Intro to Psychology- Unit 5 Life Span Development

Prenatal

• Prenatal life can have a big influence on one’s life 

• development and. body formation 

• genes combined for predispositions

• Teratogens (impacts growth) cross the placental barrier and can cause problems 

  • viruses→lost baby, drugs → “crack” babies, alcohol→ fetal alcohol syndrome

Infancy

• newborns are born with basic reflexes→ sucking, swallowing, grasping, swimming and helps baby find food with those reflexes 

Childhood

• depends on how their parents treat them and raise them

• social, physical, and cognitive development occurs

Authoritative

more support + more discipline

Permissive

more support + less discipline

Authoritarian

less support + more discipline

Unresponsive

less support + less discipline

Adolescence— period of development between childhood and adulthood

• culture specific 

• search for more control over life choices 

• tumultuous, stressful 

  • social approval importance 

  • alienation from parents is deep 

• intense mood swings

  • absence of adulthood worries 

  • sense of idealism and endless possibilities 

• selective elimination of unused connections 

• frontal lobe development lags behind emotional limbic system 

  • impulsiveness

  • emotional storms 

  • risky behaviors ensue 

• reasoning is self-focused in early teen years 

Zygote

• earliest stage of life

• After conception, the fertilized egg enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division 

  • fewer than half survive beyond the first 2 weeks

  • Genes combine and form brain cells 

  • Near the end, specialized cells are developed 

Genes

Segments of DNA that carry hereditary information, essential for the development of traits and functioning of cells.

Embryo

Zygote attaches to uterine wall and is now an embryo 

• 2 weeks-2 months 

• when placenta is formed 

• forms organs and moves toward supporting life 

  • own liver filters blood 

  • has a heartbeat 

Fetus

when all organs are formed and the embryo is now a fetus

• 9 weeks to birth

• looks distinctly human 

• at 6 months, organs sufficiently developed→ can survive if born at this point

  • responsive to sound→ can hear a mother’s voice

teratogens

substances that can cause malformations or developmental issues in a fetus during pregnancy.

fetal alcool syndrome

physical and cognitive abnormalities in child caused by a pregnant woman’s drinking

• includes noticeable facial disproportion

• leading cause of mental retardation

puberty

period of sexual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

• followed by increased hormones, which intensify moods and trigger rapid physical development 

• 11 in girls, 13 in boys 

Primary sex characteristics

body structures developing dramatically during puberty that make sexual reproduction possible

• ovaries, testes, external genitalia, etc 

Secondary sex characteristics

development of non-reproductive sexual characteristics

• female breasts and hips

• male voice quality, facial hair 

Jean Piaget

Swiss Psychologist that focused on children development believed children were active thinkers 

• children reason illogically about problems that seem obvious to adults 

  • They do NOT know less; minds develop through a series of stages (4)

Sensorimotor stage—> Piaget Stage 1

• birth to about 2 years 

• sensory impressions and motor activities (looking hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping)

  • lack object permanence`

Object permanence

awareness that things exist even if not seen

Preoperational stage →Piaget Stage 2

• from about 2-7

• does not understand conservation

• 3 year olds can use symbolic thinking

  • egocentric

Preoperational stage

Piaget stage 2

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget Stage 1

Conservation

the value of something remains the same even when placed in a different object, location, or form

Egocentrism

inability to take another’s point of view (world revolves around them)

Concrete operational stage→Piaget stage 3

• from about 6/7-11 years 

• able to think logically about concrete events 

  • still slightly egocentric 

  • understand conservation

  • enjoy jokes that allow them to use new understandings 

    • become mentally capable of understanding math

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget Stage 3

Formal operational stage→ stage 4

• normally begins at 12 

• thinking logically about abstract concepts 

  • more imagined realities and symbols 

  • hypothetical propositions

    • deducing consequences 

Piaget stage 4

Formal Operational stage

Lawrence Kohlberg

American psychologist; believed the biggest developmental goal is to learn right and wrong (made 3 levels)

Preconventional moral reasoning→Kohlberg 1st level

• people follow the rules to avoid punishment and/or receive reward 

  • look at own, individual needs and desires (most children fall within this stage) 

Pre conventional Moral Reasoning

Kohlberg stage 1

Conventional moral reasoning→ Kohlberg 2nd level

• people follow the rules to help society function and/or be seen as a “good” person 

  • This is where the majority of people fall into (people usually first enter in adolescents  

Conventional Moral Reasoning

Kohlberg stage 2

Postconventional moral reasoning→ Kohlberg 3rd level

• people can break rules and still be seen as right to advance society beyond where it is and looks for the betterment of the whole 

  • very few people reach this stage (some say it does not exist)  

Post conventional Moral Reasoning

Kohlberg Stage 3

Harry Harlow→ awful person

• monkeys given 2 mothers: 1 provided nourishment but made of uncomfortable wire and the other was wrapped in comfortable terry cloth 

  • monkeys preferred cloth mother as a secure base

Attachment

human infants also become attached to parents who provide safe havens 

Stranger Anxiety

a social development

Erik Erikson

student of Freud who expanded on the developmental stages (8)- had to learn to be individuals with trust, integrity, intimacy, etc

identity

• our sense of self

• Erikson says people will try on different “roles” until they find one that fits

Intimacy

the ability to form close, loving relationships; bridge gap between adolescence and early adulthood

Authoritative parenting

• parents place responsibility on child 

  • in proportion to age

  • punishment for not meeting responsibilities 

• Parents are open in showing their support

Permissive parenting

• parents place little responsibility on children

• parents are often very open with showing support 

  • very little punishment for missing responsibilities 

  • children are allowed to set own limits 

Authoritarian parenting

• parents place many responsibilities on children 

  • commonly use punishment 

  • sets limits with no child input

• do not openly show support 

Unresponsive parenting

• parent is uninvolved in child’s life 

  • expects high levels of responsibility of children 

  • more focused on own life than caring