Developmental Psychology - Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage

Lifespan Development

• Lifespan development examines patterns of growth, change, and stability
• Growth includes physical and psychological changes
• Change involves improvement or loss of existing skills
• Stability refers to characteristics and abilities
• Age-graded influences are similar for individuals in a particular age group (e.g., puberty, formal education)
• History-graded influences are associated with a particular historical time period (e.g., wars, economic depressions)
• Sociocultural-graded influences vary based on social and cultural factors (e.g., ethnicity, social class)
• Non-normative life events are unusual events that do not happen to most people at a certain time

Continuous vs. Discontinuous Change

• Continuous change is gradual and quantitative (e.g., height)
• Discontinuous change involves distinct stages and is qualitative (e.g., thinking)

Critical vs. Sensitive Periods

• Critical periods are when the absence or presence of specific environmental factors permanently and irreversibly affect development (e.g., rubella in early pregnancy).
• Sensitive periods are when the absence of specific environmental influences hinders development but later experiences may still overcome earlier deficits.

Nature vs. Nurture

• Nature refers to hereditary information, traits, and abilities
• Nurture refers to environmental factors, like the impact of a pregnant mother's drug use, discipline style, and peer pressure
• Interaction exists between genetic and environmental factors

Universal vs. Context-Specific Development

• "One right way to develop" versus multiple ways in which development happens
• Different theories and perspectives on development exist

Theories of Child Development: Historical Perspectives

• Locke: Tabula Rasa (blank slate)
• Rousseau: Innate sense of justice
• Baldwin: Theory guides experimentation

Natural Selection (Darwin)

• Process results in the survival of organisms best adapted to their environment

Maturation Theory (Gesell)

• Development is a pre-arranged plan within the body based on a timetable
• Development proceeds naturally without outside interference

Ethological Theory

• Evolutionary perspective focuses on behaviours that have survival value
• Critical periods influence development (e.g., imprinting).

Psychodynamic Perspective (Freud)

• Theory of personality with components like the id (primitive), ego (practical), and superego (moral).
• Psychosexual stages (e.g., oral, anal, phallic)

Psychosocial Theory (Erikson)

• Focuses on social and cultural influences
• Stages of development with psychosocial crises (e.g., trust vs doubt, autonomy vs shame)

Learning Perspectives (Watson, Skinner)

• Emphasis on environmental influences
• Classical conditioning (Pavlov)
• Operant conditioning (Skinner)

Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura)

• Observational learning and self-efficacy

Cognitive Development (Piaget)

• Children are naturally curious, forming schemas to understand the world
• Stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational

Contextual Perspective (Vygotsky)

• Sociocultural approach emphasizing culture (tools, language, symbols, customs)
• Important influence from infancy to adolescence

Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner)

• Environment as a series of interconnected systems (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem)

Measurement in Child Development

• Systematic observation (naturalistic, structured)
• Sampling behaviour with tasks
• Self-reports (questionnaires, interviews)

Validity and Reliability

• Convergent validity - positively correlated
• Divergent validity - not correlated
• Representativeness of samples in research

Development Perspective (Piaget)

• Children are naturally motivated to make sense of the physical and social world
• Stages in cognitive development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational).

Prenatal Development

• Fertilization occurs when a sperm penetrates an egg
• Zygote, embryo, and fetus stages
• Critical periods during pregnancy

Prenatal Development: Influences

• Nutrition, stress, and maternal age
• Teratogens (e.g., thalidomide, infections, drugs) during pregnancy

Methods in Studying Development

• Longitudinal studies: measure variables repeatedly in same participants over time
• Cross-sectional studies: measure variables in different age groups at one point in time
• Sequential design: combine aspects of longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches

Ethical Responsibilities

• Minimise risks to participants
• Benefit analysis of research
• Informed consent/assent
• Avoid deception

Child Development Methods

• Measure individual change (e.g., language development)
• Microgenetic study: measures variable repeatedly in the same person
• Sequential design: combines aspects of longitudinal and cross sectional approach

Assessing the Newborn

• Apgar score evaluates the newborn's condition
• Five vital signs rated