The Study of Human Development

The Development of Children (5th ed.)

Cole, Cole & Lightfoot

Chapter 1

Basic Concepts

Developmental psychology A study of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial

changes that transpire throughout the course of human development

Growth years Period from

infancy through adolescence

Study of Child Development

FocusPhysical changesCognitive changesPsychosocial changes

AimPromote the healthy

development of childrenAnswer important questions…

Intriguing Questions

How are fetuses in the womb influenced by the events occurring in the outside world, and how do such influences shape their development?

Can changes in diet and upbringing compensate for genetic abnormalities?

In what ways is brain development affected by experience?

Intriguing Questions What makes it possible for

infants to acquire their native language so rapidly with no special training?

When do children become aware that other people have thought processes of their own, and what makes this awareness possible?

What leads to the marked differences in levels and forms of aggression between boys and girls early in childhood?

Intriguing Questions

Why do some children learn to read with little effort, while others require extensive help?

What causes some children to be bullies?

When do children begin to reason systematically, and what makes this form of thought possible?

Is parent-child conflict a necessary part of adolescence?

Overview of the JourneyOverview of the Journey

Early Beginnings of Modern Developmental Psychology

Central Questions of Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychologyas a Discipline

Early Beginnings of Modern Developmental Psychology

Central Questions of Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychologyas a Discipline

Early Beginnings of Modern Developmental

Psychology

Jean-Marc Itard and Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron

Industrial Revolution and Research into Child Labor Conditions

Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species

Victor, The Wild Boy

France (province of Aveyron), 1800, ~age 12 Jean-Marc Itard (physician)

To test the theory that social environment shapes a child’s development

Abandoned the experiment after 5 years Victor never learned to speak or interact normally Maybe as a result of autism or social isolation

A beginning point for developmental psychology because Itard was among first to go beyond mere speculation to conduct experiments to test his ideas

Child Labor Conditions

England (1833): Factory Inquiries Committee decided that 12 hours was an acceptable workday for children Others disagreed: Believed that 10-hour workday

preferable, with remaining 2 hours devoted to religious/moral education

Research results: Children who worked in textile mills were shorter and weighed less than local nonworking children

The Origin of Species (1859)

Rather than viewing children merely are imperfect adults, not to be seen or heard

Children came to be viewed as scientifically interesting because their behavior might provide clues to ways in which humans are related to other species

Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

Phylogeny: The evolutionary history of a speciesOntogeny: Development of an individual organism over its lifetime

Distinctive Differences…

Homo sapiens Develops a unique environment consisting of

artifacts (e.g., tools, clothing, words), knowledge (e.g., how to construct and use artifacts), beliefs, and values culture

Shapes and transmits culture to succeeding generations largely through language

Seeks understanding of transcendental dimensions

Central Questions of Developmental

Psychology

Continuity

Sources of Development

Plasticity

Individual Differences

The Question of Continuity

Is the process of development gradual and continuous (primarily in the form of quantitative changes), or is it marked by abrupt, stagelike discontinuities (primarily in terms of qualitative changes)?

Continuous/ Quantitative

vs.

Discontinuous/ Qualitative

Developmental StagesDevelopmental Stages

Developmental Stages

1. Distinguished by qualitative changes (e.g., crawling walking)

2. Marked by simultaneous changes in many, if not all, aspects of a child’s behavior (e.g., enhanced mobility new child-caregiver relations)

3. Characterized by rapid changes (e.g., transition from crawling walking in < 90 days)

4. Behavioral and physical changes merge to form a coherent pattern (e.g., walking accompanied by pointing, ability to follow another’s gaze, first words, new child-caregiver relations)

List three ways in which the person you were at the age of 5 differed from the person you were at the age of 15.

Label those differences as either qualitative or quantitative.

List three ways in which the person you were at the age of 5 differed from the person you were at the age of 15.

Label those differences as either qualitative or quantitative.

The Question of Developmental Sources

How do nature (biology) and nurture (environment) interact to produce development?

Philosophical Foundations

Nature of man

John Locke: Tabula rasa (neutral)

Jean-Jacques Rousseu (Emile): Innately good

Jonathan Swift (“odious vermin”): Intrinsically evil

Nature vs. Nurture

Gender and mathematics: A case in point… Nature (inherited biological predispositions)

Advise girls to take less challenging math courses, use different standards on quantitative sections of standardized tests

Nurture (influence of the social and cultural environment on the individual)Encourage girls to take more challenging math courses, hold out societal models of women in math and science

List two major ways in which you are like your best friend and two major ways in which the two of you are different.

What causal factors do you think are primarily responsible for these similarities and differences?

List two major ways in which you are like your best friend and two major ways in which the two of you are different.

What causal factors do you think are primarily responsible for these similarities and differences?

The Question of Plasticity

To what degree, and under what conditions, is development open to change and intervention?

Are there critical or sensitive periods? “No” & “Yes”

Konrad Lorenz & Goslings

The Question of Individual Differences

How do people come to have stable individual characteristics that differentiate them from one another?

Individual Differences

1. What makes individuals different from each other? Nature vs. nurture: fussy infant, obese child

2. To what extent are individual characteristics stable over time? Is the temperament of a baby an indicator of

its personality as an adult? Case of children who remain in an orphanage

vs. adopted (p. 13) – What might be the implications?

Developmental Psychology as

a Discipline

Criteria of Scientific Description

Methods of Data Collection

Research Designs

The Role of Theory

Criteria of Scientific Description

Objectivity Not distorted by preconceptions

Reliability Test-retest & inter-rater consistency

Validity Actually reflects what is being studied

Replicability Similar findings by other researchers

Methods of Data Collection

Self-Reports Interviews, questionnaires,

behavioral checklists Problems: Inaccuracies, may not

understand questions, selective memory

Naturalistic Observations Baby biographies (e.g., Darwin,

Piaget), ecological studies (e.g., developmental niche)…

Problems: Difficult to maintain objectivity, observer may affect situation

TheEcologicalApproach

Methods of Data Collection

Experimental Methods Experimental & control group Problems: Correlation vs.

causation, artificiality of context

Clinical Interview Methods Tailor question depending on

answer to previous question (e.g., Freud, Piaget)

Problems: Difficult to compare across individuals, relies heavily on verbal expression

Research Designs

What is one question you have about the development of children?

How do you think one might go about finding the answer?

What is one question you have about the development of children?

How do you think one might go about finding the answer?

The Role of Big Theory

Gesell & Freud

Watson & Skinner

Piaget

Vygotsky

Endogenous factors

Exogenous factors

Active shaping

Mediated by culture

Bio-Social-Behavioral Shift

A transition point in development during which a convergence of biological, social, and behavioral changes occurs to cause distinctively new forms of child functioning.

A transition point in development during which a convergence of biological, social, and behavioral changes occurs to cause distinctively new forms of child functioning.

Prominent Shifts & Subsequent Periods

Shift Point Developmental Period

Conception Prenatal period

Birth Early infancy

2 ½ months Middle infancy

7-9 months Late infancy

24-30 months Early childhood

5-7 years Middle childhood

11-12 years Adolescence

19-21 years Adulthood