Psychology Question

Create and analyze a fictitious case study of an infant or toddler with developmental challenges and prepare an evidence-based intervention plan.

Collapse All

Introduction

Note: The assessments in this course follow the successive stages of lifespan development, so you are strongly encouraged to complete them in sequence.

Beginning as early as conception, both hereditary and environmental influences can affect the development of an individual. As you engage in this assessment, keep in mind that small influences can have a significant impact on a developing fetus. Hereditary diseases, genetics, teratogens, nutrition, and stress are all factors that can influence prenatal development, which in turn, can have effects across the lifespan.

Once a child is born, the external environment begins to influence development in a huge way. Attachment is one aspect that has been given much attention as having emotional influence during this time. There are direct implications that attachment and temperament can have on the ability to successfully develop and maintain peer relationships into adulthood.

Psychologists in each area specialization should be prepared to employ evidence-based interventions to address challenges posed by the effects of early developmental concerns. As you review the literature and complete the learning assessment, consider the potential implications of early development for your professional direction. How might you apply your knowledge directly or indirectly to your areas of a professional interest? While early development may seem remote to your professional specialization, consider that the implications may be both direct and indirect. For instance, if you work in education, you will need to take into account how the permanent influences of early development can affect how a person learns. More indirectly, imagine you are an industrial psychologist working in the field. A female employee returns to work after maternity leave. She is withdrawn and appears tired. When she is referred for a consultation, you discover that the employee had contracted rubella during the first trimester of pregnancy, which caused her infant to be born with a heart defect. Would you be better able to support the employee if you were knowledgeable about the risk factors during pregnancy and environmental agents that could harm a fetus?

Part 1: Create the Case

Create a simulated case study, relevant to your area of specialization, of an infant or toddler (birth to 24 months of age) who presents developmental challenges related to factors described by Bowlby's attachment theory. Review the following Case Study Example [DOCX] to better understand the requirements.

Your case study should be 1–2 pages in length and it should describe:

• The infant or toddler and their strengths and challenges.
• The medical, family, and social context.
• The developmental challenges that were evident in the behavior of the infant or toddler.
• Evidence in the case that supports a specific attachment style.
• Contextual factors that could affect the infant's or toddler's development in the area you selected for consideration.
• Individual and cultural factors that theory and/or research indicate could impact the infant's or toddler's development.
• Any other factors you deem appropriate based on your understanding of the theory and related research.

To develop this case, you should:

• Explore theory and research based on Bowlby’s attachment theory and related to the area of development you selected as the focus of the case.
• Identify attachment styles in general and analyze a specific attachment style for the case you are developing.
• Locate and read current research on prenatal and infant development to describe potential outcomes linked to development in infancy or toddlerhood, including important considerations in the case you are developing.

Follow APA guidelines for style and formatting, as well as for citing your resources. Include a reference list of the scholarly resources you consulted.

Part 2: Early Development Case Intervention Analysis

Research

Complete the following:

• Research evidence-based interventions that have been effective in meeting the challenges of the infant or toddler you described in your case study, from the perspective of your own professional specialization (as far as possible).
  • Explain how the deficits in developmental domains or environmental contexts impacted functioning.
  • State the recommended interventions that align with your specialization.
  • Include evidence for those outcomes from the professional literature.
• Explore briefly the literature on adult attachment issues, considering that early influences can impact development across the lifespan.
  • Explain, from the perspective of your specialization, how the attachment style of the infant or toddler could be manifested as an adult.
  • Explain how this might help in understanding and determining an approach to working with an adult with attachment-related issues.

Structure of the Report

Use the APA Paper Template [DOCX] and the following format to structure your report:

• Title page.
  • A descriptive title of 5–15 words that concisely communicates the purpose of your report and includes the name of the fictional subject. Be sure to follow Capella's suggested format for title pages on course papers.
• Introduction.
  • An overview of the paper contents, including a brief summary (approximately half a page) of the background information regarding the case study. (The complete 1–2 page case you developed will be included as an appendix.)
• Body of the report.
  • The presenting challenges and primary issues.
  • An analysis of how lifespan development theory and research may account for the presenting challenges.
  • An assessment of the potential impact of individual and cultural differences on development for the current age and context described in the case study.
  • Suggestions of evidence-based intervention strategies that have proven effective in similar cases, supported by citations of research and any applicable theories.
  • Projections, based on research and/or theory, of possible long-term impacts that the current challenges may produce across the individual's lifespan.
• Conclusion.
  • A summary of what was introduced in the body of the paper with respect to the case study context, challenges, and interventions.
• Reference page.
  • A minimum of five scholarly sources from current peer-reviewed journals, formatted in APA style. Refer to Evidence and APA for guidance.
• Appendix.
  • The simulated case study you created in Part 1.

Example Assessment: You may use the Assessment 1 Example [DOCX] to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Additional Requirements

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Write coherently to support central ideas, using appropriate APA format, and with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
• Length of paper: 5–7 typed, double-spaced pages, not including the title page, references page, or case study appendix.
• References: At least five scholarly resources (peer-reviewed journals).
• APA format: Follow APA guidelines for style and formatting, as well as for citing your resources in the body of your paper and listed alphabetically on the references page.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Note: In graduate-level and professional writing, you should minimize the use of direct quotes. Lengthy quotes do not count toward assessment minimums. It is your interpretation of the material and its application to practice that is assessed.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze how lifespan development theories and related research explain aspects of human growth and behavior at different ages.
  • Analyze evidence of a specific attachment style.
• Competency 2: Assess the potential impact of individual and cultural differences on development across the lifespan.
  • Assess the potential impact of individual and cultural differences on development.
• Competency 3: Identify evidence-based interventions to address specific developmental issues.
  • Suggest appropriate intervention processes based on lifespan development theory and evidence from the literature.
• Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the psychological professions.
  • Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.
  • Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.

