or comparisons. Since the concrete operational child has
the ability to decenter, he makes classifications correct. Similarly the child
develops classifications concepts like odd and even numbers; animals,
plants, mathematical concepts like sets or Venn diagrams.
SERIATION
This refers to placing related objects in their correct order or succession. In
other words, it is the ability of the child to mentally arrange elements
according to increasing or decreasing size. For example, if we show to the
pre-operational child two pencils of different length A, B, he can visually
comapre and say 'A' is shorter than 'B'. If he is then shown 'B' & 'C' while
'A' is hidden, he can say 'B' is shorter than 'C'. If the child is asked to
compare 'A' and 'C' while 'A' is hidden, the pre-operational child cannot
answer because he does not see the objects.

But the child in concrete operations stage will say A B, B C, hence

AC. He can mentally order the events. Seriation learning like conservation
typically occurs at different age levels in an invariant sequences. Some of the
milestones in seriation are
Senation of length-age 7
Seriation of weigth-age 9
Seriation of volume-age 12
Analogus to concept of seriation is the concept of equivalence: A = B, 4
B C, Hence A C. In primary school much time is devoted to seriation
 INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 187

exercises in mathematics, histoty (sequence of dates), Geography (weather

recording) and Nature study (growth).
REVERSIBILITY
Concrete operational thought is reversible. For example, a child is shown
three balls of the same size each of a different colour (ABC). The balls are
placed in a cylinder in the order of ABC. The pre-operational child will say,
that will exist from the bottom of the cylinder in the same order ABC. The
cylinder is rotated 180. He will say, the order will be same ABC. He is
surprised when he finds them in CBA order. But the concrete operation child
has no trouble with the above problem. He can rotate it back and forth and
bring the balls into ABC order. The child after age 7 acquires the ability for
reversible operations which indicates a higher level of intellectual functioning.
-4 CONSERVATION OF AREA
The term conservation has been explained earlier. It has also been stated that
conservation of number develops towards the 6th year of age and conservation
of substance is seen by the end of seventh year of development. In reality,
however, conservation with exception to that for volume are all seen during
the period of concrete operations.
Conservation of area for example, appears around age 7 to 8 and that
of weight around 9-10. But volume conservation remains until 11 and 12.
An illustration would make the concept more clear. For example, in a typical
situation, the child of 7 and 8 years of age is asked which cow in the
following situations has more grass to eat?

j] Both have same area

Situation (a) [1

Situation (b) Field 2 has more grass to eat would be

the answer before age 7 & 8

1 2
But the 7 and 8 years old will say both areas are same.
Conservation of volume
Let us take case of volume conservation. Water was poured into two
beakers of same size and the child said water in both beakers are same
(situation 1).
188 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
d

Situation 1 Situation 2
In situation 2, when water from one of the beakers was emptied and
poured into a narrower breaker, the child under age 11 or 12 years invariably
said that it is more in the new beaker. In other words, even though the child
at 11 years has shown reversibility, equivalence, decentering characteristics
in other areas of conceptualizations his volume conservation still remains to
be developed after age 11 and 12. However, many of the internalizations are
complete before age 11.
MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS
It is only during age 7 to 11, the child develops the capacity of internalization
or mental representations. He can describe the whole sequenceoftvents of
any act i.e. going to the market and coming back, which was not possible at
age 4.
CASUALITY
Piaget says that the child does not understand the relationship between time
and speed until age 10 to 11. Generally if we ask a child below age 10 years,
which one of the two cars moves faster ? The child say (a) the one that
overtakes or (b) the one that reaches the goal first. The child does not
consider the points of starting and whether the path is shorter than the other
before age 10 or 11 years. In other words, the concept appears a bit late in
the process of development.
GROUPINGS
Piaget believes that the concrete operational child gives evidence of grouping
or the ability to generalise. Five such structures or groupings are mentioned
as the characteristics of the concrete operational child.
(I) Law of combination, composition or closure: Two distinct classes
may be combined to form a comprehensive class which includes
both the previously distinct classes e.g., all boys and all girls = all
children or A + B = B.
(ii) Law of inversion : For each operation there is an opposite operation
which annuls it, or two classes combined to form a comprehensive
class may be separated e.g. all children — all boys = all girls.
 INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 189

(iii) Law of associativity : If several operations are to be combined then

order in which they appear is of no value. A + (B + C) = A + B + C.
(iv) Law of identity : When the operation is combined with its opposite
it is annulled e.g. travel 5 miles East and then 5 miles back to West,
then one is back to the starting point.
or A-A = 0
(v) Law to Tautology: With exception of combination of numbers e.g.
3+ 2 = 5 whenever a class is combined with the same class it
remains the same class e.g. all girls plus girls = all girls. In other
words a classification which is not changed.
Piaget devised many ingenious experiments to demonstrate how children
perform these operations. From these experiments he concluded that after
age 7, the child's thought is considered reversible. But at the stage of
concrete operations some children continually find verbal reasoning difficult
and even at age 11 cannot cope with all conceptual problems.
FORMAL OPERATIONS (12 +)
The child's cognitive structure reaches maturity during this period.
After this period there is not qualitative change in the cognitive development,
only quantitative variations take place.
Concrete operational chidren cannot deal with complex verbal problems,
hypothetical problems, or problems involving future. The child in the formal
operation period can deal with the past, present, and future, and that too both
at verbal and non-verbal levels. The child after age 11 years is able to:
(a) organise data
(b) reason scientifically
(c) generate hypothesis
All these abilities are applicable to the following conceptual categories
of problems:
(i) Combinatorial thought
(ii) Complex verbal problems
(iii) Hypothetical problems
(iv) Propositions
(v) Conservation of movement.
COMBINATORIAL THOUGHT
Before age 12 the child cannot visualise and understand partwhole
relationships. He does not think of all possibilities. For example, in a given
situation 5 different type of liquids are kept in 1,2, 3, products yellow colour
- 4 and 5 contain bleaching. The child is asked to produce yellow colour. The
child during 7 to 11 do mix two liquids at a time and leave the problem and
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
190

goes. But after age 12, children test all possibilities until 'yellow' solution
is arrived at.
VERBAL PROBLEMS
It happens so that children prior to age 12 fail to solve problems of verbal
nature e.g. Bina is fairer than Rita : Rita is darker than Sima; who is the
darkest of the three ? It is for this reason many of the arithmetic books do
not contain problems of this nature.
HYPOTHETICAL PROBLEM
The formal operation child has the ability to derive logical solutions from
assumptions which has a greater validity e.g. suppose cola is while. The
concrete operational child will say no it is black and stops thinking.
The formal operational child will start with this assumption and go
ahead. Thought is selfconsciously deductive and resembles a scientist. It may
not fit reality.
PROPOSITION
Around age 13, the child comprehends the concepts of proportion, ratio, etc.
For example, he understands that an increase in both sides will keep the
balance equal.
W/L = 2W/2L

ABSTRACT RULES
Formal thought is rational and systematic. What number is 30 less than
3 times itself? If you ask the formal operational child this question then he
will say.
X + 30= 3X
30= 3X - X
X= 15
In other words, he can set up an equation to come to an answer.
CONSERVATION OF MOVEMENT
Movement conservation appears late in development and almost concurrently
with that of volume. For example, a pendulum can be made swing faster or
slower by adjusting the length of the string holding it. The shorter is the
string the faster is the movement. The child under 12 emphasizes on the
weight of the pendulum to control the speed but the child after 1 concentrates
on the length keeping the weight same. By age 15, the child becomes sure
that the length is the only factor affecting the speed or movement.
it tttt tiatea ct blind nal wot activity, the child takes a
rational outlook towards problems. ThIs is the pñnclpaX component ototut
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT 191

operations. And Piaget's observations of the sequences in cognitive

development seem to be essentially correct.
IMPLICATIONS
Piaget's contributions to learning and thinking are not gross literary
speculations. Teachers in primary school will recognise in Piaget some
valuable contributions for educational practice. Secondary school teachers
who also resisted change in curriculum content with equal tenacity find
Piaget quite useful and pragmatic. The Plowden Committee caine very
nearer to the idea of a break around age of 12-13 between primary schooling
and secondary curriculum.
More specifically stated, Piaget does not propagate that intellectual
development can be accelerated greatly by any kind of training or instruction.
But at the same time he believes in proving opportunities for the child to
explore and experiment upon. Teacher's duty, Piaget conceives, is to provide
the opportunities.
Activity methods in primary school lay stress on the importance of
children .jn.nipulating objects with widely differing properties of colour,
shape, form etc. This together with discovery, classification, construction
and analysis of materials becomes essential for natural development of
concrete reasoning. Adaptation becomes a painfully slow process but is a
gradual process and a child moves forward by small incremental steps when
previous experience is assimilated.
At the secondary stage teachers should take every opportunity to point
out similarities, equivalents, opposites, relationships and other group structures
of increasing complexity. It is not simply a question of maturation, that
standards of thinking will improve naturally as pupils approach the sixteenth
years of age. It is a slow structural process and there must be a match between
curriculum and cognitive development of the child.
When of course, the effect of direct teaching cognitive skills is open
to question; teachers can use analytical questionning and sctting
individual work in the form of graded exercises and thought provoking
problems.
Piaget stresses the educational significance of learning in a social
context. He believes that group discussion on a common problem, provided
.chiidren have some idea of experience about it, is invaluable in the
development of formal reasoning and logical argument. He emphatically
suggests that teachers should not be authoritarian in their approach to lead
discussion. They should listen patiently and suggest alternative approaches
and draw attention to gross examples of illogical thinking.
192 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Replications of Piaget's experiments and suggestion indicate that his

theory of child development is basically valid. Although most of the findings
are based on Piaget's observation of his own intelligent children, yet this is
in many ways most productive and least provocative of all his writings. He
was most active till the last moment of his life.
Gross (1974) stated, "There is a paramount obligation for every
practising teacher, whatever be his subject, in or out of school, directly or
indirectly, to promote and develop standards of thinking and reasoning. If
both school and home fail in this, the young adolescent is left defenseless
against the onslaught of subtle defectors and persuadors with powerful
channels of mass communication at their disposal."

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
I. Describe Piaget's veiws on pre-operational development of children.
2. Describe Piaget's views on sensori-motor development of children.
3. Describe Piaget's views on concrete operational development of children.
4. Describe Piaget's view on formal operational development of children.
5. What implications Piaget has for teachers and parents?
Write short notes on the following within 50 words each:
1. Schemata
2. Egocentrism
3. Classification
4. Transductive reasoning
5. Mental combination
6. Groupings
7. Conservation
8. Irreversibility
9. Seriation
10. Syncretism
11. Socialised Speech
12. Assimilation
13. Accommodation
14. Tertiaiy circular reaction
15.. Preconceptual thought.
Write whether statements are True or FaLse:
1. Rational thinking appears in sensory-motor stage.
2. By age 12 all logical thinking is complete.
3. Child's thinking is influenced by play.
4. Number concepts appear in age 2V2 years.
5. Egocentrism is an indicator of formal thinking.
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
193
Fill in the blanks:
1. Jean Piaget is well known for his contributions to development of
children.
2. Conservation of area appears age.
3. Mental combination is a characteristic of the child.
4. Seriation appears at age
5. Cognitive development is
specific not age specitic.
6. There is a decrease in gross absurdity in thinking and
reasoning during the
period
7. Conservation of volume appears at age
8. All boys and all girls are
9. A + (B + C) =
10. Combinatorial thought appears at age
15
Development of Creativity
In every society, there are children who are considered to be creative.
FranciaOaltOn, a British Bio-Genetist who got interested in psychology of
individual difference, first talked about creativity or creative imagination in
1869. Due to the influence of behaviourism, the termcreativity was not even
mentioned in any literature upto 1930. Few passing references by Slowen
(1930) and Guilford (1930) did appear. EducationistS and Psychologists
were bogged down on the concept of intelligence and their interest was
diverted to creativity when the factor analytic studies of Guilford identified
divergent thinking ability of children and others. Wallas (1945) continued
to describe creativity as synonymous with creative thinking involving the
illumination, and verification.
stages of preparation, incubation,
After 1950 the situation become different. Oshborn (1953)analysed the
anecdotes of eminent people and published a book on Applied Imagination
and immediately after World War II established a Creative Education
Foundation in U.S.A. which is now located at Buffalo Descriptive and
qualitative research began since then in the area of creativity.
Torrance one of the giants in creativity research mentioned that during
1959-60 there were 2 aiticles as against 121 in 197 1-72 and 1250 in 1976.
Guilford, in his Presidential Address to American Psychological Association
in 1973 observed that the average pages in Educational Psychology books
discussing creativity was 10.6 as against 27.8 in the text books of 1973 and
at present it is an important area of research having immense educational
relevance. The journal of Creative Behaviour got started in 1967. In recent
years, the teacher-education programmes have greatly increased emphasis
on creative education approaches within all subject disciplines (Parnes,
1976).
Who is then a creative child? Or better say Whatis creativity ? Although
there is no university accepted unequivocal definition of creativity, yet
creativity means an ability to create, a multidimensional concept having its
genesis in Guilford's 'Structure of Intellect'.
 DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY
195

Originally the term meant an ability for good aesthetic sense,ability to

make reflective discussions and capacity for taking initiative in addition to
introversion and intuitiveness. Guilford, (1952) in his book 'The Nature of
thinking and
Human Intelligence' described creativity in terms of divergent
4 production and transformational ability. These abilities include fluency,
flexibility, originality and elaboration or redefinition.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CREATIVE CHILD
A creative child is one who gives evidence of being fluent, flexible original
and elaborative.
Let us understand what these terms mean operationally. Fluency means
the frequency with which ideas come to one's mind after a question is put.
For example, a child is asked, tell me how many things you know those are
solid, flexible and coloured. One can just count the number and find out his
ideational fluency. Associational fluency is known by askingthe child to tell
between different
the opposites, synonyms, homonyms, find relationships
objects. Expressional fluency is observed by asking an individual child to
complete a sentence using e.g. W—c—e—n (We can eat nuts. Willie comes
every night, Weary cats evade nothing etc.)
Flexibility has a different connotative meaning. It is not the number but
variety of responses that a child makes. For example,child is asked, tell me
the use of Brick. It this is a question and the child answers,building a house,
using a paper weight, putting it under legs of a cot to rise the height,
powdering it to make some art on the floor etc., then these responses give
evidence of flexibility. But if he answers building road, building house,
building staircase etc. these become indicators of fluency because here
functions do not change.
Adaptive flexibility or originality or uniqueness of response is another
characteristic. This is measured by telling sotries before the children and
asking them to give the title. In one of the stories, for example, a child was
told "There was a woman who do not talk with her husband for long. She
was operated. Then she talked so much thather husband got bored and then
he had to undergo operation so that he can listen to everything that she tells
loudly. Only then peace prevailed in the house" and they were asked to give
a little to this story. Many titles were given such as: 'A Man and His Wife'.
'Talking and Hearing'. Medicine Triumphs, but these were not original or
unique. The child who worte 'Happiness throughDeafness, Operation-Peace
of mind. The Deaf Man and the Dumb Woman' certainly proved their
I originality.
Elaboration or redefinition is the fourth characteristic but a minor one
and its load on
in terms of its inter-relationship with other creativity scores
 196 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

the total score of creativity. It indicates the expansion of an idea by listening

to an abbreviated form. No true score can be given but qualitatively one can
infer the divergent thinking ability from this.
It appears that Guilford's approach tQ defining creativity is heavily 4
leaned toward the processes but it does include evaluation of products
emphasized by Lehman and Dennis (1972).
My own hunch is, when people talk of mental ability, be it IQ or
creativity etc. they loose sight of an important aspect i.e. behavioural and
affective side of the person. A creative person has certain behavioural
characteristics other than the intellectual or cognitive characteristics. He is
self-confident, self-assertive, socially bold, humourous, happy, impulsive
and sensitive. In conceptualisation of creativity, therefore, an integrated
personality product process approach is necessaiy but which has seldom been
under-taken.
Torrance (1966) who has spent decades in creativity research stated
"Creativity is a process of being sensitive to problems, deficiencies, gaps in
knowledge, missing elements, disharmonies and so on : indentifying the
difficulty, searching for solutions, maidng guesses or fomulating hypotheses
about the deficiencies, testing and retesting these hypotheses and possibly
modi1'ing and retesting them : and finally conunumcating the result".
It appears, therefore, that like most behaviour, creative activity represents
to some extent learned skills. There may be limitations set on these skills by
heredity but through learning and within limitation or heredity creativity can
be boosted. A major breakthrough in this direction has been to identify the
talent and then manipulate through intervention to boost it.
GROWTH OF CREATiVITY
Kilpatrick (1900) using inkblots on children reading in grades 1 through 6
observed that the number of objects reported decreased with increase in grade
level with a marked slum in grade IV, corresponding to ageS. Simson (1972)
used a non-verbal method of testing imagination and asked children to use
dots in making anything. Mean number of figures drawn decreased at grade
4 and 8. Lehman (1953) observed the peak period of achievement of various
professionals and concluded that supenor creativity usually reaches its peak
around the thirties and thereafter declines gradually. All these studies are
isolated attempts.
Torrance (1962, 1963) investigated the development of creative thinking
abilities in American school children. Discontinuities in development was
observed at ages 5, 9, 13, 17. His study in 1967 across cultural groups
included children of grades 1 through 6. There is a decline in the varbal and
DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY 197
figural ability measured by Torrance's test of creative thinking, at grade four.
Negro children in grade 1 were at a lower level than White children, From
grade 2 onwards the fugural ability of Negro children become either superior
to that of White children or at least equal. Verbal ability showed a slower
growth rate, Children of Samoa did not show development of creative ability
beyond grade 3. German children showed increased growth from grade 1
through 5th with high rate in 3, 4, 5 followed by a decline at grade 6 and
thereafter. Children in Australia showed slow but linear increase in the
growth of creativity especially on the verbal TTCT scores. Observation of
creativity scores of Norwegian and Indian children in general point out that
peak period in creativity development occurs around 5/6th grade followed by
a decline. Although discontinuities in development is a marked feature of
creativity yet such a generalisation is tentative in the absence of research
investigations in the line.
Torrance's cross-sectional studies showed that upto age 16 there is a
steady increase in creativity scores in the U.S. culture with decreased scores
at age 5, 9, 12 and 17. But Kogan (1973) said it is quite premature to talk
about declines in creative ability over ages when the various tests used to
measure creativity is saturated with 'g'. Whatever decline has been observed
in cross-sectional studies may simply be the products of decline in other
intellective functions i.e. intelligence and cognitive style.
MEASUREMENT OF CREATiVITY
How do we then identiI' or measure creativity in children ? Measurement
of creativity has created a real problem and five standard tests are currently
available of which two are quite well known.
(a) Torrance Test of Creative Thinking
(b) Wallach and Kogan Test of Creative Behaviour.
Guilford's test of Divergent Thinking, Getzel's and Jacksons' creativity
indices, and Mednick's Remote Association Test (RAT) were in use for some
time but these tests correlated quite high with the Torrance and Wallach and
Kogan and also are not very comprehensive in their way to be in the field.
For example, Remote Association Test of Mednick as a measure of creativity
is not warranted in terms of the research evidences that exist on this test and
has not received unequivocal acceptance. Not only the theoretical rationale
behind RAT is unsound but the findings reported are mixed. It has same
pitfalls as any verbal test of IQ i.e. its culture specificity. Only the
constructors of the test (Mednick and Medmck, 1964) have reported positive
findings.
Torrance, Professor and Head of Educational Psychology at the University
pf Georgia, U.S.A. has developed a test to measure creativity. This has two
arts: Verbal and Non-Verbal.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
198
The Verbal Sub-tests include:
(a) Ask and Guess questions
(b) Product Improvement Tasks
(C) Unusual Uses
(d) Just Suppose questions
(e) Unusual Questions etc.
The Non-Verbal sub-tests are
(a) Picture Construction
(b) Complete the Figures
(c) Parallel Line Test.
The whole manual discusses the details of these tests but let us take a
few examples to know how the tests look like. In ask and Guess gaines the
children are shown pictures. The pictures in an elf like animal which is busy
in looking its reflection on water. The child is asked to tell or write the
number of questions relating to what. How and why of the situation and its
consequences?
In the product improvement test there is a folding type of toy of an
elephant and the child is asked to join it in any way to produce a newanimal.
The unusual use test includes asking the child to tell the use of paper box
which nobody knows. If the sky will fall what will happen ? In all these tests
fluency, flexibility, originality and elaborations are measured. These scores
a derived separately for verbal and non-verbal test. The testis presented in
booklet form. Torrance's test as a reliable and valid test has strong merits
and applicability.
Using this test Yamamotto (1964) and Torrance (1962) reportedthat the
relationships between intelligence and creativity is near zero or sometimes
negative when IQ is 120 or more : within the IQ range of the average or
normal (90-100) the relationship between creativity and school achievement
is not large enough. IQ and creativity are different constructs although points
of similarities could be observed in the test items of both. Wallach (1970) has
supported this conclu5ion.
Wallach and Kogan based their test on the formation of associative
elements into combination which are related to creative behaviour. The items
are graded from simple to complex. The child answers the questionslike a
play situation under verbal and non-verbal condition. In the verbal part for
example, the number of objects that you know, what use you can make of
newspaper? What meanings you can get from the following lines ? It mostly
measures originality and fluency. In Wallach test one does not count the
wrong responses to determine the creativity score,whereas in Torrance it is
given zero.
 DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY
199
Using Wallach Test Ward (1968) observed the creativity-IQ relationship
is .03 justifying their independence than interdependence with reference to
the upper range of IQ. in other words, a child who is high intelligent 'is not
usually and necessarily a high creative child. Search for independent
measure of creativity is still progress.
Jackson and Messick (1972) suggested that tests of creativity should
have unusualness, appropriateness, transformation, and condenseddescription
but the available tests only tap the first two of the abilities.
The next question that arises is what about Indian conditions 7 Can we
with any degree of certainty measures creativity in our children. Theanswer
is yes. Professor Baquer Mehdi (1973) has developed a test of creative
thinking with verbal and non-verbal components and standardised it on
Indian students. The verbal test has sub-tests (a) what would happen or
consequences 4 mts. (b) Unusual use test using a stone, stick and water, 5
mts. (c) New Relationship tests 5 mts. air, water, three house etc. (d) Product
improvement 6 mts. Scoring is done according to Torrance guide lines. The
test has been standardised on rural and urban children.
In the non-verbal part we find (a) Picture Construction 10 mts.
(b) Incomplete figures 15 mts. Triangles and eclipses 10 mts. These tests
combined together, give us an index of creativity, having no or little
relationship with IQ. This test can be used more effectively in identifying
creative children in our schools.
Here again one may ask should we search for talents using an IQ test,
a creativity test or take school achievement marks ? Creativity test may be
used because Intelligence accounts for a minor portion of variation in
creative performance and by itself is no means an adequate measure of
creativity. Further, there is also little relationship between creativity and
achievement, whatever may be the pitfalls in measurement. That is why since
1963, in U.S.A. National Talent Organisation has awarded scholarships for
Creative Talents in Arts and Science and I would feel that we may do the
same once.we have a good instrument. The NCERT NTS examination is a
step in this direction.
DEVELOPMENT OF CREATiVITY
It is possible to develop or boost creative talents in children 7 If so, what
implications it has, for educational practice and inseivice teacher preparation?
Creativity is an innovation in education said William (1973) Director of
National Schools Project in Minnesota. Although the term creativity was
used by early educators such as Froebel and Pestalozzi in the 19th Century
and it appeared quite frequently in the educational parlance during the
progressive educational movement of the thirties, yet it remained for the
200 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

educational psychologists of the sixties to outline training strategies for

improving creativity in children.
Osborn (1957) introduced the technique of Brain storming. Sydney
Parnes was a strong advocate of this technique. This is a veiy simple
procedure. The teacher simply encourages the pupils to ask as many
questions as possible, however, absurd or unreal these may be. In group
situation this may not be veiy effective said Torrance but when the teacher
asks pupils to ask questions orally it has been found to be quite effective.
Writing of questions or ideas those come up may not be stressed as children
might forget something while answering.
Torrance and Myers (1963) advocated among many others the technique
of active search or hypothesis formulating approach which ultimately proved
to be inferior to the creative reading approach for stimulating creativity. In
the creative reading technique pupils are told. "When you read you think of
the various use of reading materials, you think how best you can apply, think
in any possible manner when you come across any idea. Do not read with
a mind to have negative criticism but with an open mind to think of
alternative". This type of instruction to reading can be given by teachers and
parents interested in creative educational process at no cost.
We must know that learning does not occur only in a cognitive
environment but in an emotional climate where reward, acceptance and
tolerance prevail. Torrance recommended that teachers can encourage the
pupils to ask more questions and recognise their merits, reward them,
tolerate disagreements, accept child's imagination, understand the social
value of his question and do not create any kind of repressive atmosphere
in the classroom. Tbese are a few inexpensive had outs for a classroom
teacher.
The concept of idea books introduced by Torrance is another innovation
in the field. These books contain 50 to 100 pages, each page having a picture
and instructions for pupils to write down what they think about it. For
example, if the picture is of an incomplete animal, the child is required to
name the animal and describe the characteristics. This exercise is available
for children at various grades and is a profitable investment for promoting
and developing the talents of children.
Synectics is another such exercise. Familiar things are presented as if
they are unfamiliar. Children are asked to respond e.g. Did you read
down 7 Can you read a clock upside down? It is difficult but can you?
Gorden (1961) called it a creative problem solving approach or deferred
judgement but it has been a quite effective technique in classroom management
of creative talents.
DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY 201
Davis (1969) has presented four techniques in his book "Thinking
Creatively: a guide to Creative imagination" which are more appropriate
from the points of view of classroom theacher : These are
(a) Part changing method. The child is told about chalk. You see it has
colour, shape, size. Think of a chalk that has 15 colours, 10 shapes. 5 sizes.
Change each part and think of creating something original. You can take any
object and run this exercise.
(b) Checker Board. It is similar to cross word puzzle. In one side for
example, the characteristics of one individual is written and the other side
has the educational sitUation. The student is asked to fill up the type of
technique that is to be followed to teach him. This can be done using different
games and can become a routine exercise.
(c) Checklist. Seven characteristics such as colours area, size, new/old.
add/substract, rearrangement, new model are written in a paper. The
children are asked to use these dimensions when they describle books,
vehicles etc.
(ci) Finding something similar. Here the child told that your school has
no large space for cars to park. But parents come with their cars. Where can
they park? While thinking of the plans please keep in mind how' books are
arranged in a book store, shoes are kept in a shoe shop. how ants/bees live
etc. The child then can possibly try to think of a multistoried garrage. Many
such exercise can be thrown open to the pupils in a classroom to activate the
creative thinking process.
PAKSA
This technique was developed by J.W. Taylor (1961) and refers to the Pack
Corp Scientific Approach in honour of the Packaging Corporation of
America. This is a modification of other techniques. The technique consists
of nine steps
1. Pick a Problem. Define your problem in writing. State what's wrong-
what needs fixing. State your objective and what result you seek.
2. Get knowledge. Get known facts. Get new knowledge. Study written
references. Experiment, explore, research deeply and broadly. Talk with
informal people. Check your findings and put them in writing.
3. Organise knowledge. Put your information into understandable
form. Sort it, organise it and write it.
4. Refine knowledge. Screen knowledge for relationship and principles.
Match fact against fact. Look for similarities, differences, analogies cause
and effect, combinations, patterns, apply stimulating questions, if new ideas
still are slow in coming to mind.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
202 -4
5. Digest. Let the conscious mind its "second wind". Put the subconscious
to work, Relax, take up another problem. Work at a hobby or enjoy somemild
deversion-until refreshed. Then....,
6. Produce Ideas. Ad lib or concentrate anew on your problem until
ideas begin to emerge. As they occur, don't stop judge them, producethem
wtit 'W1 as aty a1tenattveS as you can.
7. Rework Ideas. Check your new ideas for flaws. Examine each idea
objectively, question it, challenge it, test it, rework it, improve it, follow it
through.
8. Put Ideas to Work. If the approval and acceptance of others are
required, sell your ideas. Plan each sale. Allow enough time. Get participation.
Use "Samples", Stress customers interest. If new methods and skills are
involved, teach them.
9. Repeat the Process. Until it becomes a natural habit.
10. Role of a Teacher. A teacher must encourage children not to give
traditional answers, rather should give some whimsical answers which are
somtimes good.
• Prize rather than punish their individuality;
• Recognize the talents even though the views are not one's own or
they are not within the camp;
• Be cautious in editing what the child writes lest he may be offerded;
• Provide just suppose activities;
• Encourage them to record their ideas whenever they come;
• Provide materials (fairly tales) which development their imagmation;
and allow children to have sometimes day dreams and accept their
natural tendency to be different from adults.
My own observations have convinced me that an old head pandit busy
throughout the day in private tutions can only cause tension and despair in
a child, raise the child body temperature through his anticipated presence,
and frowning eyes, can see that the child rote memonseS the whole
curriculum within a month's time and go through it over again. He will
certainly miss the target of making the child learn far lass making him
creative.
Torrance stated often-' 'it does indeed seem possible to teach children to
think creatively. The most successful approaches seem to be those that
involve both cognitive and emotional functioning, provideadequate structures
and motivation, and give opportunities for involvement, practice and
interaction with teachers and other children. Motivating and facilitating
 203
DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY
creative functioning but differences seem to
certainly make a difference in
be greatest and most predictable wheninstructional
deliberate teaching is involved.
setting can make a lot
Teachers, through their behaviour in an
affective life of children but they mustbe
of difference in the cognitive and
count to foster creativity in pupils or
sure of their objectives, whether they
their own self-fulfilling prophecy"

[VLEW EXERCI]
500 words each:
Answer the folio wing questions within
1. Describe the characteristics of a creative child.
in children. How can creativity be
2. Outline the growth of creativity
developed?
3. What steps can be used to promote creativity? Give examples.
4. Define creativity and explain the process and product approach.
5. Explain with example PAKSA technique.
Write notes on the folio Wing within 50 words each:
1. Synectics
2. Brain storming
3. Paksa
4. Concept of creativity.
5. Torrance Test of Creative thinking.
6. Wallach and Kogan Test of Creative thinking.
7. Role of teacher
8. Checker Board
9. Checklist
10. Finding something similar.
11. Part changing method.
Write whether the statements are True or False:
1. Creativity is a process.
2. Creativity and intelligence are same but in different terms.
3. Synectics is not useful for creative thinking.
4. It is possible to teach children think creatively.
5. Teachers and Parents should promote uniformity in children.
Fill in the blanks:
I is the originator of creativity research.
2 wrote "the nature of Human intelligence".
3 is the most important characteristic ofcreativity.
4 introduced the concept of brain storming.
5 introduced the concept of idea books.
 16
Language Development

Language is a form of communication. It is one of the main things that

distinguishes human baby from an animal. The form of language may be
written, spoken, sign language etc. Speech is a form of language in which
articulate words or sounds are used to convey meanings and thoughts. In fact
simple vocalisation is not considered as speech unless it is associatedwith
some meaning or objects or persons i.e. da, da must refer to one person, not
to all men. Pronounciability is the second criterion ofspeech. In other words,
the baby, must clearly pronounce tile words so that these. are clearly
understood by others.
Speech a kind of behaviour that helps the child to move from a world
of egocentrism to a world of socialised relationship. The child with a better
language is able to establish better social relationship in play, in
neighbourhood
and in small groups. The child feels more secure when he develops a
command over language. He expresses his thoughts, feelings and attitudes
more freely.
Learning to speak is a long and complex process. The baby does notutter
a single word until the age of one year or a little more. In the early phase
i.e. prior to using words the baby babbles, cries, makes explosive sounds
for
communication.
In early days most vocalisation takes the form ofcrying. With increase
in age crying decreases and speech increases to convey feelings. Following
crying, the child makes explosive sounds commonly
"cooing". Babbling
appears around 6 months, although it depends upon the development of his
vocal mechanism, and his incentive to use it for speaking out. Babbling is
considered as 'play speech' but it lays in foundation for later development.
Speech is a skill and like all other skills it is learned. The learning of
speech or language is closely associated with correspondingdevelopments in
speech organs, mouth development, and ability of the child to associate
sounds or words with meaningful events, objects, and persons. Although
rudimentary speech appears before 12 months yet, speech readinessappear
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 205
between 12 and 18 months in most babies. The baby learns the language by
imitating the speech sound of others or models, associates meaning with
words following the conditioning and reinforcement systems but a major part
of the speech also occurs through insight and contiguity. On the basis of
various language studies, it seems that speech or language has two different
aspects: language production and language comprehension. It can be clearly
stated that insight and understanding play a role in language comprehension;
and conditioning, reinforcement, imitation are more related to language
production. There is in fact, a vast difference between the two processes. The
child understands more than he can speak.
Lenneberg has outlined the development milestones in language
development which is given below. This gives a clear picture of language
acquisition from pre-speech stage to the period when language is well
established.
STAGES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Period at the end of Vocalisation and Languagr
3 months The child cries less. He smiles when some one talks before
him. He produces 'cooing' a sound which is vowel like in
character. The 'cooing' lasts for about 10-12 seconds.
4 months The baby responds to human sounds more definitely. He
turns his head. His eyes seem to look for the speaker. He
occasionally produces some chuckling sounds.
5 months The child utters some consonants sounds although they are
acoustically much different from sounds of matured language.
6 months Babbling vocal sounds become quite common. This appears
when child sees something or hears some sounds. Most
common sounds are ma, mu, da, or di.
8 months Reduplication becomes frequent. Intonations become distinct.
Speech or utterances signal some kind of activity.
10 months The baby tries to imitate sounds but he does not become
suècessful. He tries to differentiate between words which is
seen from differential adjustments. Usually the first word is
acquired by all children at this age irrespective of culture.
12 months The child's speech become holophrastic or syncretic. He
uses single words to express complex intentions. He
understands some words, simple commands (show me your
hand, show me your eyes etc.) He frequently uses 'mama',
'dada' and quite clearly too. The average vocabulary is 3
words.
18 months The child begins to combine words i.e. where papa, see ball,
eat cake etc. The child has acquired a vocabulary of at least
206 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

3 and less than 50 words, but on the average it is 22. Words

may include thank you, come here, but there is litjle ability
of the child to join any of the 1exeal items into spontaneous
two item phrases. His ability to understand progress quite
rapidly.
24 months The child has a vocabulary of more than 50 words. He is now
able to join two words and make a phrase. He can name
almost many things in the nearby enviromnent. He becomes
more interested in communicating using language. He uses
only nouns and verbs but no prepositions, and conjunctions.
His speech is more or less telegraphic; Inflections are also
absent in his speech. His vocabulary exceeds 50 words by
this age, the average being 272 words.
30 months Everday the child learns new words. He does not b"bble any
more. Each utterance is meaningful and purposive. He
becomes frustrated when others fail to understand him. He
uses sentences consisting of two to five words. The child
repeats adult language or what is called as echolaliac
speech. Sentences and phrases have characteristics of child
grammar. Omissions are noticed in repetition. For example,
the child hears, "I can see a cow" but utters 'see Cow'. The
child's speech is not very intelligible by this age. However,
the following semantic relations are typical in early speech.
Identification —See Ball
Location —Book there
Repetition —More milk
Non-existence —All gone
Negation —Not wolf
Possession —My ball
Question —Where Papa?
The child at this age seems to understand that is said to him.
3 years Vocabulary of children at this age is almost at a level of
1000 words. Nearly 80 per cent of what children say are
understood by others. Grammatical mistakes continue. The
child begins to use a few prepositions (in, on, under);
Copulars (is are); and infections (ed, ing, etc.) Morphemes
improve gradually over the next two years. Average
vocabulary is 896 words.
4 years Language is well established. The child's use of syntax are
slightly different from adults but soon the child learns to use
conect language in style, form, and grammar. Actually the
difference between child's and an adult's language at this
stage is more in style and less in grammar. Average vocabulary
for the 4 year old is 1540 words, and the average vccabulary
for the 5 year old is 2000 words.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 207
During School Years
The young child makes dramatic progress in acquiring grammatical
competence and semantic knowledge between the time he beings to use two-
word sentence at the age of 18 months and age of 4 to 5 years, within this
period of 30 months he essentially achieves mastery of complex structure of
native language which is reflected in both comprehension and production of
sentences. This is seen among the nursery school children. However, mastery
of syntax and semantics appear long after the nursery school.
Between the age of 5 to 7 years of grammatical rules are incompletely
developed i.e. use of have; nominalizations i.e. using a verb as a noun, e.g.
walking is a good exercise; and use of conjunctions i.e. if, so. Redundancy
in language also decreases gradually.
Psycholingwsts have explained language in terms of deep and surface
structure instead of following the traditional method of language acquisition.
According to them the six year old can understand the sentence in which
subjects of the deep and surface structure are same but not when they are
incongruent i.e. 'Lucy was impossible to seek'. It was impossible to see
Lucy'. After age 9, they have little difficulty in understanding these
variations in sentence.
Comprehension of passive forms i.e. 'the cart is pulled by the bullock'
develops relatively late. The five year olds never use passive forms in
spontaneous speech. Only when they reach age 7 and are given some
examples of passive forms, they can use passive forms in speech. This too,
is possible only in 50 per cent of cases. Longitudinal studies have shown that
syntax are complete between the age of 5-14 years. Children use greater
variety of grammatical patterns, variety of words, and their mean length of
sentences increase in number and complexity. Significant changes in
language acquisition occur mostly at two different periods Between 5-7
years and between 11-12 years corresponding to cognitive development.
At the semantic level, children use words in their vocabulary, rapidly.
But even at age 8, the child still confuses the meaning Of 'ask' and 'tell'. He
gradually uses the connectives : because, therefore, but, although, etc.,
beginning from the elementary school years. At about age six, because, then,
therefore, are used to express time relations than explaining the causal
relationships. All the three words are used as if they are semantically the
same. Understanding of 'But', 'Although' become perfect only at age 11.
Piaget pointed out that the complex meaning and relationships are
understood only after age 11 and 12. Language becomes first perceptual and
then cognitive. To illustrate this Piaget has explained how the meanings of
the words brother, sister, girl are not properly understood by 5 year old but
208 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

after age 9, children understand the meanings and relationships quite

clearly. At age 5, the child says, sister is a girl I know, brother is a boy. But
at age 9 or above they understand the relationships, that they are born from
same parents, live in the same house etc.
Before age seven, children do not apply the meaning of certain words
in double way. Words infact have both physical and psychological meanings.
For example, bright, hard, soft, sweet cold can be applied to describe physical
objects. The same words can also be applied to describe human beings,
thoughts and actions. Psychological meaning depends upon the level of
cognitive development. Therefore, Piaget said that language development is
really complete only during the period of formal operations. Higher form of
syntax and semantics in language can only appear after age 11 or 12
DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE HABIT
Eveiy child learns that the words have specific meanings. Learning to .
pronounce a word may be relatively easy but to comprehend the meaning of
word that has more than one meaning is really difficult for the child.
Attaclunent of meaning or understanding the meaning of words follows
the technique of conditioning. At first, the child makes random circulatory
responses. He utters words and listens and then repeats. In the second
situation or thereafter, he hears others saying a word and he repeats i.e. he
utters by listening to the speech sound of others. Subsequently, he hears
someone telling a word and simultaneously the person or object is present.
In this situation of simultaneously occurrence, the child associates the word
with the concrete object or person. When he sees the same object or person
and nobody says anything, yet spontaneously he utters the 'word' that he has
learned to associate. By this way he attaches meaning to a word. All
meanings are first learned in connection with specific object or person. It is
only later he generalises the meaning to similar situations.
As the child becomes older he is able to learn abstract words and abstract
relationships.
SPEECH DEFECTS
Defects in speech appear either due to malformations of the speech organs
or due to emotional disturbances. Some of the common speech disorders are
mentioned below.

Lisping
This consists of letter-sound substitution, Children, while pronouncing
'Simple Simon' pronounce, 'Thimple Thimon'; 'Red Rose' as wed wose'.
This happens due to defective teeth, jaw or fascination for using 'Baby
 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 209

speech', In other words, children due to one or other reason substitute the
for 's' or z', 'w' for 'r' and so on. Soon after their pennanent teeth appear,
their lisping decreases. In rare cases due to organic defects or space between
teeth lisping may be seen.
Stammering and Stuttering
Stuttering is a kind of repetitive speech. It results out of failure of speech
muscles to co-ordinate. Sometimes it appears that the person does not know
suddenly what to say, often accompanied by stammering. There is check of
speech followed by sudden speech which then is followed by no speech and
so on. Children when asked to say something before the class they sutter but
they can sing fairly well. Between age 21-2 to 31-2 stuttering is due to lack
of correlation between thought and language. Later on, it appears due to poor
vocabulary, overprotective parents, dominant and over anxious parents.
• These factors are responsible for its persistence.
Stammering is a type of stuttering i.e. tonic stuttering. This means
prolongation of the sound of the opening letter of a word i.e. b....bath.
Stuttering real refers to repetition of the letter b-b-b-b-bath. Tonic stuttering
or stammering occurs when a child cannot get a word out. Some children
have problems with certain consonants and not in another. Clonic stuttering
is the repetition.of the same sound over and over again, Instead of saying bath
he will say b-b-b-b-bath. The speech therapist handles such cases and cures
them.
Stuttering is a form of speech impediment which is common in
preschool children. The most complicated task the child faces during
preschool year is the process of learning to talk. The child during age 2 to
3 years has so much to say and his vocabulary does not permit to do, lapses
into stuttering. Stuttering is seen more in boys and less in girls. Early
stuttering disappears if the parents do not make an issues of it and if they
let the child finish his utterances witlwut correcting him, or calling attention
to his difficulties or otherwise interrupting him.
The child who stutters is under serious mental strain. Parental pressure
to force a child speak well confused coherant speech leading to stuttering.
• A child who is shy among strangers is unable to get his words out.
Embarrashment is also a cause of stuttering. Private worries e.g. death or
divorce in a family, left-right confusion, change in the family etc. also cause
stuttering in children. Stuttering is not consciously produced by the child.
Hence, it is useless to keep silence the child who stutters.
To treat stuttering, build his sense of security and self confidence. Do
not press him to talk. Listen him patiently and with interest. Talk with the
210 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

child in calm manner. Join him in play where much talking is not involved.
Stuttering under these conditions disappear. Security blanket offer comfort
to children.
Secondary stuttering persisting into the school years is seriOus
enough to demand professional help
Slurring
Sometimes the speech of the child• is not clear. This indistinctness or
slurring is due to inactivity of the lips, paralysis of vocal organs, timidity,
excitement or fear for strangers etc. It mostly appears during post school
years. Slurring can be corrected if the child opens his mouth while speaking
so that sounds can come out. They speak so fast that no body can understand
what they speak.
Cluttering
Cluttering is a rapid, confused, and jumbled type of speech. It is akin to
stuttering. But the more one tries to control it, the more of it you shall have.
Children whose speech development has been delayed give more evidence
of cluttering.
Speech defects besides lisping, are more common in boys than among
girls. Mc Carthy attributes, this to greater insecurity among boys than that
in girls.
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
There are various view points whether language is inherited, acquired
by imitation or due to socio-cultural conditioning although the fact remains
that language is the basis of communication and there is universality in the
pattern of language acquisition. The rate in which language is developed,
however, is influenced by some background factors.
Health
When the child suffers from severe and prolonged illness during the first
two years of life, language development is impaired. Illness not only delays
the development of speech organs but isolation and seclusion confines
communication with adults concurrently.

Intelligence Level
There is a strong relationship between intelligence and language
development. Babblings at an early age are better predictor of child's
intelligence. Children of high intelligence show better linguistic competence
both in vocabulary, length of sentences uttered, and correctness of sentence
structure.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 211

Socio-Economic Status (SES)

Children who are born in upper socio-economic class families talk
sooner, talk better and talk more than those of lower group children. The
latter group of children suffer from listening elaborative language, suffer
from under and over stimulation, and commit more articulation errors. The
relationship between SES and language ability is well established and the
gap in language competence and production becomes morebetween high and
low SES groups as age advances.
Sex
Boys lag behind girls in learning to talk. Compared to girls the mean
length of sentences uttered by boys is less. The comprehension vocabulary
is also small in case of boys. Boys commit more grammatical eors and their
pronunciation is less accurate. Sex difference in favour of girls remainand
become quite pronounced with every increase in age.

Family
A healthy, stimulating and rewarding environment faci1itate language
development, particularly the relationship between mother and child. In
contrast, the children reared in institutions are slow in learning to talk, and
remain retarded in language development throughout thier lives. This
happens primarily because of lack of adequate adult contact and personal
relationship in the institutional set up.
Twins and triplets relatively slow in speech development. Those who are
only children they are definitely superior in linguistic skill. Children from
bilingual homes, in general, have greater difficulty than those from
monolingual homes in learning languages. Rate of language acquisition is
obviously influenced by the degree to which the child's language leads
directly to rewarding or gratifying goal states. In other words, family
interactions are quite important in language development of children.
TECHNIQUES POR ACCELERATING LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Children vary greatly in rate of language development. So chronological
age is a poor index of linguistic competence. According to Brown (1958) the
best index of language development is MLU or mean length of utterances.
Certain techniques have been suggested to accelerate the rate of vocabulary
growth, and language comprehension in children during ealy childhood
years.
Schianger (1967) has stated as well as established experimentally that:
(a) telling stories to children, exposing them to different play things,
naming objects before them, describing various objects;
 212 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(b) acquainting children with different concrete objects and teaching

words; and
(C) encouraging children to play, and communicate with playmates
verbally etc. have been effective in accelerating the rate of language
acquisition in children.
Stearns and Spicker (1966) developed some of language lessons and
these lessons were given to children everyday during school hours. The
children were told how to construct a sentence with prepositions, connectives,
conjunctions, verbs etc. They were helped to describe the food during the
dining hours. They were taken in field trips and were assisted to describe
what they see. It was found that such training through well structured lessons
increased the MLU of the children in the training group. The Russian
Psychologist Luria (1957), has supported such a stand in the acquisition of
language.
Montessone technique of playing with materials or sensory training
enables the child to speak and increase his working vocabulary. Smith (1965)
examined the effect of an intervention programme on language acquisition.
He gave language lessons to the experimental group children three times a
week for months and each session lasted for 45 minutes. The children
responded through verbal and motor activities. It is found that language
training has helped the experimental group to increase by 6.75 months
compared to their actual age. The children who were not given training were
44 months below their CA in language acquisition.
Bernstein (1967), one of the most noted British Social Scientist
emphasized the role of parents in the language development of children. He
firmly believed that children who live in families where, parents use
restricted language code, homes are crowded, there is more of over stimulation,
parents punish children than explaining things to them, the children's
language becomes inferior compared to children whose parents speak
elaborative language and explain things to them. For example, instead of
saying 'stop', 'Idiot', or giving a 'slap', to children, if the parents say "This
activity is bad, If you are doing this, you are going to loose yourself, If you
do away with this, others will be pleased. By this the child is exposed to
different words, expressions and he tries to acquire a few out of them.
The following is a very good example of how a lower class mother and
middle calss mother interacted with their children and how the middle class
mother's use of elaborative code is helpful for the development of language
ability in children.
While travelling in a bus the mothers instructed the child in the
following way:
 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
213

Low SES Mother Middle SES Mother

Mother — Hold on tight Mother— Hold on tight, Darling.
Son —Why? Son —Why?
- Mother — Hold on tight Mother — If you don't, you will be
thrown forward and you will fall.
Son —Why? Son —Why?
Mother — You may fall Mother — Because if the bus stops suddenly
you will jirk forward on to the seat
in front.
Son —Why? Son —Why?
Mother — I told you to Mother — Now darling, hold on tightly.
hold on tight. Did not I? Don't make a fuss.

