BACHELOR OF PSYCHOLOGY WITH HONOURS (BPSY)

SEMESTER 3 / 2020

ABPD1203

CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

MATRICULATION NO : 970927025543001
IDENTITY CARD NO. : 970927-02-5543
TELEPHONE NO. : 014-7591945
E-MAIL : amadtubasa97@oum.edu.my
LEARNING CENTRE : BANGI LEARNING CENTER
ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
PURPOSE

The purpose of this assignment is to enhance learners’ analytical skills and knowledge in
child development.

REQUIREMENT

Child development are unique and challenging.

QUESTION NO. 1:

Describe child development. Based on your observation, discuss how your child acquired
language in the early stage. Finally, suggest how children can learn better in language.

ANSWER:
Child psychology is the study of subconscious and conscious childhood
development. Child psychologists observe how a child interacts with their parents,
themselves, and the world, to understand their mental development. Everyone wants their
child to have healthy development, but it’s not always clear if a child’s behaviour is a
symptom of a normal stage in development or a sign of an abnormality. Child psychologists
can help you understand the difference. Understanding the normal and abnormal
psychological patterns of a child can help parents understand how to best communicate and
connect with their child, teach their child coping mechanisms for managing emotions, and
help their child progress and thrive in each new developmental stage. Child psychologists can
also identify abnormal behaviours early, help detect the root of common behavioural issues
such as learning issues, hyperactivity, or anxiety, and help children work through early
childhood trauma. They can also help to prevent, evaluate, and diagnose developmental
delays or abnormalities such as autism. Child psychology studies the interaction of a few
main areas of development which is physical development, cognitive development and
emotional (social) development.
1
 Child development is the period of physical, cognitive, and social growth that
begins at birth and continues through early adulthood. Physical development in children is
typically a predictable sequence of events. Your child holds their head up, rolls over, crawls,
walks, and runs, in that order. Your Child Psychologist can aid your pediatrician in observing
your child’s physical development, and if there are any abnormalities that could indicate
developmental irregularities. Child Psychologists will observe your child’s progression
toward the milestones of development to ensure that your child is physically developing
normally. Major delays in physical development may reveal other underlying developmental
issues that can then be addressed early on. The medical understanding of childhood cognitive
development has greatly changed over the recent years. We now know that even newborn
babies are aware of their environment and are interested in it, even before they have the
language to express that. Cognitive development refers to the intellectual learning and
thought processes of a child. It includes the observation and understanding of the world
around them, language learning, memory, decision-making, problem-solving, how the child
uses their imagination, and how the child uses basic reasoning. All of these factors are
influenced by a child’s genetics and environment. Emotional and social development are
deeply intertwined. Emotional development refers to how the child feels, understands, and
expresses their emotions. Emotional development is expressed in very young children
through the expression of basic emotions like fear, joy, anger, and sadness. As the child
develops, more complex emotions such as confidence, hope, guilt, and pride emerge.
Emotional development also includes a child’s ability to feel and understand the emotions of
other people through empathy. Learning to regulate and express emotions appropriately is
difficult for many children. Helping children understand their emotions early can have a
powerful impact on current and future emotional development. A Child Psychologist can help
your child understand and express their emotions in a healthy, positive way. Emotional
development highly informs social development. This is true because the way a child feels,
understands, and expresses their feelings has a direct impact on how they interact with other
people. Social development is about how the child develops the values, awareness, and social
skills necessary to relate to the people around them; their parents, peers, authority figures,
and animals. A child’s early relationships can have a huge impact on their development of
age-appropriate social skills. Trust, friendship, conflict management, and respect for authority
are examples of social development.

