Curious George: Child Development

Curious George is a popular television show for children that address the specific developmental needs of the audience’s age group. This show was based off of the children’s book series by H. A. Rey. George is a monkey that was taken from the jungle by the Man with the Yellow Hat and brought back to the man’s home. The monkey is extremely curious and loves adventures and meeting new friends. He is the main character in this show and acts more child-like rather than a pet and in return, the Man with the Yellow Hat treats him like a human. The show directly correlates with a child’s developmental growth including social-emotional development, cognitive development, and physical development and it is appealing to the audience through the use

The biological theory focusses on the matter that children’s behavioral and emotional responses change as a direct result of particular environmental stimuli (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010). For example, George was taken from a jungle and then raised in a home where he is treated and acts like a child. This is an instance of nature versus nurture. Naturally, and biologically George is a monkey. If he stayed in the jungle and didn’t come into contact with a human filled environment, he would still act like a monkey. Since, he was taken out of his environment and raised in a different environment that involved humans, the nurture aspect of development took over the nature. This is because the new environment that he is living in, effects how he does

This is presented in the show by George doing everyday tasks with The Man In the Yellow Hat. These tasks include running errands, cleaning, and even making dinner. The last developmental theory is the developmental systems perspectives. This theory focuses on the multiple factors, including systems inside and outside children, that combine to influence children’s development. In other words, this view involves the relationship between a child’s body, their physical environment and multiple, interconnected social systems (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010). George has a total of four working hands and feet and he explores what he can do with his body and uses all of his hands and feet to make something quicker. For example, when he was making Valentines cards for his friends in one episode, he used all of his hands and feet to make cards. He covered his feet and hands in paint and jumped on the paper to create four cards at once (PBS.org). This shows the relationship between a child’s body and their physical environment.
All of the theoretical frameworks of child development appear in Curious George. Behaviorism and social learning being the most prominent theory and psychodynamic being the theory that is most lacking. The development of a preschooler is complex and involves many factors including