Announcements… Please check your grades online, there is A LOT of missing work! Grades are due by this Friday…have any work that is still due turned in by Thursday afternoon I’m open the second half of Power Hour

Compare yourself as an 8 year old and now List three traits that are the same about yourself List three traits that are different

Continuity vs. Stages Stability vs. Change

3 Major Issues in Developmental Psychology Nature vs. Nurture How does our genetic inheritance (nature) interact with our experiences to influence development (nurture)? Continuity and Stages What parts of development are gradual and continuous? What parts change abruptly in separate stages? Stability and Change What traits persist throughout our entire lives? How do we change as we age?

Continuity and Stages Do adults differ from infants like trees and seeds? Do we change continuously and gradually? Or do adults differ from infants like a caterpillar and a butterfly Do we undergo clear-cut stages through life with little overlap?

Continuity and Stages Generally speaking, researchers who emphasize the influence of biology tend to see maturation as a series of genetically predetermined stages Ex: You don’t start speaking in full sentences before babbling as a baby Progress through the stages may be quick or slow, but the stages are supposed to occur in the SAME ORDER In class we discussed three stage theorists who attempted to see if the concept of stages held true in psychology…

Group Discussion Get out a piece of paper, write the names of the people in your group and list ONE stage theory we discussed in class (We discussed three different theories) and BRIEFLY explain what the theory tries to explain We will go over your answers in class

Continuity and Stages Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development: We have since learned that some children display traits that aren’t supposed to show up until later stages, such as object permanence Babies are now thought to already understand the concept of object permanence, but sometimes their motor skills don’t allow them to properly investigate where an object is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxZAQn6M YCs

Continuity and Stages Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Another example is of a 3 year old displaying ‘theory of mind’ – or an ability to take another’s perspective. According to Piaget’s theory, children don’t develop a theory of mind before the age of 3.5

Continuity and Stages Lawrence Kohlberg Theory of Moral Development Concepts of Preconventional morality and Conventional morality ring true across cultures, but the final stage was biased towards individualistic cultures with a well educated population If a stage isn’t universal, how can it be predetermined biologically?

Should the man steal a medicine in order to save his wife? Preconventional Morality (Before age 9) “You shouldn’t steal because you could get caught” Conventional Morality (Early adolescence) “You shouldn’t steal because it’s against the law” Postconventional Morality (Adolescence and beyond) “People have a right to live, and you should do whatever possible to preserve life”

Stability vs. Change

Over time, do our personalities stay consistent or do they change? Stability and Change Over time, do our personalities stay consistent or do they change? General consensus: There is continuity to personality, but our views and attitudes can change over time

Stability and Change: Throughout life, our temperament (emotional excitability) tends to stay the same Research team that studied 1,000 New Zealanders age 3 to 26, consistency of temperament was remarkable (Caspi et al., 2003). Other traits, such as social attitudes are much less stable than temperament. Stranger anxiety eventually fades, and even shy, fearful toddlers will start to open up by age 4 Often older children and adolescents learn new ways to cope with difficulties In the years after adolescence, people tend to become more self-disciplined, agreeable and self-confident

Stability and Change Life requires both stability AND change Why? Stability gives us our identity, and allows us to be dependable and to depend on others. The concept of change is important for allowing us to believe that difficult situations can get better. Allows us to adapt and grow with our experiences