Developmental Psychology

1
Developmental Psychology
2
Research Studies

• Cross Sectional Studies
• Study comparing development between age groups
  over relatively short period
• Longitudinal Study
• Study tracing development of one age group over
  more extensive period

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Developmental Psych

• Study of physical, mental, and social changes
  over the life span. (Womb to tomb)
• Focus is on 3 critical issues
• Nature / Nurture (Extent of influence)
• Gradual, Continuous process (escalator), or
  sequence of stages? (rungs on a ladder)
• Stability / change Personality traits Stay the
  same, or change over time?

4
Prenatal Development

• One mature egg / 200,000,000 sperm The race
  begins.
• Conception to birth (9 months)
• Zygote fertilized egg begins cell division

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ConceptionUnion of Egg and Sperm(Egg-85,000 x
size of sperm!)
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Prenatal Development

• First week zygote of 100 cells- begin to
  specialize in structure and function (from one
  original cell!)
• 10 days zygote implants to uterine wall (outer
  placenta / inner embryo)
• Genetic plan determines how all organs will form
  differentiation cells specialize (The great
  mystery)
• By one month millions of specialized cells
• By 6 weeks organs form, heartbeat
• Fetus 8th /9th week (human form)
• Somatic nervous system commands spontaneous
  movements (not felt by mom until about 16th week)
• 6 months stomach functional, responsive to sound

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Prenatal Development

• 40 days 45 days 2
  months(60) 4 months (120)

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Prenatal Development

• Placenta screens out some potentially dangerous
  substances
• Teratogens toxic substances such as HIV, some
  drugs (nicotine alcohol), can pass through
  placenta
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome symptoms mental
  retardation, poor motor coordination, impaired
  attention, and hyperactivity

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

• Leading cause of mental retardation depresses
  activity in nervous systems)

10
Prenatal Development

• Neurons grow at rate of 250,000/minute!
• By birth, infant has approx. 23 billion

11
Physical Development

• Maturation
• Biological, universal growth processes / orderly
  changes in behavior
• relatively uninfluenced by experience
• sets the basic course for development while
  experience adjusts it

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The Newborn

• Will turn towards mothers voice
• Hearing dominant sense at birth
• Vision 8 to 12 inches
• Prefers sweet fluids

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Newborns Reflexes (Instincts) at birth

• Rooting Reflex
• tendency to open mouth, and search for nipple
  when touched on the cheek
• Grasping Reflex Automatic grasping of objects
  placed in palm or toes
• Sucking Reflex Touch an object or nipple to the
  infants mouth and shell make rhythmic sucking
  movements
• Moro Reflex Hugging motion if startled or babys
  position changed

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The NewbornHabituation
Percentage of time spent looking
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Habituation

• Babies spend more attention on new stimuli / the
  more familiar, the less attention paid
• Method by which one studies a babys cognition (
  measured by attention span)

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Early Development

• Questions for thought
• At what age do babies begin to walk? What
  specific brain or neural development do you think
  makes this possible?
• What is infantile amnesia? At what age does this
  condition end and memory truly begins?
• What development makes memory possible?
• If babies cant remember before 3 ½ yrs., whats
  the point in environmental stimulus?

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Infancy Neural Development

• Until 18 months
• Infantile Amnesia No long-term memory prior to
  3 ½ years / brain circuits not yet connected /
  process of maturation
• By 4 yrs., brain has nearly doubled
• 3-6 yrs most rapid neural growth frontal lobe
• (Association areas thinking, memory, language-
  last to develop)
• Synaptic pruning if not used then disconnect,
  but not destroyed

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Infancy Physical Development

• Developing brain enables physical coordination
• Sequence of physical development is universal-
  Examples?
• Crawl before walk
• Roll over before sit
• Physical progression follows neural, muscular
  progression
• Why do identical twins sit up, walk on nearly the
  same day?
• Same genetic code

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Attachment Theories

• What is learned in the cradle, lasts to the
  grave.

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Social Development

• Attachment Theories
• Traditional Theory Infant attachment created
  through need for nourishment.

