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Chapter 5 Notes: Developing Through the Life Span (Modules 14–17)

Developmental Psychology: Major Issues

  • Key questions in developmental psychology: nature vs. nurture; continuity vs. stages; stability vs. change.
  • Research designs: cross-sectional vs. longitudinal studies.
  • Major stage-based theories and theorists: Piaget (cognitive), Kohlberg (moral), Erikson (psychosocial).
  • Stability and change across the lifespan: some traits (e.g., temperament) are stable, others (e.g., attitudes) are not; the idea of an end-of-history illusion.

Prenatal Development and the Newborn

  • Zygote: conception to 2 ext{ weeks}; rapid cell division.
  • Embryo: inner cells become embryo; outer cells become placenta; from 2 ext{ weeks} to 2 ext{ months}.
  • Fetus: organs form and begin to function; by 9 ext{ weeks}, recognizably human.
  • Teratogens: agents (e.g., alcohol, nicotine, marijuana) that harm prenatal development.
  • Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD): physical/cognitive deficits tied to heavy maternal drinking; severe cases show small head size and distinct facial features.

The Competent Newborn

  • Automatic reflexes support survival (sucking, tonguing, swallowing, breathing).
  • Communicates needs by crying and seeks sensory links to caregivers.
  • Biologically rooted temperament.

The Competent Newborn: Methods and Preferences

  • Research tools: eye-tracking, pacifiers, etc.
  • Habituation: infants show reduced response to repeated stimuli.
  • Preferences: newborns prefer face-like images and the smell of mother.

Infancy and Childhood: Physical Development

  • Maturation follows an orderly sequence; biological growth shapes universal patterns.
  • Brain development: neurons and synapses are sculpted by genetics and experience.
  • Key brain milestones: birth (neural growth spurt and pruning); 3 ext{ to } 6 ext{ months} (rapid frontal lobe growth); association areas mature last; fiber pathways supporting language and self-control proliferate into puberty.

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development (Piaget)

  • Piaget: children are active thinkers; cognition unfolds through universal, irreversible stages.
  • Schema development via assimilation and accommodation.
  • Key stages (Piaget’s theory):
    • Sensorimotor: birth to nearly 2 ext{ years}; object permanence; stranger anxiety.
    • Preoperational: about 2 to 7 ext{ years}; pretend play; egocentrism.
    • Concrete operational: 7 to 11 ext{ years}; logical thinking about concrete events; conservation and simple math.
    • Formal operational: 12 ext{ through adulthood}; abstract reasoning and hypothesis testing.
  • Current thinking: object permanence develops gradually; cognition is more continuous; some formal-operational abilities appear earlier.

Theory of Mind

  • Theory of mind: ability to read others’ mental states.
  • Emerges between 3 rac{1}{2} and 4 rac{1}{2} years; by age 4 o5, many children anticipate others’ false beliefs; autism and deafness may affect development.

Attachment and Social Development

  • Attachment: emotional tie with caregiver; observed via proximity seeking and distress at separation; around 8 ext{ months} stranger anxiety emerges.
  • Origins of attachment: body contact (Harlow’s monkeys), familiarity during a critical period, and imprinting in some animals.
  • Strange Situation: classifies attachment as secure or insecure; influenced by caregiver responsiveness and child temperament.
  • Early attachment influences later relationships and comfort with affection.

Attachment Differences and Parenting

  • Is attachment style due to parenting or temperament? Temperament interacts with parental sensitivity; both heredity and environment play a role.
  • Intervention programs can improve parental sensitivity and infant attachment security; fathers matter.

Infants’ Distress Over Separation

  • In experiments, cries peak around 13 ext{ months} when separated from mother, regardless of day-care exposure.

Social Development: Studying Attachment

  • Strange Situation shows secure vs. insecure attachments; early attachments influence later relationships and social functioning.

Identity Development and Family Influence

  • Identity formation is shaped by parents’ values, cultural context, and peer groups.
  • Individualist vs. collectivist cultures influence emphasis on personal vs. group identity.
  • Group memberships form part of social identity; identity formation enables close relationships and meaningful goals.

Self-Esteem and Peer Influence in Adolescence

  • Self-esteem tends to dip in early adolescence for some, then rebounds; social media and peer comparison affect well-being.
  • During adolescence, parental influence declines and peer influence rises; positive parent-teen relationships accompany healthy peer relations.

