Unit XIII* Developing Through the Life Span *of XVII total

Developmental Psychology Three big questions: Nature versus nurture? Continuity versus stages? Stability versus change? Three major areas of development: Physical Cognitive Social Four areas of study: Prenatal and barely postnatal Childhood Adolescence Adulthood

Prenatal Development and Newborns Conception 1+1=1 Prenatal development Zygote – Embryo – Fetus Genetic and environmental factors Placenta, teratogens and fetal alcohol syndrome Newborns Reflexes: Rooting, Moro, Babinski, grasping and more Research with newborns Habituation Novelty-preference and facial stimuli

Physical Development: Infancy and Childhood Brain development Neuronal production Maturation Motor development Standard course of m.d. Genetic functions = maturation Infant memory Infantile amnesia Senses and physical growth Sensory development The visual cliff study Height and weight increases

Cognitive Development: Infancy and Childhood Cognition The roots of consciousness Jean Piaget A Swiss psychologist who worked at a school run by Binet Became interested in similar wrong answers on IQ tests Developed a stage theory of cognitive development Basic ideas Schemas Assimilation Accommodation

Piaget’s Stages: Sensorimotor Sensorimotor stage Birth to 2 years of age Child begins to associate sensory activity and motor activity Divided into multiple stages by Piaget At around 8-12 months, an infant learns causal relationships Object permanence The awareness that things exist even when they are unseen.. Originally thought to manifest by 8 th month Now it is believed to manifest as early as the 4 th month

Piaget’s Stages: Preoperational Preoperational stage: 2 years – 7 years old Children are able to use language and symbols, but are only able to think intuitively. Conservationn Egocentrisme Animism Artificialism Theory of Mind Jenkins and Astington experiments

Piaget’s Stages: Concrete Operational Concrete Operational stage About 7 years through 12 years of age Children are able to think logically Children are able to concentrate on two sides of a problem – conservation Mathematics and concrete analogies are possible Children lack deductive reasoning and ability to comprehend abstraction.d

Piaget’s Stages: Formal Operational Formal Operational Stage Age 12 onwards Children are capable of: Abstract thought Deductive reasoning Hypothetical situations Inferring consequences Detecting hypocrisy The potential for mature moral reasoning increases Some reasoning skills likely form sooner than Piaget thought

Modern Reflections on Piaget Positives about Piaget’s research Sparking interest in the cognitive lives of children Emphasis on sequence rather than milestones Criticisms of Piaget’s research Continuity supplants Piaget’s stages Piaget’s tests underestimated some cognitive functions Lev Vygotsky Russian developmental psychologist Emphasized interaction with social environment Famous for the “Vygotsky spiral” in education Implications for parents Children do not think like adults Children are cognitively engaged with the world

Social Development in Childhood We are born to be social creatures – both in eliciting social responses and seeking social bonds. Childhood social development centers on two concepts: Attachment: An emotional tie with another person, demonstrated through outward behaviors. Self-concept: After self-awareness, we learn to assess and understand “who we are” as separate individuals. As noted in the nature and nurture chapter, parenting styles also influence childhood social growth (although cognitive and physical growth can be affected, too)

Attachment – Formation and Variation Separation and Stranger anxiety Harry Harlow and Contact Comfortot Animals and imprinting Konrad Lorenz Critical period Secure vs. Insecure Mary Ainsworth and the “Strange Situation” Secure attachment Insecure attachment

Attachment Disorder and Child Abuse Romanian orphans and Harlow’s monkeys Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics Abuse and the brain Effects of abuse Neglect Attachment disorder (RAD) Recovery from disrupted attachment Daycare and Attachment – doesn’t belong here Quality daycare situations do not effect attachment Positive and negative benefits of daycare.

Self-Concept Who am I? The answer to this is central to the idea of a self concept. The mirror test My disagreement with the textbook Self description Adoption and self- concept Positive self-concept

Parenting Styles Two basic axes: Emotional responsiveness Warm and cold Order and control Strict and undemanding Four parenting styles Authoritarian: C + S Permissive: W + U Uninvolved: C + U Authoritative W + S Diana Baumrind

Adolescence Many believe that adolescence is the easiest stage of life. Although it was once believed that childhood was the time in which all of our important traits were formed, experts now see development as a continuous process. Adolescence represents the time between puberty to independence from parents. The idea of adolescence has shifted through time. In cultures where teens assume adult responsibilities, adolescence may not exist at all. Adolescence has been described as “blissful” as well as full of “storm and stress” – à la “The Sorrows of Young Werther”.

Adol.: Physical Development Puberty: The period of sexual maturation Primary sex characteristics Secondary sex characteristics Gender specific milestones Sequence > Timing Brain development Pruning of neural connections Frontal lobe and myelin development Hormonal changes We all were.

Adol: Cognitive Development Abstract thinking begets ego-centrism of a higher order. Formal operational stage Moral Development Lawrence Kohlberg and the ethical dilemmas Preconventional Morality: Age<9 Stages 1 and 2 Conventional Morality: Late childhood – early adolescence Stages 3 and 4 Postconventional Morality: Formal operational thought Stages 5 and 6

Moral Dilemma and Moral Feeling Kohlberg dilemma examples Carol Gilligan and critiques of Kohlberg Moral feelings (moving beyond behavior) Social intuition model (Feelings Thoughts Actions) The runaway train question. The runaway train question, part 2. Brain differences in moral choices The power of magnets – Liang Young et al.

Adol: Social Development Social development is thought to involve the search for identity. Social Identity Erik Erikson German of Danish heritage Worked in Vienna Expands upon Freud 8 Psychosocial stages One crisis per stage

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages Infancy (Birth – 1) Trust vs. Mistrust Drive and hope Early Childhood (1-3) Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Self-control and Will Preschool (3-5/6) Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose School age (6-puberty) Industry vs. Inferiority Method and Competence Adolescence (Puberty -20s) Identity vs. Role diffusion Devotion and fidelity Young adulthood (20s-40s) Intimacy vs. Isolation Affiliation and Love Middle adulthood (40s-60s) Generativity vs. Stagnation Production and Care Late adulthood (60s-death) Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom

Adolescent Relationships Parental relationships Many see this as the essential time when parental nurture gives way to peer nurture. Relationship changes Peer relationships Conformity vs. Identity Emerging adulthood Rites of passage Prolonged adolescence

Physical Development: Adulthood In general, it is more difficult to generalize about adulthood. Decline of physical abilities General motor function Fertility – menopause Changes late in life Life expectancy Chromosomes and telomeres Sensory ability Health and Brain function Alzheimer’s and Dementia

Adulthood: Cognitive changes Memory Recognition and recall Crook and West study Prospective vs. timed tasks Intelligence Cross-sectional and longitudinal research review Crystallized vs. fluid Terminal decline Is this too much?

Adulthood: Social Development The midlife crisis myth Social clock – culturally prescribed milestones Chance encounters and the changing directions of life Love Lasting intimacy Work – relates to Unit X Identity and emotions Regression towards the emotional mean – biological causes The End Grief, dying and death

Final Developmental Reflections Continuity vs. Stages Maturation and other biological processes tend to support stages. Learning and environmental experiences tend to support the idea of continuity. While stages may not be accurate, they are still useful. Stability vs. Change Although certainly personality does demonstrate stability, many people also demonstrate change through a lifespan. Aging tends to increase stability, but there are exceptions. Under normal conditions, adaptive traits are stable, and maladaptive traits change. Both S and C are important.