Devlopment (unit 11)

psychology

Conception

• sperm (M) pentrates outer coating of egg (F)

• fuses, forms → fertilized egg

Zygote

• conception → 2 weeks

• fert egg → continuted divison/diverse

• next = embryo

Embryo? Fetus?

E:

• 2 → 8 weeks 

• attaches to uterus 

• heart beat/cell differantiation/body parts/systems form 

F:

• 9 → 40 weeks

• body systems mature

Prenatal brain devlopment: Embryonic Stage

• 3 weeks: neural tube of stem cells divide

• cells divide/multiply → neurons/glial cells

• top of tube thickens → 3 bulges = 3 main brain regions

Prenatal brain devlopment: Fetal Stage 

• month 4: quickening/hearing 

• month 6: brain cells grow in size/complexity 

• month 6-9: brain/body growth, lungs devlop, myelinization 

Prenatal Devlopment Risks

• placenta: nutrients/oxygen from mother to fetus, filters harmful substances from reaching child 

• teratogens: harmful substances ex. virus/drugs → can slip through causing abnorm devlopment/birth defects 

• FAS: small/misproportioned head, unusual features/brain abnormalities 

Brain Maturation

• birth to 3: branching networks allow walk/talk/remember

• 3 to 6: frontal lobe devlopment, rational planning 

• 6 to 13: association areas proliferate, mem/language/reading 

Adolescence: physical devlopment

• brain devlopment: synaptic pruning, frontal lobes mature

• behaviour: impulsive/risky/emotional

Adulthood: physical devlopment

peak physical performance: 20

decline in: muscular strength, reaction time, sensory abilites (hear/smell), CO 

sexual changes: menopause, decreased hormones/fertility 

Telomeres

cellular aging

• chromosome tips wear down → cells die wo indetical replacement 

Jean Piaget Cognitive Devlopment

cog: mental activites associated w think/know/remember/communicate

Piaget Stage 1

Sensorimotor

• birth → 2 

• look/touch/hear/mouth/grasp (info through sensing it)

• object permanence (idea that objects contine to exist when not visible) → under 6 months dont have 

• stranger anxiety 

Piaget Stage 2

Preoperational

• 2 → 7 

• pretend play 

• egocentrisim (inability to see situation from another persons pov)

• represent things w words/images → intuitive (not logic)

Theory of mind (ToM) 

preoperational 

• peoples ideas about own/others mental states- about their perceptions/thoughts/behaviours these may predict 

• lack of → maladaptive egocentric behaviour 

Piaget Stage 3 

concrete operational 

• 7-12

• devlop logicial sense of reasoning (on clear/concrete rules of how world operates) 

• conservation: mass/vol/# remain same, despite changes in form 

• concrete thinking: cant think abstractally 

Piaget Stage 4

formal operational

• 12-adulthood 

• abstract reasoning/logic 

• potential for mature moral reasoning 

• solve nonphysical problems 

Critiques on Piaget

• devlopment is continuous 

• mental abilites/operations may appear earlier 

• formal logic is smaller part of cog 

Harry Harlow

• infant monkeys bond w fake mother 

• bodily content not because of nourishment 

Konrad Lorenz

• familiarity = factor of attachment 

• imprinting (can cause attachment) 

Secure Attachment 

• explore enviorment happily in presence of caregiver 

• cargiver leaves → distressed 

Insecure Attachment

• cling to cargiver 

• less likely to explore

influences: parenting style/temperament

Strange Situation Test

Mary Ainsworth

• behavioral test

• determines attachment style

ex. mother present, leaves, returns  

Authoritarian

• high standards

• strict punishments

• little communication

Permissive

• high nurturing/communication

• little discipline/control

Authoritative

best parenting style!!

• set limits but listen (child can advocate) 

• flexible → willing to negotiate 

Neglectful/Uninvolved

• indifferent 

• unaware of what happens in childs life

• can be abuse 

Adulthood Social Devlopment

• love & commitment: pairs = greater life satisfaction

• divorce: less common if marry when older, more common now 

• lasting marriage: equitable, more pos interactions 

Moral Devlopment: Preconventional Morality

kohlberg

• children 

• avoid punishment/gain reward 

Moral Devlopment: Conventional Mortality

• adolescents 

• social rules/laws 

• upheld for own sake 

Moral Devlopment: Postconventional Morality

• personally percieved ethical principles 

• diff for cultures