Developmental Psych Unit 5 - Joana Weaver Northeastern University

Parten’s categorizations of children’s play

unoccupied, onlooker, solitary, parallel, associative, and cooperative play

Unoccupied play

 child watches things that are in the environment briefly. Not very interested in anything in particular

Onlooker play

child watches others and may ask questions but does not try join

solitary play

plays on their own and is engrossed in their own activity

parallel play

child plays alongside but not with others 

associative play

child plays with others with no goal

cooperative play

child plays with others in organized activity with goal

cultural differences in play

• Classic cross cultural studies in peer relationships found wide diff in peer contact and interaction

• Recent research on adolescent dev found peer importance and interaction was related to family values within context of cultures - in countries where there are greater importance of traditional family values, peer acceptance was not as closely related to adolescent's life satisfaction

cultural similarities in play

Suggest higher physical aggression in boys and no gender related relational aggression across nine countries

friend

a peer with whom an individual has an intimate, reciprocated, and positive relationship

children prefer friends who are:

• friendly, act pro socially

• have similar interests, behaviors, levels of negative emotions

we want friends with similar levels of cognitive maturity, academic motivations, and school ctivities

proximity and friendship

important for children but less important with age

children show preferences for certain peers over others around ages _____ and have friends as early as ______

12-18m , 2 years old

Electronic communication can create and help maintain friendships in several ways:

Greater anonymity, less emphasis on physical appearance, more control over interactions, ease of finding similar peers, and 24/7 access

rich get richer hypothesis

proposes that children with good social skills benefit from the internet while shy or withdrawn children do not use it properly which impairs further interactions with peers

social compensation hypothesis

argues that social media may actually be most beneficial to people who are lonely, depressed, or socially anxious because it allows them to control their messages and maybe more likely to make personal disclosures which will eventually lead to new friendships

harms of social media

If only used for entertainment or communicating with strangers it can decrease their quality of friendships and predict increases in anxiety and depression

most important benefits of friendship

• emotional support

• validation of one's thoughts, feelings, and worth

• opportunities to develop social and cognitive skills

deviancy training

is the act of making aggressive and deviant behavior seeming acceptable through talk and behavior of youth - found in antisocial youth

relational aggression

is a social bullying behavior that excludes people or spreads rumors to hurt the victim 

sociometric status

The degree to which a child is liked or disliked by their peers

•  the five main groups are: popular, rejected, neglected, average, or controversial

• Physical attractiveness, athleticism, and pure status all affect this

aggressive rejected

Children are prone to hostile and threatening behavior. 40 to 50% of rejected children are these aggressive rejected children 

• Unsure if the peer rejection causes the problem or if it is a maladaptive behavior

withdrawn rejected

10-25% of rejected children are withdrawn, wary, timid, and socially anxious 

sex

implies innate biological origins for any differences between males and females based on one’s sex chromosomes

• Used when: comparing genetic females and males or referring to related physiological processes

gender

refers to people’s categorization of themselves or others as girls or boys

gender terms related to socialization

• Gender typing refers generally to the process of gender socialization during development 

  • Behaviors stereotyped for a given person’s assigned gender

• Cross gender typed refers to behaviors contrary to those stereotyped for a given persons assigned gender 

  • Gender nonconforming is used to talk about kids who are highly cross gender typed 

To infer overall patterns, we use _____ to summarize average effect size and statistical significance across studies

meta analysis

gender similarities hypothesis

when comparing boys and girls it is important to to appreciate that similarities far outweigh differences on most attributes

Effect size measures:

statistical difference - variation appears within each gender

biological influences on gender differences/dev:

• mate selection

• biosocial theory

• neuroscience approach

• hormones

biosocial theory (Evolutionary approach) - biological influence on gender dev

• Focuses on the evolution of physical differences between sexes

• Proposed that these differences have behavioral and social consequences

• Physical sex differences and social ecology shape the different gender roles assigned to men and women which include the socialization of boys and girls

neuroscience approach - biological influence on gender dev

• Genes

• Hormones and brain functioning: focus on testing the effects of hormones and brain functioning on gender development

  • Adult male and female brains show a small difference in physical structure

    • Role of differences is unclear 

• Androgens - see other note

androgens

produced and lead to formation of male genitalia - in absence of high levels of these hormones female genitalia are formed 

• Androgens and other hormones also have organizing or activating influence on nervous system

organizing influence - androgens

• occurs when sex linked hormones affect brain differentiation and organization during prenatal dev or at puberty 

