Developmental Psychology

Temperament Infants come into the world with very different and distinct behavioral styles (fussy, irritable, outgoing, shy, etc.) Psychologists refer to these inborn predispositions to consistently behave in a certain way as an infant’s temperament

There has been many studies conducted on infant’s temperament Nearly all psychologists agree that individual differences in temperament have a genetic and biological basis However, researchers also agree that environmental experiences can modify a child’s basic temperament

Ex: child that is slow to warm up and inherently shy can be encouraged by his parents to be more sociable. In a supportive environment, they may overcome their tendency towards shyness

Attachment During the first year of life, the emotional bond that forms between the infant and his caregivers is called attachment Mary Ainsworth said that attachment relationships serve important functions throughout infancy and the entire lifespan

Ideally, the caregiver serves a secure base for the infant, providing a sense of comfort and security – a safe haven from which the infant can explore and learn about the environment According to attachment theory, an infant’s ability to thrive physically and psychologically depends in large part on the quality of attachment (Ainsworth)

Generally, when parents are consistently warm, responsive, and sensitive to their infant’s needs, the infant develops a secure attachment to his/her parents Insecure Attachment may develop when an infant’s parents are neglectful, inconsistent or insensitive to his moods or behaviors

Language Development Every child is born with a biological predisposition to learn language (any language) The key task in the development of language is to learn a set of grammatical rules that allow the child to produce an unlimited number of sentences from a limited number of words

Parents in every culture use a style of speech called motherease, or infant-directed speech with babies This is also known as baby-talk

At about 3 months of age, infants begin to “coo”, repeating vowel sounds such as aaahhh or ooohh At about 5 months infants begin to babble (they add consonants to the vowels) At about 9 months infants begin to babble more in sounds specific to their language

An infant’s comprehension vocabulary (words they understand) is much larger than her production vocabulary (words they can say) Generally, infants acquire comprehension of words twice as fast as they learn to speak new words

Infants usually are able to speak their first words around 12 months Around their 2nd birthday, they begin putting words together (two word stage ) By age 3, the typical child has a production vocabulary of more than 3,000 words

Do concept review 9.1 on pg. 389

Adolescence Adolescence is the transitional period between late childhood and the beginning of adulthood Usually begins at age 11 or 12 and is marked by drastic physical, social and cognitive changes as the individual moves toward adulthood

Primary and Secondary Sex Characteristics The physical changes of puberty fall into two categories. Internally, puberty involves the development of the primary sex characteristics, which are the sex organs that are directly involved in reproduction Externally, development of the secondary sex characteristics (those not involved in reproduction), develop as well. These include changes in height, weight, body shape, body hair, voice, etc.

Females are usually about 2 years ahead of males in terms of physical and sexual maturation Most noticeable example is the adolescent growth spurt, which occurs on average, 2 years earlier for girls

Do concept review 9.3 on pg. 413