Review Session PowerPoint 4

Research Methods  Most studies in developmental psychology are either cross-sectional or longitudinal Cross-sectional can be effected by historical events Longitudinal are very time consuming

Prenatal Influences  Genetics- twin studies  Teratogens- harmful chemical or agents ingested by the mother Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)- small skulls and mental retardation Fetal Alcohol Effect- other problems later in life Drugs (cocaine, heroin) Polluting chemicals Bacteria and Viruses

Newborn Reflexes  Automatic, inborn, and specific When touched on the cheek, a baby will turn his or her head to the side and seek to put the object in his or her mouth Rooting Reflex When an object is placed in a baby’s mouth, the infant will suck on it Sucking Reflex If an object is placed on a baby’s palm or footpad, he or she will try to grasp it with his or her fingers or toes Grasping Reflex When startled, a baby will fling his or her limbs out and then quickly retract them, making himself or herself as small as possible Moro Reflex When a baby’s foot is stroked, he or she will spread out the toes. Babinski Reflex

Newborn Senses  Vision is different in important ways At birth, hearing is the dominant sense Babies can only see well 8-12 inches in front of them Normal vision by about 12 months old Babies like to look at faces and face-like objects more than any other objects

Newborn Motor Development  Motor control develops as neurons in the brain connect with one another and become myelinated Roll over at about 5 ½ months Stand at about 8-9 months Walk by themselves at about 12 months Very approximate

Attachment Theory  Henry Harlow Monkeys preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing wire mother

Attachment Theory  Mary Ainsworth- the Strange Situation Infants were left alone for a short period of time and then their parents returned

Attachment Theory Secure Attachment (66%)- confidently explore the novel environment with the parents present, are distressed when they leave, and come to the parents when they return Avoidant Attachment (21%)- may resist being held by the parents and will explore the novel environment. They do not go to the parents for comfort when they return after an absence Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment (12%)- have ambivalent reactions, may show extreme stress when parents leave but resist being comforted by them when they return

Parenting Styles  Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect obedience “Don’t interrupt” “Why? Because I said so.”  Authoritative parents are both demanding and responsive set rules, but explain reasons encourage discussion  Permissive submit to children’s desires make few demands use little punishment  Rejecting-neglecting disengaged expect little invest little

Erik Erikson- Psychosocial Devel. Trust v. Mistrust Babies must learn that they can trust their caregivers and that their requests are effective Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Toddlers learn to control their own bodies through potty training and learn to control their environment in reasonable ways in order to develop a healthy will. Initiative vs. Guilt Children feel a natural curiosity about their surroundings and must feel comfortable about this curiosity. If scolded, will feel guilty about asking questions in the future. Industry vs. Inferiority Beginning of formal education, we must feel competent. If we feel as though we are falling behind, we develop an inferiority complex in that area

Erik Erikson- Psychosocial Devel. Identity vs. Role Confusion Main social task is to discover which social identity we are most comfortable with and might try out different roles to find which fits best. Otherwise, the result might be identity crisis Intimacy vs. Isolation Must figure out how to balance their ties between work and relationships with other people. Generativity vs. Stagnation Looking critically at our lift path to ensure that we are creating the life we want. Might seize control to ensure things are going according to plan. Integrity vs. Despair Are we satisfied with what we have accomplished? If yes, we can offer insight. If no, the result might be despair over lost opportunities.

Jean Piaget- Cognitive Dev.  Children view the world through schemas, cognitive rules for interpreting the world.  Assimilation interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas  Accommodation adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Typical Age Range Description of Stage Developmental Phenomena Birth to nearly 2 yearsSensorimotor Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing) Object permanence Stranger anxiety About 2 to 6 years About 7 to 11 years About 12 through adulthood Preoperational Representing things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning Pretend play Egocentrism Language development Concrete operational Thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations Conservation Mathematical transformations Formal operational Abstract reasoning Abstract logic Potential for moral reasoning Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development  Object Permanence the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived  Conservation the principle that properties remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects ○ Volume ○ Area ○ Number part of Piaget’s concrete operational reasoning

