Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Arnold Gesell" - New World
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| − | '''Arnold Lucius Gesell''' ( | + | '''Arnold Lucius Gesell''' (June, 21, 1880 – May 29, 1961) was a pioneer in the field of [[child development]], whose research on developmental milestones is still widely used by [[pediatrics|pediatricians]], [[psychology|psychologists]] and other professionals who work with children. |
==Life== | ==Life== | ||
| − | '''Arnold Gesell''' was born in Alma, Wisconsin. His parents raised their son to | + | '''Arnold Gesell''' was born in Alma, Wisconsin. His parents raised their son to value [[education]] very highly, and young Arnold decided to become a [[teaching|teacher]]. He received his bachelor degree from the [[University of Wisconsin]]* in 1903, after which he served as a [[high school]] teacher and later, a principal. |
| − | + | He entered into graduate study in [[psychology]] at Clark University, under the influence of [[G. Stanley Hall]], one of the pioneers in the study of [[child development]]. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1906, Gesell moved to the East Side in New York City where he taught [[elementary school]]. | |
| − | + | In 1911, Gesell was appointed an assistant professor of education at [[Yale University]], where he established the Yale Psycho-Clinic (later the Clinic of Child Development). He served as the director of the clinic from 1911 until 1948. This clinic became the main center in the U.S. for the study of child behavior. There he spent some of the most fruitful years of his career, conducting numerous studies and developing the theories for which he became famous. In the early 1910s, Gesell decided to study [[medicine]], since a medical degree was still regarded as an essential credential for any kind of research in child development. In 1915, he gained his MD from Yale. | |
| − | By the end of his career Gesell served as a research consultant at the Gesell Institute of Child Development in New Haven, Connecticut | + | From the 1920s to the 1950s, Gesell conducted numerous studies on child development, becoming the nation’s foremost authority in this field. The tests that he developed were widely used in assessment of children’s [[intelligence]]. He wrote some of his most well known works in this period, including ''Infant and Child in the Culture of Today'' (1943) and ''The Child from Five to Ten'' (1946). |
| + | |||
| + | By the end of his career, Gesell served as a research consultant at the Gesell Institute of Child Development in New Haven, Connecticut until his death. He died May 29, 1961. | ||
==Work== | ==Work== | ||
| − | Gesell was initially interested in retarded development, and he spent several years in research of Down’s syndrome, cretinism, and cerebral palsy. However, he soon became aware that retarded development | + | Gesell was initially interested in retarded development, and he spent several years in research of [[Down’s syndrome]], [[cretinism]], and [[cerebral palsy]]. However, he soon became aware that retarded development could not be fully understood without knowledge of normal development. He thus turned to the study of normal behavior, especially the mental growth of babies. |
| − | + | He developed a method to precisely record and measure behavior, in a strictly controlled environment. Gesell used a movie camera and a one-way mirror to observe and record children playing without being disturbed. He recorded some 12,000 children of various ages and levels of development—the study that became the foundation for his theories of [[child development]]. He later trained other researchers in how to collect the data and make valid reports. | |
| − | + | Based on his studies, Gesell concluded that all children pass through certain maturational stages—developmental milestones—in essentially the same way. Children progress through these stages naturally over time, and independently of [[learning]]. Gesell noticed that four major areas are included in that development: motor, linguistic, adaptive, and personal-social behavior. Gesell produced a scale—The Gesell Developmental Schedules—that included all four areas to measure normal children development. This scale measured whether children developed normally or they deviate from expected growth, for use with children between four weeks and six years of age. This scale was the first such scale ever created, and was widely used in subsequent research in medical and educational fields. | |
| − | |||
| − | Gesell | + | Gesell applied his research to [[adoption]] studies. He used his scale to determine whether a child had reached certain developmental milestones and thus whether the child could be adopted. It eliminated many problems with adoption, especially those related of giving an appropriate child to the right parents. In 1926 he wrote: |
| − | + | <blockquote>''[Adoption] can not be entrusted altogether to good will or to intuitive impulse, or even to unaided common sense. There are too many opportunities for error and miscarriage. The combined critical judgment of the social investigator, the court, the physician, and the mental examiner should enter into the regulation of adoption. . . . Systematic psychoclinical examinations not only will reduce the wastes of error and miscarriage but will serve to reveal children of normal and superior endowment beneath the concealment of neglect, of poverty, or of poor repute. Clinical safeguards can not solve all the problems of child adoption but they can steadily improve its methods and make them both more scientific and humane.''</blockquote> | |
