dev psych

development

• The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span.

• involves growth, although it also includes decline brought on by aging and dying

life-span perspective

The perspective that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual; involves growth, maintenance, and regulation; and is constructed through biological, sociocultural, and individual factors working together.

Paul Baltes

• a leading architect of the life-span perspective of development, conversing with one of the long-time research participants in the Berlin Aging Study that he directs.

• he joined the study in the early 1990s and has participated six times in extensive physical, medical, psychological, and social assessments. In his professional life, he was a practicing medical doctor

Development Is Lifelong

• In the life-span perspective, early adulthood is not the endpoint of development; rather, no age period dominates development.

• Researchers increasingly study the experiences and psychological orientations of adults at different points in their lives.

Development Is Multidimensional

• Whatever your age, your body, your mind, your emotions, and your relationships are changing and affecting each other.

• Development consists of biological, cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions

Development Is Multidirectional

Throughout life, some dimensions or components of a dimension expand and others shrink.

Development Is Plastic

Plasticity means the capacity for change

Plasticity

means the capacity for change

Developmental Science Is Multidisciplinary

Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, neuroscientists, and medical researchers all share an interest in unlocking the mysteries of development through the life span.

Development Is Contextual

All development occur within a context, or setting. Contexts include families, schools, peer groups, churches, cities, neighborhoods, university laboratories, countries, and so on. Each of these settings is influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors.

1. Normative age-graded influences

2. Normative history-graded influences

3. Nonnormative life events

Three types of influences

Normative age-graded influences

are similar for individuals in a particular age group. These influences include biological processes such as puberty and menopause.

Normative history-graded influences

are common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances.

Nonnormative life events

are unusual occurrences that have a major impact on the individual’s life. These events do not happen to all people, and when they do occur, they can influence people in different ways

Development Involves Growth, Maintenance, and Regulation of Loss

Baltes and his colleagues (2006) assert that the mastery of life often involve conflicts and competition among three goals of human development: growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.

Development Is a Co-Construction of Biology, Culture, and the Individual

Development is a co-construction of biological, cultural, and individual factors working together (Baltes, Reuter-Lorenz, & Rösler, 2006). For example, the brain shapes culture, but it is also shaped by culture and the experiences that individuals have or pursue.

culture

the behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group that are passed on from generation to generation.

cross-cultural studies

comparison of one culture with one or more other cultures. These provide information about the degree to which development is similar, or universal, across cultures, and the degree to which it is culture-specific.

ethnicity

a characteristic based on cultural heritage, nationality characteristics, race, religion, and language.

socioeconomic status

refers to the grouping of people with similar occupational, educational, and economic characteristics.

gender

the characteristics of people as males or females.

social policy

a national government’s course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens

biological processes

• Changes in an individual’s physical nature

• Genes inherited from parents, the development of 

  the brain, height and weight gains, changes in motor skills, nutrition, exercise, the hormonal changes of puberty, and cardiovascular decline are all 

  examples of __ that affect development.

cognitive processes

Changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence, and language.

socioemotional processes

Changes in an individual’s relationships with other people, emotions, and personality.

biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes

The unfolding of life’s periods of development is influenced by the interaction of

DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE

explores links between development, cognitive processes, and the brain. 

Developmental Social Neuroscience

which examines connections between socioemotional processes, development, and the brain

developmental period

refers to a time frame in a person’s life that is characterized by certain features. For the purposes of organization and understanding, we commonly describe development in terms of these periods.

Prenatal Period

is the time from conception to birth. It involves tremendous growth— from a single cell to an organism complete with brain and behavioral capabilities—and takes place in approximately a nine-month period.

Infancy

is the developmental period from birth to 18 or 24 months. Infancy is a time of extreme dependence upon adults. During this period, many psychological activities—language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning, for example—are just beginning.

Early childhood

• is the developmental period from the end of infancy to age 5 or 6.

• This period is sometimes called the “preschool years.”

• During this time, young children learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, develop school readiness skills (following instructions, identifying letters), and spend many hours in play with peers.

Middle and late childhood

• is the developmental period from about 6 to 11 years of age, approximately corresponding to the elementary school years.

