Infant Physical, Cognitive and Social Development

One of the most important aspects of a child's physical, cognitive and social development is motor skills development. In this case, an infant is expected to master fine and gross motor skills in order for him/her to effectively explore the surrounding environment/world. Gross motor skills are considered as large muscles movements such as arms and legs whereas fine motor skills are considered are movements of smaller groups of muscles like hand and wrist. Berk & Meyers (2016) have developed a table that provides a list of gross- and fine-motor skills milestones in different stages of an infant's development. As an 11-month old infant, David has relatively developed necessary and anticipated motor skills based on the milestones listed in the table. He has fairly developed nearly all motor skills expected of infants his age and seems to be progressing well in motor skills development. David's parents should be concerned if he does not reach the milestones at the average age provided in the table because that could be an indicator of problems in his development. As a result, Mark and Nicole would need to consult a healthcare provider for evaluation.

Based on Piaget's theory, David is in the coordinating secondary schemes of sensorimotor development because he is within the age of this stage and exhibit its characteristics by engaging in intentional actions. Moreover, he thinks that when the mother disappears out of sight, she is completely gone and no longer there. David is likely to start realizing that when an object is hidden, it still exists despite being out of sight. Therefore, he is likely to start retrieving hidden objects or things that are out of his view. Given his behaviors, David attachment pattern can be classified as secure attachment because of his preference for his mother who acts as a secure base for him. Some of the behaviors I would expect in a securely attached child include preference of a parent over strangers, difficulties in playing when the caregiver or parent is out of sight, and calmness when the parent/caregiver is around. Some of the clues I would look for in an avoidant, resistant and disorganized/disoriented secure attachment include little exploration of the environment, preoccupation with the parents' location, unemotional during separations, focus on toys, and frequent tantrums.

Unit 6 -- Self-understanding and the Influence of Parenting

Parents are major... Parents influence an infant's self-concept and self-esteem development through the parenting styles they utilize. Parenting influences a child's development of self-concept through establishing a warm relationship between the parent and child that in turn creates secure attachment. With regards to self-esteem, parents who encourage their children to succeed enhance their children's self-esteem while those who criticize their performance contribute to a child's low self-esteem. Parenting influences emotional understanding by labeling emotions and recognizing a child's emotional reactions whereas emotional self-regulation is influenced by verbal guidance and expression of emotions by parents. Self-conscious emotions are influenced by providing feedback to children whereas empathy and sympathy is influenced by how parents show concerns to the child's feelings. The patterns of positive development that are linked to positive development include sensitivity to a child's feelings and warm, sensitive parenting (McIntyre, n.d.).
Child-rearing styles i.e. authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved styles affect a child's development through influencing the child's self-understanding. These styles affect important domains of a child's development, especially self-concept and self-esteem depending on the kind of relationship between the parent and child. The child's view of him/herself and understanding of the surrounding world is affected by parent-child relationship, which is influenced by the specific child-rearing style. Authoritative parenting style is linked to positive outcomes because it's the most suitable for developing a healthy self-esteem in children. A healthy self-esteem in turn contributes to positive impacts on the other domains of the child's growth and development. Some of the factors that influence an individual's approach to parenting include family background, social influences, religious beliefs, and the child's temperament and personality.

Unit 7 -- Self-esteem, Peer Groups and Friendships

Peer relationships and friendships play a crucial role in a child's development of self-concept and self-esteem during middle school. A peer is an individual with common characteristics like gender, age, school, and occupation while a friend is a trusted acquaintance who…