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1.10.2024 - Developmental psychology - P WHAT IS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Human development involves the scientific study of the patterns of growth, change, and stability that occur from conception through older adulthood. - scientific study – all the information that...

1.10.2024 - Developmental psychology - P WHAT IS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Human development involves the scientific study of the patterns of growth, change, and stability that occur from conception through older adulthood. - scientific study – all the information that we have about humans as they change or remain the same is gained through scientific method , such as research, and observation … the actual data are gained - growth+change – remains across a lifetime, we are always changing and growing as individuals… - Stability - some aspects remain stable (genetic predispositions - personality traits, we are born with such as our tendencies … person can be extrovert/introvert, open-minded person, cautious person…) Every period of human development has a potential for growth and decline in specific abilities. For example, babies can learn more and grow more, on the other hand, older people need more time to think and talk, or learn new skills… Two approaches to human development 1. Topical - based on areas (just like these notes) Physical development - development involving the body’s physical makeup Cognitive development - development in how growth and change in intellectual capabilities influence a person’s behavior Social and personality development - development of social characteristics specific to an individual 2. Chronological - specific year - all the changes there We can look into changes in our lifespan through both approaches. If we think about physical changes or cognitive development, the topical one would be from the moment of conception (pregnancy, prenatal development, birth, changes in kid, adulthood…so physical changes in pregnancy, p.ch. in a fetus, then in adulthood… ), on the other hand, chronologically, would mean we look into a specific year or period and we look at all the physical, cognitive and social changes at the same time. Physical development examines: - Brain and nervous system - Gross and fine motor skills (the coordination and control of large and small muscles) - Muscle tone and strength, quality, range of movements - Sensory development - vision, hearing, touch - Physical needs Cognitive development examines: - information processing (e.g., understanding, conceptualization) - Learning (attention) - Memory (remembering and recalling) - Problem-solving - Intelligence - Language (receptive and expressive) s​ ​ ?​ Personality and social development examines: - the stability and change of enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another - Development of identity, self-concept, gender - Social relationships (parental, siblings, peer, romantic) - Emotion understanding, expression, regulation - Empathy and social competence A brief look into the history Early views of children – up until the 1600s children were considered “miniature adults”. People did know there were differences between kids and adults but were simply not interested in understanding the differences, because it was not important for them. Kids were given basic tasks like taking care of the household or kids just like an adult would get… John Locke (1632-1704) – children as a tabula rasa – “blank slate” - the idea that when we are born we are just like a blank slate, and entirely shaped by our experiences as we grow up. On the other hand, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) – children as noble savages - born with an innate sense of right and wrong and morality … Baby biographies (late 19th/ early 20th century) – parents started to record their children’s developmental milestones; rudimentary (primitive, first) recognition of child development as a distinct period Charles Darwin - he was one of the first who developed systematic child biography- observed his son… he systematically wrote down all changes in his son KEY CONCEPTS IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Human development’s underlying themes 1. Continuous change versus discontinuous change 2. Critical and sensitive periods 3. Lifespan approach and life course perspective 4. The relative influence of nature and nurture on development 5. Implications for social policy 1) Continuous changes - gradual, achievements at one level built on the previous level, quantitatively different from the previous stage - speaking, learning mathematics… Discontinuous changes - occur in distinct stages or steps, not gradual, behavior or processes are qualitatively different from the previous stage - walking, running, building muscles 2) Sensitive periods - are particular times when an organism can respond to certain kinds of stimuli in their environment - A period like a “perfect timing” for learning or establishing specific skills… - If this skill is not learned during this sensitive period, it can be still learned later on but it may be a bit harder, so we can say that the consequences of not learning during the sensitive period are reversible  Critical Periods - are specific times during development in which a particular event has its greatest consequence - Certain environmental stimuli are necessary for normal development - “time windows” after which a particular skill is hard to obtain … so when the time window closes, we can not learn something anymore - Example: language ( we have about 7 years for that) 3) Lifespan approach - growth and change throughout a lifetime, continuous change, individual Life course approach - takes into account societal, and historical factors: timing (sensitive or critical, or when we have kids, university…), historical place, and time (what century we live in and where we live), linked lives (people around us-family, friends…), human agency (financial situation therefore options… more money = more options) 4) Nature - genetics: traits, abilities, and capabilities inherited from one’s parents, maturation matters Nurture - environment: environmental influences that shape behavior In every case, there is a different ratio of the importance of nature and nurture, for example, when it comes to depression, there have been some studies done which proved that nurture is much more important and nature got only about 5% of importance, but mental health condition such as schizophrenia is influenced more by nature… What influences human development? - Legal system and law - How our families look like (family types), what are good child-rearing practices (and what is abuse), how our schooling looks like, when adolescence ends and adulthood starts - Societal and cultural expectations and norms (race, minority experience) - Family – norms, expectations, beliefs, relationships - Socio-economic status (SES) – parental income, education, marital status - Timing of events (e.g., divorce of parents) - And numerous other contextual factors