Child Development

Developmental Psychology

• Studies how people grow and change– Covers the entire life span (conception – death)

• Why is each stage important to study?

Nature vs. Nurture

• Nature• To what extent is

human behavior determined by heredity

• Nurture• To what extent is

human behavior determined by your environment

Key Terms

• Maturation• The automatic and sequential process of

development that results from genetic signals» Because of this, infants tend to sit up before

they crawl – and crawl before they walk

• Critical Period• A stage or point in development during which

a person or animal is best suited to learn a particular skill

» Research suggests that there is a critical period for language development

Physical Development

• Height & Weight• Babies grow at an

amazing rate, but most dramatic is before a baby is born

– Grows from microscopic to almost 20 inches long in just 9 months

• Motor Development

• Proceeds in stages in which babies will master one task before others

• The rate is different from infant to infant and culture to culture

Perceptual Development

• The process by which infants learn to make sense of the sights, sounds, tastes and other sensations to which they are exposed

• Remember that eye sight at this age is not fully developed

Depth Perception & The Visual Cliff

• Creates an illusion of a drop-off – like a cliff

• Found that very young infants seem unafraid when they are placed on the edge

• By 9 months, infants respond with fear (seems to be correlated to the time in which they learn to crawl as well)

Infants & Other Senses• Smell

• Newborns immediately distinguish strong odors

» Wrinkle noses at pungent odors & smile at the sweet smells

• Taste• Humans are born

with an innate sweet tooth & tend to prefer sweet tastes over salty or bitter

• Hearing• Seems to be

much more developed at birth than vision

• Respond more to high-pitched sounds, but are soothed by low-pitched sounds (like singing or humming)

Attachment• Emotional ties that form between people• Infants & children try to stay close to those

with whom they are attached• Mary Ainsworth

• Theorist who studied children around the world• Findings:

– that newborns prefer being with anybody over being alone

– By about 4 months, infants develop specific attachments to their main caregivers

– By 6 to 8 months, attachment grows much stronger and will cry/complain when they are separated

Attachment• Other key terms:

• Stranger Anxiety» Children cry and reach for their parents when

strangers are around

• Separation Anxiety» Causes infants to behave erratically when they are

separated from their main caregivers (usually mom)

• Contact Comfort» The instinctual need to touch and be touched by

something soft, such as skin or fur» Most studies done with Monkeys by Harry Harlow

• Imprinting» The process by which some animals form

immediate attachments » Studies done by Konrad Lorenz

Language Development

• Language is developed in a sequence of steps

• It is the same for nearly all children

• But it may happen at a faster or slower rate, depending on the child

• See Transparency to fill out your note sheet

• 1-5 months - Reflexive Communication• Cooing, laughing, crying at random

• 6-18 months - Babbling Stage• Verbalizes in response to others and responses

increasingly approximate human speeh

• 10-13 months - First Words• Uses words; typically to refer to objects

• 12-18 months - One Word Sentence Phase

• Vocabulary grows slowly; nouns primarily

• 18 – 24 months ~ Vocabulary Spurt• Fast-mapping facilitates rapid acquisition of new

words

• 2 years – Two word Sentence Phase• 2 – 5 years – Three word Sentence Phase• 3 years – Complete simple active

sentence structure• Sentences to tell stories that can be understood

by others & can use plurals

• 3.5 years – Expanded grammatical forms• 4 years – Uses Imaginary Speeh• 5 years – Well developed and complex

syntax• 6 years – Metalinguistic Awareness

• The ability to objectify language as a process and as a thing

Jean Piaget

• Theory of Cognitive Development

• Began career as a biologist studying how we as humans come to know things

• Became very interested in children and how they think

• Piaget identified 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget Key Terms• Conservation

• Can a child understand that there is an equal amount of liquid, even if the glasses look different?

• Even if something changes shape, it is still the same item? Ex. Water to Ice?

• Object Permanence• The understanding that

objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard or touched

• Reversibility• The awareness that

actions can be reversed

• Egocentrism• Children working

through the preoperational stage have difficulty seeing things from another’s point of view ~ they can only understand theirs

Erik Erikson

• A theorist who believed that the journey of life consisted of 8 stages

• At each stage, there is a task that must be mastered in order for healthy development

Fried Green Tomatoes Assignment

• Pass out the Worksheet• You will be using Erik Erikson’s 8

Stage Theory of Psychosocial Development to explain how 6 of the characters develop throughout the film.

• As you watch the film, fill out the worksheet accordingly.