Parenting Styles (Baumrind)

  • Four styles:
    • Authoritarian: coercive, high control.
    • Permissive: unrestraining, low control.
    • Neglectful: uninvolved, neither demanding nor responsive.
    • Authoritative: demanding yet responsive; associated with better outcomes.

Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

  • Adolescence: period from puberty to social independence; influenced by culture; may involve reduced parental control and heightened demand for social acceptance.
  • Puberty: hormonal surge; physical changes follow a relatively predictable sequence; earlier puberty linked to certain risks; differential vulnerability across individuals.
  • The Teenage Brain: during adolescence, selective pruning occurs; frontal lobes mature later than the limbic system; myelination improves cross-brain communication; impulse control lags behind reward-seeking.
  • Emerging Adulthood: 18 ext{ to the mid-} ext{twenties}; a not-yet-settled phase with delayed assumptions of adult responsibilities in some cultures.

Adulthood and Aging (Module 17)

  • Physical changes in middle age: vigor tied to health and exercise; gradual decline; menopause for women; gradual decline in male fertility and testosterone.
  • Late adulthood: life expectancy has risen significantly; about 13 ext{%} of the world population is 60+; women live longer than men (roughly 4.4 ext{ years} longer).
  • Aging and the brain: regional atrophy with age; some neuroplasticity; exercise boosts brain health and can slow decline; telomeres shorten with age and are affected by smoking, obesity, and stress.
  • Sensory, strength, and stamina decline with age; immune function weakens; older adults may experience slower recall but better recognition with cues; prospective memory can benefit from triggers.
  • Terminal decline: accelerated cognitive decline near end of life; education and mental engagement can mitigate some effects.

Cognitive Development: Aging and Memory

  • Some memories remain strong with age (e.g., reminiscence bump for life events).
  • Recall varies by type of information; older adults often have more difficulty with name recall but can benefit from cues.
  • Prospective memory and habitual tasks become more challenging; increased time to retrieve words; tip-of-the-tongue experiences are common.

Neurocognitive Disorders and Alzheimer’s Disease

  • Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs): acquired cognitive deficits; dementia umbrella term; often linked to Alzheimer’s, brain injury, or substance effects.
  • Alzheimer’s disease: progressive memory loss followed by declines in reasoning; later symptoms include disorientation, disinhibition, and functional decline; hallmarks include loss of acetylcholine-producing neurons and plaque formation in brain regions.
  • Risk increases with heavy midlife smoking and other factors; heredity and environment contribute to risk.

Predicting and Responding to Alzheimer’s Disease

  • Early identification and interventions focus on risk reduction and cognitive engagement; no single guaranteed predictor but certain risk factors are established.

Social Development: Adulthood’s Ages and Stages

  • Midlife transition can occur in the early forties; social clock varies across eras and cultures; life events have lasting impacts.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages (Overview)

  • Infancy: Trust vs. mistrust – needs met -> basic trust.
  • Toddlerhood: Autonomy vs. shame/doubt – will and independence.
  • Preschool: Initiative vs. guilt – planning/competence.
  • Elementary: Competence vs. inferiority – skill development; achievement.
  • Adolescence: Identity vs. role confusion – sense of self; integration of roles.
  • Young adulthood: Intimacy vs. isolation – close relationships; capacity for intimate love.
  • Middle adulthood: Generativity vs. stagnation – contributing to world; purpose.
  • Late adulthood: Integrity vs. despair – reflection on life; sense of satisfaction.

Identity and Self in Adulthood

  • Identity development continues through adolescence into adulthood; social and cultural context shapes self-definition and life goals.
  • Self-esteem fluctuations across life; gender differences tend to diminish in late teens/early adulthood.

Well-Being Across the Life Span

  • Positive feelings often increase after midlife; older adults report lower anger, stress, and worry.
  • With age, people become more trusting and generous; brain responses to negative stimuli diminish.
  • Happiness correlated with social connectedness and meaningful engagement.

Death and Dying: Grief and Misconceptions

  • Grief intensity varies; major grief is strongest after sudden losses or a death of a partner.
  • Grief reactions are culturally influenced; everyday engagement and social support bolster resilience.
  • Common misconceptions include universal, stage-like grieving; time to purge grief is individual; grieving supports healing but is not strictly time-bound.