Prologue to Chapter 9

1. Prologue to Chapter 9 • Developmental psychology • Questions addressed include: • How do we change over time? • Are children different from adults in how they think? • How do children become thinking, reasoning adults? • Do we change or stay the same as we age? Psych 101 Chapter 9

2. Basic Processes of Development Psych 101 Chapter 9

3. Basic Processes of Development • Nature or nurture? • which is more important concerning our development • current thinking is that both are important and that both influence our actions, thoughts, and feelings as we develop over time Psych 101 Chapter 9

4. Basic Processes of Development • Maturation • in the study of development, maturation is the most important factor to consider • maturation is a progressive unfolding by “schedule” • you will begin to walk at a certain age range, begin to talk at another age range, etc. Psych 101 Chapter 9

5. Early experience and critical periods Psych 101 Chapter 9

6. Early Experience/Critical Periods • Imprinting (Konrad Lorenz): a form of early learning that occurs in some animals during a critical period in their development • Early social deprivation • has long lasting detrimental effects on animal (Harry Harlow’s research) • psychologists disagree on some of the effects of early social dep. in humans Psych 101 Chapter 9

7. Early Experience/Critical Periods • The “Battered-Child Syndrome” • identified in the early 1960s • child abuse can pass from one generation to the next • approximately 15% of child abusers do not change their ways even with social service and court intervention • approximately 2,000 children killed annually as a result of child abuse Psych 101 Chapter 9

8. Variations in Development • Different children develop at different rates • The same child will vary in rate of their own development at different times in their life • Understanding the variance and range of developmental rates is important to developmental psychologists Psych 101 Chapter 9

9. Stage theories of development • Do we develop in stages or not? Are we like oak trees or butterflies in our development? • is our development continuuous or discontinuuous? • There are a number of various “stage” theorists in study of developmental psychology Psych 101 Chapter 9

10. Stage Theories Psych 101 Chapter 9

11. Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development • Piaget’s interest was in identifying particular eras (stages) of cognitive style (development) in humans • He distinguished 4 stages; they are: • sensiomotor stage: 0-2 years • preoperational stage: 3-6 years • concrete operations stage: 7-11 years • formal operations stage: 12+ years Psych 101 Chapter 9

12. Stage theories of moral development • There are 2 theorists concerned with identification of stages of moral development in humans • Kohlberg’s theory of moral development • Gilligan’s theory of moral development • Theories of moral development concern how does one learn to do the “right” thing in society Psych 101 Chapter 9

13. Kohlberg’s theory • Kohlberg’s theory of moral development includes 3 general phases (stages) of morality that persons can develop. They are: • the premoral level of morality • the conventional level of morality • the principled level of morality • Why do you do the right thing? Psych 101 Chapter 9

14. Gilligan’s theory • Gilligan’s theory of moral development includes 3 general phases (stages) which humans can develop. They are: • morality as individual sacrifice • morality as self-sacrifice • morality as equality • Gilligan’s theory is often considered to be a feminist view of moral development. Psych 101 Chapter 9

15. Personality Development Psych 101 Chapter 9

16. Erik Erikson’s Theory • Erikson’s stage theory of personality development • there are eight (8) stages of development • each stage has a “crisis” to be resolved that has a profound effect on how a person’s personality will develop in the long term • these stages start at birth and go to old age Psych 101 Chapter 9

17. Erik Erikson’s Theory • The 8 stages are: • basic trust vs mistrust: 0-1 years • autonomy vs shame/doubt: 1-3 years • initiative vs guilt: 3-5 years • industry vs inferiority: 5-11 years • identity vs role confusion: 11-18 years • intimacy vs isolation: 18-40 years • generativity vs stagnation: 40-65 years • integrity vs despair: 65+ years Psych 101 Chapter 9

18. Development in Infancy and Childhood Psych 101 Chapter 9

19. Development in infancy and childhood • The neonatal period: the newborn’s first two (2) weeks • Physical development • the neonate is weak and dependent • the neonate has a repetoire of adaptive reflexive behaviors, e.g., rooting reflex, TNR, sucking reflex, palmer grasp, etc. • there are about 20 different reflexive behaviors that the neonate has to assist the child in its entry into the world; these often disappear by the time the child is 6 months old Psych 101 Chapter 9

20. The Neonate • Cognitive development • neonates can imitate facial expressions fairly soon • neonates have some memory for visual forms • they prefer to look at contrasts • they prefer order to disorder • they prefer to look at patterns • they prefer to look at human faces Psych 101 Chapter 9

21. The Neonate • Emotional and social development of the neonate • five (5) emotional states can be distinguished in the neonate. These states are: • surprise • happiness • discomfort • distress • interest Psych 101 Chapter 9

22. Infancy: 2 weeks to 2 years • Physical development in infants is more rapid in the first year of life than at any other time in a person’s life • Cognitive development • according to Piaget, the child is in the sensiomotor period of cognitive development • the child moves from pure reflexive actions to coordination of sensations and motor movements Psych 101 Chapter 9

