Developing Through the Life Span PDF

Developing Through the Life Span Developmental Psychology’s Major Issues Nature and Continuity and Stability and nurture stages change How biology Which parts Which of our and non- of traits persist biological development...

Developing Through the Life Span Developmental Psychology’s Major Issues Nature and Continuity and Stability and nurture stages change How biology Which parts Which of our and non- of traits persist biological development through life? aspects are gradual How do we interact in and change as we development? continuous, age? and which parts change abruptly? Stability and Change We experience both stability and change throughout the life span. Some characteristics such as temperament are very stable. Comparing the Stage Theories Stage theories Jean Piaget (cognitive development) Lawrence Kohlberg (moral development) Erik Erikson (psychosocial development) Stages of Development Prenatal Development, and the Newborn Infancy and Childhood Adolescence Adulthood Prenatal Development Zygote (0-2 w) Embryo (up to 9 weeks) Fetus (9 weeks onwards)  Prenatal Development Prenatal development is not risk free. Teratogen: An agent, such as a chemical or virus, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS): Physical and mental abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features. The Competent Newborn Newborn Arrives with automatic reflex responses that support survival—sucking, tonguing, swallowing, and breathing Cries to elicit help and comfort Searches for sights and sounds linked to other humans, especially mother Smells and sees well and uses sensory equipment to learn Possesses a biologically rooted temperament Newborns’ Preference for Faces Infant Brain Development “A year out of utero”  Birth: Neuronal growth spurt and synaptic pruning 3–6 months: Rapid frontal lobe growth and continued growth into adolescence and beyond Up to 60-80% of energy goes to the brain Infants are capable of learning and remembering. Infantile amnesia may reflect conscious memory. Throughout life: Learning Infant at Work changes brain tissue Babies only 3 months old can learn that kicking moves a mobile, and they can retain that learning for a month CRITICAL vs SENSITIVE periods in development  Statistical learning + critical period CDS – child directed speech IDS – infant directed speech  Infancy and Childhood: Motor Development Motor skills Develop as the nervous system and the muscles mature Are primarily universal in sequence, but not in timing Are guided by genes and influenced by the environment Involve the same sequence throughout the world “Early walkers are early talkers” Karen Adolph – Motor development Tajikistan Culture Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development Piaget Children are active thinkers. The mind develops through a series of universal, irreversible stages from simple reflexes to adult abstract reasoning. Children’s maturing brains build schemas that are used and adjusted through assimilation and accommodation. CONSTRUCTIVISM vs. NEO-NATIVISM Object Permanence Piaget’s Test of Conservation An Alternative Viewpoint: Vygotsky and the Social Child Children’s minds grow through interaction with the physical environment. By age 7, children are able to think and solve problems with words. Parents and others provide a temporary scaffold to facilitate the child’s higher level of thinking. The language of the child’s culture is used in internalized, inner speech. I. Pavlov Lack of abstract N.N. Ladygina-Kots thinking in primates  In humans, language development coincides with cognitive development 18-20 months = “lexical (vocabulary) spurt conceptual explosion maturation of the “language areas” of the brain formation of more complex behavioral patterns Golubeva (2014) conducted a study on problem – solving and categorization in 2-3 years old at Pavlov Institute of Physiology (Koltushi). The study found a notable difference between 2 groups: 2-2.5 years old vs. 2.5-3 years old (24-30 vs. 30-36 months old). Children from the second group tended to increase verbalizations if they could not solve the task immediately. Studies with 2–3-year-old children, monkeys and chimps on categorization. Monkeys – tend to categorize objects based on perceptual features, demonstrate notable difficulties with categorization based on abstract features. With the increased level of abstraction children outperform primates. Children with a better developed language tend to perform better than children with less developed language skills. Apes: notably better than monkeys (Gorbacheva, 2010; Golubeva, 2014) In the second half of their second year of life children start using language as a tool aiding their behavior and cognition Theory of mind False-belief task Involves the ability to read the mental state of others Between ages 3½ and 4½, children worldwide use theory of mind to realize others may hold false beliefs By age 4 to 5, children anticipate false beliefs of friends. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Children with ASD have impaired theory of mind, social deficiencies, and repetitive behaviors. Reading faces and social signals is challenging for individuals with ASD. The underlying cause of ASD is attributed to poor communication among brain regions that facilitate theory of mind skills and genetic influences. Boys to girls: 4:1 ratio  Social Development Infant attachment Emotional tie with another person—shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver, and showing distress on separation At about 8 months, soon after object permanence develops, children display stranger anxiety when separated from their caregivers. Infants form attachments not just because parents gratify biological needs, but also because they are comfortable, familiar, and responsive. Social Development Attachment differences as measured by strange situation (Ainsworth, 1979) Secure attachment Insecure attachment  In this 1980s Romanian orphanage, the 250 children between ages 1 and 5 outnumbered The caregivers 15 to 1. Deprivation of When such children were tested later on, they had lower intelligence scores and double the Attachment 20 percent rate of anxiety symptoms found in children assigned to higher-quality foster care settings.  