Unit 6: Developmental Psychology

Developmental psychology

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan

Nature vs. Nurture

-Nature: Innate biological factors that influence development and personality
-Nurture: External and environmental factors, including learning, that influence development and personality

Continuity v. stages

Is development a gradual process or a sequence of stages?

Stability v. change

Stability implies personality traits present during infancy endure throughout the lifespan. In contrast, change theorists argue that personalities are modified by interactions with family, experiences at school, and acculturation

Germinal stage

first 2 weeks
Conception, implantation, formation of placenta
Fewer than half survive beyond this stage

Embryonic stage

2 weeks - 2 months
Formation of vital organs and systems
Most dangerous/harmful time for mother to use harmful substances because vital organs are being formed

Fetal stage

2 months - birth
Bodily growth continues, movement capability begins, and brain cells multiply
Age of viability - after 25 weeks (can exist outside of womb)

Maternal nutrition

Malnutrition linked to increased risk of birth complications, neurological problems, and psychopathology

Maternal drug use

Tobacco, alcohol, prescription, and recreational drugs
Fetal alcohol syndrome causes face misproportions

Teratogens

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo and fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

Grasping reflex

Babies grab something in their palm like a finger

Rooting reflex

Baby will turn towards your hand when you brush their cheek or mouth
Helps babies find bottle or nipple for feeding

Cephalocaudal trend

head to foot development
babies can move their heads before their feet

Proximodistal trend

center to outward
babies can move their limbs before developing fine motor skills

habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

longnitudinal study

study the same subject/group over time
Pro: Allows you to avoid confounding factors
Con: people may drop out, takes longer

Cross-sectional study

studying different groups of different ages/characteristics at the same time
Pro: Immediate and easier
Con: Possible confounding variables
Generational differences
Events that happen in people’s lives
Nature vs nurture

Differences in Temperments of Babies (Kagan & Snidman, 1991)

-Inhibited: 15 - 20%
-uninhibited: 25 - 30%; become stable over time, genetically based

Mary Ainsworth

-created the strange situation (1979) and studied patterns of attachment
-secure, anxious-ambivalent, and avoidant attachment

Secure attachment

-from strange situation experiment by Ainsworth
-Indicative of authoritative parenting style, 70% of infants, distressed when mom leaves, happy when she comes back

Anxious-ambivalent attachment

-from strange situation experiment by Ainsworth
-Indicative of authoritarian parenting style, distressed when separated from the caregiver but does not feel reassured when the caregiver returns, 15%

Avoidant attachment

-from strange situation experiment by Ainsworth
-Indicative of hands off parenting style, doesn't care about mom and is equally comfortable with a stranger, 15%

Erik Erickson

-Eight stages spanning the lifespan
-Psychosocial crises determine balance between opposing polarities in personality
-Key challenge is forming a sense of identity

Visual Cliff Experiment

Jean Piaget

studied children to understand how children acquired knowledge and skills; cognitive development

schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

assimilation

interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas

accomodation

adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived, Piaget thought iy developed at 2 years of age

Representational thought

whenever one thinks about his or her surroundings using images or language

conservation

the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects, develops between ages 7-11

egocentrism

iin Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view
“Why does the sun shine?” “So I can play outside!”

theory of mind

people's ideas about their own and others' mental states- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict

sensorimotor stage

coordination of sensory input and motor responses; development of object permanence
Birth-2 years

preoperational stage

development of symbolic thought marked by irreversibility, centration, and egocentrism
2-7 years

concrete operational stage

children gain mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events, mastery of conservation
7-11 years

formal operational stage

people begin to think logically about abstract concepts; logical systematic thinking
11-adulthood

stranger anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age

Imprinting

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

attachment

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

Surrogate monkey experiment

Harry Harlow (1971)
found that the baby monkeys preferred to cling to the terry cloth surrogate even when food was provided by the wire surrogate, comfort and stability over food

critical period

an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

Erikson Stage 1

Trust vs mistrust
Is my world predictable and supportive?
First year of life

Erikson Stage 2

Autonomy vs shame and doubt
Can I do things myself or do I rely on others?
Second and third years of life

