Developmental Psychology

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Developmental Psychology

• Defined
• the study of the systematic changes that occur
  throughout the lifespan of the organism
• Nature/Nurture Controversy

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Eriksons Psychosocial stages

• Trained as a Freudian Psychoanalyst
• One of the first theorists that looked at
  development through the lifespan
• Came up with stages relating to the social
  conflict
• Did feel early experiences leave a permanent
  mark, but did not focus on unconscious.

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Psychosocial stages

• Trust vs Mistrust (birth to one)
• Autonomy vs Shame and doubt (1-3)
• Initiative vs Guilt (4-5)
• Industry vs Inferiority (6 12)
• Identity vs role confusion (adolescence)
• Intimacy vs Isolation (young adulthood)
• Generativity vs Stagnation (middle adulthood)
• Integrity vs Despair (late adulthood)

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Kohlbergs Moral Development

• In Europe a woman was near death from cancer.
  One drug might save her, a form of radium that a
  druggist in the same town recently discovered.
  The druggist was charging 2000, ten times what
  the drug cost to make. The husband went to
  everyone to borrow money, but he could only get
  half together. He asked the druggist to sell it
  cheaper or let him pay later, and was told no.
  the husband broke into the mans store and stole
  the drug. Was this morally right? Why?

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Study Methods Specific to Developmental Psychology

• Cross Sectional Studies
• observing subjects of varying ages at one moment
  in time
• Longitudinal
• observing subjects of the same age at varying
  times across their lifespan

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Genetics

• 23 pairs chromosomes
• Dominant vs. Recessive
• Male XY, Female XX
• Down syndrome- extra chromosome
• There are abnormalities (XXY, XYY, XXX, XO)-
  studies on behavioral differences

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Prenatal Development

• Zygote-conception to two weeks of gestation -
  placenta, teratogens
• Embryo-from two to nine weeks of gestation-
  vulnerable, miscarriages
• Fetus-from nine weeks to birth
• Age of Viability-the age at which a fetus can
  survive outside the womb (about 24 weeks)

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Infant senses

• Hearing, smell, taste, sight
• Memory- age 3, but...
• Blink, Moro, palmer, rooting
• Motor development
• Maturation- genetically programmed biological
  plan
• Proximodistal- Torso out
• Cephalocaudal- Head down

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Childhood-Physical Development

• Perception
• Visual Acuity
• Depth Perception-visual cliff
• Motor-Large Muscle Development
• Milestone development
• head support
• rolls over
• sits up
• standing
• walking

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Childhood-Emotional Development

• Attachment
• Studies done by Harlow
• Found infant monkeys would seek comfort from
  terry cloth mothers even if they were not fed by
  them

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Attachment

• Separation anxiety (peaks at 13 months)
• Mary Ainsworth study on attachment
• Secure attachment
• Anxious-Ambivalent
• Avoidant
• Effects of poor attachment

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Temperament

• Easy (40) Adaptable
• Difficult (10)
• Slow-to-warm-up infants (15)
• Average (35)
• 70 of difficult infants dev beh problems
• 18 of the easy infants dev beh problems

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Parenting style

• Authoritarian- rules and obedience
• Permissive- few demands, little punishment
• Authoritative- demanding but responsive
• Authoritative seems to be best approach, but
  research is correlational.

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Adolescence

• Pubesence- two years before puberty
• Secondary sex characteristics
• Puberty-
• Males- sperm production 14, maturation 18
• Females- menarche 12.5, maturation 16
• Early puberty affects on gender

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Adolescence

• Physical beginnings of adulthood to independence
• Physiological Changes
• Puberty-stage when sexual functions reach
  maturity, generally considered to be the mark of
  the beginning of adolescence
• Growth Spurt- earlier in girls, maturation
• Maturation of secondary sex characteristics

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Adolescence

• Emotional Development
• Erikson-search for identity
• Physiological Changes
• Puberty-stage when sexual functions reach
  maturity, generally considered to be the mark of
  the beginning of adolescence
• Growth Spurt
• Maturation of secondary sex characteristics

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Gender development

• Carol Gilligan- girls moral decisions care
  perspective
• Females are more interdependent
• Most difference are attributed to gender roles in
  society.
• Men do seem to have slightly better spatial
  skills, women verbal and fine motor skills

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Issues in Adulthood

• Psychosocial Development
• Erikson-intimacy, generativity, and integrity
• Physical Changes/Aging
• appearance
• hormones
• sensory sensitivity
• Cognitive Changes
• longitudinal vs cross sectional
• crystallized vs fluid
• recall vs recognition

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Stage Theorists in Development

• Erikson-Psychosocial Development
• Freud-Psychosexual Development
• Piaget-Cognitive Development
• Kohlberg-Moral Development

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Piagets stages

• Sensori-motor- object permanence
• Preoperational- symbolize, language, imitation,
  egocentric, irreversibility, conservation
• Concrete operations- can decenter and reverse,
  have trouble with hypothetical
• Formal operations- abstract, logic and systematic
  thinking

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Piagets terms for thinking

• Schema- basic thought structure
• Assimilation- Applying a schema to a new
  situation (all 4 legged animals dog, all male
  adults dad)
• Accommodation- Changing schemas based on
  experience or understanding

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