Unit 9 Developmental Psychology

Nature vs. Nurture

Nature vs. Nurture

How do genetics and experience influence behavior. Are we who we are because of the way we were born OR the way we were raised.

Continuity

Is development a gradual, continuous process?

Stability

Do our early personality traits persist through life

Stages

Is development a sequence of separate stages?

Change

Do we become a different person as we age?

Conception

When sperm penetrates the ovum

Zygote

A fertilized egg, the first stage of prenatal development. Lasts about 2 weeks and consists of rapid cell division, less than half survive the two weeks.

Embryo

After 2 weeks, zygote becomes embryo. Lasts about 6 weeks, the heart begins to beat and the organs begin to develop.

Fetus

9 weeks after embryo is developed. By the 6th month, the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside the mother. Baby can hear and recognize sounds and respond to light.

Teratogens

Chemicals or viruses that can enter the placenta and harm the developing fetus; Alch, HIV, STDS, Viruses, ect

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant womens heavy drinking

Reflexes

Newborn automatic responses. Rooting, sucking, grasping, moro, babinski, ect.

The Competent Newborn

Offspring cries are necessary for survival. They are important signals for parents to provide nourishment

Visual Acuity

Newborns see most clearly when faces are 4-30 inch away.

20/600 (what a newborn can see at 20ft is what adults can see at 600ft)

Binocular Vision

The ability to use both eyes together to focus on an object. Develops around 14 weeks.

Healthy Newborns

Turns head to voices, sees 8-12 inches from face, gazes longer at human like objects.

Infancy

Newborn to toddler

Childhood

Toddler to teenager

Physical Development

Infants Psychological development depends on their bio development

The Brain and Infancy

Although the brain does not develop many new cells, the existing cells begin to work more efficiently, forming complex neural networks.

Developing Brain

The developing brain overproduces neurons. Peeking around 28 bil at 7 months. The greatest neuronal spurt is in the frontal lobe.

Maturation

The development of the brain unfolds based on genetic instructions, causing various bodily and mental functions to occur in sequence. Sets the basic course of development, while experience adjusts it.

Motor Development

Refers to the acquisition of abilities like grasping, walking, skipping and balancing. Infants begin to roll over; then they sit unsupported, then crawl, then walk.

Developmental Norms

A timetable during infancy that helps doctors and psychologists record development

Infantile Amnesia

This explains why 3-4 year olds can't remember anything of the few months of life. Many neural connections that underlie memories are only beginning to form

Maturation and Infant Memory

The earlier age of conscious memory is around 3.5 years. A 5 year old has a sense of self and an increased long-term memory, thus organization of memory is different from 3-4 years

Jean Piaget

Dominated in the field of cognitive development. Agreed that cognitive processes follow a series of stages in an invariable order

Invariable

Never changing

Piaget and IQ Tests

While developing IQ tests he noticed many children got the same questions wrong. He concluded that the kids are not "stupid" but instead they think differently than adults

Piaget Believed

That the driving force behind intellectual development is our biological development amidst experiences with the environment. Our cognitive development is formed by the errors we make

Schemas

The way we interpret the world around us. What you picture in your head (prototype) when you think of anything. "A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information. Mental molds into which we pour our experiences"

Assimilation

\n Interpreting ones NEW experiences in terms of one's existing schemas. Incorporating new experiences into existing schemas

Accommodation

Changing an existing schema to adopt new information

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget. Age 0-2. We experience the world through our senses. Do NOT have object permanence; AKA objects that are out of sight are out of mind

Criticisms of Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget believed that those in this stage do not have abstract concepts or ideas. Research shows that those in this stage can think and count. Children can understand the basic laws of physics

Preoperational Stage

Piaget. Age 2-7. Have object permanence. Begin to use language to represent object and ideas. Are egocentric and do not understand concepts of conservation

Egocentrism

Cannot look at the world through anyone's eyes but their own. Piaget concluded that preschoolers cannot perceive things from another persons's point of view

Conservation

Children cannot understand that although things look different, they can still be the same

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget. Age 6-11. Grasp conservation problems. Children are able to transform mathematical functions. Logical reasoning

