Developmental Psychology

Psych 1010 exam 3

Three primary focuses

Physical, cognitive, social

4 broad periods

Prenatal

Childhood

Adolescence

Adulthood

Nature vs. Nurture

Genetic inborn characteristics vs. environmental exposure to other factors

Research considerations

I don’t think this is very important but

Parental consent - whoever is the legal guardian is the one that has to sign and give consent for the child

Assent - child needs to communicate in some way that they are willing to do it

Post Hoc Fallacy - a bias when psychologists think that anything that happened before causes whatever happened after, linking cause and effect assumption that the thing that someone is struggling with at age x happened because of what happened to them at age y, simply because it happened before

Bidirectional influences - the development that you have is going to impact the way you interact with the world, which impacts your development, and that keeps going

Cohort effects - huge impact on everyone, but varies from person to person

Longitudinal studies - follow a given person throughout a long time (life)

Cross sectional studies - studies that observes from a single point

Prenatal

Conception

Germinal Stage

Embryonic stage

Birth/Newborn - phasing with childhood stage

Conception

Women are born with all eggs

Men produce sperm throughout life

Germinal stage

Zygote - fertilized egg

Cells begin to divide and multiple

10 day after conception, the cells attach to uterine wall

Highly vulnerable

About 50% of people who are pregnant do not know that they were pregnant (because the “baby” is lost during this stage)

Zygote twins

• Monozygotic - “identical” - egg divides into 2 zygotes

• Dizygotic - “fraternal” - 2 eggs fertilized with 2 different sperm

Embryonic stage

2 weeks after conception until end of month 2

Organ systems begin to develop

Cephalocaudal - start at the head and grow down

Proximodistal - start at the center and grow outward

Fetal stage

9 weeks after conception

Considered a fetus

Fetal temperament (there are certain “personalities” or behaviors that the fetus will show)

4 months - facial features become defined

rapid body growth and differentiation of cells

23-26 weeks = threshold of viability

Potential problems (fetal stage)

Premature birth (anything before 36 weeks)

Genetic disorders

Environmental factors

• Teratogens - any external agents, such as drugs or viruses that can cause harm to the embryo or fetus

  • Drug (legal and illicit) - thalidomide, alcohol, tobacco

  • Maternal illness

  • Maternal malnutrition

Birth/newborn

Born with reflexes:

• Withdraw from pain

• Move face if breathing is obstructed

• Root for nipple

• Swallow milk

Seek social stimulation - newborns will look 2x as long at the object that looks more like a face than the other object

Mom’s scent and voice imprinted neurally

Infancy and childhood

3-6 years

Most rapid brain growth is in frontal lobes

Rational planning abilities, thus ability to control behavior and attention

Critical period - experience can be used to the greatest benefit

Cognition - Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget (1900s)

KIDS ARE NOT MINI ADULTS

Studied the errors in cognition made by children and the ways in which they think differently than adults

Driving force behind intellectual development is an increasing struggle to make sense of experiences

Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development

Sensorimotor - experience the world via senses (0-2 years)

Preoperational - represent world with words and images (2-6 years)

Concrete operational - logic about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies (7-11 years)

Formal operations - systemic logic and reasoning, such as abstract concepts (12+ years)

Sensorimotor

Experience world via senses

0-2 years

Object permanence (8 months)

Stranger anxiety (8 months)

These are related - babies now understand that mom still exists (O.P.) and wants mom and is scared of the people holding them without her around (S.A.)

Preoperational

Represent world with words and images

2-6 years

Pretend play

Egocentrism - only understand things from their perspective

Theory of Mind (does not have yet/is developing) - the ability to understand that others have their own thoughts and perspective

Concrete operational

Logic about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies

7-11 years

Conservation (does not have yet/is developing) - pouring the same amount of water into different shaped cups - do not understand that it is still the same amount of water

Mathematical transformations

Formal operations

Systemic logic and reasoning, such as abstract concepts

12+ years

Anything after puberty

Vygotsky

Scaffolding

Zone of Proximal Development

Development occurs at different rates

Scaffolding

Parents support learning by providing cognitive help

Gradually remove structure as child becomes more competend

Zone of Proximal Development

What child can do and how assistance can help

The 3 circles

• Smallest: Learners cannot do

• Middle: Learners can do with assistance

• Largest: Learners can do without assistance