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Harlows Monkey ExperimentsRethinking
Attachment

• 1950s-60s
• Early separation of infant monkeys
• Soft baby blanket vs. wire cylinder with bottle
• Result
• Contact / touch critical for early attachment,
  emotional security

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Harlows ExperimentSurrogate Mother
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Harlows Experiment
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Origins of Attachment

• Touch (Harlow)
• Familiarity Forms attachment
• Critical Period Optimal period right after
  birth in which exposure creates proper
  development
• Imprinting attachment based on first experience
  (gosling, chick, duckling) mother / Fly
  Away Home

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Erik Erikson Parenting and Trust

• Positive early parenting basic trust
• Basic trust world is predictable, reliable
• Basic trust as foundation for adult relationships

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Mary Ainsworth Attachment Study

• Secure attachment (60 of infants)
• comfortable in mothers presence / Mothers
  departure initial distress / Mothers return
  seek contact
• Insecure attachment
• Cling to mother /Mothers departure extended
  distress or indifference / Return cling or
  indifference
• Avoidance attachment
• Indifferent to mothers presence, departure,
  return
• Conclusion
• Sensitive mothers / fathers securely attached
  infants
• Studies isolating temperament confirmed parenting
  theory

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Social Development

• Harlows monkeys raised without touch showed
  extreme anxiety (fear) in novel situations
  throughout development

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Attachment Questions

1. At what age does separation anxiety peak for
   children?
2. Does our capacity for attachment through touch
   dissipate over time?
3. Do most child abuse victims turn out to be child
   abusers? Explain.
4. Have studies confirmed that day care negatively
   affects attachment?

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Social Development

• Groups of infants left by their mothers in a
  unfamiliar room (from Kagan, 1976).

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Self-ConceptThe Developing Child

• The Rouge Test Self-Recognition (Video)

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Parenting Styles

1. Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect
   obedience. (Strict- Because I said so.
2. Permissive parents Few demands, little
   punishment- (submit to childs demands / Do your
   own thing.)
3. Authoritative parents Demanding and responsive
   (Enforce and explain / justify the rules / Open
   discussion with teenagers / exceptions to rules)

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About your parents

1. Which parenting style most reflects your
   parent(s)?
2. Do you think this style is productive for you?
3. Which style would you most prefer? Explain.

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Research says

1. Authoritarian lower self-esteem, lower social
   skills
2. Permissive more aggressive, immature
3. Authoritative highest self-esteem,
   self-reliance, social competence
4. Do you fit the description? Explain.

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Remember

• Correlation is not causation.
• Name any other variable that might be the cause
  of these results.

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In conclusion

• Parenting (nurture) does matter in developing
  emotional well-being.
• (Genetics is not necessarily your destiny.)

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Stage Theories in

• Developmental Psychology

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Theories on Cognitive Development

• Jean Piaget
• 1999 Selected by Time Magazine as one 20 most
  influential scientists and thinkers of the 20th
  century
• British psychologist survey named Piaget as the
  most influential psychologist of the 20th century

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Piaget and Cognitive Development

• Paris 1920s
• Theory of Childs cognitive stages
• intrigued by childrens wrong answers
• Traditional assumption Childs mind a miniature
  version of adults children simply know less
• Piaget Children reason in strongly illogical
  ways thus think, reason differently than adults

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Cognition

• all mental activities associated with thinking,
  knowing, remembering or communicating

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Schema

• Schema
• Concepts (mental molds into which we pour our
  experiences)
• Identify / rationalize this picture.
• Whats wrong with it? Why cant we make sense of
  it?

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Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development
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Sensorimotor Stage A life lived, but not
thought out.

• Birth 2 years (learning through senses,
  movement)
• Thinking at same speed as movment
• Object permanence (Piaget 8 months)
• Awareness that things continue to exist even when
  not perceived (hidden)
• Stranger Anxiety (8 months)
• Building Schema
• Assimilation interpreting new experience in
  terms of existing schema (apply same concept to
  all things generally similar (Example?)
• Accommodation Adapting schemas to incorporate
  new information (Accommodate differences)

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Sensorimotor Stage
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Preoperational Stage

• 2yrs 6/7 yrs
• Use of language
• cant perform operations of concrete logic

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Preoperational

• Key Ideas
• Speed of thinking increases / faster than
  movement
• All objects have thoughts, feelings (magical
  thinking)
• Egocentrism Cant perceive things from others
  point of view (to age 3)
• Theory of mind (age 4) Understand anothers
  perspective / infer others feelings
• 3 yr old
• Autism Impaired theory of mind

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Concrete Operational Stage

• 7 yrs 11 yrs
• Logical thinking develops (concrete logic)
• Conservation Quantity remains same despite
  changes in shape. (Volume, Area, Number)
• Understand math transformation and conservation
• 4812 12-48

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Formal Operational Stage

• 12 yrs thru adulthood
• From concrete to abstract thinking
• Example hypothesis testing, metaphors,
  analogies
• Not all adults use formal operations to the same
  degree, and some not at all.
• Example How would you be different if you were
  born on a planet that had no light?