23. Infancy: 2 weeks to 2 years • Cognitive development • at the end of the sensiomotor stage (about age 2), the child develops, according to Piaget, full “object permanence” which signals their move into the next stage of cognitive development • at the beginning of infancy there is little if any object permanence but within 2 years full object permanence exists Psych 101 Chapter 9

24. Infancy: 2 weeks to 2 years • Emotional and social development in infancy • infant develops a “social smile” at about 2 months of age • develops “separation anxiety” at about 6-9 months of age • develops “stranger anxiety” at about 6-10 months of age • these anxieties peak around 14 months and gradually decline by about age 2 Psych 101 Chapter 9

25. Early Childhood: 2 to 7 years Psych 101 Chapter 9

26. Cognitive development • Cognitive development: 2-7 years • According to Piaget, the child is now in the “preoperational period” of cognitive development • preoperational thinking is evident, e.g., egocentricism, animism, and transductive reasoning are apparent Psych 101 Chapter 9

27. Emotional and social development • Emotional and social development: 2-7 years • child progresses from solitary play to parallel play and finally to cooperative play • child incorporates others into his/her pretending and games become more rule-governed Psych 101 Chapter 9

28. Middle Childhood: 7-11 years Psych 101 Chapter 9

29. Cognitive Development • Cognitive development: 7-11 years • the child enters into the “concrete operations” period of thinking (according to Piaget’s stages) • the child develops reversibility and conservation Psych 101 Chapter 9

30. Emotional and social development • Emotional and social development: 7-11 years • peers become increasingly more important during this time • school becomes increasingly important • child’s early dependence on parents begins to lessen; parents may have some difficulty accepting this change Psych 101 Chapter 9

31. Adulthood: Young adulthood through older adulthood Psych 101 Chapter 9

32. Cognitive development • Cognitive abilities improve, change, or decline during adulthood • Crystallized intelligence improves over time while fluid intelligence slowly wanes • Wisdom improves; wisdom is the appropriate use of knowledge Psych 101 Chapter 9

33. Emotional and social development • Early adulthood: Intimacy vs Isolation; the challenge is to enter into committed, loving relationships that partially replace the bonds with parents • Middle adulthood: Generativity vs stagnation; the challenge is to find meaning in our work and family lives and to continue to be productive Psych 101 Chapter 9

34. Emotional and social development • Climacteric: period beginning about age 45 when a loss of the capacity to sexually reproduce in women and a decline in the reproductivity capacity in men occurs • Later adulthood: Integrity vs despair; the challenge is to see a life with meaning and continued satisfaction Psych 101 Chapter 9

35. Causes of aging • Aging is partly a biological process but is a psychological process as well • Staying engaged in life’s activities and refusing to accept myths about aging are two keys to happy aging • Aging as a biological process may be genetically solved toward the end of your lifetime Psych 101 Chapter 9

36. Evaluation of stage theories of adulthood • Psychologists disagree as to whether the changes in adulthood can be thought of as a series or stages or just a continuation of a single process • This is a “continuity vs discontinuity” debate that often occurs in developmental psychology • What do you think? Psych 101 Chapter 9

37. Death and dying: The final stage Psych 101 Chapter 9

38. Death and dying • According to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, the stages in the acceptance of impending death are: • denial • anger • bargaining • depression • acceptance Psych 101 Chapter 9

39. Death and dying • One step beyond? • what happens at the point of death? • what happens after death? • the “near death experience” and the commonalities in these reports • rushing down a tunnel which, at the end, has an intensely brilliant light • reports of seeing dead loved ones and experiences with angelic beings and/or God Psych 101 Chapter 9

40. Application of psychology: Parenting • Parent and infant attachment • the securely-attached infant will: • enjoy physical contact with parents and others • be comfortable in exploring different environments • be likely to be more intelligent than not-securely attached infants • be more psychologically healthy as a child • be more responsive to its environment Psych 101 Chapter 9

41. Application of psychology: Parenting • The insecurely-attached infant will: • cling excessively to the parent • become extremely upset when the parent leaves the child or a stranger appears in the child’s environment • be less likely to freely explore its environment and, hence, be somewhat less intelligent than its securely-attached counterpart Psych 101 Chapter 9

42. Application of psychology: Parenting • Parenting and discipline styles • authoritarian parenting • permissive parenting • authoritative parenting • Bi-directional effects in childrearing • parents’ behavior affects children’s behavior • children’s behavior affects parent’s behavior Psych 101 Chapter 9

43. Application of psychology: Parenting • The myth of the perfect parent • there are no perfect parents • the most difficult job you will ever have and the job for which you are least prepared • children are resilient • honest, heart-felt committment expressed in loving behavior is a good start to being a good parent Psych 101 Chapter 9

44. Application of psychology: Parenting • Day care, divorce, and parenting • Emotional attachments, bonding, trust, and resiliency • Don’t divorce if at all possible • Watch your day care providers • adequate staff-to-child ratio? • adequate supervision? • can you drop in unannounced at any time for an inspection? Psych 101 Chapter 9

45. Questions? • Any questions over chapter 9? Psych 101 Chapter 9