Logical Reasoning

Only think in black and white

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget. Around age 12. We are able to think abstractly. We can now use symbols and imagined realities to systematically reason. Can manipulate objects in our minds without seeing them. Hypothesis testing. Trial and error. Metacognition

Hypothesis testing

I will get away with it or not thinking

Metacognition

Able to think about things from different perspectives

Critiques of Piaget’s Theory

Today's research believes the following: Development is a continuous process; Children express their mental abilities and operations at an earlier age; Formal logic is a smaller part of cognition. Some say he underestimated children's abilities. Studies show that our attention span grows gradually over time

Information-Processing Model

Children learn and grow gradually and continuously, not in stages

Inner Speech

Lev Vygotsky. By age 7 children become increasingly capable of thinking in words and using words to work out problems. They internalize their culture's language and rely on inner speech. The more time children spend processing, the stronger their cognitive ability is developed

Zone of Proximal Development

When children are developmentally ready to learn a new skill through mentoring/social interaction

Temperament

Emotional reactivity and intensity

Easy Temperament

Adaptable, positive mood, regular habits

Slow to Warm Up Temperament

Low activity, somewhat slow to adapt, generally withdraw from new situations

Difficult Temperament

Intense emotions, irritable, cry frequently

Average Temperament

Unable to classify, 1/3 of all children. A mix of all

Stranger Anxiety

The fear of strangers develops around 8 months. This is the stage at which infants form schemas for familiar faces and cannot assimilate a new face

Separation Anxiety

Peaks around 13 months of age, regardless of whether the children are home or sent to daycare

Body Contact

It was first assumed that infants became attached to those who satisfied their need for nourishment. Studies show that infants are more attached to those who give them physical, comforting contact. Monkey study

Harry Harlow (1971)

Origins of attachment. Showed that infants bond with surrogate mothers because of bodily contact and not because of nourishment

Harlows Surrogate Mother Experiments

Monkeys preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing mother. Monkeys raised by artificial mothers were terror-stricken when placed in strange situations

Critical Periods

The optimal period shortly after birth when an organisms exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produce proper development. Those who are deprived of touch have trouble forming attachments when they are older

Harlow's Legacy

Bond of attachment between parent and child. Secure base from which to explore. The need for security remains with us throughout our lives

Mary Ainsworth: Attachment

Am emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress in separation.

Secure Attachment

60% of children. They explore their environment happily in the presence of their mother, but show distress when their mother leave; easily consolable

Insecure Attachment

30% of children. Cling to their mother or caregiver. Anxious and less likely to explore. When their mother leaves they are very distressed and are inconsolable or indifferent. Avoidant or Anxious resistant

Avoidantly Attached

Insecure. A child avoids their mother and acts coldly to her

Anxious Resistant Attachment

Insecure. A child remains close to their mother and remains distressed despite her attempts to comfort

Secure Attachment and Social Competence

Predicts social competence. Function more confidently than other toddlers. Relaxed and attentive caregiving becomes the backbone of secure attachment

Prolonged Deprivation

If parental or caregiving support is deprived for an extended period of time, children are at risk for physical and psychological problems

Daycare and Attachment

Quality daycare that consists of responsive adults interacting with children does not harm the children's thinking and language skills for children over the age of 2. Studies for children below 2 have no clear answer

Authoritarian Parenting

Parents impose rules and expect obedience. Do not give reasons for rules

Permissive Parenting

Parents submit to their children's desires. Make few demands and little punishment

Authoritative Parenting

Parents are both demanding and responsive. Exert control by setting rules, but explain the reasoning behind the rules. Encourage open discussion. Correlates with social competence

Erik Erikson

A Neo-Freudian. Worked with Anna Freud. Though our personality was influenced by our experiences with others. Came up with eight stages of social development, each one centers on social conflict

Erikson Stage 1: Trust vs Mistrust

Age: Birth-18 months. Important Event: Feeding. Infants form a loving, trusting relationship with parents; they also learn to mistrust others.