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Criticisms of Piagets Theory

• Development seen as more continuous than Piagets
  stages
• Much of his work based on studying his own three
  children!
• Age associations are inaccurate (too late)
• Example 7 is too late for concrete operational
• Stimulation at early age education, computers
  etc.

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Kohlbergs Moral Stages of Development
Morality of abstract principles to
affirm agreed-upon rights and personal ethical
principles
Postconventional Level (Self-defined morality)

• As moral development progresses, the focus of
  concern moves from the self to the wider social
  world.

to gain approval or avoid Disapproval Morality
of law and social rules
Conventional Level Early adolescence
Morality of self-interest to avoid punishment or
gain concrete rewards
Preconventional Level Up to age 9
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In conclusion,

• AS our thinking matures, so too does our
  morality (Piaget Kohlberg)
• Morality is not simply learned, but mentally
  constructed in sequential stages
• Criticisms of Kohlberg
• Moral reasoning only (actions define morality,
  not thoughts)
• Cultural bias Chicago kids only
• Carol Gilligan Bias towards women men justice
  / women feelings of others (relational)
• Morality More Intuitive or Cognitive?
• Social intuitionist moral feelings precede moral
  thoughts
• Moral action perspective social influences to do
  the right thing

52
Erik Erikson Psychosocial Stages of Development

• Neo-Freudian
• Focus from sexual to social
• Life is conflict / struggle / stress
• sequence of social stages, each critical for
  personality development
• Each stage presents conflict personality needs
  vs. social demands crisis, or turning point in
  development
• Positive outcomes of past conflict better
  chance of positive outcomes in future
• (To some extent, stages are continuous)

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Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development
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Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development
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Introducing Adolescence.

• 1. Pick three words (adjectives or nouns) that
  you think best describe your adolescent years.

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Adolescence

• Introducing adolescence
• How do we define it?
• Life between childhood and adulthood
• What is its time frame?
• Beginning of puberty, ending with adult
  independent status (teen years!)
• How do we describe it?
• Stress and storm

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Adolescence and Neurological Development

• If you get in trouble with your parents, why
  might you plead less guilty by reason of
  adolescence?
• Build a case in defense of the teenager. Cite
  specific evidence of physiological brain
  development discussed in your article.
• According to evolutionary psychology, adolescence
  might be the most functional, adaptive period of
  ones development over the life span. Explain
  the basis of this argument citing specific
  examples from your article.

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Adolescence and Physical Development

• Puberty
• the period of sexual maturation
• capable of reproduction

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Physical Development

• Primary Sex Characteristics
• body structures that make sexual reproduction
  possible
• ovaries--female
• testes--male
• external genitalia
• Secondary Sex Characteristics
• nonreproductive sexual characteristics
• female--breast and hips
• male--voice quality and body hair
• Menarche (meh-NAR-key)
• first menstrual period

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Body Changes at Puberty
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Adolescence

• In the 1890s the average interval between a
  womans menarche and marriage was about 7 years
  now it is over 12 years

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Adolescence

• Throughout childhood, boys and girls are similar
  in height. At puberty, girls surge ahead
  briefly, but then boys overtake them at about age
  14.

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Adolescence and Cognition

• Piagets Stage?
• Pruning (neural connections increase til
  puberty)
• Frontal Lobe develops during teens
• FL lags behind Limbic System (hormonal rage
  overrides logic impulsive, risky actions
  (stress and storm)
• Prefrontal Cortex Last part of the brain to
  develop fully (executive decisions compromised)

65
Teenagers and Crime

• Supreme court recently declared juvenile death
  sentences unconstitutional on basis of teen
  brains developmental immaturity

66
So, on the basis of what you know

• Should 16 year olds be able to drive?