• During this period, the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are mastered.

• The child is formally exposed to the larger world and its culture. Achievement becomes a more central theme of the child’s world, and self-control increases.

Adolescence

is the developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood, entered at approximately 10 to 12 years of age and ending at 18 to 21 years of age. Adolescence begins with rapid physical changes—dramatic gains in height and weight, changes in body contour, and the development of sexual characteristics such as enlargement of the breasts, growth of pubic and facial hair, and deepening of the voice. At this point in development, the pursuit of independence and an identity are prominent. Thought is more logical, abstract, and idealistic. More time is spent outside the family

Early adulthood

• is the developmental period that begins in the early 20s and lasts through the 30s.

• It is a time of establishing personal and economic independence, career development, and for many, selecting a mate, learning to live with someone in an intimate way, starting a family, and rearing children.

Middle adulthood

is the developmental period from approximately 40 years of age to about 60. It is a time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; of assisting the next generation in becoming competent, mature individuals; and of reaching and maintaining satisfaction in a career.

Late adulthood

is the developmental period that begins in the 60s or 70s and lasts until death. It is a time of life review, retirement, and adjustment to new social roles involving decreasing strength and health.

1. prenatal period

2. infancy

3. early childhood

4. middle and late childhood

5. adolescence

6. early adulthood

7. middle adulthood

8. late adulthood

eight period sequence

First age

Childhood and adolescence

Second age

Prime adulthood, 20s through 50s

Third age

Approximately 60 to 79 years of age

Fourth age

Approximately 80 years and older

Chronological age

is the number of years that have elapsed since birth. But time is a crude index of experience, and it does not cause anything

Biological age

is a person’s age in terms of biological health

Psychological age

 is an individual’s adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age.

Social age

refers to social roles and expectations related to a person’s age

nature-nurture issue

Refers to the debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature or nurture. Nature refers to an organism’s biological inheritance, nurture to its environmental experiences. The “nature proponents” claim biological inheritance is the most important influence on development; the “nurture proponents” claim that environmental experiences are the most important.

stability-change issue

involves the degree to which we become older renditions of our early experience (stability) or whether we develop into someone different from who we were at an earlier point in development (change)

continuity-discontinuity issue

Focuses on the extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative change or distinct stages

1. nature-nurture issue

2. stability-change issue

3. continuity-discontinuity issue

scientific method

an approach that can be used to obtain accurate information. It includes these steps: (1) conceptualize the problem, (2) collect data, (3) draw conclusions, and (4) revise research conclusions and theory

theory

an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain and make predictions.

hypotheses

specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy.

psychoanalytic theories

• describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion.

• Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences with parents are emphasized.

FREUD’S THEORY

He thought that as children grow up, their focus of pleasure and sexual impulses shifts from the mouth to the anus and eventually to the genitals

1. oral

2. anal

3. phallic

4. latency

5. genital

five stages of psychosexual development

Erikson’s theory

Includes eight stages of human development. Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be resolved

Trust versus mistrust

• is Erikson’s first psychosocial stage, which is experienced in the first year of life.

• sets the stage for a lifelong expectation that the world will be a good and pleasant place to live.

Autonomy versus shame and doubt

• is Erikson’s second stage

• This stage occurs in late infancy and toddlerhood (1 to 3 years). After gaining trust in their caregivers, infants begin to discover that their behavior is their own.

Initiative versus guilt

Erikson’s third stage of development, occurs during the preschool years. As preschool children encounter a widening social world, they face new challenges that require active, purposeful, responsible behavior. Feelings of guilt may arise, though, if the child is irresponsible and is made to feel too anxious. 

Industry versus inferiority

is Erikson’s fourth developmental stage, occurring approximately in the elementary school years. Children now need to direct their energy toward mastering knowledge and intellectual skills.

Identity versus identity confusion

during the adolescent years, individuals face finding out who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life. If adolescents explore roles in a healthy manner and arrive at a positive path to follow in life, then they achieve a positive identity; if not, then identity confusion reigns.

Intimacy versus isolation

is Erikson’s sixth developmental stage, which individuals experience during the early adulthood years. developmental task of forming intimate relationships. If young adults form healthy friendships and an intimate relationship with another, __ will be achieved; if not,
_ will result.

