Development

Developmental Psych – what is it?

Branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Much research centers on three issues: Nature vs. nurture – how do genetic inheritance

and experience influence development? Continuity and stages – is development gradual

and continuous or does it proceed through a series of stages?

Stability and change – do our early personality traits persist through life or do we become different people as we age?

Prenatal Development and the Newborn

Prenatal development zygote – fertilized egg; conception to two weeks embryo – developing human organism from 2 weeks after

conception through 2nd month fetus – developing human organism from 9 weeks after

conception to birth

teratogens – harmful substances (chemicals, viruses) that can cause harm to the embryo or fetus during prenatal development

fetal alcohol syndrome – physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy

Newborn Researchers study what babies

are capable of through habituation – a decrease in responding with repeated stimulation Infant pays attention to a new

stimulus but loses interest the more often it is presented

Infancy and Childhood:Physical development

Brain development Have most of the brain cells

you’ll ever have at birth but neural networks grow with age

Association areas (linked with thinking, memory and language) are last to develop

Motor development Sequence is universal (roll

over, sit, crawl, walk) but there are individual differences in timing

Genes play a major role in motor development

Infantile amnesia - our earliest memories seldom predate our 3rd birthday Hippocampus is

not yet developed Toddlers don’t

have the language to index memory

Infancy and Childhood:Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget Believed the mind was not a miniature model of an

adult but developed in a series of stages Maturing brain builds schemas - concept or

framework that organizes and interprets information Assimilation - interpreting new experiences in terms of

our existing schemas Thinking all four-legged animals are cows

Accommodation - adjusting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information Adjusting schema for four-legged animal to include

a moose

Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development Sensorimotor stage -

birth to nearly age 2 Babies take in the world

through their senses and actions

Young infants lack object permanence - awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived Develops by 8

months but gradually

Preoperational stage - age 2 to 7 Child learns to use language but doesn’t yet

comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

Develop conservation - principle that properties (mass, volume and number) remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

Display egocentrism - difficulty in taking another’s view Lose this when they develop theory of mind -

the ability to take another’s perspective

The impossible outcome

Theory of mind

Concrete operational - 6 or 7 to 11 Children gain the mental operations that enable them

to think logically about concrete events Can understand conservation and mathematical

transformations Formal operational - age 12 on

Children begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Piaget’s legacy Identified specific milestones and sparked interest

in cognitive development Today’s researchers see development as more

continuous See formal logic as a smaller part of cognition

Infancy and childhood:Social Development

Around 8 months infants develop stranger anxiety - fear of strangers Peaks around 13 months

Develop attachment with caregivers who provide them with love and comfort Harlow monkey study (1950s) Critical period - optimal

period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development Children prefer familiarity

Attachment Differences: Temperament and Parenting Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation

Secure attachment 60% Play in mother’s presence Are distressed when she leaves Seek contact with her when she comes back

Insecure attachment Less likely to explore and may cling to mom Either cry or are indifferent when she leaves and

returns Is attachment the result of parenting or

temperament - characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Many researchers believe early attachments form foundation for our adult relationships Most abusers were abused as children but most abused

children do not become abusive adults

Self-concept - our understanding and evaluation of who we are Developed by age 12

Parenting styles Authoritarian - impose rules and expect obedience Permissive - submit to children’s wishes; make few

demands and use little punishment Authoritative - demanding and responsive

Results in highest self-esteem, self-reliance and social competence

Nature of Gender

X chromosome - sex chromosome found in both men and women; females have 2, men have 1

Y chromosome - sex chromosome found only in men Triggers production of the testes and

testosterone

Nurture of Gender

Role - set of expectations about a social position defining how those in that position ought to behave

Gender role - set of expected behaviors for males or for females

Gender identity - our sense of being male or female

Gender typing - acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

Social learning theory - theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

Adolescence: Physical development

Transition period from childhood to adulthood

Primary sex characteristics - body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genetalia) that make sexual reproduction possible

Secondary sex characteristics - nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips and male voice quality and body hair

Menarche - first menstrual period

Adolescence: Cognitive development

Lawrence Kohlberg’s Levels of Morality: Preconventional morality

Before age 9 Focused primarily on self-interests Obey rules to either avoid punishment or gain rewards

Conventional morality Early adolescence Focuses on caring for others Uphold laws and social rules, simply because they are laws

and social rules Postconventional morality

Actions are judged “right” because they flow from people’s rights or from self-defined, basic ethical principles

Jonathan Haidt’s social intuitionist account of morality Moral feelings precede moral reasoning

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Adulthood: Physical development

Menopause - time of natural cessation of menstruation Usually within a few years of 50 Men experience no equivalent but do experience a

gradual decline in sperm count

Distance perception and adaptation, vision muscle strength, reaction time, stamina, sense of smell and hearing decrease with age

Become more susceptible to life-threatening ailments (cancer, pneumonia) but less susceptible to short-term ailments

Alzheimers - loss of brain cells and deterioration of neurons that produce acetylcholine

Adulthood: Cognitive development

Cross-sectional study - study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

Longitudinal study - research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

Crystallized intelligence - our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills Tends to increase with age

Fluid intelligence - our ability to reason speedily and abstractly Tends to decrease during late

adulthood

Adulthood: Social development

Social clock - culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood and retirement