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Arnold Gesell & Maturational Theory

Maturational Theory: development is a genetically determined process that unfolds gradually and automatically, like a flower (Weber State Education Department, n.d.)

Gesell's Main Achievements

Teacher-Psychologist-Pediatrician

  • Began the clinic today known as the Yale Child Study Center
  • Founded the Gesell Institute
  • Most famous for maturational theory and the concept of developmental norms
  • Published extensively on child development and made those works available to the average person
  • Known for incorporating the best tech of his day into his work
  • Born in Wisconsin in 1880
  • Received teaching degree from the Teachers College at Columbia in 1899
  • Taught high school courses and became a principal
  • Began studying psychology at Clark University
  • Received doctoral degree in 1906
  • Became the first official school psychologist for the State Board of Education in Connecticut (1915)
  • Became professor of education at Yale in 1911
  • Simultaneously began pursuing a medical degree
  • Founded the clinic today known as the Yale Child Study Center where he began his study on developmental norms

(Thelen & Adolph, 1992)

Arnold Gesell at Work

Gesell's Photographic Dome

Developmental Norms: patterns of behavior that are typical and predictable at certain ages of development.

Arnold Gesell 1880-1961

(Weber State Education Dept., n.d.)

A Look at Gesell's Work

Gesell's Impact on Education

References

Video: Development of an Infant's Hand

Behavior Interviews

  • Arnold Gesell's development of child's hand. [video file] Retrieved from: Youtube
  • Maturational Theory (n.d.) Weber State University Education Department. Retrieved from: http://departments.weber.edu/chfam/1500/Gesell-theory.html
  • McDevitt, T.M., & Ellis Ormrod, J. (2013).Child development and education (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
  • Thelen, E. and Adolph, K. (1992). Arnold L. Gesell: The paradox of nature and nurture. Developmental Psychology 28(3), 368-380
  • Teaching developmentally appropriate content
  • Idea that a child isn't "ready" for a task (like reading) due to age... the "late birthday phenomenon"
  • Concepts like Montessori, which espouse that children enter specific age-windows (maturation periods) which allow for learning in particular areas and in particular ways

Gesell and his colleagues, like naturalists, collected exhaustive and detailed data on children (from infancy to adolescence). They were concerned with questions like:

  • What and how do children learn?
  • What is the role of the environment?
  • How much of development is a result of a child's genes?
  • How does one account for individuality in development?

As he collected data, gleaned from observing some 500 children, he compiled a chart of developmental norms.

(Thelen & Adolph, 1992)

  • Presented a simple item (like a ball, a cup or a small bell) to an infant
  • Observed postural, prehensory, adaptive, social, and lingustic abilities
  • Used a custom multi-use crib, a materials bag, a support chair, and a playhouse
  • Gathered parental reports while families lived in "research hotels"
  • Studied twins in comparative interviews

(Thelen & Adolph, 1992)

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