Bernstein (1967) suggests if the parents especially the mother handles

the child's curiosity questions, thinking, and reasoning abilities by
f encouragement, explanatory answers, use variety of language to answer,
then the language abilities of the child is accelerated. Hess and Shipman
(1965) extended this kind of reasoning and confirmed the findings of
Bernstein. In fact, American studies have shown that a daily 15-20 minute
session on language training in school has been productive in improving the
language skill among the low SES and deprived children.Russian experiments
on the other hand, emphasized that concentrated individualised language
training helps the child to offset ill effects of early deprivationin language
development.
For effective language development, mimmal stimulation in homes is
required. This enables the child to listen early, to discriminate the sounds
clearly, and to verbalise these.
In case, there is over crowding or over stimulation, the above functions
necessary for acquisition of words are impaired. The technique of modelling
has been suggested for improving language. The child can imitatethe model
and learn the language of the model which is being rewarded in his presence.
Bereiter and Engleman (1966) have suggested the drill technique for
improving language among children. The techniques is repetition of certain
sentences graded in order of difficulty by the teacher andcontinuous exercise
by the children. After prolonged practice children seem to use sentences and
words quite correctly and acquire different language skills. This programme
has drawn the attention of educationists involved in compensatory programmes
with disadvantaged children.
IMPLICATIONS
We are witnessing now the greatest change in the history of language
teaching; advances in linguistic science, new techniques of teaching,invention
214 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

and mass production of recording and viewing equipments, and extraordinary

interest in learning languages. The significance of linguistic advances to
languagó teaching has become very clear. Since World War II, this problem
is being faced rather squarely. Instead of emphasizing the granunar-
translation method and direct method that were prevalent in Europe for
language learning, linguists insisted on the imitation and memorization of
basic coversational sentences as spoken by native speakers. They provided
the descriptions of intonation, pronunciation, morphology, and syntax that
constitute the structure of language, which gradually emerge as one learns
the basic sentences and variations. The powerful idea of pattern practice was
developed. Subsequently tape recorders and audio devices made it possible
to provide authentic spoken models for oral-aural practice in homes. This
brought linguistic approach to high level of effectiveness.
To-day the linguistic approach for teaching language consists of:
(a) Basic conversational sentences for memorisation.
(b) Structural notes to help the students perceive and produce speech
sentence pattern of the Foreign language.
(c) Pattern-practice exercise.
(d) Laboratory materials for oral-aural practice out of class.
(e) Opportunity for use of the language in communication rather than
in translation (ef. Lado, R, 1964, P-6).
The ability to speak a language is not enough to help one to teach a
language. One must know the structure of language. This is what a linguist
is capable of doing. More important is, one must know the linguistic facts
our the language of the children in-order to help them to learn the target
language.
A teacher has to know why in English, spelling does ndcoincide with
pronunciation. Also he must know developmental psychology of language
learning, so that teaching of language will be effective. They must have a
knowledge of not only of the phonology i.e. sound system, morphology i.e.
pattern or part of words, syntax, but also how they are developmentally
related to processes of growth and speech organs, and developmental
milestones and learning environments, the speech errors due to emotional
and embarrashing situations. Whether it is the linguistic approach, teaching
of grammar, the drill technique, the reinforcement system/contiguity theory
or more than one technique are involved in language learning, it needs to be
clarified through a scientific approach. A suggested approach based upon
available information, is given here, for use by teachers and others who are
interested in language teaching.
What steps for improving language development of the preschools are
to followed 7 It must be remembered that a child learns from a good speech
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 215
model. Adults should use clear, and concise words slowly. Parents should
encourage children to have both verbal and non-verbalcommunication. They
must ask children to talk about something. They must ask questions, ask
them to describe toys, picture, books, pets, and enc1udge them to do so.
Encourage listening and attention skills. Nursery rhymes are useful in this
regard. Parents should encourage children to speak to them and act out to
directions. They should.develop self expression. Use exact terminology and
talk at the level of the children. Correct the child criticism. These suggestions
have been experimented and found effective in helping the preschoolers to
learn language by (Landreth 1972).
PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE TEACHING
(a) Teach listening and speaking first, reading and writing next.
Writing does not represent intonation, rhythm, stress, and structures
etc. and transfer from audio to visual learning is greater. Good
models of speech should be available for language teaching.
(b) Have the students memorize basic conventional sentences accurately.
This principle has psychological and linguistic justification.
(c) Encourage the students to use the patterns learnt in practice so that
it becomes a habit.
(d) Teach sound system structurally by demonstration, imitation,
contrasts, and encourage children to produce speech than simply
comprehending it. Practice will increase fluency and flexibility.
(e) Keep the vocabulary load to a minimum while students are masterng
soUnd system and grammatical patterns., because it is not the
vocabulary that constitutes language but the pattern, sound contrast,
and the sequences.
0) Teach the patterns gradually in cumulative grades and steps.
Language acquisition is a complex habit and it has to be acquired
slowly i.e. Begin with sentences (not words), teaching requests,
greetings, introduce subsentences, structured words, modification
structures; Add new elements to previous pattern i.e. after you teach
the pattern 'do you understand'; you can teach, what, when, where
questions; follow the principles of programming.
(g) Avoid teaching language through translation. Psychologically the
process of translation is more complex and unnecessary because it
presuppoes conceptual understanding of both languages.
(h) Teach the language as it is true of the educated native speakers of
the language not in terms of what it outh to be. If conununicate the
intention of the speaker.
(1) Quantity and permanence of learning are dependent on practice,
216 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Hence, it encourage child for practising language, linguistics have

also emphasized practice through memorisation and pattern practice.
Experiments show 85 per cent should be for practice.
(j) Skinnerians believe that shaping and promptings are necessary for
helping child to respond. Hence, give articulatoiy or other hints to
help the students to articulate response.
(k) Give immediate reward or appreciation when language learning is
upto the mark.
(1) Teach the meaning of language as it exists in a particular culture
where the language is spoken natively.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. Describe the nature of language development during preschool year.
2. Describe the techniques of accelerating language development.
3. What factors are associated with language development?
4. What are the principles of language teaching?
5. What are the various speech defects ? What remedial steps can be taken to
reduce these defects?
6. How would you teach language to a preschool child?
7. What is stuttering ? How can you reduce its occurrence?
8. Outline the varius stages of language development.
9. Outline the stages of language development of children during school years.
What are the educational implications in studying language development?
10. Mention the contributions of Lenneberg to our understanding of language
development in children.
Write the contributions of the following within 50 words each:
1. Stearns and Spicker
2. Montessone
3. Bernstein
4. Schlanger
5. Bereiter and Engleman
Write about the following in about 50 words:
1. Echolaliac speech
2. Elaborated code
3. Egocentric speech
4. Socialised speech
5. Speech pathology
6. Stuttering
7. Stammering
8. Lisping
9. Cluttering
10. Parent's role in language.
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 217
Write n*ether the statements are True or Fatce:
1. Non-verbal language appear after birth.
2. Language is a medium of communication.
3. Maturation has no role in language development.
4. Language and speech development are differeiit.
5. Language is inherited.
Fill in the blwskc:
1. Between age 12 and 18 months the child is able to utter type of language.
2. Girls are to boys in language development.
3. Language is an aid to
4. Bilingualism at home acquisition of language.
5. Vocabulary is in boys than in girls.
6 Drill technique to improve language was suggested by Bereiter and
Engleman.
7 suggested use of elaborated code.
8 suggested use of sensory training.
9. Speech defects are common in than among girls.
10. Stammering is otherwise known as stuttering.
17
Personality Development

How do human become persons and develop the personality they have
and how does this determine their later behaviour ? These two terms are
difficult to differentiate. Personality infact is behaviour. When '*e talk of
persoiality we generally ask a few questions to ourselves. Is he pleasant or
unpleasant 7 Does he make us happy and comfortable to be with him 7 Is he
sincere or two faced 7 These qualities• make one unique and each person is
different from others. Not only these qualities are personal they are also
social as they manifest themselves in interaction with others. Hence,
personality is that which characterises an individual and determines his
unique adaptation to the environment.
Philosophers have interested themselves for a very long time for
knowing human personality. Plato in his Republic distinguished three
aspects of personality: intellect, emotion, and will. All these three aspects
are integrated in a given act or situation.
The study of personality might take a number of forms depending upon
the interest of the writer or investigator i.e. dynamics of personality,
development of personality from birth to maturity. There are two basic
approaches to the study of human personality : idiographic and nomothetic.
The aim of the ideographic approach is to understand the unique qualities
of one individual person and aim of the nomothetic approach is to arrive at
universally acceptable laws applicable to all personalities.
In the study of child psychology we are primarily interested in five
questions about of personality among children growth of personality among
children.
(a) What actually happens when a child grows physically and
psychologically?
PERSONAUTY DEVELOPMENT 219

(b) How do changes come about?

(c) Why do they occur?
(d) When do they occur?
(e) What are the roles of family, school, peer group etc. on personality?
The child reacts to a variety of objects, events and persons. He or she
does not have innate tendencies to love, to hate, to fear, to approach or to
avoid people. The child predominantly is a biological organism interested
more physical comforts and wellbeing. He gradually learns the social
manners, etiquettes, and acceptable patterns of behaviour. He wants to be
socialised and this process of socialisation begins at home. The experience
with the human beings during the first year of life lays the foundation for his
future attitudes towards them. His relationships with the mother in most
cases form the nucleus for his later behaviour towards others.
FIRST TURFI YEARS OF LIFE
A few spontaneous responses appear which are predominantly meant for
his survival such as : vocalisation, sucking, smile, cry etc. Around 3n1/4th
month he begins to manipulate his finger, his mother's hair, and toys. Most
of the child's time is spent by looking at and scanning the mother's face. The
infant babbles, the mother smiles and vocalises back. Circulatory babbling
responses increase with the growth of the child. Smiling appears after two
months of age and is mostly directed towards the mother; crying acts as an
effective method or signal to the mother either to retrieve or attend to her
baby. When the mother comes, the child feels relaxed by sitting in the lap
of the mother. Most babies such milk from the mother and watch the
mother's face. But babies cling to their mother and scan her face even when
sucking milk from the milk bottle. Hence early behaviours of the infant are
directed to the biological mother. In Jung's terms the mother is liked because
she is food providing and nourshing. This contact of the child with the
mother influences his behaviour slowly but surely. The child becomes
attached to her.
Attachment
In recent times this behaviour between the child and the mother is being
explained in terms of the concept of attachment. Attachment develops
because of the conditioning of positive reward value of the mother. The child
looks for the mother whenever the child feels hungry and or in need of any
kind of nurturance. If instead of rewarding, nurturing, holding the baby in
comfortable position, the mother shows an attitude of indifference or is
callous, cold or she handles the child very roughly, the mother consequently
becomes a source of anxiety and discomfort. In such situations, children
withdraw from the mother. Attachment or withdrawal are learned behaviours
observed in children.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
220
Several experiments have been reported in the literature which explain
the nature of social learning in children. Harlow is the pioneer researcher in
this field. He and his colleagues placed infant monkeys with mother monkeys
constructed out of wire mesh. Some of these infants were fed from a bottle
attached to the chest of a plain wire mesh mother. The remaining ones were
fed from the wire mesh mother covered with teriycloth. It was found that the
infants would go to the wire mother when hungiy, suck the milk from the
bottle until satisfied and to the terry cloth mother for most of the day. When
a spider was placed in the cage the infant monkeys ran to the mother, than
to the wire mesh mother. On several experiments Harlow observed these
behaviours.
The conclusions emerging from Harlow's studies were For normal
development the young monkey or the human baby needs some interaction
with an object to which he can cling, scan or vocalise. The one year old baby
runs to the mother and hides his face in her clothes if a strange person enters
the house. Since the mother elicits these responses, she is likely to becomes
the object of attachment for the young baby and the baby is attached.
Reduction of discomfort and the supply of pleasant sensatiQns become the
primary source of attachments.
Soon these attachment responses are generalised to other people. The
infant develops a fairly articulated schemata of the caretaker's form and
voice. Whiting and Child (1953) observed that the monkeys who were reared
by a human being for the first three weeks, and then isolated for the rest of
the first year, spent more time with the animal worlds them the monkeys
reared by a human being. In the animal world also the monkeys reared by
their mothers spend most of their time approaching another monkey. On the
other hand, the monkeys reared in isolation for the first six months remained
aloof approaching neither monkey or man.
Rheingold (1956) demonstrated the effects of early isolation using
human infants. Sixteen, six months old babies who lived in an institution
were divided into two groups. One group was reared by a good substitute
mother and the other half was reared by different persons every day in a
routine fashion. Babies with the substitute mother received greater care. A
social responsiveness test was given to these children. The children expressed
their reactions to a stranger experimenter, and examiner who come from
another test. The infants brought up by substitue mother appeared more
responsive to all these persons than the other group reared by different
persons each day. The conclusion that appears from these investigations is,
social responsiveness increases with the reciprocal and playful social
stimulation that occurs between the child and the adult or the mother
substitute.
 PERSONAUTY DEVELOPMENT 221
In addition to social responsiveness, the child acquires a mental image
of the person who is the object of attachment. Consequently the child
develops a tendency to react with fear and avoid people who differ from the
caretaker. However, with continued exposure to the strange object the period
of anxiety passes away.
Gewirtz (1965) observed the development of smiling response as an
indicator of attachment and sociaj learning in the first year of life. He
observed three groups of children in Israel who were reared under three
different conditions. The institutionalised children who rarely see their
parents and received routine care developed smiling after 4 months of
age the children who were placed under the collective settlement and were
raised by the professional caretaker after the first year care by the mother
showed smiling earlier. In a sense they were more akin to the family reared
children. It appears that it takes a little more time for a child to develop a
schemata of human face in case the child is not reared in a natural
environment.

Anxiety
Two major classes of anxiety grow out of close contact or attachment to
an adult.
(a) Stranger anxiety and
(b) Separation anxiety
It is quite nature for a child to show fear or anxiety towards the stranger.
But proximity to the mother inhibits the fear as if the child felt more secured
r when held by her. The emergence of stranger anxiety is interpreted in this
way. That by age 6 to 8 months, most infants have developed such a good
schema for their that the stranger is a discrepancy. After a year the child
meets many persons coming to the house where is lives. The faces become
generalised and a new face becomes less anxiety producing. But children
who are brought up in institutions rarely show stranger anxiety because these
children are acquainted with different human faces from the very beginning.
Separation anxiety appears when the mother leaves the child in the room
alone and goes away somewhere for sometime or leaves the child behind
while going to some places or one some occasions. The child is so attached
to the mother that he can not face separation. This does not appear untill the
child reaches around one year of age. It disappears when the child becomes
11-2 to 2 years old. In our culture even at 3 or 4 years of age the child feels
separation anxiety, unlike the American culture where the child is separated
from the mother in many ways quite in the development.
The situation giving rise to a feeling of separation anxiety may involve
these c3mponents.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
222
1. Discrepancy that is produced by being separated from the mother.
2. Discrepancy of habitual response to the mother.
3. Inability'to make relevant responses that brings the mother.
But as the child grows older and older he experiences frequent separations
from his mother and he interprets her absence and reassures himself of her
return.
INADEQUATE CARE IN EARLY CIIILDIIOOD
The ill effects of inadequate care and institutionalization have been shown
in case of mentally retarded children, animals and children who were kept
in orphanages due to some reason or other. The work of Rene Spitz,during
the 40's are quite significant with human infants, Spitz found:
(a) A child does not have a primaiy adult devoted to his care does rarely
become attached to an adult, if at all.
(b) He is less likely to show stranger anxiety, separation anxiety and
social responsiveness than the family reared chidren.
(c) He is less likely to smile, vocalise, laugh or approach adults.
()
He is retarded in language development.
Harlow (1966) observed that monkeys reared in isolation for a period of
six months or so develop extreme abnormal behaviour when they are
removed from isolation and they placed in a normal or natural environments.
They appear fearful, avoid social contact and it is difficult for them to come
to a normal state, if the period of isolation is over a year.
So far as human babies are concerned, no one is raised in totalisolation
but the effects of lack of a caretaker can be studied among infants raised in
an institution. Even in better institutions; a child has less opportunity to
become attached to an adult, He shows less anxiety when the adult caretaker
leaves the institution. The child in an institution rarely gets a chance to have
face to face contact and vocalisation consequently leading to poor language
development.
Spitz (1946) furthàr observed that nearly 15% of children during 7 to
12 months, 'developed certain uncommon behaviours such as : crying,
indifference to adults, living, sittug with cold and frozen face, apathy about
the whole environment. These behaviours appeared due to inadequatecare
and inconsistant child rearing practices inside the institutions. In those
institutions children are fed mechanically devoid of any humanitarian
interactions. For the first 2 or 3 months significant different,es did not appear
between an institutionalised child and a child reared ii neutral family
environment, but the following characteristic differences appear in the
institutionalised children after 4 months of age:
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
223
(a) Vocalisations are very little.
(b) No cooing, no babbling and very little crying is observed.
(c) No postural adjustment or preparation to go to the adults arms, is
made.
(ci) Around 8 months of age interest in toys and external environment
decreases.
(e) Stranger anxiety is rarely, seen.
(J) Facial expressions are blank and no expression as in family reared
children.
(g) Withdrawal from frustrating situations are quite common.
(Ii) Even at one year of age, no sign of language development is seen.
The characteristics varied in intensity or degree depending upon the
nature of deprivation. In Iran two types of institutions were observed:
(a) Deprived setting—where one attendant was looking after the
children. No toys were made available; children were not allowed
to play engage themselves in any kind of mother activity.
(b) Enriched Setting —-where one attendant was looking after 3
children. They were held in arms while eating. Toys and otherplay
materials were available to these children.
In both these institutions children were admitted shortly after their birth.
Their behaviours were compared during the second year of development. It
was observed that nearly 90 of the children under the enriched setting could
sit alone as against 42 per cent of the children of thedeprived setting. Sixty
per cent children of the enriched setting could stand and walk by 2 years of
age compared to only 5. per cent of children reared in the deprived setting.
Lack of opportunity to do motor activity has depressed the development of
motor competence. But the main factor responsible for such behavioural
retardation is absence of the motor or maternal deprivation.
Bowlby's paper (1944) concentrated on the effects of maternal deprivation
experiences on later behaviour stimulated much research into the early
mother child relationship. But Clarke and Clarke (1978) write "the whole
of development is important not merely the early years." However, the early
years are important because:
(a) the plasticity of the infant's nervous system makes him very
succeptible to new learning.
(b) such learning is very impressionable and not easily overtermed
by
later and different (better) experiences.
The experiment of Harlow (1962) with rhesus monkeys and Denenberg
(1962) with rats indicates that for these animals at least early infant
experiences of a certain kind can lead to improverishecj facial and sexual
behaviours and neuroticism.
224 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Maternal sensitivity to the stimulation of baby's sense of curiosity and %

desire to learn has been discussed in the literature. What is infact important
is not the quantity of interaction but the quality. Hence at this stage of our
knowledge we do not know the extent to which multiple mothering or lack
of responsive and sensitive care by itself affects the development of personality.
But we have to consider that:
(I) infant has an inherent ability to be social, which has however, to be
developed.
(ii) the plasticity of his nervous system and the speed of the development
of his nerve cells in infancy enable him to learn in a manner, he will
never be able to be equal and,
(iii) his emotional needs and sense of helplessness are such that responsive
caring must be immensely comforthig and anxiety reducing.
More specifically behavioural deficits in the institutionalised deprived
setting is due to the following three reasons:
(a) maternal deprivation
(b) minimal opportunity for social learning and development of motor
responses.
(c) lack of varied and distinct sensoly stimulation.
The ill effect of institutionalisation are not confined to only early months
of life but it has also significant effects on later life. Children who lived in
institution for continuous three years showed that they are even inferior to
foster children in.
(a) Concept formation, reasoning and abstract thinking;
(b) Ability to recall and inferential thinking during adolescence;
(c) Language production and comprehension. Then children continued
to remain as intellectually retarded even after a change to foster
homes. They become emotionally more stimulating after living in
foster homes.
The institutionalised children are more aggressive, dependent, attention
getting, hyperactive, more distractible and emotionally cold compared to
children reared in foster homes.
Lack of consistent interaction with the caretaker is major defect in the
institutional setting which depresses linguistic, cognitive and social behaviour. -i
Maturational activities are late to appear. In one culture, most children come
from lower social class families and suffer from cultural deprivation which
manifest in poor cognitive and social development. Such damages are
irreversible. The bulk of the evidence supports the conclusion that placement
of children in the institutions is emotionally and intellectually severely -
damaging to the child. Studies of animals reared in isolation indicate
that simpler organisms too suffer from lack of normal stimulation and
interaction.
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 225
7 Infant and childhood deprivation is not a simple concept. It may refer,
not to the lack of the mother but to social isolation, cruelty and neglect,
institutional upbringing, adverse child rearing practices, separation practices,
severe economic and cultural deprivation. In early childhood children should
be given adequate environmental stimulation; close, and intimate care and
tender personal relationship should exist between children and adult members
in a family, especially with the mother.
Critical Period
The critical period hypothesis follows directly from the ethological
evidence for critical period in animal learning and imprinting (Bowlby,
1969). The white-crowned sparrow for example, must hear its specific song
before it is four months old, or it will never learn it.
Comparative psychologists believe that a process akin to imprinting
occurs in human and but this cannot be accepted unquestionably yet. Indeed
there may be critical periods during which the child is especially sensitive
to certain kinds of learning experiences.
The psychoanalytic or Freudian theory of development is probably the
best to explain critical periods. Briefly stated the major aspects of this theory
are as follows
(a) development follows a set of immutable stages;
(b) the stages unfold as a result of biological development and action
of the environment;
(c) development can be arrested and
(d) the personality characteristics of adult hood, one's propensity for
certain psychopathologies and coping mechanism can be traced to
childhood experiences. The developmental stages are described by
Erickson (1963).
Adolescence may also be critical period during which certain key social
attitudes are formed.
Harlow and Harlow (1949) have posed the following problem. How does
an infant born with only a few simple reactions development into an adult
capable of rapid earning and thinking ? Children come to school in order to
learn and teachers hope to help them learn but learning is much wider than
school learning.
Learning involves diverse activities such as learning to control our
emotions; learning to conform to society's needs learning a skill; learning
to think conceptually; as well as learning of facts. Than the question is how
to learn? Learning can be broadly of four types:
(a) imprinting
(b) imitation and identification
226 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(c) classical conditioning and

(d) operant conditioning.
Imprinting is farm of learning which has been extensively studied
during the past 45 years, first in birds and later in animals and human beings.
It was thought imprinting is instinctive learning which occurs very early in
life. It occurs without any reward.
Imprinting is kind of amalgam of an inherited tendency to behave in a
particular way and experiences occuring at the right time in early life display
this behaviour. Lorenz (1935) found that newly hatched ducklings instinctively
followed their mother but they also followed Lorenz if he makes quacking
noises and not the mother duck. So in early life imprinting occurs and if the
baby has been imprinted to something less it has adverse effect upon later
life. Human belief are particularly sensitive at certain periods of life. To a
particular kinds of experiences and that their later development may be
affected if these experiences are missed.
Smiling, visually following the mother, attachment behaviour to a
person are examples of human imprinting experiences, appearing before the
baby is six months old. It is not a classical process of learning in case of
human beings.
A human baby learns by imitation. Aronfred (1968) has suggested that
affect has a strong mediating role in influencing the occurrence of the child
to see that the act he is about to copy is an appropriate guide for behaviour
for himself. Imitation is a kind of empathetic learning; the child experiences
instinctively the satisfactio*i experienced by the person on whom he is
modelling himself Imitation or ability to imitate has been observed in the
first few weeks of life. Identification is also a process of imitation which gives
rise to learning characteristics of the identified model. Identification is
observed from the behavioural act of imitation. Classical conditioning and
instrumental conditioning techniques explain how behaviours are learned
and modified.
Pre-school Years
As the child progresses his personality becomes more differentiated. For
various reasons, the pre-school period is considered very critical. Many
important characteristics have their genesis during this period such as : sex
curiosity, dependence, aggression, regression, achievement motivation, sex-
typing, anxiety and conscience. Some of these trãi1 become stable and
eduring early in life and are predictive of the future. For example a 5 years
old who is anxious becomes shy when he is an adolescent or adult. The
child's personality develops through the earliest complex social relationships
in family.
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 227
Sex motive
Sex motives are wishes related to genital organs. Sex play occur in
young children of both sexes. Stimulations from genitals also become more
mtense during the preschool period. Questions about sex, particularly about
the origin of babies and anatomical sex differences are common between the.
age of 2 and 5. Instances of exhibitionism (exposing genitals), voyeurism
(looking at others genitals) and curiosity about anatomy of opposite sex are
very common. Malinowski observed that sex play is very common in Trobian
Island where as it is very restricted in Western as well as in Indian culture.
These usually create conflicts and anxiety and they anticipate punishment.
A child is not likely to develop anxiety associated with sex and sexual
behaviour if parents handle the sex curiosity of thier children with little
realistically. In fairnesses, the parents should answer questions franldy,
quickly, truthfully and without showing any sign of embarrassment. Sex
education is now recommended in schools.
Aggression
Behaviours are actions that are intended to cause injury or anxiety to
others including certain physical symptoms such as hitting, kicking, destroying
property, quarreling, attacking others verbally and resisting requests. These
behaviours have an innate biological basis. Lorenz speaks of aggression as
a species preserving instinct in humans and as well as in animals. Aggression
in human beings can be maintained by mediating cognitive structure and to
a smaller degree is stimulus bound. Children who are more active are also
more aggressive. Aggressive behaviours of children depend upon many
factors:
(a) the motivation or desire to hurt others;
(b) degree of environmental frustration;
(c) observation and imitation of aggressive models;
(d) anxiety and guilt associated with the expressions of aggression.
Aggression is a reaction to frustration. Frustration arises when the path,
to the goal are blocked, self-esteem is threatened or the children are deprived
of the opportunity to fulfil their motives. Children differ in their assessment
of how frustrating a particular incident is.
A highly dependent child may be easily frustrated by the absence of his
mother. Some children have low frustration, tolerance and others can with-
stand higher frustration. Children who have capacity to tolerate are not easily
frustrated by minor frustrations. Aggressive response to frustration is
learned. Aggressive actions eliminate frustration and evoke pain in the
individual causing frustration. Hence, aggressive reactions are often
repeated.
 I
228 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Regression
Regression is an immature response pattern at the time of frustration.
Barker, Dembo and Lewin (1941) observed behaviour of children under free
play and frustrating situations. Frustration effect was measured in terms of
productivity, creativity, and constructive activities. The child in a frustrating
situation cries immediately. His productive activities are vely low. He
becomes less creative and more rigid. It has been found that if the parents
are clearly permissive of rewarding of aggression, children are likely to show
and behave highly aggressively at home aid in other settings where they feel
aggression is permitted, expected, and encouraged.
Exposure to an aggressive model is likely to elicit aggression in
children. Bandura and Walters exposed aggressive real life or fantasy models
to preschool children. Ninty per cent children imitated the aggressive
responses of the model. Only observation of aggressive models is sufficient
to stimulate aggressive behaviour in children. Frustration is not a necessary
antecedent condition for the occurrence of aggressive responses on all
occasions. There aggressive responses which are acquired by dbsrving the
model may also generalise to other settings. Frequency of aggressive acts
increases after exposure to aggressive models and as a rewards for such
responses. Punishment for aggression according to principles of learning
lead to inhibition of overt aggression. If aggression is punished, the child
inhibits these responses and he expresses fear and anxiety to the hostile
objects. Sears observed these types of maternal punishment on child's
aggressive behaviour, such as : high punitive, low punitive, moderate
punitive.
When punishment becomes sufficiently severe it inhibits the specific
actions which are punished.

Displacement
It is a defense mechanism in which the actual object of aggression has
been shifted to his appropriate substitutes. Homes rated high in both
frustration and punishment produced children who manifested more frequent
and more intense expressions of displaced aggression than children from
homes rated low in both variables. The child while becoming angry with
father hits a doll or breaks a toy.
Mothers who permit aggression on some occasion and punish it at other
time are likely to have highly aggressive children. In consistency in
discipline creates a frustrating situation which increases aggressive behaviour
in children.
PERSONALITY DEVELOP.MENT 229

Dependency
In early childhood children are dependent, Dependency is a motive.
Children have the wish to be nurtured, aided, comforted and protected by
others. The children want to be emotionally close to and accepted by others.
They seek attention, recognition, approval, contact clinging to adult etc. But
if dependency behaviours are punished children will not exhibit such
behaviour with increase in age. The child undergoes training for independence.
Only under very pressing circumstances he expresses dependency behaviour.
Sometimes dependency behaviour may be based on the desire to get
attention, social prestige, rather than a desire for more help or assurance.
Research studies have shown that two year olds are more dependent on
teachers. 4yearolds are more dependent on peers Two year olds cling more
often 4 year olds.
A mother who consistently and frequently rewards and rarely punishes
dependent behaviours should produce a dependent child while punishment
for dependency should discourage this behaviour in the child. In institutional
setting dependency behaviour does not develop. The genesis of dependency
depends upon early experiences of consistent gratification of dependency
need.
Sears, McCoby and Levin (1957) observed some mothers of kindergarten
children who punished their children for dependency and as well as gave
attention when needed. Reward for dependency has tendency to increase
dependency only when it was superior compared to punishment for the same
behaviour.
Girls continue to be more dependent at this age than boys. Highly
dependent children become more aggressive when their direct attempts to get
help from others are frustrated. Such dependent children are not popular in
school. But children who are dependent upon peers are more complient when
peers requested them to do something and are sympathetic and helpful to
other children.
Dependency on adults has one advantage as their children learn faster
when they are rewarded by adults. Experiments have shàwn that child's need
for getting attention and nurtunince are increased if they experience nurturance
and their withdrawal of it. Praise after withdrawal was particularly an
effective reward and it led to harder work and faster learning. Nurturance
from a woman was worth more to a preschool boy than nurturance from a
man but nurturancefrom a man was more effective with preschool girls.
Those boys who are more dependent upon their mother do well in early years
if they get teacher's praise.
 230 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Achievement motivation
Competence motivation is an attribute of personality. It is closely related
to mastery and achievement in reading, writing and painting etc. Mastery
motivation is limited to physical and intellectual achievement. Children
learn competence motlyation quite early in life. Nursery school children who
spend most of time in achievement activities and are less dependent and do
not need much emotional support from others.
Early reward and encouragement by mothers lead to greatly competence
and achievement motivation among children compared to ignoring the
child's behaviour. Winterbottom has stated that mothers who are seifreliant
and independent, theii children become more achievement oriented. Yarrow
very clearly demonstrated that early training for independenáe and mastery,
contributes to the development of achievement motivation.

Anxiety
Anxiety influences the activities of children as well as adults. Minimum
anxiety acts as a spur to creativity, problem solving and inventive activities.
Anxiety in children arise primarily due to:
(a) less of parental love on the appearance of new baby,
(b) real of imagined rejection by parents,
(c) real or imagined rejection by peers,
(ci) severe punishment and restrictions,
(e) parents put too high standards for children,
(i) harsh or negative evaluations of the child's behaviour,
(g) in-consistency in parental treatment of the child and frequent
changes in mood and reactions to children.
Sarason (1957) and others observed the antecedents and consequents of
anxiety in young children by questionnaire technique with regard to test
taking situation in school.
But in preschool it is difficult to measure children's anxiety by
questionnaire. Hence, teacher's rating and exposing the child to strange
situations are used as methods of breaking anxiety. Anxiety affects social
behaviour and cognitive functioning in adults. Highly anxious children are
less active, more dependent, they feel inadequate and insecure in play and
prefer immature plays.
With regard to cognitive functioning, anxiety may facilitate learning, if
learning task is simple. But if the task is difficult and the well established
response is incorrect, then anxiety interferes with learning. In verbal
learning experiments and tasks children make more irrelevant and intervening
responses, if the children are highly anxious.
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 231

In general anxiety impairs children's performance on:

(a) veibal tasks
(b) difficult tasks
(c) language pronunciation and comprehensioi
(d) learning of concepts
Since school learning becomes more difficult gradually, anxious children
suffer more because of their anxiety in higher grades. Anxiety scores become
increasingly and negatively related to indeces of intellectual and academic
performance, over time.
Children use certain defence in frustrating situation. There are learned
responses used to avoid or reduce feelings of anxiety and live reasonably
comfortably. Every one uses defence mechanisms. But defence mechanisms
may have consequences that are extremely deleterious for mental health and
adequate emotional adjustment.
Defence mechanisms may be constructive or destructive, but certain
defence mechanisms are common in preschool children.
1. Withdrawal — The child withdraws from any situation which
appear threatening.
2. Regression — Primitive and earlier responses i.e. their
sucking, nailbiting.
3. Denial — The child insists that the incident is not there.
4. Repression — The child forcibly forgets the unpleasant
incident.
5. Projection — The child attributes his undesirable thoughts
to others.

Identification
Many activities of children such as motives, attitudes, moral standards,
etc. cannot be explained in terms of rewards, punishment and imitation. A
more subtle process i.e. identification is involved.
Originally introduced by Freud, it is a process that leads the child to
think, feel and behave is through the characteristics of another person,
usually a model. Identification is not a consciously initiated process like
learning.
The child observes his parents doing or displaying some activities. He
acts as if he or she possessed those characteristics, feelings or emotions of
the parents, with whom he has identified. Identification with parent is a very
important source of security for a young child. On the other hand, the child
identified with an inadequate model feels less secure and more anxious.
Identification is a process in which the child incorporates or observes
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
I
232
some of the models, complex integrated patterns of behaviour, personal
attributes, characteristics and motives. Those are imitated spontaneously
without any specific training or direct reward for imitation. They are
generally more stable and enduring. Identification is a basic process in the
socialization of the child. Two conditions influence the development of
identification.
(a) motivation to process the model's attributes,
(b) the belief that he and the model are similar in some ways.
Most children feel that their parents have many desirable qualities
which they would like to have. The discrepancy between himself and adults
enable him to acquire parents attributes. The children identi! with the
parents and the parents serve as models because of:
(a) power over the child and other people,
(b) mastery of the environment,
(c) love
The process of Identification if facilitated, where the model is a highly
desirable and attractive person. A nurturant parent is more likely to be
identified than a rejecting one because a nurturant parent stands for pleasure,
reward etc. For example a 3-years old girls may care for her toy in the same
way her mother cares for her. When parents are warm and accepting their
behaviours are easily identified.
Further more, the child imitates the parental behaviours in order to
increase the basis of similarity between himself and parents' traits. The child
tries to make himself similar to father or mother. Each time the child
perceives similarity with model, identifications are strengthened. The
development of identification is perception of similarity with the model
either derived directly or from communication with others. He feels that he
is similar to his parents.
When both parents are perceived as warm, powerful competent, the
child will identify to some extent with both of them. Typically identification
will be more with parent of the same sex.
As the child's social contact become wider and wider he tries to identifr
with adults and peers. Of course, it is difficult to state how much is due to
learning with reinforcement and how much is due to identification. But the
fact remains that identification is the central process in the acquisition of a
very wide range of behaviour and attributes of personality.
Freud described two major products of identification (a) Sex typing
(b) Conscience development.
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 233

Sex typing
Sex typing figures prominently in the socialization of the child. Most
parents pay considerable attention to sex appropriateness of their child's
behaviour, rewarding behaviours that are appropriate to his sex and discourage
those that are not, that is, if a boy cries after defeat in play he is punished
but if a girl cries she is rewarded. By age 4 & 5 children prefer toys
appropriate to their own sex. Social pressure also foster sex typing of
behaviour. The culture rewards for accepting sex appropriate behaviour i.e.
the boy after his father and the girls after his mother. Sex typing are acquired
at home largely through identification with and imitation of the parent of the
same sex. The ideal situation for sex appropriate behaviour are:
(a) When same sex parent is warm, and rewarding and possesses
desirable characteristics, and
(b) When both parents rear consistently sex appropriate behaviour.
Identification stems from a warm parental relationships. Mussen did a
study on sex role preference of 5-years old boys using a projective test: 10
high masculine and 10 low masculine boys were asked to complete stories
in a doll play. It was found that the high masculine boys perceive their father
as more nurturant and warm. Feminity in preschool girls seem to berelated
to warm-mother daughter relationships. Kohlberg offered a new cognitive
interpretation of the sex typing behaviour of children. According to him, the
most significant factor in sex typing is the child's cognition, his selection and
organisation of perception, knowledge and understanding of the sex role
concept.
Sex typing is initiated by the sex labelling of the child as a boy or a girl,
which occurs early in life. That he is a boy or a girl influences his values,
attitudes and motives. For Kohlberg sex typing is not a production of
identification and is a consequence of sex role. Boys model themselves after
males because of their masculine interests. Hence they behave, think, and
feel as men. So child's understanding of the environment strongly influences
his sex typing behaviours. Freud's understanding of the environment
strongly influences his sex typing behaviours. Freud's view is different from
this.
Development of Conscience
During the preschool years the child gives evidence of learning some
moral standards, he feels guilty for his wrong activity, if he violates anything,
Freud regarded the development of conscience or Super Ego as a product of
identification. He learns the parental moral standard and conduct i.e. being
honest, obeying rules, right and welfare of others.
 234 EtEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Anxiety about punishment or loss of love may motivate the acquisition

of moral standards and behaviours that please the parents.
Parental discipline and affectionate relationship with the child are likely
to foster the development of internalised reactions to transgression i.e.
feeling of guilt, confession etc. Warm relationship between the parent and
the child contribute to moral and conscience development in children.
Especially maternal warmth and acceptance were found to be positively
related to conscience development.
The use of withdrawal of love as a technique of discipline was also
associated with strongly developed conscience among young children. But it
is one of the many factors influencing conscience development in children.
For Kohlberg, the level of the child's cognitive development is one of the
crucial determinants of his moral judgement and behaviour.
We describe the changes in relation to the processes of change,
influencing factors for change and the period during which changes take
place.
Large number of studies concerning the relationship between family
atmosphere, parental attitudes and the personal and social adjustment of
children are reported. Parent child relationships affect the development of
specific traits and motives and the general pattern and structure of personality
of children in the preschool period to a considerable degree.
Family
Baldwin at the Fels Research Institute obtained some reports from home
visitors regarding the general family atmosphere and parent child relationship.
Two patterns of relationships emerged from these observations,
(a) Democratic
(b) Autocratic
Democratic atmosphere is characterised by general premissiveness,
avoidance of arbitrary decisions, greater verbal contract between parents and
children. Authoritarian or autocratic home atmosphere emphasize clear cut
restrictions on behaviour with a strong and rigid discipline system.
Children who are brought up by democratic atmosphere are generally
active, competitive, outgoing, non-conforming, disobedient and highly
aggressive. Children from autocratic homes showed less of aggressiveness,
disobedience, playfulness, tenacity or fearlessness and are non-aggressive.
The democratic homes seemed to produce greater intelligence curiosity,
originality and constructiveness.
Baldwin stated that the democratic techniques can only be effective if
they are consistent with parent's personality and attitudes. If rigid,
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
235
authoritarian parents attempt to employ democratic procedures, they arc
likely to find these difficult and frustrating and producing tensions that may

'
be detrimental to the emotional health of the child during 3 to 5years of age.
In democratic borne the child is rewarded for curiosity and independent
activity, for free expression of ideas, and for participation in decision
making. These responses are rewarded and are generalized to other situations.
Children who are brought for compliance and conformity show obedience in
school years.
The child who is overprotected, and is not rewarded for independent
action becomes timid, awkward, and apprehensive.
School
The family continues to be the primary agent of socialization but the
people outside the family begin to have significant impact on the child's
behaviour. School and the peers begin to play a more important role in the
child's life and they serve as reinforcers and as models for imitation of new
and different responses.
The school introduces the child to a new and different social environment
such as teachers and peers.
The teachers attempt to enhance the child's personal adjustment and at
the same time increase their social skills and sensitivity. They enforce certain
behaviours and discipline, ignore or punish other kinds of behaviours. At the
same time the child must adjust to his peers with whom he spends more time
and they inevitably become agents of socialization.
In Nursery schools the objectives are not set for cognitive development
but more in terms of personal and social adjustment. Nursery schools
contribute mainly to the differences in sociability, self-expression,
independence, social adaptability and interest in the environment. These
characteristics are present for some time after entering the nursery school.
Most children make rapid gains in social participation compared withpeers
who do not attend school. They become less inhibited and more spontaneous,
independent, selfassertive, selfreliant, curious, and interested in the
a environment.
If the teachers pay individualized attention it reduces the maladaptive
reactions such as withdrawal, regressive and submissive behaviour and
raises the child's self confidence and frustration tolerance.
Peers
Peers become agents of socialisation by enforcing certain kinds of
child's responses and by serving as models for institution and identification.
236 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

As children advance in age they spend more time in social interactions with
peers and less time in idleness and solitary play. Four year old's reinforce
peers behaviour more than 3 years old do using attention, appro\'al, affection
and acceptance as well as giving objects as reinforcements.
Almost all children manifest some problem behaviour but most problems
disappear after a while. Behaviour therapy eliminates some of the problems
relating to infantileautism.
The child comes to nursery school with little or no experiences in
interacting with large group of children for long period of time. The child
is introduced to society at large where he learns to adjust to groups. He soon
becomes interested in his peers.
As children grow older they spend more time in social interactions of
an associated or cooperative sort and less time in idleness and solitary play.
Between age 2 and 3 there is generally an expansion in the number of
playmates. Alter this age there is an increase in the strength of friendship
rather than in the total number of friends.
Academic behaviour and peer interactions also increase dqring the pre-
school years while submissiveness diminishes. The extent tO wlflch peers
would influence each other depends upon:
(a) his attractiveness to the child.
(b) the degree of affection between them.

(
(c) his tendency to submit or dominate.
his ability to satisly the child's motives i.e. giving help and support .
when needed.
Peers have significant impact on the child's learning. Hartur and his
associates did many works on peer's reinforcing value. In one study 4 kinds
of peer reinforcement were recorded.
1. giving attention and approval
2. showing submission
3. token giving
4. giving affection and or acceptance.
It was found that peer reinforcements resulted in substantial change in
the personality of the child. Peers act more efficiently as reinforcing agents
than adults.
Peers serve as very good models. Peer aggression is likely to be imitated.
This was shown to children and then the children were taken into an
experimental room which contained a variety of materials some of which
could be used for imitative aggression. The results showed that
(a) peers aggressive behaviour was imitated easily.
(b) boys showed more of imitation than did girls.
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 237
(c) peers acted more as a model than did adults.
(d) exposure to an unselfishness model will result in increase in the
child's responses.
Peers can serve as effective models for behaviour modification. They can
serve as models of calm, approach responses to stimuli that the child fears,
and repeated exposure to such a model reduces the observers fear and
avoidance behaviour.
Peers can serve more general functioning than those reinforcing and
modelling. They can become chief objects of the child's attachment and
emotional dependence. Among orphan children such attachment is more
clearly seen. The children's unusual emotional dependence on each other
was borne out further by the almost complete absence ofjealousy, rivahy and
competition which are normally seen among others or normal children.
Infantile Autism
Autism refer to profound and enduring symptoms of emotional
distuibances. These children are characterised by an extreme degree of
isolation and absence evident from early infancy. They do not make
anticipatoiy responses to adults, their communication system are badly
impaired, and speech is not ordinarily used in interaction with others. They
are sometime mute. They repeat speech of others i.e. they have echolaliac
speech. They exhibit anxeity in new and unfamiliar environments. They
become engaged in repetitive ritualistic behaviour. They are interested in
A. objects but not in people.
Lovàs, one of the authority in the field stated that autistic behaviour can
be eliminated by the following procedures of behaviour.
1. Punishing those behaviours when they occur.
2. Isolating the child or administering a painful shock each time he
reveal the behaviour.
3. Autistic children may also be taught to approach others by
reinforcement, by instruction to imitate other behaviour etc.
What parents should do
1. Provide access to as much as possible so that the child has the
maximum opportunity to exercise his curiosity and explore his world.
Opportunity to explore the world around the child is basic to the nourishment -
of his curiosity and instrumental to the development of social relationships
as a natural outcome.
2. Provide a wide range of materials for the child to explore. Common
household objects such as plastic jars with covers, large-containers, filled
238 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

with smaller interesting objects, a baby-proofed kitchen cabinet with pots,

pans, and canned goods, are all perfectly suitable for a child between 7 and
18 months of age. The newly crawling child will, for several months, have
a veiy special interest in the physical properties of small objects and the
characteristics of motion they display when pushed, dropped, rolled, etc.
3. Be available toyour child for at least half of his waking hours. Do not
hover over him constantly but be available to provide attentiOn, support or
assistance as it is needed. A child needs the direction provided by a more
experienced person to support his curiosity, to instruct in the area of
language, and to encourage the development using and interacting with
other people.
4. Utilize the following pattern of response to the degree it is possible
when your child begins to make overtures to you from age 9 to 10 months
on:
(a) Respond promptly as often as possible.
(b) Respond favourably as often as possible.
(c) Make some effort to understand what the child is trying to do.
(d) Set limits; do not give into unreasonable requests.
(e) Provide encouragement as often as possible.
(j) Provide enthusiasm as often as possible.
(g) Provide assistance as often as possible.
(Ii) Use words as often as possible.
(I) Use words child understands or words that are a little too hard for.
(j) Provide a related idea or two.
(k) Do not prolong the episodes if a child to leave; the interchange will
usually last less than one minute.
(1) Encourage make believe or pretend activities.
5. Ifthe child seems bored, and if it is convenient, provide things for him
to do.
6. If a child is misbehaving, discipline him finnly and consistently.
Children requ re that limits be set to their behaviour in order to develop into
socially acceptable individuals who feel comfortable with other people.
Allow a child to try to do something that seems somewhat unsafe but not
be ussafe if he were closely supervised. Give the child the chance to try the
activity, under supervision, rather than stopiiim completely. The child wants
to try a new activity, it probably is a naturally interesting and a potentially
beneficial one. Such activities, when encouraged, lead to better development
Don'ts for parents
(I) Cage the child or confine him regularly for long periods during tha
day.
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 239
(ii) Allow him to concentrate his energies on the primary caretaker to
the point where he spends most of his time following that person
around or standing nearby, especially during the second year of life.
(iii) Allow tantrums.
(iv) Worry that he will not love the primary caretaker if the primary
caretaker says 'no' from time to time.
(v) Try to win all the fights with him, especially from the middle of the
secOnd year on, when the baby may start becoming negative.
(vi) Try to prevent the baby from cluttering the house. It is an inevitable
sign of a healthy, curious creature.
(vii) Be overprotective. Besides are more careful that what people think.
(viii) Overpower the child. Let him do what he wants to do as often
possible.
(ix) Take a full time job or otherwise make yourself unavailable to the
baby during this period of life.
(x) Bore the baby if it can be avoided.
(xi) Worry about when the baby learns to read, count numbers, or say
the alphabet, or even if he is slow to talk as long as he seems to
understand more and more language as he grows.
(xii) Try to force toilet training. By the time he is two and a half, it will
happen rather easily.
(xiii) Let the baby think the whole world was made, just for him.
There are certain behaviours shown by parents which can certainly
make a child goonda, a problem, a delinquent.
What Really makes the Child a Problem?
Mostly parental behaviours. These are:
1. From babyhood give the child everything, he or she likes to have. In
this way the child will grow in conviction that everything is due to him from
the world.
2. When you hear the child using 'bad' words, laugh so that ?e may
think, it is witty. You will encourage the child in this way to use yea. worse
words, that you be able to roar with laughter.
3. Avoid speaking that your child did something wrong in order not to
create in him a complex of guild. Due to this when your child will be arrested
one day for theft of a motor car will be able easily to think that the society
is against him and prosecutes him.
4. Never speak with him on moral or religious matters. You wait till he
will be an adult and he will be able by himself to decide whether these things
matter him.
240 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

5. You collect after him everything what he throws about : books, shoes.
clothes etc. Do everything. He will be able to accustom himself to throw
whole responsibility on others.
6. Allow him to read any prongraphic and bad book whichever he
wishes. Take care only of the utensils, the child uses, that they be clean. Then
his mind will live on rubish.
7. Have quarrel with each other (Husband & Wife) in the presence of
your children. In this way they will not be surprised when one day your
marriage will be broken and imitate your behaviour.
8. Give the child whatever money he wishes to have for different petty
things. Do not allow that he should earn the money for it. Why child should
not have better life than you had when you were'once of his age?
9. Fuffil his every whim in regard of food, drink or any other pleasure.
Remember, that every sensual wish be at once fuffihled. Refusal may awake
in him harmful complexes.
10, In presence of the strangers take always child's side : everybody is
prejudiced towards your child.
11. When he afterwards turns Out to become a criimnal, excuse yoursell
speaking : I never could achieve anything with him.
Middle childhood
Certain differences are observed in the personality development of
children during age 6-12 years.
Parents differ in the way they bring up their children. Schaffer observed
that parental behaviour is not urndimensional. The child of warm permissive
parents is likely to be active, independent, friendly, socially assertive but may
also be somewhat aggressive, bossy and disobedient. The child of warm-
restrictive parents is likely to be more dependent, obedient, less creative, less
dominant and competitive, more conforming, polite and neat. Hostile parent
raise counter hostility in children and when combined with restrictions they
tend to maximise self-aggression, social withdrawal and internal conflicts.
Hostile permissiveness maximise aggressive and delinquent behaviours
among children.
The child's development of self-esteem is high if the parent's self-
esteem is high. It is also positive in case of children whose parents are warm,
accepting and interested in the child's activities, who encourage autonomy,
apply consistent discipline, and respect the rights and opinions of children.
Absence of either father or mOther from home may make the child's
adjustment and development of sex role identification more difficult
 PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
241
particularly when parental absence occurs early in life and when the same
parent is absent.
Middle class mothers tend to more affectionate and less punitive than
those of lower classes and the children have more favourable preceplion of
their parents. Parents teach values and beliefs appropriate to their own class.
Sibling's social status influences the child's development Of personality.
Oldest children are more likely to achieve eminence and to identify more
closely with adults, they are more likely to be anxious, over-sensitive, and
fearful. Younger children tend to be more gregarious, defiant, and eager for
showing attention.
Sex role standards are increasingly fostered during middle childhood.
Boys are expected to be strong, courageous, ain6itious, and active while girls
are sociable, well mannered and neat and inhibit verbal and physical
aggression. There are a set of culturally approved characteristics for males
and females. The middle childhood represent critical period in child
development.
According to Piaget before age 7 or 8 child's concept ofjustice is based
on rigid and inflexible notions of right as wrong learned from parents.
7 to 8 Concept of right and wrong
8 to 11 Concept of equality
11 to 12 Concept of justice
Conscience development is based upon child's level of coghitive
orientation and upon parental identification and other influences.
The following conditions are conductive for optimal development of
conscience in children.
(a) Parents own conscience and moral standards are matured or
reasonable but not rigid and harass.
(b) Adoption of parents standard are based upon positive identification
and modeling.
(c) Love oriented discipline appears more effective in fostering
conscience development than physical punishment.
In middle chidihood the agents such as : peers, adults, newspapers,
movies, books, magazines, contribute to sex typing. The growing child
gradually adopts the more appropriate adult role relating to his sex.
The four years old judge can act as good or bad in terms of its
reinforcement rather than in terms of the rule. By age 5 to 7 the children
evaluate in terms of the reinforcement history i.e. whether or not it leads to
positive con6equences. Kohlberg and Piaget almost agreed in their views of
moral development in children. They just differed in some specifics.
24 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Becker (1964) noted that parents who talk to the child about his
misbehaviour are more likely to provide the child with a close understanding
of what he did wrong. Aronfreed suggested that explanations and reasons
provide the child with internal resources of evaluation of his own behaviour.
Thus the child gets explicit training in making moral judgements.
Parental interest in school and reward for school achievement occur
more frequently among middle class than lower class parents. Having faced
higher level of intellectual activity m home he is likely to enter school better
prepared to profit from the learning experience.
Deutsch and Havighurst believed that lower class children lack the
ability to preceive the relationships between academic achievement and
success in life, consequently are likely to adopt a so-what attitude toward the
school. Their parent also feel indifferent and fearful to the school situation.
Parents who create a high level of anxiety in their children and strong
concern for failing in school may affect not only their overall adjustment and
self concept but their intellectual performance and academic achievement as
well. Many children have normal fear of failure. They doubt their own ability
to pass and solve problems. This anxiety can hinder his thinking and results
in withdrawal of interest from academic tasks. Strong anxiety interferes in
the performance on tests and makes the concentration difficult and learning
becomes poor.
Feidhusen and others have found negative relationship between high
anxiety and achievement test sources for reading and arithmatic and school
performance. The strength of these relationships increase with age. So for
children who become more anxious in these cases, performance declines and
for whom anxiety is low and performance is high.