2
 Based on my observation, there are three basic stages in which children acquired their
language skills in the early stage. Stage one is learning sounds. When babies are born, they
can make and hear all the sounds in all the languages in the world. That’s about 150 sounds
in about 6500 languages, though no language uses all of those sounds. The sounds a language
uses are called phenomes and English has about 44. Some languages use more and some use
fewer. In this stage, babies learn which phonemes belong to the language they are learning
and which don’t. The ability to recognize and produce those sounds is called “phonemic
awareness,” which is important for children learning to read. Meanwhile, stage 2 is learning
words. At this stage, children essentially learn how the sounds in a language go together to
make meaning. For example, they learn that the sounds m-ah-m-ee refer to the “being” who
cuddles and feeds them, their mommy. This is a significant step because everything we say is
really just a stream of sounds. To make sense of those sounds, a child must be able to
recognize where one word ends and another one begins. These are called “word boundaries.”
However, children are not learning words, exactly. They are actually learning morphemes,
which may or may not be words. A morpheme is simply a sound or sounds that have a
meaning, like a word mommy. The word mommies, however, has two
morphemes: mommy and –s. Children at this stage can recognize that the –s means "more
than one." They also begin to associate that meaning with other words when the sound is
added. Stage 3 is learning sentences. During this stage, children learn how to create
sentences. That means they can put words in the correct order. For example, they learn that in
English we say "I want a cookie" and "I want a chocolate cookie," not "Want I a cookie" or "I
want cookie chocolate." Children also learn the difference between grammatical correctness
and meaning. Noam Chomsky created an example of this difference in the sentence
“Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.” Children will know that although the sentence is
grammatically correct, it doesn’t make sense. They know that green is a colour and can't,
therefore, be colourless.

My suggestion for how children can learned better in language is doing fun activities
such as word games, riddles, songs, storytelling and tongue twisters with them. Children can
benefit from playtime. Games offer a fun-filled, relaxed environment where they can practise
using new words and are free to express themselves. Participating in recreational activities is
an effective way to develop language and communication skills. It also helps your children to
be more socially confident and may be a way to forge friendships. Below are some examples
of games and playtime activities that integrate language learning with fun:

3
 Word games. Expand your children’s vocabulary with word games. It can be as
simple as pointing out items at home or during a road trip e.g. “I am now mixing the
butter into the batter” or “Tall buildings are also called skyscrapers”. You might even
give the definition or share background information about these words. Games like
Scrabble, Pictionary or a round of Charades also encourage vocabulary development
and communication skills. 

 Jokes. Telling age-appropriate puns will also help foster good humour and creativity
in children. This also encourages wordplay and imagination. You can read through
kid-friendly joke books and take turns telling witty stories. Avoid being too critical of
their gags, speech, or articulation. Instead, model proper pronunciation or grammar by
repeating the statement back to them in the correct way e.g. when your child says “I
goed so fast!” instead of saying, “That’s not how you say it”, you can opt to say,
“Yes, you went so fast!” 

 Riddles. Riddles are fun ways to use words and paint pictures of scenes or situations.
Read or say riddles aloud to each other and explain to your children the different
definitions of a single word e.g. school as in a place of learning or school as in a
group of fish to help them understand the riddle better.

 Rhymes. The repetitive chanting, reading, writing, or hearing of rhymes promotes

good listening skills and memory retention, aside from developing speech. You can
also narrate what you do at home with rhyming words or let your children tell you
about their favourite toys using rhyming words.

 Homonyms. Promote listening and comprehension skills by playing with words that
sound the same but have different meanings. Allow your children to think of words
that sound alike and let them try to define each one. This is also a good gauge of how
much your children’s vocabulary has expanded and if their understanding of the
words is correct.

 Storytelling. While storybooks provide ample entertainment, sharing stories – whether

real or make-believe – can provide a good bonding time with your children while
helping develop their communication skills. Exchange stories about daily events.

4
 Broaden their imagination with fantastical stories and let their creativity grow as you
make up stories about anything and everything around them.

 Songs. Aside from harnessing their musical abilities, songs also help children learn
new words. Lyrics have a sense of rhyme and rhythm so it will be easy and
entertaining for them to sing along. In addition, simply putting a tune to an activity
can be a fun game that you can play with your children.

