Arnold Gesell's Perspective on Learning and Development

• Gesell is a maturationist; his descriptions of developmental patterns in childhood emphasize physical and mental growth that he saw as determined primarily by heredity. By carefully observing children in his campus school, Gesell established norms or typical behaviors of children throughout childhood. He categorized these typical behaviors into 10 major areas that he called gradients of growth (Gesell & Ilg, 1949).

• He pursued the task of observing and recording the changes in child growth and development from infancy through adolescence.

Principles of Development

-> The Concept of Maturation

• forces affecting development:• maturation (genetic)• fixed prenatal sequences (e.g. development of heart,

then central nervous system, then arms and legs)• after birth - cephalocaudal:• lip/tongue control• eye control• neck, shoulder, arms, hands• while growth rates vary, growth sequence does not

• environmental sequences:• prenatal:• temperature of the womb, oxygen• important, but unrelated to genetic sequences• after birth:• introduction of a social and cultural environment• follows a general pattern uneasily altered:• e.g. sitting, walking, talking all dependent on

sufficient maturation ... cannot "speed up" these processes

-> The Study of Patterns

• patterns = anything which can be identified as separate, or with a characteristic of its own

• e.g. vision and hand-eye coordination:• aimless movement at birth• gradual ability to stop and stare• 1 month - focus on an object near the face• 4 months - coordination of visual focus and hand

actions with large object (e.g. rattle)• 6 months - coordination of visual focus and hand

actions with a small object• 10 months - ability to see and pick up a small object

with a pincer grasp

-> Other Principles of Development-> Reciprocal Interweaving• since humans have many instances of two parts of

the body (e.g. eyes, hemispheres, legs, etc.), they also have a tendency to develop between two poles:

• handedness: explorations between one hand, both hands and the other hand ... eventual preference for one over the other

• personality: repeated tendencies toward introversion and extroversion ... eventual organization into a comfortable personality structure

• notion of equilibrium being repeatedly lost until it "re-finds" itself in a higher level of organization

-> Functional Asymmetry

• symmetry is not usual ... assymetry is the most common characteristic

• e.g. handedness• tonic neck reflex:• seen primarily in first thee months• supine position with head to one side, arm

outstretched with opposite arm flexed

-> Self-Regulation

• ability of even newborns to regulate their own development

• e.g. demonstration of babies' ability to determine their own best schedules for eating, sleeping and being awake

• e.g. tendency for children to "recover" by themselves after tending too far in one direction (e.g. introversion)

-> Individuality

• slight problem reconciling the notion of individuality into the developmental stages discussed above

• key point: developmental sequences are common to all children, but there are individual differences in the rates of growth

• possible link between growth rate and personality:• e.g. slowth growth -> even-temperedness, caution• e.g. fast growth -> outgoing, happy, quick wit• e.g. irregular growth -> varying between over- and

under-cautiousness, mood swings, etc.•

Reference

• http://danielson.laurentian.ca/drdnotes/5106_crain_ch02.htm

• http://social.jrank.org/pages/384/Maturation.html