  • Sex related diff in prenatal androgens may influence organization and functioning of nervous system which can later on relate to average gender diff in certain play preferences 

activating influence - androgens

• occurs when fluctuations in sex linked hormone levels influence contemporaneous activation of certain brain and behavioral responses

  • Inc in androgen production in response to perceived threat with possible implication for gender differences in aggression

cognitive and motivational influences on gender diff

Theories that emphasize: the way that children learn gender typed attitudes and behaviors through observation, inference, and practice 

Stresses children’s active self socialization

• Kohlberg, gender schemas theory, Liben and Bigler’s filters, Bussey and Bandura’s social cognitive theory, Tajfel and Turner’s Social identity theory

self socialization - cognitive and motivational influences on gender diff

•  individuals using their beliefs, expectations, and preferences to guide how they perceive the world and actions they choose 

  • Environment is super important to this!

  • Active child 

Kohlberg’s thoughts on cognitive dev of gender role dev -cognitive and motivational influences on gender diff

•  Thought children actively construct knowledge about gender 

1. Children actively seek to understand the meaning of gender through observing and interacting with the world around them

2. Cognitive dev changes in children’s understanding of gender during early childhood

Kohlberg’s three stages of children understanding gender -cognitive and motivational influences on gender diff

1. At 30 months they acquire gender identity (categorizing themselves as boys or girls)

   1. But do not know gender is permanent

2. At 3 or 4 years old gender stability (knowing gender remains over time)

   1. But do not know gender is independent of superficial appearance

Around 6 years old they achieve gender constancy (gender is invariant across situations or appearances)

gender schema theory - cognitive and motivational influences on gender diff

is an alternative to Kohkberg’s explanation of children’s gender dev - posits that the motivation to enact gender typed behavior begins as soon as children can label other people’s and their own gender (around age 3 - which is younger than when gender constancy is attained)

• Children’s understanding of gender develops through their construction of gender schemas - mental representations that incorporate everything the child knows about gender

  • Includes our memories as well as messages seen through media

  • We use “ingroup/outgroup” gender schemas to classify as being same or not 

Own gender schema is formed because the motivation for cognitive consistency leads them to prefer, pay attention to, and remember more about others of their own gender

memory of cross gender typed images

More likely to recall cross gender typed images as gender typed (remembering a pic of a girl sawing wood as a boy sawing wood) than the reverse (remember a pic of a girl baking cookies as a boy baking cookies) - which shows how our schemas cause us to retain schema consistent info and ignore/distort schema inconsistent info

Liben and bigler’s two filters for processing info - cognitive and motivational influences on gender diff

1. Gender schema filter - “is this info relevant for my gender?”

   1. People being interested in cross gender typed activities means they override this filter 

2. Interest filter - “is this info interesting?”

   1. Finding a new toy interesting without evaluating appropriateness for gender means they just use interested filter

      1. “If i like this toy it must be okay with my gender” shows how they use interest filter to modify their gender schemas 

social cognitive theory - cognitive and motivational influences on gender diff

Bussey and Bandura - based on Bandura’s social cognitive theory

• Theory depicts a triadic model of reciprocal causation among personal factors, environmental factors, and behavioral patterns 

  • Learning occurs through tuition, enactive experience, and observational learning

tuition - SCT

is direct teaching during gender socialization

exactive experience - SCT

is when kids learn to guide their behavior by taking into account the reactions their past behavior has evoked in others

observational learning - SCT

The most common learning that occurs through seeing and encoding the consequences other people experience as a result of children’s own actions 

• Involve attention, memory, production, and motivation

social identity theory

Henri Tajfel and John Turner’s theory that group membership influences our self concepts and behavior with others 

• Ingroup bias - tendency to evaluate individuals and characteristics associated with ingroup more positively than or as superior than those of outgroup 

  • Relates to ingroup assimilation where people are socialized to conform to group’s norms

intersectionality

is a phenomenon of many intersections of our identities affect our experiences 

integrative theoretical approaches

developmental ingroup theory and gender self socialization model. Combines multiple theories

developmental intergroup theory - ITA

1. CDT, GST, and SIT with three key processes that contribute to dev of stereotyping and prejudice based on a person’s gender (or other social identities)

   1. Establishing the psychological salience of gender

   2. Categorizing individuals based on their gender

   3. Dev stereotypes and prejudices based on this categorization

gender self socialization model - ITA

1. SCT, SI, and other approaches that emphasizes how gender dev is a process of self socialization and proposed 3 hypothesized ways that this balance tends to occur during gender dev

