Title: Developmental Psychology
1Chapter 4
2- People of different ages have diverse thoughts,
needs, and wants that are important to them at
that time. - For example, none of you are worried about
paying the mortgage and your parents are not
worried about what to wear to impress that cute
boy/girl
3- Some psychologists devote their lives to studying
the changes people go through throughout their
lifetime - This branch of psychology is called
- Developmental Psychology
- The study of how our behavior and thoughts change
over time - Think of it this way
- the study of humans WOMB to TOMB
4Before we get into developmental psychology we
need to discuss one thing
- Chicken or the Egg??
- We will try to answer one of the major themes in
psychology called the Nature vs. Nurture argument - Basically asking which is more powerful in
determining behavior and traits?? - Nature
- the idea that your behaviors, thoughts and
traits come from our genetics (we are born with
them) (Biology is Destiny) - Nurture
- the idea that our behaviors come from our
environment (we learn from our surroundings)
5 6The Nature Argument(is sometimes compelling)
This guy will never be
This guy!!!
Why does Brad Pitt look the way he does?
Probably genes (and I dont mean his Levi's)
7Genes Our Biological Blueprint
More on these guys later
Another way psychologists try to answer Nature
vs. Nurture is through a field called
Evolutionary Psychology
8Evolutionary Psychology Explaining Universal
Behaviors
- According to EP the motivator of all behavior
is the passing of one's genes to the next
generation for survival - (natural selection and survival of fittest)
9How and why do men and women differ sexually?
- There are of course real biological differences
10Of course, there are other differences too.
11What do men and women want?(According to
Evolutionary Psychology)
- Men want
- Healthy
- Young
- Waist 1/3 narrower than hips.
- Women want
- Wealth
- Security
- Power
12Behavior Genetics
The study of the power and limitations of genes
on who we are.
13The Genetic Revolution
If it were possible, would you want to take a
genetic test telling you which diseases you are
likely to suffer from later in life?
If you or your spouse were pregnant, would you
want the unborn child tested for genetic defects?
Do you think it should be legal for employers to
use genetic tests in deciding whom to hire?
14Temperament
- The aspects of a persons personality that we are
born with - whether someone is shy, aggressive, easily scared
- They remain relatively stable over time.
- Tends to lend evidence that nature is very
powerful
What is your temperament??
15Heritability
- The degree to which genetic factors (heredity)
can explain the differences of a given trait
among a population - For example
- A heritability estimate of 50 for intelligence
would mean what? - That genetics explains 50 of the differences
among people in IQ scores - The remaining 50 of the differences would be
explained by non-genetic factors, such as
environment influences
16Now On to Nurture
Environmental Influences on Behavior
17Specific Types of Environmental Influences
Parents Prenatal Experience
Peer Influence Culture Gender
18How Much Credit (or Blame ) Do Parents Deserve?
- Are children clay to be molded by their parents?
- It depends
- probably not when it comes to to
personality - Take a look at your siblings are you alike??
- Parents effect your belief systems and
values much more than your personality.
19Peer Influence
- Perhaps the biggest environmental influence, at
least by your age may be.peers - Selection effect
- we seek out people with similar interests
- that may explain why we seem to conform to our
peers.
20What can happen when there is no one around to
influence children??
- Feral Children
- Children who have been deprived of social contact
or upbringing - Literally means wild or untamed
- Suggests the important role nurture can play in
normal human development
21Cultural Influences on Children
- Lev Vygotsky
- Said that ones thinking is influenced by ones
culture - This interaction produces a culturally specific
way of thinking - Zone of Proximal Development
- Vygotsky thought that if a child had an older
influence, they would develop faster
22Nature v. Nurture
What do you think so far?
Does Nature and Nurture interact and grow off of
each other?
First, how do psychologists study this question?
23How do Psychologists Study Development??
- Cross sectional
- uses people of different ages to compare how
certain characteristics may change over the
course of life - Can be hard when the groups have grown up in
different times (math tests computers vs.
calculators) - Longitudinal
- examines one group of participants over a long
period of time - Costly, takes a long time, and typically lose
participants over time - Biographical or retrospective studies
- Looks at one person at a time through individuals
memory - Good for detail, but memory may not be accurate
and the information may not be generalizable
24- Lets say I wanted to see at what age people are
the best at playing Halo - I could go about doing this in two ways.
- If I wanted to do a cross-sectional study I
could take ten 5 year olds, ten 10 year olds,
ten 15 year olds, and ten 20 year olds, have
them all play Halo and see which group lasted
the longest. -
- This would be a fast and easy way to do the
study and MOST studies are done just like this
25- But, if I wanted to do a longitudinal study I
would take ten 5 year olds, have them play halo,
wait five years and test them again, wait five
more years and test them again, then test them
again at twenty and I would have my study. - This type of research is much more rare simply
because it takes so long!!!! - So you can see that both types of research have
advantages and disadvantages.
26But lets get down to Business
- I am going to break developmental psychology down
into Five sections or types of development - Physical
- the ways our body changes from womb to tomb
- Social
- the ways our social needs change from womb to
tomb - Cognitive
- the ways our thinking and learning changes from
womb to tomb - Moral
- the ways we think about right and wrong changes
from womb to tomb - Gender
- the ways we think about what our gender means
from womb to tomb