 Tongue twisters. Tongue twisters are an excellent and fun way to teach children
correct pronunciation and enunciation of words. It is a fun way to train their tongue to
pronounce words. Start with simple ones and work your way up.

Words can be a lot of fun if we know how to maximise their use. Together, they can be made
up into stories, songs, and a whole lot of other things that will help your children be more
eloquent. Continue to encourage your children to speak well by constructing a healthy and
fun learning environment where they can unleash their creativity and broaden their linguistic
skills. Guide them on how to express their thoughts, feelings and actions better through the
use of words as this will prepare them to face the world with confidence as they grow.

In conclusion, learning child psychology could help us learn the subconscious and
conscious of the childhood development. The child development includes physical, cognitive
and emotional (social) development. There are three basic stages in which children acquired
their language skills in the early stage which are learning sounds, learning words and learning
sentences. Doing fun activities such as word games, jokes, riddles, rhymes, homonyms,
storytelling, songs and tongue twisters makes children learned better in language.

[1712 words]
[Total: 40 marks]

5
QUESTION NO. 2:

Interview a mother on the topic of the father involvement in up bringing the child.
Subsequently, give recommendation to this type of father.

ANSWER:
According to a study at the University of Illinois, children with fathers who take the
time to ask about what they learned in school and their day-to-day social activities and
relationships do better in school than kids who don't have that kind of input or interest. That
means fathers play an important role in a child's development from birth through adulthood.
In fact, numerous studies have reached the same conclusion: Children with involved fathers
have an advantage in socially and academically over children with distant or no relationships
with their dads.
On 1st March of 2020, I have interviewed my mother, Noriani about the father
involvement in up bringing the child. In the past interview, she said that fathers are a central
figure in a child's emotional and physical development. The father's role during parenting
helps children develop autonomy, encourages them to take responsibility, and to also
discover the world freely. She also added up that both mothers and fathers are essential in up
bringing the child. However, she explains that fathers have a distinct style of communication
and interaction with children as infants can tell the difference between their mother’s and
father’s interaction with them. This diversity, in itself, provides children with a broader,
richer experience of contrasting relational interactions. Whether they realize it or not,
children are learning, by sheer experience, that men and women are different and have
different ways of dealing with life, other adults and children. This understanding is critical for
their development.
Father is very important mentor for children. Unfortunately, in most of the family,
fathers are not involved into children’s lives in the same level as mothers. Fathers should not
only play with kids once in a while and support them financially, but also be their mentor and
fully get involved into parenting. It is proved that fathers’ engagement in children’s life can
make meaningful difference in their behaviour and mental health. However, mother alone
also can ensure affection, communication, love and all the other important conditions, fathers
tend to parent differently and children need to get it all from both parents. Feathers that get
involved info parenting tend to spend some more private time with children alone and that

