Developmental Psychology: Key Theories, Research Methods, and Historical Perspectives

Stability

Individuals high or low in a characteristic remain so at later ages. Early experience may have a lifelong impact.

Plasticity

Change is possible, based on experience

Medieval Era

Childhood is regarded as separate phase with special needs, protections

16th century

puritan "child depravity' views

17th century

john locke "blank slate" view; continuous development

18th century

jean-jacques Rousseau "noble savages" view; natural maturation

Evolutionary theory

Darwin's ideas of natural selection and survival of the fittests are still influential

Normative approach

Hall & Gesell's age-related averages based on measurements of large numbers of children

Mental Testing movement

binet & simon - early developers of intelligence test

Cross-sectional research

compares groups of people who differ in age but are similar in other characteristics

Longitudinal research

same individuals are followed over time, as their development is repeatedly assessed

Cross-sequential research

several groups of people over different ages (cross-sectional) and follow them over the years (longitudinal)

Quantitative research

the scientific method, correlational studies, descriptive studies, experiments, structured observations

Qualitative research

ethnographic studies (captures experiences and perspective of people), case study, interviews, naturalistic observation

Grand theories

psychoanalytic, behaviorism, cognitive

Newer theories

sociocultural, evolutionary

Psychoanalytic theory

(freud) proposed human development in first 6 years occurs in three psychosexual stages characterized by sexual interest and pleasure arising from body part.

Psychosocial theory

(Erikson) described 8 developmental stages characterized by a challenging developmental crisis.

Birth to 1 year

oral stage

`1-3 years

anal stage

3-6

Phallic stage

6-11

Latency (sexual needs are quiet; psychic energy flow into sports, school, and friendship)

Adolescence

genital stage

Adulthood

genital stage lasts with the goal of "to love and to work"

Birth to 1 year

Trust v Mistrust

1-3 Years

Autonomy v Shame and Doubt

3-6 years

Initiative v Guilt

6-11

Industry vs Inferiority

Adolescence

Identity vs role confusion

Young Adulthood

Intimacy vs Isolation

Middle adulthood

Generativity vs stagnation

Late Adulthood

Integrity vs Despair (try to make sense of life)

Classical Conditioning

learning occurs through association

Operant conditioning

learning occurs through reinforcement and punishment

Social Learning

Learning occurs through modeling what others do.

Cognitive Theory (piaget)

proposes thoughts and expectations profoundly affect actions, attitudes, beliefs and assumption

Piaget's Periods of Cognitive Development

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Sensorimotor (0-2)

infants use senses and motor abilities to understand the world. Learning is active, without reflection. Object permanence.

Preoperational (2-6)

children think symbolically with language, yet egocentric. Imagination flourishes, language becomes a significant means of self-expression and social influence.

Concrete operational (6-11)

children understand and apply logic. Thinking is limited by direct experience. By applying logic, children scientific ideas.

Formal Operational (12 year through adulthood)

Adolescents and adults use hypothetical concepts. They can use analysis, not only emotion.

Piaget's ideas

Assimilation, accommodation (old ideas are restricted to include or accommodate), and cognitive equilibrium or disequilibrium.

Cognitive Theory

information processing theory that compares human thinking processes, by analogy, to computer analysis of data, including sensory input, connections, stored memories, and output

Sociocultural theorists

reflect insight from anthropology

Evolutionary psychologists

use data from archeologists

Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky)

proposes human development results from the dynamic interaction between developing persons and their surrounding society

Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)

skills, knowledge, and concepts that a learner is close to acquiring but cannot master without help

Process of Joint Construction (Vygotsky)

New knowledge obtained through mentoring

Selective adaptation

process by which living creatures adjust to their environment

Genome

full set of genes that are the instructions to make an individual member of certain species

Methylation

material surrounding each gene enhances, transcribes, connects, empowers, silences, and alters genetic instructions

Epigenetics

study on how environmental factors affect genes and genetic expression

Microbiomes

microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea, yeasts) have their own DNA, influencing immunity, weight, diseases, moods and much more.

Copy number variations

consist of genes with various repeats or deletions of base pairs. Correlate with Heart disease, intellectual disability, mental illnesses, and many cancers.

Monozygotic twins

identical

Dizygotic wins

fraternal

Differential susceptibility

because of a seemingly minor allele, or a transient environmental influence, a particular person may be profoundly change - or not affected at all- by experience

Mother to Son

X-linked inheritance

Germinal (Zygote) (first 14 days)

about half of all conceptions fail to grow or implant properly. Most of these organisms are grossly abnormal.