Personality Development
Anxious childrens are nervous in problem solving situation and therefore,
performance is adversely affected. Anxiety is a painful and distracting
feeling that can interfere with solution of problems and clear thinking,
especially when problems are difficult in nature.
The child's contact with his peers also greatly expand during the school
years. The peer group provides an opportunity to:
(a) Interact with age mates
(b) deal with hostility and dominance
(c) relate to a leader
(d) lead others
(e) deal with social problems
(J) develop a self-concept.
- PERSONAUTY DEVELOPMENT 243
The child whose interactions with peers .re rewarding,. develops good
self Image, increased competeñces, and enhanced self-esteem. Unfavourable
relationships create conflicts, anxieties, and poor self-concept.
During the early years of middle childhood the gang predominates.
Between 10 and 14 children groups are highly structured and at 7 to 8
children associate with same sex peers. Boys tend to be more involved in
gang and other peer group activities. Girls develop more intimate individual
personal relationships.
Children having high status tend to be socially more aggressive,
outgoing, cheerful, enthusiastic, intelligent and as well as friendly. Low
status children possess anxiety, social indifference, withdrawal and hostility.
Peer group status is related to social class. High social status children
have high peer group status and low SES children have low peer group
status.
Depending upon the particular values of the peer group the child's
motivation for scholastic success may either be strengthened or reduced. In
middle class peer's scholastic success is valued and is retarded. Studies have
shown that children who were popular are also better students and were more
co-operative and intelligent as well as creative.
Throughout the middle childhood years, age as well as sex play an
important role in determining the nature of the peer group relations. Both
boys and girls tend to associate primarily with the peers of same sex but
prepubertal girls begin to show interest in older boys.
Linton (1936) a specialist in personality and culture observed these
attachments and said that these are not mere accidents but similar groupings
exist throughout both literate and preliterate societies. The average time
spent in fmily decreases as the child grows older and time spent in peer
sittings increase, and so also peer group interdependence.
Sex linked interests and activities appear increasingly in school years.
Girls show increasing interest in masculine games between grades 3 to 6 i.e.
age 9 to 12. In general, boys are found to be more doers and girls are takers.
Girls are interested in social relations and boys are in mechanical activities.
There are certain popular children in school who are good. They
influence peer group status. They are friendly, good in sports, intelligent and
creative. They come from high socio-economic status, and achieve high
achievement in life. Body build andithletic ability also contribute to the
development of high status. In low SES groups hostile, anxious, socially
indifferent, rebelliousness behaviours are dominant. They are poor and
mostly they withdraw from situation.
244 ELEMENTS OF CHiLD DEVELOPMENT

Adults do influence the outcomes of peer group efforts by steertng their

activities, defining behavioural possibilities and setting the tone of effective
relations. They obviously provide the opportunity for the child to gain many
immediate satisfactions. He finds others of his own level of intellectual and
social development with whom to talk and to compare notes. He finds the -s
Encmbers for group sports and game. The peer group strengthens existing
attitudes, establishes new one and weakens those which are in conflict with
the peer group values. The child who comes from a rejecting home finds
solace in peer group and is influenced by peer group values most. If the child
has not developed ptoper sex role identification it is because of the peer
group values. Peers thus exercise greater influence in the socialization of the
child. Rejected children in homes are greatly influenced by peer groups.
The most important tasks for the child during 6-12 years or middle
childhood are
(a) development of various intellectual skill and academic skills.
(b) motivation to master them
(c) learning how to interact with peers
(d) ciystalization of sex role identification
(e) increased autonomy and independence
(I) development of moral standards and conscience
(g) learning to deal with anxiety and conflict.
School becomes a world for the child. It occupies also most half of his
waking hours. It plays an important part in helping the child to reduce his
dependencies on his home. The school helps the child develop intellectual
competence, acquire pride in one's work, persevere in solving problems,
fonnulate long range plans, and establish meaningful relationship with age
mates.
Teacher pupil relationship and teacher behaviour are important in
school setting. The kinds of teachers a child has will determine in great
measure whether his school experience will further increase his difficulties
and frustrations. Children generally prefer teachers who are kind, .cheerful,
fair and consistent in discipline and enthusiastic. Some children may
progress better with sell-controlled teacher.
High competitive and anxious children respond to highly structured
teaching methods than low anxious and low competitive children.
Optimal academic and personal growth will not be stimulated in most
students by the teacher who is rigid, authoritarian, hostile, unresponsive,
poorly trained, narcisstic or too much occupied with anxieties of personal
problems. A democratic teacher is more successful in helping the child to
develop his skills.
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 245
Parental influence on IQ and achievement
Guilford, Piaget and others have suggested that intelligence is the ability
to benefit from experience, the case with which the child learns a new idea,
or a new set of behaviours and the limit to which a person might from
experience. Using standard tests of intelligence.
IQ can be obtained by using IQ = MA/CA x 100
MA — Mental age
CA — Chronological age
IQ — Intelligence quotient.
A child's IQ score is related to the desire to improve his knowledge and
problem solving skills. Family experience encourages the development of
this motive i.e., to master intellectual tasks which would also increase IQ and
motivation for intellectual mastely.
In a study, 20 boys and 20 girls were given various tests in a freeplay
situatIon. Their parents were interviewed. It was found that some girls
showed much greater interest in intellectual activities and these girls had
parents who encourage intellectually oriented behaviour. For boys the
relationship was also positive.
Fathers who told many achievement stories to their children, produced
greater achievement and mastery of intellectual tasks than children who did
not listen to such stories.
The mothers of high achievement children felt close to their sons,
wanted them to be competent, and made demands for achievement. Boys
with greater achievement had greater autonomy and freedom. Boys with low
achievement motivation experienced greater degrees of rejection from both
parents than the high achievement boys. Parents set high aspiration for boys
and as they progress they tend to react to their performance with warmth and
approval. The mother disapproves if the child performs badly. Middle caiss
mothers who are premissive, affectionate and who encourage school
achievement, their children obtain good grades in school.
The girls who do well in school have mothers who are not overtly
affectionate and they push their daughters towards independent behaviours.
Poor achievers appear to have comparatively limited place in the home.
There does not appear to be so much of affection or mutual respect and desire
to move upto expectations. Even expectations are limited for low achievers.
With regard to IQ, there is a positive relationship between maternal
concern with the child's early developmental progress and the amount of IQ
increases in girls. For boys it was positive but very low. Mother's concern
for intellectual mastery influences both boys and girls but the effect is greater
246 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

for girls and than for boys. Mother's IQ is also a better predictor of girl's IQ
than of boy's IQ. But maternal education are positively related. Well
educated mothers are more sure to encourage mastery of intellectual skills
than poorly educated mothers.
Increase in IQ score, desire to master intellectual problems and superior
school performance are influenced by parental emphasis on an reward for
intellectual achievement as well as for the establishment of independence.
Achievement primarily 'depends upon
(a) child's IQ
(b) parentalk expectations of the child's achievement
(c) child's motivation
(ci) child's expectancy of success
(e) child's anxiety level.
The greater the parental emphasis on intellectual mastery the stronger
will be the child's motivation to master these skills. If intellectual competence
is one of the model's central attribute the child will attempt to increase his
mastery in order to increase his similarity to the desired model.
As the child becomes 3 years old he seeks to avoid unpleasant things that
aimed at failure. He develops expectancy of success for varied class of
problems.
Finally, anxiety associated with intellectual mastery is important. Anxiety
is likely to appear under two conditions:
(a) when expectancy of success is moderate
(b) when motivation is high but expectancy is low
In the first case uncertainly creates anxiety. The child does not know for
sure whether he will pass or fail. In the second case, the child perceives the
discrepancy between the valued goal and the possibility that goal cannot be
attained. This creates anxiety.
High anxiety leads to inhibition of intellectual activities where as low
anxiety is helpful for similar tasks but not for difficult tasks. Performance in
case of the latter becomes more.
MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALITY
Projective techniques are not tests in the true sense because there are no right
or wrong answers. These are indirect way of assessing the personality of the
individual. They have their observations ineveiyday observations and have
originated within the clinical setting. There are different types of projective
tests.
Rorschach ink Blot Test
The Rorschach is one of the basic diagnostic tools of most psychologists.
PERSONAUTY DEVELOPMENT
247
Swiss Psychologist in 1921. It
It was developed by Herman Rorschach, a
consists of 10 cards, each having a different inkblot, five are printed in black
and white and five in colour.
The individual child or adult is shown one card at ' time and is asked
to tell what the inkblot makes him think of and what it may mean to him.
He collects information by using all the 10 inkblots. The responses are
recorded and analysis is made on the basis of standard norm. This requires
great deal of training and experience and as such should not be used by a
teacher, a psychologist or researcher without havinginitial training.
Scoring of the subject's responses is done according to Human like
action (M) animal like action (FM) abstract movement (m) shading (k) color
(c) Responses are also scored according to location of the response.
Whole inkblot is indicated as 'W', part of the inkblot isdevoted as 'D',
if it is a small unusual part it is 'Dd'. White space is devoted as 'S'. The third
category is interms of content. The content responses are : Human figures
(H), human details (HI)), animal (A), AnimalParts (AO) etc. Responses are
also scored interms of popular or original response.
Certain specific interpretations can be given here:
Frequent M = high intellectual endowment
M= FM = sign of self acceptance
C, shading = Emotional life
and similar interpretations are made for others
The Rorschach is a very difficult instrument on which to establish
statistical validity and predictive validity.
Thematic Appeeption Test (TAI)
TAT is another widely used projective technique introduced by Murray
and Morgan in 1938 at the Harvard Psychological Clinic. Itconsists of a set
of pictures showing human figures in different poises and actions. Some of
the pictures are only for boys, for girls, for females and for all. There are
nineteen pictures for a particular age and sex and a blank card. One need not
administer all the cards but one can select out of the 20 interms of
requirements.
The individual tells a story based on the picture. The story has past,
present and a future. The stories are recorded. The scoring of the TAT is not.
quite as time consuming as that of the Rnrschach. Content analysis of the
story is done in terms of complexes, defenses and conflicts.
 248 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Word Association Test

Word Association Test is an attempt to reveal associative connections
between the words and verbal responses of the subject.
It dates back to Galton and Wundt but it is known after the name Carl
Jung (1910). Jung used 100 words that were common to emotional fixations.
The response word, Latency of response and minimum scores were all noted
to each word. Kent and Rosanoff (1910) used a revised word list to
understand the basic personality. More teachers are available for interpreting
the response in terms of defences. Rappaport has also developed a sixty word
list. The main issue is to analyse the built in associations. This is a test which
is widely used and easily administered but requires skill to interprete.
Sentence Completion Tests
Rotter has developed the sentence completion test for High School,
College and Adults. The individual is asked to express his true feelings in
completing each stem. The scoring is done in terms of conflict, unhealthy
responses, neutral responses and healthy responses. There is no time limit.
Draw a Person Test
Karen Machover (1949) has developed this draw a person test which is
projective in nature. Administration of the DAP is relatively simple.
Interpretation of the DAP is based upon psychoanalytic theory.
Bender Gestalt Test
It is a stylistic test. It is based on the classical teachings of the Gestalt
school of psychology. Bender (1938) chose nine of the original Wertheimer
patterns for her test.
It is aimed at evaluating intelligence, maturation, psychological
disturbance and brain damage. Each of the nine design is in cards and the
individual is asked to copy the design from his mind. The test is also
standardised for use with children in the age group of 5 to 10. This test meant
Junior High Level College and High School Level
1. Health and Physical 1. Health and Physical development
development 2. Finances and employment
2. School 3. Social and recreational activities
3. Home and family 4. Social and psychological relations
4. Money, work and future 5. Courtship, sex and marriage
5. Boy and girl relations 6. Home and family
6. Relations to people in general 7. Moral and religion
7. Self centered concerns 8. Adjustment to college/school work
9. Future vocation and education
10. Curriculum and teaching procedure.
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 249

for children has a high degree of validity for measuring school readiness with
mentally retarded children (Koppitz, 1975).
The projective tests in general do not have statistical validity but
psychiatrists and clinicians have demonstrated its effectiveness as a projective
method.
PERSONALITY INVENTORIES
Personality inventories are objective self reports as contrasted with projective
techniques which are generally administered individually and require
subjective interpretation of objective stimuli by the individual. The personality
inventoiy is structured and is usually presented in an objective format. There
are many personality inventories but only a few of them will be presented
here.
THORNDIKE'S DIMENSION OF TEMPERAMENT
It measures personality in terms of 10 dimensions. It aims at describing a
person. It is applicable to high school, college students and adults in reusable
booklet form. The booklets presents 20 sets each containing 10 items. The
students reads all and selects three which do not describe him. Norm tables
are available for interpretation. The dimensions measured in this test are
Sociable, Ascendant, Cheerful, Placid, Accepting. Tough minded, Reflective
Impulsive, Active, Responsible.
MOONEY PROBLEM CHECK LIST
Mooney and Gorden (1950) stated that the usefulness of the problemcheck
list approach lies in its economy for appraising the major concerns of a group
and for bringing into the open the problem of each student in the group.
The Mooney problem checklist has four forms to be used for different
levels junior high school, high school, college and adults. They are self
administered and measure concerns of students as follows
There are 210 items and the students write in their own words about the
problems troubling them.
Siiteen Personality Factor (16 PF)
The 16 PF provides measures on 16 cattell. There are various forms of
16 PF and each one is developed in terms of factor analysis. The factors are
not independent but correlated. The traits named are Reserved Vs.
Outgoing (A) less intelligent Vs. more intelligent (B) Affected by feelings
Vs. emotionally stable (C) Humble Vs. Assertive (D) Sober Vs. Happy
golucky (E) Expedient Vs. Conscientious (F) Shy Vs. Venturesome (0)
Tough minded Vs. Tender minded (H) Trusting Vs. Suspicious (L)Practical
Vs. imaginative (M) Forthright Vs. Shrewed (W) Placid Vs. apprehensive
 250 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(0) Conservative Vs. Experimenting (Q1) Group dependent Vs. self sufficient
(Q2) Undisciplined Vs. controlled (Q3) Relaxed Vs. Tense (Q4).

Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI)

The MPI consists of 48 items and provides scores on two traits;
neuroticism and extroversion-introversion. it has also a short form ofhaving
only 12 items. The test was developed by Eysenek. It is a reliable instrument
which has been quite extensively used in research studies.

Edwards Personality Inventory (EI1)

The test measures a number of personality traits in which normal
individuals very. It consists of five booklets IA, ID, II, III, IV. Each booklet
consists of 3000 items in True-False fonnat. Booklets IA and lB measures
14 scales of personality, Booklets II, III, and IF measures II, 13, and 13 scales
respectively. In this scale there is no offensive items like other scales. There
is no item relating to religious and political beliefs nor there is any item
relating to individual's health and body functions.
Edward Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS)
This test was developed by Edwards (1959) and used the forced choice
technique. The items were paired and the individual is asked to indicate
which of the item in pair is true ? There are 210 pairs of statements in the
E.P.P.S. and scores are derived in terms of 15 scales. The EPPS scalesare:
Achievement, Defence, Order, Exhibition, Autonomy, Affilitation,
Intraception Succorrance Dominance, Abasement, Nurturance, Change,
Endurance, Heterosexuality and aggression. The scores on all the test will
sum upto 210.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

This is one of the most widely used clinical test and has many variations
and forms. It is mostly used in clinical practice. The clinical forms are:
Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychopathic, Deviate,
Masculinity and Femininity, Paranoia, Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia,
Hypomania, Social Introversion.
There are also additional MMPI scales as much as the number is 200.
These scales are empirical as well as rational scales.
There are many personality scales and inventories and can select
depending upon the purpose and use.
From the above discussions it is clear that personalitydevelopment takes '
different turn at different age levels. The traits that children develop are a
joint function of the situations prevailing in family, school, peers groups and
PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 251
society at large. Achievement and intellectual attainments ate also influenced
by these sources but mostly by parental expectations and abilities and
characteristics of children which develop during these fonnative years of life.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer each questions within 500 words each:
I. Discuss the reward value of the mother and cite Harlow's observations on
infant monkeys in this context.
2. Describe the nature of anxiety in children.
3. What is socialisation ? Discuss the role of imitation and identification in the
socialisation of the child?
4. Briefly describe the role of attachment on human behaviour.
5. Write a descriptive note on the development of conscience in children.
6. What is role of family on the development of personality?
7. What child rearing practices are good enough for a healthy development of
personality?
8. What is the role of school and peers on the development of childhood
characteristics?
9. What are some of wrong activities that parents do which drive children away
from normal development?
10. What are some of the behaviour problems of early childhood? How are they
dealt with?
11. Describe the relationship between parents and IQ and achievement of children.
12. What factors are generally associated with development of personality of
children? Explain.
Dctinguish between (50 words):
1. aggression and regression
2. rationalisation and projection
3. stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
4. deprived and enriched setting.
Write notes on: (50 words):
1. Dependency
2. Achievement motivation
3. Displacement
4. Sex motive
5. Maternal deprivation
6. Sex typing.
Mention the contribution of: (50 words):
1. Spitz
2. Harlow
3. Gewiitz
4. Sears
5. Winterbottom
6. Yarrow
252 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

7. Freud
8. Sarason.
Write notes on: (50 words):
1. Infantile Autism
2. Self esteem
3. Culture and personality
Write whether the statements we True or False:
1. Withdrawal from frustrating situations are quite common.
2. Stronger anxiety is rarely seen.
3. Children are malleable.
4. Lack of varied stimulation retards IQ.
5. Overprotection leads to dependence.
6. Mother plays a greater role in the development of children.
7. Neglect of children by parents leads to aggression.
8. Environment seldom plays a part in personality development.
9. Father absent homes leads to better personality development in a male child.
10. Sex typing is desirable.
Fill in the blanks:
1. Behavioural relationship between mother and child refers to
2 is the pioneer researcher in the' field of attachment behaviour.
3. Isolation effects in early childhood were studied by
4 demonstrated ill effects of institutionalisatjon.
5. Imprinting is a type of
 18
Moral Development

During the past two decades there has been considerable research on
moral development by Piaget (1932) and Kohlberg (1964). Such researches
have led to defining what is moral behaviour? What factors do influence the
development of moral behaviour? What are the phases of moral development
and related factors?
WHAT IS MEANT BY MORAL BEHAVIOUR?
Moral behaviour means behaviour in conformity with the moral code of the
social group, Etymologically moral is deriued from the Latin word' Morea'
means manners, customs and folk ways. Moral behaviour refers to behaviour
of the members of a given culture which has been accepted and followed. It
is not unsocial or immoral behaviour.
Children cannot be expected to know all the mores of the group that is
expected to behave in a moral way at once. It is developed through socio-
cultural conditioning. It is a feeling of personal responsibility that grows for
one's acts. True morality is rarely found in children but it should appear
occurring adolescence.
Moral development has both an intellectual and impulsive aspect. It
refers to what is Right and Wrong. At birth, no child has a conscience or
scale of values. Learning to behave in a socially approved manner is a long
slow process which extends into adolescence. Children learn to conform to
r group behaviour no matter whether they agree or not.
'Moral' or 'Pro-social' behaviour are now used in the literature quite
often. It means, behaviour which refers to actions that are intended to aid or
benefit another person or group of people without the anticipation of external
reward.
There are certainly a set of core behaviour which are moral and another
set of behaviours (Stealing etc.) whose tacit dissapproval is also moral. But
what constitutes morality is a subject of great interest.
254 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

According to Kohlberg (1964) justice is the ultimate value. True moral

behaviour seems to arise from a conception of morality which is based on a
consideration for the feelings of other people, and an appreciation of their
needs and rights, and that is stem morality, moral knowledge, moral
behaviour and moral feeling but seldom they are related to each other. The .
process of development changes with increasing age and is influenced by
internal and external events.
Kohlberg (1964) states : "It seems obvious that moral stages must
primarily be the products of the child's interaction with others, rather the
direct unfolding of biological or neurological structure The fundamental
factor causing a structuring of a moral order is social participation and role
taking".
Moral development has 4 essential elements.
(a) Learning of laws, customs, and rules of society
(b) Developing a conscience
(c) Feeling of shame and guilt
(d) Social behaviour in the group interaction.
The child to learn what are the expectations of the group in terms of
certain laws and rules, the sense of right and wrong, the prescribed pattern
of conduct; the rules of social life.
The second essential thing is the development of a conscience to act as
an internal control over the individual's behaviour. Conscience is developed
and this is a characteristic of a child. It is called an "inner light, super ego,
and internalised police, man". Conscience ceaselessly keeps an eye on the
individual's activities and gives him a sharp treat whenever he deviates from
a path of duty. It is an internal standard which controls the behaviour of an
individual.
Guilt is a negative self evaluation. Which occurs when an individual's
acknowledged the behaviour is at variance with a given moral value.
Similarly, shame is an unpleasant emotional reaction of an individual to an
actual presumed negative judgement of himself by others rusulting in self
depreciation vis-a-vis the group. It relies on external sanction alone. Guilt
must be present in true morality. It is one of the most important psychological
mechanism through which an individual becomes socialised in the ways of
culture.
Social interactions play an important role in moral development. It
provides the standards of social behaviour and a source of motivation.
Children learn social behaviour by interacting with family members and
peers, neighbourhood, and the group at large. They learn new rules when
they go to school. School has stealy influence on moral develonment of
 MORAL DEVELOPMENT 255
child has or
children. Hence, t depends upon what kind of social group the
is interacting with.
Moral development is intimately linked with stages of intellectual
development. The two most important studies in this area arethose of Piaget
and Kohlberg. They have shown how the ability to moral judgement and
behaviour that conforms to approved social standards follow a predictable
pattern related to the sequence of stages in intellectual development.
STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Intellectual and moral development are quite related. However, a brief
description of stages may prove a better beginning for analysis of moral
development.
According to Piaget, moral development occurs in two clear cut stages:
(a) Stages of moral realism or morality by constraint,
(b) Stages of autonomous morality or morality by reciprocity or co-
operation.
In the first stage children behaviour is characterised by automatic
obedience to rules without reasoning and judgement. They follow parents
and authority blindly. In the second phase they judge moral behaviour in
terms of underlying intent. This stage usually begins by 7 or 8 years of age
and extends upto 12 years or more. The rigid notions of right amonglearned
from parents. It corresponds with the period of formal operations.
Kohlberg (1964) has extended Piaget's line of thinking in moral
development. He conceived 3 stages of moral development.
Level I : Preconventional morality. The child's behaviour is under
external control. At first the child is obedience and punishment oriented.
Then he learns to conform to social norms to get reward.
Stage 1. HeteronomouS morality. The obedience-and-punishment
orientation.
Stage 2. Individualism, instrumental purpose, and exchange. The
egoistic stage, which aims at considering self first. But recognises the fact
that others have rights.
Level II: Conventional morality. He learns conventional rules and
conformity. Then in the later stage he learns not conforming to standards
would lead to social dissapproval.
Stage 3. Mutual intçrpersonal expectation, relationships and interpersonal
- conformity. The Golden rule morality in which other's approval is sought by
behaving correctly.
256 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Stage 4. Social systems and conscience. Respect for authority and the
social-order expectation of others with a need to support the system.
Level 111 Post-conventional morality. Morality of self accepted
principles. The child becomes flexible but develops social standards to avoid
self condemnation.
Stage 5. Social contract or utility and individual rights. Legalistic
orientation that recognizes the rights of others and majority rule. At this
stage, the individual accepts majority rule but also work to change rules that
he or she feels are unfair or unjust.
Stage 6. Universal ethical principles — Conscience or principle
orientation in which the individual follows self-chosen ethical principles in
a situation of mutual respect and trust.
Research has shown that people move through the same stages of moral
development in a sequentially invariant manner.
Freud's ideas regarding moral development have concerned themselves
with the internalisation of moral feelings and with the development of
conscience which includes a sense of guilt. There are also positive aspects
of how children come to assume the values of the people they love. Morality
develops in children because of parental authority and subtle fear of loss of
parental love.
Piaget (1932) has approached the study of moral development basically
in two ways. One was to see how children's understanding of rules of
behaviour becomes modified with age until genuine moral development has
taken place; the other was to see how children learn to understand with
increasing age the reason for behaviour where a question of morality is
involved and thus they learn to make moral judgements.
According to Piaget, the young child under 4-1/2 years of age does not
usually play co-operatively, but he plays in parallel with other children. As
he approaches five years of age he begins to be aware that other children play
with rules, but rules are not important for him. The child is still morally
egocentric at this stage. After 5 children enter to the stage of heteronomous
morality or moral realisation, orihe authoritarian stage. The child does not
know how the rules are framed, who did these rules those have existed. They
play a lot of the games with rules. After 8, the child accepts that it is
permissible to alter rules provided the other player agrees with it. This is the
stage of autonomous, reciprocal, or equality stage. The final stage is equity
'i.s t.ac'oed around 12 'ears of ae a sta,e of uuxta1 respect, co-
operation, understanding of rules, consideration the righa of others. Hence
the autogenetic development mirrors the phyjogeilêtic development of man's
ideas of jurisprudence.
MORAL DEVELOPMENT 257

Piaget (1932) reasoned that children's use of rules provided the foundation
for their moral development. He observed the ways that children understood
and used rules of games they were playing. As a result of his observations
he was able to identify four stages of moral development.
1. Egocentrism (infacy to school age). The child is moral and
motivated mainly by his or her own rules not easily accepting other's wishes
before his or her own.
2. Ileteronomy (early elementary school age). The young child
understands that his or her needs and wishes are subject to another's law or
authority. The child recognizes that there are rules of behaviour and follows
them because there is an authority figure to praise or to punish as the
occasion warrants.
3. Transition (later elementary school age). The child understands
rules and begins to appreciate how rules make thing function.
4. Autonomy (adolescence). The individual acts in accordance with his
or her own code of ethics, which has been developed through experience at
earlier stages.
Piaget believed that an individual moves through stages in a fixed order
and as a result of meaningful social experience coupled with significant
cognitive development. These stages overlap and an individual can display
behaviour and thinking across stages.
Besides these levels there are two distinct phases of moral development
(a) Development of moral behaviour.
(b) Development of moral concepts.
Knowledge of moral development does not necessarily mean practice of
moral behaviour because behaviour is motivated by various factors.
DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL BEHAVIOUR
Children can learn to behave socially by trial and error, direct teaching, or
through identification. The last two methods are most effective and widely
used. Trial and error are not effective but time taking.
The child must first learn to make specific correct responses in specific
situations. This they do by conforming to the rules set down by parents and
authority. Children transfer their behaviour from one situation to
another.
When children identify with people they imitate the pattern of behaviour
they observe in these people. A model therefore is good thing of development
of moral behaviour.
258 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL CONCEPT

The second phase of moral development consists of the learning of moral
concepts or the principles of right and wrong in an abstract verbal form. This
is different, therefore, the child has to wait till he develops that level of
mental capacity to learn and transfer moral concepts.
Studies reveal that moral concepts are first specific, generalisations
emerge later on depending upon how soon the child recognizes common
elements in a variety of situations. Pre-school children for example, display
good behaviour by obeying mother, and helping mother. By 8 or 9 their
concepts become more generalised. They realise "stealing is wrong", it is
wrong to steal. These social values are reflected as moral concepts. They tend
to change as children's horizon and values change, However, by adolescence,
moral values are well formed.
FACTORS INFLUENCING MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Discipline. The popular meaning of the term discipline is punishment.
Discipline is the society way of teaching the child the moral behaviour
approved by the group.
The goal of all discipline is to mould behaviour so that it conforms to
the roles prescribed by the cultural group with which the individual is
identified. This varies from culture to culture.
As Spock points out "some people believe that there are only two ways
to raise children.
1. Overpermissiveness
2. Overstrictness producing good citizen.
Both are wrong premises and practices. These are also negative
approaches. The positive concept of discipline is synonymous with education
and counselling in that it emphasizes inner growth — self discipline - self
control, maturity, restraint, channalisation of energy in a social way.
Discipline gives children feeling of security Social approval, social
acceptance, successful adjustment and happiness, ego boosting, motivation,
conscience, but the nature and type of discipline determines in learning of
moral behaviour.
There are four guidelines for behaviour
(a) Rules and guidelines for behaviour
(b) Consistency in these rules and the techniques used to teach and
enforce them
(c) Punishment for wilful breaking of the rules
(d) Rewards for attempts to model behaviour among social approved
lines.
 MORAL DEVELOPMENT 259
Punishment is another factor in the development of moral behaviour.
This is the second essential discipline derived from the latin word punine
means to put a penalty for offense.
Children have been taught what is right and wrong. Consequently it is
assumed that any misbehaviour is international. Punishment for wrong thing
has been justified if it has educational value, but for grow up children verbal
explanations (that this is wrong, do not do this) is to be replaced.
Punishment plays three important roles in moral development.
1. The first function is restrictive — It does not allow to repeat socially
undesirable activity. Children refrain from doing unsocial acts because of
fear of punishment.
2. Function of punishment is educational — Before children understand
Right/Wrong they learn it by differential reinforcement i.e., punishment for
wrong, no punishment for doing right. Then they learn by direct teaching
which is reinforced by punishment for wrong activities. But punishment
should be consistent. Severity of punishment is related to seriousness of the
wrong act.
3. Motivation to avoid socially disapproved behaviour is the third
function of punishment. The child is motivated to avoid the wrong punishment.
Hence, 'it has a strong motivating factor.
Punishment may be different types
Corporal punishment, verbal insult or reproof, withdrawing positive
attention. Spare the rod spoil the child is a popular slogan which is no longer
true.
Punishment must be developmentally appropriate. If the child does not
understand the act, punishment has nothing to do it. He must be able
therefore to understand relationship between the two Punishment and Act.
As the child grows this understanding grows. Secondly punishment should
fuffil the three functions : restrictive, educational and motivational.
Corporal punishment is least useful changing behaviour of young
children. The most effective form of punishment for young children are
insulting, depriving the privileges given, isolating from family members, or
playmates.
Punishment in order to be effective must be contingent upon behaviour.
If a child throws food on the floor in a hit of temper the child must be made
to clean it up immediately.
Punishment be consistent so that the child will know the consequent
effect if he does wrong.
260 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Punishment should be impersonal.

Punishment must be constructive so that it motivates individual to act
accordingly i.e. to avoid unsocial acts.
Punishment must be fair and just.
Punishment be meant for conscience building and control of behaviour.
It must not humiliate the child or it must not arouse resentments.
REWARDS
The third essential factor is Rewards. It means opportunity for the attainment.
It does not have to be maternal. It can be approval, a smile or pleasing
remark.
Rewards follow attainments. Rewards act as motivation to do work in
a socially accepted manner. Rewards play three important roles in teaching
children to behave in a socially approved way.
1. They have an educational value. Children know that they have done
it correctly or their behaviour is good.
2. Rewards serve as motivation to repeat socially approved behaviour.
3. Rewards serve to reinforce socially approved behaviour ancbabsence
of rewards weakens repetitions of social behaviour.
Rewards may be tangible or verbal. The simplest rewards is social
recognition. Social recognition and praise be used judiciously. Gifts are
sometimes given as rewards for good behaviour. Sometimes special treat is
given when someOne develops good moral behaviour.
It can be stated that when balanced praise and encouragements are used
positive social behaviour outweight undesirable behaviour in the ratio of
46: 1. As they grow older, it serves as a powerful force for motivation to
tly to live upto expectation. Rewards have a tremendous value on learning
of social behaviour and they have thus reinforcing value.
These are the factors which influence moral development but besides
this the culture and traditions are significant factors.
However, there are certain factors which hinder the development of
moral behaviour.
Low level of intelligence makes it difficult for a child to acquire moral
concepts taught to them. They are unable toimmitate automatically good
models.
Defective teaching. Many times they are taught what not to do than what
they should do.
Changes is sociQl values are sometimes more confusing to a child than
to an adolescent.
 MORAL DEVELOPMENT 261
Different moral codes. Inconsistencies in values are learned. Parents
and teachers are responsible for slow development of moral values.
Moral development is a fimdamental characteristic of each child. The
child gradually learns moral behaviour through a process of socio-cultural
conditioning and learning under different influencing factors such as
discipline system, rewards, punishment, conscience development. The child
learns to be social and the process is complete by the time child reaches
adolescence and passes through it. There are cultural variations and the
moral behaviour is nothing but a reflection of the society and family in which
one lives.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer each question n'ithin 500 words each:
1. What is moral development ? What are the stages of moral development?
2. What is Kohlberg' s view on moral development ?
3. What is Piaget's idea of moral development ?
4. What factors do influence moral development ?
5. Discuss the role of reward and punishment on moral development.
Ansiver the following within 50 words:
1. Discipline

' 2. Punishment
3. Reward
4. Conscience
5. Moral behaviour
6. Moral concepts.
Write whether the statements are True or Poise:
1. Overstrictness produces good citizen.
2. Overpeimissiveness produces dependence.
3. Double discipline kills conscience development.
4. Punishment is most effective for the child to learn.
5. Rewards motivate and sustain socially appropriate behaviour.
Pill in the blanks:
I extended Piaget's line of thinkixig in moral development.
2 originally talked of moral development in children.
3. Moral development is linked with dovelopment.
4. Punishment should be
5. Changes in social values are sometimes more confusing to a then to an
adolescent.
 19
Mentally Retarded Children
A child's intellectual capacity can range from the level of genius to
profound retardation in ability to learn. One of the early definitions of mental
retardation was made using the classification levels of mental deficiency:
idiot, imbecile, feebleminded and moral defective. It was a condition of arrest
or incomplete development of mind existing before the age of 18 years.
The mental deficiency Act of 1921 in England considered "Mental
defectiveness as a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind
existing before the age of eighteen years, whether arising form inherent
causes or induced by disease or injury.
According to Doll (1941) there are six different characteristics of mental
retardation. These are
1. Social incompetency
2. Mental subnormality
3. The deficiency is developmentally linked
4. The retardation finally onsets in maturity
5. Retardation is of constitutional origin
6. It is essentially incurable.
The Encyclopedia Britanica defines mental deficiency as "A state of
subnormal evaluation of human organism in consequence of which the
individual affected is incapable of assuming these responsibilities expected
of a socially adequate person, such as self-direction, self-support and social
participation.
Sarason and Dorris (1969) defined "Mental retardation refers to
individuals who for temporary or long standing reasons function intellectually
below the average of their peer groups but whose social adequacy is not in
question or ilit is in question, there is little likelihood that the individual can
learn to function independently and adequately in the community.
Tredgold (1962) defined, "mental deficiency or amentia is a condition
in which mind has failed to reach complete or normal development".
 MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 263
All these definitions were prevalent at different times and in different
countries. But none of them are adequate in explaining the concept of mental
retardation. The characteristics pointed out by different authors are also
unrelated to each other. Therefore, the American Asciation of Mental
Deficiency set up a committee under the Chairmanship of Rick Heber to
develop an adequate definition of the concept of mental retardation. According
to Heber mental retardation is "significantly sub-average general functioning
existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behaviour and manifested
during developmental period" (Grossman, 1973).
This was subsequently elaborated as : Mental retardation refers to
significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning resulting in or
associated with concurrent impairments in adaptive behaviour and manifested
in the developmental period (AAMD, 1983).
This definition has three important and interrelated characteristics
(a) Sub-average intellectual functioning
(b) Development in origin
(c) Impairment in adaptive behaviour
A standard intelligence test is applied to assess the IQ of children. If the
IQ falls below two or more standard deviations from the normal then the
child has sub-average intelligence. In Stanford-Binet and Wechsler test the
IQ points are respectively 68 and 70.
The low intelligence manifests during the first 18 years of life, and the
child in order to be categorised as mentally retarded must also show
impainnent in adaptive behaviour. Adaptive behaviour is defined as "the
effectiveness of degree with which an individual meets the standards of
personal independence and social reponsibility expected for age and cultural
group" (Grossman 1977). Adaptive behaviour means social adjustment
which varies from simple self-help skills to that of personal social adjustment
in adulthood. For example, during early childhood the emphasis is on
maturational skills during school stage it is learning characteristics; and
during maturity stage it is personal social adjustment. These are detenmned
on the basis of scores on an adaptive behaviour scale developed by AAMD:
Vineland social maturity scale; Adaptive behaviour Inventory of children.
A mentally retarded is one who is below average in intelligence, and
who displays poor adaptive behaviour and all these are seen in the first 18
years of life. The degree of retardation would vary depending upon the
amount of intelligence and adaptive behaviour.
As noted in the "The Six Hour Retarded Child" the students who
perform poorly in school and in mental measures may function adequately
at home, and within community. If they are able to meet family and social
264 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

needs in every area except in school achievement they are not retarded.
Interest in the study of mental retardation came from the pioneer work
of Itard, the French Physician in his study on the care of The Wild Boy of
Aveyron. Seguin subsequently focussed on appropriate educational placement
and provisions for the low intelligent group of children. Recent years have
seen many more progress in this field: legal, organisational and educational,
because of interest groups and National Associations in U.S. and U.K. In our
country special educational and rehabilitation programme for the handicapped
have already been introduced through integrated education programme and
special shoools.
IDENTIFICATION
How to know who is really mentally retarded? Despite the controversy over
the term of IQ, IQ continues to be a criterion for identification of retardatiow
and their classification. Two most well known used IQ tests are : Standford-
Binet, and Wechsler scales. These tests offer deviation IQs.
In addition to the criteria of IQ, the concept of adaptive behaviour is used
in the classification and identification. It refers to the effectiveness with
which an individual copes with the natural and social demands of his
enviromnent.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE MENTALLY RETARDED
There are certain behavioural signs which might give an indication about the
presence of mental retardation among children.
1. General academic retardation characterised by slow rate of learning,
poor problem solving skills, slow reaction to the environmental
demands.
2. Poor memory ability. Inability to retain things fbr a longer period.
3. Difficulty in developing concepts especially abstract concepts.
'—Absence of clarity.
4. Inability to arrive at generalisation and see common elements
among different objects or events.
5. Slow language development—usually the language is limited in
terms of vocabulary and variety.
6. Below average in imagination and creative thinicing.
'-4. Inability to delay gratification and satisfaction by inunediate reward.
J/Short attention span and intolerance to frustration.
9. Limited play ixi social interests.
_}O heightened distractibility and incapacity for
comprehension.
i-1-Lack of cordination in self-help skills (sucking, chewing, eating,
use of hands, legs, fingers etc.).
 265
+ MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN
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 266 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
12. Some have physical features like small +
or large head, small eyes,
straight hair, fissured tongue, low set ears and small stature,
physical deformities and paralysis of one or more limbs.
13. In case of school going children there
is repeated failures and
inability to cope with the lessons.
—- Some of the normal milestones of
at which they are attained are: development and average age range

1. Responding to name/voice 1-3 months

2. Smiling at others 1-4 months
3. Neck control 2-6 months
4. Sitting without support 5-10 months
S. Standing with support 9-14 months
6. Walking independently 10-20 months
7. Talking in 2-3 word sentences 16-30 months
8. Eating and drinking by self 2-3 years
9. Telling one's name 2-3 years
10. Toilet control 3-4 years
11. Avoiding simple hazards 3-4 years
Assessment is made on the basis of maturational and developmental
skills in the areas of communications, motor
ability and sell-help in early
childhood. In later period, learning and social skills receivegreater significance
and emphasis. During adolescence, social and vocational adjustments are
emphasised. AAMD adaptive behaviour scale and the Caine-Levine Social
competency scale are quite well known tests of measuring adaptive behaviour.
The adaptive behaviour dimensionsaccording to AAMD behaviour scale are
related to the following dimensions—5 Manual (1975).
COMPONENTS OF THE A.A.M.D. ADAPTiVE BEHAVIOUR SCALE
Part 'A' Part 'B'
Independent functioning—Eating Violent and Destructive behaviour;
Toilet use, Cleanliness, Appearance
and Care of clothing, Dressing and
Undressing Travel, General indepen- *
dent functioning;
Physical development_Senso Antisocial behaviour;
Motor;
Economic activity—Money handling Rebilious behaviour;
and Budgeting shopping skills;
Language developmen Expression, Untrustworthy behaviour;
LComprehensjo,,,, &,c.W )ajr,
 MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN
267
development;
Nwnber and time; Withdrawal
Domestic activity—Cleaning, Kit- Stereotyped behaviour an, odd man-
chen duties, other demestic activi- nerisms;
f ties;
Inappropriate interpersonal manners;
Vocational activity;
Unacceptable vocal habits;
Self-direction—Initiative, Persever-
ance, Leisure time;
Unacceptable or eccentric habits;
Responsibility;
Self-abusive behaviour; Hyperactive
Socialisation. tendencies; Sexually aberrant
behaviour; Psychological distur-
bances; Use of medication.

Sub-average intelligence and impairment in adaptive behaviour are seen

before age 18 years. In India, Palit (1969) tried to find retardation being
intimately connected with the planets like Mercury, Moon and Saturn. Jam
(1972) found that family history and retardation had high association. Birth
order and spacing between births have association with retardedcondition.
Those born as first born to mothers below 19 years of her age, had more
chances of being retarded. Teja eta!. (1970) found retardation having strong
association with rural areas and family history of retardation or organic
psychosis. Kuppuswamy (1968) did a survey in middle schools ofMysore
city and found existence of 1.41 per cent cases of mental retardation. He also
found caste as a variable in retardation. De Souza and Iyer(1969) found that
among mentally deficient 36 per cent had primary and 61 per cent had
secondary mental deficiency.

(6?.)

