V. Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology: A branch of psychology that studies

physical, cognitive (linguistic), and social (emotional) change throughout the life span.

Sometimes controversial:How to raise a child?What to expect in late adulthood?

Themes: nature vs. nurture (Universal vs. individual developmental patterns)

A. Prenatal Development...

A. Prenatal Development

1. Physical/Biological development The sperm meets the egg……

zygote: a fertilized egg. Conception to two weeks. Rapid cell division.

embryo: 2 – 8 weeks.organ systems develop.

fetus: 9 weeks to birth.

A. Prenatal Development

a. Zygote: Sex Determination Mom - X-chromosome

Dad - Y or X-chromosome

i. Potential Problems Turner’s Syndrome (f’s with X0)

Kleinfelter’s Syndrome (m’s XXY) Double Y Syndrome (m’s XYY)

A. Prenatal Development

b. Embryonic stage – Critical/Sensitive Period: Cell differentiation (organ development)

Possible problems/difficulties. Importance of Placenta:But:

Smoking DrugsAlcohol: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Where influence of “nurture” is evident.

A. Prenatal Development

c. Fetal stage – amazing! smelling, hearing, tasting, breathing,

kicking, respond to light and touch.

leading to.....

B. Newborn/Early Development

1. Physical Development

Newborns HIGHLY underestimated.a. Born with reflexes.b. Born with other preferences:

Mom’s smell Human faces and voices

How could we possibly know this?Habituation: decrease in responding after repeated stimulation (e.g. gaze less at stimuli).

Habituation

0

40

30

20

10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Time spentlooking(seconds)

Presentation

c. Yet – still “immature” brain Neurons “bloom” when prenatal. Neural connections “bloom” during infancy. Neural connections also “pruned.”Adaptive cerebral cortex becomes more

complex and elaborated through the development of neural networks.

Interconnected neurons are modified by feedback: strengthened to produce a response (output) - to certain input.

B. Newborn/Early Development

1. Physical Developmentd. Brain development & plasticity.Plasticity: Brain’s capacity for

modification.Importance of cerebral cortex.

Evidence of brain plasticity.

B. Newborn/Early Development

1. Physical Developmentd. Brain development & plasticity.

Human examples. “Use it or lose it” Brain reorganization after injury/damage.

B. Newborn/Early Development

2. Motor Development (see text).3. Cognitive Development- Thinking, knowing, remembering,

communicating.- Related to physical development:

(development of neural networks)

JEAN PIAGET

PIAGET

a. BasicsUse of Schemas.Assimilation: incorporate new experiences

into existing framework.Accommodation: Also fit/modify/create

schemas to incorporate new experiences.** Development occurs in distinct stages – not

gradual change.**To understand development, understand

“errors” children make.

PIAGET

b. Stages of Cognitive Developmenti. Sensorimotor (birth - 2 years)

“Children can’t think” - know world through motor actions & senses.

Experience orderly increase in more complex cognition.

Around 8 months:Object Permanence: The awareness that objects continue to exist when not perceived.

Piaget: Stages of Cog. Development

- ii. Preoperational Stage (preschool - 6 years) Advances in memory & more verbal

able to “pretend” Not capable of mental “operations”.

Conservation: quantities remain the samedespite superficial changes in appearance.

Not capable of taking another’s point of view.Egocentric: interpret world from perspective of self only.

Piaget: Stages of Cog. Development

- iii. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) Capable of logical reasoning. Able to take perspective of others. But - no thinking on abstract level.

- iv. Formal Operational Stage (12 - adult) Can think abstractly. Use imagined realities. Engage in moral reasoning.

Implications of the stages?

PIAGET

c. Review of Piaget’s TheoryConcerns and Updates- Underestimated children’s abilities

- object permanence at earlier age

- conservation at an earlier age- egocentricity

- Problem with “all or none” viewpoint- What does stage theory imply about

nature/nurture?- Vygotsky: scaffolding

d. Emotional/Social Development

Social “reflexes” Emotion/Social Development

What is influential in emotional/social development?

Early relationships with caregivers.

a. Attachment TheoryAttachment: bond between child and

parent (or caregiver). Originally thought... nourishment/ survival (evolution) But realized more to it ...

i. Harlow’s Monkey Studies Wire vs. cloth

monkeys

d. Emotional/Social Development

i. Why such upset?For animals – may be “critical period”

for forming the attachment with caregiver. imprinting Lorenz

Not quite as concrete for humans. Why?

See critical role environment or “nurture” plays in emotional/social development.

For humans, what is a nurturing environment? What fosters healthy attachment?

Began study of human attachment.ii. Bowlby: WWII institutions.

iii. Mary AinsworthFocus on mom’s behavior.Attachment serves to provide kids with

secure base from which to explore.Put forth: Mom’s response to baby

determined the mom/infant relationship, baby’s behavior, and type of attachment.

Used “strange situation” paradigm.

Ainsworth - attachment3 attachment styles1. Securely attached2. Anxious/ambivalent (resistant)3. Anxious/avoidant.Do these attachment influence

people later in life? secure = more confidence, better

problem solvers, emotionally healthier, more sociable

Attachment

iv. Hazan & Shaver Early attachment influences how we

deal with relationships as adults.Secure lovers: happy, trusting, friends, etc.Anx/ambiv: obsessed, extreme sexual

attraction, jealousy.Anx/avoid: fear of intimacy, emotional highs

and lows, jealousy.

Attachment

Ainsworth: focus on “nurture” - MOMWhat about “nature”?

v. Influence of temperament:Personality and emotional reactivity with which people are born.

Evidence for influence of temperament.(longitudinal studies)

Evidence for influence of nurture.Could nature and nurture interact?

“Goodness of Fit”

For emotional/social development thus far, what factors seem to be missing?

Ainsworth: focus on mom. Different childrearing practices across

cultures? Dad? Other caregivers? Very western, 50’s perspective

B. Issues to consider today for social/emotional development.

Day Care?Basic conclusion: good day care has

no negative effects on children.Divorce?Basic conclusion: kids from divorced

families sometimes have more problems.

Other factors to consider?

Conclusions about development.

Trying to answer the question: how did we get here? Prenatal development. Physically (brain development). Cognitively. Socially/ emotionally

See influence of nature and nurture at each point.

Typical Age Range

Description of Stage

Developmental Phenomena

Birth to nearly 2 years SensorimotorExperiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing)

•Object permanence•Stranger anxiety

About 2 to 6 years

About 7 to 11 years

About 12 through adulthood

PreoperationalRepresenting things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning

•Pretend play•Egocentrism•Language development

Concrete operationalThinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations

•Conservation •Mathematical transformations

Formal operationalAbstract reasoning

•Abstract logic•Potential for moral reasoning

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development