Psych

Development

psychological or physical change that occurs over time

• a change must be relatively permanent or lasting to be considered a developmental change

Areas of development: physical development

involves changes in the body and its various systems

eg. development of the brain, bones, motor skills and hormonal changes

Areas of development: social development

involves changes in an individual’s interactions with other people and their skills in interacting with others

eg. ability to form close relationships

Areas of development: emotional development

involves changes in how an individual expresses different feelings and how these feelings are expressed, interpreted and dealt with

eg. how anger is expressed by a 2, 16 and 50 year old

Areas of development: cognitive development

involves changes in an individual’s mental abilities

eg. perception, thinking, learning, memory, problem solving

Stages of the lifespan

infancy: birth - 2

childhood: 2 -12

adolescence: 12- 20

early adulthood: 20 - 45

middle age: 45 - 65

older age: 65+

Benefits:

• it assists in understanding when in the lifespan particular changes occur

• it helps us to identify who has delayed development

Limitations:

• different people assign different ages to each stage

• people grow and develop at different rates

• some cultures do not recognise ‘adolescence’ as being a stage of the lifespan

Nature (hereditary/genetic factors)

the genes and components of an individual that are predetermined and set

eg. hair and eye colour, intelligence, personality, athletic capacity

Nurture (environmental/experience factors)

the perspective that an individual is capable to be shaped by their experiences in life

eg. environment, relationships, social interactions, geographic locations

Sensitive periods

Is a period of time during development when an individual is more responsive to certain types of environmental experiences or learning

Critical periods

Is a specific period in development during which an organism is most vulnerable to the deprivation or absence of certain environmental stimuli or experiences

Sensitive periods vs critical periods

Difference: critical periods are the narrow, rigid developmental periods in which a specific function or skill must be learnt, while sensitive periods are the optimal developmental period for a specific function or skill to be learnt in the fastest and easiest way

Genie case study

Genie was a female individual who was isolates in a concealed room from birth to the age of 13. This room contained little light, a cage and potty with a strap. Genie grew up strapped to the party, having no human or world interaction. This resulted in the 13 year old not being able to speak or walk. After being treated like this for 13 years, Genie was sent to a hospital free from her unhealthy lifestyle. Here, scientists helped Genie start to walk and talk, although it wasn’t perfect she tried her best. Genie was sent to many homes and finally ended up in an adult home, barely able to form sentences and use grammar to express her words.

From this study, we can conclude that an example of something that develops during critical periods of development is grammar and sentence structure, whereas something that develops during sensitive periods would be learning new words, walking, toilet training, social skills and basic attachment with others.

The biopsychosocial (BPS) model

Is a holistic approach to health and wellness that considers biological, psychological and social factors.

Biological factors: involve physiologically based or determined influences, often not under our control.

• genes

• Age

• Race

• Nervous system activity

Psychological factors: involve all those internal, mental processes and influences.

• learning and memory

• Ways of thinking

• Coping skills

• Emotions

Social factors: involve influences from the external social environment in which we interact with others.

• interpersonal relationships

• Social media

• Ethnicity

• Educational background

Attachment

Is an emotional long-lasting bond between two individuals

Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure

Ainsworth and her colleagues devised a method for assessing attachment in a laboratory setting. The strange situation is a standardised test for measuring the attachment relationship a child has with their main caregiver.

Steps:

1. Experimenter leaves caregiver and infant to play

2. Caregiver sits while infant plays

3. Stranger enters the room and talks to caregiver

4. Caregiver leaves; stabler lets infant play and offer comfort if needed

5. Caregiver returns greets infant, offers comfort if needed; stranger leave

6. Caregiver leaves

7. Stranger enters and offers comfort

8. Caregiver returns, greets infant, offers comfort and lets infant return to play

Stranger anxiety

Refers to an infant’s wariness or cautiousness when a stranger such as unfamiliar adult is present

Separation anxiety

Is indicated by an infant’s distress when they are operated from their man caregiver

Four types of attachment

1. Secure attachment: these infants show moderate distress when the primary caregiver leaves the room. Then relieved when the caregiver returns and quickly returns to a state of happiness