Severe{3.57.)
Mitd(891 Profound(lSj)

Percentage of Menta) Retardation

There are different methods of classification of mental retardation. The

medical classification is based on the cause, the psychological classification
 268 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

on the level of intelligence and the educational classification on the current

level of functioning of the mentally retarded person/child.
CLINICAL CLASSIFICATION OF MENTAL RETARDATION
• Medical Educational Psychological
11 Infections and 1. Educable 1. Mild Stanford
Intoxications IQ 60-85 Wechsler Binet
55-69 52-67
2. Trauma or 2. Trainable 2. Moderate
Physical agent IQ 30-59 40-54 36-51
3. Metabolism or 3. Custodial
Nutrition IQ Below 3. Severe
30 25-39 20-35
4. Grossbrain disease 4. Profound
(Post natal) below 25 below 20

5. Unknown prenatal
influence
6. Chromosomal anomaly
7. Gestational disorder
8. Environment influence

The various classification provide an understanding of the level at which

the mentally retarded person functions with respect to his education,
appropriate behaviour and the degree of his independence. The characteristics
of the mentally retarded persons vary depending upon the level of retardation,
country, age, culture etc. The terms currently used to describe the various
degrees of mental retardation are mild, moderate, severe and profound.
Table-Il describes the characteristics of persons with various degrees of
mental retardation.
On the average 2.5% children are mild and moderately retarded and
.5 per cent are severely retarded, However, there is no systematic
National Survey conducted to determine the prevalence of mental
retardation in India. Recently, it has been estimated that in India, there are
about 20 million persons who are mildly retarded and about four million
persons who are moderately and severely retarded. The figures of
prevalence of mental retardation in India vary from 0.22 to 32.8 per thousand
population.
MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 269
CAUSES OF MENTAL RETARDATION
There are several causes leading to Mental Retardation.
GENETIC
One of the most visible condition associated with mental disorder is Down's
syndrome. Mongolism was also used to explain this symptom because of
similarity in physical features. Down's syndrome doubles when the mother's
age exceeds 30 years. Down's syndrome contains non-sex determining
chromosome. Chromosomal anomally explains many forms of mental
disorders. In nondys-junction Down's syndrome one pair of genes fails to
separate at conception, resulting in an extra or 47th chromosome after
fortysix (trisomy no. 21). This is related to older age of the mother.
Translocation is common. It occurs because of faulty cell division in
which one chromosome is attached to another. In Mosaicism, the cell
receives an extra twenty first chromosome, but there are fewer abnormalities
in this form of Down's syndrome.
The child with Down's Syndrome has small ears, protruding tongue
with deep fissures, slanted eyes, broad hands with short fingers, short stature
and underdeveloped geniti1ia. Congenital heart disorders and respiratory
complications are quite common.
Degree of retardation in such cases vanes from mild to severe. Treatment
would involve special educational provisions and medication.
Turner's syndrome results from the absence of an X-chromosome in the
female (XO). Learning problems are usually seen, including loss of hearing.
Treatment includes use of female hormones to develop female sex
characteristics. Klinefelter's syndrome is seen in male due to the presence
of an additional X-choromosome (XXY) and chromosome count of 47. The
male usually develops female characteristics. Mental retardation due to this
factor remains within the moderate range.
CONGENITAL DEFECTS
Microcephaly and Hydrocephaly are two types of disorders which involve
cranial and congenital defects. These are due to unknown origins and they
exist before birth. Primary microcephaly is inherited whereas secondary
microcephaly is acquired. In the case of primaiy microcephaly the brain
tissue is underdeveloped but in relation to size of the cranium. Retardation
ranges from mild to severe.
Overproduction or under absorption or cerebrospinal fluid is termed as
hydrocephaly. The head is globe shaped, the bridge of the nose is flat and
270 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

the eyes are pushed downward, and become more widely spated. It is not +
hereditary. Surgery is applied to prevent further disorders.
GESTATIONAL FACTORS
Gestational disorders like prematurity also causes mental retardation. Even
post maturity is also harmful in sense that surgery is applied for birth and
because of extra growth, there is prolonged labour and consequent adverse
effects on the brain of the new born.
Severe environmental deprivation, special sensory handicaps (deafness
and blindness) contribute to retarded development. Multiple handicaps such
as epilepsy, and cerebral palsy also account for some degree of retardation.
After birth the child can cotract diseases such as meningitis and encephalitis
which can also result in retardation.
LEAD POISONING
Today most victims of lead poisoning are infants and toddlers who are likely
to take edible objects into their mouths. Common source of lead poisoning
is use of lead paints in the wall, furniture, crib rails, toys, battery cases,
chewing of lead pencils etc. The symptoms of lead poisoning include weight
loss, anemia, stomach cramps and constipation. Other symptoms include
mental depression, irritability, and convulsions. Lead poison is retained in
the body and leads to permanent brain damage, and mental retardation. Lead
poisoning is treated by using medicines e.g. 'EDTA' and maintaining a
healthy diet. Lead free environment is to be ensured. Preention is most
important since it leads to permanent damage of the brain.
INFECTION AND INTOXICATION
During the prenatal period the fetus is succeptible to damage from maternal
infection and intoxication. Within the first three months of pregnancy, the
mother's infection of rubella can lead to serious complications, such as
mental retardation, heart disorders, seizures etc. About 10 to 85 per cent of
rubella babies suffer from these types of ailments. Mental retardation occurs
due to congenital syphilis, although syphilis can be controlled. Postnatal
infections caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi may also lead to
mental retardation. Toxic agents cause damage to the fetus. Mother-fetal 4
blood group incompatibility can lead to death and spontaneous abortion of
the fetus. This is inherited.
Exposure to X-ray in the early months of pregnancy, using harmful
drugs especially those used in treatments of cancer, antiepileptic drugs and
hormones can damage the growing fetus. Untreated fits of the mother, and
accidents from falls resulting in injury tp the abdomen can damage the
growing fetus and lead to mental retardation.
MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 271
TRAUMA
Prenatal, Perinatal and Postnatal injury cause trauma. Radiation cause
prenatal injury which leads to retardation, Mechanical injury or birth injuries
cause brain damage. Anoxia is responsible for mental retardation. Postnatal
anoxia are caused by shock, respiratory difficulties. The extent of brain
injury will determine the degree of retardation.
METABOLIC AND NUTRITIONAL DISORDERS
Galactosemia is a carbohydrate disorder which is transmitted genetically. In
such cases, the infants fail to metabolise the galactose in milk. Unless the
child is placed on a low lactose diet mental retardation onsets. Similarly,
when the body fails to change phenylaline into tyrosine, it leads to
phenylketoneurea. (PKU) which can be detected easily by urine culture or
blood analysis. Low protein diet acts as prevention to such disorders.
Hypothyroidism or Cretinism is a common disorder leading to low IQ. Use
of Thyroxin can lessen cretinism.
POSTNATAL
Neurofibromatosis and Tuberous sclerosis are two examples of gross brain
disease. Neurofibromatosis is hereditary and is characterised by brownish
spots on the skin, and tumours in the brain and nervous sjstern. Tuberous
sceloris is characterised by reddish-orange nobules in a butterfly pattern in
the face and cheeks. This is hereditary. Its treatment consists of removal of
tumours wherever possible and use of anticonvulsants in case of seizures.
Postnatal gown brain disease includes genetic disorders such as
neurofibromatosis and tuberous sclerosis. Hutington's chorea is a condition
that does not appear generally until a person is in the mid thirties, at which
progressive deterioration of the brain occurs. Preventive measures include
sterilisation.
Percent of Mentally Retarded new patients in Mental Retardation clinics in
the United States by Medical classification and subgroup by 1971
Primary Medical diagnosis of condition
Causing or Associated with Mental Retardation Percent
Total Mentally Retarded 100.00
Infection 6.19
Prenatal infection 2.70
Postnatal cerebral infection 3.49
Intoxication 3.20
Toxemia of pregnancy 1.19
Other maternal intoxications 0.37
Biirubin encephalopathy (Kermcterus) 0.87
Post-immunization encephalopathy 0.10
272 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Other 067
Trauma or physical agent 11.72
Prenatal injury 1.40
Mechanical injury at birth 2.12
Anoxemia at birth 5.76
Postnatal injury 2.44 .-
Metabolism, growth or nutrition 3.76
Cerebral lipoidosis, infantile 0.13
Other disorders of lipid metabolism 0.17
1.03
Phenyleketonuria
Other disorders of protein metabolism 0.24
Galactosemia 0.12
Other disorders of carbohydrate metabolism 0.20
Arachnoactyly 0.04
0.53
Hypothyroidism
Gargoylism (Lypochondrodystrophy)
0.23
Other 1.07
New growths 1.32
Neurofibromatosis 0.62
Trigeminal cerebral angiomatosis 0.07
Tuberous sclerosis 0.43
Intracranial neoplasm, other 0.20
Prenatal influence
cXecX, xo
Cerebral defect, congenital associated with primary cranial anomaly
24.72
1
2.56
0.07
Lau1ei c-Moon-Bied1 syndrome
8.15
Mongdism 6.74
Other
Unknown cause-structural reactions manifest 16.85
Diffuse sclerosis of brain 0.29
0.28
Cerebral degeneration
6.30
Prematurity 9.98
Other
Uncertain cause—functional reaction alone manifest 32.23
8.78
Cultural familial
Psychogenic, associated with environmental deprivation 4.26
Psychogenic, associated with emotional disturbance 4.03
2.03
Psychogenic (or major personality) disorder
13.13
Other
Source: U.S. Department of Health & Welfare, Mental Retardation Clinic Services,
1971.
Chromosomal anomalies can now be detected prior to birth through a
surgical technique known as aminocentesis. In this procedure a sampleof the
aminotic fluid surrounding the fetus is examined and if chromosomal
abnormalities are present it can be determined that the child will be affected.
A decision can then be taken to abort the fetus.
 MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN
273
Environmental influences explain by far the greatest number of cases for
which an etiological classification is given. Prevention focuses upon the
enrichment of impoverished environment and the provision of highquality
educational and social seMces.
Verghese and Rao (1961) have discussed in some details some aspects
of pathology, diagnosis, and management of mongols. Mothers of the
mongols were 10 years older than the mother of the nonnals. Immediate
elder of a mongol was three years older than the immediate elder of the
normal. The average position of the mongol child in the family was eighth.
Preventive Measures
1. Vaccination against rubella.
2. Surgical procedure to correct hydrocephaly.
3. Amniocentesis to detect chromosomal aberrations in the fetus.
4. Use of drugs to control the effects of childhood illness.
5. Blood transfusion of Rh-factor babies and vaccination of Rh-
sensitised mothers.
6. Laws that prohibit the use of lead based paint on baby toys and
furniture.
7. Dietaiy treatment of PKU and galactosemia.
8. Improved maternal nutrition and parental health care.
9. Genetic counselling for persons who are carriers of potential genetic
- defects.
10. Enrichment of impoverished environments.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MILDLY MENTALLY RETARDED
Learning and Memory
Mildly retarded children have poor learning ability and they forget
quickly. Learning difficulty in the subnormal could be partly overcome by
manipulating the rate of presentation. Sen and Sen (1967) in a comparative
study of two significantly different mental age groups or retardates found that
low M.A. group learnt veiy slowly but on recall test after a fortnight the
difference between the two groups was not found significant. In another
experiment Sen, Clarke, and Cooper (1968) found that no difference in recall
after one month interval although they found that in serial learning control
F group was significantly faster. Sen and Sen (1969) found negative correlations
between speed of learning and intelligence. Sen and Sen (1969) in an
experimental study tried to determine the effect of prior learning on
4 subsequent learning. The results showed that the high degree of prior
learning, lad to a positive transfer in learning of the second list. Sen and
Patnaik (1973) study demonstrated that transfer from one task to the other
274 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

equivalent task was sufficient enough to alter the second learning situation
in such as that mastery of the transfer task was rapid. In a study of
reminiscence in retardates Roy (1971) found that there was improvement in
the reproduction of new response. Over learning improves memory.
Das (1965) found that the retardation has longer reaction time. The
retardates were found to be more sensitive than normal to evaluative verbal
stimuli like "good" and "bad". Retardates could name colours faster than
reading and words and showed relatively less interference than normals in
naming the colours of words. Das (1961) found that inteffigence level among
the retarded was related to the ability to acquire and extinguish verbal
conditioned responses. As the tasks became complex, this difference
increased in proportion to intelligence. Same was true of classical conditioning
(Narayana and George, 1970).
What is to be done to improve their learning and memory?
1. Use metarial that matches the developmental level of the pupil. Be
sure that success is possible.
2. Limit the length of the learning task to be commensurate with
pupil's attention span.
3. Present the task in small, sequential steps.
4. Intoduce few elements of a concept in any period.
5. Present concepts in a concrete manner.
6. Provide repetition, especially distributed practice.
7. Provide for transfer of learning by presenting the same concept in
a variety of settings.
8. Present learning tasks that are useful in real life situations.
9. Use creative repetition in presenting tasks by varying the presentation
slightly to maintain student interest.
10. Use the principle of over learning to teach mastery and to ensure
long term memory of the material.
PERSONALITY
Certain basic differences are observed in Mildly retarded and normals. The
retarded scored higher on extraversion and lower on neuroticism scales.
Retardates are more extraverted than normals. Mohan (1972) found that the
retarded and gifted did better on persistence test than the normals. The
subjects who were high on extraversion and neuroticism and low on
intelligence were found to be a more persistent. Retarded are very rigid both
physiologically and in their personality make up. The retarded were also
emotionally disturbed. Sircar (1975) found them to be more hostile than
normals on diagnostic tests. They need help in resolving their conflicts.
MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 275
Gandhi (1974) demonstrated that the retardates could learn a variety of
social behaviours through social feedback. Banerji (1970) using sociograni
method studied the relationship pattern of pairs of retarded children. Panda
and Lynch (1973, 1974) found that retardates had greater faith in luck and
failure situations' as compared to success situations.
Retarded children have a poor self concept and are very impulsive. They
show a global style of looking at things. They dc have an external locus of
control (Panda & Lynch, 1971; Panda, 1971; Panda & Lynch, 1974).
Physical Fitness. How do educable mentally retarded children compare
in physical fitness to their normal school age peers?
The Francis and Rarick study (1959) was the first well controlled
examination of the differences between normal and mentally retarded
subjects in physical fitness. They tested 284 mentally retarded children with
a CA range of from 7.5 to 14.5. Twelve of the 16 tests utilised in the study
were measures of physical fitness.
The findings indicated that the mentally retarded children were markedly
inferior to normal children of the same age in all tests and that the difference
seemed to increase with age. It was also noted that the performance of the
retarded subjects followed the same pattern as that of normal children, but
at a lower level.
In considering the fact that retarded children as a group are extremely
heterogeneous in many, attributes. Auxter (1966) compared a group of 35
normal boys with three groups of differentially diagnosed mentally retarded
boys on five tests of physical fitness. Based on the Riggs and Rain (1952)
classificatIon, 33 boys were classified non-brain damaged, 31 boys as brain
daniaged, and 27 as undifferentiated. The retarded boys ranged in CA from
9 to 11 years and in IQ from 50 to 79.
The results indicated that the normal boys were significantly superior to
the three groups of retarded boys on tests of grip strength, vertical jump, and
anide flexion. No differences were found among the three retarded groups
on any of the tests except the vertical jump, on which the non-brain damaged
group outperformed the other two groups of retardates.
What is the relationship between motor skills proficiency and
intelligence ? How do retardates compare in motor proficiency with normal
children of similar chronological age ? And does motor skills proficiency
have any relationship to peer acceptance or social class?
Sloan (1951) administered the Lincoln Adaptation of the Oseretsky Test
of Motor Proficiency (Sloan, 1948) to 20 institutionalised boys and girls and
20 normal boys and girls. Of the ten male retardates, five were further
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
.276
The same
classified by medical staff as familiar and five as undifferentiated.
procedure was followed for the girls.
The results indicated that the retarded boys and girls were significantly
inferior to their normal counterparts on all six motor proficiency factors.
Howe (1959) found that normal boys and girls performed significantly
better than retarded children on 11 measures of physical ability. The tests
used in this study included three fitness items, four gross motor items, and
four fine motor items.
In general, it can be felt that educable mentally retarded children as a
group may be expected to be inferior to children of normal intelligence and
similar chronological age in physical fitness and motor skill proficiency.
The question of whether or not the motor skills proficiency ofeducable
mentally retarded children can be improved was tried out.
Lillie (1966) administered 65 diagnostically based motor development
lessons to a group of 16 preschool culturally deprived children. This was a
subordinate study to the Hodges. McCancUes and Spicker (1964) study. The
lessons were evaluated in terms of a gross motor score and a fine motoP score
on the Lincoln Oseretsky Motor Development Scale. The contrast groups
were a kindergarten control group and a home control group.
The results of this study indicated that all groups made significant gains
in gross motor proficiency. However, the fine motor proficiency of the
experimental group was significantly superior to that of the kindergarten
group, which in turn was superior to the home control group.
Dempsey (1968) conducted a two hour a week programme of specially
designed balance activities for a four months with elementary school age
retarded children. She included only one control group that received a
standard physical education programme during the usual period of time.
The results indicated that the experimental group made significantly
greater gains than the control on several gross motor tests including all six
balance tests on the Lincoln Oseretsky.
In short, Educable mentally retarded children, as a group, seem tobe
from one to two years behind their normal counterparts in physical fitness.
The physical fitness pattern of development for retarded children is
similar to that of normal children, but at a lower level.
Mentally retarded children, as a group, are inferior in motor skill
proficiency when compared than it is for normal children. Children classified.
as brain damaged and non-brain damaged do not appearto be significantly
different on measures of physical fitness and motor skill proficiency.
MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 277

Some of the research implies that retardates are more proficient in gross
motor skills than they are in fine motor skills.
Based on the intervention research the following conclusions may be
drawn:
1. Specially planned and implemented motor development programmes
are beneficial in improving the gross and fme motor skill proficiency
of educable mentally retarded children.
2. Specially planned programmes of physical education and physical
conditioning are beneficial in improving the physical fitness of
educable mentally retarded children. In some cases, such
improvement compares fovourably with the performance of normal
children of similar chronological age.
3. No cause and effect relationship has been demonstrated between
physical education programmes and improved intellectual fun-
ctiomng.

CREATiVE THINKING
Early writers in this field have used such terms as, imagination and
creativity to explain the phenomenon we now term productive thinking.
According to Guilford (1959), divergent production is the creative component
of thinking. Guilford's theoretical position explained in his model of the
"Structure of Intellect" has provided the foundation for much of the
research in this area.
Guilford's (1959) model describes the individual's ability to vary his
thinking in different ways. This productive thinking has four major
components; flexibility, originality, elaboration, and fluency. Flexibility is a
measure of the ability to change one class of thinking to another. Originality
indicates the uniqueness of a response. The response maybe of high, medium
or irrelevant quality. Elaboration is a measure of the number of ideas used
to build into the basic response. Fluency is the number of relevant responses
given within a specified time.
The great majority of the studies done in this field have been done with
intellectually gifted children. It seems that most investigators have not
considered the possibility that children of below average intellectual
functioning may exhibit some degree of productive thinking ability.
How do retarded children compare with normal children in productive
thinking abilities ? and (b) Can the productive thinking abilities of educable
mentally retarded children be improved?
A comparison of the productive thinking abilities of retarded and
 278 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
normal children was attempted by Crawley (1966). One verbal and
two non-
verbal measures of productive thinking were administered to a group of 26
special class retardates, a group of 26 regular class retardates, and a group
of 26 children of normal intelligence. The three groups were equated in
mental age. Crawley found that no significant difference existed among the
groups on the measures used. He also found no significant correlation
between mental age, IQ, and the productive thinking modes utilised.
Tisd.all (1962) was one of the first to investigate the effects ofschooling
on the productive thinking abilities of retarded children. As part of the
Goldstein (1965) study, Tisdall administered Torrance's (1960) tests to a
group of retarded children in regular classes, a group of retarded children in
special classes, and a group of normal children. He found no significant
difference among the groups in non-verbal measures. However, the means
for the normal and special class groups were significantly better then the
means of the regular class groups on the measures of verbal productive
thinking. With regard to the comparison between regular class retardatesand
normal children, the results of the study are in direct agreement with the
results of the Crawley (1966) and Smith (1967) studies.
A more direct attempt to influence the productivethinking abilities of
retarded children was attempted by Rnuse (1965). Rouse constructed an
experimental group and control group of Special class retardates ranging in
age from 7-7 to 17-2. The Minnesota Tests of Creative. Thinking (sub tests,
productive improvement and circles tasks) were administered to each
subject. The experimental classes were exposed to a six week program of
productive thinking activities devised by the investigator. The regular
classroom teachers were trained to administer the program. The results
indicated that the experimental group made significantly greater gains than
the control group.
The following conclusions were drawn:.
(a) There seems to be a weak relationship between productive
thinking
and IQ and academic achievement.
(b) Educable mentally retarded children demonstrated a lower level of
verbal productive thinking than normal children, but seem to be
equal to normal children on measures of non-verbal productive
thinking.
(c) Conflicting evidence exists with regard to whether or not the
productive thinking abilities of retarded children can be improved.
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Retarded children appeai to be especially vulnerable to emotional problems
 MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 279
because of their intellectual handicaps. Their deficiencies in judgement, in
understanding of their environment, and in anticipation of the results of their
behaviour constantly lead them into situations in which they experience
failure and punishment.
Most of the research that has been done on social and emOtional
adjustment of EMR children can be categorised as studies to determine one
of the following : (a) the adjustment of EMR children in regular classes,
(b) the adjustment of EMR children in special classes, (c) the adjustment of
EMR children in regular classes compared with the social position of EMR
children special classes, or (d) the adjustment of EMR children in partially
integrated arrangements.
The findings of the studies dealing with administrative arrangements
could be summarised as follows:
1. The mentally retarded child in the regular classroom is not accepted
as readily as his more capable peers.
2. Placing a child in a special class does not necessarily mean that his
acceptailce or self concept will improve.
3. The special class seems to promote better "sociometric" adjustment
of a retarded child; that is the retarded child will be more accepted
and less rejected in a special class than in a regular class, partly
because of the decrease in numbers and a different reference group.
4. The self concept of the retarded child will be better if he is left in
a regular class only if interventions are introduced.
5. The special class retarded child probably interacts less with his
neighbourhood peers than he would if he were in a regular class.
6. Partially integrated arrangements do not give a retarded child
sociometric equality with the normal child, but they do improve the
retarded child's self concept.
7. Achievement motivation is poorer for EMR's placed in special
classes.
8. Parents of EMR's are satisfied with their child's progress and
placement in special classes.
Many of the recent studies reported in the literature of social and
emotional adjustment of the retarded deal with ways of improving the
adjustment of EMR children. This is an encouraging sign. Too often the
reaction of educationally oriented professionals, among others, to poorly
adjusted EMR's has been really negative. It has been felt and often verbalised
that nothing constructive could be done. Many seemed to feel that if they
ignored the problem it would go away. The problem usually "went away"
in the form of a drop-out without, or probably because of, no intervention
program on the part of the school. The studies presented in this section
 280 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

generally will not be presented in detail; most of them are not controversial
but what is of interest usually is whether or not they found something 'that
worked' and to what group the results may be generalisable.
The retarded child lacks social skills in comparison with normals. This
can be inferred from his poor scores on sociometric devices. Also, Johnson's
(1950) finding that the mentally retarded are rejected because of their
antisocial behaviours is another indication of the lack of adequate social
skills. Aprasia (ability to perceive persons as separate entities but not in
meaningful or significant interaction in group activity) may contribute to
social skill deficits. Tayler (1967) found a significantly greater incidence and
degree of aprasia among retardates than among normals of the same
chronological age. His EMR sample had a mean (A) of 12 and IQ range 50-
65. Another factor which contributes to poor social skills is poor logical
thinking which is probably correlated with aprasia. Ross (1967) conducted
a study to determine if a training program in which social skills were taught
would increase the young EMR's knowledge of appropriate social behaviour.
He found that his experimental group, receiving specific training, was able
to improve significantly in both knowledge of appropriate social behaviour
and logical thinking. This carefully designed study has implications for
public school EMR programs. Mentally retarded children would benefit from
the inclusion in the curriculum of a formal training program designed to
improve knowledge of appropriate social behaviour. It seems reasonable that
as a result of this training program the prevalence of aprasia among EMR's
would also decrease.
Probably the pedagogical methods, group counselling, grouping with
popular children and specific ideas for improving social skills would be
most appropriate with the educable mentally retarded groups. The vocational
counselling would be appropriate for upper trainable and educable groups.
The social reinforcement techniques are appropriate for all levels of retardation
and in all environments home, school, or institution. The various techniques
probably produce different levels of changes in adjustment and bring about
these changes with varying amounts of time and/or effort invested. Once
behaviour modification techniques are learned, they can be applied relatively
easily to bring about rather immediate changes in sociometric standings. The
group counselling methods take much longer and probably endanger changes
in individual's self concepts. This approach would be utilised if the "deeper"
levels of personality adjustment were of interest. It is encouraging that
serious thoughts and energy is being extended in finding ways to help the
retarded become more socially adjusted.
Opportunities to develop more appropriate social skills include the
following
 281
MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN

Exchanging proper greetings

Engaging in play activities
Seeking alternative strategies to fighting
Developing a sense of human knowledge of whom to trust
Participating in small group work
Etigaging in social interaction
of
Leiineburg, eta!. (1964) attempted to assess the linguistic production
a group of. mongoloid children and to correlate this with progress on some
other developmental indices. 63 Mongoloids were studied over a three year
period; measures consisted of medical histories, neurological examinations,
psychological testing, and tape recording of spontaneous utterances,
assessIient of vocabulary, sentence repetition tasks, and performance on the
Binet aridthe Merrill Palmer. Stages of language developmentwere determined
and then intercorrelationS were
by assessing thç child's language production,
computed bet$een these stages and performance on development indices.
Correlations were found between age and stage of motor development,
naming, vocabulary and understanding, and ability to repeat sentences
which were complex syntactically. No correlation were found between
comprehensibility and understanding. IQ and stageof language development,
articulation of a test and articulation spontaneously, pronounciation of
phonemes in one context and another, and complexity of grammatical
structure obtained and ability to parrot sentences.
These findings appear to indicate, as linguists have long believed, that
there is a connection between language developmentand other developmental
tasks. It is interesting tO note that when a non-verbal test is used. There is
no correlation between IQ and stage of language development. Furthermore,
as one might suspect, naming, extent of vocabulary and understanding are
intimately related to stage of language production.
The study has implications for the speech defects, since the degree to
which the child's speech is comprehensible is unrelated to his understanding.
It also indicates that the Way a child performs on an articulation test is not
necessarily indication of how well he will articulate in other settings.
* Consequently
diagnosing a child as speech defective on the basis of his
performance on an articulation test may not be an accurate picture of his
capabilities.
The Lenneburg study contains several interesting measures of the
language comprehension of monogloid- children, and some of his measures
may be used as guides for other studies of comprehension. As previously
noted, paraphrasing a sentence in an index of comprehension; parroting is
not. In fact an adult will be able to parrot a meaningless string of words, but
 282 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

not a meaningfw sentence. Therefore, it appears that the inability to

parrot
a sentence can be taken as an indication of comprehension. The
Lenneburg
study indeed found a negative correlation between this ability to parrot
sentences and the level of grammatical structure attained. The level of
grammatical structure attained is an output measure. It appears that
granunatical structure may aid memory.
What we seem to know so for about the language of trainables therefore,
is that it's development is intimately related to motor development, that
comprehensibility is not related to understanding, and that institutionalised
retardates do not perform significantly more poorly in tenus of totallanguage
score. It also appears that their performance on the articulation tests used in
the speech defect studies may not be an accurate picture of theirperformance
on spontaneous utterances.
The other studies examining the characteristics of the language of the
retarded child deal with the educable group. And it is important tonote that
these subjects are of the cultural familial type. This is important because it
indicates that, besides language deficits, these children also have a lack of
certain types of experiences in common; the two appear to be interrelated.
If we can determine what the linguistic deficits are and what the deficits in
experiences are, then we ought to be able to determine how to eradicate
linguistic deficits by providing the necessary experiences.
By far the most influential and pervasive theory of the linguistic deficits
of the deprived is Bernstein's. He hypothesised the existence of a "public"
language which is different in a number of specifiable ways from the more
"formal" language of the middle class. It was hypothesised to consist of
"short, grammatically simple, often unfinished sentences, a poor syntactical
construction with a form stressing the active, mood, rigid and limited use of
adjective and adverbs, low order of generality of symbolism, and a low level
of conceptualisation"
In a study done in 1962, he tested four hypotheses related to thistheory;
(a) that the codes can be distinguished, (b) that their use is associated with
social class, and (c) that their use is independent of intelligence, and (d) that
the public language is characterised by a smaller amount of verbalplanning.
The speech of the working class person ought to be characterisedby
fewer pauses than the middle class.
There are theories which claim that the four functions oflanguage of the
lower class person have qualitatively different characteristics from those of
the middle class person. Speech is hypothesised to be less complex both
syntactically and semantically, and the theorists imply that comprehension
is also similar in nature to production. They also imply that these deficits
MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 283

have strong implications concerning complexity of thought. We have seen

that there is indeed a social class difference with increasing deficit for the
lower class child on concept sorting performance; the Batza study appears
to indicate that linguistic performance of the educable group as a whole is
similar in nature to younger normal children, and that within the gorup,
comlexity of sentence production appears to be related to IQ.
One of the earliest of the intervention studies was that done by Smith
(1962). This was an attempt to study the effects of a group language pTogram
on the language abilities of a group of deprived children. Specifically,Smith
hypothesised that a language development program would enhance total
language are scores as iieasured by the ITPA, that IQwould be unrelated to
language age score gains, and that initial language age scores would be
unrelated to total language age score gains.
Sixteen matched pairs (on CA and overall LA pretest scores) were used.
All were students in special classes, all were between the ages of 7 and 10
and had received Binet scores between 50 and 80. Over a three month period
the children were taken from their special classes into groups of eight each,
three times a week for 45 minutes. They were exposed to a language program
which was designed to be stimulating and enriching. Each child was urged
to be an active participant in the program The lessons were planned to
include a wide range of activities with visual and auditoy stimuli and were
aimed to decoding, association and encoding of linguistic symbols.
Decoding activities were such things as answering oral questions,
canying out instructions, and recognising objects or naming. Association
activities included such tasks as relating objects to their spoken names,
naming pictorial stimuli, and listening to stories and answering questions.
Encoding activities included naming and describing pictured objects, rhythmic
activities and finger play.
Results at the end of the three month period showed that the experimental
group gained 6.75 months on the total language age score as measured by
the ITPA; the control group lost four months. This is a significant difference.
The mean language age gain of the experimental group was thus more than
seven months over the gain of the matched control group. The experimental
group showed gain for all nine subtest scores, with the greatest gains on the
vocal encoding subtest (number of concepts enumerated to an object) and the
visual motor association subtest (choosing a picture which has a conceptual
communality to a first picture). For the control group, performance on 5 of
the 9 subtests remained the same or decreased, with minimal gains shown
on the other four subtests. It was found that neither IQ or initial LA was
related to the LA gain.
284 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPAENT

It is important to note that the experimental group received another

differential type of treatment besides the language lessons which might
account for results because they were removed from their special classes for
these lessons whereas the control group subjects were not. A Hawthorne
effect may be operating. It must also be noted, however, that the greatest
gains seemed to be made by the experimental group on subtests which were
similar in task orientation as the lessons. For example, one might expect a
child who had received more experience in describing pictured objects to do
better on a task which requires him to enumerate a large number of concepts
in response to an object. It therefore appears that the types of gains made are
related to the emphasis of the lessons that the children had been exposed to.
Mueller and Smith (1964) attempted to measure whether the gains made
in the Smith study were stable over time. Thirteen matched pairs from the
original Smith subjects were used, and they were administered the ITPA 13
to 14 months after the original testing. The same examiner administered the
test as in the first study.
Differences between the total LA scores of the Smith pretest, the Smith
posttest and the Mueller and Smith Follow-up scores were cmpared; as we
have noted the differences between the Smith pre and post test LA scores
were significant, but this difference did not hold up on the follow-up test,
although the experimental group still tended to score above the controls.
Mueller and Smith did an analysis of the individual iinprovcrnent scores and
found that eight children showed no improvement while eight improved
from 6 to 16 months. Further, an analysis of IQ and class placement showed
no differences between these two groups, and they take this as evidence that
the children were stimulated differentially by the programme. What this
result implies is that three months of language stimulation is not sufficient
to maintain gains over time, and this in turn implies that language
stimulation programs begun in preschool are going to have to be maintained
in regular classrooms if gains are to be maintained. Since the experimental
group continued to score above the controls, it does not appearthat language
development stops when lessons do; it simply implies that the acceleration
begun in the enrichment program is slowed down when it is given up.
On study which uses and at home control group and also a kindergarten
control is one by Stearns (1966). He described a diagnostically based series
of language lessons. The lessons concentrated in teaching visual and tactical
discrimination, labels for objects in terms of size, shape, color, and increasing
ranges of adjectives and adverbs and prepositions used bythe children. The
lessons also attempted to increase sentence length and building correct
grammatical order and syntax. Lessons were based upon the capabilities and
weaknesses of the children's performance; teachers used corrective feedback
 MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 285

techniques and general reinforcing social contact; children were asked to

discriminate among familiar objects and were trained to describe features of
objects.
Children were chosen on the basis of a psychosocial deprivation criteria.
All had IQs of 50-85, with a mean CA of 64 months. The ITPA was
administered pre. mid-term and post and in a follow up pre to mid-term and
mid-erm to post were not significant, but gains over the entire year were
significant; the experimental group gained 19 months in total LA while the
KC group gained 13 and the at home control gained 12 months. During the
four months in which the lessons were given (mid-term to post), children
made the greatest gains on subtests measuring meaningful level of
organisation, and this appears to indicate that the greatest gains are made on
those subtests which require the child to perform tasks similar to those
stressed in his lessons.
In a follow-up study done one year after the post test results, gains for
this period were found to be significantly smaller than the gains made over
the period of the year before. Thus again the gains were not maintained, and
this appears to indicate that a continuous program of language stimulation
is necessary to maintain gain over time.
The last intervention study (Dunn and Mueller, 1966) concerns itself
with the examination of the ability of a specific type of reading instruction
to enhance reading ability and the use of the Peabody Language Development
Kit in increasiug oral language development and raising IQs. Three
experimental groups received the ITA in isolation, the PLDK in isolation.
and the two together. Group 4 w'as a control group.
The Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA) cocentrates on teaching the
individual sound symbols before he is taught to put them together in words
and sentences. The reading program is continued in a normal way, although
the teachers stress sounds in isolation and combination. The Peabody
Language Development Kit is designed to stimulate oral language, and
attempts to train the psycholinguistic processes of convergent, divergent and
associative thinking, and vocal and motor expression through auditoiy,
visual and motor channels. The system consists of daily lesson plans
"
containing such activities as brainstorming. Classification critical thinking,
listening, describing, conversing and memory work.
Evaluation data was gathered at pre, post and one year periods on
achievement measures (the Metropolitan Achievement Test), language
measures (the ITPA and PPVT), and on intelligence measures (the Binet).
A Findings indicated that on achievement measures, the ITA groups were
clearly superior to those groups which did not receive it, and further analysis
indicated that this is because of differential performance on the MAT with
286 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

the ITA groups performing significantly better on word discrimination tasks.

On language age measures; specifically the ITPA, the PLDK groups were
found to perform significantly better than the non-PLDK groups but not on
the PPVT. On intelligence, those receiving the PLDK and the ITA in
combination did better than any other group.
The experimenters note that the ITA is therefore effective in stimulating
reading ability apparently because it helps develop word attack skills, and
that the use of the PLDK stimulates most aspects of language skills. These
findings appear to indicate that these measures are effective in combination
and that sound discrimination will indeed pull up scores on achievement and
IQ. It indicates what educators have long suspected that there is an intimate
relation between language and learning to read, and that learning to read
should be enhanced by language stimulation. The study has one flaw, and
that is the possibility of the influence of a Hawthorne effect in the results
because the teachers using these programmes were given many incentives for
success.
Prabhu (1968) fouiid that 44.6 per cent of the retarded had speech
defects. Speech defects were significantly more among the severely subnormal.
Speech defects were also more among the secondary group than the primary
arnents. People with hearing defects were intellectually subnormals are
compared with those who had no hearing defects Abrol et al. (1978).
ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION
Mild mentally retarded children have low attention span. They display a
global perceptual style and fail to develop simultaneous processing habits.
They are mostly impulsive while peceiving the objects and act as levellers.
Attention span can be enhanced by using certain specific training procedures.
These children profit when tasks are short. The complexity and length of the
task is slowly increased. They are trained to listen, watch, reflect, look at
different aspects of the object. This can be done by using a timer 'start-stop'.
Gradually time given to complete a task can be reduced. Teach them at
concrete level rather than at an abstract level.
In order to improve their discrimination skills one can ue repetition and•
matching techniques using different objects. Use of letter discrimination,
form discrimination, identification of letters, patterns, finding out hidden
figures, reproducing block or design, copying figures, locating names from
a telephone directory, attending to relevant cues, and concentrating on
objects, discriminating sounds and symbols have proved quite useful for
improving perceptual processes.
Poor information processing is among the manifestations of mental
retardation. Multisensory teaching techniques have often been recommended
 MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 287
to improve information processing habits. For example, use of language
master, motion pictures, filmstrips, talking calculators, using role play and
dramatisations, tracing letters and pronouncing them are some of the
techniques which are being used independently and combinedly in dealing
with mentally retarded children. Piagetian tasks are also used to enhance
information processing ability.
EDUCATIONAL PROVISIONS
General echicational goals are applicable for the educational programmes of
the mildly retarded. The academic levels of the mildly retarded in special
classes were not as high as those of their counterparts in regular classes. The
objectives of education for these children are seif-realisation, human
relationships, economic efficiency, and civic responsibility.
The following guidelines are suggested
Level of Education Areas of Concentration
Preschool (Age 3 to 6) — Communication skills, self-help, and social-
isation skills, perceptual experiences.
Primary (Age 6 to 9) — Integrated school system. Special trained
teachers. Development of basic skills.
(Age 9 to 12) — Formal academic training in Reading; Written
and oral communication; arithmetic; motor and
perceptual development. Children should be
placed in regular classes.
Secondary (Age 13 +) — Pre-vocational training skills, formal learning.
Sheltered workship situation is also re-
commended.
Kolstoe (1976) recommended the following steps:
1. The learning task should be familiar, and simple.
2. The task should be brief.
3. The task should be sequential containing small steps.
4. Each learning task should be aimed at bringing success.
5. Overlearning should be built into lessons.
6. Learning tasks should be applied to objects, problems and situations
in the learner's life environment.
In addition to these proper motivation may also be provided for
achieving success in school. This can be done by accepting the children, b)
rewarding them when they succeed, and by giving them social responsibility
and leadership roles. The classrooms of the mildly retarded children should
& also be larger than the normal classroom. It should contain high-interest, low
vocabulary reading material alongwith games of therapeutic value. Arts and
288 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

crafts can be used for self expression. Home and family life education may
also be included in the curriculum. Parents and teachers need to use social
reinforcements with these children e.g., good, fine, you are O.K.
Their language is so poorly developed that enriched language lessons
are recommeded. These children may be encouraged to speak during field
trips, dinning time and to describe what they do at different times.
INTERVENTIONS
One of the major trends in the education of mentally retarded children has
been the additional of educational services for the EMR. The impetus for this
began in the Summer of 1965 when the Head start programme was
introduced by the office of Economic opportunity in U.S.A. The Head start
programme was originally meant to benefit the economically deprived
children but it did profit a large number of EMR who were of socio-cultural
advantage rather than of organic factors.
The intervention programme in bringing cognitive, affective and
psychomotor changes will be dealt here under three main subheads:
(a) Preschool intervention
(b) School intervention
(c) Post school adjustment
Blat and Garfunkel (1967) studied the effect of nonautomated responsive
environment on the intellectual and social competence of EMR children. In
addition it was also planned to see if preschool intervention would reduce the
occurrence of intellectual and academic deficits. 59 preschool children
having Mean IQ 77 were assigned to two year preschool intervention
programme i.e., E1 pre school intervention in cognitive and affective process;
E2 Preschool intervention with responsive environment, and C. at home
control. The experimental groups gained 7 IQ points over at home but the
gains did not continue after the programme was discontinued.
Weikart (1967) reported the results of longitudinal study on the efficacy
of preschool programme designed to compensate for the cultural deprivation.
Increase in IQ was not stable over period of time even though IQ gains
were noticed for the experimental group. Similar was the case of language
ability. But in arithmetic, reading, and language skills, and personal-social
adjustment significant gains were noticed.
Hodges, Spicker and McCandles (1966) assessea the effectiveness of a
diagnostic curriculum to remediate cognitive, affective, and motori deficits
among culturally deprived children having low IQ and attempted to remedy
the progressive deficits. 142 psycholsocially deprived children, with IQ
between 50-58 were selected for the study over a three year period initially.
 MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN
289
The three groups of children were divided
Contrast, at home control with Mean IQs
into Experimental, Kindergarten
73.57,75.27, and 74.18 respectively.
The experimenmi group received a structured curriculum designed to
remedy the specific deficits of individual children in areas of language and
motor development; concept formation, and soc alisation The Kindergarten
groups received the traditional school curriculum
and the at home control did
not get any training. The EPS
and AHC group I and the KG group was higher in IQhigher
group had significantly IQ than the KG
than the AHC group
but aiIer two years of school
entrance the differences were washed out.
Language ability scores had similar fate. Achievement in the first grade had
been different significantly in case of EPS group personal social
scores continued to be better for the EPS children. adjustment
The experimental group demonstrated higher fine motor proficiency
than the KG and AHC
'group. However, in a nutshell it can be stated that,
significant IQ gains can be made with
the gains can be continuous if the intellectually subnormal children and
programme is long term than a one year
or two year programme and that too lithe low IQ is due to other factors than
brain damage. Adjustment and achievement gains are worth
noticing in the
intervention progranune. Hence, whetherpreschool programmes are
or not has to be carefully examined before necessaiy
introduced in a massive scale. the expensive programmes are

SCHOOL INTERVENTIONS
The typical solution to the problems
of retarded children in the public
has been the creation of special classes in which the special needs schools
of these
children are satisfied by specially trained teachers. Comparisons have
made with similar retarded children placed in the regular classesbeen
integrated classroom perform more adequately on standardised achievement or
tests and special class children received higher ranks in personal
social
adjustment compared to their in the
of placement differences i.e., regular classroom. This may arise out
good retarded children placed in regular classes
and the dull among them are sent to special classes. This also can
out. not be ruled

Goldstein, Moss and Jordan (1965) to avoid this defect started initially
experiments upon newly created special classes or to continued placement in
the regular first grade students
were randomly assigned to regular or special
classes—The teachers special classes were supervised and trained and
attended conferences every six weeks.
The results showed, IQ of both the
groups varied non-significantly in the first year and levelled in subsequent
years. There were no significant differences
between the regular and special
class placement. There were no differences in school achievement
suggests that even under ideal conditioijs This
special class placement did not
290 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

have significant advantage over regular class EMR children. In other words,
special class supplement does not seem to be academically justified in terms
of cost, training of teachers, equipments, and ancillary provisions.
Cain and Levine (1963) assessed the effects of special classes for
trainables in institution and community settings on the development of social
competency. Unfortunately no difference was noticed between the control
and experimental groups i.e., at home and school going TMR children in
social competency. This merely suggests that special class for the TMR may
be more efficiently organised in view of the fact that they will never gain
from regular class and or school placement.
Studies reported by Jordan (1960) and Johnson (1961) on sociometric
index of retarded children showed that lower IQ children are more rejected
and lower in social status than their brighter peers in the special class—the
same pattern that exists. in regular class. Majority of the studies show:
(a) There is a positive relationship between intelligence and peer
acceptance.
(b) Retarded children in special classes are more often favourably
chosen by their peers than retarded children in the regular grades
when sociometric measures were employed.
(c) Retarded children who are segregated from their brighter peers
have a significantly poorer self concept than children left in the
regular grades.
(d) Social adjustment of retarded children can be enhanced by providing
special social experience i.e., giving leadership roles, pairing with
popular children, giving some responsibilities.
Teaching, reading and arithmetic to EMR children have also been
investigated but no general approach has been recommended. For example,
if a child is aurally minded he profits from the phonic approach. If he is
visually minded he may profit from a visual approach i.e., programmed
materials. In so far as arithmetic achievement is concerned it is suggested
that arithmetical understanding is to be developed than mere arithmetical
manipulation of symbols. Training in language ability have already been
discussed in this chapter. It can be said that group language development
programmes used systematically does produce significant language gains for
EMR children (Smith 1962, Stearns 1967). Overlearning is to be used for
enhancing learning and achievement including training the retarded to
attend to specific cues.
Retarded children represent a group that is heterogenous with respect to
specific abilities, motivational patterns, learning styles and strategies and
social histories. Hence, any serious attempt to elicit maximum achievement
from a given child while deriving benefit from what is known about retarded
 MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 291
children generally, will have to trigger such application with a knowledge
of the specific child's response patterns and performance level.
Further, the teachers ought not to have negative expectancy as a result
c of the label 'Mentally Retarded' and motivate these children with reward,
affection, attention approval and acceptance. These children suffer from a
cloak of incompetence which has been highlighted in Edgerton's book "The
Cloak of competence, Stigma in the lives of the retarded" 1967. All the
children studied in this book, had a sad tale to tell. Therefore, in planning.
for the education and training of Mentally retardates due consideration has
to be given to their motivational and need patterns and engineer progranunes
in the appropriate directions.
Some of the well known intervention programmes (Klauss and Gray
1968, Bereiter and Engleman 1966, Detusch et a!. (1968), have been
discussed in the chapter on underpriviledged children. These studies are
significant here but will not be repeated here to avoid duplication. These
studies have shown the extent to which compensatory education programmes
can be used to the vantage of the EMR and culturally disadvantaged with no
brain damage.
Keeping these background materials and following the evaluation of
special education programmes in U.S.A. the present trend is to mainstream
the retarded. Integrated education has become the ciying need of the day if
we want the disabled of any form, in a mild, degree, is tO be educated.
POST SCHOOL ADJUSTMENT
Post school follow-up studies with the EMR have been conducted primarily
to demonstrate that such individuals loose their identity as retardates,
becoming economically self sufficient and socially adequate members of
society once they become adults. A few of thçse studies were conducted to
demonstrate that special aducational services were instrumental in helping
the EMR attain successful adult adjustment. The results of most of these
investigations have indicated that 80 & 85% of the EMR adults, indeed,
make successful adult adjustments in unskilled and semiskilled occupations.
4 However, these successful adjustment seem to occur regardless of whether
the individual had received his education in special or regular classes. The
major variable identified to date, which seems to affect post school adjustment
is length of stay in school, with those dropping out early (At CA 15 or 16)
less able to make a successful initial adult adjustment. However, according
to the long term follow-up study of Baller, Charles, and Miller (1966), even
these individuals eventually become successful members of society when
compared with comparab socio-economic class intellectually normal adults.
Post school studies with TMR adults have generally found that
292 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

approximately two-thirds of these individuals had remained in the community,

and that the other one-third had either died or had been placed into a
residential institution. Of those remainilig at home, approximately 30%
worked or had worked for pay, and approximately 75% had learned adequate
of self care skills and had developed sufficient social skills to get along
unsupervised in their immediate neighbourhoods. Again, these attianments
seemed unrelated to whether they received or did not receive special
educational services.

THE MODERATELY RETARDED

These children possess IQ of 40 to 54 (Wechsler) or 36 to 51 (Binet).
They are deficient in adapting behaviour, physical, motor, and language
development, learning and occupational expectations, social and personality
adjustments.
Children who are moderately retarded have hearing and vision
impairment. Such children get tired easily and have health and respiratory
infections. Language development is delayed in both understanding of
spoken language. Their expected level of achievement is about 1/3rd of the
normal or about six to eight years. Usually they continue upto 4t'h grade and
they do not have independent vocational pursuits
Moderately retarded children are more dependent upon others and they
do not acquire personal social skills. They do not foresee consequence and
make social adjustments.
The educational provisions for these children are primarily meant for
rnakiig them vocationally productive by placing them in sheltered workshops.
The following programme may be followed.
Levels of Children Areas of Concentration
Preschool (Age 3 to 5) — Half day classes. Development of self-help skills.
Speech and language development. Motor and
socialisation skills.
Primamy (Age 6 to 9) — Fivehours of schooling a day. Training in preschool-
level skills. Development of visual and auditory
skills.
(Age 9 to 12) — Full day classes. Functional academic training.
Reading, writing and arithmetic. Physical education
and skill development.
Secondary (Age 13 +) — Training in prevocational and vocational skills in
sheltered workshops. Development of community
relationships.
MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN 293

The following guidelines should be consisiered by the teacher (Swanson

and Willis, 1979).
1. Examine the needs of the child.
2. Set realistic goals.
3. Understand the child's behaviour in relation to development.
4. Provide support during learning experience.
5. Allow adequate time for the child to complete the task.
6. Select proper stimuli to elicit response.
7. Provide consistency in discipline and supportive roles.

THE PROFOUND AND SEVERELY RETARDED

This category of children reveal substantial deficiencies in the areas of
physical development, communication, self care and intellectual functioning.
IQ of these children is less than 25. They remain mostly ininstitutions under
constant care. The severely retarded group includes children between IQ
range 20 to 40.
The educational provisions for profoundly retarded children are meant
for the development of self-help skills or communication skills. Sensory
training technique is used for these children. For the trainable, training is
gross motor activities, self-help and social skills, communication skills are
given depending upon the developmental level. Behaviour modification
techniques and reinfocement techniques are applied for development and
extinction of behaviour and teaching toileting skills. For teaching skills to
these children task analysis and programming are necessary. They are
further trained in sheltered workshops.
In recent years, there has been emphasis on the education and care of
the educable mentally retardates in India. Attempts are being made to open
special schools for these type of children and train teachers to handle these
children. However, the sole objective is mainstreaming the retardates into
normal schools. In severe cases where mainstreaming seems entirely difficult,
special institutions have been recommended.