Dual Parenting Positives Active dads are caregiving more. Today’s co-parenting fathers are more engaged, with a doubling in the weekly hours spent with their children, compared with fathers in 1965. Couples that share housework and child-care are happier in their relationships and less divorce prone. Dual parenting supports children. After controlling for other factors, children average better life outcomes “if raised by both parents” Parents’ genders do not affect children’s well-being. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2013) reports that what matters is competent, secure, nurturing parents, regardless of their gender and sexual orientation. The American Sociological Association (2013) concurs: Decades of research confirm that parental stability and resources matter. “Whether a child is raised by same-sex or opposite-sex parents has no bearing on a child’s well-being.” Adolescence: Physical Development Adolescence is the transition from puberty to social independence. Early-maturing boys: More popular, self-assured, and independent; at greater risk for alcohol use, delinquency, and premature sexual activity. Early-maturing girls: Mismatch between physical and emotional maturity may encourage relationships with older teens; teasing or sexual harassment may occur. The Teenage Brain Until puberty, brain cells increase their connections. During adolescence, selective pruning removes unused neurons and connections. Frontal lobes develop. Myelin growth enables better communication with other brain regions: Improved judgment, impulse control, and long-term planning Impulse control lags reward- seeking Adolescence: Cognitive Development Developing reasoning power: Piaget Develop new abstract thinking tools (formal operations) Reason logically and develop moral judgment Developing moral reasoning: Kohlberg Use moral reasoning that develops in a universal sequence to guide moral actions Risk Estimate and Rewards  Adolescence: Social Development Adolescence struggle: Identity versus role confusion; continues into adulthood. Social identity: The “we” aspect of self-concept that comes from group memberships. Healthy identity formation is followed by a capacity to build close relationships. Self-esteem typically declines during the early to mid-teen years, and, for girls, depression scores often increase. Self-image rebounds during the late teens and twenties, and gender self-esteem differences become small. Adolescence: Parent and Peer Relationships People seek to fit in and are influenced by their peer groups, especially in childhood and the teen years. Influence of parents and peers is complementary. Parents Parent–child arguments increase but most adolescents report liking their parents. Argument content is often gender related. Peers Peers influence behavior, social networking is often extensive, and exclusion can be painful or worse. Adolescence: Parent and Peer Relationships Parents Peers More important when it More important for comes to education, learning cooperation, discipline, finding the road to charitableness, popularity, and responsibility, inventing styles of orderliness, and ways of interaction among interacting with people of the same age authority figures What Happens Next? Emerging adulthood Includes the time from 18 to the mid-twenties; a not-yet-settled phase of life Characterized by not yet assuming adult responsibilities and independence, and feelings of being “in between” May involve living with and still being emotionally dependent on parents  Adulthood What do you think? Which age range would you put in each blank? Early adulthood: ________ Middle adulthood: ________ Late adulthood: ________ Within each of these stages, people vary widely in their physical, psychological, and social development. Adulthood: Physical Development Early adulthood Muscular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness, and cardiac output peak in the mid-twenties. Middle adulthood Physical vigor is more closely linked to health and exercise than age. Physical decline is gradual Gradual decline in fertility Female: Menopause Male: Gradual decline in sperm count, testosterone level, erection and ejaculation speed  Adulthood: Physical Development Late adulthood Life expectancy worldwide is now 71 years. Telomere tips shorten, leading to aging. Visual sharpness, distance perception, and stamina diminish; pupils shrink and become less transparent. Immune system weakens; susceptibility to life-threatening disease increases. Neural processing lag occurs; brain regions related to memory begin to atrophy; speech slows. Exercise slows aging and stimulates brain cell development and neural connections. Adulthood: Aging and Memory Early adulthood: Peak time for learning and memory. Middle adulthood: Greater decline in ability to recall rather than recognize memory. Late adulthood: Better retention of meaningful than meaningless information; longer word production time. End of life: Terminal decline; typically occurs during last four years of life. Neurocognitive Disorders and Alzheimer’s Disease Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) Acquired disorders marked by cognitive deficits Often related to Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse Results in erosion of mental abilities that is not typical of normal aging Death and Dying Grief Grief is severe when the loved one’s death comes suddenly and before the expected time. Grief reactions vary by culture and by individuals within cultures. Unconfirmed beliefs Immediately expressed grief is not necessarily purged faster. Adjustment times with or without grief counseling are approximately the same. Terminally ill and grief-stricken people do not go through identical stages. Well-Being Across the Life Span Positive feelings grow after midlife, and negative feelings decline. Older adults report less anger, stress, and worry and have fewer social relationship problems. Brain-wave reactions to negative images diminish with age. At all ages, people are happiest when they are not alone. Biopsychosocial Influences on Successful Aging