Developmental Psychology

1. Developmental Psychology AP Psychology Myers, Ch. 4

2. Developmental Psychology • Studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan. “From womb to tomb”

3. Nature AND Nurture • Nature - Genes, heredity, predispositions • Nurture - Environmental influences, culture, parents, peers • Nurture works on what nature endows. • Maturation - The natural sequenced process of development • Regardless of nurture influences, all humans progress through some of the same stages at the same times.

4. How do we study development? Cross-sectional study Longitudinal study People of different ages are compare with one another at one time. The same people are restudied and retested over a long period of time.

5. Critical Periods • A window in development when a person is best suited to learn a particular skill or behavior. • If not learned during critical period, it cannot be learned successfully in the future. • EX: critical period for language development

6. Womb • Zygote – fertilized egg • Embryo – 2-8 wks • Fetus – 9 wks-birth (38-40 wks) • Nourished by the placenta • Can also transmit teratogens (harmful agents) • Ex: alcohol  fetal alcohol syndrome • Ex: drugs, AIDS

7. Infancy • Innate reflexes • Rooting reflex – tendency for infants, when touched on the cheek, to turn their head towards the sensation (searching for nourishment) • Universal emotional expression • Cry when in pain, hungry, etc • Smile when amused or satisfied • Stare when confused • Swift brain development  lots of sleep • Neural pathways • Long term memory not formed until 3 yrs (hippocampus not fully developed)

8. Contact Comfort • Harry Harlow – Nourishment or Comfort? • Baby monkeys and 2 fake mother monkeys • Cloth, no food (Comfort) • Wire, food (Nourishment) • Baby monkeys preferred COMFORT (cloth monkey without food) • Contact comfort • Instinctual need to touch and be touched, especially for babies (ex: NICU babies)

9. Attachment • Separation anxiety - Fear of separation from caregiver • Each baby is different depending on security • Stranger anxiety - Fear of strangers • Develops by 8 months • Imprinting - Process by which some animals form immediate, instinctual attachment during a critical period • Conrad Lorenz and baby geese • Infants do not “imprint” immediately, but do form strong attachments with primary caregivers

10. Attachment • Mary Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” • parent and child alone  stranger enters  all play  parent leaves  REACTION  parent returns

11. High Warmth Parenting Styles • Children raised by AUTHORITATIVE parents  correlates with higher self esteems, more self-reliant, and more socially competent Low Control High Control Low Warmth

12. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Children ≠ Mini-adults • Jean Piaget (1896-1980) • Emphasis on NATURE’S influence on development • Cognition - all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating • 4 cognitive stages through which all children pass Schemas (mental concepts that organize info) Accommodation (modification due to new info) Assimilation (taking in new info)

13. Sensorimotor Stage • Birth – 2 yrs • Experience and interact with the world through senses • Demonstrate… • Stranger anxiety • Must Learn… • Object permanence - The awareness that objects exist when not seen • EX: why Peek-A-Boo is so entertaining to babies

14. Preoperational Stage • 2-6/7 yrs • Demonstrate… • Egocentrism - Inability to see another person’s point of view • Think the world exists to meet their needs; not the same as selfishness • EX: the sun rose because they woke up, the sun set because they went to sleep • EX: cannot understand that sitting between you and the TV blocks your view • Artificialism - Natural events are caused by people • Animism - Objects are alive and conscious • Language development

15. Preoperational Stage (cont.) • Must Learn… • Conservation - Key properties of substances stay the same even if their shape or arrangement changes • Theory of mind – ideas about one’s own and other people’s mental states/emotions and the behaviors these might predict • Autism - a disorder marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understating of others’ states of mind • Often diagnosed during this stage

16. Concrete Operational Stage • 6/7-12 • Demonstrate… • Ability to think logically but not abstractly • EX: conservation • Mathematical transformations • EX: 8+4= 12 and 12-4=8 • Must Learn… • Abstract thought • EX: hypothetical propositions

17. Formal Operational Stage • 12 yrs + • Demonstrates… • Abstract thought and reasoning • Symbols, representations, hypothetical propositions • Self-concept – a sense of one’s identity and personal worth, develops by the end of childhood (12 yrs) • “Who am I?” • Positive self concepts can lead a child to be more confident, independent, assertive and sociable

