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

Developmental Psychology: studies how people are continually developing- physically, cognitively, & socially- from infancy thru old age 3 major issues –Nature and nurture: how our genes & environment influence development –Continuity & stages: is development gradual or does it happen in separate stages –Stability & Change: do we stay the same or become different people as we age? What is developmental psych?

Major Stages of Development Stages –Prenatal Development & the Newborn –Infancy & Childhood –Adolescence –Adulthood

Conception Women born w/ all eggs they will have Men are nonstop sperm factories 1 sperm makes it, welcomed into egg, fuse together less than half of fertilized eggs make it past 2 weeks  Congratulations!!! You are 1 in 200 million

Prenatal Development Zygote: conception to 2 weeks –The fertilized egg –2 week period of cell division (“I’ll be the brain,” “I’ll be the heart…”) –10 days-zygote attaches to uterine wall until birth Embryo: 2 weeks to 2 months –Organs begin to form & function –Heart starts beating

Fetus & Placenta Fetus: 9 weeks to birth –At 6 months organs have developed enough to allow premature baby chance to survive –Can hear sounds (mother’s voice is favorite…sorry daddy) & respond to light Placenta: transfers nutrients & oxygen from mother to fetus –Tries to filter out harmful substances

Teratogens Teratogens: substances that can harm the fetus –Drugs, smoking, alcohol, viruses, stds –Fetus experiences same or worse Fetal Alcohol Syndrome –Affects 1 in 800 infants –Affects central nervous system –At risk for birth defects & intellectual disabilities –Fun Fact 1 & 2

Controversy How do you think the criminal justice system should deal with mothers who abuse drugs during pregnancy? *5 minute group discussion

Childbirth Click the woman in labor to watch a birthing video. Please be aware that it is graphic….beautiful but can be difficult to watch. Fun Fact #4! Fun Fact #3!

APGAR TEST Test given within 1-5 minutes after baby is born A=activity or muscle tone, muscle movements are measured P=Pulse. Babies should have heart rate of 100 beats/minute G=Grimace or reflex irritability, active babies sneeze/cough during suctioning in nose & mouth A=Appearance, doctors look for normal skin color, pale or blue/gray is not good R=Respiration, babies should be crying & breathing Fun Fact #5

Habituation Can babies see? Hear? Smell? Think? – research to figure this out (eye tracking machines…) – Fun Fact #6 Habituation: decrease in responding with repeated stimuli – Baby gets “bored” – Babies see faces (dog/cat, hybrid) – Ex: scary movies – Fun Fact #7

Brain Development Fun Fact #8 Ages 3-6 the most rapid growth is in frontal lobes (control attention & behavior) Association Areas (linked to thinking, memory, language) are last to develop Maturation: Physical growth, regardless of environment – the timing of our growth may be different, but the sequence is almost always the same – Fun Fact #9

Motor Development Sequence is universal, –ex: roll over before sit up, crawl before walk –Connected to nervous system maturing Fun Fact #10 Fun Fact #11 Fun Fact #12 Parents should expect potty training until baby is ready (24-27 months)

Put these Motor & Verbal Abilities in Order 2 months: turns head to follow moving objects 9 months: sits alone for 1 minute, says “DaDa” 1 yr: walks while holding on to something 1yr 3mo: walks alone, says several words 1yr 6mo: climbs stairs, says many words 2 yrs: runs, uses simple word combinations 3 yrs: puts on shoes 4 yrs: laces shoes 5 yrs: names penny, nickel, and dime 6 yrs: describes the difference between a bird and a dog 7 yrs: tells time to quarter hour 8 yrs: tells how a baseball & orange and an airplane & kite are alike

Reflexes Inborn automatic responses – Babinski – Moro – Plantar – Swimming – Stepping Click on pictures to see clips of reflexes.

Sensory Development & Memory Most sensory development occurred as fetus (touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight) Memory –Fun Fact #13 –Experiment tying child’s foot to mobile=babies capable of learning!

Cognitive Development It was thought that kids were just stupid versions of adults. Cognition: all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, & communicating Then came along JEAN PIAGET – Kids learn differently than adults – People develop in stages

Schemas Right now in your head, picture a model. These 3 probably fit into your concept (schema) of a model. But does this one? the maturing brain builds schemas- concepts that organize & interpret information Schemas are ways we interpret the world around us. It is basically what you picture in your head when you think of anything.

Assimilation & Accommodation Assimilation: we learn new things by interpreting them in terms of our current understandings We also adjust, or accommodate, our schemas to incorporate new experiences

Example When a child learns the word for dog, they start to call all four-legged animals dogs. This is assimilation People around them will say, no, that's not a dog, it's a cat. The schema for dog then gets modified to restrict it to only certain four-legged animals That is accommodation.

Example A child believes that "All furry four legged animals are dogs". He sees a breed of dog that he's never seen before and says, "That's a dog." That's assimilation. Then the child sees a raccoon (or a cat, squirrel whatever) and the child says, "That's a dog." But his parents tell him it isn't a dog, it's a raccoon. So the child accommodates, "Not all furry four legged animals are dogs, some are raccoons."

Sensorimotor Stage Birth to 2 yrs old Babies take in the world through their senses Object Permanence: the awareness that objects continue to exist when they don’t see them –Covering toy Stranger Anxiety: around 8 months, babies fear strangers, –cry b/c they have a schema for familiar faces –cannot assimilate the new faces into this schema Click Mom to see a baby with no object permanence.

Preoperational Stage 2 to 6-7 yrs old Have object permanence Begin to use language to represent objects and ideas Egocentrism: cannot look at the world through anyone’s eyes but their own Click the boy to see kids with egocentrism.

Concrete Operational Stage 6-7 to 11 yrs old Can demonstrate concept of conservation – Conservation: the idea that a quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance (part of logical thinking). Math transformations –4+8=12 –12-4=8

Formal Operational Stage 12 yrs to adulthood Reasoning goes from concrete (real experiences) to Abstract Logic (you can imagine it) Solving hypothetical situations & predict consequences Not every adult gets to this stage Potential for Moral Reasoning