unit 6: developmental psychology🧠

erik erikson & psychosocial development

developmental psychology

• the scientific study of the changes that occur in ppl as they age including physical, cognitive, and social development

  • nature/nurture - how do genetic inheritance and experiences influence our behavior?

  • continuity/stages - is development a gradual continuous process or sequence of separate events?

  • stability/change - do our early personality traits persist through life or do we become diff ppl as we age?

reasons to study human development

• helps you better understand yourself

• learn more abt your future children

• better understand kid interactions

• lets us know what is normal and what isn’t

cross sectional

• type of study in which ppl of diff ages are examined at the same time

  • cohort effects

    • systematic difference between age groups that are due to cultural changes over time

longitudinal “change over time”

• study follows the same group of ppl over a period of time from months to many years in order to evaluate changes in those individuals

cross sequential

• individuals in a cross-sectional sample are tested more than once over a specified period of time

  • combines both designs (minimizes major drawbacks)

erik erikson

• developmental psychologist, contended that each stage of life has its own psychologist task

  • a crisis that needs resolution to become a successful complete person

  • psychosocial stages of development

    • at each stage in his theory, there is a crisis that needs to be confronted & resolved

    • if successfully navigated each stage, you will develop a more positive characteristic

trust vs mistrust (birth to 1 y/o)

• infants must learn that adults can be trusted

  • can i trust the ppl around me?

  • basic virtue: hope

  • important event: feeding

autonomy vs shame/doubt (1-3 y/o)

• as toddlers begin to explore their world, they learn that they can control their actions & act on their environment to get results

  • can i do things by myself or am i reliant on the help of others?

  • basic virtue: will

  • important event: toilet training

initiative vs guilt (3-5 y/o)

• at preschool stage children are capable of initiating activities & asserting control over their world through social interactions & play

  • they must achieve a balance between fun & more responsibility which increases impulses

  • am i good or bad?

  • basic virtue: purpose

  • important event: exploration, play

industry vs inferiority (6-12 y/o)

• children begin to compare themselves to their peers, develop a sense of pride & accomplishment or feeling of inferiority/inadequacy

  • if a children experiences success, they will develop industry, but if they fall behind, they will develop inferiority

  • how can i be good?

  • basic virtue: competence

  • important event: school

identity vs role confusion (12-18 y/o)

• an adolescent’s main task is developing a sense of self

  • as we try to determine how we fit into society, we try out diff things. those with no clear sense of identity experience an identity crisis or role confusion

  • who am i?

  • basic virtue: fidelity

  • important events: social relationships

intimacy vs isolation (20s-40s)

• develop & maintain successful relationships with others

  • we are looking for a potential life partner. we need to find & develop close relationships. if not, we feel isolated & alone. to achieve this, you need a strong sense of identity

  • will i be loved or alone?

  • basic virtue: love

  • important events: romantic relationships

generativity vs stagnation (middle adulthood) (35-55 y/o)

• middle aged adults begin contributing to the next generation/ society or little connection to others

  • if we feel productive & added to society - generativity

  • if we feel unsatisfied - stagnation

  • how can i contribute to the world?

  • basic virtue: care

  • important events: parenthood & work

ego integrity vs despair (ages 60+)

• people in late adulthood reflect on their ives & feel either a sense of satisfaction or a sense of failure

  • if you experience integrity - you see your life as being productive, meaningful, and don’t fear death bc you lived a full life

  • if you experience despair - you view life as having no meaning & you have regrets & fear death

  • did i live a meaningful life?

