Psych 18- Measuring Devleopment

Nature

Genes, heredity, biology

• human traits, abilities are shaped by genetics

  • Example: eye color, height, genetic disorder

Nurture

Environment, experience, culture

• Development influenced upbringing, learning, culture/life experiences

  • Examples: language acquisition, social skills, values

Heritability

The extent to which genetic differences among individuals in a population contribute to variation in a trait (intelligence, height)

Heritability Index

• numerical value from 0.0-1.0 (0%-100%)

• 0.0 trait variation is due to environment

• 1.0 trait variation is due to genetics

• Heritability applies to POPULATION, not individuals

Cross sectional research

compares age groups at a single point in time to examine developmental differences

• Quick/inexpensive, no follow up

• Cannot compare change within individuals and cohort effects

Longitudinal Research

tracking the same group of individuals over a long period of time to study changes in development

• directly measures change in individuals and controls cohort effect

• time consuming and costly, participants can drop out.

Continuous Development

a gradual/cumulative development, change occurs in small steady increments

Discontinuous Development

Occurs in distinct stages that are qualitatively different

• each stage represents a new way of understanding or interacting with the world

Critical Periods

Specific windows of development when the organism is highly sensitive to certain experiences

• lack of input can cause irreversible permanent deficits

Teratogens

Exposure to some toxins during prenatal development cause permanent organ defects

Language

children must be exposed to language in first few years for native fluency

vision

kittens deprived of visual stimuli after eye opening show visual impairments

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

proposed personality develops through five stages driven by the focus of libido on different erogenous zones

• oral (0-1): pleasure from sucking/eating

• anal (1-3): pleasure from controlling bladder/bowels

• phallic (3-6): focus on genitals

• latency (6-12): sexual impulses repressed

• genital (12+ years): mature sexual interests/relationships

Erickson’s Theory of Psychosocial Stages

proposed personality develops through 8 stages across life span

• infancy- trust v. mistrust

• early childhood- autonomy v. shame/doubt

• Pre-school- initiative v. guilt

• school age- industry v. inferiority

• adolescence- identity v. role reflection

• young adulthood- intimacy v. isolation

• middle adulthood- generativity v. stagnation

• late adulthood- integrity v. despair

Kohlberg’s Moral Stages

proposed moral reasoning develops through 3 levels (6 stages)

• pre-conventional (childhood)

  • S1: obedience and punishment

  • S2: Individualism and exchange

• Conventional (adolescence/adulthood)

  • S3: interpersonal conformity- seeking approval

  • S4: Law and Order- upholding rules/authority

• Postconventional (adulthood. not all reach)

  • S5: social contract- rules as social agreements for common good

  • S6: universal ethical practices

Piaget’s Cognitive Stages

• Sensorimotor (0-2): object permanence

• Preoperational (2-7): egocentrism, problems with conservation

• Concrete operational (7-11): logical reasoning, difficulty with abstract/hypothetical reasoning

• Formal operational (12+): ability to think abstractly, philosophical/moral/social concerns

Law of conservation

understanding that the physical properties of an object remain the same despite superficial change in appearance

Egocentrism

difficulty seeing the world from another person’s perspective