Essay/Term paper: Child psychology

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Psychology

The child's mind a very delicate and fragile piece of space just waiting
to be fulfilled with knowledge. With every touch, taste, sight, and sound a
small part of the brain is in growth. It is these early stimulations that
are so crucial to a child's intelligence in the years to come.
Babies are born with some knowledge that was genetically pasted down to
them form there biological parents, but it is in the next couple of years
that will be so crucial to his development. Scientists are learning more and
more about what, when, and how to talk and handle a baby that will further
there brains development. One scientist by the name of Harry Chugani
believes that early experiences "can completely change the way a person turns
out." With the knowledge of where certain brain circuits are that control
different skills, parents and teachers can provide significant help in a
child's knowledge development. For example scientists know that basic
language skills are located in the brains left hemisphere. So certain
factors can come in to play. But in others, like the hemispherectomy
patients it is possible to learn left hemisphere tasks in the right.
Circuits of simple words begin to be wired by the age of one. The more words
a child hears by the age of two years the larger their language skills will
grow. Therefore parents now have the understanding that the more they talk
to their children in early development the better the chance of his
vocabulary to flourish. So what about the parents that neglect their
children? Will they have a two-word vocabulary or not be able to understand
a simple math question of 2+2? No but it will take a little longer the older
the person is. But with new finding everyday a child's mind will grow and
grow in the years to come.
In one case unparticular a child by the name of Anna was neglected from
the start. She was locked in a room and hardly ever looked after, besides
maybe a monthly feeding. She was found and removed at the age of around six
years. Anna couldn't do anything a normal six year old could do. Walk,
talk, or even feed herself. In a similar case a girl by the name of Isabelle
lived with her mother who was a deaf-mute. She could not talk but used
gestures to communicate. In both cases the girls were able to learn skills
that they didn't have before. It took awhile but basic skills were learned
and used. But compared to children that had interacted with people when they
were young Anna and Isabelle couldn't even compare. These two cases alone
show how important it is to have people to interact with as a growing
individual. Therefore the two isolation cases support the thesis presented
by Sharon Begley's "Your Child's Brain."
With new discoveries on the brain being made everyday a child's mind has
nothing to do but grow with intelligence. Every touch, taste, sound and
smell plays a crucial role making it so important to interact with your
babies as soon as they are being created.