  • basic virtue: wisdom

  • important events: reflecting back on life

prenatal development & the newborn

prenatal development

• begins w conception & ends at birth - full pregnancy is 38 weeks

  • germinal, embryonic, and fetal stage

germinal period “finding a place to live”

• stage of development that occurs from conception until 2 weeks

  • fertilized egg (zygote) moves toward uterus (up to a week to complete), then cell division

  • zygote has genetic instructions for new individual

  *during mitosis, cell duplicates all of its contents including its chromosomes

placenta

• specialized organ, sustains the life of the embryo by transferring oxygen & nutrients, removing waste products, & after the initial months of gestation, giving hormones that sustain the pregnancy

• umbilical cord is lifeline that connects embryo to placenta

embryonic period “organizing space”

• development period from implantation (zygote to uterus) to 8 weeks of pregnancy, which the major organ & structures of the organism develop

  • critical stage for normal cognitive & physical development

  • heart begins to beat, organs function

  • new individual is an embryo

fetal period “finishing touches”

• development time period from 9 weeks after conception until birth of child

  • fetus

    • developing organism from 8 weeks after fertilization to the birth of the baby (sexual differentiation)

  • fetus will gain weight & strength, brain is completely formed by time of birth

critical periods

• times during which certain environmental influences can have an impact on the development of the infant (embryonic period)

  • birth defects

    • can result from a malfunctioning gene or an environmental stimulus (not hereditary)

teratogen

• any non genetic agent that produces birth defects at exposures that commonly occur

  • depends on how much exposure there is,when it happens, how susceptible one is to it

teratogenic agent: stress

• any form of prenatal stress felt by the mother can have negative effects on various aspects of fetal development

  • a stressed mother is more likely to engage in behaviors that could negatively affect the fetus

teratogenic agent: alcohol

• not safe to drink in any amount during pregnancy

  • been found to be the leading preventable cause of mental disabilities in children in US

• fetal alcohol syndrome

  • physical, cognitive, & psychological abnormalities that result from consuming alcohol during pregnancy

  • low intelligence, a small head, misshapen eyes, flat nose, and thin upper lip

  • intellectual impairment ranges from minor learning disabilities to severe intellectual disability

teratogenic agent: smoking/nicotine

• when mother smokes, the developing baby experiences a reduction in blood oxygen levels & nutrients

  • likely to have a premature & low-birth-weight babies, these infants face a higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome

teratogenic agent: smoking/marijuana

• it is recommended to not use marijuana when pregnant

  • can lead to low birth weight, developmental problems, difficulty with attention

teratogenic agent: prescription/illegal drugs

• use of any type of drug-whether illegal, prescription, or over-the-counter—can be dangerous during pregnancy

  • illegal drugs: babies can be born addicted, born prematurely, have low birth weight, and experience other physical defects - many end up with attention & behavioral problems as well

neonates (infants less than 4 weeks)

• born preferring sights & sounds that facilitate social responsiveness

  • turn their heads in direction of human voices

  • born with a preference to look toward faces, 8-12 inches away

  • know the difference in smell, prefer breast pads of their moms to others

reflexes

• infants have a set of innate (existing from birth) unlearned behavior patterns to help the infant to survive

  • reflexes allow infants to receive food or to cling to a caregiver in early days of their lives (disappear in first 6 months of life)

  • apgar test

    • a quick physical test given to every newborn at birth to test reflexes, from 1-5 mins from birth, a score of 7-10 is normal, 4-6 might need resuscitation or below 3

grasping reflex

• holds a finger or other object firmly

rooting reflex

• turns head when touched on cheek

gag reflex

• clears the throat

startle reflex

• flings out the arms, fans the fingers, and arches the back in response to a sudden noise

sucking reflex

• sucks objects placed in mouth

babinski reflex

• curls toes when outer edge of sole of foot is stroked

maturation

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

  • genetic growth tendencies are inborn, determined by genetic makeup

  • sets basic course of development; experience adjusts it

developmental norms

• the normal timeline of mental & physical growth & changes that occur as an entity ages

  • if baby has not reached a developmental norm within a normal time frame then there is a possibility that they may have a developmental delay

six motor milestones

• infant’s muscles & nervous system mature, skills emerge

  • sit, crawl, walk, run - the sequence of these motor development milestones is the same he world around, though babies reach them at varying ages

blooming

• period of rapid neural growth

  • neural networks multiply resulting in increased physical & mental abilities

infantile amnesia

• difficulty or inability that adults have in remembering detailed or episodic memories (memories were time, place & events can be identified) from early childhood, generally prior to age 3-4

