CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

Various factors affecting child’s growth and development

A Brief Overview of Child Psychology
• Child psychology is one of the many branches of psychology , focuses on the mind and behavior
of children from prenatal development through adolescence.

• Child psychology deals not only with how children grow physically, but with their mental,
emotional and social development as well.

The Different Contexts of Child Psychology

Some of the major contexts that we need to consider in our analysis of child psychology include:

• The Social Context

• The Cultural Context

• The Socioeconomic Context

• The physical context

The Social Context

• Relationships with peers and adults have an effect on how children think, learn and develop.

• Families, schools and peer groups all make up an important part of the social context.

The Cultural Context

• The culture a child lives in contributes a set of values, customs, shared assumptions and ways of
living that influence development throughout the lifespan.

• Culture may play a role in how children relate to their parents, the type of education they
receive and the type of child care that is provided.

The Socioeconomic Context

• It is based upon a number of different factors including how much education people have, how
much money they earn, the job they hold and where they live.

• Children raised in households with a high status tend to have greater access to opportunities,
health care, quality nutrition and education and vice versa.

THEORIES OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY

Psychodynamic theories
• Psychosexual theory-Freud

• Psycho social theory-Eric Erickson

• Cognitive theory-piaget
Behavioral Theories
• Hierarchy of needs-Maslow

• Social learning theory-Bandura

• Classical conditioning-Pavlov

• Operant conditioning-Skinner

PSYCHOLOGY: is the science dealing with human nature, function and phenomenon of his soul in the
main.

CHILD PSYCHOLOGY: is the science that deals with the mental power or an interaction between the
conscious and subconscious element in a child.

BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT: The means by which dental health team effectively and efficiently
performs treatment for a child and simultaneously instills a positive dental attitude in the child.

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)

• The more frequent pairing of the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus, the stronger is the
conditioning.

• Generalization where in the process of conditioning is evoked by a band of stimuli centered

around a specific conditioned stimulus e.g., a child who has had a painful experience with a
doctor in white coat always associates any doctor in white coat with pain.

• Extinction of the conditioned behavior results if the association between the conditioned and
the unconditioned response is not reinforced.

• Discrimination is the opposite of generalization

Operant Conditioning (Skinner)

• Positive reinforcement: occurs if a pleasant consequence follows the response e.g., a child
rewarded for good behavior following dental treatment.

• Negative Reinforcement: involves removal of unpleasant stimuli following a response e.g., if the
parent gives into the temper tantrums thrown by the child , he reinforces this behavior.

• Omission: refers to removal of the pleasant response of a particular response e.g., if the child
misbehaves during the dental procedure, his favorite toy is taken away for a short time resulting
in the omission of the undesirable behavior

• Punishment: involves introduction of on aversive stimulus into a situation to decrease the

undesirable behavior e.g., use of palatal rake in correction of thumb sucking habit.

FOOD
• Food plays a very important role in every kids life.

• They easily get attracted and long for foodstuffs that are of different colours, shapes.
 • Children usually say that food from a package decorated with a cartoon celebrity tastes better
than the same exact food from a plain package.

• Satisfying these kids with the normal food becomes very difficult.

• Giving them their favorites with nutrition as well is necessary at this age.

PLAYTHINGS
• Toys become a member of every child's family and they are easily carried way by these.

• From giving them a good name , making them play, sleep and eat becomes a routine by the kids
of early age.

• Apart from human toys , they also show interest in play things like building blocks, clay, vehicles,
guns, instruments etc. etc..

MOVIES & DREAMS

• Movies initiates the talent of the young children.

• kids predominantly live in their own fantasy world.

• Starting from the basic toddler cartoons to the great anime and superhero movies , they get
influenced by the various characters and try to imitate the same.

PARENTS
• Children always like to be with their parents no matter how much they want to be with their
friends. They cannot be anywhere without their parents.

• They are emotionally attached to their parents

• Making them stay in the school itself will be a daunting task.

FRIENDS
• Unfortunately, some children struggle with and have trouble in making and keeping friends.

• This doesnt mean a child needs to be a social butterfly and be well liked by every kid at school,
but just be like a normal kid.

TEACHERS
• Teachers are responsible for the proper growth of a child.

• They are responsible for what a child becomes in this social world

• So, teacher child relationship should be serene.

ENVIRONMENT
• Where a child studies is also important...its lifestyle along with the environment..is very
important

• An ideal classroom for a child should being informal but structured.

FINAL THOUGHTS
• By having a solid understanding how children grow, think and behave, parents and professionals
working with children can be better prepared to help the kids in their care.