Developmental Psychology PDF

Developmental Psychology Developmental Psychology +Studies age-related changes in behavior and mental processes from conception to death Physical Development  Prenatal – Conception to Birth +Germinal period – ovulation + conception = implanted zygote +Usually up to two-weeks Prenatal – Co...

Developmental Psychology Developmental Psychology +Studies age-related changes in behavior and mental processes from conception to death Physical Development  Prenatal – Conception to Birth +Germinal period – ovulation + conception = implanted zygote +Usually up to two-weeks Prenatal – Conception to Birth +Embryonic period – implantation to 8 weeks +Major organ systems developing +Fetal period – 8 weeks to birth +Rapid weight gain, continued development of organs and systems Prenatal Physical Development +Genes – chromosomes - DNA +Epigenetics – environmental factors contributing to expressed genes +X-rays, toxins, diseases can affect the embryo or fetus during the critical periods of development +Teratogens – environmental agents that cause damage during prenatal development Teratogens +The placenta “screens” some harmful substances, but not all. +Nutrition and health are important to the fetus +Alcohol – fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS): +Low birth weights +Birth defects (ex: vision & hearing loss, bone, heart, or kidney issues) +Seizures & other neurological disorders +Delayed development +Behavioral – social skills, learning/problem-solving, hyperactivity, etc. Others… +Nicotine +Opiates +Lead +Pesticides +Gases +Industrial chemicals +And many more… each can potentially contribute to developmental roadblocks, both physically and cognitively Early Childhood Physical Development +Brain: rapid growth through first 2 years +Learning & development occur due to neurons growing in size & axons and dendrites make more connections Physical - Neurological development +Synaptic connections become more complex as we learn more +Synaptic pruning = brain organizing what should be remembered and what can be forgotten +Myelination = the accumulation of fatty tissue on brain cells that accelerate information processing Physical - Motor development +Motor development – the orderly emergence of active movement skills +Newborns’ first motor abilities are reflexes – involuntary responses to stimulation +Ex: rooting & grasping Physical - Motor development Physical - Sensory and Perceptual development +Newborns can: +Smell – most odors +Taste – sweet, salty, bitter +Touch & pain – very sensitive (remember reflexes!) +Hear – strong sense of hearing, recognize voices, sensitive to loud noises +See – not so great!  + Vision: Physical - Sensory and + Typical adult vision at ~600 feet = infant vision at ~20 feet Perceptual + Complex patterns, contrast, faces/animals keep attention development + Fantz – Looking chamber Adolescence – Physical changes +Brain: +The frontal lobe is responsible for high-level cognitive functions, such as emotional regulation, executive functioning, and response inhibition. +The brain fully matures around mid-twenties +So à under-developed frontal lobe contributes to mood swings, impulsivity, and reckless behavior in adolescents. Adolescence – Physical changes +Puberty – period in adolescence when a person becomes capable of reproduction +Biological signal of the end of childhood +Growth spurt – rapid increase in weight, height, skeletal growth; significant changes in reproductive structures and sexual characteristics +Hormones – contribute to the physical changes; abnormal amounts in the system can contribute to changed behavioral aspects Cognitive Development  Cognitive Development - Piaget +Study the image on the right & try to reproduce it  Cognitive Development - Piaget +Study the image on the right & try to reproduce it +Some with artistic training may find it easier to reproduce—they have the necessary artistic schema +Schema – patterns that organize our interactions with the environment +As experiences happen and new information is presented, new schemas develop and old schemas are changed or modified.  Schemata +Schemata (the plural of schema) are used to categorize objects and events based on common elements and characteristics and thus interpret and predict the world: +Perceived social roles, stereotypes, concrete & abstract concepts +Frederic Bartlett – found that memory was stronger when able to match it to our pre-existing ideas Example: +Describe a horse.  Example: +Does our description differ greatly from the description of a cow? Categorized schemas +Person schemas are focused on specific individuals. + Ex: appearance, behaviors, personality, and preferences. +Social schemas include general knowledge about how people behave in certain social situations. + Ex: greetings, social slights +Self-schemas are focused on your knowledge about yourself. + Ex: what you know about your current self, as well as ideas about your idealized self +Event schemas are focused on patterns of behavior that should be followed for certain events. + Ex: what you should do, how you should act, and what you should say in a particular situation. (Date, concert, party, game, funeral) Schema +Identify a schema you hold in each category (person, social, self, and event) +What has informed or shaped each of these schemata?  