Developmental Psychology

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Developmental Psychology

• The study of YOU from womb to tomb.
• We are going to study how we change physically,
  socially, cognitively and morally over our
  lifetimes.

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Nature Versus Nurture

• While going through this unit always been in the
  back of your head.
• Are you who you are because of
• The way you were born- Nature.
• The way you were raised- Nurture.

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KEY QUESTIONS

• The Nature Versus Nurture Question
• How much of human development occurs due to
  nature (biology, genetic inheritance)?
• How much of human development occurs due to
  nurture (environment, experiences)?
• Early view quite polarized
• Current view nature and nurture both crucial
  one influences manifestation of the other

• The Continuity Versus Discontinuity Question
• In what pattern does development occur?
• Continuity modelquantitative changes steady
  pattern of small, fairly regular steps
• Discontinuity model (main proponent was Jean
  Piaget)qualitative changes, in stages fairly
  stable within a stage, then rather dramatic shift
  in abilities
• Current view development involves both

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KEY QUESTIONS

• The Universality Question
• Does developmental pattern occur universally, or
  are there cultural differences?
• Basic pattern seems to occur universally
• Cultural differences in what stages experienced
  and when

• The Stability Questionhow consistent are
  personality features over the life span?

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Methods of Study

• Cross-sectional studies
• Involve study of different age groups of people,
  at same time
• Objective is same as with longitudinal, just
  easier and less expensive
• Drawbacks
• Cannot be certain of all comparisons, since age
  groups are different people as well
• Cohort effectsfunction of being born at a
  particular time in history, among members of a
  particular generation

• Longitudinal studies
• Studies of same very large group of people over a
  long, or very long, period of time
• Allow study of developmental changes (e.g.,
  personality, behavior) in the same people over
  time
• Drawbacks expensive, very time-consuming, lose
  participants over time, may not be representative

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Physical Development

• Focus on our physical changes over time.

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Prenatal Development

• Conception begins with the drop of an egg and the
  release of about 200 million sperm.
• The sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to
  penetrate the eggs surface.

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• Once the sperm penetrates the egg- we have a
  fertilized egg called..

The Zygote
The first stage of prenatal development. Lasts
about two weeks and consists of rapid cell
division.
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The Zygote Stage

• Less than half of all zygotes survive first two
  weeks.
• About 10 days after conception, the zygote will
  attach itself to the uterine wall.
• The outer part of the zygote becomes the placenta
  (which filters nutrients).

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After two weeks, the zygote develops into a
Embryo
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The Embryo Stage

• Lasts about 6 weeks.
• Heart begins to beat and the organs begin to
  develop.

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By nine weeks we have something that looks
unmistakably human
A Fetus
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The Fetus Stage

• By about the 6th month, the stomach and other
  organs have formed enough to survive outside of
  mother.
• At this time the baby can hear (and recognize)
  sounds and respond to light.

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PRENATAL INFLUENCES

• during embryonic and fetal stages, the developing
  organism is especially vulnerable to toxic agents
• protected by the placenta
• organ that connects the blood supply of the
  mother to that of the fetus
• acts like a filter
• allows oxygen and nutrients to pass through while
  keeping out some toxic or harmful substances

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Teratogensharmful agents (viruses and drugs) to
the prenatal environment
Herpes
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Viruses

• Rubella (German measles)
• can cause heart disease, deafness, mental
  retardation
• Sexually transmitted diseases (HIV, syphilis,
  gonorrhea)
• The biggest risk to the
  fetus is for transmission of
  the HIV
  virus to fetus, not
  for birth defects or mental
  retardation.  Treatment
  during pregnancy
  can greatly reduce the risk to the baby.
• Symptoms of congenital syphilis infection include
  prematurity, enlarged liver and spleen, anemia,
  jaundice, skin rash, mental retardation,
  blindness, and deafness.

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Drugs and prenatal development

• Cocaine plus other drugs
• pregnant women using crack cocaine along with
  other drugs, such as alcohol, tobacco, marijuana,
  or opiates had
• lower birth weight
• poor feeding habits
• greater risk for developing other psychological
  problems

• Smoking and nicotine
• 13 (about) of pregnant women smoke
• increase the risk of
• low birth weight
• pre-term deliveries
• possible physical problems (cleft lip or palate)
• SIDS
• respiratory infections

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Drugs and prenatal development

• Lead
• levels of lead in the blood system are associated
  with low IQ scores in children
• likelihood of antisocial acts such as, assaults,
  truancy, and disorderly conduct
• some lead sources, paint, gasoline, industry

Lead poisoning is on the increase in developing
nations who have not enforced strict pollution
controls.
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Effects of Alcohol

• moderate drinking - Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE)
• FAS results from a mother having 7-14 drinks per
  week during pregnancy
• FAE less severe than FAS
• FAE results in
• Deficiencies in cognitive tasks, academic skills,
  fine motor speed and coordination

• heavy drinking - Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
• FAS results from a mother drinking heavily during
  pregnancy, especially in the first 12 weeks
• FAS results in
• short stature, flattened nose, short eye
  openings, neurological changes, hyperactivity,
  impulsive behavior, deficits in information
  processing, drug and alcohol abuse

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

• small head, small jaw, and small, flat cheeks
• malformed ears
• small eyes, poor development of optic nerve,
  crossed-eyes
• upturned nose, low bridge
• small upper mouth structure and teeth
• caved-in chest wall
• umbilical or diaphragmatic hernia
• limited movement of fingers and elbows
• extra fingers, abnormal palm creases
• excessive hair
• under grown nails
• incomplete or lack of development of brain
  structures
• heart murmurs, heart defects, abnormalities of
  large vessels
• incomplete development of genitalia
• growth, motor, and mental retardation
• irritability in infancy and hyperactivity in
  childhood
• poor coordination

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So what will a healthy newborn do?

• Reflexes
• Rooting Reflex- a babies tendency, when touched
  on the cheek, to open mouth and search for a
  nipple.

• Preferences
• Turn towards human voices.
• Gaze at face like images longer
• Smell and sound of mother preferred

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Reflexes

• Inborn automatic responses.
• Rooting
• Sucking
• Grasping
• Moro
• Babinski

Click on pictures to see clips of reflexes.
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Competent Newborn

• Researchers can discover some of what preverbal
  infants sense and think by observing how they
  react to novel stimuli (such as colors, shapers,
  and forms) and grow bored with (habituate to)
  familiar stimuli.
• To recognize a new stimulus as different, an
  infant must remember the old stimulus, which
  indicates a simple form of learning.

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When presented a series of pictures of dogs and
cats, newborns would look at the hybrid pictures
of dogs and cats longerwhat a novel stimulus.
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Habituation

• Decreasing responsiveness with repeated
  stimulation
• As infants gain familiarity with repeated
  exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest
  wanes and they look away sooner.

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Habituation
Having habituated to the old stimulus, newborns
preferred gazing at a new one