developmental psychology

week 4

developmental psychology

the study of how the brain, body and behaviour changes over the life span

prenatal development

• at fertilisation, a zygote is formed

• rapid cell divison ensures embryo is formed after about 14 days

• after 10 weeks all major structures have started to form and the organism is considered a foetus

risks to prenatal development

• placenta acts as a bouncer

• teratogens - infections

• drugs

  • alcohol

  • illicit drugs

  • stress

• other nutrients and contributing factors

new born development

• newborns come with preloaded abilities

  • large head

  • reflexes

• most reflexes disappear after 6 months

piaget’s theory of cognitive development

infant & childhood cognition

• cognitive development happens in stages

  • qualitative changes in thinking from previous stages

  • stages are discontinuous, sequential and universal

• brain responds by creating schemas

  • helps make sense of the world

  • mental categories

• effective cognitive development requires both assimilation and accomodation

equilibrium

the effort by the organism to exist in harmony w/ its environment

• piaget’s theory

• i.e. to reduce confluct

assimilation (piaget)

fitting new experiences into existing schemes

• required to benefit from experience

accomodation (piaget)

modifying schemes as a result of new experiences

• allows for dealing w/ completely new data/experiences

periods of cognitive development (piaget)

• sensorimotor period (0-2 yrs)

• preoperational period (2-7yrs)

• concrete operational period (7-12 yrs)

• formal operational period (12yrs+)

sensorimotor period (0-2 yrs)

• infancy

• mental activity and schemas confined to sensory functions

• deliberate, means-ends behaviour

• begin to anticipate consequences of actions

• object permanence: knowing an object still exists even if not in view

preoperational period (2-7yrs)

• preschool & early elementary school

• egocentrism - difficulty seeing world from others’ perspectives

• animism - crediting inanimate objects w/ life and lifelike properties

• concentration - on only 1 facet

• lack of conservation - ability to determine that a certain quality will remain the same

• imagination flourishes; use of symbolic thinking

concrete operational period (7-12 yrs)

• middle and late elementary school

• ability to conserve number and amount

• appearances no longer dominate thinking

• can perform simple mental operations

• can only reason about what is, not what is possible

formal operational period (12yrs+)

• adolescence and adulthood

• can logically think about abstract ideas

• can engage in hypothetical thinking

• questions social institutions

• thinking about world as it might be and ought to be

• abstract thinking

• theory of mind

criticisms of piaget’s theory

• underestimate infants’ and young children’s cognitive ability

• vague about mechanisms

• does not account for variability in children’s performance

in support of piaget

• significant shifts in children’s thinking do occur w/ age

• children now viewed as explorers

• inspired others to experimentally test his findings and theories

attachment theory

• founded by John Bowlby

• 4 stages of attachment

  1. pre-attachment stage

  2. attachment in the making

  3. true attachment

  4. reciprocal relationships

stranger anxiety

distress over contact w/ unfamiliar ppl.

seperation anxiety

• distress seen in many infants when separated from ppl. w/ whom they have formed an attachment

• particularly apparent in unfamiliar environment

consequences of attachment

• environmental instability may cause changes in quality of attachment

• attachment w/ primary care giver is formula we use to construct our future relationships

kohlberg’s moral reasoning

cognitive development in adolescence

• post conventional

• conventional

• conventional

post conventional

• ethics

• morality centres on avoiding punishment

• obtaining reward

conventional

• authority

• morality centres on meeting moral standards learned from others

• avoiding their disapproval and maintaining law and order

pre-conventional

• personal consequences

• morality centres on abstract, carefully considered principles

erikson’s stages of psychosocial development

• infant - 18 months: trust vs. mistrust

• 18 months - 3 yrs: autonomy vs. shame & doubt

• 3-5yrs: initiative vs. guilt

• 5-13yrs: industry vs. inferiority

• 13-21yrs: identity vs. role confusion

• 21-39yrs: intimacy vs. isolation

• 40-56yrs: generatively vs. stagnation

• 65yrs+: ego integrity vs. despair

emerging adult hood - Arnett

• new(ish) concept of a period of development & change b/w adolescence and adulthood

  • 18-25yrs

• contributing factors

  • extended education

  • median age of marriage and childbirth

  • identity crisis

• culturally constructed

  • not universal

distinct subjective experience

18-25 yr olds see themselves as distinct from both adolesents as ‘real adults’

distinct identity explorations

• unconstrained by parents

• engage in higher risk taking behaviour

• in the process of achieving life goals

• changes in world views; education and neural development

early adulthood - cognitive development

• neural connections will peak - brain is fully formed

• cognitive abilities improve

• beyond piage; dialect thinking

middle adulthood - cognitive development

• continue along the developmental trajectory from early adulthood

• mental exercise - use it/lose it

• lifestyle; alcohol, tobacco

middle adulthood - social development

• midlife crisis

• generativity vs. stagnation

  • will i produce smt of value

• stress of caring for children & aging parents

late adulthood - cognitive development

• noticeable declines in fluid intelligence, attention and memory

• severe memory deficits (e.g. dementia) is not normal

late adulthood - social development

• on average, life satisfaction, well-being and self-esteem remains the same

• occupational changes - retirement

• lifestyle changes - staying at home vs. retirement homes

• integrity vs. despair