REVIEW EXERCISES]
AnswEr within 500 word$ each:
1. What is mental retardation? How has it been defmed by A.A.M.D.?
2. What are the procedures for identif'ing a mentally retarded child? Explain the
testing procedure for different types of retarded children.
3. What are the learning and memory characteristics of EMR children ? How
would you remedy the defects?
4. What are the physical and motor characteristics of the EMR children ? How
 294 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
would you intervene the deficiency?
5. What are the social and emotional characteristics of the EMR children 7 What
measures would you take to help them ?
6. What is the nature of creative thinking in Mentally Retarded Children?
7.. What are the motivational characteristics of EMR children?
8. What are the various instructional techniques used for helping the retarded
child?
9. What are some of the special educational measures used for mentally retarded
children?
10. Write notes on—Trainable Mental Retardation, and profound and severely
retarded.
11. Write a note on etiology and prevention of Mental Retardation.
Write notes on ikefollowing in about 50 worth:
1. Doi's syndrome
2. Rh incompatibility
3. Microcephaly
4. Hydrocephaly
5. Modrately retarded.
Fill in the bIank:
1. The EMR child is unable to retain things for a time.
2. The EMR child needs learning to retain things for longer time.
3. The MR child has to be initially taught by method.
4. The EMR child cannot gratification.
5 deficit accounts for a great deal of learning deficit.
6. Self concept of the EMR is better under setting.
7. The mental Deficiency Act was promulgated in England in
8. A.A.M.D. definition of MR was given by
9. A.A.M.D. adaptive behaviour scale was developed by
10. EMR children are poor in muscular coordination.
Write whether the statements are True of Falce:
1. There is a positive relationship between IQ and peer acceptance.
2. Special class placement leads to better educational achievement of MR
children.
3. The severely or profoundly retarded cannot be taught self help skills.
4. Integrated education is most effective for mildly retarded.
5. Mental retardation can be prevented by and large if detected early in
development.
 20
Emotionally Disturbed Children
Who is an emotionally disturbed child 7 Emotional distrubance can be
viewed from a variety of perspectives. In the past emotionally disturbed
children were viewed as autistic like. They were confitied to institutional
program and were under residential care. Very few of them received
schooling if at all. After 1975. When the handicapped children's act was
passed there developed a new interest for education of the emotionally
disturbed in a separate school. The other view which is prevalent is main
streaming or integrating the emotionally disturbed into a notinal environment.
In many cases there is no such clearcut decision regarding the care, treatment
ad education of emotionally disturbed.
There are different ways of defining an emotionally disturbed child. For
teachers, an emotionally disturbed child is one who is shy, withdrawn and
who is aggressive and acting out In addition, emotionally disturbed behaviour
was considered synonymous as misbehaviour or deviancy. By deviancy it is
meant that "a student takes actions which are prohibited by teacher". In this
definition the locus of the problem was on the norms of the school but a
different kind of definition was then given in terms of the ecology of the
child. According to this emotional disturbance is viewed in terms of
environment variables which create meladaptive emotional reactions. For
/ example, the frustrating environment in the school or such other unfavourable
circumstance.
Beside teacher, the peer group also considered certain behaviour to be
problem behaviour. According to this definition a child who cannot make
1interpersonal adjustment with his age mates is considered as a disturbed
Ichild.
The child's sociometric relationship was considered declining if he is
emotionally disturbed.
The parents and others have their own conception cS emotionally
disturbed child 7 For the parents, the child's role in the family sometimes
 296 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

becomes a scapegoat and the problem is created because of marital conflicts

and needs of the parents. In other words, emotionally disturbed parents
produce emotionally disturbed children.
On the whole, who should be considered as an emotionally disturbed
child ? The term refers to a condition exhibiting one or more of the following r
over a long period of time and to a marked degree that
characteristics
adversely affects educational performance (a) an inability to learn that
cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors, (b) an inability
to build and maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationship with peers and
teachers, (c) inappropriate types of behaviour or feelings under normal
circumstances, (d) a general and pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression,
(e) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fear assciated with personal
or school problems. This particular term emotional disturbance with all his
emotional and behavioural characteristics does include Schizophrenic and
autistic characteristics.
It does not include the socially maladjusted unless serious emotional
disturbance is accompanied with social maladjustment.
A child is emotionally disturbed when his reactions to life situations are
unrewarding to himself and unacceptable to his peers and other members of
the society. These children lack flexibility to rnodif their behaviour. They
are too excitable or twithdrawn,joo brave ortoorfu1. For teachers, a
child is emotionally disturbed when he would be disrupting the whole class,
would place undue pressure on the teacher, and disturb the general school
atmosphere. The American Psychiatric Association defined emotional
disturbance as follows : "I.t is a type of Psychiatric disturbance without
Iclearly defined physical cause or without structural damage to the brain". In
general, emotional disorder or disturbance in children can be defined in
terms of certain observable characteristics such as: "hyperactivity, withdrawn
behaviour, failure to achieve at a level reasonably commensurate with ability,
tendency towards fighting, and other aggressive behaviour, resentment and
antagonism towards authority and rules and regulations, and general problems
in learning and concentrating not associated with known organic or sensory
defects" (Phillips, 1967). Hence, an emotionally disturbed child is one who
shows to an extreme degree one or more of the characteristics listed above.
Emotional disturbance is not distributed evenly in all age groups, sex
and social goups. The behaviour problems are maximum during early
4puberty and these are found earlier among girls than among boys.
Parents having services and semiskilled occupations have more
emotionally disturbed children compared to parents who hold professional,
and skilled occuptions.
 EMOTiONALLY DISTURBED CHILDREN 297

CHARACTERISTICS OF EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED

Emotionally disturbed children are often seen as unpredictable that present
serious problems. In a study, Weinstein (1965) utilised the concept ofsocial
disturbance and had children orgnised social stimuli in replacement soical
c situation. It was found that the emotionally disturlx4 children in contrast
to the normal group placed the human figures far apart than they did the
rectangles. In case of the normal children it was just the opposite.From this
study it was obvious that these emotionally disturbed childrendid have close
emotional proximity with their parents and had negative self concepts.
Failure in school is often thought to be a symptom of neurotic behaviour.
Further, the self of the disturbed child is invariably negative. When self-
evaluation questionnaires are given to these emotionally disturbed children,
they saw themselves as less likeable, less able to arouse affection in others,
they are either psychotic or emotionally indifferent. For this reason, quite a
few programmes have bee designed on classroom organisational pattern so
that these children can fucntion to their maximum but the researchevidence
ont the learning characteristics of the emotionally disturbed children show
lack of interest in academic matter and school performance, lower I.Q. and
achievement. Their reading and mathematics achievement is significantly
below the average. The majority of the studies demonstrate however, that
emotionally disturbed children as a group has a little less than average
intelligence. But primarily their persønality and behavioural traits contibute
maximum to discripant achievement in reading and arithmetic achievement.
Tayler has found seven factors contributing to achievement:
Ability to handle anxiety,
Feeling of self work,
Conformity to demands,
Peer acceptance,
Less conflict over independence,
Engagement in activity of academic nature,
Setting of realistic goals.
The emotionally disturbed children lack most of these attributes. Coleman
and Sandier (1967) highlighted the interaction of emotional status, intelligence
ate, and sex in relation to learning. This study shows that emotional

children further show

Studies on the learning of emotionally disturbed
that these children are resistant to remedial effect because of the extreme
defensive nature. One of the consistent findings that has come up both from
descriptive and survey studies is the progressive decline in reading and
arithmetic achievement as children identified as emotionally disturbed
This also contibutes to diminished feelings of
progress through the grades.
298 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

self-regards as children progressed in school. In one of the studies at the

university of California, Bower and his associates showed that the difference
between emotionally disturbed and normal children is more between grade
Wand VL In another study by Feldhusen and associates (1967) it was found
that the emotionally disturbed child is aggressive, destructive and also r
behind in reading and arithmenic achievement specially before grade ifi.
That is why attempts are made to group emotionally disturbed children into
different categories such as schizoid, character disorder, borderline and
psychoses, somatic complaints. Similarly these children have reading skill
deficiency, deficiency in word recognition, perceptual deficiency, visual
deficiency, memory and hyperactivity. All these characteristics are responsible
for problem behaviour.
IDENTIFICATION OF EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CIHLDREN
How do we identi1 emotionally disturbed child ? Generally the illinois
test of psycho-linguistic ability, measures of auditory closure, right left
discrimination, eye hand co-ordination etc. tests are given. Much of the
pathology of the emotionally disturbed child is due to the fact that these
children cannot delay gratification and have poor in pulse control and a
disturbed time sense. They further manifest learning deficits on manageable
behaviour, feeling of failure, diminished self-esteem and lack of
communication with adults arising out of school failure. These behaviours
are manifested in the child's day to day environment.
It is more important to know the way through which the emotionally
distuñ,ed chIldren learn than what they learn. It has been found out that the
emotionally distrubed children learn using an impulsive strategy or what
other boys known as a rapid tempo with uncritical response. They are quite
hyperactive and they have attention and motivational deficits rather than
cognitive deficits.
The following behavioural characteristics are very effective in screening
emotionally disturbed children, (Pate, 1963).
1. Needs an unusual amount of prodding to get work completed.
2. Is inattentive, indifferent, or apparently lazy.
3. Exhibits nervous reactions such as nailbiting, sucking thumb or
fingers, stuttering, extreme restlessness, muscle twitching, hair
twisting, picking and scratching, deep and frequent sighing.
4. Is activity excluded by most of the children wherever they get a
chance.
5. Failure in school for not apparent reason.
6. Is absent from school frequently or dislikes school intensely.
7. Seems to be more unhappy than most of the children.
 299

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 300 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

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 EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CHILDREN 301

8. Achieves much less in school than his aDility indicates he should.

9. Jealous or over copetitive (Kaugh & Deltaan, 1955, P. 52),
Screening procedures can be more intricate and perhaps more accurate
by addtion of teacher rating, peer rating, self-rags, using standardis4
personality tests and inhtonç There most widely used tests are
ifffñiiãPs1iological Inventoiy, Edward's Personal Preference Schedule,
,jvlinnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Very few tests are available
for use at elementary level or when children are quite young. However,
children's Apperception, Test, Thematic Apperception Test, WISC and
-Bender Gestalt tests can be used quite effectively for identifying emotionally
disturbed children.
What are the characteristics of severely emotionally disturbed children?
They are labelled as autistic, psychotic or scizophrenic. There are 14
different ways of classit'ing behaviours. These are as follos:
In a survey conducted by the National Istitute of Mental Health it has
been observed that nearly 1.5% of population i the age group of 0-21 suffer
from emotional disturbance.

TYPES OF EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE

Autism : Autism in children is one of the most severe forms of
emotional disturbance. This is also otherwise known as childhood
schizophrenia. This condition is presented with and is followed by delay in
speech development, non-communicative use of speech, and withdrawal
tendencies. They do not use language to convey meanings.
n a recent book Kauffman (1977) states "attempts to pinpoint the
origin of behaviour disorders in family relationship have met with little
success. Family relationship are best viewed to as contributing to behavioural
development. From another point of view autism in children may result
purely out of language impairment and language training. It has been
possible in reducing the occurrence of autism in children clinically. Many
of the psychiatrists also treat autistic children and have made them quite
acceptable.
PsYdHOsI
This is the most severe ad debilitating of the emotional disturbances.
Psychotic children have no contact with reality. Childhood schizophrenia is
quite commonly seen. In early infantile autistic children, we find extreme
withdrawal, peculiar communication, and improper use of language. They
only react to their own private imaginary scheme of life.
302 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DISTURBANCE
These disorders result in physical malfunctioning but without any anxiety.
These children have severe eczema, asthma without emotional overlay. They
also exhibit anorexia neivosa, persistent loss of appetite, and are underweight.
They have painful migraine. They mostly need medical treatment.
PSYCHONEUROSES
In this type of disorder certain functions are distorted but the child is not
isolated from reality. It is said the psychoneurotic child builds, air castles and
the psychotic child lives in them. Many children are cautious, frightened and
show uncontrollable dying etc. They have phobias, manias, pomc syndrome,
and conversion.
PERSONALITY DISORDERS
These children cannot adjust to society. They are extremely shy. They have
delusions of persecutions and are rigid. They lack the resiliency to develop
better ways of meeting emotional problems and sometimes they appear as too
outgoing. They feel no tension or anxiety.
TRANSIENT SrIIJATI0NAL PERSONALITY DISORDER
These children reveal acute reaction to catastrophic or unpleasant incidents
such as death of a friend, relative, accidents, etc. These are situational and
are responsible for chronic and acute personality disturbance, often attributed
to traumatic or distressing circumstances.
CAUSES
There are a variety of reasons for emotional disturbance. Most of them are
psychonalytic and a few of them are explained by learning. The psychoanalytic
caustions include : anxiety as a source of emotional disturbance, distrust of
children on adults because of traumatic experiences, frustration of libidnal
desires, parental rejection, punishment, ridicule, and insecurity derived from
lack of affection or social prestige. Emotional disorders are explained by
learning psychologists using conditioning. The same disoraers are also
reduced by counter conditioning or reconditioning.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME AND TREATMENT
There are various methods of treating emotionally disturbed children.
Emotional catharsis is a psychotherapeutic technique which is used quite
often. In this technique the causes are known, these are released through
expression and acceptance and the symptoms are extinguished. The other
technique is interference through counter-conditioning, deconditioning,
desensitization, etc. The latter method emphasises positive growth and
 EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CI-$ILDREN
303
relearning rather than the more extinction of pathological behaviour. The
Rogegerian method of non-directive counselling is veiy fruifful in such
problem situations.

. The educational programmes should be pilaned quite cautiously for

thesechildren. It may be of four different types
(a) Privately sponsored day schools,
(b) Special classes in residental psychiatric centres,
(c) Special classes in out patient mental health centres,
(d) Special classes in regular school.
In our countly, the first and last seem plausible for introduction.
However, a few ideas are of great use in making educational provisions for
the emotionally disturbed children.
1. Structuring limits in the class room receives first priority. The
classroom atmosphere should be more than negative restrctions.
The classroom atmosphere must give support and direction to
activities. Out of emotional chaos order will emerge among these
children.
2. There is no value in concluding that emotionally disturbed children
are educationally retarded. Subject matter itself should convey
appropriate information for social and academic learning. These
children should be give selected bibliography or references or
readings and bibliotherapy has been established as an effective
therapeutic and educational tool.
3. Group dynamic principles may be used for disturbed childrene.g.,
seating arrangements, position of teacher, and pupils can be designed
to encourage desired interactions between teachers and pupils, and
among pupils.
4. Directed group activity can be used. This will break inhibitions.
Role playing is also another technique for release of emotional
porbiems.
5. Involve the child in work as soon as he reaches the school or when
he is at home in any work. This way he will not get time for 'horse
play' or day dreaming.
6. Offer support and reward when they do good work; never attack the
child as a person; focus correction on actual task and keeprelationship
task centered.
7. As the child increases in responsibility and self direction, plan for
more long range activities but with manageable steps.
Emotional disturbances are just like any other problem. These are not
unsurmountable. Parents and teachers can help child reach firm, strong, and
sell directing decisions. These decisions can be built into their daily
304 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

experiences and lessons. These are merely a few suggestions.

No attempt has been made here, to offer a complete set of practical and
theoretical guides for dealing with the emotionally disturbed children.
Integration of emotionally disturbed children into regular schools: The
council for exceptional children in U.S.A. has recently published in a
statement, highlighting the major intentions of mainstreaming:
1. Providing the most appropriate education for each child in the least
restrictive setting.
2. Looking at the educational needs of children instead of clinical or
diagnostic levels.
3. Looking for and creating alternatives that will help general educators
serve children with learning or adjustment problems with regular
setting.
4. Utilising the skills of general and special education so that all
children may have equal educational opportunity.
However, the recent researches show quite disappointing consequences
although the normal children in the classroom do respond quite favourably
to the emotionally disturbed children. But the success of the programme
depends more on facilitating different types of children. There are various
interventions which aim at reducing emotional problems combinig educational
and psychological developments of child at appropriate stage of development.
But unfortunately group treatment of these cases have not been very
rewarding.
Cognitive styles approach to emotionally distrubed children: It may -
be a worth while stage to combine the perceptual ability of such children with
their learning ability because such children show impulsive behaviour which
is not conducive to learning. Attempt to make them more reflective and less
hyperactive. Secondly, they should have less anxiety and trauma in dealing
with a particular learning situation. It has been suggested by Hunt (1964)
that a changed model to be applied for emotionally disturbed to learn and
adjust in a better way. By a changed model it is meant a set of logically
derived statements of the "if and them" variety which are conditional upon
the development stage of the person with whom one is working. Thus if we
know the present stage or conceptual level then we can derive the specific
environment most likely to produce progression for the person. The issue is
not which environment is bets but rather which environment is most likely
to produce a desired effect for a specific person or persons that educational
environment such highly organised or completely free classrooms are
differentially effective with students of valying personality or abilities, is
widely recognised. Our attempt here is to coordinate and match the
environment and person most effectively by use of a theoretical model. The
 EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CHILDREN 305,
theoretical model is given below.
Stage Characteristics Optimal environments
Subtage (I) Impulsive, poorly Accepting but firm, celarly
socialised, egocentric consistent with minimum of
and inattentive, alternatives.
Stage (I) Complaint, dependent Encouraging independence
on authority,concerned within normative-structure.
with rules
State (2) Independent questioning Environment highly autono-
and self-assertive. mous with numerous alterna-
lives and low noratives.
This above model is meantto provide specific environment to deal with
- specific characteristics of emotionally disturbed child in the normal classroom.
Many of the problems of learning of emotional disorders can be reduced by
following the procedures outlined here. The frequency, persistence, and
intensity of behaviour must be taken into account.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer each questio?s within 500 worth:
1. Who is an emotionally disturbed child ? How would you define him ?
2. What are the procedures for indentifying an emotionally disturbed child ?
State some behavioural signs.
3. What are the characteristics of emotionally disturbed children ?
4. How would you control emotional disorders among children?
5. What are the different categories emotional disturbed? State the criteria of
classifying them.
6. What are the causes of emotional disorders ?
7. State the educational programmes and treatment for the emotionally disturbed
children.
Write the answer in about 50 worth:
1. Psychosis
2. Infantile antison
4 3. Psychoneurosis
4. Five identification marks of emotionally disturbed
5. Hyperactivity
Write whether the state,,:e,,ts are True or False:
I. Emotional, disturbance is not over at all ages.
2. The childs sociometric relationship declines if he is ED.
3. ED children lack flexibility to modify their behaviour.
4. ED children have no ability to handle anxiety.
5. ED Children are jealous and over competitive.
306 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

6. ED children are more conforming type.

Fill in the gaps:
1 is the most severe form emotional disturbance in children.
2. Provide appropriate education to the ED child in the restrictive setting.
3. An environment is conducive for the growth of emtional disturbance.
4. The behaviour of ED children reflects a loss of contact with
5. The ED children can easily be to the regular classroom.

.1,
 21
Gifted Children

Definitions of Giftedness vary widely. Even concern for the education

of the gifted children existed in the ancient Greek and Roman periods. But
very little systematic improvement occurred until the latter part of the 19th
Century. Attention on the understanding and education of Gifted children
was focussed with the publication of Galton's Hereditary Genius (1869) and
Lombroso's The Man of Genius (1891). In these days genius and insanity
were thought to be closely associated.
After the advent of Binet IQ tests in 1905 and the famous longitudinal
study of the genius by Terman (1925), emphasis on the gifted became more
prominent and especially after 1950 there has been a renewal of interest in
the gifted and talented.
The Kothari Conunission made a few observations regarding the
planning of education of the handicapped as well as about the gifted children.
They expressed concerns that facilities for the training of the gifted is not
available in our country at the moment and should therefore be planned.
In fact, the number of gifted persons are not very large but the problem
is how to define or know who is gifed ? Psychologists in the United States
began to define giftedness in terms of IQ. In other words, a child whose IQ
is 137 or above is considered gifted, determined on the basis of standardised
intelligence test. The cut off point beyond which a child will be considered
as gifted differed from expert to expert but on the average the child should
have IQ at least of 130 points. This rule of thumb may differ slightly from
culture to culture. Somehow or other IQ only did not appeal to the modern
researchers as the sole characteristic of the gifted.
The U.S. Federal Registrar (1975) defined it in a more comprehensive
way which included superior intellectual, academic, creative, arts, creativity
and cognitive ability. In any case, the term can be explained by considering
the characteristics that identified gifted children display.
There are several interchangeable terms used in the field of gifted.
308 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Intellectual giftedness, academic giftedness, creativity, talent. Intellectual

giftedness can be described as an unusual ability to deal abstract and
symbolic learning. They may or may not do well in school. Academic
giltedness involves the skills and abilities necessary to perform well in school
related tasks. These skills and abilities are memory, logical reasoning and
ability to make meaningful associations of facts and ideas. These children
have convergent thinking. Creativity refers to an original or unique creation
of products or ideas. Talent can be defined as an unusually high aptitude,
ability, or level of performance in a particular field i.e.,art, music, literature,
social, etc. There is much of overlapping in these concepts but giftedness or
gifted children refer in general to a group of superior mental ability group.
What then is giftedness ? Gifted are those children whose cognitive
abilities place them in the upper 3 to 5 per cent of the population. The
academically gifted has an IQ of 130 or above. The gifted children have
superior cognitive ability, creativeness in thinking and production-and
superior talent in special areas. According to Guilford (1950), "the gifted are
those students whose potential intellectual powers are at such a high
ideational level in both productive and evaluative thinking that it can be
reasonably assumed, they could be the future problem solvers, innovators,
and evaluators of the culture if adequate educational experiences are
provided".
Approximately 3 to 5 per cent of children population are gifted.
Development of this potential is dependent upon the combined efforts of the
family, school and community. The incidence of giftedness is equally present
in males and females.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GIFTED

The gifted children display certain superior abilities in people from
different cultural backgrounds.
1. Performance is better in specific problem solving tasks.
2. Greater reasoning ability displayed in problem solving.
3. Action oriented.
4. More productive in individual and small group situation.
5. High aspiration for prestigious occupations.
6. High motivation for physical activities.
7. Learning by visual mode is better than auditory mode.
8. Display goal oriented behaviour.
9. Perseverance is very high.
10. Analytic perceptual ability.
The gifted children have above average physical development. They
 GIFTED CHILDREN 309
mature earlier. Baldwin conducted body measurements of 594 children of
Terman's gifted group IQ ranging from 130 to 189 (Terman, 1925). These
children appeared to be physically superior to the comparison group. Terman
(1925) obtained the following physical measure of children
1. Greater weight at birth.
2. Earlier walking and talking.
3. Earlier pubescence.
4. Precocius detention, early in stage of development.
5. Better than average nutrition.
6. Greater height, weight, strength of grip and shoulder and hip width.
7. Superior motor ability.
8. Less defective hearing and mouth breathing.
9. Less stuttering and nervous symptoms.
Gifted children are academically superior as revealed in learning ability.
They usually learn faster, remember it for longer time than the average or
normal children. They are highly motivated and have strong drive or
initiative in undertaking challenges in intellectual work. Their language and
communication is high. The mathematical and reasoning abilities are of
superior standard besides creative arts and experimenting nature. They often
ask curious questions. They have more of persistence and concentration.
The gifted children are well adjusted in home and in school. They are

, emotionally fairly stable and self-confident. They display a positive self-

concept. Their play and leisure time activities, are wide and varied.
They are quite resourceful. These facts are self evident from the studies
of Tennan and his associates (Terman and Ogden, 1969).
The gifted children are well accepted in the class. They have a good
socio-metric index. In special cases, they display special talents in arts,
music, painting etc. Giftedness is found without variation in sex.
The gifted are free from serious maladjustment problems. However,
some of the extremely gifted may have adjustment difficulties. They are
readily accepted by others in their social behaviours. They are well liked by
peers and teachers and they participate in large number of social activities.
They like companions of their own level and who are slightly older than
them. They have diversity of interests throughout their lives. They pursue
various hobbies and leisure time activities. They are not reclusive, introverted
or disinterested in their communities.
In the field of learning the rate of the learning is fast and remembering
is for longer time, Their language development is refined and elaborated.
They display independent and original thinking, and high problem-solving
ability. They exhibit noVelty in expression. These children have the ability
310 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

to delay gratification. They should therefore be weaned from excessive

immediate rewards. They have great range of interests.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE GIFTED

There are 20 clues that indicate giftedness
1. Level of learning of these children are equivalent to or expected of
the older students.
2. Reading starts at an earlier age.
3. Awareness of uncommon things.
4. High ability for symbolic thinking.
5. Curiosity behaviour.
6. Large vocabulaiy for the age level.
7. Matured expressive ability.
8. Ability to apply knowledge in unfamiliar situations.
9. Good problem solving ability.
10. Longer attention span.
11. Dislike for a rigid time schedule.
12. Annoyance with details.
13. Intensive interestin one area.
14. Diverse interests.
15. High energy level.
16. Self-critical and higher aspiration level.
17. Thinking is faster.
18. Poor study habit leading to careless work in certain cases.
19. Requires fewer trials to learn.
20. Extraordinary memory.
No child of course would reveal all these identifiable behaviour but these
are by and large present in the gifted. Some can be observed more readily
and in informal settings. However, gifledness have been identified using
testing procedures from quite an early age and in fact, early identification is
necessary.
Use of individual IQ tests is only a part of the comprehensive assessment
programme. It measures cognitive ability. The Stanford-Binet and Wechsler
scales are used to assess intelligence. In addition to this, teacher's observation
also plays a significant role. To aid the teachers to identiIr gifted children
Renzulli and his associates (1971) suggested a scale which consists of four
areas of behaviour.
(a) Learning Characteristics
(i) advàñced vocabulary for age and grade level
(ii) independent reading habits, prefers advanced level books
 GIFTED CHILDREN 311

(iii) quick mastery and recall of factual information

(iv) grasp of underlying principles, ability to make valid generalisation
(b) Motivational Characteristics
(i) self starting
(ii) persistence in task completion
(iii) striving for perfection
(iv) bored with routine tasks
(c) Creativity Characteristics
(I) greater curiosity among many things
(ii) greater originality in problems solving
(iii) less concern with conformity
(d) Leadership Characteristics
(1) self confidence and success with peers
(ii) ready shouldering of responsibility
(iii) easy adaptations to new situation and change in time table
Physical characteristics can be included in this rating schedule.
The teachers can make use of this checklist and arrive at early
identification of the gifted. The children's divergent and convergent ability
can also be tested using creativity tests. Of course, moderately low relationships
exist between creativity and IQ.
The type of identification procedures recommended by Marland (1972)
" is given below in order of preference:
1. Individual intelligence test
2. Previously demonstrated accomplishments
3. Teacher observation
4. Group achievement tests
5. Scores on creativity tests
6. Group intelligence tests
Caution must be exercised if any single index is to be used for
identification of the gifted.
To determine intelligence level standardised intelligence tests such as:
StfotdBiTIet, '4ecbs1.et, (4MS, N1ISC, WPPSI'). Progressive matrices,
Otis quickscoring test, Cattell's intelligence scale, primary abilities tests are
used, depending upon the age level and culture in which the child to be
identified is born. Although giftedness can be aroused at any stage of
development, yet it is during the school period that has meaning and
significance for identification.
To assess special aptitude etc. tests of differential aptitude, Seashores's
musical talent test, interest inventores, reading readiness and achievement
 312 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

are usually administered individually. Parents' reports about the growth and
developmental characteristics at different age levels also offer clue for such
identification. As a matter of fact, teacher's record of pupil behaviour
systematically using a checklist of behaviour expected provides comprehensive,
objective and overall impression about the children and enable one to draw
viable conclusions, regarding presence or absence of gifted characteristics.
Recent years also noticed use of creativity tests to supplement the identification
of the gifted.

EDUCATIONAL PROVISIONS
Educational provisions consist of early admission of the gifted to provide
school experiences as early as possible, Other practices currently used in
different schools are described below.
A. NON-GRADED CLASSROOM
Non-graded classroom is more appropriate for the gifted. The system is like
this. The entire course of study in a level of education is divided into a series
of units or stages. These are sequentially arranged. Each child in this system
is given freedom to complete the requirements of each stage and go on to the
next stage at his own pace. This way the duration of the school year can be
sufficiently reduced for the gifted in view of the fact he completes the course
quite early. This is quite popular in the elementary school years in U.S.A.,
U.K. and Canada. It appears that this procedure is based on the principle of
learning according to ability and its management and monitoring is done
through computer and not much of classroom teaching is involved in this
system. Tutorial classes are meant to solve some specific learning problems.
B. SPECIAL SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED
Another alternative approach has been to think of providing special treatments
to the gifted in the form of opening a special school for the gifted, having
a special class in the normal school for teaching the gifted, partial segregation
etc. There are schools earmarked for the gifted in USA but in a country like
ours it would be quite difficult for establishing separate schools for the gifted.
The constraints may be in less number of gifted children, the linguistic
variability, the national ideal for providing education for all. But we have
certainly systems of identif'ing good students who may be kept under the
gifted category and send them to residential public schools or Government
schools at State expense.
C. SPECIAL CLASS IN A REGULAR SCHOOL
There are special classes in the regular school for the gifted. For the pupose
of instruction they sit in the separate room but for social and recreational
GIFTED CHILDREN 313

activities they are kept with remaining students in the school. This permits
both academic and social habits to grow. The results of these ability grouping
are controversial and unclear. There is a danger of self fulfilling prophecy
both academically and psychologically. The teacherr of the gifted must be
specially trained, specially talented and competent in their fields. Children's
intrinsic motivation should be encouraged.
D. GRADE SKIPPING
Grade skipping or double promotion was a technique to help the gilled to go
to next higher class without proceeding through the normal school
requirements on the belief that the gifted child will have no difficulty in
delivering the goods in the higher class by skipping the inunediately
preceding one. This practice was in vogue in public schools and in
G,vernment, primary schools but the practice is decreasing in view of the
fa&tkat it leaves a gap in knowledge acquisition and allowing the child
younger in age to mix up with higher group is not meaningful from social
personal adjustment point of view.
E. EARLY ADMISSION
Early admission of gifted children has been in practice in western society to
the extent of 6 months to one year on the assumption that the children
identified as having higher IQ can keep up with the curriculum demands of
the class even though their age is below the requirements of that level. In
India such concessions are not yet given. On the contrary, if a bright student
does not reach age 14 he is not allowed to sit for school certificate
examination even though the child is a position holder in the class.
F. ADVANCE PLACEMENT AND CREDIT SYSTEM
Credit system at the secondary and college level takes care of the gifted.
Under this system, a degree requires certain hours of course work prior to
examination would be necessary for each student. The gifted child can take
and often manages more credit in the same time compared to average and
slow learning children. As a result he completes a level earlier than other but
by satisfying all requirement except for the age required. Graduate and
undergraduate schools in Western countries now operate on credit system for
all the students.
Arguments are given also against such acceleration procedures on the
grounds that mental maturity does not go well with physical, social and
emotional maturity. The child may not keep up ahead of in later years when
the course demands are high. But if we accept these facts based on
insufficient research evidence, we cannot or should not think of education
of the gifted.
 314 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

G. MAINSTREAMING OR INTEGRATED EDUCATION

These programmes might create a feeling of discrimination among other
children but this is what that can be done for the gifted. In fact, there are
enrichment programmes for the slow learners and disabled. Hence, there
should not be any such feeling that the gifted child gets a feel of superiority
because of the enrichment programmes. In fact, at the same time the slow
learner's may be undertaking the remedial programme. Hence, enrichment
programmes are more realistic.
As an educational procedure, providing more meaningful and interesting
experiences in the regular classroom seems to be least controversial of the
various procedures for educating the gifted. There is also the least costly step
and is practised using independent study procedures.
IL ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME
Whenever acceleration and segregation system do not operate there one is
left with the alternative for using enriched materials. Enrichment programmes
may consist of:
(a) Provision of instruction in music etc. in leisure time
(b) Introducing such students to good speakers, new and interesting
elective courses
(c) Encouraging them to undertake activities of their interest,
participation in debates, competitions etc.
(d) Making provision for individualised instructions with a view to
increasing their sell expression, skills of enquiry.
Myres (1961) has developed 20 exercises for developing creative
abilities of the gifted children. Some of these are (a) combining ideas and
elements—try to think of animal that never does.. .that might exist in
another.. .(b) exploringpossibilities—write as many as possible for.. what
.(c)
do you suppose would happen, if some one discovered that there is.. .write
consequences (d) analyses ideas—what would happen if first names are not
to be given until one is grown up... (e) seeing relationships—what possible
relationships can be there between the following pair of things.. .Cocacola-
forest fire (J) sensitivity and awareness—sit silently and answer are these
things around you which you have never noticed before ? Similar exercises
can be used by the teachers and parents to accelerate the intellectual
development of gifted children.
They should further be made free from peer group pressures while
makingjudgement; and develop independent work skills and habits. Emphasis
need also be given for development of critical evaluation and tolerance for
different opinions with a view to examining it more carefully.
 GIFTED CHILDREN 315
I. SPECIAL TEACHING METHODS
Teachers in the integrated classroom should be aware of the gifted
child's feeling of isolation—feeling alone in a crowd. There is a need to use
flexible grouping to match nearly the different development level so that they
display similar interts. They sometime face difficulty to accept mistake as
other have high expectations. They should be helped to set realistic goals and
avoid unnecessary anxiety. They should be made to realise that in classroom
convergent thinking is more sought for whereas in specific situations
divergent thinking is well appreciated. They should not be unnecessarily
concerned with morale and social issues. They should be helped to develop
an attitude of acceptance and tolerance of others.
It is desirable to motivate an under achieving gifted for which there is
no simple solution. Alternative learning styles, exposure to texts and other
materials, avoiding drill and repetitive activities, limiting directions,
developing a cooperative attitude are some of the sound practice. Allowing
them inquiry skills, and organising independent study are some other
modalities for motivating the gifted.
The effectiveness of the special educational provisions for improving the
achievements of the gifted would depend upon a variety of personal.; the
teachers, the parents, the psychologists and community's encouragement
and participation in the programme. Current interest in the education of the
gifted indicate only a promise for future success but the programme needs
constant evaluation and modification.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. Who is a gifted child? What are the characteristics?
2. How would you identify gifted children ? Describe the procedures.
3. What are the educational provisions for the gifted children?
4. How would you mainstream a gifted child?
5. What are some of the enrichment programmes that you can use for helping the
gifted?
Write the answer within 50 words each
1. Nongraded classroom
2. Special school
3. Special class

' 4. Grade skipping

5. Early admission
6. Credit system
7. Talent
S. Giftedness.
316 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Write in one sentence or in a word:

1. Who wrote "The man of Genius"?
2. Who wrote "The Hereditary Genius"?
3. Who did the largest study of Genius?
4. What is the IQ range of the Gifted?
5. Is gifted same as creative?
Write whether the Statements are True or False:
1. Approximately 3 to 5 per cent of children population are gifted.
2. Gifted children reflect greater reasoning capacity in problem solving.
3. Gifted children are well adjusted in school.
4. Gifted children face serious maladjustments in lifç.
5. Gifted children should be weaned from excessive immediate rewards.
 22
Neurologically Impaired Children
Certain crippling and chronic health disorders in children are seen as
a result of infection after they are born. Some of the common examples are:
poliomyelitis, estomyelitis, tuberculosis, cerebral palsied. Although, the first
three do not invariably lead to brain injuiy, perception, vision and audition
including crippling conditions, yet these children demand special educational
treatments.
However, there are certain neurological disorders which are not
categorised as either crippling or a special health problem e.g., aphasia—a
language disorder due to brain injury. Hence, from an educational point of
view crippling and neurological impairments would include all children with
nonsensozy physical impairments whether they are accompanied by a
neurologicaj damage or not and whether they resulted in chronic health
condition or crippling.
Basically nonsensoiy physical impairments may be classified as crippling
and chronic health ailments. The crippled have muscular and skeletal
defonnities which are obvious. They may wear braces, prosthetic devices
such as artificial limbs or may be moving with crutches or wheel chairs.
The second category of children are confined to bed for relatively long
periods of time and just do nothing. The crippled children are known as
orthopaedically handicapped or motor impaired whereas the secondcategory
were known as special health problem cases.
A teacher or educator is less interested in physical aspects of disability
but he is more concerned with the manner in which it will affect his
functioning in a learning situation. Hence, in this section there will be
discussions on three categories of children.
(a) Children with muscular or neuromuscular handicaps which
significantly delimit their ability to get about, sit in the classroom,
manipulate thç materials.
(b) Children with skeletal deformities which also effect
ambulation,
318 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(b) Children with skeletal deformities which also effect ambulation,

posture and use of hand in school work.
(c) Children with temporary or chronic lack of strength, vitality or
weakness.
Nearly two percent of children suffer from these disability or impainnents.
NEUROMUSCULAR IMPAIRMENT
Muscle weakness, paralysis, incoordination are grouped under this category.
The difficulty usually occurs in nerves which innervate the muscles which
may result from infection or injury at any time during the individual's life.
Multiple sclerosis is due to progressive degeneration of muscular functions
such as: spasticity of the extremities, tremors, unsteady gait, visual and other
sensory complications resulting out of damage to nerves, patches of hardening,
or scarring are scattered over the nervous systeni, brain, spinal cord and
peripheral nerves. There is no known cure but partial recoveries are seen.
This disorder is found more common in adults but begins in late childhood.
POLIOMYELITIS
This is otherwise known as infantile paralysis. This happens when nerve
cells in the grey matterof the spinal cord which are damaged by the polio
virus which leads to paralyses of the muscles. Children after an attack of
polio do return to school when other muscles are utilised. Use of polio
vaccines reduces to nearly 70 per cent of occurrences. These two types of
neuromuscular impairments do not damage the intellectual capacity of
children although they do affect school adjustment. Hence, the school might
look at adjusting the physical facilities and providing the counselling
facilities. In case of multiple sclerosis, the learning ability of the child
progressively decreases with time.
SPINA BIFIDA
This is a congenital condition in which there is a defect of closure of the bony
spinal canal. Hence, there is a profusion of the spinal cord through this gap.
This causes extreme paralysis in the lower extremities as well as lower
abdominal organs. The child is able to walk with crutches or braces.
Sometimes hydrocephalic symptoms are seen and they cause mental
retardation. Otherwise mobility and bladder control problems are more
commonly seen in school.
CEREBRAL PALSY
This is not a disease. There are a series of neuromuscular disabilities which
are characterised by distuibances in volwitaiy motor action, in the extremities
mostly resulting out of brain damage. The senstitivity of the disability
NEUROLOGICALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN 319

depends upon the degree of damage or

brain lesion. There are various types
of cerebral palsy disorders ; spasticity, athetosis, ataxia, rigidity and tremors.
Secondaiy characteristics appear in these cases because the lesion is
rarely localised. Mental retardation, sensory and other defects appearin a
considerable number of cases. Approximately half of the cerebral palsy
children have I.Q. below 70, high rigidity and an ataxic. Over half of the
spastics had speech defects and nearly 90 per cent of the athetoids hadthis
defect. Almost une third of the total group had seizures and only a slightly
smaller percent had defects of vision. Lack so specific hand dominance
contributes to difficulty in learning to read and write.
Type Area of brain lesion Characteristics
1. Spastics Motor cortex and Stretch reflex, tenseness of
pyramidical tracts muscles, difficult and inaccurate
voluntaiy motion.
2. Athetosis Basal ganglia and Marked in coordinator of
extra pyramidical musclçs, constant motion of
tracts extremities.
3. Ataxia Subcortical, Incoordinated movement,
cerebellum impaired balance and sense of
orientations in space.
4. Rigidity Diffuse Widespread continuous muscle
tension.
5. Tremor Basal ganglia Rhythmic, involuntary, uncon-
trollable motion, limited to
muscle groups.
BEHAVIOURAL CHARACTERISTICS
Cerebral palsy is the result of brain damage. They show emotional disturbances
like that of Strauss children. Some of them have impairments in perceiving
shape, weight and texture. A few others have inability for spatial orientation
andjudgement. Cerebral palsy children often have difficulty in discriminating
figure and background than do normal children. They give more concrete
responses txan abstract ones.
Nearly 50 per cent of cerebral palsy children have IQ below 70, 23
per cent fall between borderline and 28 per cent fall above average in IQ.
Hence, the educational problems becomes one not only of adapting the
programme to the multiple physical and psychological disabilities of the
cerebral palsied child and in many cases adjusting to the level of slow
learning.
 320 ELEMENTS OF CHFLD DEVELOPMENT

Skeletal impairments in children affect primarily the

upper and lower
limbs spine and joints. As a result children are unable to walk, sit or stand
or use hands. Some children have clubfoot. This is a condition in which one
or both feet are downward and inward at the ankle occur most frequently.
Congenital dislocation of the hips, scoliosis i.e., laternal curvature of the "
spine appear among some of the children who are crippled or
nonsensory
handicapped. All these conditions are commonly found in school age
children particularly at the elementaiy grade levels. The incidence of these
disorders have decreased because of medical treatment.
There are also a few children in the school who need special care
because they exhibit limited strength, vitality and alertness. They delimit the
scope of children's functioning in school. Rheumatic fever is a chronic
infection of the connective tissues of the body affecting joints, heart and
blood vessels. Although rheumatic fever and pulmonary tuberculosis are
decreasing, diseases like nephritis, infections, hepatitis and infections
mononucleosis are creating concern in schools. All theserequire bed rest and
limited activity during whiôh time or programme of instruction in school
subjects should be provided.
PILEPSY
Epilepsy or seizure is a majQr chronic health condition which can affect the
alertness, vitality and mental health of a child in a manner and to a degree
that may severely lessen his ability to function ina regular school situation
This is quite common and is more frequent than cerebral palsy, polio, -
muscular dystrophy, multiple scelrosis combined.
There are several types of epilepsy: psychomotor, petitmal, grandmal.
In psychomotor epilepsy the individual is violent, vigorous and is doing some
automatic action which appear to others as meaningful but are meaningless.
The individual does not remember what he has done. Such behaviours
include temper tantrums.
In petitmal, the child looses consciousness for a few seconds but does not
fall. His eyes may roll up or there may be a rhythmic blinking of eyelids. He
drops things, appears to be staring straight ahead, or standsstill, unaware
of what is going on around him. The teacher often thinks that he is not
paying attention. He quickly recovers and goes on what he was doing. If he
is reading, he will stop for a moment and they go on with the passage. As
a rule this does not inconvenience him or toany one to a great extent. But
if such seizures occur quite frequently the child is apt to lose the thread of
a lesson and be handicapped by gaps in continuity. The teacher should watch
for signs that indicate a child is having a seizure and repeat directions. He
may have missed or checked to see that he has understood what was
on in the class. going
NEUROLOGICALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN 321

A child who has grand mal seizures less looses consciousness and fall
rigid on the floor. This is preceded by a strange sensation known as aura
(warning) and by a shrill cry. His muscles first tighten, then accompanied
by salvation, twitching and tremors may follow. Then comes a deep sleep,
coma or stuper. The seizure may last for a minute or two and when he
recovers he may be dull or disoriented. He may want to sleep for some more
time and consequently his school programme may be impaired. In a case
such as this, what a teacher can do?
(a) Ease the child to the floor
(b) See that he is not apt to injure himself by striking furniture or
sharp corners while convulsions
(c) Turning the child's head to one side and carefully placing but
never forcing, a folded handkerchief or a soft object between
back teeth is sometimes advised.
and gums
(d) Do not use a pencil or other solid object for the teeth
may be injured
(e) The teacher should help other children in the classroom to accept
this seizure calmly and to understand that there is nothing
contagious or harmful about in convulsion.
Children with epilepsy do not have necessarily low intelligencedue to
seizures. They show some signs of maladjnsment becauseof social stigma
and frustrating environment. Majority of the children withthis condition can
attend regular school. Normal activity and exercises may actually reduce the
frequency of seizures. Incidence is reduced by following ketogemc diet (high
fat carbohydrate) and anticonviilsive therapy.
EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENT AND INTEGRATED EDUCATION
The children who need special education because of neuromuscular
impairment, skeletal deformities and reduced vitality are provided for in
hospital classes, homebound instruction, special schoolsand special classes.
But with some physical facilities and equipment theireducational needs may
be met adequately in regular classrooms under the integrated education
scheme.
These are possible because they do not have impairment in intellectual
functioning and can certainly learn through the same procedure as children
without disabilities. Unless neurological damage is severe and intense no
special method of teaching in necessary.
They require no drastic curriculum revisions. Certain adjustments may
be made to increase their vocational and social competency. They may
require a little more time to complete the prescribed courses. The goals of
education are essentially the same as that for non handicapping conditions.
 322 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
The following physical facilities may be provided in schools:
1. A short ramp up a number of steps to enable children in wheel
chairs or on crutches to enter the building.
2. Addition of a handbar by a drinking fountain, in a toilet, or near a
section of the blackboard.
3. Removal of desks to make room for the wheel chair to move.
4. Modification of furniture to provide for the comfort of the child with
braces.
5. Rubber mats over slippery sections of the floor within the classroom.
Problem of children having poor hand coordination can be solved
by taping paper to the desk, devising some means of keeping pencils
and crayons from rolling to the floor, providing holders for books.
In other words, with good planning and a little expense many children
who would otherwise need special education services an be educated in
normal classroom situations. The classroom and equipment provided for
these children may consist of (a) wide door ways, (b) hand rails, (c) nonskid
floors, (ci) rounded corners, (e) play areas. The classroom furniture may be
modified to (a) adjusting seats to turn to sides so that the child with braces
can sit more easily, (b) providing foot rests, (c) adding hinged extensions to
the desks with a cut-out to the child that has poor balance ofeliminating the
protruding parts over which a child might slip.
When do we think of placing a child in a special school 7 When the child
1. Has specific learning difficulties
2. Needs special kinds of equipment
3. Needs disproportionability more of teacher time
4. Needs therapy
5. Has emotional problems

The cerebral palsied children cannot ordinarily be placed in a regular

class. For mild cases with normal intelligence regular class may serve the
purpose but for severe cases special class or special schools are necessaiy.
Cerebral palsied children with mild motor involvement but more severe
impairment of intellect, vision, or hearing will be best provided for in classes
for the mentally retarded, visually or auditory handicapped. In advanced
countries of the world hospitalised instruction or homebound instruction is
provided but for a developing country its limitations are obvious.
Children with cerebral palsy may have the learning difficulties of the
brain injured child added to the basic problem of muscular coordination and
secondary sensory and mental impairment. Curriculum content will depend
to a great extent upon what the student is going to be able to do with his
education when he completes school or leaves the school.
Education and training of the cerebral palsied children should begin
NEUROLOGICAUY IMPAIRED CHILDREN 323

veiy early, as early as 3 years of age. Early readiness program is designed

to (a) stimulate interest and curiosity, provide for meaningful experience,
increase language comprehension, develop satisfactory perception antibuilt
towards independence. The readiness period may extend overyears. Methods
of teaching the basic tool subjects may emphasise the meaningful materials
and importance of useful reading skills may also be emphasised. Cerebral
palsied children sith intellectual and perceptual handicaps make acquiring
the skills very difficult. For cerebral palsied sometimes silent reading is
recommended. The kinaesthetic sense can be utilised in supplementing
visual and auditory impressions and children whose motor involvement is
not too severe can learn to read words through tracing them. Colouredfelt
pens are useful for the purpose becuase the colour gives added clues.
Adequate language and speech development is necessary for thecerebral
palsied children. Speech training must be done by a speech therapist but
games and exercises which stimulate auditorydiscrimination can form a part
of the daily schedule. A 'conversation board' containing pictures, common
objects helps the children learn to read. Non oral students get a deal of
satisfaction from learning the 'Morse Code' and they communicate with the
teacher by eye blinking or tapping on the desk for dots and dashes.
Handwriting of the cerebral plasied children have improved by giving
specific manuscript writing training e.g., activities is space orientation,
coloring with lines, tracing and using word boxes with pictures. Teaching
materials must be adapted to the needs of individual students on the basis of
their physical problems as well as perceptual and learning difficulties. Pupils
in pre-academic classes will learn to match colors and shapes distinguish
between sizes and textures and develop the concepts of number through
manipulative games and devices which promote eye-hand co-ordination.
Some of the commercial materials available for this purpose are pegboards,
snap blocks, lock boxes, co-ordination boards, take apart toys,colour cones,
junbo beads, puzzles. Materials can be devised to increase motivation and
reduce boredom.
The physical aspects of the total educational situation assume major
importance for children with cerebral palsy. In fact, physical development
should go side by side with academic development. The physical therapist
is primarily concerned with the development and maintenance body posture
and mobility, voluntary movement. Physical therapy does contribute to
improvement in neuromuscular impairment. The occupational therapists
concentrate on the development of the self-help skills of dressing, grooming
and abilities necessary for school work. Homebound and hospitalised
instructions are costly but are given to cerebral palsy children in case of
progressive advanced countries.
 23
Hearing Impaired Children
Deafness or impairment in hearing capacity is defined in terms of degree
of hearing loss. Total inability to hear is deafness but those whose senseof
h. bearing is defective but they manage with or without hearing aid is hard of
hearing. Deafness might occur before the child acquires language or
afterwards due to certain environmental problems.
The medical legal definition of hearing impairment has been in terms
of degree of hearing loss and ear problems. These are classifled as Mild 20-
30dB; marginal 30-40 dB, moderate 40-50 dB; severe 60-75 dB; and 75 and
above dB profound category. The deaf seldom or never profitsfroin auditory
training. The hard of hearing are those who have reduced hearing acuity.
Se.'eral measures have been undertaken to assess incidence or prevalence
of deafness. One of the estimate available from Silverman (1952) that 5 per
cent of school children are having different degrees of hearing loss or they
suffer from some form of hearing problem. With regard to our country, the
National Sample Survey (1981) reported 3.02 million hearing impaired
children except for 0-4 age group. Its occurrence is more in rural areas than
in urban areas. There is a need therefore not only of early identification but
of prevention and care and finally education and training.
It has also been found that the speech of prelingual hearing impaired is
slow and of high pitch, with prolonged vowels, rythmic abnormality and
defective articulation. They incicience of hearing impairment is more in
mates than in females.