2. Insecure avoidance attachment: these infants don’t get terribly distressed when the caregiver leaves, then tend to ignore the caregiver on their return

3. Insecure resistant attachment: these infants become very upset when the caregiver leaves, when they return they ted to approach them for a cuddle but the infant squirms or fights to get away

4. Disorganised attachment: these infant do not fit into the other three categories. They gave inconsistent and contradictory behaviour when in the presence of the primary caregiver

Long term impacts on types of attachment

1. Secure attachment

   • tend to develop healthy relationships later in life

   • Usually have higher self-esteem and better emotional regulation

2. Insecure avoidance attachment

   • may struggle with intimacy and emotional closeness

   • Can appear independent but suppress emotions

3. insecure resistant attachment

   • often experience anxiety in relationships and may become overall dependent on others

   • May have difficulty managing emotions

4. Disorganised attachment

   • higher risk of mental health difficulties

   • May have confusing or unstable relationships

Harry Harlow’s Experiment with Rhesus Monkeys

The aim of Harry Harlow’s early experiment with rhesus monkeys was to find out whether food or contact comfort is important in the formation of infant-mother attachment. His hypothesis stated that infant rhesus monkeys separated from their mothers immediately after birth are more likely to choose the contact comfort surrogate compared to the food surrogate. He separated the eight rhesus monkeys into two groups. Group one had four rhesus monkeys isolated in cages where a cloth surrogate mother provided food and the wire surrogate mother did not. Group two had four monkeys isolated in a cage where the wire surrogate offered food and the cloth surrogate did not. His studied found that both groups spent more time with the cloth surrogate than they did with the wire one, regardless of which provided food.

Schema

Is a mental idea about what something is and how to act

Assimilation

Sixth process of fitting new information into a pre-existing schema

Accommodation

Involves changing a pre-existing schema in order to fit in new information

Jean Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development

According to Piaget:

• the sequence is followed by everyone, regardless of culture

• Individuals may reach a stage quicker or slower than peers

• Stages can not be skipped

Piaget proposed that we all progress through 4 distinct cognitive development stages, small pigs can fly

Sensorimotor stage

Pre-operational stage

Concrete operational stage

Formal operational stage

Criticisms of Piaget’s theory

• Fails to account for developmental diversity

• Based his theory on observational research of his own children

• Theory is also seen as very rigid

• Expects every individual to develop at the same rate

Stage one: sensorimotor stage

Age: birth - 2

Explanation: infants explore and learn about their world through their senses and their actions

Concepts learnt:

• object permanence: the infant will understand that object still exist even when they can not be seen, heard or touched

• Goal directed behaviour: the infant will develop the ability to perform and successfully complete a sequence of actions with a particular purpose in mind

Stage two: pre-operational stage

Age: 2 - 7

Explanation: thanks to rapid language development, thinking becomes more complex and sophisticated and children are able to mentally represent objects and experiences

Concepts learnt:

• symbolic thinking: the child develops the ability to use symbols such as words and pictures to represent objects that are not physically present

• Overcoming egocentrism: egocentrism = the tendency to perceive the world solely from one’s own point of view. During this stage, children generally learn to overcome egocentric thinking

• Animism: is the belief that everything which exists has a consciousness

• Transformation: children being to understand objects can change from one state to another

• Centration: children can only focus on one aspect of a task at a time

• Reversibility: children develop the ability to mentally follow a sequence of events back to a starting point

Stage three: concrete operational stage

Age: 7 - 12

Explanation: the child is now capable of logical thought and can perform mental operations such as counting or imagining the consequences of an action or event without it needing to happen

Concepts learnt:

• conversation: children understand that certain properties of an object remain the same even though its appearance may change

• Classification: children should be able to organise objects or events into categories based on common features that set them apart from other categories

Stage four: formal operational stage

Age: 12+

Explanation: life experiences and brain maturation enable the individual to have more sophisticated thinking and more complex thought process

Concepts learnt:

• Abstract thinking: the individual does not need to see, experience or manipulate things in order to understand them

• Idealistic thinking: adolescents being able to think about the most desirable character you themselves and others

• Logical thinking: our ability to interpret problems, identify suitable problem solving strategies and arrive at realistic conclusions, this gradually improves