6
can affect the children emotional development. This time together make children trust more
and also make them feel important and evaluated. When they grow up they will feel sure
about themselves and feel needed and accepted. Also fathers are not so serious and worried
about everything. Fathers like to play with their children rather than do something very
educational and important. That can give the children bunch of good emotions. Children must
be playful and cheerful. Usually fathers are those who can really ensure that with no
obstacles.
Especially important is father’s role in rising sons. They must learn how to be a man.
They must see a great example and they must mostly learn everything from their fathers not
mothers. Unfortunately, that is happening rear. Fathers do teach the most important things
and even talk about some embarrassing topics, but teaching also must include influencing the
emotional state of mind and that can be done only by spending time together and
communicating a lot. Father must show the affection to improve the son’s behaviour
and mental health in indirect way. But also in raising daughter, father should be involved.
Also girls need to get an example of a man. Although daughters should learn mostly from
others, they must know what men are, how they are different and what they should be like.
There is reason why many girls choose their husbands similar to their fathers when they grow
up. They subconsciously think that real man should be like their fathers, even if the fathers
were not on the top level in parenting. If father wish all the best for his daughter, then he
must be the greatest example. Of course there are also some emotional aspects that daughters
must get from the father. Mothers definitely should not raise their children alone. Remember
that some moments together is not all that father can give. He must be able to do everything
that mother can There shouldn’t be a situation when father is not able to spend few days with
children alone just because he doesn’t know what to do and how to raise them. Both fathers
and children will appreciate if fathers get involved into full time raising.
Subsequently as for the recommendation to the father, to be involved in caring for the
baby the father does not need to do too many big things. The small things that a father can be
engaged with in caring for the baby are sufficient to have a positive influence upon the child
and his development, while also ensuring that the mother feels supported as well. Something
as simple as providing help in changing diapers or being involved in holding the child or
playing with him or watching over him can go a long way in ensuring that a father is an
active participant. Frequently fathers may shy away from a task such as changing diapers as it
seems to be a messy process. However, it is perhaps one of the easier things that can be done
by a father and does not take much time either.
7
 In conclusion, a wonderful and healthy parenting is one which involves both mothers
and fathers taking active participation in a child’s life. Both mother and father play a vital
role in up bringing the child. Parenting is a team effort. There is an old African proverb that
says ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. While a child is influenced and shaped by the entire
society, there are no two individuals who play a more pivotal role in this than the parents.
Both mom and dad play important and different roles in parenting. Let us not confuse
“parenting” with responsibilities. The “tasks” of raising a child can be divided equally and
interchangeably among both parents. But parenting is much beyond these tasks. It involves
promoting a child’s well-being, by supporting his/her physical, intellectual, emotional and
social development.

[1019 words]
[Total: 20 marks]

8
Following from the above,
look at intelligence and its
testing from the
sociohistorical synthesis
founded on
Vygotsky. Continuing with
the sentiments expressed
above, fairness of
intelligence testing must
factor in
learning and culture. To
the old question, of
whether intellectual
deficiencies accumulate,
Humphreys
(1988) a psychometrician
of prestige and authority,
9
writes about the context
within which learning
deficiencies accumulate
among poor black
American students,
contributing to their
'inadequate learning
syndrome (ILS)'.
A summary of the main
points in this chapter
that will be of interest to
both theorists and
practitioners in the field of
intelligence is given below:
1. Intelligence is
discernment and judgment,
not merely quickness in

10
thinking. The Western and
the Eastern
philosophers agree on this.
2. A total shift from
qualitative to a quantitative
estimate of intelligence is
regretted. Intelligence
includes
not only reasoning, but also
will, and emotion which may
require qualitative analysis
(Das, 1994).
3. Recent theories of
intelligence comprise a
mixture of the old factor-
analytically derived ones
and those

11
derived from information
processing. Among the
latter are the Theory of
Multiple Intelligence, the
PASS
theory and the Triarchic
Theory; each one may
make IQ obsolete. A revival
of g as speed, specially,
measured by reaction-time
straddles the border
between the old and the
new. However its
interpretation as a
phenotypic measure
aspiring as it does to
measure synaptic speed

12
(correlation between IQ &
nervous
conduction speed is
around r=0.05; see
Wahlsten (in press) is
questionable. When
reaction time and IQ
correlate, RT is a surrogate
for complex information
processing.
4. Any theory of
intelligence should specify
how to measure
intelligence, what processes
underlie test
performance and how to
prescribe instructional and
remedial procedures.
13
5. Does intelligence
contain some cognitive
modules? Probably not in
a strict sense if modules
are
characterized as innate,
fast and autonomous of
general cognitive
activities. But the mind
becomes
modularized as
development proceeds
(Karmiloff-Smith, 1992). By
assuming that the 4 PASS
processes,
for example, develop as
such, it will be useful to
discover how any one of
14
them works rather than
drowning
their activities in general
intelligence.
6. Lastly a paradigm shift
of sorts seems to have
emerged in regarding the
attribution of intelligence to
heredity and environment.
Genetic expression that
occurs in the brain is
distinctly led by
environmental
influences; the heredity-
environment interactions
are bi-directional. Added to
this new knowledge is the