Erikson stage 3

Initiative vs guilt
Am I good or bad?
Fourth through sixth years

Erikson stage 4

Industry vs inferiority
Am I competent or worthless?
6-puberty

Erikson stage 5

Identity vs confusion
Who am I and where am I going?
adolescence

Erikson stage 6

Intimacy vs isolation
Do I share my life or live alone?
early adulthood

Erikson stage 7

generativity vs self-absorption
Will I produce something of value?
middle adulthood

Erikson stage 8

Integrity vs despair
Have I lived a full life?
Late adulthood

Kholberg

Studied moral development

Preconventional level

Before age 9, children act out of self-interest (not wanting to get in trouble)
Stage 1: Obedience and punishment
Right vs wrong determined by what you get away with
Stage 2: Instrumental relativists
Right vs wrong determined by reward

Conventional level

Begins in early adolescence (older children, adolescents, and most adults)
cares for others and upholds laws and social rules simply because they are the laws and rules (social approval)
Stage 3: Good boy/nice girl
Right vs wrong determined by approval of others
Stage 4: Authority
Right vs wrong determined by infallible laws

Postconventional level

Follows own set of ethical principles, only select few reach this level of morality (MLK, Ghandi, Hitler); Rare with adolescents and few adults
Stage 5: Social contract
Right vs wrong determined by fallible laws, flexible
Stage 6: Universal ethics principle
Right vs wrong determined by personal abstract principles using many perspectives

Sigmund Freud

studied psychosexual development

Oral stage

Pleasure focused on mouth
First 18 months
Oral Receptive: oral fixation leads to biting and smoking, passive, needy, sensitive
Oral aggressive: oral fixation leads to verbal aggression

Anal stage

Pleasure focused on functions of elimination
1.5-3 years
Anal retentive: strict toilet training, obsessively clean, controlling, possessive
Anal expulsive: lax toilet training, leads to poor organization and possibly aggression

Phallic stage

Pleasure focused on genitals
3-6 years
Issues can lead to vanity and impulsiveness

Latency stage

Sexual thoughts repressed, child focuses on social and intellectual skills
6-puberty
Issues can lead to immaturity and relationship issues

Genital stage

Sexual desires are renewed, seeks relationships with others
puberty-adulthood
Issues can lead to self-obsessiveness

Authortatian parenting

High control with little warmth, no discussions
Aim to cultivate hard work, respect, and obedience
Produces overachievers

Authoritative/democratic parenting

High control and high warmth
Set rules but allow discussions
Best style in theory

Permissive parenting

Warmth but little control
Less rules and punishments
Children struggle with independence

Neglectful parenting

No warmth or control
May meet physical needs but nothing else
Children struggle with basically everything

Pubescence/Puberty

the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction

Primary sex characteristics

Reproductive organs + genitalia

Secondary sex characteristics

Traits that develop at puberty
Examples: breasts, menarche, voice changes, body shape

Menarche

First occurrence of menstruation
Early menarche leads to more distress and emotional difficulty with transition to adolescence

Spermarche

First occurrence of sperm production
Late spermarche leads to distress and emotional difficulty with transition to adolescence

Adolescence neural changes

Increasing myelinization (faster connections)
Synaptic pruning (reshaping neurons)
Changes in prefrontal cortex (decision making)

Maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Maturation differs between sexes
Girls who mature early, boys who mature late experience emotional distress with transition to adolescence

James Marcia

studied Identity statuses and development

Identity diffusion

Absence of struggle for identity with no obvious concern about it

Identity Foreclosure

Unquestioning adoption of parental or societal value

Identity Moratorium

Actively struggling for a sense of identity

Identity acheivement

Successful achievement of a sense of identity

Fluid intelligence

Ability to reason, learn, think abstracly and solve problems
Decreases with age

Crystallized intelligence

Prior learning and past experiences, based on facts
Increases with age

Menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation
Estrogen decreases