   1. Stereotype emulation proposed that more children identify with their gender ingroup the more motivated to adhere to stereotypes for gender they are

   2. Stereotype construction hypothesis specifies that children are apt to form generalized beliefs or stereotypes about their gender ingroup based on their own personal-social attributes

   3. Identity construction hypothesis states that children are more likely to identify with their gender ingroup when their own personal-social attributes match their stereotyped beliefs about their gender ingroup 

2. Helps some people who don't identify with their assigned gender at birth

cultural influence on gender dev

In the bioecological model a feature of the macrosystem is the opportunity structure that is the economic and social resources it offers and people’s understanding of those resources 

• Based on the socialization for adult roles in the microsystem and gender typing practices perpetuating the structure for women and men

milestones in gender dev

• First year we know diff between boys and girls

  • Distinguish between men and women by hair style, clothing, height, body shape, motion pattern, vocal pitch, etc

    • Don't understand what it means to be male or female though 

• Toddlers can form gender related expectations regarding objects or activities (choosing doll over toy truck,putting lipstick on)

  • Can label other people’s genders 

• Preschool children are able to learn gender stereotypes (activities, traits, roles)

  • Attribute certain toys and play activities to each gender

  • Stereotype affiliative/nurturing characteristics to female and assertive characteristics to males 

  • Gender segregation starts in preschool and inc from 3-6 years of age and remains stable throughout childhood 

  • Social dosage effect - amount of time that preschool or kindergarten children spend with same gender peers predicted subsequent changes in gender typed behavior 

  • Develop gender constancy 

    • Intensive cross gender typed interested may put kids at risks for depression, anxiety and adjustment difficulties 

• Middle Childhood gender constancy is attained by age 6

  • Ideas about gender are consolidated but may recognize some differences

  • At age 9-10 children start to show a clear understanding that gender is a social category

  • Recognize gender roles and social convention

  • Understand and the costs of violating gender role norms

  • Have an understand of gender discrimination 

gender typed behavior

boys and girl peer groups establish different behavior norms

• Assertion refer to one’s attempts to exert influence over environment

• Affiliation refers to tendency to affirm connection with others through being emotionally open, empathetic, or cooperative

• Collaboration: coordination of assertion and affiliation behavior, such as making initiatives for joint activity

• gender role intensification during adolescence

• cross gender interactions are common

statements of assertion and affiliation

• controlling statements

  • high assertion and low affiliation

• withdrawal statements

  • low assertion and low affiliation

• collaboratation statements

  • high affiliation and high assertion

• obliging statements

  • high affiliation and low assertion

Girls have _____ rigid gender typing and are ____ gender typed in their behavior?

less, less

gender role intensification

commonly occurs in the context of heterosexual dating when adolescents usually adhere to traditional heterosexual scripts

ambivalent sexism

 refers to complementary effects of hostile sexism (whereby men are dominant and women who seek equality are disparaged) and benevolent sexism (whereby men are supposed to protect women in the context of heterosexual relationships) 

gender role flexibility

is when youth pursue a flexible range of attitudes and interests

• More in girls than boys 

Adolescents milestones in gender dev

gender role intensification and gender role flexibility

• cultural aspect being celebrated for reaching adolescents

physical growth in adolescence

• Puberty - dev period marked by ability to reproduce and other dramatic bodily changes

• Primary sexual characteristics 

  • Maturation of reproductive organs

  • Menarche - onset of menstruation

  • Spermarche - onset of capacity for ejaculation

  • Adrenarche - adrenal glands mature, correlates with onset of sexual attraction

Hormonal changes and physical growth

• Endocrine system initiation of puberty in the hypothalamus where hormone changes begin

• GnRH begins at puberty

  • Relates ovarian and testicular function and are essential for normal growth, sexual development and reproduction

  • Increased GnRH occurs once a threshold level of body fat is reached 

  • Fat cells produce the protein leptin and that produces the signal to the hypothalamus to release GnRH

Feedback loop in endocrine system

monitors and adjusts level of sex hormones - set point is optimal level and once set point is reached hormone production goes down 

hormone differences during adolesence

until puberty we do not see a change in hormone levels in boys and girls

why do adolesence needs more sleep?

growth hormone is released during sleep which allows them to go through a growth spurt

on average, women reach maturation _____ years earlier than boys

2

motor dev and physical activity in adolesence - sex differences

• girls gain in gross motor performance is slow, leveling off by age 14

• boys show dramatic spurt in strength, speed, and endurance throughout teenage years