15
accepted interaction
between genes and the
cultural context in which
intelligence operates for an
individual
during and after the
developmental period.
Inadequate learning
accumulates to cause
intellectual deficiency.
The world has changed
since Galton suggested the
inheritance of general
intelligence based on
inheritance,
as we know that the vast
majority of the world's
children lack schooling and
16
health care and have
disrupted
childhood due to wars and
other disasters much of
which can be prevented by
privileged nations. Should
we still look for the true
score in intelligence testing
or promote the human
values of compassion and a
lack
of greed for an equitable
distribution of intelligence?
Following from the above,
look at intelligence and its
testing from the
sociohistorical synthesis
founded on
17
Vygotsky. Continuing with
the sentiments expressed
above, fairness of
intelligence testing must
factor in
learning and culture. To
the old question, of
whether intellectual
deficiencies accumulate,
Humphreys
(1988) a psychometrician
of prestige and authority,
writes about the context
within which learning
deficiencies accumulate
among poor black
American students,

18
contributing to their
'inadequate learning
syndrome (ILS)'.
A summary of the main
points in this chapter
that will be of interest to
both theorists and
practitioners in the field of
intelligence is given below:
1. Intelligence is
discernment and judgment,
not merely quickness in
thinking. The Western and
the Eastern
philosophers agree on this.
2. A total shift from
qualitative to a quantitative
estimate of intelligence is
19
regretted. Intelligence
includes
not only reasoning, but also
will, and emotion which may
require qualitative analysis
(Das, 1994).
3. Recent theories of
intelligence comprise a
mixture of the old factor-
analytically derived ones
and those
derived from information
processing. Among the
latter are the Theory of
Multiple Intelligence, the
PASS
theory and the Triarchic
Theory; each one may
20
make IQ obsolete. A revival
of g as speed, specially,
measured by reaction-time
straddles the border
between the old and the
new. However its
interpretation as a
phenotypic measure
aspiring as it does to
measure synaptic speed
(correlation between IQ &
nervous
conduction speed is
around r=0.05; see
Wahlsten (in press) is
questionable. When
reaction time and IQ

21
correlate, RT is a surrogate
for complex information
processing.
4. Any theory of
intelligence should specify
how to measure
intelligence, what processes
underlie test
performance and how to
prescribe instructional and
remedial procedures.
5. Does intelligence
contain some cognitive
modules? Probably not in
a strict sense if modules
are
characterized as innate,
fast and autonomous of
22
general cognitive
activities. But the mind
becomes
modularized as
development proceeds
(Karmiloff-Smith, 1992). By
assuming that the 4 PASS
processes,
for example, develop as
such, it will be useful to
discover how any one of
them works rather than
drowning
their activities in general
intelligence.
6. Lastly a paradigm shift
of sorts seems to have

23
emerged in regarding the
attribution of intelligence to
heredity and environment.
Genetic expression that
occurs in the brain is
distinctly led by
environmental
influences; the heredity-
environment interactions
are bi-directional. Added to
this new knowledge is the
accepted interaction
between genes and the
cultural context in which
intelligence operates for an
individual
during and after the
developmental period.
24
Inadequate learning
accumulates to cause
intellectual deficiency.
The world has changed
since Galton suggested the
inheritance of general
intelligence based on
inheritance,
as we know that the vast
majority of the world's
children lack schooling and
health care and have
disrupted
childhood due to wars and
other disasters much of
which can be prevented by
privileged nations. Should

25
we still look for the true
score in intelligence testing
or promote the human
values of compassion and a
lack
of greed for an equitable
distribution of intelligenc
ATTACHMENT

REFERENCES

C. Bainbridge (2020). How do children learn language. Retrieved from

https://www.verywellfamily.com/how-do-children-learn-language-1449116
K. Zajdel (2015). Father’s Role in Children’s Upbringing. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285384194_Father's_Role_in_Children's_Upbri
nging
WWMG staff (2018). What is Child Psychology and Why is it Important.
Retrieved from https://www.wwmedgroup.com/blog/child-psychology/

26
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