JDENTIFICATION
How one would identify the hearing impaired children ? Obviously there
are some behavioural indicators and some measurement tools including
audiometer. But before the child is referred to an audiometric clinic, certain
signs are visible. These are called behavioural clues.
Ftequent ear aches
Fluid discharge from ear
 326
ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
3. Cold and soar throats occurring
frequently
Lack of equilibrium
5. Inconsistency
in following directions
6. Always asking "What" — "What"
7. Observing the lip movement
'-8. Speech defects
9. Limited vocabulary
'i0 Inattention
11. Restless and lazy
12. Over acting or withdrawal behaviour
13. Use of earphones
14. Undeveloped or underdeveloped language
TESTING ThC}INIOUEs
Indentificatjon of hearing impairment is doneat different levels. One has to-A
look at the
(a) High risk register—_Thjs records the history of childhood hearing
impairment; inflection from Rubella, defect of ear, nose, throat,
cleft lip or palate, less than 1500 gms. of birth weight. In addition
to neurologic, there is also neonatal meningitis. After this
identification, they are tested by audiological tests.
(b) Screening procedure-j are produced at various
frequencies
when the child is asleep and the capacity of the child is observed
with regard to responding to the sound. It is not an independent
measure but is a supplementary technique.
(c) Cuibogram
Tecluiqu.....In this techniques sound boxes are kept in
the crib and a recording device is
attached to the bed on which the
baby sleeps. When sound at 92 dB is produced at certain intervals
the reaction of the baby is recorded
automatically.
(d) EEG is used to screen the child of
auditory response. Audiometrjc
tests and observations of infants behavioural
response to various
sounds during first six months, followed by audiometric tests are
being used in our country.
<After an early identification, early interaction and preparation using
hearing aids, early stimulation, development
of sensory motor skills, auditory
training to motor speech, play and constructive activities to develop concepts
and abstraction are
undertaken) The hearing aid should be very carefully
selected to suit to the child's needs. Basic
activities are also required to be
stthtedjbr the development of auditoryverbal communication More important
is that thecItiId with hearing loss
needs to be accepted, in the family first
 HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN 327
and parents are to be traned in the use of hearing aid and early stimulation
techniques.
ASSESSMENT OF HEARING LOSS USING AUDIOMETER
Human ear is sensitive to respond to a wide range of frequencies which range
from 20 to 2000 Hz. It is not equally sensitive to all frequencies nor all speech
sounds be perceived at the same level of intensity. The human ear is sensitive
to intensities from 0 dB to 130 dBSPL. Various tests have been devised and
used to find out solutions to identify the degree of loss in low middle and high
frequencies. &,w
The most common tests are ,,juning fork tests of Rinne in Germany;
Lateralisation tests by Weber, the for differeñtof conductive and
sensory—neural loss, Schwabach tests of sensoiy neural loss. All these
techniques are developed in Germany and are used to identify type of hearing
loss not the degree of hearing loss.
Audiometer which was developed in 1920 is an electronic device
producing pure tones. It measures the Hearing Threshold Level (HTL),
Hearing Level (HL) and Sound Pressure (SPL). An audiogram is prepared
by testing the child which indicates the degree of hearing loss. Generally
normal hearing sensitivity lies within the range of 10 dB to +20 dB at all
frequencies when hearing sensitivity or capacity falls beyond 20 dB at two
or more frequencies the person is said to have bearing loss. This may vaiy
from time to time, ear to ear and frequency to frequency.
On the basis of all these i.e., degree of affection, site of lesson, on-set
and duration of loss, hearing impairment is classified as mild, moderate,
severe and profov'id. It can also be categorised as conductive loss, mixed
loss, sensory-neural loss and non-organic loss, cogenital loss (at the time of
birth) prelingual or postlingual loss.
Speech audiometry gives us
(a) Speech Reception Threshold (SRT)
(b) Speech Discriminatory Threshold (PB Max %)
There are several causes that account for hearing loss.
CAUSES OF HEARING LOSS
Hearing loss may not necessarily be due to organic factors but due to
psychological and psychiatric reasons. There has been differential focus. The
otologist looks for medical and surgical intervention, an audiologists
suggests for amplification and therapeutic management and for an educator
or resource teacher emphasis on language development is crucial remedial
step.
 328 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

PR!NATAL
Early infectious diseases like Rubella, mumps, influenza of the mother
affects the infant's hearing loss. Some research have shown that over dose
of strong drugs like streptomycin, quinine, thalichelonde and L.S.D. are
associated with hearing impairment and therefore expectant mothers should
remain away from those. Maternal malnutrition is another such cause. In
addition Rh-incompatibility, emotional trauma, brain fever, brain tumor and
certain neurological factors do their part in affecting hearing capacity of the
infant adversely.
PERINATAL
Lack of oxygen, use of foceps in delivery, instrumental delivery, premature
delivery followed immediately by jaundice, use of anaesthetic agents in
delivery do cause hearing problems. 14
POSTNATAL
The causes which affect hearing loss after birth are German measles,
mumps, whooping, cough, meningitis, typhoid fever, encephalitis, infections
in nasal cavities, eustachian tube, middle ear infection, ear discharge etc.
lead to hearing loss.
There are also some environmental and accidental factors, i.e., accidents,
severe bums, toxic drugs, faulty development, emotional depression, exposure
to continuous high intensity sounds, etc. Adequate awareness on the part of
parents can minimise the cause of hearing impairment in our situation. Early
follow up services for checking expectant mother's health and health of the
new born can prevent hearing impairment and associated problems.
,CIL4RACTERISTICS OF HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN
There are certain behavioural problems which are associated with hearing
impairment. They feel invariably inferior and helpless in adapting to
circumstances that require verbal communication. They have a poor self-
concept which damages the development of personality. They develop
temper tantrums and are mostly submissive..
As regards cognitive functioning, the hearing impaired children face
deficits in understanding abstract concepts. Because of limited vocabulary
they possess poor comprehension ability. They do not have any difficulty in
adjusting to social situations. On all the aspects of development i.e., mental,
intellectual, personality and educational achievement the hearing impaired
children are inferior and are at a lower level. In vocational adjustment they
face more difficulties.
Language development of the deaf child differs markedly from that of
 HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN 329
the normal. In fact, the normal child learns the language. The deaf child is
taught language. They process language and linguistic utterances visually.
Whether the child is prelingually deaf or postlingual deaf they behave like
deaf children inco1nnunication skills. But those who loose their hearing
after experiencing speech can be trained a little easily. With training
in sound and use of aids the deaf child acqwres workable language and
speech. The profoundly deaf must receive sound training and prosthetic aids
as close to the age of two.
Some of the difficulties the deaf child experiences is learning to read
may be explained by the greater problem he has in ordering terms through
the process of visual scanning. This ordering and visual scanning are forced
by the explicit motor speech pattern. There is nç such motor pattern in the
deaf to force an order of scanning, unless one is provided by an arbitrary
process such as finger movement.
More specifically the hearing impaired children have certain specific
characteristics with regard to language.
They have high pitched voice with slow and laboured speech. The
vowels used by them are either prolonged or distorted. They display
abnormal rhythm in speech. There are nasal sounds, mispronounciations and
monotonous voice.
They have limited vocabulary and inability to comprehend, meanings,
concepts, feelings, complex structure of language. In written language one
often finds problems associated with sentence construction, knowledge,
gender, tense, appropriate use of verbs, adjectives, nouns, idioms etc. All
these affect the academic growth of hearing impaired children.
EDUCATIONAL PROVISIONS
Home based programmes. Home based programmes are introduced are
veiy early stages for the young infants depending on the degree of hearing
impairment, developmental status of his intellectual level, degree of parental
involvement. In this, some corrective exercises and stimulating environments
are created. The infant is given auditory and speech training. Then after

! formal assessment is over, they are placed in schools depending upon the
category of impairment.
SPECIAL SCHOOLS
Children who have severe disability in hearing are placed in special schools
for the deaf. Usually, there is no other alternative. These children follow an
entirely different curriculum and they can not keep peace with the normal
school curriculum because of their language handicap.
330 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

PART-TIME CLASSES
There are mildly hearing impaired children who can profit from regular class
room teaching. They are given adequate preparations. in some school
subjects, personal-special skill development, communication skills. These
children spend haifa day in regular class and the remaining half in a special ,
class with a special teacher and or a resource teacher to prepare to cope with
the regular class works.
INTEGRATED EDUCATION
Children with minimal hearing loss are placed in the integrated classrooms
alongwith the regular students. With minimum class room arrangements,
instruction, use of hearing aids these children are able to cope with the
normal students in the regular classroom. Special assistance is given to such
pupils.
VOCATIONAL PLACEMENT
For hearing impaired adolescents vocational placement is decided after
assessing his intelligence level, range of interest, aptitude, social maturity
and adaptability and communication skills. The vocational counsellor will
assist him for appropriate placement. Ordinarily they can adjust to routine
works in a sheltered workshop.
ROLE OF TEACHERS AND THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMME
Hearing impaired children utilise lip-reading or speech reading with clues
-
to facilitate communication: Their speech reading will improve if we can
look into and adapt certain precautionary measures while teaching speech
reading.
Teachers of hearing impaired children should avoid keeping mustaches,
hairstyles, ornaments, beards to facilitate the child to look for cues of
communication. They should not cover the face with book while reading a
passage to prevent eye contact which aids oral communication. The teacher
must face the child while teaching reading and do not make movements
unless it is absolutely required. These measures aid in helping the hearing
impaired for speech reading. Hearing impaired children get more tired
easily. Hence, have short activities, combine visual illustrations with oral
activities, work sheets, individual games, physical activities, and relaxation
exercises.
A hearing friend often called a 'buddy' helps the hearing impaired child
by taking notes for him, pointing out who speaks and what is being spoken.
They help them to come back to the correct place in the lesson when it is
being taught as they sit near them. Social interaction is also improved by
rotating the buddy system in the classroom, if a teacher speaks slowly, the
 HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN 331
hearing impaired child gains a lot.
Certain general teaching techniques are to be practised by the teachers
of hearing impaired children.
1. Combine visual presentation with oral materials
2. Use handouts for these children
3. Use multisensory approach when necessary
4. Focus on pupil's attention
5. Teach the major portion of the lesson
6. Make a sununaiy presentation
7. Use transition sentences
8. Use short and clear verbalisation
9. Ask questions to check comprehension
10. Explain things and repeat
For accelerating language and oral communication skills among hearing
impaired children language experience training should be incorporated as a
regular feature in the school emphasising all the aspects of language
competence, comprehension and skills of communication. Role playing,
Action, illustration cards, pictures, drills, picture-word dictionaries, practice
sheets, phonics, structural analysis are to be used. Several language training
kits are available and can be profitably used.
Written comprehension and expression can be enhanced by writing
simple sentences on a topic and presenting them in a scrambled order and
asking the hearing impaired child to rearrange the cards using semantic
orgamsation. They can be given matching exercises, ordering of experience,
questions regarding what, when, where and how. Hanging of charts in the
room also speed up the language acquisition.
For mathematical ability, training in use of abacuses, plastic chips, coins
and other small objects, value boxes, number lines, playing cards, semiabstract
materials facilitate learning. Hearing deficient children are not poor in
abstract and conceptual ability but because of language deficit their overall
performance is retarded.
ar Speech therapy has been recommended for reinforcing speech and
sound patterns. Close communication with speech therapist will result in
consistent and concentrated programmes. Use of hearing aids individually
and group hearing aids in the classroom facilitate instruction and learning.
Providing education and training to the hearing impaired pupils is a
- challenge not only to the regular classroom teacher but to special teachers
as well. A consistent attempt, monitoring and feedback on the performance
of hearing impaired children is needed. The parents and community have
also great role to play in accepting such children. lED and the resource room
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
332
plan are positive steps in bringing hearing impaired to the
teacher
mainseam

[1vLEw EXERCISES]
Answer the following questions within 500 word.s each:
1. What is hearing impainnent ? How would you identify a hearing impaired
child?
2. What are testing and assessment procedures of the hearing impaired children?
3. State the causes of hearing loss.
4. State some of the behavioural signs for the hearing impaired children.
5. What are some of the educational provisions for the hearing impaired
children?
6. What are the characteristics of hearing impaired children?
7. What is the role of teacher in the integrated setting?
Answer within 50 words each:
1. High Risk Register
2. Screening procedure
3. Cribeogram technique
4. Audiometer
5. EEG
6. Special school
7. Integrated classroom
Fill in the blanks
1. Mild hearing loss is within 20 and dB.
2. Marginal hearing loss is within 0 40 dB.
3 hearinglossiswithin40and5OdB.
4 hearing loss is within 60 and 75 dB.
5. Profound hearing loss is above dB.
Write whether the statements are True or FaLse:
1. S per cent of school children have hearing impairment.
2. Hearing impaired children have frequent ear aches.
3. Hearing impaired children have no problem of equilibrium.
4. Vocabulary of hearing impaired children are poor.
5. Hearing impaired children are overacting.
 24
Visually Impaired Children
Visual Impairment is defined in terms of visualacuity, field ofvision,
and visual efficiency. Visual ability is the ability of eye to see distant
objectives clearly which is assessed using the Snellen Chart, developed by
Herbert Snellen, a Dutch doctor. If the chart starts with a big 'E' which a
nonnal eye can see at a distance of 200 ft. If the vision of the person is so
impaired that to see it clearly it has to come within 20 ft. ornearer, he is then
considered legally blind. The individual is able to counting of fingers at a
distance of 1 metre. His vision is assessed as 20/200 in the better eye. It
simply means a legally blind person sees something in 20 ft. distance which
can be. seen by a normal eye at 200 ft. easily, in the bettereye after correction.
The normal field of y sion is 180° in the better eye with correction. But if
it is 20° or less, it is blindness. To him, avery limited field would be visible.
Visual efficiency means how will one can use his vision. This means how
the visual information is processed, analysed and interpreted in thebrain.
This part is educationally and rehabilitation purpose wise more viable.
Functionally visual impairment p,resents a different problem. Thereare
children who have low vision or residual vision. The children can read large
prints, and sometimes are not benefitted by visual aids in reading and
writing. These children are partially sighted and their visual acuity does not
exceçd 20/70. But as opposed to touch reading they use print. Low visionand
partial sightedness are not synonymous. Low vision is defined in terms of
r clarity reduction whereas partial sightedness is defined in terms of distance
from the Snellen Chart.
Educationally speaking, blind children are those visually handicapped
children who use Braille, and partially seeing are those who use print.
Besides, clinical assessment, how can a teacher undertake functional
assessment ? There are certain tips for teachers.
BERAyIou SIGNS FOR IDENTIFICATION
The child rubs the eyes excessively, has watery eyes, reddened eyelids etc.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
334
forward; holds objects and books close
He covers one eye and tilts the head
taking notes from the blackboard;
to his eyes; asks other children when
Blinks more frequently; Squints eyelids together,Crossed eyes; complains
about headache following close eye work; Bumps into objects or people.
There are also certan other body clues:

objects, and a rigid body. ,2fV' o <c-

t-L Making head forward and backwards while looking
at distance

writing.
2. Frowning or loosing the place while reading or
3. Closes one eye or cover one eye.
Difficulty in coping with blackboard.
-Poor eye-hand coordination.
,,4'sessnieflt of Visual impairment
The following tests are used
1. Interim Hayes-Biflet for IQ Age 6 +
2. Perkins-Billet-Carl Davis-revision
3. WISC—R
4. The Blind Learning Aptitude Test (BLAT) (CA 6-20)
Blind
5. The Haptic Intelligence Scale for Adult
6. Koh Block Design Test
7. WAIS (Verbal)
8. The Slosson Intelligence Test
9. PP\'T (Partially sighted)
10. Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities
11. Bohem's Test Basic Concept
Behaviour and Social Development
1. Bayley Scales of Infant Development
—21 Denver Development Screening Test
3. Maxfield-Buch Holz social maturity scale for blind pre-school
children.
4. Wide Range Achievement Test

Vision
isua1 Efficiency Scalç
Evaluating Functional Vision
Snellen Chart
Indian Tests
— C.M. Bhatia_PerfOrmaflce Tests of Intelligence
Vithoba Paknikar PerformalCe Test for the Blind—K.K. Paknikar
(1978)
 VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN 335
Causes of Impairment
The causes of visual impairment can be classified as Ocular, General,
and Injuries.
Ocular
Congenital and developmental disorders have been stated to be one of
the ma or causes of visual impairment in children. These are:
Anaphathalmia. In which eyes do not develop at all.
Microphathalmia. In which eye ball is abnormally small.
Oxycephaly. An anomaly of the skull bones resulting in optic atrophy.
Antridia. In which the iris fails to develop and visual acuity becomes
poor and there is rapid involuntary movement of eye ball.
There are various other eye disorders : Byphathalmia, Albinism,
Retinoblastoma.
Congenital Cataract— due to Rubella infection. These are certain
congenital and developmental anomalies. But there are other eye diseases
which impair visual acuity.
Conjunctivities — of the new born which is now prevented just after
birth by droping 1% Silver Nitrate Solution to the baby's eyes.
Sometimes there is ajibrousmeshbehind lens (RetrolentalFibroplastic).
It is caused due to excessive use of Oxygen to premature babies while in
incubators.
Trachoma — Results out of crowding home conditions and as a result
of chronic contagious disease of conjunctiva and Corvea.
Glaucoma — It is a potent factor of blindness in middle ages. In early
stages, it can be cured.
Cataract — Although it is a disease of old age, yet it can occur at any
time due to rupture of the lens.
GENERAL DISEASES
k Syphillis is considered one of the common causes of blindness in India. It
is hereditary in origin and it becomes manifest during 5th and 15th year of
life. Atrophy of optic nerve is associated with neurosyphillis. Chronic
diarrhea is also a cause of blindness in rural India. Substitence on barley
water results in loss of vitamin-A which softens the cornea. Hypertension,
diabetes, kidney disease cause visual impairment
Malnutrition is the cause in most cases not only for visual impairment
but also for several sensory and cognitive dysfunction. In a country like ours
 336 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

malnutrition and ignorance about eye care cause blindness. Especially

deficiency in vitamin-A, vitamin-B, B2, C, D are also associated differentially
in visual functioning depending upon the degree of deficiency.
Injuries and accidents especially which create trauma and are chemical
disturbances or burns, tobacco, methyl alcohol, dyes, paint, carbon monoxide,
lead, etc. cause eye problems.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT AND CURE VISUAL IMPAIRMENT?
Blindness is preventable if care is taken in time. The care is both medical
and mass educational. In our country, poverty, malnutrition and ignorance
are main causes of visual impairment. Health of the mother during pregnancy
is also of primary importance. Distribution of vitamin-A to children is most
suitable measure. Toys with needle points, or made of tin should not be given
to children. As far as possible, they should n*. play with airguns, bow, and
arrows. Care should be taken.
Eyes should be washed with cold water every day as many times as
possible. Do not rub eyes excessively. Don't apply anything to the eyes
without Doctor's advise. Errors of refraction or balance should be corrected
early. Illumination of the classroom should be free from glare and flicker.
Prints for reading should be spaced for avoiding eye stain.
CHARACTERISTICS OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN
Vision is the most actively used sense by man. Hence, cognition depends
upon his visual experiences. Blindness imposes three basic limitation on the
individual.
Blind children are experientally deprived in terms ofd variety
of experience.
Their ability to get along is also limited because of restricted mobility.
They are unable to control one's own environment and oneself in
relation to it. This is a significant deficit. Community attitudes and reactions
depends upon tradition, cttlture and belief. Gradually with advancement and
progress in welfare activities attitudes are changing from brutality to welfare
and sympathy. Still there are certain stereotypes which reflects in terms of
attitudes and responses. People still believe that blind person is nothing, can
do nothing and can be nothing They thus have a low self concept, poor
personality make up low n-ach.
Sometimes, parents feel that blind child is born due to the result of some
sin. Therefore he is ignored and not taken care of. Neglect causes certain
personality problems. The child has to develop certain personal self help
VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN 337
skills. Overprotection is also dangerous. It denies the child all kinds of
natural demands. The blind child suffers from behavioural deficiency
because of extreme neglect or overprotection.
INTEGRATED EDUCATION OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN
A visually impaired child in the regular class in one among many children
in that class. The curriculum should be same. But the visually impaired child
receives the information predominantly from touch and hearing. Hence,
there is no need of special curriculum but approach to teaching should be
multi-sensory and he should be exposed to a plus curriculum.
General curriculum should be explained in terms of nonvisual experience.
Duplicate experience, modify experience, substitute experience, and omit
lesson.
Plus curriculum is not extra but compensatory. This skill development
always facilitates better learning. Areas of special plus curriculum include:
(a) Braille
(b) Orientation and mobility
(c) Daily living skills
(d) Sensory training
(e) Social skills for integration
(j) Use of equipments
Curricular activities should include intellectual activities (music, debating,
)vrtng etc.) combined physical and intellectual activities like exercises,
dancing can be developed in blind children. Slow pace should be the criteria
for teaching the blind children in an integrated setting.
In the integrated education setting we have no right to change the
curriculum but what one can do is to take the experiences of the blind child
very nearer to that of the normal child through modified experience, resource
room teaching, remedial instruction, and multisensory approach. There
should be a thorough understanding between the regular and resource room
teacher.

Primary Level
1. Teaching of Tactile discrimination
2, Auditory discrimination (use of Bell Ball) blind folding
3. Plus curriculum—Spend more time in resource room, individual
instruction, on to correspondence
4. Note taking habits — Teacher should not insist
5. Presentation of material
338 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

6. Evaluation
7. Supportive services — Effective involvement of parents, resource
room teacher, regular teacher
The resource room Teacher ought to teach:
1. Introducing Braille
2. Braille writing
3. Touch sensation
4. Hearing skills
5. Daily living skills
6. Pre-cane mobility skills
7. Mathematical concepts and abacus
Indirect Services at Secondary Level
1. Teaching mobility skills using long cane
2. Teaching mathematical concepts and embossed diagrams
3. Remedial Teaching for slow learning visually impaired children.
Resource Room
A resource room forms a part of the integrated education programme
when there are sufficient number of visually impaired children. It is
necessary for
(a) Preparation of material
(b) Teaching plus curriculum
(c) Locating the Braille materials
(d) Remedial teaching
A resource teacher is not a subject matter specialist, but a specialist in
teaching skills and integrated education peculiar to blindness. They should
have a minimum knowledge of the subject matter. He may discuss the matter
with regular teachers and act accordingly. Regular teacher can also engage
these children in remedial instruction. There is no hard and fast rule
regarding the nature of instruction in the resource room. It may consist of
(a) Before classroom instruction
(b) In between classroom instruction
(c) After classroom instruction —Eveiyday follow-up may be necessary
for some children
Teachers should have the patience to practice with persistence
Equipments Necessary for Resource Room
1. Braille writer for teacher
2. Braille slates and stylus for pupils
3. Abacus for teaching math
4. Braille sheets of paper
 VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN 339
5. Classroom furniture
6. Low vision aids
7. Large print books
8. Bulletin boards (Braille)
9. Braille books
10. Hammer, sa.v, pliers etc. for teaching Industrial Art
11. Tape recorders and cassettes
12. Duplicating machines (Braille type)
13. Teaching aids
TEACHING DAILY LiVING SKILLS
The visually impaired children are taught eating, tailoring, dressing, body
hygiene—cleanliness, body hygiene—personal grading, taking bath, washing
clothes, handling money, shopping, ujng electrical appliances, using
telephone, shavuig, food preparation, clearing a place, and using medicines.
ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY
Sense of hearing, touch, smell, taste, kinaesthesis have to be developed by
using different techniques such as:
Guide dogs; sighted guide techniques; long cane techniques; safety
techniques; and electronic aids for mobility, laser cane, yields beam of light,
infra red light to detect objects and a pair of glasses known as Sonic guide,
which is mounted on ultrasonic sensors.
Visually impaired children may need assistance in mastering the school
environment. The following activities are helpful:
Magnifying glass and or spherical lens can be provided for students with
low vision aids to answer and correct their own scripts.
Several factors should be considered for providing appropriate
environment to the visually impaired children.
— Illumination should be bright, diffused and free from glare and
shadows.
— Figure and ground is a must especially for partially sighted pupils.
— Up to a point the larger the print the better it is for pupils to see.
If it is veiy large pupils can not see it at all.
— Pupils with visual impairment should be asked to sit close to baick
board.
— Blue and white stencil, multi-coloured chalks, and grey pencil and
difficult to see.
A normal classmate can work as a 'buddy' for visually impaired children
and assist him in drills, taking, tutoring him, creating awareness of what is
happening.
340 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELopMENr

For developing concept in visually impaired children one should use

concrete experience. Visually Impaired Children should be helped to associate
words with tactile experience.
Structured activities where pupils can learn by doing and experience and
teaching them by units are helpful. Integrate various study units to help the
pupil get wholeness of life.
THI ROLE OF TEAChER
Regular classroom teachers do not have to learn braille but for the partially
sighted children they have to make certain arrangements in the classroom.
For example, use of magnifiers keeping background noise minimum,
furniture can be adjusted to make maximum visual efficiency. Visually
impaired children rely on sound to a great extent. Hence teacher has to use
distinct sound during reading instructions. Children must learn to focus
attention on all letters of a word. Use of large print materials also aid
learning for the partially sighted. Talking books, cassette players, audio
tapes, strips are available. Compressed speech recorders are also available.
Different instructions are necessaiy for teaching different curriculum
areas. For Mathematics:
1. Use clips, spools, magnetic boards, use different arrangements.
2. Whatever you write in the board provide a desk copy.
3. Teach mental arithmetic
4. Use an adapted abacus
5. When you teach through pictures, lines use dark chalk or pencils
and preferably use 2 or 3 dimensional models
6. Embossed graph paper slide rules are available. Raised clock and
talking calculators are available.
For writing tactile materials are to be used. Hence, pupils use a stylus
to write letters. Kinaesthetic feedback is desirable. Papers with raised lines
help writing skills to develop.
For spelling skill — Articulate the words clearly. Point out the visual
aspects of the words. Give oral spelling tests, practice spelling lists on a type
writer. Repetition improves spelling and typing skills, They can listen to
audio tape.
Occasionally visually impaired children display deficiency in social
skills. This is due to lack of experience and over protections. They should
be rewarded verbally for any social gesture and seer acceptance have to be
encouraged. Verbal cues can be provided to partially sighted or low vision
children. Allow them to speak to the class. They have to develop their self
confidence.
 VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN
341

4 Use of multisensory materials have added advantage for

the Visually
Impaired pupils. Commercial kits and language master are also available.
Television also provides a source of multisensofy learning. Computershas
also come to the service of the disabled. In teaching visual impaired children
one must remember that each child is unique. Each has strength and
weakness. His handicap should therefore not interfere with teaching him to
grow up.
DEVELOPMENT OF VISUAL EFFICIENCY IN PARTIALLY SIGhTED
A teacher should practice the following to develop visual efficiency of low
and partilly sighted children.
1. Expose the children to various lighting condition; encouragechildren
in seeing, discuss what they see; increase vocabulary.
2. Give enough time to observe; provide coloured lights, and present
attractive toys for identification.
3. Draw pictures/figures and ask the child to trace/move along, and
may be asked to follow rolling ball, light etc.
4. Discriminate 3 dimensional objects; teach gradationin size; teach
names of colours and teach intensity concepts.
5. Use flash cards; increase memoly, complexity and decreaseduration,
and specify order.
6. Draw form in dotted lines; draw forms free hand; throw and catch
ball, and reinforce vocabulary.
7. Find omission of parts and present objects in ascending/descending
4 Qrder.
8. Teach form constancy
9. Teach flgure and ground discrimination
10. Teach visual motor cordination — paper shapes, clay modeling,
folding paper, bead-stringing, tracing, wearing ropes.
These measures help the partially sighted children develop competence
and they gain much from schooling.

1iVIEW EXERCISES]
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. What is visual impairment ? How would you identi' a visually impaired
child?
2. What are the testing techniques used for assessing the visual impaired
children?
3. What are the characteristics of visual impainnent?
K children?
4. What are the educational provisions for helping the visually impaired
5. How would you develop visual efficiency in partially sighted?
342 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

6. What equipments are necessaly for the resource room of visually impaired
children?
7. How would you teach mobility and daily living skills to visually impaired
children?
8. What are the types of visual impairment and their etiology and prevention?
Write your answer within 50 words each:
I. Trachoma
2. Glaucoma
3. Cataract
4. Plus curriculum
5. Multisensory approach
6. Orientation and mobility
7. Classroom arrangement for visually impaired
Fill in the blanks:
1. Visually impaired children more frequently.
2. Visually impaired children their eyelids together.
3. Visually impaired children into objects and people.
4. Visually impaired children have eye hand co-ordination.
5. Visually impaired children tilt forward and close eye(s).
Write whether the following statements are True or False:
1. Snellen Chart is used for identifying VI.
2. Visual acuity of Vl is 20/200 in the better eye.
3. The normal vision is 1800 in the better, eye.
4. Blind children use Braille.
5. Partially sighted children use print.
 25
Underprivileged Children
The term 'underprivileged' seems to be only a variation on the theme
of slow learners, under achievers, culturally deprived, socially disadvantaged,
culturally different but it is hoped that it will be more than just another
euphemism. To me the term 'underprivileged' means children, who come
from socio-economically backward section of the community who cannot
profit from school because of deprivation of one sort or another, and children
who are seen in interior tribal and rural areas of country where educational
facilities have not reached in the way we find them in a metropolitan area.
In other words, the term underprivileged would include, children who
not only belong to the above criteria but children who are exposed to
disadvantaged schools in the rural and slum areas. Hence, both the ecology
of the family and the ecology of the institution contribute to educational
deficits of the underprivileged. This feature has been very well discussed in
a paper by Prof. Robinson (1976), who advocates micro and macro-sociology
of education for the underprivileged. Prof. D. Sinha also makes a strong plea
for an ecological model of cultural deprivation (1977). In addition, it is also
emphasised that perceived awareness of poverty be it environmental, economic,
affective or psychological groups a number of children in rural and urban
slums to the category of the underprivileged. One of the prevailing features
of modern society in rural area and slums is poverty of one sort or another
and as such for the education of underprivileged a new sociological
perspective is needed. Our constitutional directives for universalisation of
school education will be really achieved not only by providing equal
opportunity for enrollment, changing the quality of facilities, increasing the
teaching personnel and services provided or through shifts in curriculum but
significant improvement in the quality of guiding teaching and learning
processes. As a matter of fact, when wastage and stagnation would be taken
care of, the school attendance approaches 100 per cent of the school age
population and the school draws increasingly from the bottom of the pile.
The able, the adjusted, the motivated, the upper 30 per cent in ability, have
344 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

always been in the school and the schools have taught them fairly successfully.
Now we have to deal with those who are less equipped intellectually,
motivationally, economically to cope with the school culture and expectation
and even may seem hostile to what school represents. This segment of the
school population is the underprivileged. In fact, if we predict the drop-out
rates to be reduced in the immediate future, we can say in the same tone that
the school population will increase exactly in the same proportion contributing
to heterogeneity and children from underprivileged sections of the community
will be more in number.
Cultural deprivation or underprivileged refers to a complex set of
conditions which create intellectual deficiency in a child. Some of these
conditions are attributed to unstimulated environment, lack of verbal
interaction with adults, poor sensoty experience, and other deleterious
environmental factors generally associated with poverty. The term
underprivileged is used to indicate.
(a) Progressive decline in intellectual functioning.
(b) Cummulative academic achievement deficits.
(c) Premature school termination and high dropout rate.
CHARACTERISTICS OF UNDERPRiVILEGED CIIILDREN
Before we think of a teaching strategy for the underprivileged, let us know
what are the characteristics of the underprivileged children. These children
show poor academic performance, high drop-cut rates, reading and other
learning disabilities, and have adjustment problems. Socio-economically
backward children practically show every such index. They have lower
grades, their health is poor, and they have, deficiencies in the two most skills
reading and language, necessary or success in school. They have minimal
training in disciplined group behaviour and educationally are less ambitious.
Children from such environments are apt to have various linguistic disabilities.
They also show incapacity in cognitive processes such as : the ability to
observe and stating sequences of events, perceiving cause and effect
relationships, classifying concrete objects, attributing responsibility to self
and in general have poor self concept (Das, 1973, Panda, 1971, Sinha, 1977).
The combination of nonverbal orientation and an absence of conceptualisation
very well account for their intellectual deficits and deficit in cognitive skills
or in Piagetian terminology, formal logical thinking is absent in all such
children or appear very late in the development. The consequences of the
cognitive deficiencies are again complicated by their pattern of motivation
and attitudes. Psychologists explain that these children have a feeling of
alienation induced by family climate and experience combined with a
debiitatingly low self concept. They tend to question their own worth, to fear
being challenged, and to exhibit a desire to cling to the familiar. They have
 UNDERPRIViLEGED CHILDREN 345
many feelings of guilt and shame. These children are vary, and their trust
in adults is limited. They make trigger like responses and are hyperactive.
They are quick to vent their hostility orally and physically. In other
words they apathetic, unresponsive and lack initiative. It is difficult for them
to form meaningful relationships. Although these characrisfics are rooted
in early childhood family back-ground and social class membership of the
family etc. Yet the attitudes of the teacher and the curriculum in the school
increase the alienation of these children. Very often there is a communication
gap between the teacher and the students, the objectives of instruction and
the actual evaluation of instruction in terms of pupil performance as well as
discontinuities in the meanings attached to verbal cues employed in teaching
and cumculum materials and the meanings which these children have
acquired in their out of school experience. A few teaching-learning problems
have also been discussed by Rath (1974). Hence, in the educational provisions
for the underprivileged, the task of the school should also be redefined not
as a cause for contributing to deficits in these children but as an institution
in the best position to affect the change. The pre-school programme and
compensatory programmes for the education of the underprivileged can work
best at the hands of these teachers..
The interest for research on cultural deprivation came from researches
on early experience and sensory deprivation in comparative psychology.
Hebb (1949) demonstrated that animals raised in restricted environment
showed deficits in sensory and perceptual development; Hunt (1961) extended
-• the implications of this to humans and pointed Out the importance of early
experience in scholastic attainments. Haywood and Tapp (1966) stated that
an enriched early envii'onment increased intelligence, whereas impoverished
environment may lower the intelligence level.
The lower achievement of disadvantaged children could be attributed to
atleast five causes: malnutrition, genetic, lack of stimulating early experience,
social motivations and cultural values. In addition, the cognitive style or
strategy adopted by a group may account for the lower performance of the
disadvantaged children (Panda, 1970). Jensen (1971) has demonstrated that
children from low SES use associative learning strategies and evidences are
found to suggest that low SES children use sequential processing than
simultaneous processing (Das, 1993) in tasks which demand simultaneous
processing.
Das and Singha (1975) have suggested a general orientation for
explaining performance deficits in low SES children. Following Luria one
may view scholastic performance as "a social phenomena in origin and as
processes fromed during the course of mastery of general human experiences".
They are shaped by the experience through which a subgroup passes. Cole
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
346
and Bruner (1971) essentially made similar observations, "that the most
important thing about any" underlying competence is the nature of the
situation in which it expresses itself".
Besides the gap between a culturally disadvantaged child and a normal
child begins to grow with age and exposure to classroom learning.
Achievement tests and verbal ability reveal wider gap between the Black and
middle class White as they progress in school years. Implications from
animal studies can not be drawn for the culturally disadvantaged child
because the slum child does not suffer from understimulation but from over
stimulation. Hence, it is not stimulation perse but the quality of stimulation
that is important. In fact, the verbal milieu in which the middle child grows
up corresponds much more closely to school learning situation. Moreover,
the middle class child most often has a superior quality of both verbal and
nonverbal stimulation at home. The stimulations are distinct and the
reinforcement system in a middle class home are of a delayed kind which is
congruent to life and classroom situations.
In India, social and cultural disadvantage is not very clear cut. All low
income group children are not necessarily at disadvantage. The high caste
is supposed to have a culture superior to that of the low caste Harijan given
the same low economic status. The cumulative effect of these widens the gap
between Brahmins and Harijans. There are empirical findings which support
the cultural effect of a high caste home.
The rich high caste parents showed significantly greater interest in the
child's educational progress. They had knowledge of child's educational
progress and showed higher aspiration of the children, and also made
preparations for the child's education. The poor non-orthodox Brabniins
were similar to the rich Brahmin which was a bit unexpected. The orthodox
high caste and poor low caste and similar but low expectations. May be
orthodox parents do not value expectancy so much. No difference in
personality was observed although the authors expected that low caste
children would be more fatalistic (Das and Singha, 1975).
The results failed to support that birth in the Brahmin caste had an
absolute advantage in cognitive abilities. Economic prosperity on the other
hand, reflected more of an advantage than high caste birth. In other words,
the least disadvantaged children performed best in a majority of cognitive
tasks. The poor Brahmin and Harijan children did not differ significantly
possibly because they all came from the capital city i.e., an urban environment,
which is varied an stimulating and the Harijan children have grown up in
such an environment. Consequently the disadvantage of belonging to a
culturally deprived home is greatly compensated.
Panda and Das (1970) examined the relative effects caste and class as
UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN 347
factors influencing performance on stroop test and two verbal conditioning
tasks. One hundred and sixteen boys aged between 8 and 10 years were used
as Ss. They were reading in grades 4 to 6 in the same schools. On the parental
income and caste they were divided into Rich (R) and poor (P) Brahmins (H)
andHarijans(L). Each ofthe four groupsi-IR, HP, LandLR had 29 Ssth
comparable mean (fiom 9 to 9, 6 years and grade.
Belonging to high caste and to the high economic class seems to be
associated with faster reading speed. The superiority of the high caste over
the low approaches a statistically significant level but it was consistent with
an earlier finding (Das, Jachuck & Panda, 1970) and may be traced to the
scholastic traditions of in high caste homes. The rich poor difference was not
obtained in the earlier study in which the groups were much closer in
income. When the contrast in the economic levels is increased, the rich have
an advantage over the poor in reading speed..
Das, Jachuck and Panda (1970) raised a few fundamental questions
relating to cultural deprivation and cognitive growth. Is incompetence
largely determined sub-culture to which a child blongs at birth? Is it stamped
in fortuitously because of his indelible identity with a certain caste and
class ? Does this disadvantage affect the child's cognitive growth adversely?
The cultural milieu in this reference is the caste to which a child
belongs. The children were drawn from the Municipal schools of the City of
Bhubanesr. The children of Brahmin caste constituted the High caste and
Harijans represented low caste group as usual. Rich and poor classifications
were done on the basis of parental income. A child was included in the poor
category if his parental income is less than Rs. 200/- p.m. The children of
profussionals were included in this high income group. The children
belonging to Rich Brahmin, rich Harijan, poor Brahmin, poor Harijan were
in the age group of 9-12 and were given Raven's progressive matrices test,
stroop test, a test for short term memory, and a recognition test. Except for
RPM the rest of the tests were administered individually.
Progressive matrices scores were available for the rich Brabmin, poor
Bralimin, rich Harijan and poor Harijan. The mean scores for these groups
were 22.22, 19.30, 19.38, and 17.22 respectively revealing a hierarchy of
rich Brahmin at the top, poor Harijan at the bottom. It seems as though the
Harijan has compensated for his low caste status by wealth as much as the
Brnhmin has lost his advantage by poverty.
In reading speed the Brahmins excelled the Harijans regardless of
economic status, whereas in colour naming speed the rich were superior to
the poor. ShOrt term memory scores were available for 27 rich Brahmins, 25
poor Brahmins, and 28 poor Harijans. Other 58dropped out from school and
348 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

could not be traced. Results oft-test showed significantly poor recall scores
of the Harijan sample compared to poor Brahmins and rich Brahmins. The
study of course did not answer whether Harijans had a poor capacity for
recall or inefficient coding in STM task.
The recognition experiment yielded two scores for each subject : correct
recognitions for ummodal and crossmodal task. Harijans committed a large
number of errors in writing auditoiy material. These errors would obviously
make it hard for the Harijan child to profit from classroom instruction.
Harijan children were found to have relatively less facility with cross-modal
coding than with uni-modal coding, although they shared this poor Brahmin
children. From the results it appears that belonging to a low caste appeared
to account for the inferior performance of a child in some cognitive task. It
seemed as if caste were one's destiny.
Equalising the school environment failed to minimise difference in the
cognitive or intellectual domain but reduced the personality difference to a
considerable extent.
Evidence of the low deprived children doing better than the non-
deprived group has come from the studies of Tripathy and Mishra (1975).
They found that on six tests of cognitive functions and mental ability the low
deprived group did better than non-deprived group. Castewise analysis did
not show any difference, implying there by that S.C./S.T. did as well as the
born highs. Rath (1973) also confirms that on the basis of intelligence that
there were no difference among children born Bráhniin, Scheduled Caste,
and Scheduled Tribe. Gokulanathan and Mehta (1972) reproted higher n-
ach for tribal than non-tribal high school children. Mehta (1969) did an
extensive and intensive study supported by NCERT on the achievement
motivation of tribal and non-tribal high school boys. The results corroborate
the above conclusion that tribals are high n-achievers than the non-tribals.
Sinha (1973) similarly observed that the general perfonnance level of
children of schools where children from economically inferior homes went
signi'lcantly inferior to schools which admitted children from well-to-do and
upper midde class families. The test required interpretations of certain
perceptual cues. It was also seen that within the same type of school
scheduled caste children were inferior to their non-scheduled classmates on
tasks requiring simple and complex perceptual skills.
Recognition vocabulary, vocabulary of use, length of remark, and
complexity of sentence forms in disadvantaged children are all significantly
below norms findings which are consistent with Bernstein's differential
encoding process.
UNDERPRIVtLEGED CHILDREN 349
Underprivileged children lack persistence in a school related task and
evidence a lower sense of control over the environment than the advantaged
children. The achievement discrepancy score is veiy high in case of the
disadvantaged group (Cram eta!., 1972). Academic achievement is related
to a personal style dimension which Kagan has labelled reflectivity-
impulsivity. The more reflective response tendency is related to higher
reading achievement and social class.
Intellectual achievement responsibility is highly related to academic
achievement and children of low SES do not have a sense of personal control.
Research investigations of Crandall, Katkovsky, & Crandall (1965) have
demonstrated the validity of this assumption. Negro children and also lower
class White children are more externally oriented and their achievement
index was too low compared to advantaged Whites. In our studies Panda and
Lynch (1974) and Das and Panda (1977) similar trends have beenobtained.
To what extent deprivation affacts performance of these young pupils
over a variety of situations having different educational relevance and
achievement related dynamics (Das and Panda, 1977)?
On intellectual achievement responsibility attribution in failure situations
the high caste children were more internal and Harijan children were more
external. The Brahinin and Harijan children significantly differed in the
style of information processing i.e., the Brahmin children were more analytic
than the Harijan children. They had also more positive self-esteem compared
to the Harijans and the discrepancy increased with increasing educational
levels. Coming to intellectual performance, effects for caste was significant
for digit forward and backward, reflective mode of responding, perseverative
errors in concept learning nonperseverative errors in concept learning, word
recognitions with reference to acoustically similar and Neutral words,
performance in digit symbol test, memory for designs, verbal quantitative
and total achievement scores on the basis of teacher made tests. In all these
tests the nature of performance was superior in the high caste group,
moderate in the middle caste and low in the Harijan group. Further, castes
X educational level interactions were significant and ordinal in respect of
response latency i.e., with increase in educational level high and middle
caste children became more reflective and low caste children became
comparatively more impulsive. Deficit in concept aquisition with respect to
form became more with increase in educational level. Perseverative errors
were less with higher caste group compared to low caste. Recognition scores
for orthographic words were progressively superior in high caste group
children than low caste group. Memory for design, verbal and achievement
scores supported the "Broomstick effect" in the low caste group.
350 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