• regular sports and exercise improve:

  • motor performance

  • cognitive and social dev

  • physical and mental health

• performance enhancing drug use linked to serious side effects

What leads to individual differences in the timing of puberty? Biological and environmental causes

• Mothers menarche - reaction range from heredity 

• Growing up doing certain sports that are very physically demanding - do not put on enough body fat 

• Ethnicity (may be confounded with other factors)

• Food - we have more food now and we are ready to start puberty earlier 

  • GMOs can add more nutrients 

• SES - less/more access to food, more stress factors (biological father absence) which can lead to earlier pubertal timing for girls 

• Developing vs industrialized nations 

• Obesity rates - body fat and obesity epidemic in the US

Reactions to pubertal changes depend on

prior knowledge, family support, and cultural attitudes 

fitting in with peers’ physical maturity: body image strongly predicts youths’ self esteem

consequences of early maturation

girls

• unpopular, withdrawn, low in confidence

• loss positive body image

• more deviant behavior

• at risk for lasting difficulties

boys

• popular, athletic stars, leaders

• more positive body image

• viewed as well adjusted but reported psychological stress, depression

• more deviant behavior

consequences of late maturation

girls

• popular

• sociable, school leaders

• positive body image

boys

• transient emotional difficulties

intersex conditions

CAH - prenatally, adrenal glands produce high levels of androgens in genetic females. may result in external male genitalia and higher rates of masculine typed play

AIS - prenatally, androgen receptors malfunction in genetic males and result in external female genitalia

brain based research that impacted policy for adolescence

driving age, court hearing ages, changing tobacco purchase age, pushing school start time back

brain dev in adolescence and emerging adulthood

Burst of growth in adolescence and emerging adulthood

• Rapid inc in production of synaptic connections in frontal lobes and then there is synaptic pruning

  • between ages 12-20 we lose 7-10% of gray matter

    • “use it or lose it”

• further myelination leads to better executive functioning - makes brain functioning less flexible

• growth of cerebellum - balance as well as higher brain functioning

information processing gains in adolescence

metacognition, planning, increased processing speed, greater automaticity, cognitive self regulation, executive function, reasoning, problem solving, decision making

media multitasking disrupts learning

• focusing on one task activates explicit memory

  • can flexibly adapt learned strategies to new situations

• multitasking prompts implicit memory

  • shallower automatic form of learning

  • problem with each aspect of executive function

  • more easily distracted, learn less though

competition between cognitive control network and emotional/social network

CCN - still developing and involved in inhibition, planning, and delay of gratification

E/S N - outpace dev of CCN resulting in self regulation difficulties

• stronger response to excitatory neurotransmitters: increased reactivity to stress, pleasure and social stimuli

• unchecked drive for novelty, leads to sensation seeking

  • will change once prefrontal cortex finishes dev

personal fable

is a form of egocentrism where adolescents overly differentiate their feelings from those of others and come to regard themselves and their feelings as unique and special

imaginary audience

the preoccupation with how others view them/think of them

Piage’ts theory of cognitive dev

formal operation period: more abstract and more complex

• abstract thinking, metacognition

  • self awareness of thinking processes

  • includes thinking about what you think of others and what they think of you

• likely to see things in greater complexity and perceive multiple aspects of a situation

  • metaphors

  • sarcasm

• === pendulum problem

limitations of Piaget’s theory

individual differences in formal operations

• most people proceed through stages at different ages

cultural limitation - not all cultures develop formal operational thought

changes in state of arousal in adolescence

sleep “phase delay”

• we still need about 9 hours of sleep though

• puberty influences brain regulation of sleep

  • more social activities, screen media in bedroom

• lack of sleep impairs executive function, cognitive and emotional self regulation

  • reduced school achievement

  • increased anxiety and depression

  • high risk behavior

moodiness in adolescence

linked to more negative life events and more emotionally reactivity - not that we are inherently more moody

• moods of adolescents are less stable though

  • high in peer settings and leisure activities

  • low in adult structured settings

early adulthood (18-40) for most involves

leaving home, completing education, beginning full time work, attaining economic independence, establishing a long term intimate relationship, starting a family

