Understanding Child Development: Theories, Imitation, and Importance

This essay provides an overview of child development theories, highlighting the importance of understanding how children evolve socially, emotionally, and cognitively. It discusses behaviorism and Piaget's cognitive developmental theory, emphasizing the role of environmental influences and thought processes in shaping a child's behavior. The essay also explores children's imitating behaviors and how they learn from observing and copying others, stressing the significance of positive influences and encouragement. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of understanding child behavior for parents and caregivers to provide appropriate education and support during early years, ultimately shaping their future development. The conclusion emphasizes the critical role of early childhood development and the responsibility of parents and guardians in fostering a nurturing environment to ensure successful developmental procedures.

Running head: CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Child Development
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction to child development:..................................................................................................2
Theories and their importance in relation to child development:....................................................2
Children and their imitating behaviours:.........................................................................................3
Importance of understanding child behaviour:................................................................................4
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................4
References:......................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction to child development:
It is the aim of theories of “child development” to focus on the way in which children
evolve over time frames and grow in their childhood. Theories like these, focus on different
natures “of development including social, emotional and cognitive growth”. The study of the
progress of humans is a varied subject. It is difficult to understand the way in which children
grow and act in a specific way. There are several theories behind the behavioural patterns of
children based on their age, family relationships or individual temperaments. For getting an
insight into human development there are several theories of “child development” to study and
evaluate (Trawick-Smith, 2013).
Theories and their importance in relation to child development:
“Theories of child development” give a certain structure for thinking about human
growth and learning. The importance of the study of development is in a sense that people can
understand and evaluate the importance of psychological theories of development of children and
their attitudes. There are certain factors which motivates human thought and behaviour as well as
the provision of insight into the individuals into the society.
The ideas and the theories of child development has changed over the years. At first the
concepts of child development were not given much of importance and modest concentration
was given to their advances in cognitive abilities, usage of language, physical growth and that
occurs during “childhood” and “adolescence”. There are certain theories of development which
involve cognitive and social growth and some theories focus every aspect of the development
(David & Weinstein, 2013).

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The beginning of the twentieth century saw a novel school of thought recognized as
“behaviourism” which was related with the concept of psychology. There was the concept of link
of psychology which needed to emphasize only on the visible as well as quantifiable behaviour
in order to become a much more valid discipline. The behavioural perspective focuses on the fact
that the “child behaviour” is definable with the help of “environmental influences”. “Behavioural
theories of child development” give emphasis on how the environmental interaction impacts
behaviour and are based on the theories of several researchers. These researches point to the fact
that the concept of learning occurs purely through the process of association as well as that of
reinforcement. This particular theory is a lot different from erstwhile child development theories
as it gives no consideration to the amount of internal thoughts and views. It basically
concentrates on the experience regarding the way it shapes human development (Gottfried,
2013).
The cognitive developmental theory of Piaget focuses on the development of the thought
process of a particular person which looks at the way in which the thought processes influence
the way individuals understand as well as interact with the world (Greenfield & Cocking, 2014).
Children and their imitating behaviours:
With the rapid pace of progressing generations, children have started meeting with their
milestone much earlier or at faster pace than what their ancestors used to. Several factors are
responsible for this. It is believed that if the physical behaviour is happening on time, then there
is being an appropriate development of the brain. There is an inherent interest in the children to
copy the behavioural patterns in the world around them (Groh et al. 2012). Imitation is an
extremely powerful way by which the toddlers learn from others. Instead of just manipulating

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household objects, children start brushing their hair and also start talking over the phone. The
toddlers are great imitators and they are eager to assist their caregivers in any way possible in
any segment of the home or work. They specifically enjoy spending time with other children and
also with people who give them happiness. It is the inherent functioning of the children to imitate
the behaviour of those people who are a part of their daily lives (Masten, 2014).
By watching and imitating others children learn the most powerful, acceptable and
unacceptable forms of behaviour. In case there are inequalities of behaviour the children are
bound to observe, learn and copy the behaviour as well. In case children find that people are not
treating each other with kindness, respect and patience, children are also bound to follow their
example. Children and their development and imagination needs to be encouraged in the positive
sense (Barac & Bialystok, 2012).
Importance of understanding child behaviour:
It is not uncommon to understand that the babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers are always
learning and they imbibe habits and philosophies wherever they go. Once the babies start getting
around on their own they can become whirlwinds of energy and curiosity, learning and the
practicing new skills. There needs to be parents and caregivers who give proper education to the
young children. The concept of understanding the procedure by which children change and grow
over the course of their early years needs to be keenly studied and understood. The way in which
children change needs to be properly understood in order to determine the way children grow
physically as well as mentally (Bornstein & Bradley, 2014).

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Conclusion:
“Early childhood development” is extremely important in determining the way in which a
person develops later on in their lives. The reasons for the way in which the children think and
behave can be traced back to their childhood circumstances as well as their environment. Parents
play a decisive role in the development of their child. In case the people are involved and provide
a nurturing and rice environment they can be sure of contributing in a positive way towards the
development of their child. The human brain is the most impressionable in the first few years of
a person’s life. Therefore it is the obligation of the parents and guardians to guarantee that the
developmental procedures are successful and changing in the positive bond with their child. The
early childhood development is an extremely important issue which needs to gain recognition for
the understanding and awareness of the fact that the first few years of a child’s life is extremely
important. Children are the potential of the society and therefore it is important for every
community to realize that proper steps need to be taken to make certain that each and every child
is given the chance to build up properly.

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References:
Barac, R., & Bialystok, E. (2012). Bilingual effects on cognitive and linguistic development:
Role of language, cultural background, and education. Child development, 83(2), 413-
422.
Bornstein, M. H., & Bradley, R. H. (Eds.). (2014). Socioeconomic status, parenting, and child
development. Routledge.
David, T. G., & Weinstein, C. S. (Eds.). (2013). Spaces for children: The built environment and
child development. Springer Science & Business Media.
Gottfried, A. W. (Ed.). (2013). Home environment and early cognitive development:
Longitudinal research. Academic Press.
Greenfield, P. M., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2014). Cross-cultural roots of minority child
development. Psychology Press.
Groh, A. M., Roisman, G. I., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M. J., & Fearon,
R. P. (2012). The significance of insecure and disorganized attachment for children’s
internalizing symptoms: A meta‐analytic study. Child development, 83(2), 591-610.
Masten, A. S. (2014). Global perspectives on resilience in children and youth. Child
development, 85(1), 6-20.
Trawick-Smith, J. (2013). Early childhood development: A multicultural perspective. Pearson
Higher Ed.