Shemata – how they change (Piaget) +Assimilation – using existing schema in new situations +I study like “this” for English, I will use that routine for Science +Accommodation – existing ideas are modified to fit new information +I didn’t know alligators and crocodiles were different species, but now I’ve separated my schema for each. Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development +Sensorimotor +Preoperational +Concrete Operational +Formal Operational Sensorimotor Stage +Birth to ~2 years old +Exploring & developing schema based on senses and motor activities +Develop object permanence during this stage +An understanding that objects (and people) continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched directly Preoperational Stage +~2 to ~7 years old +Has significant language and thinks symbolically +Lacks operations—reversible mental processes. +EX: “Do you have a brother?” “Yes!” “Does your brother have a brother?” “No” +Intuitive thinking (less rational) – ex: animism +Egocentric thinking – limited ability to distinguish between their own perspective and another’s Concrete Operational Stage +~7 to ~11 years old +Less egocentric thinking, more logical +EX: Santa, tooth fairy, etc. +Now have reversibility in operations +Conservation – understanding that certain physical attributes remain unchanged even if visually different +Limited to concrete, tangible objects and events  Formal Operational Stage +~11 & up +Abstract & hypothetical thinking much easier +Hypothesis & logical process allow for prediction and argument +BUT: Adolescent egocentrism +Personal fable – “it won’t happen to me” & “this is only happening to me” +Imaginary audience – belief in being the center of others’ thoughts and actions + Contribute to higher level of self-consciousness Video Example +https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRF27F2bn-A Piaget’s Stages - Experiments +Work with a partner +While viewing the +Each creates an experiment demonstrations, determine to test between two stages what the stage of cognitive development the subject +Act out the experiments exhibits. +The class will have to determine the stage of the subject. Criticisms of Piaget’s Cognitive Theory +Underestimated abilities +Conflicting peer-reviewed studies demonstrate some very young infants may exhibit the understanding of object permanence +Some children demonstrate nonegocentric behaviors + Newborns crying when they hear another child cry + Preschoolers adapt speech when talking to younger children vs adults + Empathy develops during preoperational stage Criticisms of Piaget’s Cognitive Theory +Underestimated genetic influences +Neuroscience is much better understood now vs Piaget’s time period + Some info supports Piaget’s theory, some conflicts +Underestimated sociocultural influences +Vygotsky argues that the sociocultural influences rather than the child itself is more influential + Ex: Testing in the Formal Operational Stage varies greatly when using cultural examples On a piece of paper… Matching +1. Egocentrism, animism +A. Sensorimotor +2. Object permanence +B. Preoperational +3. Abstract and hypothetical +C. Concrete operational thinking +D. Formal operational +4. Conservation, reversibility +5. Personal fable, imaginary +Use one of these twice! audience Social-Emotional Development: Attachment and Parenting Styles Attachment +Attachment – Strong emotional bond with special others that endure over time +Harlow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I +Nurture vs Nature: evidence suggests attachment bonding happens with biological and non-biological caregivers +Mary Ainsworth studied these relationships with the strange situation classification  Strange Situation Classification + The procedure, known as the ‘Strange Situation,’ was conducted by observing the behavior of the infant in a series of eight episodes lasting approximately 3 minutes each: + (1) Mother, baby, and experimenter (lasts less than one minute). + (2) Mother and baby alone. + (3) A stranger joins the mother and infant. + (4) Mother leaves baby and stranger alone. + (5) Mother returns and stranger leaves. + (6) Mother leaves; infant left completely alone. + (7) Stranger returns. + (8) Mother returns and stranger leaves. Strange Situation Classification Ainsworth: attachment results Attachment types - childhood Continued research +https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwxjfuPlArY +Volitional Change in Adult Attachment: Can People Who Want to Become Less Anxious and Avoidant Move Closer towards Realizing those Goals? (Yes!) +https://www.wbur.org/npr/1079587715/whats-your- attachment-style-quiz Parenting Styles Research +Diana Baumrind- researched during the 1980’s & 90’s +Found that parenting styles fell into three broad areas (permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative) +Measure by degree of warmth/responsiveness and control/demandingness +Research has been validated in some areas, but criticized in terms of: child temperament, child expectations, and parental warmth Responsiveness = Warmth Demandingness = Control Moral Development +We learn morals and ethics from many angles: parents, family,peers, schools, religious institutions, clubs, teams, etc. +These morals often shift with age +Lawrence Kohlberg (1960’s-1980’s) +Studied morality by posing moral dilemmas and having subjects describe their solution & explain their reasoning + EX: Heinz’s dilemma +Determined his own model of moral development