Erikson Basic Trust

A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy. Said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

Erikson Stage 2: Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt

Age: 18 months-3 years. Important Event: Toilet training. Child's energies are directed towards physical skills; walking, grasping, toilet training. The child learns to control alone with a healthy dose of shame and doubt. Begin to control their bodies. Control temper tantrums. Big word is NO. Will they learn control or will they doubt themselves?

Erikson Stage 3: Initiative vs Guilt

Age: 3-6 years. Important Event: Independence. Child becomes more assertive, takes more initiative, and becomes more curious. Words change from "NO" to "WHY?" Want to understand the world and ask questions. Is their curiosity encouraged or scolded?

Erikson Stage 4: Competence vs Inferiority

Age: 6-12 years. Important Event: School. The child must deal with demands to learn new skills while risking a sense of inferiority and failure. We are evaluated by a formal system (school) and our peers for the first time. Do we feel good or bad about our accomplishments? Can lead to us feeling bad about ourselves for the res of our lives; Inferiority Complex

Erikson Stage 5: Identity vs Role Confusion

Age: Adolescence. Important Event: Peers. Teens must self-identify while deciphering their roles in occupation, politics, religion... In our teenage years we try out different roles. Who am I/Where do I fit in? May develop an identity crisis

Erikson Stage 6: Intimacy vs Isolation

Age: Young adult. Important Event: Relationships. The young adult develops marriage-seeking relationships while combating feelings of isolation. Balancing adult commitments of work and relationships

Erikson Stage 7: Generativity vs Stagnation

Age: Middle adult. Important Event: Parenting. Assuming the roles of being productive to continue future generations while avoiding the inevitable feeling of failure. Is everything going as planned/Am I happy with what I've created? potential mid-life crisis

Erikson Stage 8: Integrity vs Despair

Age: Late adult. Important Event: Life reflection. Acceptance of one's life. A sense of fulfillment or regret. Looking back on life. Was my life meaningful or do I have regrets?

Gender Roles

A set of expected behaviors for males and females. Societal expectations of activities

Social Learning Theory

We learn through reinforcement and punishment. "What is for boys and what is for girls"

Gender Schema Theory

Children develop schemas for gender. You see the world through the "lens" of your schemas

Gender Stereotype

Societal labels of gender

Gender Identity

Your sense of being male or female

Gender Expression

Communication of gender identity through behavior and appearance

Gender/Sexual Orientation

The gender you are attracted to

Adolescence

The transition period from childhood to adulthood. Extends from puberty to independence

Puberty

The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Physical Development in Adolescence

Begins with puberty. Occurs earlier in females (11) than males (13). Height for females increases before males

Primary Sexual Characteristics of Puberty

The reproductive organs develop rapidly

Brain Development

Until puberty, neurons increase their connections. However, at adolescence, selective pruning of the neurons begins. Unused neuronal connections are lost to make other pathways more efficient

Brain Development: Frontal Cortex

During adolescence, neurons in the frontal cortex grow myelin, which speeds up nerve conduction. Lags behind the limbic system's development. Hormonal surges and the limbic system explain occasional teen impulsiveness

Developing Reasoning Power

Piaget. Children can handle abstract problems and can perform formal operations. Adolescents can judge good from evil, truth and justice, and think in deeper terms

Cognitive Development

Adolescent's ability to reason gives them a new level of social awareness. They think about their own thinking, what others are thinking, what others are thinking about them, ideals that can be reaches; criticize society, parents, and themselves

Spotlight Effect

The belief that others are paying more attention to one's appearance and behavior than they really are

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Assessed moral reasoning by posing hypothetical moral dilemmas. Three levels: preconventional, conventional, and post-conventional. Each level is based on the degree to which a person conforms to conventional standards of society. Each level has two stages that represent different degrees of sophistication

Preconvetional Morality

Typically used by children under the age of 10. Morality based on rewards and punishments. If you are rewarded it is OK. If you are punish is must be WRONG

Conventional Morality

Typical of most adults. Look at morality based on trying to fit in. Follow what your peers of society think. People have a strong desire to follow the rules

Post-Conventional Morality

Most adults do not reach this level. Based on self-defined ethical principles that represent the rights of all people. Often take precedence over laws coming into conflict