PSC 140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Ethology, Operant Conditioning, Critical Period
Document Summary
Beyond practical issues (ex: how to care for, discipline, teach children) Addresses fundamental philosophical questions about nature vs. nurture & the development of knowledge. Ex: 3 yr old was caregiver of infant. Defective adults - illogical, irrational, & uncivilized. Children worked in factories away from their families. 1833- 12 hour workday was appropriate for children. Links between human development & evolution of species. Children are born pure & corrupted by society. Man meddles w/ them & they become evil . Focus on protecting children from adult society. Not until recently in our human existence, did people systematically ask or observe children to find out what they perceive, know, or believe about the world. Rare example: itard in the 1800s & his experiments on the wild boy of. The scientific study of children is a very new science. Child development typically only taught within home economics courses at universities.