  • infants can learn skills (procedural memories)

attachment theory

stranger anxiety

• developmental situation in which infants become anxious & fearful around strangers, beginning by abt 8 months of age

  • a newly emerging ability to evaluate ppl as unfamiliar & possibly threatening helps protect babies 8 months & older

attachment bond

• the emotional bond between an infant & the primary caregiver, shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver & showing distress on separation

john bowlby

• children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments to caregivers as the result of genetics

  • developed attachment theory

konrad lorenz

• if attachment was important in human survival it may be important in other species too

  • investigated the attachment of baby geese to a mother-type figure

  • critical period

    • optimal period when certain events must take place to facilitate proper development (geese hours after hatching)

imprinting

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

  • once formed this attachment is difficult to reverse

harry harlow

• psychologist conducted studies of attachment & the importance of contact comfort

  • physical closeness with a caregiver using infant monkeys in 1950s

  • then, most psychologists believed a strong attachment formed bc mothers provided food

  • monkeys spent more time with cloth mother bc it was soft and warm

  • sacrificed food and eating for comfort and warmth

  • vital to well-being, caregivers affect development

mary ainsworth

• psychologist that found that attachment happens through a comle set of interactions between mothers & infants

  • designed the strange situation experiment

  • child observed on mom leaving, returning, play behavior, & when strangers were around

attachment styles

secure attachment

• behavior when caregiver left baby

  • upset, cries, refuses to be comforted by stranger

• behavior when caregiver returns

  • make effort to touch caregiver & returns to playing

• mother characteristics

  • sensitive, responsive mothers - noticed what their babies were doing & responded appropriately

avoidant (insecure) attachment

• behavior when caregiver left baby

  • indifferent

• behavior when caregiver returns

  • indifferent, may seek contact but then pull away

• mother characteristics

  • insensitive, unresponsive mothers - mothers who attended to their babies when they felt like doing so but ignored them at other times

anxious-ambivalent attachment

• behavior when caregiver left baby

  • very distressed

• behavior when caregiver returns

  • ambivalent & resentful of caregiver

• mother characteristics

  • mother is engaged on her own nerves, gives attention to the child once her own needs were met

disorganized attachment - added by mary main

• behavior when caregiver left baby

  • rocking, hitting, crying

• behavior when caregiver returns

  • act strangely with the caregiver & do not appear to know how to attach

• mother characteristics

  • mother with severe depression suffered some type of traumatic loss in life

temperament

• characteristics & aspects of personality traits that we are born with

  • attachment style may be the result of temperament

  • easy

    • cheerful, relaxed, predictable food and sleep schedules

  • difficult

    • irritable, intense, unpredictable

parenting styles

diana baumrind created 3 parenting styles:

authoritarian

• restrictive parenting type that emphasizes work, effort, or respect

  • little discussion or explanation of the firm controls placed on the child

  • children tend to have less social skill & self-esteem (correlational research)

permissive

• parenting style that is characterized by having few & inconsistent rules & a relaxed attitude to parenting that is more like a friend than a parent

uninvolved (neglective)

• make few demands, show low responsiveness, communicate little w children (may neglect needs of their children)

authoritative

• parenting style that is child-centered, in that parents closely interact w their children, while maintaining high expectations for behavior & performance, as well as a firm adherence to schedules & discipline

  • children w these parents have high self esteem, self reliance, and social competence

jean piaget & cognitive development

cognitive development

• all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering & communicating

jean piaget

• developmental psychologist, initially developed children’s intelligence tests, focus on differences in thinking between adults & children

  • showed that young children think strikingly differently than adults

schema

• concept or framework that organizes & interprets info

  • children form schemas as they experience new situations & events

assimilation

• interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas

accomodation

• adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new info

sensorimotor stage

• birth to age 2, infants use their senses & motor abilities to learn abt the world around them (looking, hearing, touching, grasping)

object permanence

• a child’s ability to understand that objects still exist after they are no longer in sight

  • 8 months-10 months tend to not have this ability

preoperational stage

• the stage (2 to 6-7) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

  • children increase their mental representation of objects through make-believe play

stage 1: egocentrism

• inability on the part of a child in the preoperational stage of development to see any point of view other than their own