Criticisms of Piaget  Many children go through the stages faster and earlier than Piaget predicted  Tests might have relied to heavily on language use  Development may occur more continuously  Information-processing model- our abilities to memorize, interpret, and perceive gradually develop as we age rather than developing in distinct stages

Lawrence Kohlberg- Moral Dev.  Describes how our ability to reason about ethical situations changes  Used the Heinz dilemma

Kohlberg’s Moral Ladder  As moral development progresses, the focus of concern moves from the self to the wider social world. Morality of abstract principles: to affirm agreed-upon rights and personal ethical principles Morality of law and social rules: to gain approval or avoid disapproval Morality of self-interest: to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards Postconventional level Conventional level Preconventional level

Kohlberg Criticisms  Carol Gilligan- Kohlberg developed the model based on the responses of boys Her research showed that boys have a more absolute view of what is moral while girls pay more attention to situational factors Recent research does not support her theory

Gender Development  Different gender roles across culture  Biopsychological differences Differences in the brain (women have a larger corpus callosum)  Psychodynamic theory Gender development as a competition  Social-cognitive theory React to boys and girls differently Gender-schema theory- we internalize messages about gender into rules about how genders should behave

Practice Questions  1) Some researchers consider developmental psychology an applied research topic because It is more easily applied to people’s lives than research such as behaviorism Researchers apply findings and theories from other areas of psychology to the specific topic of human development It is more commonly studied by a graduate student rather than an undergraduate because of the applications for other research Doing original research in this area is difficult, so most of the research is about application Pure research is difficult to gain support for, especially when a researcher needs to recruit children as participants

 2) You read in your philosophy textbook that humans are born with “Tabula Rasa” or “blank slates”. As a student of psychology, which of the following responses would you have? The statement is incorrect. Humans may be born without reflexes and instincts, but we are born with the ability to learn them. The statement is correct. Humans are born without instincts or other mechanisms to help us survive. The statement is correct. Humans are born with a certain number of neurons, but most develop later as we learn. The statement is incorrect. Humans are born with a set of reflexes that help us survive. The statement is impossible to prove since we cannot infer what babies know or not know due to their lack of language.

 3) Which of the following statements is most true about how a newborn’s senses function? A newborn’s senses function the same as an adult’s since the sensory apparatus develops in the womb All of our senses function normally when we are newborns except taste due to lack of stimulation in the womb All of our senses function normally when we are newborns except touch due to a lack of stimulation in the womb A newborn’s senses function at a very low level but develop very quickly with experience Most senses function normally, but sight develops slowly with experience.

 4) Most prenatal influences on humans are genetic or hormonal in origin except for Teratogens Stress on the mother Parents’ level of education about fetal development Family history of mental illnesses Operant conditioning occurring before birth

 5) Parental involvement can have dramatic effects on all the following human traits except Intelligence Reading ability Self-esteem Motor development Emotional development

 6) A principal difference between a longitudinal study and a cross-sectional study is The number or participants involved The developmental stage of the participants The time span of the study The statistical methods employed to evaluate the data The sampling method used to choose participants

 7) A major difference between the psychoanalytic stage theories (Freud and Erikson) and the more cognitive or experiential stage theories (Piaget and Kohlberg) is The psychoanalytic theories are less empirical The psychoanalytic theories were based exclusively on data from children with developmental disorders Freud and Erikson studied only young children, while Piaget and Kohlberg studied the full range of development Only the psychoanalytic theories take parental effects into account The psychoanalytic theories are continuous, the others are discontinuous.

 8) You have a cousin named Holden who flunked our of three expensive private schools and was arrested for wandering the streets of New York using his parents’ credit card. Holden is intelligent but cannot seem to get motivated toward any career. What conflict would Erikson say Holden is struggling with? Autonomy vs. identity Integrity vs. role confusion Integrity vs. despair Industry vs. inferiority Trust vs. mistrust