18. Criticisms of Piaget • Too narrow and strict - underestimates/simplifies children’s abilities • Specific to Western cultures – doesn’t consider cultural differences • Unscientific - lack of controls, small samples, and absence of statistical analysis in his research

19. Adolescence • the transition period between childhood and adulthood • The “teen” years • Frontal lobe experiences development • personality matures • judgment/decision making improve – however not fully developed • Gradually reach the formal operational stage – capable of more abstract logic • Able to spot hypocrisy and inconsistencies in logic (fights with parents)

20. Puberty • the period of sexual maturation produced by a surge of hormones; lasts about 2 years • ~11 yrs in females; estrogen • ~13 yrs in males; testosterone

21. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development • Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) • Used the Heinz Dilemma to study moral development in people of all ages A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radiation that a pharmacist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the pharmacist was charging 10 times what the drug cost him to make. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could raise only a small bit of money. He told the pharmacist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the pharmacist rejected the man’s plea saying that he had discover the drug and intended to make money from it. • Should Heinz steal the drug? Why or why not? • 3 levels with 2 stages in each

22. Kohlberg’s Moral Ladder

23. Which level and stage? • “Heinz should not steal the drug because he will get in trouble.” • Preconventional – Stage 1 • “Heinz should break the law and steal the drug to draw attention to the injustices of capitalism.” • Postconventional – Stage 6 • “Heniz should steal the drug because that’s what a good husband would do for his wife.” • Conventional – Stage 3 • “Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is against the law.” • Conventional – Stage 4 • “Heinz should steal the drug because his wife needs it!” • Preconventional – Stage 2 • “Even though stealing is illegal, Heinz should steal the drug because the pharmacist is being greedy.” • Postconventional – Stage 5

24. Carol Gilligan’s Critique of Kohlberg • Kohlberg does not consider gender differences due to differences in socialization  different types of logic • “Heinz should steal the drug because it’s logical to value human life over the law.” • Postconventional, Stage 5 • Male • “ethics of justice” – able to separate morality and law using logic • “Heinz should not steal the drug because if he goes to jail, who will take care of his wife? He could borrow the money.” • Preconventional, Stage 1-2 • Female • “ethics of care” – unable to separate the problem from the surrounding world

25. Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages • Erik Erikson (1902-1994) • Each stage in life has its own psychosocial dilemma that needs resolution. These dilemmas work to shape identity and self-concept. • Emphasis on NURTURE‘S influence on personal development

26. Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages

27. Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages

28. Criticisms of Erikson • Gender differences? • Focuses too much on infancy • Too culturally and time specific

29. Emerging Adulthood • Adolescence is a time to form an identity (similar to self-concept) • Transition to adulthood • Develop capacity for intimacy – the ability to form lasting, close, and loving relationships. • Shift away from parents, towards peers.

30. Adulthood and Aging Men Women Decline in sperm count and testosterone Increased depression, insomnia, irritability, weakness Decline in fertility and estrogen Menopause – the cessation of menstruation (~50 yrs) Both • Decreased vision (pupils shrink) • Brain regions atrophy if not stimulated (memory) • Weakening of immune system  increased illnesses

31. Social Clock • The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. • “I should be married by now…” • “I should have a career by now…” • “I should have had children by now…” • Are midlife crises real? • Research has found that the idea of a midlife crisis is false - rather people reporting unhappiness in the midlife stage usually are triggered by some kind of major event such as illness, divorce, or job loss.

32. Aging and Intelligence • Crystallized intelligence – accumulated knowledge and verbal skills, increases with age. • Fluid intelligence – ability to reason abstractly and quickly, decreases in late adulthood

33. Alzheimer’s Disease • a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, finally, physical functioning. • 3% of ppl by age 75 • deterioration of the neurons that produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine

34. Dying and Death • Grief is expected after the loss of a spouse, family member, or friend. • grief is more intense in instances of sudden death, and less intense when death is expected.

35. “The Stages of Grief” • Elizabeth Kubler-Ross - 1969 • CRITICISMS • Does not consider cultural rituals with grief • Does not consider the personal environment • Studies show that some people experience no grief or experience the stages in different order, or skip some stages

36. Reflections on Development • NATURE - Biological/evolutionary perspectives • Development as a series of genetically predisposed steps. • NURTURE - Behavioral/Cognitive perspectives • Development as a slow and continuing processes emphasizing learning and experience • The theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erikson have allowed psychologists to see how people mature throughout life in a number of ways.