  • theory of mind

    • ability to infer others’ mental states

  • children w autism have impaired theory of mind

stage 2: conservation

• the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of object - lacking

centration

• tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation, problem, or object

  • ages 4-7, logic or reasoning develops

animism

• the belief that objects that are inanimate (not living) have feelings, thoughts, & have the mental characteristics & qualities of living things “are just like me”

  • animistic thinking is v common in young children

stage 3: concrete operational

• cognitive development stage (from 6-7 to 11) where children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically abt concrete events

  • reversibility

    • ability to recognize that numbers or objects can be changed & returned to their original condition

formal operational stage

• cognitive development stage (normally beginning at 12) during where ppl begin to think logically abt abstract concepts

  • our reasoning expands from the purely concrete (actual experience) to encompass abstract thinking (involving imagined realities & symbols)

lev vygotsky

• russian developmental psychologist, developed theory of how the child’s mind grows

  through interaction w the social environment

  • learn best by interacting w others

zone of proximal development

• range between the level at which a child can solve a problem working along w difficulty, & the level at which a child can solve a problem with the assistance of adults or more-skilled children

  • scaffolding

gender development

gender roles

• set of expectations held by society abt the ways in which men & women are supposed to behave based on their gender

  • masculine - strength, aggression, dominance

  • feminine - cook, clean, nurturing, passivity

gender socialization

• process in which children learn these gender roles

  • occurs through family, educatio, peer groups, mass media

  • aware of roles by 2-3, at 4-5 most are entrenched in their role

social learning theory

• albert bandura

• emphasizes through observation & imitation of models, attributes gender role development

  • rewarded for imitating behaviors of ppl of the same gender & punished for imitating the behaviors of another gender

gender schema theory

• children develop schemas for being male or female by 9 months, once the schema is in place, children identify themselves as boy or girl and notice other members of that schema

  • will adjust their behavior w their concept of gender

aggression

• one of the most consistently documented psychological gender differences

• make children are more aggressive than female children

• men are more physically aggressive & women are more relational aggressive

anxiety

• women are more often depressed, anxious, and 10x more likely to develop an eating disorder

• men are 4x more likely to commit suicide or become alcoholics (autistic, color-blind, have ADHD, antisocial)

academic ability

• boys outperform girls in math & spatial tasks

• girls outperform boys in reading & writing

• girls read earlier than males

adolescent development

adolescence

• transition period from childhood to adulthood, from puberty to independence

  • physical beginnings of sexual maturity & ends w the social achievement of independent adult status

puberty

• period of sexual maturation, when a person becomes capable of reproducing

  • follows use surge of hormones that intensify moods & changes in behavior

  • ages 9-16

primary sex characteristics

• development of reproductive organs

• first menstrual period of girls - menarche

• boys experience spermarche

secondary sex characteristics

• non reproductive traits

• body hair, breast development, changes in voice & facial hair

early maturing boys

• physically stronger, taller, more athletic than later maturing peers

• perceive themselves more positively & more successful peer relations

• more successful & less likely to drink alcohol/smoke

late maturing boys

• developed a stronger sense of identity

early maturing girls

• increases vulnerability to a number of problems “complex”

• have more school problems, independence, popular, satisfied w body image before grade 10

• more likely to smoke, drink, be depressed, have an eating disorder, have older friends, early sexual experiences

frontal lobes

• continue to develop until early adulthood (age 25)

  • emotional limbic system gets wired for puberty before the fornta judgement center of the brain get wired for adulthood

  • adolescents may understand risks & consequences, but like thrills & awards

synaptic pruning

• selective removal of unnecessary neurons & connections to improve brain efficiency “we lose what we don’t use”

• rewiring

adolescent egocentrism

• heightened self-consciousness, belief that others are interested in them as your ego soars, sense of personal uniqueness & invulnerability

imaginary audience

• attention getting behavior

  • attempt to be noticed, visible, onstage

personal fable

• adolescents sense of personal uniqueness & invulnerability

  • makes the feel that no one can understand how they rlly feel

identity vs identity confusion

• during adolescents are faced w deciding who they are, what they are all abt & where they are going in life