| − | + | Gesell also argued that the best method to raise children is through reasonable guidance, rather than through over-permissiveness or over-strictness. In another words, since most of the children’s growth is based on the natural unfolding of [[hereditary]] characteristics already present inside the child, parents need to help those characteristics express in a positive way. Too much either permissiveness or rigidity would hinder normal child development. He wrote: | |
| − | + | <blockquote>''The child’s personality is a product of slow gradual growth. His nervous system matures by stages and natural sequences. He sits before he stands; he babbles before he talks; he fabricates before he tells the truth; he draws a circle before he draws a square; he is selfish before he is altruistic; he is dependent on others before he achieves dependence on self. All of his abilities, including his morals, are subject to laws of growth. The task of child care is not to force him into a predetermined pattern but to guide his growth.''</blockquote> | |
| − | + | Gesell’s work, however, was criticized on several grounds. One of the most important objections was that he used only white, middle-class parents and children for his subjects, thus decreasing the validity of his studies. He was also accused of ignoring [[individual differences|individual]] and [[culture|cultural]] differences in growth patterns. | |
| − | + | ==Legacy== | |
| − | + | Gesell constructed the "Gesell dome," a one-way mirror shaped as a dome, under which children could be observed without being disturbed. Measurements done in these sessions (which were filmed and extensively annotated) contributed to establishment of a theory of developmental milestones, which has continued to be used by child health professionals for decades. | |
| − | + | With his ideas that both nature and nurture are important in [[child development]], Gesell influenced numerous child [[psychologist]]s and [[pediatrics|pediatricians]], including [[Jerome S. Bruner]] and [[Jean Piaget]]. | |
| − | == | + | ==Publications== |
* Gesell, Arnold. 1926. Psychoclinical Guidance in Child Adoption. In ''Foster-Home Care for Dependent Children'', U.S. Children's Bureau Publication, No. 136. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office | * Gesell, Arnold. 1926. Psychoclinical Guidance in Child Adoption. In ''Foster-Home Care for Dependent Children'', U.S. Children's Bureau Publication, No. 136. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office | ||
| Line 55: | Line 56: | ||
* Gesell, Arnold, Ilg, Frances L., & Bates, Louise, A. 1995. ''Infant and Child in the Culture of Today: The Guidance of Development in Home and Nursery School''. Jason Aronson. (original published 1943). ISBN 1568215673 | * Gesell, Arnold, Ilg, Frances L., & Bates, Louise, A. 1995. ''Infant and Child in the Culture of Today: The Guidance of Development in Home and Nursery School''. Jason Aronson. (original published 1943). ISBN 1568215673 | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==References== | ||
| + | |||
| + | * Bates, Louise A. 1989. ''Arnold Gesell: Themes of His Work''. Human Sciences Press. ISBN 0898854210 | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 23:03, 17 August 2006
Arnold Lucius Gesell (June, 21, 1880 – May 29, 1961) was a pioneer in the field of child development, whose research on developmental milestones is still widely used by pediatricians, psychologists and other professionals who work with children.
Life
Arnold Gesell was born in Alma, Wisconsin. His parents raised their son to value education very highly, and young Arnold decided to become a teacher. He received his bachelor degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1903, after which he served as a high school teacher and later, a principal.
He entered into graduate study in psychology at Clark University, under the influence of G. Stanley Hall, one of the pioneers in the study of child development. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1906, Gesell moved to the East Side in New York City where he taught elementary school.
In 1911, Gesell was appointed an assistant professor of education at Yale University, where he established the Yale Psycho-Clinic (later the Clinic of Child Development). He served as the director of the clinic from 1911 until 1948. This clinic became the main center in the U.S. for the study of child behavior. There he spent some of the most fruitful years of his career, conducting numerous studies and developing the theories for which he became famous. In the early 1910s, Gesell decided to study medicine, since a medical degree was still regarded as an essential credential for any kind of research in child development. In 1915, he gained his MD from Yale.
From the 1920s to the 1950s, Gesell conducted numerous studies on child development, becoming the nation’s foremost authority in this field. The tests that he developed were widely used in assessment of children’s intelligence. He wrote some of his most well known works in this period, including Infant and Child in the Culture of Today (1943) and The Child from Five to Ten (1946).
By the end of his career, Gesell served as a research consultant at the Gesell Institute of Child Development in New Haven, Connecticut until his death. He died May 29, 1961.