67
The fact is.

• 1 in 5 16 yr. olds crash their car within the
  first year
• 77 of fatal crashes by 16 yr. olds involve
  driver error
• 16 yr. olds are involved in fatal crashes at 5x
  the rate of drivers 20 yrs or older
• 2/3 of Americans think 16 is too young (up from
  50 in 1995)

68
On the other hand

• No distinct transition in brain development 18,
  21, 25, older???
• Brain continues to develop well into adulthood
• Myelin formation doesnt peak until 45 yrs.
• Not an issue of brain development, an issue of
  ethics. (Criminal justice system)

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Adolescence Social Development

• Identity
• ones sense of self
• the adolescents task is to solidify a sense of
  self by testing and integrating various roles
• Intimacy
• the ability to form close, loving relationships
• a primary developmental task in late adolescence
  and early adulthood

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Adolescence Social Development

• The changing parent-child relationship

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The New Science of the Teenage Brain, Nat.
Geographic

• The article proposes that the unique attributes
  of the adolescent can be explained by brain
  maturation and evolutionary psychology.
• Build a specific case in defense of the
  irresponsible, impulsive adolescent based on the
  information discussed in the article.
• Your focus should be brain maturation and
  evolutionary psychology.
• Due in our next class.

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Adulthood

• Is there a prime of life? If so, when?
• Physical peak in the early 20s
• Most fertile in 20s
• Cognitive abilities- little change through middle
  age (65-75 significant decline)
• Personal income Peaks between 45-54 (declines
  after 65)
• 2. What age constitutes adulthood?
• 3. What age constitutes middle age?
• What age constitutes old? Very old?
• Do you associate old age more with condition, or
  years?

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True or False?

1. Life satisfaction peaks in the fifties and then
   gradually declines after age 65.
2. Recognition memory- the ability to identify
   things previously experienced, declines with age.
3. Older people become more susceptible to
   short-term illnesses.

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Adulthood Physical Development

• Sexual Reproduction
• Women
• After 20s decline in fertility
• 35-39 yrs. (single intercourse ½ chance of
  pregnancy compared to your 20s)
• Menopause end of menstrual cycle
• Around 50
• Decrease of estrogen
• hot flashes (hormonal challenges)

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Sexual Reproduction

• Men
• No cessation of fertility
• No sharp decline in sex hormones
• Gradual decline in sperm count / testosterone
• Sexual drive / activity continues through life
  span (for men and women)

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Life Expectancy

• Women on average live 5 more years than men
• Males more prone to die
• By age 100, women outnumber men 5-1

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Sensory Development

• Vision
• Pupil shrinks, lens less transparent- reduces
  light reaching the retina (at 65, 1/3 light to
  retina than 20s)
• Dont you want a light on?
• Hearing, smell and distance perception all slowly
  diminish

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Adulthood Physical Development

• The Aging Senses

1.00
0.75
0.50
0.25
0
10
30
50
70
90
Age in years
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Adulthood Physical Development

• The Aging Senses

90
70
50
10
30
50
70
90
Age in years
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Adulthood Physical Development

• The Aging Senses

90
70
50
10
30
50
70
90
Age in years
81
Health

• Aging weakening immune system (more susceptible
  to disease (cancer / pneumonia)
• Later adulthood fewer short-term ailments (flu
  / colds
• Neural processing gradually slows
• Fatal driving accidents increase sharply after 75
  (at 85, higher than 16!)
• Brain cells- gradual loss- by 80, brain 5
  weight reduction
• Womens brain degenerates slower than men!
• Exercise feeds the brain (oxygen helps form new
  cells and preserve neural connections)

82
Adulthood Intelligence

• Fluid Intelligence
• Speedy abstract reasoning / very gradual decline
  after 20s
• Crystallized Intelligence
• Knowledge base / continues to expand through
  lifetime

83
Alzheimers

• Dementia mental erosion (memory, processing
  etc.)
• Caused by decline of acetylcholine
• 3 of world population after age 75
• Memory and then reasoning degenerates
• 5 to 20 years emotionally flat to disoriented to
  incontinent to mentally vacant
• 2 ailments in neurons (diagnose before symptoms)
• shriveled protein filaments in cell body
• plaques (globs or degenerating tissue)

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Adulthood Dementia

• Incidence of Dementia by Age

85
Facing Death / Trauma

• Elisabeth Kubler-Ross On Death and Dying, 1969
• 5 Stages of Grief
• Denial
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Depression
• Acceptance