Transcript Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology
Unit 9
Essential Question
❖ How do people develop physically,
cognitively, socially, and morally
throughout the lifespan?
Infancy & Childhood
Day1
Do Now
❖
❖ Babies think and act differently than we
do. Describe a situation where you observed
this “infantile” mindset. What was different
than that of an adult mind?
Prenatal Development & the Newborn
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Sperm and egg cells fuse into a zygote
Over time, the zygote becomes an embryo, where
organs begin to be formed. The X and Y
Chromosomes determine the sex of the child; X
means female, Y results in male
Then, the unborn child becomes a fetus, which it
will remain until birth. They can begin to hear
outside voices
Prenatal Development & the Newborn
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The fetus can be exposed to
teratogens, outside
chemicals or viruses
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
occurs if the fetus is exposed
to alcohol
The Competent Newborn
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Newborns look for faces, as well turn their heads
towards sounds
They can recognize familiar voices, and respond to those
they know well
Habituation:
o decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation
Physical Development
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The brain is mostly formed at birth. The frontal lobe develops the most
after birth, however
Maturation
o Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior,
relatively uninfluenced by behavior
Most infants learn to walk by 15 months
Due to unfinished development in the hippocampus and frontal lobes, we
experience infantile amnesia, which is why we cannot remember much
before the age of 5
Cognitive Development
● Older we get, more schemas we build
○ Assimilate: interpreting new info with already-existing schemas
○ Accomodate: adapting old schemas to incorporate new info
Cognitive Development
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=TRF27F2bn-A
Cognitive Development
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Lev Vygotsky:
Believed language was important for social
mentoring, building blocks for thinking
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emQTGwAZpa8)
Review
What is object permanence?
What is conservation?
At what age can a child think abstractly?
How does one fit information into their
schemas
Infancy & Childhood
Day2
Social Development
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Stranger Anxiety:
The fear of strangers that infants
commonly display, beginning by
about 8 months of age.
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Attachment:
An emotional tie with another
person; shown in young children by
their seeking closeness to the
caregiver and showing distress on
separation.
Social Development
Harry Harlow’s Experiment
(1971):
Infants bond with surrogate mothers
because of bodily contact not because
of nourishment.
Critical Period:
An optimal period shortly after birth
when an organism's exposure to
certain stimuli or experiences
produces proper development.
E.g. Newborn’s exposure to
Social Development
Attachment Differences :
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Secure Attachment
o Caused by careful sensitivity and responsiveness when the infant is
very young. They grow up with a sense of basic trust
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
a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy
Insecure Attachment
o Caused by apathetic parenting. Tends to have a worse sense of trust,
and avoid attachment.
Social Development
Secure Attachment vs. Insecure Attachment:
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60% of infants display secure attachment when placed in unfamiliar
environments.
e.g. Infants happily explore environment in the presence of their
mother. When mother leaves signs of distress are evident in infants.
30% of infants show insecure attachment when placed in same settings.
e.g. Infants cling to their mothers or caregivers and are less likely to
explore environment.
Social Development
Attachment Deprivation:
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When deprived from attachment, children tend to grow into more
aggressive and abusive adults.
Similarly, when taken from a loved one, children have difficult times
eating, sleeping, or getting along with others.
Social Development
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Imprinting:
The process by which
certain animals form
attachments during a critical
period very early in life.
Konrad Lorenz:
-Discovered imprinting by
observing newly hatched ducklings
-Special type of learning.
Social Development
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Self-Concept:
All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question,
“Who am I?”
Stages of Self-Concept :
Infancy : attachment
Younger children: positive sense of self,
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End of childhood (around 12 yrs old) : Awareness of Self Concept
Children's views of themselves affect their action
How can parents encourage a positive, realistic self-concept?
● G. Stanley Hall: “Stress and Storm” of adolescence
Social Development
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Parenting Styles :
1. Authoritarian :
Parents impose as expect obedience
2. Permissive:
Parents submit to their children's desires. They make few demands and use
little punishment.
3. Authoritative:
Parents are both demanding and responsive. They use control through rules,
but also explain the reason for the control. They encourage open discussion when
making rules and allow exceptions.
*association between certain parenting styles and certain childhood
outcomes is CORRELATION. Correlation is not causation
Review
• What is an example of imprinting?
• Define Self- Concept.
• Name and describe the 3 type of Parenting
Styles.
Adolescence
Day3
Do-Now
(Discussion)
• What do you associate
with adolescence?
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What physical, cognitive, and
social changes mark adolescence?
Adolescence
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Adolescence:
The transition period from
childhood to adulthood, extending
from puberty to independence.
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Puberty:
The period of sexual
maturation, during which a person
becomes capable of reproducing.
Physical Development
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Primary sex characteristics include
reproductive organs and external
genetalia.
Girls: ovaries, vagina, estrogen
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Boys: testes, penis, testosterone
Secondary sex characteristics are
non reproductive traits.
Girls: breasts, wide hips
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Boys: facial hair, deepened voice
Menarche:
First menstrual period, often known
as the menstrual cycle.
