PSY 2301 Chapter 8: Lifespan Development

physical development

growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, and motor skills, and health and wellness

cognitive development

learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity

psychosocial development

involves emotions, personality, and social relationships

normative approach to development

this approach asks “what is normal development?”

development milestones

age-related averages can be used as general guidelines to compare children with same-age peers to determine the approximate ages they should reach specific normative events; crawling, walking, writing, dressing, naming colors, speaking in sentences, starting puberty

continuous development

development is a cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills, there is gradual change

discontinuous development

development takes place in unique stages at specific times or ages; change is more sudden

stage theories

the sequence of development in universal

Sigmund Freud

believed personality develops during early childhood; development is discontinuous; psychosexual development with different erogenous zones: oral, an__, phallic, latency, and genital

erik erikson psychosocial development

emphasizes social nature of development

development takes place all through the lifespan

how we interact with others is what affects our sense of self or ego identity

successful completion of each task results in a sense of competence and a healthy personality; failure to master these tasks result in feelings of inadequacy

erikson’s development

birth to 12 months: trust vs mistrust; infants are dependent on caregivers; neglect can lead to anxiety, fear, mistrust, and belief world is unpredictable

1-3 years: autonomy vs. shame and doubt; control actions and preferences for certain things, trying to establish independence; neglect leads to doubt of abilities, low self-esteem, shame

3-6 years: initiative vs. guilt; learning to plan and achieve goals and interacting with others, self-confidence, and purpose; neglect leads to guilt

7-11 years: industry vs. inferiority; comparing themselves, pride, accomplishment; neglect leads to inferiority and inadequateness

12-18 years: identity vs. role confusion; sense of self; neglect leads to weak sense of self and role/future confusion

19-29 years: intimacy vs. isolation; share our life with others; neglect leads to loneliness and emotional isolaiton

30- 64 years: generativity vs. stagnation; finding life’s work and contributing to development of others; neglect leads to little connection with others, little interest in productivity and self-improvement

65- end of life: integrity vs. despair; proud of accomplishments; neglect feel like life has been wasted, could have, should have feelings

Jean Piaget

studied childhood development; focusing on children’s cognitive growth

thinking is a central aspect of development and children are naturally inquisitive

shemata

conepts used to categorize and interpret information

assimilation

take in information that is comparable to what they already know

accommodation

describes when they change their schemata based on new information

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

0-2: sensorimotor: world experiences through senses and actions: object permanence and stranger anxiety

2-6: preoperational: use words and images to represent things, but lack logical reasoning: pretend play, egocentrism (believes everyone thinks the way they do), language development; haven’t developed conservation (even if you change appearance of something, it is still equal in size if nothing is removed)

7-11: concrete operational: understand concrete events and analogies logically, perform arithmetical operations: conservation, mathematical transformations, reversibility

12-: formal operational: formal operations and utilize abstract reasoning: abstract logic and moral reasoning

Lev Vygotsky

Russian psychologist who proposed sociocultural theory of development: rooted in one’s culture

stages of moral reasoning: Lawrence Kohlberg

an individual progresses from the capacity for pre-conventional morality (before 9) to the capacity for conventional morality (early adolescence), and toward attaining post-conventional morality (once formal operational thought is attained)

germinal stage: 1-2 weeks

conception: sperm fertilizes egg and forms zygote

zygote: begins as one-cell structure and undergoes mitosis, after 9 months billions of cells

once it attaches to lining of uterus, next stage begins

embryonic stage: 3-8 weeks

now an embryo

placenta: structure connected to uterus that provides nourishment and oxygen to embryo via umbilical cord: basic structures develop into head, chest, and abdomen, heart beats and organs form, neural tube forms along back of embryo

fetal stage: 9-40 weesk

now a fetus; size of kidney; now looks like human

9-12: sex organs differentiate

16: 4.5 inches long; fingers, toes, and fingerprints developed

24: 1.4 pounds, hearing, lungs, heart, stomach, and intestines, can survive if born prematurely

36: almost ready for birth

prenatal care

medical care during pregnancy that monitors health of pregnant person and fetus, can reduce risk of complications during pregnancy; vitamins containing folic acid can prevent birth defects

teratogen

any environmental agent-biological, chemical, or physical-that causes damage to developing embryo or fetus

alcohol, smoking, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, over the counter drugs

fetal alcohol syndrome: small head size, abnormal facial features, poor judgement, poor impulse control, higher rates of ADHD, learning issues, and lower IQ scores

newborn reflexes

inborn automatic responses to partiular forms of stimulation; rooting reflex: touch cheek and turn in that direction to suck; grasping reflext; moro reflex; respnose ot falling

neurogenesis

formation of neurons can continue into childhood however the majority of neural connections and pathways occur during the first few years of child’s life

brain size increasing

2 - 55% of adult size

6 - 90%

motor skills

ability to move our bodies and manipulate objects

fine: muscles in our fingers, toes, eyes, and enable coordination of small actions

gross: large muscle groups that control our arms and legs and involve larger movements

children as young as 3 months

can demonstrate knowledge of the properties of objects that they had only viewed and did not have prior experience wiht them

cognitive milestones

6-9 months - shake head no

9-12 months - wave bye and blow a kiss

8 months - object permanence

12-24 months - like hide and seek

3-5 old - count, name colors, tell name and age, decisions on their own, time, sequencing, predictions in a story, think symbolically, ask why, theory of mind (understand otehr people have differnt perspecives)

milestones

attachment

long standing connection r bond with others

secure base

parental presense that gives a child a sense of safety as he explores his surroundings

secure attachment

toddler prefers parent over stranger 0 used as secure base and sought out during stress

avoidment attachment

child is unresponsive to the parent and does not use them as secure base and does not care if the parent leaves

resistant attachment

children tend to show clingy behavior but then they reject the attachmetn figure’s attempts to interact with them

disorganized attachment

behave oddly in strange situation; freeze, run aroudn room, and run away when caregiver returns

authoritative style

parent gives reasonable demands and consistent limits, expresses warmth and affection and listens to the child’s point of view

authoritarian style

parent places high value on conformity and obedience

permissive style

kids run the show and anything goes, nurturing anf loving play a roels as friend rather then parent

uninvolved styles

parents are indifferent, uninvolved, and sometiems refered to as neglectful

temperament

innate traits that influence how one thinks, behave,s and reacts with the environment

adolescence

period of development that behins at puberty and ends at emerging adulthood; developing independecen from aprents while reminaing connected to them

puberty

adrenarche and gonadarche - maturing of adrenal and s_ glands

primary s___ characteristics - organs specifically needed for reproduction

secondary s__ characteristics - pshyical signs of s__ maturation not directly involved in s__ organs

menarche - beginning of menstrual periods

spermarche - first ejac____

cognitive empathy

theory of mind realates to the ability to take the perspective of others and feel convern for others

emerging adulthood

defineid period of lifespan development starting from 18-mid 20s as an in between time where identify expliration is focused on work and love

socioemotional selectivity theory

social support and freiendships dwindle in number, but remain as close, if not more close than in our earlier years

hospice

provide death with dignity and pain management ina humane and comfortable environment

living will or advanced directive

legal document that details specific interventions a person wants

do not resuscitate order

if a person stops breathing or their ehart stops beating, medical personnel are not to take steps to revive or resuscitate the patient

heatlh care proxy

appoints a specific person to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to speak for yourself