Use the resources linked below to help complete this assessment.

Collapse All

APA Resources

Format this assessment according to APA guidelines. Use the following resources to guide your work as needed.

• Writing Support.
• Evidence and APA.
• Academic Writer.

Development Theory and Prenatal to Early Childhood Development

• Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (5th ed.). Pearson Education. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.
  • Chapter 1, "Organizing Themes in Development," pages 1–37. This chapter introduces lifespan developmental theorists, including Freud, Erikson, Piaget, learning theories (behaviorism and social learning), and multi-dimensional theories, including Bronfenbrenner's theory. It also provides an introduction to nature-nurture.
  • Chapter 2, "Epigenesis and the Brain: The Fundamentals of Behavioral Development," pages 40–77. This chapter is about genetics with respect to early brain development. The chapter also introduces stress and adaptation responses as well as atypical development linked to heredity.
• Human Development Theorists.
  • Review this media piece to learn more about some of the theories behind human development.
• Lefmann, T., & Combs-Orme, T. (2013). Early brain development for social work practice: Integrating neuroscience with Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 23(5), 640–647.
• Wertz, J., Belsky, J., Moffitt, T. E., Belsky, D. W., Harrington, H., Avinun, R., Poulton, R., Ramrakha, S., Caspi, A. (2019). Genetics of nurture: A test of the hypothesis that parents’ genetics predict their observed caregiving. Developmental Psychology, 55(7), 1461–1472.
  • This article highlights some of the key challenges related to evaluating the impact of nature versus nurture and presents a bidirectional model of development.

About Psychological Science Research

• Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (5th ed.). Pearson Education. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.
  • Appendix A, “Practitioner’s Guide to Psychological Science,” pages 633–638. This section introduces key concepts related to research methods in lifespan development.
• Nielsen, M., Haun, D., Kärtner, J., & Legare, C. H. (2017). The persistent sampling bias in developmental psychology: A call to action. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 162, 31–38.
  • This article reviews some of the known and unknown issues related to the impact of sampling bias in the field of developmental psychology and suggests some ways to address this pervasive issue.

Attachment Theory and Attachment Styles

• Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (5th ed.). Pearson Education. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.
  • Chapter 4, "Emotional Development in the Early Years," pages 125–171. This chapter covers attachment theory and infant attachment styles as well as the relationship of attachment to emotional and social development.
• Rasmussen, P. D., & Storebø, O. J. (2020). Attachment and epigenetics: A scoping review of recent research and current knowledge. Psychological Reports, 124(2), 479–501.
  • This is a review article that considers the role that epigenetics may play on a specific developmental construct, attachment. Attachment is one aspect that has been given much attention as having emotional influence during this time. Attachment can have direct implications on the ability to successfully develop and maintain peer and family relations into adulthood.

Sample Research on Infant and Child Development

The following are examples of current scholarly research on infant and child development. Search the Capella University Library for current research studies involving infant and child development related to your specific topic.

• Bornstein, M. H., Suwalsky, J. T. D., & Breakstone, D. A. (2012). Emotional relationships between mothers and infants: Knowns, unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Development and Psychopathology, 24(1), 113–123.
• De los Reyes-Aragon, C. J., Amar Amar, J., De Castro Correa, A., Lewis Harb, S., Madariaga, C., & Abello-Llanos, R. (2016). The care and development of children living in contexts of poverty. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(12), 3637–3643.

Sample Research on Culture and Child Development

The following are examples of current scholarly research articles on culture and child development. Search the Capella University Library for other current research studies involving culture and development related to your specific topic.

• Rempel, L. A., Rempel, J. K., Khuc, T. N., & Vui, L. T. (2017). Influence of father–infant relationship on infant development: A father-involvement intervention in Vietnam. Developmental Psychology, 53(10), 1844–1858.
• Lavelli, M., Carra, C., Rossi, G., & Keller, H. (2019). Culture-specific development of early mother-infant emotional co-regulation: Italian, Cameroonian, and West African immigrant dyads. Developmental psychology, 55(9), 1850–1867.
  • This article examines the role of culture in development of maternal/infant across three unique cultures and finds some similarities and differences.

Sample Research on Child Development Interventions

The following articles are examples of scholarly research studies on interventions. Search the Capella University Library for scholarly research articles related to the specific topic you chose.

• Heymann, P., Heflin, B. H., Baralt, M., & Bagner, D. M. (2020). Infant-directed language following a brief behavioral parenting intervention: The importance of language quality. Infant Behavior and Development, 58, 1–9.
• Kasari, C., Gulsrud, A., Paparella, T., Hellemann, G., & Berry, K. (2015). Randomized comparative efficacy study of parent-mediated interventions for toddlers with autism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 83(3), 554–563.
• Moreira, H., & Canavarro, M. C. (2015). Individual and gender differences in mindful parenting: The role of attachment and caregiving representations. Personality and Individual Differences, 87, 13–19.
• Patterson, J. E., & Vakili, S. (2014). Relationships, environment, and the brain: How emerging research is changing what we know about the impact of families on human development. Family Process, 53(1), 22–32.

Library Research Guide

You will need to find other resources to prepare for this assessment and ensure that they are appropriate, credible, and valid. Use the Master's in Psychology Library Research Guide resource to help direct your research.