What happens during the germinal period

Development of the placenta. Implantation (about 10 days). Organisms grow rapidly.

Embryonic (Embryo) (3rd week to 8th week)

About 20% of all embryos are aborted spontaneously because of chromosomal abnormalities.

What happens during the embryonic period Primitive streak becomes the neural tube and later forms the brain and spine of the CNS. Development is cephalocaudal and proximodistal. Heart takes shape; eyes, ears, nose, and mouth form. Heart begins to pulsate. Extremities develop and fingers and toes separate. Gender.

Cephalocaudal

head to toe development

Proximodistal

development is in to out

Fetal (Fetus) (9th week until birth)

about 5% aborted or stilborn.

What happens during the fetal period

Rapid growth with considerable variation. Average at 3 months, 3 oz, 3 inches. Large body movement by 4 months. Digestion and elimination. Fingernails, toenails, teeth, hair. CNS becomes active (heart rate, breathing and sucking)

Age of Viability

age at which a preterm newborn may survive outside the mother's uterus if medical care is availability. About 22 weeks after conception.

Teratogens

environmental agent that causes damage during the prenatal period. (Drugs Tubacco, Alcohol, pollution, illness, stress)

Threshold effect

certain teratogens are relatively harmless until exposure reaches a certain level

Maternal Factors in Health Prenatal DevelopmentL Exercise, nutrition, prevention and treatment, Rh blood factor, maternal age, previous births

Birth Process

fetal brain signals the release of hormones (oxytocin) to trigger the female's uterine muscles. Labor begins (12hrs). Birth positions vary.

Newborn"s first reflexes

Cry. color changes to pink, eyes open, fingers grab, toes stretch,

Apgar scale

quick assessment of newborn's heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, color and reflexes. Completed twice. Desired score 7 above.

Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale

test often administered to newborns measures responsiveness and records 26 behaviors, including 20 reflexes

3 sets of newborn reflexes

maintaining oxygen, breathing, hiccuping sneezing, maintaining constant body temperature, crying shivering pushing, managing feeding, sucking, rooting, swallowing

Postpartum depression

8 to 15 percent of women

Average birth weight

7 bounds, 20 inches

Typical newborn grows by age 1

10 inches

Newborns sleep needs

15-17 hours, declines to 12 hrs by age 2

Motor skills

learned abilities to move some part of the body

Gross motor skills

physical abilities involving large body movements. walking/jumping

Three elements of motor skills

muscle strength, brain maturation, practice

SIDS

sleeping on stomach and bed sharing

Protein-calorie malnutrition

person does not consume sufficient food of any kind that can result in several illnesses, severe weight loss, and even death

Stunting

failure of children to grow to a normal height for their age due to severe and chronic malnutrition

Wasting

tendency for children to be severely underweight for their age as a result of malnutrition.

Newborn language

preference for human voice; hear difference in any language (universalists)

One-year old language

know more words + ability to distinguish sounds in never-heard languages deteriorates

Broca's Area

supports grammatical processing and language production

Wernicke's area

plays role in comprehending word meaning

Gaze following

young infants choose to look at whatever advances understanding and responsively follow gaze of adults

Early logic

young infants demonstrate some understanding of how things should be and innate logic

Core knowledge

prime learning and alert infant when unexpected occurs

Face recognition

newborns are quicker to recognize a face seen only once; every face is interesting

Information-processing theory

infant mind is programmed for cognitive development. Sights and sounds produce understanding.

Evolutionary theory of infant mind

plasticity in human brain has evolved so human babies can learn everything they need to know within their culture. Evolutionary impulses are refined with experience.

Infant amnesia

implicit memory begins at 3 months and stable by 9 months. (Explicit takes longer to emerge)

Primary circular reactions

two stages of sensorimotor intelligence involving the infant's own body. (stage one (birth to 1 month): reflexes (stage 2: (1-4 months)specific adaptations or habits

Secondary circular reactionsL interaction between baby and something else; mirror neurons begin to function. (stage 3 (4-8months)

attempts to make interesting things last) (Stage 4 )6-12 months): new adaptation and anticipation; means to the end)

Goal-directed behavior

purposeful action that benefits from new motor skills resulting from brain maturation