Work
Gesell was initially interested in retarded development, and he spent several years in research of Down’s syndrome, cretinism, and cerebral palsy. However, he soon became aware that retarded development could not be fully understood without knowledge of normal development. He thus turned to the study of normal behavior, especially the mental growth of babies.
He developed a method to precisely record and measure behavior, in a strictly controlled environment. Gesell used a movie camera and a one-way mirror to observe and record children playing without being disturbed. He recorded some 12,000 children of various ages and levels of development—the study that became the foundation for his theories of child development. He later trained other researchers in how to collect the data and make valid reports.
Based on his studies, Gesell concluded that all children pass through certain maturational stages—developmental milestones—in essentially the same way. Children progress through these stages naturally over time, and independently of learning. Gesell noticed that four major areas are included in that development: motor, linguistic, adaptive, and personal-social behavior. Gesell produced a scale—The Gesell Developmental Schedules—that included all four areas to measure normal children development. This scale measured whether children developed normally or they deviate from expected growth, for use with children between four weeks and six years of age. This scale was the first such scale ever created, and was widely used in subsequent research in medical and educational fields.
Gesell applied his research to adoption studies. He used his scale to determine whether a child had reached certain developmental milestones and thus whether the child could be adopted. It eliminated many problems with adoption, especially those related of giving an appropriate child to the right parents. In 1926 he wrote:
[Adoption] can not be entrusted altogether to good will or to intuitive impulse, or even to unaided common sense. There are too many opportunities for error and miscarriage. The combined critical judgment of the social investigator, the court, the physician, and the mental examiner should enter into the regulation of adoption. . . . Systematic psychoclinical examinations not only will reduce the wastes of error and miscarriage but will serve to reveal children of normal and superior endowment beneath the concealment of neglect, of poverty, or of poor repute. Clinical safeguards can not solve all the problems of child adoption but they can steadily improve its methods and make them both more scientific and humane.
Gesell also argued that the best method to raise children is through reasonable guidance, rather than through over-permissiveness or over-strictness. In another words, since most of the children’s growth is based on the natural unfolding of hereditary characteristics already present inside the child, parents need to help those characteristics express in a positive way. Too much either permissiveness or rigidity would hinder normal child development. He wrote:
The child’s personality is a product of slow gradual growth. His nervous system matures by stages and natural sequences. He sits before he stands; he babbles before he talks; he fabricates before he tells the truth; he draws a circle before he draws a square; he is selfish before he is altruistic; he is dependent on others before he achieves dependence on self. All of his abilities, including his morals, are subject to laws of growth. The task of child care is not to force him into a predetermined pattern but to guide his growth.
Gesell’s work, however, was criticized on several grounds. One of the most important objections was that he used only white, middle-class parents and children for his subjects, thus decreasing the validity of his studies. He was also accused of ignoring individual and cultural differences in growth patterns.
Legacy
Gesell constructed the "Gesell dome," a one-way mirror shaped as a dome, under which children could be observed without being disturbed. Measurements done in these sessions (which were filmed and extensively annotated) contributed to establishment of a theory of developmental milestones, which has continued to be used by child health professionals for decades.
With his ideas that both nature and nurture are important in child development, Gesell influenced numerous child psychologists and pediatricians, including Jerome S. Bruner and Jean Piaget.
Publications
- Gesell, Arnold. 1926. Psychoclinical Guidance in Child Adoption. In Foster-Home Care for Dependent Children, U.S. Children's Bureau Publication, No. 136. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office
- Gesell, Arnold. 1955. Child Behavior. Dell Publishing Company. Inc.
- Gesell, Arnold. 1956. Youth the Years From Ten to Sixteen. Harpercollins Publisher. ISBN 0060115106
- Gesell, Arnold. 1969. Developmental diagnosis: Normal and abnormal child development, clinical methods and pediatric application. Harper and Row.
- Gesell, Arnold. 1977. The Child from Five to Ten. Harpercollins. (original published 1946). ISBN 0060115017
- Gesell, Arnold. 1993. The First Five Years of Life. Buccaneer Books. ISBN 1568491638
- Gesell, Arnold, Ilg, Frances L., & Bates, Louise, A. 1995. Infant and Child in the Culture of Today: The Guidance of Development in Home and Nursery School. Jason Aronson. (original published 1943). ISBN 1568215673
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Bates, Louise A. 1989. Arnold Gesell: Themes of His Work. Human Sciences Press. ISBN 0898854210
External links
- Britannica article – Short biography
- Historical link collection – Gesell’s links and photos
- Adoption studies – Article about Gesell’s work on adoption
- Medicine at Yale – History of Yale School of Medicine
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