Physical Development
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As teens mature, development of
frontal lobes continue.
-Improved judgement
-Impulse control
-Ability to plan for long
term
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Frontal lobe maturation lags the
emotional limbic system.
-Compulsiveness
-Risky behaviors
Cognitive Development
• Finding sense of morality
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Haidt: “gut feeling”, social institutionist
Piaget: morals build with cognitive development
Kohlberg: moral reasoning
adolescents develop a capacity for formal operation
and that this development is the foundation for
moral judgment
Cognitive Development
Kohlberg’s moral reasoning development
➢ preconventional: pre age 9, self interest,
follow rules to gain/avoid something
➢ conventional: early adolescence, caring for
others, follow rules because they’re rules
➢ postconventional: self-defined ethical set
of right and wrong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxJ07klMhr0
Social Development
● Erik Erikson believed each stage of life has a
psychosocial crisis
○
Adolescence stage:
■ search for identity (sense of self) and social identity (answers
“Who am I?” in terms of group memberships)
■ search for intimacy
■ separation from parents
Social Development
Emerging Adulthood
Gender
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Gender:
The biologically and socially
influenced characteristics by which
people define male & female.
Role:
A set of expectations (norms) about
a social position, defining how those in the
position ought to behave.
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Gender Role:
A set of expected behaviors for
males & females.
Gender & Society
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Gender Identity:
Our sense of being male or female.
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Gender Typing:
The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.
e.g.: Stay at Home Mom & Coal Mining father
.VS.
Coal Mining Mom & Stay at Home Dad
Gender & Society
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Social Learning Theory:
- The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and
imitating and by being rewarded or punished.
- Children learn gender-linked behaviors by observation.
E.g.: “Girls play with dolls”
“Boys don’t cry!”
Review
What is the social learning theory?
Why do teens indulge in risky behaviors?
Difference between primary and secondary sex
characteristics?
Adulthood
Day 4
Do Now
How has your
perception of adults
changed from young
childhood to now?
What makes
someone an adult?
How do you know
someone is an
adult? Is it their
age? Their attitude?
Looks?
Physical Development
Middle Adulthood
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Aging: gradual decline in fertility
Females go through menopause around age 50
o natural end of menstruation
o takes an emotional toll on women
Men
o sperm count decline
o testosterone level decrease
o ejaculation/erection frequency and speed decrease
Physical Development
Later Life
• society is focusing on retirement homes, home nurses, and retirement
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funds because life expectancy is increasing
Spirit and gender affects length of life
o Chronic anger and depression increase our risk of ill health and
premature death
o Death-Deferral Phenomenon
What is Death?
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Cells stop reproducing
o body is frail and vulnerable to infection
Physical Development
● immune system weakens
● brain neurons slow
○ memory areas decline
○ frontal lobes decline
● Sensory abilities diminish
○ vision: pupil shrinks,
lens becomes less
transparent
Physical Development
Dementia & Alzheimers
•A series of smalls strokes, a brain tumor, or alcohol dependence can damage
the brain and cause mental erosion called dementia and Alzheimer's
disease.
•Alzheimer's destroys the brightest of minds.
•(Loss of brain cells and neuronal deterioration that produce acetylcholine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wv9jrk-gXc
which is necessary for memory and thinking)
o First memory deteriorates
o reasoning deteriorates
o becomes emotionally flat
o disoriented → disinhibited → incontinent → mentally vacant
Cognitive Development
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As age increases, recent past events &
events that happened a decade or two
back are more likely to be
remembered.
Recalling names become
increasingly difficult.
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Recognition memory does not decline
with age.
Meaningful material that is
recalled better than meaningless
material.
Cognitive Development
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Crystallized Intelligence:
Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills which tend to increase
with age.
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e.g.: “The older we get, the wiser we become.”
Fluid Intelligence:
Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly. This type of intelligence
tends to decrease during late adulthood.
e.g.: Problem Solving
Adulthood's Ages and Stages
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People entering their 40s go through a period called midlife transition
The social clock varies from era to era and culture to culture
Social clock
o the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage,
parenthood, and retirement
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Chance events have lasting significance because they often deflect us down
one road rather than another
Adulthood's Commitments
Love
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Evolutionary perspective: relatively monogamous pairing makes sense: parents who
cooperated to nurture their child to maturity were more likely to have their genes
passed along to posterity than were parents who didn't
Couples who get married/civil union more often endure
Love bears children -> children absorb time/money/energy and satisfaction in
marriage may decline-> children eventually leave home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goq740lF1vg
Work
• “Who are you?” -> “What do you do?”
• Happiness is about having work that fits your interests
Reflections on Two Major
Developmental Issues
Stability and Change
First 2 years of life provide little basis for predicting a
person’s eventual traits
As people grow older, personality gradually stabilizes
stability & change necessary for life
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Review?
What physical changes happen during
adulthood?
What happens to the brain in late adulthood?
What is the role of work and love in
adulthood?