Human Development Lecture Notes
Key Topics Covered:
Exploring Human Development.
Child Development.
Adolescence.
Emerging Adulthood, Adult Development, and Aging.
Human Development and Health and Wellness.
Chapter Preview
Exploring Human Development
Definition of Development
Development: The pattern of continuity and change in human capabilities that occurs throughout life.
Key Characteristics:
Growth.
Decline.
Major Processes in Development
Physical Processes: Biological changes in the body.
Cognitive Processes: Changes in thought processes, intelligence, and language.
Socioemotional Processes: Changes in emotional communication, self-understanding, and interpersonal relationships.
Research Methods in Developmental Psychology
Types of Studies
Cross-sectional Studies:
Assess different ages at a single time point.
Problem: Cohort effects can confound results.
Longitudinal Studies:
Follow the same participants over an extended period.
Useful for studying developmental changes over time.
Nature and Nurture
Nature: Refers to biological inheritance (genes).
Nurture: Refers to environmental and social experiences.
Active Role of Self: Individuals take an active role in their own development by seeking optimal experiences in life through various life themes.
Resilient Children
Key Question: Which has a greater impact: early or later experience?
Resilience:
Defined as a person’s ability to recover from or adapt to difficult situations.
Resilient children grow into capable adults.
Prenatal Development
Stages of Prenatal Development
Germinal Period (Weeks 1 to 2):
Conception.
Formation of a zygote.
Embryonic Period (Weeks 3 to 8):
Cell differentiation.
Initiation of organ formation.
Fetal Period (Months 2 to 9):
Increase in organ functioning.
Can be affected by environmental insults.
Teratogens
Definition: Teratogens are agents that can disrupt fetal development.
Examples include:
Nicotine.
Alcohol.
Various illnesses and viruses.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Effects Depend On:
Timing of exposure.
Genetic characteristics of the fetus.
Postnatal environment.
Physical Development
Reflexes
Definition: Reflexes are genetically wired behaviors crucial for survival.
Some reflexes persist throughout life (e.g., coughing, yawning).
Some reflexes disappear with neurological development (e.g., gripping, rooting, startle).
Perceptual and Motor Development
Motor Skills: Include stages of locomotion (sitting up, crawling, and walking) and the ability to reach and grasp.
Preferential Looking: A method employed to measure preferences by giving choices.
Brain Development
Myelination: Begins prenatally and continues into adolescence and adulthood.
Synaptic Connections: Increase dramatically during childhood.
Pruning: Involves the removal or replacement of unused synapses.
Brain Mass: Increases significantly during early development.
Cognitive Development
Definition
Cognitive Development: Refers to the changes in thought, intelligence, and language processes as individuals mature.
Jean Piaget’s Contributions
Schemas: Concepts or frameworks that organize and interpret information.
Assimilation: Process of applying existing schemas to new experiences.
Accommodation: Involves altering schemas to incorporate new information.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years):
Coordinates sensory perceptions with motor actions.
Development of object permanence.
Progression from reflexive actions to symbolic thought.
Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 years):
Emergence of symbolic thinking using words and images.
Features intuitive reasoning and egocentrism.
Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 11 years):
Displays operational thinking concerning conservation and reversibility.
Develops classification skills.
Formal Operational Stage (11 to 15 years):
Lasts into adulthood and includes abstract and idealistic thought.
Utilizes hypothetical-deductive reasoning.
Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory
Critique:
Underestimated the cognitive capacities of young children.
Overestimated the cognitive abilities of adolescents and adults.
Other Theories of Intellectual Development
Key Approaches
Nativist Approach: Emphasizes innate capabilities.
Empiricist Approach: Stresses the role of experiential learning.
Vygotsky's Sociocultural Cognitive Theory:
Views children as apprentice thinkers who develop cognitive skills through interaction with adults.
Introduces concepts like scaffolding, where a more knowledgeable adult supports the child’s learning process.
Information-Processing Theory:
Focuses on mechanisms of memory and executive function as critical to cognitive development.
Temperament
Definition
Temperament: Refers to an individual’s characteristic style of behavior or way of responding.
Three Clusters of Temperament
Easy: Adaptable and positive mood.
Difficult: Intense reactions and difficulty adapting.
Slow-to-warm-up: Initially inhibited but gradually becomes comfortable.
Additional Perspectives on Temperament
Effortful Control/Self-Regulation: Ability to regulate responses to evoke situations.
Negative Affectivity: Involves distress and negative moods.
Infant Attachment
Definition
Infant Attachment: The close emotional bond between an infant and its caregiver, providing a foundation for subsequent development.
Harlow Study
Conducted on infant rhesus monkeys; tested whether nourishment or contact mattered more.
Findings showed monkeys preferred the cloth mother despite the wire mother providing food, indicating that contact comfort is critical for attachment.
Bowlby’s Theory
John Bowlby: Proposed that infant attachment serves as a framework for future relationships.
Mary Ainsworth: Developed the Strange Situation Test to observe attachment styles:
Secure attachment.
Insecure attachment.
Socioemotional Development
Erik Erikson’s Theory
Emphasizes lifelong development and consists of eight psychosocial stages, each representing a task that must be resolved.
Outcomes of each stage lead either to greater personal competence or greater weakness.
