Child Psychology

Child psychology is one of the most important branches of psychology. Child psychology not only deals with the physical growth but also focuses on mental development, various psychological processes a child goes through and how a child interacts with others as he grows older. It also focuses on the way a child behaves and the factors which affect and shape his behavior.

Psychologists observed that childhood is a complex time period. It is not only influenced by the internal factors which include genetic inheritance, child’s personal attributes and intelligence level but it is also affected by the external environment in which a child grows. External environment starts with the family in which a child is born and the close relatives.Then we consider the school a child goes to and the type of the friends he makes. Moreover what religion and cultural background a child belongs to, are also the building blocks in shaping child’s psychology. For example people in western culture want their children to be independent and have more self esteem but people in eastern culture guide their children to live in accordance to the norms of society and want them to be more socially interactive. The different experiences children have during their early ages play a major role in shaping their behavior in the long run.

Since all these internal and external factors can’t be similar for every children, that is why every single child has his own individual psychology, which is different in some way or the other from other children of the same age.

Parents must have the basic understanding of child psychology in order to effectively raise their children and to choose what parenting style is best to apply to their children. When it comes to bringing up children, some parents don’t know what the right way to do so is. They often use a strict style of parenting because they are afraid of their children getting spoiled if they show leniency. However, it is not always the most appropriate way of dealing with children. When dealt this way, a child could be forced to become disciplined but he could lose his self esteem and confidence.

The periods of child development are of extreme importance while trying to understand child psychology. A large number of psychologists have presented different theories regarding child development. Sigmund Freud described that children pass through different stages. He dubbed those stages oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. He further contended that if a child experienced any developmental issue during these stages, he could experience fixation whichwould affect his personality when he becomes anadult. Theorist Jean Piaget was the first to explain that thinking of children is different from adults. BF Skinner and Ivan Pavlov provided a completely different approach as they focused on the environmental aspects which affect the behavior of the children. He described that rewards and punishments can change the attitude of children.

This was a brief foray into the vast field of child psychology. Child psychology has been given due importance in the discipline of psychology because if its major role in shaping behavior.