Psych 105 Chapter 11 part 2

Chapter 11: Development

Chapter Outline

• Prenatality: A Womb with a View

• Infancy and Childhood: Perceiving, Doing, and Thinking

• Infancy and Childhood: Bonding and Helping

• Adolescence: Minding the Gap

• Adulthood: Change We Can’t Believe In

Infancy and Childhood: Bonding and Helping

• Social Development

• Konrad Lorenz: Discovered imprinting in newly hatched goslings, where the primary caregiver becomes the emotional center for infants.

Becoming Attached

• Attachment: Emotional bond between newborns and caregivers.

  • The primary caregiver serves as the emotional center of the infant's world, providing the attachment bond.

• Deprivation of Attachment: Serious risks for physical, mental, and emotional impairments due to lack of attachment opportunities.

Attachment Styles (part 1)

• Attachment Styles: Characteristic patterns in reaction to the presence/absence of primary caregivers.

  • Types: Secure, avoidant, ambivalent, disorganized.

• Strange Situation: Behavioral test by Mary Ainsworth for assessing a child's attachment style.

Attachment Styles (part 2)

• Characteristics of Attachment Styles

  • Secure: Not distressed when caregiver leaves; acknowledges caregiver's return.

  • Avoidant: Not distressed when caregiver leaves; does not acknowledge return.

  • Ambivalent: Distressed when caregiver leaves; hard to calm upon return.

  • Disorganized: Inconsistent response patterns to caregiver.

The Origins of Attachment Styles

• Temperament: Biologically based emotional reactivity patterns.

  • Categories:

    • Easy babies: 40%

    • Difficult babies: 10%

    • Slow-to-warm-up babies: 15%

Harlow’s Monkeys

• Study by Harry Harlow (1958): Baby rhesus monkeys raised in isolation showed preference for a cloth mother over a wire mother, indicating a natural inclination to bond.

Caregiver Attachment

• Mother's sensitivity and responsiveness significantly impact infant attachment style; explored through a study with mothers assigned training to enhance sensitivity.

  • Training led to higher rates of secure attachment in infants compared to controls.

The Consequences of Attachment Style

• Internal Working Models: Infants develop beliefs about relationships based on caregiver interactions.

  • Securely attached children generally perform better in academic, cognitive, psychological, and emotional aspects.

Internal Working Models

• Research indicates infants possess internal working models, as they display longer staring at unexpected behaviors from caregivers.

Moral Development (part 1)

• Piaget’s Research: Categories in children's moral thinking

  • Shift from realism to relativism, prescriptions to principles, and outcomes to intentions.

Moral Development (part 2)

• Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory: Three stages of moral development:

  • Preconventional stage (childhood).

  • Conventional stage (adolescence).

  • Postconventional stage (adulthood).

Developmental Timeline: Infancy and Childhood with Kohlberg’s Stages

Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory

• Stages are not as discrete; moral reasoning reflects Western society and does not encompass the entirety of moral development.

Adolescence: Minding the Gap

• Adolescence: Developmental phase from sexual maturity onset (~11-14 years) to adulthood (~18-21 years).

• Puberty: Bodily changes indicating sexual maturity with brain changes exhibiting prefrontal cortex development and pruning.

The Protraction of Adolescence

• Variability in puberty onset influenced by diet, environment (toxins), and stress; a reduced age for adulthood responsibility potentially leads to adolescent turmoil.

Consequences of Protracted Adolescence

• Turmoil may stem from the restricted gap between childhood and adulthood; risky behavior not leading to reckless adulthood.

How Do Peers Affect Decision Making?

• Adolescents make safer decisions when alone; peer presence increases risks and negative outcomes.

Emerging Sexuality: Timing

• Early puberty can create unrealistic expectations; effects of timing on boys and girls differ regarding emotional and behavioral impacts.

Sexual Orientation: A Matter of Biology

• Biology and genetics contribute to sexual orientation; it encompasses greater complexity than simple labels.

Changing Attitudes Towards Same-Sex Marriage

Sexual Behaviour: A Matter of Choice

• Trends in Sexual Activity: Decrease in sexual activity among Canadian high school students, especially pre-15, linked to self-worth and mental health issues.

• Comprehensive Sex Education: Proven to delay sexual initiation and reduce pregnancies and STIs; ineffective compared to absence-only programs.

Teenagers Are Having Less Sex

• Decrease in sexual activity among Canadian adolescents aged 15-17 over the last 25 years.

From Parents to Peers

• Adolescents strive for autonomy and transition to “identity versus role confusion,” focusing on peer relationships over family.

• Family conflict may increase while peer pressure lessens with age.

The Real World

• Understanding Sexuality: Involves body and mind, encompassing sex, gender, and sexual orientation.

Adulthood: Change We Can’t Believe In

• Adulthood: Begins around 18-21 years and continues until death; associated changes are physical, cognitive, and emotional.

Age-Related Changes in Cognitive Performance

Changing Abilities

• Peak abilities occur in early 20s, decline by 26-30 years; physical changes impact cognitive decline. Older brains adapt by recruiting different neural structures.

Bilateral Asymmetry in Older and Younger Brains

• Older brains compensate for declining abilities by activating both hemispheres and showing less asymmetry compared to younger brains.

Changing Goals

• Socioemotional Selectivity Theory: Younger adults focus on future opportunities, whereas older adults prioritize emotional happiness, remembering more positive experiences.

Changing Roles

• Psychological separation from parents starts in adulthood, with a focus on marriage and parenthood; married individuals tend to be happier and healthier.