In sum, many the results supported that with exception to basic

intelligence where group âuffereuce â& not occur etweeu &etent caste.,
groups the low caste children did show deficits in personality, information
processing modes, and intellectual achievement. And the deficits also
indicated progressive or cumulative retardation in most of the measures.
Hence, in our cultural background, memberships in low caste and low
income family to predispose children to an impoverished environment and
the consequences of this deprivation are cumulative over time.
Whiteman and Deutsch (1968) after reviewing the literature on social
disadvantage, intellective, and language development opinedthat there is
discontinuity between requirements and the child's prior preparation and
experiences. The children from a disadvantaged environment misses some
of experiences necessary for developing verbal, conceptual, attentional and
learning skills requisite to school success. Because of this deficit there is
progressive alienation from school environment and this alienationcontributes
to cumulative deficit of the disadvantaged child over time intheir scholastic
achievements.
Relationship between intelligence and low SES characteristics of
deprivation has been very exhaustively dealt by Jensen (1970). Generallythe
magnitude of correlation has been as high as .50. In a Canadian sample Das
(1973) investigated the relationship between IQ and SES by dividingthe SES
into seven hierarchial class intervals and after obtaining the mean IQ of the
children in each of those class intervals. A striking linearity wasobserved.
The IQ showed a significantly consistent increment from the lowest tothe
highest SES levels ranging from a mean of 90.33 in the highestto 78.66 in
the lowest. The relationship between father's occupation mother's education,
SES of parents with child's IQ were respectively .26, .29, .27 based on 1294
children. Deutsch and Brown (1964) reported data which support the
following conclusions:
(a) Negro children at each SES level score lower than whitechildren and
(b) Negro-White IQ differences increase at each higher SES level—the
Whites show more gain in IQ points at higher SES level than do 'he Negros.
A similar finding has been reported by Jachuck and Mohanty (1974) and Das
and Panda (1977) on Indian children of differing SES and intelligence.
Children from low SES and socially disadvantaged homes drop out from
schools. Wastage and stagnation is a characteristic of the socially disadvantaged
group. Drop out is solely due to cultural disadvantagedcharacteristic of low
caste and niral backgrotind. The facts suggest that everything else remaining
same the greater drop out rate is influenced by cultural disadvantage or
deprivation. There are various causes of drop outs but membership in low
 UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN 351

caste/low income group mostly makes one drop-out-prone in school. Similar

trends are seen in all states in India.
NUTRITIONAL DEPRIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT
We have been talking about cultural disadvantage and eductional under
achievement. But poverty may affect intellectual development through
physical conditions i.e., malnourishinent (Scrimshaw and Gordon 1968).
Poverty is all pervasive in India and is responsible for social andeducational
pathology. There is a cultural of poverty characterised by the legacy of
psychological distortion which mainfests itself in profound alienation from
larger society and people, feeling in powerlessness and meaningless in
struggles. When we live in a society of self advertisement and propagation,
these people remain only conscious of their deprivation. Our middle class
attitudes further brutalises the poor and the underprivileged. Psychological
poverty, intellectual and effective poverty, nutritional and biochemical
"
deficiency, institutional poverty all predispose a lower SES child more than
any one else for educational under achievement.
Professor Birch and his associates (Birch and Belmont, 1964) have
clearly demonstrated that malnourished children were not only ofstunted
growth and of short heightbut also were found to be below normal in reading
ability and auditory visual integration. Birch suggests the malnutrition might
have caused a structural deficit in the central nervous system which affects
later intellectual achievement damanding complex integrative mechanism
but there is no conclusive evidence of such a damage (Birch and Gussow,
1970). I can't agree more with the conceptualisation that was given by Das
(1973) and Das and Private (1977) that poor children are unhappy, have no
desire for self actualisation, they are apathetic distracted and have low n-ach.
Because of the ill effects of poverty the poor becomes impoverished in
educational achievement.
Nutritional deficiencies constitute most probably the greatest single
deterrent to physical health had consequently to mental development and
performance in school. Deprived children mostly suffer from malnourishnient
in one form or another. Current research on the possible connection between
malnutrition in early life and mental development was reviewed at a
• symposium held in Saltsjobaden, Sweden in August 1973 by the Swedish
Nutrition Foundation in conjunction with WHO and other bodies. The
workshop felt that the complex relationship between nutrition, mental
development and the importance of other concomitant or interfering
phenomena such as social deprivation and repeated infections and expressed
greater need for assessment of the problem and its effects on intellectual
performance.
 352 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Two studies have been completed by the author and his colleagues on
assessing the effect of malnourishment on intellectual performance (Dutta
and Panda, 1977) and on ascertaining the concomitant effects physical
anomalies and deficiencies on intellectual performance of low SES children
(Spark and Panda, 1971). The former study is based on an Indian sample and
the later on an American sample but both the studies included children from
lower SES strata.
In the exploratory study Spark and Panda (1971) the purpose was to
investigate the correlates of cognitive performance and achievement in
reading, language arithmetic, and intelligence. The study included 538—296
boys and 242 girls, 239 black and 222 White children coming from
Powhatan country rural lower SES homes and reading in 12 different grades.
Measurement was done using WISC and California achievement tests
alongwith detailed physical examination by medical staff.
Nearly 2/5th of rural disadvantaged children were under achievers in r-
schools. Boys had more poor attendance in schools than girls. Boys had
greater emotional problems, social problems, auditory and orthopaedic
problems than girls. Negative relationships obtained between age and each
of these measures : intelligence, verbal IQ, Non-Verbal IQ, and reading
comprehension suggested the validity of cumulative deficit notion. IQ scores
are lower than the age norm. Arithmetic and reading grades of these children
are one to two grades below the grades in which they have been enrolled.
Within the class, mean intelligence score and achievement scores
measured by California Achievement test were lower in Negro pupils than
those in which pupils. Further, the discripancy was in the higher grades. This
suggests a similar interpretation of performance different between Brahmin/
Harijan studies conducted in India and progressive retardation over age
obtained in many studies.
Within the deprived community the girls appeared to be comparatively
better than boys in intellectual performance. There is a curvilinear relationship
between sex and arithmetic reasoning and airthmetic fundamentals across
grade levels. But in reading comprehension and reading vocabuhy than boys
across all grade levels children girls did better having physical/orthopaedic
problems did not show consistent poor performance in the cognitive tasks.
The research findings permit us a general statement i.e., all groups of
disadvantaged rural students are characterised by poor cognitive competence,
and educational achievement. We essentially came to the some conclusion
whether we analysed the results in terms of organismic variables such as:
sex, race, grade, levels or by dichotomising the Ss on the basis of some
behavioural characteristics : social, emotional, physical. Differentiation on
the basis of physical characteristics offered some meaningful about rural
 UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN 353
disadvantaged children especially of their educational retardation. Obviously
sensory impairments and general malnutritional factors do inhibit school
learning.
Dutta and Panda (1977) have observed the consequence of malnutrition
on intellectual performance of the low income group children. The study
included 360 (180 tall, 180 short) children. The Sweden Conference made
it clear that stunting of the child can be considered as an index of
malnutrition. All these children came from two caste groups Brahmin (High)
and Harijan (Low). The ilarijan sample was drawn from both rural and
urban schools but the Brahmin sample was only from rural schools. A large
number of children were tested with regard to their heights and a distribution
of heights was done. Those whose heights fall belQw Q were included in the
short category and all those whose heights were above Q3 were included in
the tall category.
The unban Bralunin sample was not included in this study because of
their consistent superior performance in the previous studies. Following
Birch and Belmont (1964) children who are of short height were considered
malnourished and the tall group actedas its control. Each of these children
were given a series of cognitive tests including classroom learning tasks,
social personal adjustment, self concept, and cognitive style tests. Parents
were also interviewed on a parental expectancy questionnaire. The analysis
of the data revealed the following results scores on parental expectancy of
education of their children, keeping knowledge of children's progress, and
making preparation for their educational attainment are consistently lower
for all the four Harijan groups and short Brahmin children compared to tall
Brahmin children. The scores in case of the short Brahmin children is also
higher than those of Hárijan groups. On,parental interest about children's
academic achievement however, the scores of all groups were fairly close
except that of tall Brahmin group.
In school achievement, Brahmin children were better of than Hanjan
children. Tall Harijan children were superior to short stature Harijan
children mostly in rural areas. On tests or cross modal coding and short term
memory (visual) the effects of malnourishment was, clear cut. Short stature
children of low/high caste did poor compared to all groups of the respective
categories. Brahmin children scored high compared to Harijan children. The
colour naming and word reading speed did not reveal significant differences
between short and tall groups but superiority of the high caste over the low
caste was pronounced. Consistent with previous findings short stature
children had lower intelligence as measure by Raven's Coloured Progressive
Matrics than the children, and superiority ofBrahmin children over Harijans
(both urban/rural) got confirmed the data. Malnourished children identified
354 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

by short stature were inferior in discrimination learning measured by

matching of familiar figures and had poor self-concept scores compared to
the tall groups. Caste differences were not obvious in these areas, although
the Brahmin children had more number of associations to functional words
than that of the Harijan children. These results although preliminary at
present do indicate the differential effects of malnourishment on cognitive
performance of children and parental expectations. Malnourishment affects
adversely the intellectual and affective performance of children. Birth in a
high caste compensates to some extent the ill effects of malnourishnient.
DEPRIVATION, DISCRIMINATION AND ACHIEVEMENT
There is an implicit theory behind cultural difference or deprivation.
Deprived children differ from normal in that they are poor, less skilled and
lack adequate educational, opportunities. Coleman's report (1966) was
unable to show that difference in educational opportunities caused low
achievement of the deprived, the best could be said that the ghetoo schools
did nothing to help blacks to catch up the whites.
The emphasis on inadequate home preparation for schools and the
emphasis on social service, suggest a culture poverty theory, that poor and
low caste people have a special culture a set of rules for living, customs,
values, which prevent achievement and in their adaptations to the different
social constraints placed upon them (Robinson, 1976).
Discrimination, social stigma, or institutional racism or casteism account
completely for the amount of persistence of poverty of intellect, affective
relationship or economic handicaps or in a word deprivation. Experimental
validation of the effects of built-in-expectancy on the life of the stigmatised
has been shown repeatedly following Rosenthal and Jocobson's (1968)
"Pygmalion in the classroom".
Even simulated expectancy regarding membership in a low caste or
deprived group has also brought significant changes in teacher behaviour
towards the pupils both during teaching (Panda and Guskin, 1976) and
evaluation (Panda and Dash, 1980). Discrimination does exist and it does
impair intellectual performance of the deprived (Paul Freire, 1972).
The styles of behaviour which are statistically more common among the
deprived and which serve to prevent assimilation are escapism, alienation,
apathy, and timidity, and low learning ability. These are culturally determined
characteristics and adaptive responses to a given social situation and not
tendencies inherent in the individual. Low SES becomes the explanation for
everything and sometimes in a completely circular fashion, for poverty itself.
Cram and Weisman (1972) comparing the performance of Southern and
UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN 355

Northern Negroes stated that Southern Negroes are brought up under the
oppressive sanction of the southern society and therefore, are more inhibited,
and live with a low internal control and abievement. The same Negroes
brought up Northern climate show higher achievement in integrated schools.
The question, therefore arises should the culturally different or the
deprived be brought into an integrated classroom. The U.S. SupremeCourts'
famous 1954 opinion was, "Segregation ofWhite and coloured children in
public schools has a detrimental effect upon the coloured children The
impact is greater when it has the sanction of law, for the policy of separating
the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group.
A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation
with the sanction of low, therefore, has a tendency to retard the educational
and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of
the benefits they would receive in a racially integratel school system...".
This fact has been amply support by modem authority.
Many of the deficits observed in the socially disadvantaged are more
motivational rather than intellectual and cognitive. The underprivileged
children display some significant motivational problems which determine a
major aspect of their behaviour patterns.
(a) They show belief in external factors i.e., luck, chance, fate etc.
rather than their own self and activity. This inability to attribute
causality to one's own behaviour accounts for poor motivation in
any tac.
and non-
(b) They can not delay gratification. Immediate tangible
contingent rewards are their need.
(c) They have high sense of avoiding failure than striving for success.
(d) They have poor self-concept, low achievement aspiration, and need
achievement including lack of desire for self actualisation.
(e) Their general behaviour lacks intrinsic motivation instead ofits is
governed by insecurity and anxiety which are negative motivational
factors.
These are explained in terms of learning and motivational deficits,
feeling of alienation combined with apathy unresponsiveness and lack of
initiative.

INTEGRATION, INTERVENTION AND ACHIEVEMENT

Can children come back after a poor start?
Do these studies orient us then to think less hopefully about the fate of
the deprived group ? This question was asked by Prof. Sinha (1976) after
examining a whole series of work on deprived.. He believed that an early
356 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

enrichment programme at the preschool and kindergarten levels may be

helpful in arresting or reversing the cumulative deficit. For the Indian
disadvantaged tribal children Ratli (1974) recommended interventions in
form of compensatory and high intewity education as remedial measures.
The writer (Panda, 1976) has also suggested the special requirements of an
instructional pattern that will be suitable for the disadvantaged children. The
suggestion included modification in teacher training curriculum, changing
the life style characteristics of the deprived, use of accelerated learning
programmes and changing the motivational and, affective climate of the
classroom (Panda and Lynch, 19'72). The scope here is not to go in depth to
the various intervention progranunes but just to point Out what approach we
might consider while planning for an intervention progranune for the
children and for the institution.
Perhaps the answer may be sought in training the deprived children for
realistic goal setting, developing self attribution, developing a more analytic
way of information processing while in school and giving training for
intellectual, activities and/or skills where they are dificient. But it is essential
that parental education is more crupial in so far as providing an enriched
environment in early childhood is concerned.
A brief review of' such approach is considered necessaiy at this point.
The Coleman data has proved that integration resulted in improvements in
the achievement test scores of black students, i.e., Black students in
integrated schools do better than those in Middle class all Black schools.
Coleman suggests that the overall gain in verbal ability for Blacks in an
integrated school is approximately 1/4 of a SD. Cram and Weisman (1972)
observed the problem of achievement in relation to integration. They defined
integration (a) the Negro student attended in school with White for atl east
5 years, (b) no White student did move out of the school, (c)the school was
atleast half White.
It was found that nearly 1/2 of the segregated pupils did not finish high
school (48%) compared to 36% students of the integrated schools. That is
drop out rate is reduced by 1/4 in integrated schools. Further, integration
seems to cut the drop out rate for Southern migrants nearly in half.
More specifically, the findings were:
1. Pupils of integrated schools are more likely to finish elementary and
high school and to attend and finish college.
2. Students who attended integrated high schools and segregated
elementary schools fare as well in terms of finishing high school as
those whose schooling was entirely integrate.
3. The effects of integration are stronger for both men and women
students.
 UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDRE!1 357
4. Students who attend integrated schools scored higher on the verbal
achievement test than those who attended segregated schools.
5. Occupying a deprived status or a minority status in an integrated
school failed to show social and psychological strain among the
pupils.
Optimism concerning the effectiveness of preschool compensatory
program such as project Head Start has waived considerably in the last few
years. Findings have been consistent that at the end of a year of Head Start
type of experience children as superior to children without pre-school
experience in both intellectual and social-emotional functioning (Klaus and
Gray, 1968), Weikart, 1971). However, the superiority of Head Start children
vanishes or is greatly diminished by the end of one year of formal school
- (Bronfenbrener, 1974). lathe fact of this evidence some have concluded that
compensatoly education or Head Start in particular, is a failure (Eysenk,
1971 Jensen 1969). It is unrealistic to expect long term effect of a short term
intervention. But it can't be denied that the programs have in fact been
successful partially in removing educational disadvantage which economically
disadvantaged children might encounter in later life (Bereiter and Engleman,
1966). For this reason the Follow Through Project has been introduced
which is 4 year compensatory education programme in U.S.A. school
system. Longitudinal data analysis (Abelson and Zigler, 1974) revealed that
the followup through progrannne was not capable of ameliorating all of the
negative effects of living in an economically disadvantaged group, however,
the programme was highly beneficial to the children who participated in it.
The longitudinal and cross-sectional evidence together point to the conclusion
that the gains accurring from compensatory education programmes are
commensurate with the duration and amount of effort which are expanded
on these programmes. Abelson and Zigler (1974) are thus very clear in the
their statement concerning the efficacy of enrichment programmes.
Developmental psychologists agree on two basic assumptions : Environmental
factors help determine how fast or slowly children develop)ntellectual

children's relative inteflectwilfunctic'ning HarvardJJnJizersi1y psychologist

Prof. Kagan asks a fundamental question. Are the ill effects of early
deprivation irreversible? Or does delayed growth persist in children? "Only
if the environment that causes the delay remains the same", replies Kagan
to his colleagues.
A detailed outline of compensatory education is given in earlier chapter
àf this book.
Every one is of the assumption that group differences in intellectual
activities, affective characteristics, parental expectancies associated with the
 358 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

terms "Cultural deprivation' 'or "Cultural differences" are an alibi for

educational neglect or invironmental ensufilciency and in no way a reflection
of the nature of the educational process, which starts quite early in life in
family and later on in school. In a country with wide spread poverty, affective -
impoverishment; ignorance of an effective child-rearing process it is imperative
that the most socially relevant topic for research would be understanding the
process through which deprivation or a differences affects adversely the
scholastic performance of children belonging to various strata. An outline for
a process model approach to research has been suggested by the present
author (Panda, 1974). Deprivation is a condition, it manifests in behavioural
characteristics through some processes of interaction. If processes
characterising the transmission of deficits could be identified then intervention
strategies can be well planned. The present review of the work done mostly,
in our social context, is quite suggestive in this direction. Remedial effects
may be best attained by programme that direct attention to a number specific
areas and competencies rather than concentrating effort upon one.
REMDL4L MEASURES
Certain remedial measures have been recommended. It is true that deprivation
does exist among the socilly disadvantaged children due to predominantly.
(a) Inadequate early socialisation
(b) Mark of oppression
(c) Organic deficits
(d) Inadequate social environment
(e) Culture conflicts and educational deprivation.
In order to reverse the ill effects research studies support certain
measures.
(a) Early modeling and imitation of desirabe behaviour.
(b) Language enrichment programme and stimulation at home.
(c) Affective attention and acceptance.
(d) Providing initial success experience to build better motivation and
striving for success.
(e) Removal of discrimination attitudes on the part of teachers and
other significant members of society.
(f) Humanistic apporach to teaching the underprivileged in school.
(g) Instructional progranunes may be greaded to their needs and ability
level.
(h) Giving responsibility, recognition, tangible rewards, positive remarks
etc.
(I) Exposure to sensitivity training, exposure to literature, discussion
and group contacts, role playing, case conferences relating to their
problems.
 359
UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN
and providing
(j) Presenting learning materials using images, aids,
adequate organisers and drill.
Compensatory education programme have proved the validity of these
recommendations.
EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED: THE
ROLE OF TEACHERS
The following instructional strategies for educating the underprivileged are
suggested considering the objectives of instructions and their entering
behaviour to an instructional situation. Basically thereis no difference in the
way in which the underprivileged children learn. Their learning processes
are subject to the same general principles of learning as are the learning
processes of the average or normal but with a difference, the rate, the
sequence, the type of materials and presentation modes. Hence, the need of
a few guidelines is obvious.
(a) A continuous appraised of progress and comprehensive measure of
assessmentdiagnoSi5 via feedback should become a part of every
teaching act and basis of planning the next learning experience.
(b) Ifinstructions is to be effective these students are to be
simultaneously
trained to achievement the three abjectives : knowledge, skills and
attitudes.
(c) Since the students come to the schoolwith cognitive deficit a special
hour may be kept aside for remedial teaching langauge, training in
how to increase some of their non-intellective characteristics i.e.,
self-concept, level of aspiration, n-ach, sense for responsibility etc.
(d) Learning of concepts and ideas may be sequenced of before they are
presented to the underprivileged group, using more concrete and
life iike situations. Training for analytic thinking mayalso constitute
a part of the instructional programme design.
(e) The imposition of standardised expectation regarding performance
should be replaced by more of individualisation in the rate of
learning, exposure to varied materials. Instructions must be given
how to pace performance according to their ability. The teacher has
to ascertain the pre-requisites before instructing them to move to
next step, and make provision for acting initial success experiences
by the group.
responsibility,
(f) For educating the underprivileged giving recognition,
tangible rewards, positive affective remarks encouragement have
been found to be effective and are to be encouraged in schools.
Affective interactions and developments to be supported in a school
programme.
360 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(g) They also need to be acculturated through sensitivity training,

exposure to literature, discussions and group contacts, role playing
and case conferences.
(h) Self-instructional materials may be used best to their advantage.
(I) The curriculum should have direct bearing on their life and work
especially for tribal population.
These are a but few directions which need be examined carefi.illy
through studies and be. built into the educational strategy for the education
of the underprivileged, so that they did not become victims of cumulative
deprivation or the 'Broomstic effect'.
What is needed now is that our schools and educational systems must
develop a better understanding of the implications of the social and
psychological dynamics of deprivation and translate this understanding into
educational programmes, into the training of teachers and administrations
and into planning of curriculum and instruction. No single device will suffice
to counteract or to remedy the complex factors those are associated with the
education of the underprivileged. Administratively the problem can also be
taken care of by dealing with acculturation problems and school learning by
providing early school experience to these children and following an
ungraded sequences or multiple entry system. To unlook the hidden potential
among these children, a radical change in curriculum and teaching is
required. Atleast the new curriculum which has beth introduced is constructed
in such a way that it is related to the psychological realities of the child, is
tuned to our social and community life, is geared towards achieving needs
and aspirations of our people and the educational climate that is promulgated
in the frame-work is more motivating in terms of teaching techniques for
which orientation of teachers are conducted in a massive way by the NCERT,
SW and State Deptt. of Education. In a nutshell it is possible to conceive of
education as a countervailing force to overcome the deficits accumulated in
underprivileged groups or what is currently understood as the broomstick
effect. It is true that it is not the educators function only to reverse the
negative impacts of educational deprivation, social and effective insultation,
caste discrimination and economic deprivation. It involves all aspects of the
community. The task surely calls for creative innovation all along the line.
The crucial pedagogical problem involved is that of understanding the
mechanism of learning facility and learning dysfunction and applying this
knowledge to optimum development of a heterogeneous population
characterised by differential backgrounds, opportunities and patterns of
social and intellectual funciton.
Then what do the psychological studies on deprivation tell us and what
course of action is suggestive from these generalisations 7 Deprivation does
 UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN 361
exist among a larger section of student community whether we call it as due
to inadequacy of early socialisation, organic deficits, mark of oppression;
inadequate social reinforcement, culture confilicts and educational deprivation.
The various studies that emphasis population characteristics underlining
deprivation at the same time agree on the complex interplay of various
intervening processes (Panda, 1974) in causing the performance deficit of
the underprivileged children.
A large body of literature deals with trainability of intellectual function
and reversibility of early deprivation which was in fact, the concern of Binet
and Montessori since a long time. There is little research to support that
intellectual functions continues to be malleable into adult periods of life and
compensatoiy programmes are myth. While this may be true largely, it is
possible to accelerate the educational achievement of the underprivileged if
we attack the issue from a more affective and interpersonal relationship
angle. In fact, all learning occur in a emotional climate and this is more so
far the deprived of underprivileged. Zigler attempts to account for the
changes in the affective state (motivation, task involvements etc.) Affective
processes are more manipulable than cOgnitive processes and as such use of
social reinforcement giving attention and approval, building positive
expectancies through initial success, elaborative comments and praise, non-
verbal attention through a smile, do in fact improve cognitive performance
(Zigler, 1966; Panda 1971, Panda and Lrnch, 1972, Panda, 1974).
An area of research in which data are available is the desegregation of
underprivileged children into a separate school system, special schools and
rural schools. Consistently poor children attending school in poor
neighbourhood tend to display poor achievement. Achievement levels raise
with desegregation and it also brings about overall increase in quality of
education throughout the system. Of course in our society segregated
classrooms are not available for the underprivileged but there are schools in
rural areas which represents the ecology of a special school. Ashram schools
and schools where minority group children are few in a regular school. In
such schools, the teachers do hold stigmas and try to have their self-fulfilling
£ prophecies achieved (Rosenthal & Jocobson, 1969), (Panda & Guskin,
1976). The belief that "he comes from SC/ST, or his parents are labourers
and that he cannot learn", this attitude of teachers is detrimental to the
educational growth of underprivileged. Hence, each teacher must deal with
all student population in equal manner and tiy to foster their curiosity,
creativity and make them all active participators in the teaching-learning
process. Teacher's behaviour that is warm, permissive and encouraging can
attract underprivileged to the school. The whole educational process has to
be humanised and building up of interpersonal relationship can effectively
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
362
contribute to academic exchange and improvement. Teachers can make a
difference in the life of the pupils and more so in the life of the undeiprivileged.
We have to engineer what this difference ought to be in our policy, planning
and implementation of an educational programme.
For the most part, education of the underprivileged children can be
speeded up by disseminating appropriate method of child rearing systems
and values among the parents much before the child comes to school. This
will difimtely reduce the diontinuities in the norms of children and norms
of school. In constrast to the varied, detailed and sometimes adequately
designed studies and their reports, it is strange that we psychologists in this
countzy do not take these generalisations to the reach of the common man
who contribute to a great majority of the underprivileged children in school.
An improtant measure is to make education acceptable to the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes which constitute a major block of the
underprivileged group and make education relevant to them.
GUIDANCE IN TIlE SERVICE OF THE UNDERPRiVILEGED
Education students for the changes which will effect their lives is a
relavant concern for all educators. In the case of underprivileged children,
the challenge is even greater. The likelihood that these children will
overcome the handicaps of poverty in rural and as well as slum areas seems
to be related as to how effectively the school personnel assist them. In fact,
individuality can be fostered and realised through effecive guidance service
and the establishment and development of these services can be enhanced by
an appreciation of the ecology of the individual and ecology of the school.
The rural disadvantaged children live in an isolated and less densely
populated areas. These conditions limit their opportunities for adequate
health, social and recreational activities, relevant euducational experiences
and exposure to vocational life styles which could be a means for changing
their future. The characteristics of the rural community further inhibit the
learning of new behaviours for coping with urban living. It is the special task
of the counsellors and teachers to enable students to discover how they can
exercise more control over their life choices. Hence, in each school and for
a school complex institution of student personnel services is a must. In small
schools, part-time counsellors may be the only source of specialised student
personnel services. In general, hopelessness and powerlessness or anomie
are so strong among teachers/counsellors that they should change much
more than the students in order to make this possible. One of the most
significant contributions that a counsellor can make to any student's identity
introducing a belief in himself as the most significant determinant of his own
destiny, which I have referred as intellectual achievement responsibility
UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN 363

(IAR) earlier. In fact, there is much that rural disadvantaged children can
learn and do about themselves and their environment, but the counsellor
shall work with and through other persons significant, in the lives of these
students and help them to develop and realistic self concept.
Considering from all points of view, guidance activities for the
disadvantaged may be organised in small groups of eight to twelve. The
information giving, task orientation and counselling type of activities willbe
more effective in small groups for the disadvantaged because they will not
be inhibited before an adult authority as is true of any individual counselling
situation. Role playing as a technique is most suitable for guiding the
activities of the disadvantaged. Further, for helping the rural disadvantaged,
guidance service, programme needs be extended through parental counselling,
community resources clubs, and referral to a psychologist who should be
available at least in each school complex. Guidance must from a part of the
entire educational programme which students should perceive as personality
relevant for them.
It has been rightly stated by Schrieber (1965) c.f, Swenney (1971),
p. 58.
"If the child is the father to the man then we know that unless drastic
changes take place in rural education the new adult generation persently in
school, will have lower levels of scholastic attainment and be less able to find
employment than youth reared in urban centres. Hence, the real challenge
rural youth offers to rural educators is to prepare them and by preparing
them, to ensure them a viable and productive life commensurate with theix
potential abilities".
As has been pointed out earlier that rural disadvantaged children livein
a different ecology than those in urban slums and the objectives which these
students set are also different those of their rural peers. Hence; the following
guidance strategies for urban disadvantaged children are recommended by
Menacker (1971).
1. Intervening to assist in manipulation of the students and environ-
ment.
2. Helping the student to cope with the school programme through
behavioural alterations.
A major defect for the success of guidance programme in slum areas or
urban schools is that it has not been successful in marshalling parental
support for the school programme and generally hasfailed even to establish
an adequate system of meaningful communication between the school and
parents. For helping disadvantaged the guidance specialist should not wait
for a referral but should be involved in the confrontation and dialogues
364 ELEMENTS OF CHILD. DVELOPMENT

between the community and the school in order to help channel these
relationships to bring effective and harmonious school community relalions.

REVIIW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. Who is underprivileged child ? How would you defme such children?
2. What are the characteristics of under privileged children?
3. How would you motivate underprivileged children to learn?
4. What are the educational strategies for helping underprivileged?
5. What is compensatory education? What are its results?
6. What is the relationships between malnutrition and scholastic achievement?
7. How would discrimination affect the underprivileged children?
& How best underprivileged children can be integrated to the mainstream?
9. How can guidance be used to help the disadvantaged?
Write the meaning of the following terms in 50 words each:
1. Underprivileged
2. Cultural Deprivation
3. Cununulative deficits
4. Drop out
5. Stagnation
6. Remedial education
7. Compensatory education
S. Guidance service
9. Preschool environment
10. Discrimination or stigma.
Write whether the stetements are True or Faire
1. Underprivileged children are characterised by progressive decline in intellectual
functioning.
2. Underprivileged children continue to remain in school once they are enrolled.
3. Cumulative deficit iii perfonnance is the curricular fault not that of under
privileged children.
4. Underprivileged children stress immediate reward.
5. Underprivileged children are the result of heredity.
Fill in the blanks:
I. There is a culture of poverty for the
2. Underprivileged children are anxious than normal children.
3 makes underprivileged children more inferior.
4. Belief in is the characteristic motivation of underprivileged children.
5. Underprivileged children cannot come back after a start.
 26
Learning Disabled Children
The enigma of the youngster who has difficulty in learning is not new.
But the concept of learning disability has a brief and turbulent history both
conceptually and operationally. Some children are quite normal and at times
display learning problems. They write deb for bed, was for sawand cannot
concentrate against any background noise. The National Advisory Committee
on handicapped children (USA) defined learning disability as follows
(1968).
LD children exhibit disorder in one or more basic psychological
processes involved in understanding and in using in spoken or written
languages. These disorders are manifested in listening, thinking, talking,
reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic. They include conditions which are
referred to as perceptual problems, brain injwy, minimal brain dysfunction,
dyslexia, developmental aphasia etc. They do not include learning problems
which are primarily due to visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, to mental
retardation, emotional disturbance, or to environmental disadvantage.
Learning disability is an interdisciplinary field and the above definition
of learning disabled children is acceptable to all concerned professional
groups (Kass and Myklebust, 1969).
A more conservative estimate has been made by the National Advisory
Conunittee on Handicapped Children and they report that 1 to 3 per cent of
the schoo1 iitatioix are teitwdiah1e&
Originally children whose achievement was far below their capability
were categorised under brain injured children (Strauss and Lehtinnen,
1947), neurophrenia (Doll, 1960), Strauss Syndrome (Stevens and Birch
1957), minimal brain dysfunction (Clements, 1966). It is for the first time
that Kirk (1963) suggested the word learning disabilities to describe all the
child's behavioural symptoms that arise from dysfunction of the central
processing mechanisms. This term describes a group of children who had
disorders in the development of language, speech, reading and associated
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

communication skills needed for social interaction. Children with sensory

and/emotional handicap are excluded from this category.
IDENTIFICATION OF LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN
There are certain behavioural indeces which indicate the presence of
learning disabilities in children. These are so called ident/i cation marks.
1. Near average, average or above average in intellectual ability
2. Impulsive behaviour in talk and action
3. Inability to focus on one activity
4. Easily distractible
5. Inability to shift from one activity to another
6. Easy onset of fatigue
7. Wrong or inappropriate perception
8. Reversal in writing and reading and transposition
9. Problems of left and right, up and down orientation
10. Difficulty in understanding and remembering oral message
11. Difficulty in interpretation and remembering visual image
12. Language and organisation difficulties
13. Trial and error approach to work
14. Thinking problem relating to abstract ideas and concepts
15. Poor fine motor coordination
16. Clumsiness in thinking
17. Hyperactivity (easily stimulated)
18. Hypoactivity (late action with much stimulation)
Early identification of such difficulties are important even from pre-
school period so that remedial education can be provided. In fact the sonner
the high risk children are recognised the greater is the chance or preventing
failure.
Assessment of pre-school level children can be made as per DIAL model
(Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning)— Mardell and
Goldenberg (1975). It is meant for 2½ to 5½ year old in the areas of sensory,
motor, affective, social, conceptual, language conununication in less than 30
minutes. The tests consists of visual and auditory activity, gross motor
movements, fine motor movements, finger agility, anxiety, task attention,
focus and persistence, social skills, identifying objects, colours, sorting,
receiving and expressing language, articulation etc.
Besides the DIAL, there are PPVT, Bohem Test of Basic Concepts,
Early Detection Inventory. The facts remain that children face school failure
because their learning difficulties are not detected at preschool age or if at
all detected not treated well no time.
At the elementary and secondary level identifications of learning
LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN 367
disabilities become relatively easier because availability of instruments,
teacher observations and achievement index. Each learning disabled child
undergoes neurological examinations, Reading tests, Visual-motor Gestalt
tests requiring them to copy various geometric forms, awareness of one's
body parts (Draw a man test). Gross-motor tests, Fine-motor test, hyper
kinesis, reading problems, autological findings (hearing sounds) and
biochemical screening. These medical characteristics are necessary to deal
with learning disabled children besides intellectual and achievement scores.
This stage of the school evaluation wOuld consist of
(a) Developmental disabilities.
(b) Discrepancy between ability and achievement.
(c) Process of child's learning.
(d) Analyse why he does not learn by case history, infonnal test,
observation, standardised test.
(e) Psychological test findings.
(I) Case history relating to health, development, present activities,
identifying information, Birth history, Physical and developmental
data, social and emotional factors educational factors adjustment.
(g) Teacher's rating on auditory comprehension, spoken language,
orientation, behaviour, motor.
(h) Spelling errors, informal arithmetic tests, reading tests, graded
word recognition test.
(1) Tests of mental abilities and mental processes.
BEHAVIOURAL TESTS USED TO IDENTIFY LEARNING DISABILITY
(a) Infromal Reading Inventory — Johnson and Kress (1965). It
measures quickly reading skills, reading levels, types of errors,
unknown words, related behavioural characteristics.
(b) Infonnal Graded Word — Recongnition Test-Durrell (1956). It
measures quickly reading level and errors.
(c) Informal Arithmetic Test — OttO, McMennemy and Smith (1973).
(d) Wechsler — Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) 1974.
(e) Stanford — Binet Intelligence Scale.
(f) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test.
(s) Illinois test of Psychologistic Abilities (Kirk, McCarthy and Kirk,
1968).
(h) Lincoln Oseretsky Motor Development Scale.
(i) Vineland Social Maturity Scale.
Causes
1. Organically Based Causes. LD arises because of Minimal Brain
Dysfunction (MBD). They dysfunction occurs in central nervous system
368 ELEMENTS OFCHILD DVELOPMENT

which consists of brain and the spinal cord. The malfunctioning is not due
to damage, but due to dysfunction which is only minimal. Minimal brain
dysfunction arises due to (a) cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral disease because
of high fever, head injury, (b) intrauterine environment-premature birth,
anoxia, physical trauma, (c) constitutional-genetic-neurochernical dysfunction.
It must be noted that all brain dysitinctions are not associated with learning
disability and all types of learning disability do not arise due to brain
dysfunction.
2. Environmentally Based Causes. Learning disability may be caused
due to insufficient early experience, and emotional disturbance.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LD CHILDREN

Motor Activity
— constantly engaged in movement, unable to sit
Hyperactivity
still, too much of talking in the class, very much
inattentive.
Hypoactivity
— (reverse of hyperactivity) — lethargic, quite,
passive.
Incoordination — physical awkwardness, poor motor integration,
poor activities in. running, catching, skipping,
and jumping; walking is rigid and stiff; poor
performance in writing, drawing; frequent falls,
stubbling, and clumsy behaviour.
Perseveration — involuntary continuation of behaviour; this
behaviour is witnessed in speaking, writing,
drawing, pointing, and oral reading; incorrect
spelling, repetition of errors.
EMOTIONAL DISORDERS
1. They are quiet and obedient, but daydream and cannot read.
2. They have frequent temper outbursts, sometimes for no apparent
reason.
3. They are nervous; attention is difficult to hold.
4. Theyjump from one thing to another, and mind everyone's business
but their own.
5. They talk self control but cannot work with other children. Teach
them constantly.
6. They are emotionally labile and unstable.
Emotional instability arises mainly due to prolonged dependency on the
mother and lack of contact with the outside world which generates fnistrations.
LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN 369
PERCEPTUAL DISORDERS
1. They are unable to identify, discriminate and interpret sensation.
2. They have poor visual decoding (unable to reproduce geometric
forms accurately, figure — ground configurations, letter, reversals
and rotations).
3. They have poor auditoiy decoding (inability to recognise tunes, to
differentiate between sounds).
4. They cannot identify familiar objects by touch alone (cutaneous
misperception).
5. They have poor kinesthetic and vestibular perception (problems in
coordination, movement, directionality, space orientation, and
balance, difficulties in perception lead to difficulties in concept
formation, abstraction ability, cognitive ability, and language ability).
SYMBOLIC DISORDERS
1. They have poor receptive-auditory ability (poor.understanding of
spoken symbols, requests for repetition, echolaliac, confection of
directions and conunands).
2. They exhibit receptive-visual difficulty (subvocalise reading, read
without understanding).
3. They have poor expressive-vocal ability (disorganised thought,
inadequate syntax, and dearth ideas for expression).
4. They manifest expressive-motor difficulties (spelling disorders,
drawing disorders, omission and reversal of letters, omission of
whole words).
ATTENTION DISORDERS
1. They cannot sustain attention for the required amount of time.
2. They are unable to attend to the relevant and ignore the irrelevant.
They may be attracted to every stimulus that surrounds him.
3. They can be diverted easily from one topic to another.
4. They put excessive attention to unimportant details while
disregarding the essentials (attends to the page number than to the
printed matter or the picture on the page).
MEMORY DISORDERS
1. Disorders of memory involve difficulty in the assimilation, storage,
and retrieval of information, and may be associated with visual,
auditory, or other learning processes.
2. The LD children have difficulties in reproducing rhythm patterns,
sequence of digits, words, or phrases.
3. They have difficulty in revisualising letters, words or forms.
370 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

4. Both the short-term and the long-term memoiy of the LD child are
poor.
5. They fail to see the relationship between his present and past
experiences.
EDUCATION OF LEARNING DISABLED
The role of Teachers
The following instructional techniques have been used and recommended
for use with LD children:
1. Use short, brief directions, large print
2. Use consistent language, colour cues
3. Write directions or steps on the chalkbord i.e., underline important
words etc.
4. Alternate the use of colours for each step in a series of directions.
5. Increase sound level of instruction
6. Use diagrams or pictorial illustrations
7. Use an overview of the lesson, ask questions, ask them to read the
material, recite and review.
Since LD children lack structure and organisation, they have to be told
to, keep a list of daily engagement on activities list all future events that need
to be scheduled. Provide a hypothetical list to suggest possible events; and
plan future events that must be planned, it is time to develop a weekly
schedule. Pupils in the upper grades may find useful a schedule that provides
for specific subject matter assignments and various types of activities.
Thinking skills can be developed by guiding students collect data by
reading, listening, and observing; and discriminate differences and similarities
in the data. Teacher questioning can be used to prod the pupil until the ability
to make these discriminations improves. Ask the pupil to categorise and
classily the data. Labelling is important during this stage.
Have the pupil recategorise and classi1' the data in other ways. This
continuous reorgamsation and restructuring is necessaiy to integrate new
infqrmation and new experiences into the pupil's mental structures. Have the
pupil make predictions based on the data. Have the pupil generate alternative
predictions using the same data. Have the pupil evaluate the alternative
predictions by comparing and constrasting possible outcomes and their
effects.
Memory ability can be improved by using certain specific techniques,
visual and auditory messages can be recalled. Facial expressions indicative
of certain materials can be retrieved. Cramming is to be avoided. Certain
activities can be practised to improve auditory, visual momories.
LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN 371

1. Have pupiis repeat telephone numbers and street addresses of

emergency service facilities (police, fire, etc.)
2. Have pupils learn songs by listening to the words and tunes.
3. Play pines in which the first pupil makes a statement, the next
pupil repeats that and adds a statement, the third pupil repeats those
statements alid adds one, and so on.
4. Have pupils make up rhymes related to subject matter, such as, "In
1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue".
5. Have pupils repeat oral directions.
6. Have pupils resequence cartoon strips (without words) that have
been cut apart. This forces them to observe details in the pictures.
7. Have pupils describe configurations of words that are similar. By
comparing then with them, pupils would be forced to discriminate
that them is slightly longer than then becuase it has one more hump.
8. Have pupils repeat the sequence for a recipe that they have read.
9. Use teachistoscopic devices.
10. Have the pupil practice attending to larger units at one time. For
instance, some tiy to copy one syllable at a time. Encourage the
pupil to increase the length of the visual stimulus that she holds in
her mind as she writes it down.
11. Help the pupil to practice internal auditonsation as an adjunct to
visual memory; that is, have the pupil say the letters or words to
herself while she is translating the written information.
12. Write every other item on the chalkboard with a different colour
chalk. This helps the pupil to "find per place".
13. Allow the pupil to copy another pupil's work. Some of these pupils
perform better with paper-to-paper copying than with chalkboard-
to-paper copying.
Teachers must be flexible in their approach to teaching reading because
of the heterogenous characteristics of learning disabled pupils, a diagnositc-
prescriptive approach must be used. The reading programme must be
matched to pupil's needs and abilities. There are several approaches having
different degree of relevance.
The Basal reading approach is comprehensive, which uses controlled
vocabulary in a sequential manner with adequate reinforcement. Diagnosis
is done in course of teaching but it is not so advantageous for LD children
because of its rigidity, individualised nature and lack of provision for
removing deficits.
Phonic approach has very limited use especially only for those who had
good auditory capacity. Linguisitc training also has limited use as it does not
aid comprehension.
372 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Language experience approach is most useful as it uses stories, personal

experiences, child's oral lguage, incorporates specific skill development,
language art skills and thakes use of visual motor abilities. Progranune
instruction is also another viable technique. The other approaches to reading
uses multisensory approach and use of pictures. Both the method have
limitations. Because of complexities of both the reading process and learning
disabilities, it is difficult to make definitive statenients.
Ashlock (1972), Bley and Thoriton (1981) and Reisinau (1972), made
certain specific remedial instruction step for removing arithmetic errors of
learning disabled children. Some Qf the steps are as follows:
Use manipulatives such as buttons and chips to teach number. Use visual
material and give reinforcement. Use graph paper for alignment difficulties.
Time line, coloured chalks, making pens are helpful for attention to cues. A
sample problem can be given for each assignment. The size numbers can
vaiy to indicate more or less. Reduce distractions as far as possible. Reduce
number of examples in the assignment and eliminate copying. Use of display
charts, abacus, playing cards, calculator, language master are quite useful.
Spelling errors are quite common among learning disabled children
Therefore a systematic word-study technique is used in th following
sequence.
"Look at the word — say the word —cover the word — say the word
— look at the word — cover the word — write the word — check your
spelling — Repeat". Some of the remedial techniques involve — writing the
word on the Chalk and then trace it in fingers until it disappears tracing in
sand, write the first letter of the word when one listens the word and then
pronounce. Ask the children to spell the word properly and clap softly for
each vowel sound, if possible by looking at the word.
INTEGRATED EDUCATION
Learning disabled children read in the regular class as other children.
Hence, certain extra care would benefit these pupils. These concerns may
relate to four areas; such as
Auditory Perception
1. Identi1r classmates, from voice when one is blind
2. Produce a speech sound and ask if they listen
3. Ask whether pairs of words are same or different
4. Start naming objects that starts with a particular sound
5. Practice rhymes
6. Ask them to repeat oral airections
7. Tell a sequence of information to improve auditory memory
LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN 373

Visual Perception
1.. Match a geometric desig'i
2. Ask them to replicate a pattern
3. Ask them to classif' objects
4. Match, sort and group word cards
5. Start copying designs from simple to complex
6. Tell a story with pictures. Then scramble the pictures and ask pupils
to tell the story
7. Recall letters speedily and find a series of letters in words.

Sensory Motor Development

1. Manipulation of objects according to directions i.e., in front of, in
the middle etc.
2. Use puzzles
3. Reproduce block designs
4. Pour water in different containers
5. Design games
6. Use tracing, lacing and cutting activities and visual tracking
activities.
Social Skills
1. Discuss different emotions through pictures
2. Explain body language
3. Use T.V. for explaining, social encounters and social interactions.
4. Identiiy topics for discussion with peers, neighbours
5. Remember Key points of conversation
6. Discuss personal experiences that have caused social difficulties.
Mildly and moderately learning disabled pupils can function satisfactorily
in the regular classroom with these adjustments. The regular classroom
curriculum may require little modification. These are some of the general
techniques of remediation but a specific theoretical model should guide the
practitioner.
The cognitive processing approach provides a way of thinking about
how a child learns and offers a framework for teaching. The developmental
approach emphasises sequential approach for remediation. Test related
approach identifies specific area of deficiency which can be taught.
The specialised techniques approach indicate that the teacher would
follow the prescribed order and fashion for a specified period of time.
Hierarchy of skills are to be developed in the Skill-Developmental approach
using criterion referenóed teaching. Published materials can be used for
remediation of learning disability.
374 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
-f
Behavioural approach refers to behaviour modification approach for
manipulations of environmental conditions of learning. Apply reinforcement
and change behaviour. Psychotherapeutic approach should build feelings of
Types of Ana'sls Cafegoly of remecfaton
Cognitive Processing
Developmental
Test related

Specialised Techniques
Skill Development
Matelals
Behavioural

Psychotherapeutic

Pedagogical

success and establish a healthy psychodynamic relationship between teacher

and student. The major cause of reading failure is dyspedagogia i.e., lack of
good teaching. Inadequacy ju the child's teacher and the teaching environment
are the answer to remediation.
The model of remediation suggested are not mutually exclusive. A
teacher can use one or more of the several approaches to deal with the
situations. Koppitz (1973) stated.
learning disabilities can not be corrected or cured by a specific
teaching method or training technique. It is imperative that teachers have a
wide range of instructional materials and techniques at their disposal and
that they are imaginative and flexible enough to adapt these to specific needs
of their pupils".

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the following questions within 500 words each:
1. Who is a learning disabled child ? Explain.
2. What are the identification procedures for LD children?
3. What are the characteristics of LD children?
4. What are the causes of learning disability?
5. How would you teach learning disabled children?
6. What kind of specific techniques can be used to teach such children?
Write in 50 words each specific characteristics of learning disabled children in
the areas of:
I. Motor activities
LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN 375
2. Emotional activities
3. Perceptual activities
4. Symbolic activities
5. Attention process
6. Memory activities.
Write whether the statements are True or False:
1. LD arises because of minimal brain dysfunction.
2. LD arises due to disorders in one or more basic psychological processes.
3. LD children are hyperactive.
4. LI) children have low IQ.
5. 1 to 3% children are LD.
Fill in the blanks:
1. LD children display persevation in activity.
2. LD children are emotionally
3. LD children do not have attention
4. LD children display memory
5. LI) children are intellectually
 I

27
Policy, Action Programmes, and Plans
for the Welfare of Children

NATIONAL POLICY FOR CHILDREN, (1974)

The Government of India have developed and approved the National Policy
for children and have communicated it to the various governments, in states
and union territories. This is stated below and any one interested in child
development and child welfare must be aware of such provisions and
resolutions.
INTRODUCTION
The nations's children are a supremely important asset. Their nurture and
solicitude are our responsibility. Children's programmes should find a
prominent part in our national plans for the development of human
resources, so that our children grow up to become robust citizens, physically
fit, mentally alert and morally healthy, endowed with the skills and
motivations needed by society. Equal opportunities for development of all
children during the period of growth should be our aim, for this would serve
our larger pupose of reducing inequality and ensuring social justice.
GOALS
The needs of children and our duties towards them have been expressed in
the Constitution. The Resolution on a National Policy on Education, which
has been adopted by Parliament, gives direction to State Policy on the
educational needs of children. We are also party to the U.N. Declaration of
the Rights of the Child. The goals set out in these documents can reasonably
be achieved by judicious efficient use of the available national resources.
Keeping in view these goals, the Government of India adopts this Resolution
on the National Policy for Children.
POUCY AND MEASURES
It shall be the policy of the State to provide adequate services to children,
POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS . 377
both before and after birth and through the period of growth, to ensure their
full physical, mental and social development. The State shall progressively
increase the scope of such services so that, within a reasonable time, all
children in the country enjoy optimwn conditions for their balanced growth.
In particular, the following measures shall be adopted towards the attainment
of these objectives:
(i) All children shall be covered by a comprehensive health progranune.
(ii) Programmes shall be implemented to provide nutrition services
with the object of removing deficiencies in the diet of children.
(iii) Programmes will be undertaken for the general improvement of the
health and for the care, nutrition and nutrition education of
expectant and nursing mothers.
(iv) The State shall take steps to provide free and compulsory education
for all children up to the age of 14 for which a time-bound
programme will be drawn up consistent with the availability for
resources. Special efforts will be made to reduce the prevailing
wastage and stagnation in schools particularly in the case of girls
and children of the weaker sections of society. The programme of
infonnal education for pre-school children from such sections will
also be taken up.
(v) Children who are not able to take full advantage of formal school
education shall be provided other forms of education suited to their
requirements.
(vi) Physical education, games, sports and other types of recreational as
well as cultural and scientific activities shall be promoted in
schools, community centers and such other institutions.
(vii) To ensure equality of opportunity, special assistance shall be
provided to all children belonging to the weaker sections of the
society such as children belonging to the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes and those belonging to the economically weaker
sections both in urban and rural areas.
(viii) Children who are socially handicapped, who have become delinquent
or have been forced to take to begging or are otherwise in distress,
shall be provided facilities for education, training and rehabilitation
and will be helped to become useful citizens.
(ix) Children shall be protected against neglect, cruelty and exploitation.
(x) No child under 14 years shall be permitted to be engaged in any
hazardous occupation or be made to undertake heavy work.
(xi) Facilities shall be provided for special treatment, education,
rehabilitation and care of children who are physically handicapped,
emotionally disturbed or mentally retarded.
(xii) Children shall be given priority for protection and relief in times of
distress or natural calamity.
 378 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(XIII) Special programmes shall be formulated to spot, encourage and

assist gifted children, particularly those belonging to the weaker
sections of sociàty.
(xiv) Existing laws should be amended so that in all legal disputes,
whether between parents or institutions, the interests of children are
given paramount consideration.
(xv) In organising services for children, efforts would be directed to
strengthen family ties so that full potentialities of growth of
children are realised within the normal family, neighbourhood and
community environment.
PRIORITY IN PROGRAMME FORMULATION
In fromulating progranunes in different sectors, priority shall be given to
programmes relating to:
(a) preventive and promotive aspects of child health;
(b) nutrition for infants and children in pre-school age along with
nutrition for nursing and expectant mothers;
(c) maintenance, education and training of orphan and destitute children;
(cI) creches and other facilities for the care of children of working or
ailing mothers; and
(e) care, education, training and rehabilitation of handicapped children.
CONSTITUTION OF NATIONAL CIiILDRIN'S BOARD
During the last two decades we have made significant progress in the
provision of services for children on the lines detailed above. There has been
considerable expansion in the health, nutrition, education and welfare
services. Rise in the standard of living, wherever it occurred, hasindirectly
met children's basic needs to some extent. But all this work needs a focus
and a forum for planning and review, and proper coordination of the
multiplicity of services striving to meet the needs of children. A National
Children's Board shall be constituted to provide this focus and toensure at
different levels continuous planning, review and coordination of all the
essential services. Similar Boards may also be constituted at the State level.
ROIl OF VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS
The Government shall endeavour that adequate resources are provided for
• child welfare programmes and appropriate schemesare undertaken. At the
same time, voluntary organisations engaged in the field of child welfare will
continue to have the opportunity to develop, either on their ownor with State
assistance in the field of education, health, recreation and social welfare
services. India has a tradition of voluntary action. It shall be the endeavour
of the State to encourage and strengthen voluntary action so that State and
POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PNS. 379

voluntary efforts complement each other. The resources of voluntary

organisations, trusts, charities and religious and other endowments would
have to be tapped to the extent possible for promoting and developing child
welfare programmes.
LEGISLAT WE AND AD1ffl41STRAT1VE ACTION
To achieve the above aims, the StateS will provide necessary legislative and
administrative support. Facilities for research and training of personnel will
be developed to meet the needs of the expanding programmes and to improve
the effectiveness of the services.
PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION
The Government of India trusts that the policy enunciated in this statement
will recieve support and cooperation of all sections of the people and of
organizations working for the children. The Government of India also calls
upon the citizens, State governments, local bodies, educational institutions
and voluntary organisations to play their part in the overall effort to attain
these objectives.

