Module 4: Prenatal and Childhood Development

1. Module 4: Prenatal and Childhood Development • Developmental Psychology: applied vs. basic research • Basic issues: • Nature and Nurture • Bouchard Study • Continuous vs. Discontinuous development • Longitudinal vs. cross-sectional studies Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

2. Prenatal Development The birds and the bees, a quick review: • Eggs and sperm • Chromosomes • DNA • Genes • Zygote • Embryo • Fetus • Teratogens • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

3. Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

4. 45 days Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

5. Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

6. Newborn Development • Tabula Rasa? (nope) • Reflexes: • Rooting • Moro (startle) • Babinski • Grasp • Step Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

7. Newborn Development, cont’d Newborn senses - most are fully developed, some development occurs as we age • Sight • Hearing • Touch • Taste • Smell Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

8. Newborn Temperament Babies seem to be born with a basic social temperament that generally sticks with us as we age • Easy babies • Difficult babies • “slow to warm up” babies Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

9. Brain Development • We are born with just about all the neurons we’ll ever have • Neurons are not yet well connected (few synaptic connections) • As we learn, dendrites grow to make new connections • Brain Plasticity Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

10. Neural Development Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

11. Motor Development • Progresses through various predictable stages • Not dramatically affected by our environment except in extreme cases • Cerebellum is developing at its own pace Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

12. Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

13. Attachment • Imprinting: Konrad Lorenz (1937) • critical period • Do humans have critical periods? • Harry Harlow1950’s monkey experiment • Effects of attachment deprivation • Mary Ainsworth - Secure vs. Insecure attachment • The strange situation study • Implications for Divorce and Day care Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

14. Harry Harlow’s Attachment Study - wire frame and soft mom Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

15. Konrad Lorenz Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

16. Parenting Styles Baumrind’s research (1971) • Authoritarian • Permissive • Authoritative • Effects of different styles: Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

17. Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

18. Stage theories of development Several significant stage theories for different areas of development • Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory • Erikson’s Social Development Theory • Kohlberg’s Moral Development Theory Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

19. Jean Piaget Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

20. Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of Development • Three major concepts drive cognitive development: • Scheme • Assimilation • Accomodation • In any new situation, we try to use our existing scheme first (assimilation), then we change our scheme (accommodate) if we have to. Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

21. Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of Development Stage 1: Sensorimotor • Babies are forming schemes about their sensory world and their place in it • Missing Object permanence at the beginning • Develops early • Impossible situation studies • As soon as babies develop object permanence, they are ready to learn schemes in the next stage Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

22. Object Permanence Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

23. Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of Development Stage 2: Pre-operational stage • Learning schemes about manipulating real-world objects(beginning of logic) • Learning concepts of conservation • Number • Area • Volume • Learning Reversibility • Egocentrism Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

24. Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

25. Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of Development Stage 3: Concrete Operations • Have schemes for real-world objects, can’t think abstractly yet • Won’t be fooled by the concepts of conservation again • Theory of mind - some will have and some won’t • Can Decenter - less egocentrism Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

26. Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of Development Stage 4: Formal Operations • Has schemes for real-world objects and can think abstractly • Formal logical thought, hypotheses, etc. • Metacognition • Spotlight syndrome Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

27. Evaluation of Piaget • Recent studies indicate: • Piaget has the right stages in the right order • Development is more continuous than he thought • He underestimated children • Research methods were flawed Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

28. Module 5: Adolescence • Definition of adolescence • Biological or social concept? • Changes across cultures and history • Physical changes during puberty Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

29. Kohlberg’s theory of moral development • Happens throughout life, most of us reach the final stages during adolescence • Three levels: • Pre-conventional • Conventional • Post-conventional Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

30. Lawrence Kohlberg Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

31. Erikson’s theory of social development • Student of Freud - all these social “decisions” happen at an unconscious level • Very difficult theory to test • Coined the term “identity crisis” and “mid-life crisis” • 8 stages of life Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

32. Erik and Joan Erikson Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

33. Erikson’s theory of social development - Stages • Infants - Trust vs. Mistrust • Toddlers - Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt • Pre-schooler - Initiative vs. Guilt • Elem. School - Industry vs. Inferiority Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

34. Erikson’s theory of social development - Stages • Adolescents - Identity vs. Role confusion • Experimentation • Rebellion • Self-ishness • Optimism and energy • Young adults - Intimacy vs. Isolation • Middle age - Generativity vs. Stagnation • Older adults - Integrity vs. Despair Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

35. Gender Development • Starts early in childhood, keeps developing through our lives • Early influences are very important • Gender vs. Sex • Gender identity • gender typing • biological vs. cognitive explanations for gender differences • Gender schemata Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

36. Sexual Orientation • Very controversial research regarding how we develop our sexual orientation • Researchers agree it’s a combination of nature and nurture • Some brain based differences • Twin studies • No one knows what the environmental influences are • They are NOT: early sexual experiences, orientation of parents, masculinity/femininity of parents, identification with parents • Researchers do not view orientation as a choice Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

37. Module 6: Adulthood and Aging • Most psychological developmental stage theories stop at adolescence (except for Erikson) • Most of the research done on adulthood and aging investigates specific psychological issues Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

38. Aging and Memory Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

39. Dementia Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

40. Aging and Intelligence Fluid Intelligence • One’s ability to reason speedily and abstractly • Can be used to solve novel logic problems • Declines as people get older Crystallized intelligence • One’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills • Tends to increase with age Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

41. Age and Verbal/Nonverbal Intelligence Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

42. Overall Life Satisfaction • Most studies show the elderly as happy and satisfied with life. • People tend to mellow with age. • Most regrets focus on what the person didn’t do rather than mistakes they have made in life. Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology

43. Module 4,5&6: Developmental Psychology