Generativity versus stagnation

Erikson’s seventh developmental stage occurs during middle adulthood. By __ Erikson means primarily a concern for helping the younger generation to develop and lead useful lives. The feeling of having done nothing to help the next generation is _.

Integrity versus despair

•  is Erikson’s eighth and final stage of development, which individuals experience in late adulthood. During this stage, a person reflects on the past

• If the person’s life review reveals a life well spent, __ will be achieved; if not, the retrospective glances likely will yield doubt or gloom—the _ Erikson described.

Piaget’s theory

states that children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages of cognitive development

1. sensorimotor stage

2. preoperational stage

3. concrete operational stage

4. formal operational stage

Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory

sensorimotor stage

• the infant constructs an understanding of the world by sensory experience with physical actions

• an infant progresses from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the stage

preoperational stage

• the child begins to represent the world with words and images

concrete operational stage

the child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets

formal operational stage

the adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways

Vygotsky’s theory

a sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development.

Information-processing theory

emphasizes that individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it. Central to this theory are the processes of memory and thinking.

social cognitive theory

the view of psychologists who emphasize behavior, environment, and cognition as the key factors in development

Albert Bandura

 is the leading architect of social cognitive theory.

ethology

stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by critical or sensitive periods.

Konrad Lorenz

helped bring ethology to prominence.

imprinting

• the rapid, innate learning that involves attachment to the first moving object seen.

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory

• focuses on five environmental systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.

• holds that development reflects the influence of several environmental systems

eclectic theoretical orientation

an orientation that does not follow any one theoretical approach, but rather selects from each theory whatever is considered the best in it

1. prenatal period

2. infancy

3. early childhood

4. middle and late childhood

5. adolescence

6. early adulthood

7. middle adulthood

8. late adulthood

PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT

conception

occurs when a single sperm cell from the male unites with an ovum (egg) in the female’s fallopian tube in a process called Fertilization

1. Germinal Period

2. Embryonic Period

3. Fetal Period

PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Germinal Period

• Takes place in the first two weeks after conception.

• It includes the creation of the zygote, continued cell division, and the attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall.

Embryonic Period

• occurs two to eight weeks after conception.

• During the _, the rate of cell differentiation intensifies, support systems for the cells form, and organs appear.

Fetal Period

Lasts about seven months, the prenatal period is between two months after conception and birth in typical pregnancies.

1. dose

2. genetic susceptibility

3. time of exposure

INFLUENCES THAT DAMAGE AN EMBRYO OR FETUS

dose

the greater the dose of an agent, such as a drug, the greater the effect.

Genetic Susceptibility

The type or severity of abnormalities caused by a teratogen is linked to the genotype of the pregnant woman and the genotype of the embryo or fetus

Time of exposure

Teratogens do more damage when they occur at some points in development than at others. In general, the embryonic period is more vulnerable than the fetal period.

Teratology

field of study that investigates causes of birth defects

Teratogens

agent that can potentially cause a birth defect or negatively alter cognitive and behavioral outcomes. (The word comes from the Greek word ‘tera’, meaning “monster.”)

1. Caffeine

2. Alcohol

3. Nicotine

4. Cocaine

5. Methamphetamine (shabu)

6. Marijuana

7. Heroin

PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS

1. Incompatible blood types

2. Environmental hazards

3. Maternal diet and nutrition

4. Maternal age

5. Emotional states and stress

6. Paternal factors

RISK TO PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

1. first stage

2. second stage

3. third stage

STAGES OF BIRTH

first stage

• involves uterine contractions, which stretch and open the cervix.

• As the stage progresses, they become closer together, increasing intensity. By the end of the first birth stage, the cervix dilates to about 10 centimeters, allowing the baby to move from the uterus to the birth canal

second stage

begins when the baby’s head moves through the cervix and birth canal, ending when it emerges from the mother’s body

third stage

Afterbirth, at which time the placenta, umbilical cord, and other membranes are detached and expelled. This is the shortest stage of the three stages, lasting only minutes

mostly where giving birth occurs

Hospital

1. midwives

2. doula

3. birth coaches

Attendants