Developmental Psychology Lecture 1 PDF

Welcome to Developmental Psychology PSGY1013 Developmental Psychology Dr. Shue Ling Chong  About Me Dr Shue Ling Chong Teaching: Research Area: Developmental Psychology Children, Adolescents and Youth P...

Welcome to Developmental Psychology PSGY1013 Developmental Psychology Dr. Shue Ling Chong  About Me Dr Shue Ling Chong Teaching: Research Area: Developmental Psychology Children, Adolescents and Youth Practical Methods Social Issues of Youth Master’s modules: Developmental Ecological Systems of Disorders in Context; Professional development Skills Email: [email protected] Office: School of Psychology B1A17  Module Introduction Developmental psychology is concerned with explaining the nature and processes involved in human development from infancy to adulthood. The primary objective is to introduce students to a core area of psychology, forming both the academic basis for further study in the subject area as well as equipping students with a deeper understanding of human development. At the end of the module, students should be able to: Understand the main themes that form the foundations of research into developmental psychology Know how concepts are measured and tested and the relative merits and problems of various methods Appreciate how developmental processes shape the cognitive, emotional, and social abilities of the individual Discuss the nature/ nurture debate and illustrate the arguments with evidence Grasp the link between evolutionary processes and human behaviour  Module Structure Theories of Development Theory of Mind Cognitive Development Moral Development Adolescent Development Attachments and Relationships Intelligence Developmental Disorders Development Across Cultures  How will you learn? Lecture materials will be released on Moodle. Lectures will be on Tuesday 1-2pm in this lecture hall (F3A04). Self-reading is important.  Reading Mitchell, P. and Ziegler, F. (2013) Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology, Second Edition. Psychology Press. ISBN: 978-1-84169-644-7. To view online: Log in to Library website- NUsearch search for the book title, Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology (choose "books" from the "all items" drop in menu)  Important notes 10 credit module Each Week: Attend the lecture Take part in Activities (if any) Read the recommended book chapters (to get a deeper more holistic understanding of the topic- Lecture is the overview!)  Module assessment 50%- 1500-word essay (due 20th of November, Wednesday, 3pm) Answer ONE of two questions (available on Moodle now). 1. Critically evaluate Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development. 2. Is adolescence a period of heightened risk-taking behaviour? Discuss with reference to empirical evidence and relevant theories. 50%- 60 Multiple Choice Questions exam (during exam period). Seminar for Psychology Students Tutorials for Subsidiary Students ALL Attendance are compulsory. Psychology students need to attend one Seminar. Sign-up needs to be done via Psychology Moodle homepage link. Choose only one slot. Seminar week will be on the Week starting 25 Nov. Please check Psychology Moodle Page for schedule. Subsidiary students need to attend two Tutorials. Sign-up needs to be done via Developmental Psychology Moodle page. Choose one slot for each tutorial topic. There are two topics: Essay Writing and Exam Preparation Week for tutorial: Week 9 and Week 13  Need more information? Check the Moodle Page for: Module Information Additional resources. Practice MCQ’s. And for any announcement and timetable. Theories of development an overview  Today’s questions What is the character of development? Nature-Nurture Continuous-Discontinuous Which theories are we going to examine? Behaviourism Nativism Constructivism Maturation, evolution and ethology  How does development occur? Continuous Continuous development from childhood through adulthood Children are not qualitatively different from adults, they simply have less knowledge  How does development occur?  In Stages Development from childhood to adulthood through a succession of stages Children and adults are qualitatively different in psychological terms  What influences development – nature or nurture? Nature: development is a product of genetic inheritance Nurture: development is a product of environment and experience relative contribution of nature/ nurture? what stance is adopted in the major perspectives?  Behaviourism- B F Skinner Behaviourism: A psychology movement that argues that psychological phenomena can be explained by only focusing on behaviour and the environment in which it occurs. Is development continuous?  Radical empiricism  Denial of nativism  Irrelevance of cognitive processes  The ‘black box’  Behaviourism- B F Skinner Is development continuous?  Reinforcement – positive and negative  Shaping behaviour  Successive approximations  The value of comparative psychology  Behaviourism- B F Skinner  How is that related to child development?  Development as a product of shaping through successive approximation Same principles that apply to babies apply to adults and animals  Nativism -Noam Chomsky Genetically determined behaviour Innate knowledge of language Deep structure: An innate grammatical structuring of language that is universal among humans and unique to humans as species Innate faculties and modules Same mechanisms underline both child and adult behaviour  Evolution and Ethology- Konrad Lorenz Imprinting (i.e. attachment) : describes the process of attachment a baby animal forms with the first thing they encounter at birth critical period for imprinting – it is time sensitive (10-30 hours) Biological preparedness: a genetically determined readiness to learn specific skills (e.g. walking) Maturational unfolding and stages: a genetically determined developmental progression  Evolution and Attachment- Bowlby & Ainsworth Influenced by Lorenz-Attachment in humans? They suggested attachment is a natural process under maturational control. Disruption of this process can have detrimental consequences. Separation distress ( from 8 or 9 months of age) – evidence of attachment Long-term separation may lead the developmental delays physically intellectually and emotionally.  Constructivism (Piaget) Constructivism:  A theory proposing that knowledge is actively generated by the individual rather than transmitted by another person through one’s genes  Development as a product of nature AND nurture  Development occurs in Stages Children’s thought qualitatively different from that of adults Development not an evolution but a revolution (need to shed previous cognitive limitations to progress)  Constructivism (Piaget) Stage Development key principles: Egocentrism: difficulty taking on board another person’s perspective From subjective to objective; escaping from your own perspective  Need to adjust to environment: Human (social, psychological) Physical Need to adjust to both environments to survive but egocentrism prevents adjustment Piagetian stages of Development  Piagetian stages of Development Sensorimotor stage Lack of mental imagery= ability to imagine the existence of things even when they are not directly accessible to the senses. Solipsism = failure to distinguish between the self and the rest of the universe. Don’t have object permanence = understanding that things continue to exist even when we can’t sense them directly. Perception is subordinate to action  Piagetian stages of Development Sensorimotor stage At 18-24 months the infant is able to conceive the existence of an object independently of self and thus is no longer in a state of solipsism. The infant understands there is “self” and there is the “world” – process through acquisition of mental imagery.  What we have learned Different accounts of development are related with the aspect of development in question: Language – Behaviourism vs Nativism Intellect – constructivism and stages Emotional development/attachment – Maturation, Evolution and Ethology