3.1-3.2 - Development and Learning

Developmental psychology

Studies physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development

Cross sectional studies

Studying different ages at the same point in time

Longitudinal studies

Follows and retests the same people over time

Nature and nurture

How does nature and nurture influence our development

Continuity and stages

Which parts of development are gradual and continuous and which parts change abruptly in separate stages

Stability and change

Which of our traits persist through life and how do we change as we age

Experience and learning

Development is a slow, continuous shaping process

Biological maturation

Sequence of genetically predisposed stages or steps

Kholberg - moral development

Preconventional → conventional → postconventional

Erikson - psychosocial development

Basic trust → autonomy → initiative → competence → identity → intimacy → generativity → integrity

Jean Piaget - cognitive development

Sensorimotor → preoperational → concrete operational → formal operational

End of history illusion

People recognize how they have changed and think they will change little in the future

Germinal stage

Zygote, fertilized egg, attaches to uterine wall

Inner and outer cells of zygote

Inner: embryo; outer: placenta

6 week embryo

Organs form and heart functions

9 weeks

Embryo turns into a fetus

6 month fetus

Responds to sound

Teratogens

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo/fetus and cause harm

Fetal alcohol syndrome

Physical and cognitive deficits in children caused by heavy drinking

Epigenetic effect caused by alcohol

Switches genes on and off abnormally

Habituation

Decreased responsiveness with repeated stimulation

Maturation

Growth process, enables orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

Critical period

Optimal period early in life when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development

Fine motor and gross motor skills

Involving small muscles or large muscles

Infantile amnesia

Occurs before age of 4

Two-track mind learning before 4

Nervous system and unconscious mind remember what the conscious mind doesn’t know or can’t put into words

Adolescence

Transition from childhood to adulthood

Puberty

Period of sexual maturation

Age the prefrontal cortex finishes developing

25

Stages of adulthood

Emerging (18-mid 20s) → early (20s-30s) → middle (to age 65) → late (over 65)

Menopause

Time of natural cessation of menstruation

Percentage of world over 65 and factors

13%, living longer and declining birth rate

Impact of chronic anger and depression

Premature death

Key areas impact by aging

Sensory abilities, strength, stamina, health, brain

Impact of exercise on aging

Slows aging