• timing of the milestones vary greatly

• changes are multidirectional and multimodal

aging at level of DNA and cells in early adulthood

genetic programming theory: programmed effects of “aging genes” and the fact that human cells have a certain lifespan (50 divisions) and the telomeres shorter with each division until it is so short that it cannot divide anymore

cumulative effects of random events: spontaneous mutations and free radicals

free radical damage

no real evidence that this damage triggers biological aging

• cross linkage theory: tissue becomes less elastic which causes problems

  • gradual issues of endocrine system

  • deterioration in immune system functioning

we now think a combination of that theory and the theories about cumulative effects of random events and genetic programming theory are what causes our biological aging

system changes in early adulthood

immune system:

• declines after age 20

• stress weakens immune response

heart/lungs:

• reduced performance under stressful exercise

• hypertension and atherosclerosis

• reduced capacity of lungs after age 25

motor performance

• with training we can keep most of our motor performance

• until advanced old age we can maintain as long as we stay active

reproductive capacity

• ideal to reproduce in 20s and then declines

• fertility risks starting mid 30s for women and men

variation in health in early and middle adulthood

compared to many other industrialized nations, US has higher death rates for all causes in early adulthood

• SES disparities and health and mortality are a large reason for this statistic

causes of obesity in adulthood

• heredity

• declining physical activity; more sedentary transportation, jobs, leasure activities

• increase in calorie, sugar, and fat intake

• BMR declines with age

health in midlife

• 85% of middle aged Americans rate health as excellent or good, more chronic disease than early adulthood, insufficient research on women and ethnic minorities

• economic disadvantage strongly predict poor health and premature death

• 1/3 of US midlife death are from cancer - more men than women

• heart disease is responsible for 25% of middle aged deaths

sexuality in middle adulthood

• slight drop in frequency among married couples

  • stability of sexual activity is typical

  • best predictor is relationship satisfaction

• intensity of response declines

  • slower arousal due to the midlife transition in which fertility declines

• sex still important, enjoyable to most

managing stress in adulthood

• reevaluate the situation

• focus on events you can control

• view life as fluid

• consider alternatives

• set reasonable goals

• exercise regularly

• use relaxation techniques

• constructively reduce anger: assertiveness, not hostility, seek social support

coping styles in adulthood

• problem centering coping

  • identify and appraise situation as changeable

  • choose and implement potential solutions

• emotion centered coping

  • internal, private

  • control distress when situation can’t be changed

  • ineffective when self blaming, impulsive, escapist

• flexibly moving between two styles reduces stress

hardiness

• ability to turn stressful situations into opportunities for resilience

  • predicts healthy behaviors and effective strategies

• marked by: control, commitment, challenge

internal locus of control

Erikson’s theory of psychosocial dev - generativity vs stagnation (middle adulthood)

generativity

• giving to and guiding younger generations

• extending commitments beyond self and partner

• integrating personal goals with larger social welfare

• may be realized through parenting, other family relationships, work, volunteering, mentoring, creativity, and productivity

• optimistic “belief in the species” is a major motivator

highly generative adults:

• well adjusted

• associated with successful marriages, close friendships, workplace leadership, more effective child rearing

• personal narratives have generative themes

• exhibited in midlife across SES and ethnicity

stagnation

• self centered, self indulgent, self absorbed

• lack of interest in young people

• focuses on what one can get from others, rather than what one can give

• little interest in being productive at work or developing talents

midlife crisis

life evaluation is common during middle age

• studies have shown people’s life evaluations but not stark changes in their lives

  • those who did experience a “crisis” had an early adulthood where gender roles, family pressure, or SES made it hard for them to fulfill personal needs and goals

• “turning points” reported: mostly positive, leading to personal growth

• interpretation of regrets greatly influences well being

• crisis and major restructuring are rare

possible selves

• what one hopes to become or fear becoming

• rely more on temporal than on social comparisons

• fewer in number, more modest and concrete with age

• can be redefined by the individual, permitting affirmation of the self

• strong motivator of action in midlife

• play protective role in self esteem

coping in middle adulthood

• Effective coping strategies

• pleateau in frequency of daily stressors

• strong sense of personal control over outcomes

• gains in emotional stability and confidence

exposure to adversity

• Modest levels

  • Linked to more favorable adjustment

  • Fosters mastery, hardiness to overcome futures stressors

• No history

  • Respond less optimally; lack experience

• High levels, frequent exposure

  • Overtax coping skills; hopelessness, loss of control

  • Interfere substantially with mental health

big 5 personality traits

individual differences that are highly stable

• openness to experience

• conscientiousness

• extroversion

• agreeableness

• neuroticism

enduring foundation, yet responsible to the pressure of life experiences