Theorists: Jean Jacques Rousseau and Arnold Gessell

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
*Believed maturation was a genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth
*Saw children as determining their own destinies
*Viewed development as a discontinuous, stage-wise process that follows a course mapped
out by nature

Arnold Gessell (1880-1961)
*Regarded child development as the maturation process; genetically determined
series of events that unfold automatically
*Intensive effort to describe all aspects of child development
*Was among the first to make knowledge about child development meaningful to parents
by informing them of what to expect at each age