NATIONAL POLICY ON EDUCATION 1986 (R) MHRD.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION (EXRACT)

The Govt. of India have formulated a National Policy on Education, 1986
and included early child care and education as a salient feature. This is
extracted (relevant portions only) below for the benefit of students.
EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AN]) EDUCATION
The National Policy of Children specially emphasises investment in the
development of the yound child, particularly children from sections of the
population in which first generation learners predominate.
Recognising the holistic nature of child development, viz., nutrition,
health and social, mental, physical, moral and emotional development, Early
Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) will receive high priority and be
suitably integrated with the Integrated Child Development Services
programme wherever possible. Day-care centres will be provided as a
support service for universalisation of primary education, to enable girls
engaged in taking care of siblings to attend school and as a support service
for working women belonging to poorer sections.
Programmes of ECCE will be child-oriented, focussed around play and
the individuality of the child. Formal methods and introduction of the 3 R's
380 ELEMENTS OF CHtLD DEVELOPMENT

will be discouraged at this stage. The local community will be fully involved
in these programmes.
A full integration of child care and pre-primary education will be
brought about, both as a feeder and a strengthening factor for primary
education and for human resource development in general. In continuation
of this stage, the School Health Programme will be strengthened.
ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
The new thrust in elementaiy education will emphasis two aspects : (i)
universal enrolment and universal retention of children up to 14 years of age,
and (ii) a substantial improvement in the quality of education.
CHILD-CENTERED APPROACH
A warm, welcoming and encouraging approach, in which all concerned
share a solicitude for the needs of the child, is the best motivation for the
child to attend school and learn. A child-centered and activity-based process
of learning should be adopted at the primary stage. First generation learners
should be allowed to set their own pace and be given supplementary remedial
instruction. As the child grows, the component of cognitive learning will be
increased and skills organised through practice. The policy of non-detention
at the primary stage will be retained, making evaluation as disaggregated as
feasible. Corporal punishment will be firmly excluded from the educational
system and school timings as well as vacations adjusted to the convenience
of children.
SCHOOL FACILITIES
Provision will be made of essential facilities in primary schools, including
at least two reasonably large rooms that are usable in all weather, and the
necessary toys, blackboards, maps, charts, and other learning material. At
least two teachers, one of whom a woman, should work in every school, the
number increasing as early as possible to one teacher per class. A phased
drive, symbolically called Operation Blackboard will be undertaken with
immediate effect to impmve Primary Schools all over the country. Government,
local bodies, voluntary agencies and individuals will be fully involved.
Construction of school buildings will be the first charge on NREP and
RLEGP funds.
NON-FORMAL EDUCATION
A large and systematic programme of non-formal education will be launched
for school drop-outs, for children from habitations without schools, working
children and girls who cannot attend whole-day schools.
 POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS
381
Modern technological aids will be used to improve the learning
environment of NFE centres. Talented and dedicated young men and women
from the local community will be chosen to serve as instructors, and
particular attention paid to their training. Steps will be taken to facilitate
their entzy into the formal system in deserving cases. Allnecessary measures
will be taken to ensure that the quality of non-formal education is comparable
with formal education.
Effective steps will be taken to provide a framework for the curriculum
on the lines of the national core curriculum, but based on the needs of the
learners and related to the local environment. Learning material of high
quality will be developed and provided free of charge to all pupils. NFE
programmes will provide participatory learning environment, and activities
such as games and sports, cultural programmes, excursions, etc.
Much of the work of running NFE centres will be done through
voluntary agencies and panchayati raj institutions. The provision of funds to
these agencies will be adequate and timely. The Government will takeover-
all responsibility for this vital sector.
A RESOLVE
The New Education Policy will give the highest priority to solving the
problem of children dropping out of school and will adopt an array of
meticulously formulated strategies based on micro-planning, and applied at
the grass-roots level all over the country, to ensure children's retention at
school. This effort will be fully coordinated with the network of non-formal
education. It shall be ensured that all children who attain theage of about
ii years by 1990 will have had five years of schooling, or its equivalent
through the non-formal stream. Likewise, by 1995 all children will be.
Provided free and compulsory education upto 14 years of age.

EDUCATION OF HANDICAPPED

The Handicapped
The objective should be to integrated the physically and mentally
handicapped with the general community as equal partners, toprepare them
for nonnal growth and to enable them to face life with courage and
confidence. The following measures will be taken in this regard:
(i) Wherever it is feasible, the education of children with motor
handicaps and other mild handicaps will be common with that of
others.
(ii) Special schools with hostels will be provided, as far as possible at
district headquarters, for the severely handicapped children.
382 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

N
(iii) Adequate arrangements will be made give vocational training to the
disabled.
(iv) Teachers' training programmes will be recnented, in particular for
teachers of primary classes, to deal with the special dimculties of
the handicapped children; and
(v) Voluntary effort for the education of the disabled, will be encouraged
in every possible manner.

PROGRAMME OF ACTION-1992 MHRD. GOVT. OF RDIA

EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION

The Present Situation

The National Policy on Education (NPE) has given a great deal of
importance to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE). It views ECCE
as a crucial input in the strategy of human resource development (HRD), as
a feeder and support programme for primary education and as a support
service for working women of the disadvantaged sections of the society. It
has also taken into account the holistic nature of ECCE and has pointed out
the need for organising programmes for the all-round development of the
child. It specifically focusses on the need for early care and stimulation of
tthildren belonging to the vulnerable sector. Since the age span covered by
ECCE is from conception to 6 years, emphasis has been given to a child-
centred approach, play way and activity based learning in place of formal
methods of teaching and early introduction of the three R's. The importance
of community involvement has also been highlighted. Emphasis has been
given to establishing linkage between Integrated Child Development Service
(ICDS) and other ECCE programmes.
The Revised Policy Formulations reiterate the postulates of NPE, 1986
on ECCE. The prescriptions of POA, 1986 continue to be of relevance. What
is attempted here is to update the POA, 1986 taking into account the
developments since then and the need to strengthen the progranunes by,
inter-a/ia, improving the programme components, co-ordination mechanism
and enlisting community participation in mobilising resources, planning and
monitoring.
Realismg the crucial importance of rapid physical and mental growth
during early childhood, a number of programmes of ECCE were started
particularly after the National Policy for children (1974). The existing ECCE
programmes include;
(I) ICDS.
POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS .
383
for conducting
(ii) Scheme of assistance to voluntary orgamsations
Early Childhood Education (ECE) centres.
(iii) Baiwadis and day-care centres run by voluntaiy agencies with
Government's assistance.
(iv) Pre-primary schools run by the State Governments, Municipal
Corporations and other government and non-governmentagencies.
health centres
(v) Maternal and child health services through primary
• and sub-centres and other agencies.
of early childhood development,
ICDS is uneutly thebigeStpTOgTa'11le
140 lakh children and about 2'7
with 2.90 lakh AnganwadiS serving nearly
located in rural and tribal areas and
lakh mothers; 9 1.5% ICDS projects are
8.5% in urban slums. Besides the ICDS, by the end of 1991-92, there were
12,470 creches with a coverage ofabout 3 lakh children below 5 years, 4,395
ECE centres in 9 EducationallY Backward (EB) States and the Balwadi
lakh children in the age-group of
Nutrition programme serving nearly 2,30
3-5 years.
initiatives have been taken to make
Over the recent years, a number of
the programmes more focussed. The measures under ICDS, include emphasis
workers, and extension work by
on practical training for Anganwadi
Anganwadi training centres; which are required to adopt 10 AnganwadiS
each for developing them as model AnganwadiS. To build up resource into
capabilities in the field, action is afoot to develop CDPO' s office
resource centre. Instructional materials for Anganwadi Training Centres are
also being made to distribute education
also under preparation. Efforts are education
cum play materials to Anganwadis to improve their pre-school creches
component. Intitiative has also been taken to improve the scheme of
by reviewing norms for voluntary and community participation. A scheme
of Women and Child Development
has been worked out by the Department
for converging the services under DWCRA, ICDS, pre-school education and
related schemes of the Departments of Flealth, Family Welfare, and Rural
Development.
Targets and Phasing
The aim of ECCE is that every child should be assured access to the
fulfilment of all basic needs. As such efforts will be made towards
universaliSation of ICDS by AD. 2000. By the end of the Eighth Plan, 3.75
lakh Anganwadi centres would be established and by A.D. 2000 seven lakh
Anganwadi centres. Anganwadis will be gradually
Plan,
converted into
25 per cent of
AnganwadiScUm.creches By the end of Eighth
Anganwadis will be converted into AnganwadiSCu1ThCTeChe5. Qualitative
improvement of ongoing ECCE programmes would receive high attention.
New cost-effective designs of ECCE will also be àncouraged and supported.
384 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Strategy of Implementation
The ECCE involves the total development of child, i.e. physical, motor,
cognitive, language, emotional, social and moral. The age span under
consideration in ECCE is from conception to about 6 years. Even a modest
development process during this period includes care of. mother during
pregnancy (ante-natal health check-up, nutritional support, control of
anaemia, immunization for prevention of tetanus following delivery, etc.)
hygienic and skilled birth attendance, nutritional care of mother during
lactation, correct infant feeding practices, immunization of infant from
conununicable diseases, mothers' education in the child care, early childhood
stimulation, and health and nutritional support throughout. Thus, ECCE is
a complex integral function. It requires workers with integrated ECCE
training, integrated worksites or ECCE centres where the essential services
flow to young children through the period of their growth and preparation
for formal education. To tap the full advantage of the synergistic impact of
well-integrated ECCE activities and associated programmes, efforts will be
directed at coordinated functioning of various agencies—governmental and
non-governmental—striving to meet different needs of young children. An
Inter-ministerial committee will be set up comprising representatives of
Departments of Labour, Education, Rural Development and other related
Ministries/Departments to plan, coordinate and monitor the programme..
This will be done by the Department of Women and Child Development
which will function as the nodal agency for ECCE programme.
Community and parental participation will be enlisted wherever possible.
in resource mobilisation, planning and implementation. To this end village!
mohalla level committees with adequate representation of mothers will be
organised. The role of capable voluntaiy agencies will be emphasized to
create a wide and rich network of resources for ECCE. At the same time, it
is imperative that proliferation of sub-standard institutions of ECCE is
discouraged. Nonns and minimum standards will be devised.
Ongoing programmes/schemes that reflect a concern for the holistic
development of young children will be improved to provide effectively
integrated services. These include:
(a) ICDS. The following initiatives that have been introduced will be
continued and strengthened:
(I) Assigning each Anganwadi Workers' Training Centre the
responsibility of development at least 20-25 Anganwadi Centres so
as to provide the trainees with adequate field practice.
(ii) Placing trainees for a minimum of one month in the Anganwadis
for practical training.
(iii) Development of instructional materials for use of trainers and the
trainees.
POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PNS. 385
(iv) Providing materials for children-picture books, picture posters,
minimum essential play materials to all Anganwadis and replenishing
them periodically.
(v) Developing the CDPO's office into a resource centre that is
equipped with training materials.
(vi) Coordinating the timings of ICDS Anganwadis with the primaiy
schools wherever possible.
In addition, efforts will also be made:
1. To orient trainers, supervisors and CDPOs through refresher courses
in pre-school education component and through field training both
at pre-service and in-service levels,
2. to convene periodic workshops fpr functionaries of related
programmes to optimise resources and strengthen programme
linkages,
3. to develop a small percentagó of Anganwadis as day-care centres,
and
4. to effect convergence of services and functions of ICDS and other
related schemes.
(b) ECE Centres. The ECE Scheme, as it stands, does not have a
component of nutrition; neither does it have any provision for the training
of teachers. The following measures will, therefore, be taken with immediate
effect:
(i) Adding nutrition component with parenticommunity assistance.
(ii) Provision for training the personal.
(iii) Supply of educational materials for children.
(iv) Using play-way method and discouraging early teacher of the three
R's.
(v) System of monitoring.
(c) Baiwadis run by voluntary Agencies. There are varieties of
patterns in the Balwadis. Each scheme has its own history and background.
All programmes of child development implemented approach, offering a
comprehensive package and avoiding duplication. Where this does not
happen, the existing activities will be merged in some comprehensive and
integrated programme. Most of the programmes run by voluntary agencies
do not have all the compnents of health, nutrition and education. They need
to be converted into total child development centres.
(d) Pre-primary schools and classes. They essentially focus on education.
Therefore, they require
(i) Adding components of nutrition with community/parent parti-
cipation.
386 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(ii) Discouraging the early introduction of the three R's.

(iii) Using play-way method;
(iv) Developing a relationship between home and community.
(v) Discouraging entrance tests for admission.
(e) Day Care Centres. The creches and thy-care centres run with!
without Government support otherwise need to be reviewed and strengthened
on an immediate basis. The following requirements will be ensured:
(I) Timing co-terminus with school working hours or mother's working
hours
(ii) Adequate, safe and hygienic space
(iii) Adequate child worker ratio
(iv) Safe drinking water
(v) Supplementary nutrition
(vi) Paramedical care under medical supervision
(vii) Minimum eqt'ipment including linen and cradles
(viii) Toys and play materials
(ix) Training and supervision of workers
Besides strengthening existing programmes, emphasis during the Eighth
Plan and thereafter will also be on experimentation for evolving low cost and
context specific models. The models which are in experimentation stages, at
the moment, would be encouraged and expanded. Appropriate agencies will
undertake a survey of such models. Some of the models which are already
being experimented with, which have much promise are as follows:
(a) Home Based Model (from conception of 6 years)
This model involves developing techniques of stimulation that can be
taught to parents or other members of the family to foster child development.
It requires (i) training of local women who will play the leadership role in
conducting home visits and ecouraging family members to conduct stimulation
programmes for their children, (ii) development of low cost play materials
to be used by the family, (iii) development of audio and video programmes
for the mass media for wide implementation, and (iv) creation of a mobile
supervisory cadre.

(b) Day-care Centres (from birth to 6 years)

This model is a support service to free older children and working
women. Some voluntary orgnisations are successfully implementing these
programmes. Such Day-care centres should be established at all work sites
where women are employed in substantial numbers. While support for
voluntary agencies should be provided on a liberal scale by Government the
expenditure on the centres run on work sites should be the responsibility of
the employers.
POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS 387
(c) Family Day-care Centres
This is best suited for areas where the target group is very small and a
Day-Care Centre may or may not be viable. In this model, a suitable woman
from the same group is identified as the home-care worker, and given the
necessaiy materials, training, supervision and infrastructural support,
including food, to take care of five or six children in her own home. It is
envisaged that every cluster of about 10 home care units would be supervised,
guided and supported by a supervisory worker who is competent to give the
necessary support.
Keeping in mind the role ofECCE as a support service in Universalisation
of Elementary Education (UEE), as well as for HRD, ECCE will continue
to be directed to the most under-privileged groups, those who are still outside
the main-stream of fonnal education. Some of these can be defined as
follows
(1) Very poor urban slum communities;
(ii) Ecologically deprived areas where children are required to fetch
fuel, fodder, water and do other household chores;
(iii) Family labour and household chores in rural areas an artisan
households;
(iv) Itinerant, or seasonal labour, who have a mobile and transient life-
style, like road workers;
(v) construction workers in rural and urban areas;
(vi) landless agricultural labour;
(vii) nomadic communities and pastoralists;
(viii) forest dewellers and tribals in remote areas;
(ix) residents of remote isolated hamlets.
Girls in these groups may require support services like child care,
sometime in very small units. Special attention should be given to scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes in all the above defined categories.
Appropriate linkages will also be developed between ECCE, primary
schools and Non-Formal Education (NFE) Centres. Two-way interaction
between the Anganwadi workers and school teachers/NFE instructors will be
encouraged. Suitable space will be provided for ECCE close to primary
schools.
MEDIA
Media support will be developed and filly utilized for conveying to the
parents and community the significance of ECCE. It is equally necessary for
the training of personnel in ECCE. Attention should also be paid to the
development of stimulating programmes for children. Concerted efforts will
388 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

be made by all concerned organisations such as Doordarshan, NCERT,

N[PCCD and other related organisations in developing software in all major
regional languages.
PERSONNEL
Crucial to the success of any programme is mobilizing an adequate number
of workers, designing suitable incentives to sustain their motivation towards
work and equipping them for efficient functioning through proper training.
Since ECCE programmes aim not just providing custodial care, but initiating
developmental processes, the workers force would need to be suitably
augmented in accordance with the diverse components of the programmes
This will require an improvement in child-worker ratio, wherever feasible.
Wotking conditions of ECCE functionaries will also need attention,
especially in terms of adequate honoraria/remuneration. Efforts will be
continued to see that in case of day-cain centres, the remuneration of full time
workers is not less than the wages earned by unskilled workers. The long
term goal would be to bring the trained full-time child care workers on par
with primary school teachers. Part-time child care workers should be paid
not less than minimum wages proportionate to their hours of work. Fo ensure
proper supervision, ratio of supervisors to the number of ECCE Centres
should be improved. Considering the nature of work, which requires rapport
with mothers and tenderness to childin, ECCE workers and their supervisors
should preferably be women.
TRAINING
In all models of ECCE programmes, the component of training will be
strengthened. Training would include a strong component of field placement
under supervision. As the early childhood care and education programmes
are bound to expand considerably over the next two decades, corresponding
training facilities will be available for all levels of functionaries. Following
would be some of the important parameters for meeting the training
requirements:
— Initiating a two-year vocational course in ECCE at +2 level with the
objective of creating basic skills which can later be adopted through
job training for specific situations;
— Strengthening the educational content ofICDS functionaries training
by providing appropriate training inputs, resources, materials etc.,
and extending it, where possible, to include a component on day
care.
— Review of the existing training programme of ECCE.
— Working out flexible models for thy-care training at field level.
 POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS . 389

— Taking steps for setting up a higher course in ECCE for senior level
functionaries of ICDS, trainers in the various training institutions
and the supervisory personnel;
— Creating a system of accreditation of training institutions dealing
with ECCE.
Greater technical resource support to ECCE programmes need to be
given through NCERT / SCERTs / SRCs and DIETs. DIETs should play a
pivotal role for technical resource support to ECCE programmes and
functionaries in key areas like training, curriculum development transaction
etc. These institutions should be strengthened with necessary infrastructures
and resources to equip them for this. Resource capabilities of NGOs andVAs
will also be drawn upon.
CONTENT AND PROCESS
The content of pre-school programme should provide inputs for a total
development of child faculties. This would mean providing components of
health, nutrition and education. Illustratively, these would include:
— regular medical checkup of children with follow up and referral
services where necessary.
— daily provision of supplementary nutrition in accordance with the
nutritional status of children.
— Growth monitoring through maintenance of height and weight
through monthly/bimonthly records.
— Child centred, and development and process oriented play activities
planned in a manner to expose children to a variety of experiences
that foster a sense of joy and curiosity.
— Promote language skills and cognitive curiosity.
— Foster joy and creativity and confidence.
— Promote muscular development.
Daily activities should be planned according to the age and developmental
levels of the children. There should be a flexible balance of activities for all
aspects of development as well as a balance between individual and group
activities, indoor and outdoor activities, vigorous and quiet activities and
guided and free activities.
Medium of communication should be mother tongue/regional language.
Thete should be a link between the mother tongue and the dominant
language of the region.
q REVIEW
With a view to improving th quality of ECCE, a comprehensive review of
the existing ECCE programmes will be undertaken with special emphasis on
390 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

pre-school curriculum, teaching/learning material, training including issues

of accreditation and vocationalisation, monitoring and linkages with primaiy
schooling. It is imperative to discourage proliferation of substandard
institutions of ECCE. Norms and minimum standards will be devised with
a view to ensuring better quality and healthy practices.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The system of monitoring and evaluation will be strengthened on the
following lines
(i) A management Information System will be evolved fOr monitoring
all ECCE programmes. Information will be collected, compiled,
analysed and acted upon at the block/local authority level. The flow
of information to different levels (District, State, Centre) will be so
planned that control functions at these levels can be performed
effectively without delay.
(ii) Professional institutions and expert bodies will be involved in
independents, objective evaluation that can identi1' gaps and
problems and feasible alternatives for remedial action.

EDUCATION OF THE HANDICAPPED GO!, MHRD

PRESENT SITUATION
It is estimated that about 12.59 million children with disabilities are to
be provided education in the school system. The details are as follows:
Figures in Million
Projected Population of children with 3.19
disability in the age-group 5-14 years *
Locomotor Handicap 1.48
Hearing Handicap 0.65
Speech Handicap 0.91
Visual Handicap 0.15
Mentally retarded children 3.60
in the age group 514**
Children with learning 3.60
disability in the age group 5-14
Children with disability 2.20
in the age group 16-18 years.
* The 1981 figures of the survey by NSSO have been extrapolated on the
assumption that population with disabilities would have grown at the same rate as
the general population.
** Estimated at 1% of the populationm the age group 5-14 years.
 POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS
391
Out of these, about half a million require vocational training.
The educability of another 2 million disabled children is to be improved
through early intervention and services by ECCE.
*
At the end of 1991-92 about 30,000 children with disability were
availing special benefits under the scheme of Ingitted Education for
Disabled Children (IEDC). In addition, about 60,000 children with mild
disabilities received resource support without special benefits. A large
number of children with disability are also receiving education in special
schools which number about 1035.
The project Integrated Education for Disabled (PIED) is being
implemented, as a field demonstration, in one block each in ten States and
Union Territories. In these blocks about 90 per cent of children with
disability are receiving education in general schools. The cost per pupil in
these blocks is now around Rs. 2,000/- and is likely to come down further
as the number of beneficiaries increases. General teachers feel confident and
motivated as their status in the community has improved due to the services
they provide.
The innovative multi-category training of resource teachers has been
found to be effective and has been institutionalised in theRegional Colleges
of Education, the universities offering special education courses and the
training programmes organised by Non-Governmental Organisations.
Each DIET has been provided a resource centre for orienting elementary
teachers and establishing field demonstrations in lab areas. Faculty from 102
DIETs have so far received induction training at the NCERT.
The Ministry of Welfare had taken steps to ensure supply of trained
manpower to speciU schools and improve standards in these schools through
the National Institutes for the Handicapped (NIHs) and increased support to
NGOs.
The Ministry of Labour manages 17 Vocational Rehabilitation Centres
(VRCs) for the handicapped and helps in their placement also. About 66,000
persons with disability have been rehabilitated under this scheme by
September, 1991. Three per cent of seats for admission to ITIs and under the
Apprenticeship Training Scheme are available for handicapped persons.
These seats are being fully utilised.
The evaluation of special schools and the scheme of IEDC has revealed
some grey areas. General education system is not yet mobilised, to a
noticeable extent, for education of the handicapped, either at the Central or
State level. Inputs from different schemes like CBR, DRC, CCE, non-
formal education, adult education, vocational and technical education, etc.
 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
392
are not being brought together for the education of the physically handicapped.
Some States are still reluctant to implement IEDC while some are
implementing it rather indifferently. Few NGOs are active in rural areas.
The standard of education in special schools needs improvement. Facilities
for the education of children with multiple handicaps are yet to be developed.
The early detection and intervention programmes so essential for education
of these children have yet to be started. The goal of UEE for this disadvantaged
group would remain an unachievable dream unless concerted and urgent
measures are taken.
NPE REVIEW PERSPECTIVE
As part of its concern for equalisation of educational opportunities, the NPE,
1986 focuses on the needs of children with disabilities. The NPE, 1986
recommended an integrated education in general schools for children with
locomotor handicaps and with other mild disabilities, orientation and pre-
service training of general teachers too meet special needs of these children.
provision of vocational training, establishment of special schools for severely
disabled children and encouragement of voluntary organisations in these
tasks. The POA suggested a pragmatic placement principle. It postulated that
a child with disability who can be educated in a general school should be
educated in a general school only and not in a special school. Even those
children who are initially admitted to special schools for training in plus
curriculum skills should be transferred to general schools once they acquire
daily living skills, communication skills and basic academic skills.
TARGETS
For achieving equalisation of educational opportunities, children with
disability should have access to quality education comparable to other
children. However, considering the financial resources likely to be available
during the 8th Plan the targets for education of disabled childen would be
as follows
(i) Children who can be educated in general primary schools
(a) Universal enrolment by the end of 9th Five Year Plan.
(b) Ensuring achievement of minimum level of learnng through
adjustment and adaptation of curriculum and teaching to special
needs.
(ii) Children who require to be educated in special schools or special
classes in general schools
(a) Universal enrolment by the end of the 9th Five Year Plan.
(b) Ensuring achievement of level of learning commensurate with
their potential.
POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS 393
(iii) Reduction of dropout rates on par with other children.
(iv) Providing access to disabled children to secondaiy and senior
secondary schools with resource support and making special
provision for vocational training of these children, particularly
those with intellectual disabilities.
(v) Reonenting pre-service and in-service teacher education progranime
including pre-school teachers training progranunes to meet special
needs in the classroom.
(vi) Reorienting adult and non-formal education programmes to meet
educational and vocational training needs of persons with disability.
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
The strategy of area-specific and populaton-specific micro-planning for
UEE is equally relevant for this disadvantaged group. Planning for UEE and
adult literacy at all levels —- Centre, State, District, Block and Project —
should provide for the educational needs of this category of children.
Education of children with disability will be a component in the training
of educational planners and administrators as well as preservice and
inservice teachers. DIETs, CTEs and IASEs which have been provided
facilities for this component will have to pay particular attention to this
aspect of teacher training. While drawing up schemes for strengthening,
SCERTs, cells for education of the handicapped may be considered as
envisaged in IEDC.
The material supplied under operation Blackboard will have to take into
consideration special needs of these children. School buildings will have to
take note of architectural adjustments needed to ensure access to children
with disability, at the construction stage itself so as to avoid expenditure on
modifications later on. Special schools need to be opened in the districts
which have no special school facilities. The education of the handicapped
should form an essential component in all externally assisted basic education
projects being implemented or proposed to be implemented.
INTEGRATED EDUCATION FOR DISABLED CHILDREN (IEDC)
The POA, 1986 target of increasing enrolment of children by 25 per cent
per year was achieved as enrolment of disabled children in general schools
increased from 15.000 to 30,000. Subject to availability of resources, the
cumulative enrolment would reach 50,000 by the end of the 8th Plan.
However, an additional 1,00,000 children with mild disabilities will be
provided resource support from teachers and learning aids and equipment.
The following actions are needed for achieving the targets laid down
(i) Adequate allocations of resources.
394 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

(ii) Provision for education of persons with disability should be made

an integral component in externally assisted basic education projects.
(iii) Provision for education of disabled children should be made in the
Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Operation Blackboard, Vocation-
alisation of Education and Non-Formal Education.
(iv) Co-ordinated implementation of schemes like Community Based..
Rehabilitation, ECCE, VRCs and IEDC so as to reduce cost and
achieve higher coverage. This would require coordination among
the Ministries/Departments of Health, Welfare, Education, Women
and Child Development and Labour.
(v) The NGOs have to be encouraged to implement JEDC, particularly
in rural areas. The NGOs involved in other educational activities
will be encouraged to work in this area also and assisted in
developing their expertise.
SPECIAL SCHOOLS
The POA envisaged provision of an additional 400 special schools at the
district headquarters. However, because of resource constraints no new
special school has been established. The Ministry of Welfare has identified
240 districts without any special schooling facility. Efforts would be made
to provide special schools in these districts by the end of 9th Five Year Plan.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING
The Ministry of Labour is providing vocational training to the handicapped
through the Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS), the Apprenticeship Training
Scheme and Separate Vocational Rehabilitation Centres (VRCs). Three per
cent of the seats for admission to ITIs under the Craftsman Training Scheme
and Apprenticeship Training Scheme are reserved for candidates who are
handicapped but have aptitude and are otherwise fit to undergo the required
training. The StatesfliTs have been advised from time to time to implement
this reservation for the handicapped which will be continued during the 8th
Plan also. Seventeen VRCs will continue to provide training to a larger
number of handicapped persons during the 8th plan. The instructors in ITIs
will receive orientation to meet special needs of handicapped persons. This
component will be added in IT! instructor's training programme. Adjustment
and adaptation of equipment to provide full access to disabled persons will
be ensured.
The National Institutes for the Handicapped under the Ministry of
Welfare will continue their efforts to provide vocational training to the
handicapped.
The Depariment of Education will also encourage voluntary organisations
working in the area of vocational education and training for the handicapped.
 POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS . 395

The CIVE will provide support to vocational training prograiniesfor the

handicapped through teacher training material and other resources.
ORIENTATION AND TRAINING OF TEACHERS
* All the DIETs to be established by the end of the 8th Plan will have a resource
room and trained faculty to teach the essential component of education of
children with disability. They will also run orientation programmes for
teachers at least from lab areas and practising schools of establish field
demonstration of IEDC progranune. The SCERTs will support field
demonstrations under the scheme of IEDC. Similar action is suggested for
the 250 CTEs and 50 IASEs. The budget provision is available in the scheme
itself. The pre-service training curriculum will induct essential components
in these areas, wherever it has not been done so far.
All in-service teachers should receive awareness input on education of
children with disability in orientation programmes. In each area/institution
where IEDC is implemented all teachers will receive orientation as envisaged
in the scheme of IEDC, The heads of institutions and educational
administrators will also receive training. Considering the large numbers to
be covered, the Indira Gandhi National Open University and NCERT should
plan credit courses on special education to equip general teachers to meet
special needs. The NCERT will provide training to the IEDC cell staff.
Multicategory training of resource teachers will be encouraged in UGC
supported programmes.
TRAINING OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATORS
The NIEPA in collaboration with NCERT should develop programmes for
training educational administrators and making them aware of the needs of
this group. The IGNOU should design and offer courses for this target group
also.
SPECIAL TEACHERS
The NIHs and its regional training centres have built up capacity to train
single disability special teachers for special schools. Besides meeting demands
of the new specail schools, the existing untrained teachers will be trained and
backlog cleared by the end of the 8th Plan. In-service training of special
teachers will be planned in a way that each teacher receives a three-week
course every four years.
Efforts will be made to promote special education units in university
departments of education for training teachers to handle multicategory
disabilities.
396 ELEMENTS OF CRILD DEVLOPMENT

EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE PERSONNEL

The existing educational and vocational guidance counsellors should be
provided training in dealing with disabled children and their parents.
Essential component should also be added to their preservice training
programmes. The NCERT and NIHs should design and offer in-service
course for in-service consellors.
CONTENT AND PROCESS
Curriculum flexibility is of special significance for these children. Special
needs of these children ivili be met,.if child centered education is practised.
The curriculum adjustment and adaptation of teaching methods and material
will be worked out, field tried and provided to the users. The following
actions will be taken:
(I) Guidelines for child centred education, including special needs in
the classroom, being developed at the NCERT will be made
available by mid 1993.
(ii) Guidelines for adjustment of curriculum and instructional material
and methods for visually and hearing handicapped at primary level
have been developed. These will be made availablo' to teachers.
Work for upper primary and secondary school level will be started
and completed by the end of 1994.
(iii) The achievement of minimum levels of learning by children with
mild disabilities should be ensured through resource support and
alternative learning material, wherever needed. 4
(iv) The Boards of Examination should make adjustment and adaptations
in examination for the handicapped children.
(v) Study of more than one language should not be compulsory for deaf
children.
(vi) Teaching of Science and Mathematics is either not available to
handicapped children or they opt for an easier substitute. Special
efforts should be made by the NIHs and the NCERT to develop an
action programme to improve access of disabled children to these
important areas.
(vii) Child-to-child help in education of children with disability is an
effective resource in view of large classes and multigrade teaching.
NCERT should develop a package and make it available to teachers
by the end of 1993.
(viii) The special learning aids and equipment like braille books, braille
kit, audio visual material will be developed and made available to
POLICY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PLANS . 397
USE OF MASS MEDIA
Radio and television arc being used in a limited way both for advocacy as
well as educational purposes. The CIET, SIETs, NIHs and other organisations
will develop a variety of programmes so that they can be regularly telecastl
broadcast. The MHRD will approach the Ministiy of Information and
Broadcasting for providing adequate time for this purpose.
The CIET. S1ETs and NIHs will also develop software in non-telecast
mode and make it available to DIETs, other training centres and NGOs
working with disabled persons.
Field publicity units should be utilised by States for advocacy programmes.
Newpapers and magazines have started popular advocacy and educational
writing in this area. The NCERT and the NIHs will develop packages and
hand over to journalists in workshops.
AVAILABILITY OF SPECIAL LEARNING MATERIAL AND AIDS
Learning material in braille is still not available to all children. Same is the
case with aids like braille state, Taylor frame. etc. Similarly language
training material for speech and hearing handicapped is not available in
regional languages. Steps will be taken by the NIVH, AYJNII-ll-I, NIMH and
the NCERT to ensure the availability of such material.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The availability of a reliable data base is essential for proper monitoring and
evaluation of educational programmes for persons with disability. Towards
this end the District Education Office, must, with the help of other agencies,
collect data about the number of disabled persons in the District —disability
wise, sex wise and age group wise; beneficiaries under IEDC, special
schools, ITIs, VRCs. etc., number of special and resource teachers, their
qualifications and pay scale, and budget utilisation. Similar information
should also be included in the statistics collected by MHRD as also the
Educational Surveys conducted by NCERT.
The MHRD and the Ministry of Welfare should make grants under
IEDC and special schools contingent on the periodic returns giving the
information. An inter-departmental Committee should be set up at the State
and Central levels for monitoring. In addition, regular visits by the officers
of the MHRD, NCERT, Regional Colleges of Education and field offices,
should lead to status reports.
Evaluation studies by external agencies, universities conducting courses
on education and rehabiltation of persons in specific geographical areas will
be commissioned by MHRD and the Ministry of Welfare.
 398 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

HEALTH AND NUTRITION PROGRAMMES IN INDIA

1. Special nutrition programme Ministry of Welfare. The scheme
started in 1970-7 1 as a central scheme, provides for supplemetaiy nutrition
to children in the age group of 0-6 years and expectant and nursing mothers
in urban slums, tribal and rural areas for 300 days in a year and is
administered by the states since the fifth plan as a part of Minimum Needs
Programme through a network of feeding centres manned by an organiser
and helper each. It provides for 300/500 calories and 10/20 grams of protein
daily to children and mothers, respectively.
2. Integrated child development scheme (ICDS) Ministry of Welfare.
This scheme, started in 1974-75, provides for the following package of
services for children up to 6 years and nursing and expectant mothers
immunization, health checkup, referral services, supplementary nutrition,
informal pre-school education and nutrition and health education with a
view to bring down morbidity and mortality through proper and efficient
integration of the services with the anganwadi as the focal point. This
scheme has been renamed as integrated child and material welfaredevelopment
scheme.
3. Nutrition feeding programme in baiwadis. This programme,
started in 1970-71 of supplementary nutrition caters to the children in age
group 3-5 years in balwadis and day care centres and operates on a non-plan
(100%) grant given by the Ministry to the five all-India organisations viz.
Central Social Welfare Board, Indian Council of Child Welfare,
Harijan
Sevak Sangh, Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh and Kasturba Gandhi
National Memorial Trust. It provides for 300 calories and 10 grams of
protein per day for 270 days a year.
4. Mid day meals scheme for school children (MHRD). This scheme,
meant for primary school children, aims at melting not only the nutritional
deficiency in children, but also, in attracting and retaining them in the school
and operates for 200 days in a year.
5. Prophylaxis against blindness through, vitamin A (MHFW). The
programme aims to protect children between 1 to 5 years against blindness
through Vitamin 'A' administration and covers all the StatesiUnion Territories
now.
6. Prophylaxis against nutritional anaemia (MHFW). Under this
programme, iron and folic acid tablets are given to pre-school children and
pregnant and nursing women to combat nutritional anaemia.
7. Goitre control programme (MHFW). To provide for the supply of
iodised sal'tto population at risk from goitre in the entire sub-Himalayan belL.
POUCY, ACTION PROGRAMMES AND PNS. 399
8. Applied nutrition Programme (MRD). The programme aims
primarily at nutrition education to bring about a change in knowledge of and
attitudes about food and food habits in rural areas. I encourages local
production of food of nutritive value and envisages holding cooking
demonstrations and feeding programmes among mothers and children. This
programme is funded by the Ministiy for the first 6 years of operation in each
block over and above States' own resources.
9. Intensive development in selected ANP blocks (MRD). Includes
income generating schemes for women, drinking water supply and construction
of community centres and is operated by the State Government with the help
of UNICEF and Government of India, over and above their own resources.
10. The programmes of food and nutrition board. (Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperation).
(I) the development and promotion of nutritious foods like miltone,
energy and weaning foods and fortification of milk (with Vitamin
'A') and salt (with iron).
(ii) dissemination of knowledge on nutrition through 31 mobile units
spread all over India, publication of pamphlets, production of films,
observance of National Nutrition Weeks and holding of exhibitions.
(iii) conducting diet surveys in different State and formulation of
balanced diets for the State covered based on the findings of the
survey.
11. Scientific storage of food and grains at domestic level (Ministry
of Agriculture and Cooperation). This scheme aims to create awareness
among rural women of losses of food grains due to bad storage and to educate
and train them regarding the need for good storage and the use of fumigants.

REVIEW EXERCISES
Answer the folknving questions within 500 words each:
1. State the National Policy on children as per Government of India formulations.
2. What are the main recommendations about the education of the Handicapped
in the National Policy on Education as per 1986 & 1992 Revised version?
3. What are the Programmes of Early Childhood Education as per NPE, 1986 &
1992 (R)?
4. There are systematic programme and man power planning in the case of
education of Handicapped. Please state some of the recommendations.
5. What are the measures to be undertaken in the field of early childhood care
and education?.
6. State the various programmes on Nutrition introduced by different ministries
of Government of India.
400 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Write short notes on: (in about 50 words):
1. Objectives of welfare of children.
2. Special education programme
3. Applied nutrition programme
4. Integrated child development and maternal welfare services.
5. Baiwadis
6. Anganwadies
7. Pre school education
8. Incentive schemes
9. Nutritional development in children
10. Elementary education—_measures to accelerate the system.

S.
 Glossary
ABO incompatibility — If one's mother's and fetus blood types (A, B, AB, 0) are
different then various problems appear and this appear in second and later
pregnancy.
Accommodation — It refers to formation new schemata. It is a force to modify
action and thought to adjust to new demand and situation.
Adaptive behaviour— The degree to which on individual meets the standards of
personal independence and social responsibIlity expected for age and cultural
groups.
Aminocentesis — A test that may be done during pregnancy to identify certain
genetic disorders in the fetus. it consists of extracting a small amount of
amminiotic fluid which surrounds the fetus in the womb for examination.
Anoxia — Lack of oxygen supply to brain.
Antridia — In which eye fails to develop and visual acuity becomes poor and there
is involuntary movement of the eyeball.
Anxiety — It is an internal fear.
Aphasisa — Acquired language impairment caused by brain damage.
Articulation disorder — A communication disorder associated with substitutions,
omissions, distortions, andlor additions of speech sounds.
Assimilation — It refers to incorporation and organisation of experience into
existing schemata i.e., something new is interpreted as familiar.
Associativity — If several operations are to be combined, their order in which they
appear is ofno value e'.g.. A + (B + C) A + B + C.
Asthma — It is a breathing disorder.
Astigmatism — Blurred vision caused by uneven curvature.of the cornea or lens.
Ataxia — A type of cerebral palsy in which lack of muscle coordination results in
loss of co---ordinaled movements especially those relating to balance and
position.
Athetosis — A form ofcerehral palsy characterised by involuntary. Jerky purposeless,
repetitive movements of the cxtrcmetities, head, and tongue.
Attachment — Nurturant relationship between child and mother.
Autism — It is childhood schizophremnia which is characterised by delayed speech
with drawal tendencies and non—communicative speech.
 402 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Babinshi Reflex — It appears when there is stimulation in the foot and neonate
spreads.
Baby Biography — It is a Baby Diaiy which parents maintain after observation of
children behaviour as they occur.
Behaviour Checklist — It is a technique where the child's behaviour is rated in a
graphic, numerical, standard cumulative, or forced choice scale.
Braille — A code developed for blind persons in which a system of raised dots
allows the person to read with finger tips.
Case study — Itis a technique of collating and collecting information about the
child and the environment where he or she is brought up.
Centration — It means the child's habit of looking or attending to one salient aspect
of a problem neglecting other ones, thus distorting reasoning.
Caphalo-caudal sequence — It refers to development that proceed from head to
foot over the body.
Checklist — A type of questionnaire where tick marks are given indicating the
presence of a behaviour in the child by the observer very quickly.
Child Psychology — Child psychology deals with understanding of growth and
development of various characteristics in children, upto the age 14 years.
Cerebral Palsy — An abnormal alternation of human movement or motor functioning
arising from a defect, injury or disease of the tissues of the central nervous
system.
Clinical method — The clinical method looks back to the past life to fmd out what
really made the child to have some problems. It uses data obtained by other
methods.
Cluttering — Rapid, confused, jumbled types of speech quite akin to stuttering.
Combination — Two distinct classes may be combined to form a comprehensive
class e.g., all boys + all girls = children.
Cross sectional method — Different groups belonging to different age are tested
at a particular time.
Conservation — It is the conceptualisation that the amount or quantity remains
same regardless of perceptual change in shape or position on.
Controlled observation — The psycholcgist observes the child and systematically
records the detailed observation objectively in a natural setting. Every
observation is specified.
Creativity — An ability chraracterised by fluency, flexibility, originally and
elaboration.
Critical Period — The first 2 to 3 years of life after birth are known as critical
period because of personality growth and differentiation.
Cystitis — It is an infection of the bladder.
Development — Refers to qualitative changes in children behaviour leading
towards maturity.
GLOSSARY
403

Dependency
— A motive which means that the child needs to be nurtured, taken
care, aided, comforted by others.
Developmental Psychology — It studies the behaviours and behaviour changes in
the entire life span.
Differential method — It is a method of comparison for enabling
antecedent—consequent relationship without manipulating independent
variables.
Diplegia — It is a type of cerebral palsy which affects the legs mainly.
Displacement — A defense mechanism in which aggression has been shifted to a
substitute.
DNA — It is the molecule of heredity.
Down's Syndrome — Down in 1898 introduced the term to mongoloid children
which is due to trisomy No. 21.
Echolalia — Repetation of the segment of a sentence on question, generally
normal children
practicised by severely retarded children, selectively young
who respond to another's utterances in order to comprehend it or to keep it
up their end of the dialogue.
Ectoderm — The outer layer from which the skin, hair, nails etc. develop.
Ectopic Pregnancy — It results when the fertilised egg implants itself into the
Fallopian tube instead of the wall of the womb.
Educable Mentally Retarded — Children whose IQ is between 65—70 to 80.
Ego centrism — The child thinks everything for himself only. It is self centredness.
Elaborative Code — Long elaborative explanatory use of words, sentences by the
parents before the child.
lunar
Embryo — The period of embryo extends from 3rd week to the end of second
month.
Emotionally Disturbed —Children whose reactions to life situations are unrewarding
to himself and unacceptable to his peers and society.
Epilepsy — A chronic condition of the central nervous system, characterised by
periodic seizures accompanied by convulsions of the muscles and with more
severe attacks loss of consciousness.
Experimental method — It is an observation for establishing cause—effect
relationships under controlled conditions.
Fetus — The period of fetus extends from end of second lunar nionth to birth.
Genes — Genes are the carrier of heredity.
Gifted — A term used to explain the talented children whose IQ is above 130.
Glaucoma — Severe disroder that occurs when the acquires fluid does not circulate
properly and results in an elevation of pressure in the eye.
Growth — It refers to quantitative changes in physical characteristics.
404 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Guilt — It is a negative self evaluation.

Hearing impaired — Degree of hearing in terms dB determines hearing impairment,
mild 26 to 46 dB, moderate 4 1-55 dB etc.
Hemiplegia — Paralysis of the extremities on one side of the body.
Indentity — When an operation is combined with its opposite it is annulled
A-A =0.
Identification — It is a process which the child incorporates or observes of the
models.
Impairment — A condition resulting from defective tissue.
Imprinting — It is a type of instinctive learning.
Infant mortality — It means the number of infant death per 1000 live birth in one
year.
Intelligence — An ability to reason and think in abstraction.
Integration — Educating all disabled children in regular schools regardless of the
degree or severity of their disability.
Inversion — For each operation there is one opposite operation which annuls it i.e.,
all children — all boys = all girls.
Juxtaposition — It refers to putting things in nonfunctional relationships.
Lengitudinal method — It is a method in which same group of chilen over a long
period of time:
Lead Poisoning — Lead is a poison for developing mental retardation.
Learning disability — The child who exhibits disroders in one or more basic
psychological processes involving understanding language etc.
Lisping — This consists of letter sound substitution e.g. Red Rose fer wed coax.
Mainstreaming — The educational placement of the child in the least restrictive
setting.
Maternal mortality — It means the number of deaths from puerperal causes per
1000 live births.
Mesoderm — The middle layer out of which muscles, skeleton, circulatory,
excretory organs develop.
Microcephaly — A crainical disorder with small head responsible for mental
retardation.
Monoplegia — A cerebral palsy which affects one leg or arm in one side of the body.
It is very rare.
Moral behaviour — Behaviour in confonnity with the moral code of the social
group.
Ovum — The period of ovum extends from fertilisation to end of second week.
Orthopaedically handicapped — A disabling condition caused b physical
GLOSSARY 405

impairments especially those related to the bones joints and muscles.

Paraplegia — In paraplegia, cerebral palsy only affects the legs.
Play — Play is what we do when we are free to do what we will.
Partially seeing — Those whose visual acuity is 20/200 and 20/70 with better eye
with connection.
Poliomeylitis — An acutc disease that inflames nerve cells of the spinal cord or
brainstem and leaves a residual.
Prehension — It is the ability to group objects between lingers and thumb.
Projection — Attributing motive to others.
Proximodistol — It refers to development from central part of the body to the
periphery or extreineties.
Quadriplegia — When cerebral palsy affects the whole body of the child.
Questionnaire — An instrument consisting of questions to elicit responses or
answers from children.
Regression — It is an immature response pattern at the time of frustration.
Repression — Forcible forgetting.
Restricted Code — When one or two words are repeatedly used without any
explanation or extension of logic by the parent before the child.
Rh-incompatibility —A coodition in which the fetus has Rh positive blood and the
mother has Rh-negative.
Reversibility — It means the ability of the child to maintain equivalence inspite of
change in the perceptual field.
Rubella — A conununicable disease transmitted by a virus infection of woman
during early stages of pregnancy producing a high probability of severe
handicap.
Seriation — It refers to placing related objects their correct order or succession.
Sex typing — It is accepting respective sex role from early childhood.
Separation anxiety — Anxiety expressed by the child in the absence of the mother
for loss of affection.
Snellen chart — This is used to identify visual impairment.
Slurring —- Indistinctive speech.
Socialisation — It is a process through which an individual child acquires traits or
characteristics.
Stranger anxiety — Anxiety expressed when the baby or child meets an unknown
person.
Stammering — Prolongation of the sound of the opening letter of a word e.g.,
to bath.
406 ELEMENTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Stuttering — It is a repetitive speech b-b-b-b bath.

Synectics — It is a technique to make familiar things unfamiliar.
Syncretism — The child fails to relate various observations into a consistant whole
i.e., an aeroplane flies, a kite flies, one is heavy, the other is light both have
wings and they fly.
Trainable mentally retarded — Children whose IQ between 40—60 IQ.
Tautology — Wherever a class is combined with the same class it remains the same
class e.g., all girls + girls all girls.
Triptegia — This is a condition in which cerebral palsy only involves 3 limbs.
Under achiever — A child whose scholastic achievement is below that was
suggested by performance on IQ tests or other indicators of aptitude.
Zygote — When sperm ovum are united a fertilised egg is formed which is called
zygote.
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