First Four Stages of Erikson's Theory
Trust vs. Mistrust:
Basic needs must be met by sensitive caregivers.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt:
Encourages assertion of personal will.
Initiative vs. Guilt:
Responsibility for one's actions is emphasized.
Industry vs. Inferiority:
Focuses on mastering knowledge and intellectual skills.
Evaluation of Erikson’s Theory
The primary focus on case studies may limit generalization.
Omission of important developmental tasks may devalue certain life experiences.
Baumrind’s Parenting Styles
Types of Parenting Styles
Authoritarian:
Controlling and punitive.
Often found in financially stressed families.
May result in children lacking social skills and initiative.
Authoritative:
Encourages independence within limits, characterized by warmth and nurturing.
Correlated positively with social competence, responsibility, and self-reliance.
Neglectful:
Uninvolved parents correlated with poor self-control and social competence.
Permissive:
Involved but place few limits on behavior, leading to poor social competence and respect for others.
Moral Development
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Analyzed responses using moral dilemmas categorized into three levels:
Preconventional Level: Characterized by behavior guided by punishments and rewards.
Conventional Level: Grounded in societal norms learned from parents and society.
Postconventional Level: Involves considerations of contracts, rights, and abstract principles.
Evaluating Kohlberg’s Theory
Moral Reasoning vs. Moral Behavior: Not all moral reasoning translates to action.
Gender-Related Reasoning:
Justice Perspective: More prevalent in men (Kohlberg’s focus).
Care Perspective: More prevalent in women (Gilligan).
Additional moral foundations such as loyalty, authority, and purity are also considered.
Current Research on Moral Development
Foundations of Moral Judgments:
Ideals of care, fairness, loyalty, authority, and purity.
Prosocial Behavior:
Correlated with parental warmth and support.
Executive function predicts increased prosocial behavior; vice versa.
Adolescence
Transition Period
Adolescence: Time frame from about age 10 to 12, transitioning to adulthood around age 18 to 21.
Physical Development
Puberty: Rapid skeletal and sexual maturation occurring mainly during early adolescence.
Two main types of hormones influence development of genitals and secondary sex characteristics.
Brain Development in Adolescence
Early emphasis on the amygdala (responsible for emotions).
Later emphasis on the prefrontal cortex (involved in reasoning and decision making).
Cognitive Development in Adolescence
Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage:
Characterized by adolescent egocentrism, the belief that others are as focused on them as they are.
Leads to a sense of invincibility and may promote risky behaviors.
Socioemotional Development in Adolescence
Erikson's Identity Development
Identity vs. Identity Confusion:
Marcia’s four identity statuses:
Identity Diffusion: No exploration or commitment.
Identity Foreclosure: Commitment without exploration.
Identity Moratorium: Exploration without commitment.
Identity Achievement: Commitment after exploration.
Influence of Culture and Relationships
Attachment to minority groups and the larger culture.
Biculturalism: Adjustment to dual cultural identities.
Peer Relations: Peak importance during adolescence, with parents acting as managers and monitors of adolescent behaviors.
Adult Development and Aging
Emerging Adulthood
Emerging Adulthood: An extended adolescence period characterized by five key features:
Identity exploration.
Instability.
Self-focus.
Feeling “in between.”
Age of possibilities.
Physical Changes in Adulthood
Early Adulthood (20s): Peak physical development.
Middle Adulthood (30s): Declines in strength and speed; hair loss and height loss become common.
Late Adulthood: Accumulated wear and reduced ability for regeneration, notably menopause in women.
Biological Theories of Aging
Cellular Clock Theory: Suggests a maximum number of cell divisions, predicting a lifespan of about 120 years.
Involves shortening of telomeres.
Free Radical Theory: Suggests DNA damage from free radicals leads to aging.
Hormonal Stress Theory: Long-lasting effects of stress hormones contribute to aging.
The Aging Brain
New brain cells may grow in the hippocampus and olfactory bulbs.
Sustained aerobic exercise may enhance neurogenesis.
Reduced lateralization occurs, allowing more balanced use of both brain hemispheres.
Cognitive Development in Adulthood
Overview of Age Stages
Early Adulthood: Transition from idealism to realism.
Middle Adulthood: Highest functioning levels in four of six intellectual abilities.
Late Adulthood: Decline in processing speed and memory retrieval, but potential increase in wisdom; physical activity can enhance cognitive function.
Socioemotional Development in Adulthood
Erikson’s Last Stages
Intimacy vs. Isolation:
Forming close friendships and long-term relationships; late marriages become common.
Successful marriages often include nurturing admiration, friendship, shared power, and cooperative conflict resolution.
Generativity vs. Stagnation:
Involves leaving a legacy through parenting, mentoring, volunteering, or political activism, correlated with greater psychological well-being.
Integrity vs. Despair:
Reflecting on life’s meaning through life reviews and coping with mortality.
Health and Wellness
Coping with Life’s Difficulties:
Assimilation and accommodation as processes of adjustment (Piaget).
Life themes intersect with lifespan development.
Giving resources to assist others has positive health implications.
Chapter Review
Psychological Perspectives on Development: Evaluate how psychologists discuss development.
Prenatal Development: Describe changes from conception through childhood.
Adolescent Development: Characterize the transition and its implications.
Adult Development: Discuss the positive aspects of aging and relevant psychological factors for success.