  • face overwhelming number of choices

4 statuses of identity

identity diffusion

• adolescents have not yet experienced an identity crisis (no commitment)

identity foreclosure

• made a commitment but not yet experienced an identity crisis

  • parents hand down commitments, cant explore on their own

identity moratorium

• state of adolescents who are in the midst of an identity crisis, not made clear commitment to an identity

identity achievement

• adolescent has undergone an identity crisis & made a commitment

adulthood & moral development

adulthood

• changes that occur in biological & psychological domains of human life from he end of adolescence until the end of one’s life

  • social clock

    • timing of social events like marriage, retirement, and parenthood

erik erikson’s observations of age-related issues

young adulthood - intimacy vs isolation

middle adulthood - generativity vs stagnation

late adulthood - integrity vs despair

emerging adulthood

• developmental phase that spans between adolescence & adulthood

  • social clock - when is the right time to leave home

physical development of early adulthood

• mid 20s, reach a peak in natural physical abilities which come with biological maturation

• muscular strength, cardiac output, reaction time, sensory sensitivity

• vision & hearing are first to decline in the 30s

menopause

• reproductive organs begin functioning inconsistently, decline in estrogen, end of reproduction around 50

  • hormonal changes & last anywhere from 6 months to 5 years

  • anxiety, poor memory, inability to concentrate, depressive mood, irritability, mood swings and less interest in sexual activity

potential lifespan

• for the human body is estimated to be about 122 years

life expectancy

• average expected life span

aging - nurture/environment

• an accumulation of stress, damage & disease wears us down until one of these factors kills us

aging - genes

• hayflick limit

  • fact that many cells are programmed to die after a fixed number of divisions

  • telomere

    • gets shorter with each cell division, until it becomes too short to allow further divisions & Hayflick limit has been reached

dementia

• decreased ability to recall recent events & names of familiar objects & people

• emotional unpredictability

• confusion, disorientation, and eventual inability to think or communicate

  • not a normal part of aging

changes in the brain with age = fluid intelligence (-) crystallized intelligence (+)

alzheimer’s disease

• loss of brain cells & neural network connections

• deterioration of neurons that produce acetylcholine (memory)

• shriveled & broken protein filaments

• dramatic shrinking of the brain

  • most common type of neurocognitive disorder

coping with death & dying

• grief is more intense when death occurs unexpectedly, especially if too early on social clock

• there is no standard pattern or length of the grieving process - support of friends

moral development

• thoughts, behaviors, and feelings regarding standards of right and wrong

  • we call the basic understanding of right & wrong - morality

lawrence kohlberg

• sought to describe moral reasoning, thinking that occurs when we consider right & wrong, primarily concerned with justice

moral dilemma

• kohlberg used to investigate the nature of moral thought

level 1: preconventional morality - lowest level of moral development

• stage 1: punishment & obedience orientation

  • children obey bc adults tell them to obey, base decisions on fear of punishment

  • children see rules as fixed & absolute

• stage 2: individualism, instrumental purpose & exchange

  • individuals pursue their own interests but do not let others do the same. what is right needs an equal exchange

  • “what’s in it for me?”

level 2: conventional morality - abide by the standards of others

• stage 3: mutual interpersonal expectations

  • individuals value trust, caring & loyalty for moral judgements

  • children adopt parents’ moral standards “good boy/girl”

• stage 4: social systems morality

  • moral judgements are based on understanding of the social order, law, justice, duty

level 3: postconventional morality - highest level of morality, personal moral code

• stage 5: social contract (basic rights)

  • individuals reason that values rights & principles that transcend the law to protect fundamental human rights & values

• stage 6: universal ethical principles

  • moral standard based on universal human rights

  • ppl will follow conscience, even though decision might involve personal risk

carol gilligan

• proposed the stages of the ethics of care theory for female moral development

  • research with females show that women are capable of moral reasoning but use diff method - caring principle

  • caring abt personal relationships