Developmental Psychology Part 2 Psychology 40S C. McMurray Source: PSYCHOLOGY (9th Edition) David Myers Worth Publishers, © 2010

Social EmotionalDevelopment Socialization – the process of learning the rules of behaviour of the culture within which an individual is born and will live. The development of self-awareness, attachment to parents or caregivers, and relationships with other children and adults. The real core of social development is found in the emotional attachment, or close emotional bond, that human babies form with their primary caregivers.

Attachment Emotional Attachment – an especially close emotional bond that infants form with their parents, caregiver, or others.

Psychology 40S Assignment Part A: Attachment Read pages 155-156: Origins of Attachment in the Orange Myers Text (8th edition) Answer the following: Explain Harry Harlow’s study and the effects on the monkeys. What is a critical period? What is imprinting? Part B: Child Rearing Practices Read pages 161-163 Answer the questions on the white handout Hand both in when finished today.

Harlow Primate Laboratory, University of Wisconsin Origins of Attachment Harlow (1971) showed that infants bond with surrogate mothers because of bodily contact and not because of nourishment. Harlow Primate Laboratory, University of Wisconsin

Harlow placed baby monkeys in the chamber alone for up to six weeks Harlow placed baby monkeys in the chamber alone for up to six weeks. Within a few days, they stopped moving about and remained huddled in a corner. The monkeys were found to be pyschotic when removed from the chamber, and most did not recover.

Harlow’s discovery surprised many psychologists: The monkeys much preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother. For many years, developmental psychologists thought that infants became attached to those who satisfied their need for nourishment.

Monkeys raised by artificial mothers were terror-stricken when placed in strange situations without their surrogate mothers.

Origins of Attachment Like bodily contact, familiarity is another factor that causes attachment. In some animals (goslings), imprinting is the cause of attachment. Alastair Miller

Konrad Lorenz Imprinting

Emotional Development Critical Period a period of time when new skills and abilities are most easily learned (Feral Children) Attachment a deep, caring, close, and enduring emotional bond between an infant and caregiver (Harry Harlow and the wire monkeys) Imprinting when newborn animals respond with inherited tendencies to new stimuli (Konrad Lorenz and the geese) They attach to the first thing they see move. (usually their mother)

Secure Attachment Relaxed and attentive caregiving becomes the backbone of secure attachment. Berry Hewlett

Harlow Primate Laboratory, University of Wisconsin Insecure Attachment Harlow’s studies showed that monkeys experience great anxiety if their terry-cloth mother is removed. Harlow Primate Laboratory, University of Wisconsin

Deprivation of Attachment What happens when circumstances prevent a child from forming attachments? In such circumstances children become: Preview Question 7: Do parental neglect, family disruption, or day care affect children’s attachments? Withdrawn Frightened Unable to develop speech

Prolonged Deprivation If parental or caregiving support is deprived for an extended period of time, children are at risk for physical, psychological, and social problems, including alterations in brain serotonin levels. Watch: Feral Child Video

Child-Rearing Practices Description Authoritarian Parents impose rules and expect obedience. Permissive Parents submit to children’s demands. Authoritative Parents are demanding but responsive to their children. Preview Question 8: How do children’s self-concepts develop, and how are children’s traits related to parenting styles?

Social Development Parenting Styles Authoritarian Family Parents are the “bosses” Very strict, no negotiation Democratic/Authoritative Family Children participate in decision making Lots of discussion Parents still have final say Permissive/Laissez-faire Family Children have the final say Parents are less controlling

Authoritative Parenting Authoritative parenting correlates with social competence — other factors like common genes may lead to an easy-going temperament and may invoke an authoritative parenting style.

Adolescence and Brain Development Until puberty, neurons increase their connections. However, at adolescence, selective pruning of the neurons begins. Unused neuronal connections are lost to make other pathways more efficient.

Frontal Cortex During adolescence, neurons in the frontal cortex grow myelin, which speeds up nerve conduction. The frontal cortex lags behind the limbic system’s development. Hormonal surges and the limbic system may explain occasional teen impulsiveness.

Cognitive Development Adolescents’ ability to reason gives them a new level of social awareness. In particular, they may think about the following: Their own thinking. What others are thinking. What others are thinking about them. How ideals can be reached. They criticize society, parents, and even themselves. Preview Question 10: How did Piaget, Kohlberg, and later researchers describe adolescent cognitive and moral development?

Developing Reasoning Power According to Piaget, adolescents can handle abstract problems, i.e., they can perform formal operations. Adolescents can judge good from evil, truth and justice, and think about God in deeper terms. William Thomas Cain/ Getty Images AP/Wide World Photos

Erik Erikson Who was he? What did he do? Psychologist who focused on Social development Known for his work on adolescence and identity What did he do? He developed a theory involving 8 stages of psychosocial development Each stage involves a crisis or question

Social Development Preview Question 11: What are the social tasks and challenges of adolescence?

Forming an Identity In Western cultures, many adolescents try out different selves before settling into a consistent and comfortable identity. Having such an identity leads to forming close relationships. Matthias Clamer/ Getty Images Leland Bobble/ Getty Images

Emerging Adulthood Emerging adulthood spans ages 18-25. During this time, young adults may live with their parents and attend college or work. On average, emerging adults marry in their mid-twenties. Preview Question 12: What is emerging adulthood? Ariel Skelley/ Corbis

Adulthood Although adulthood begins sometime after a person’s mid-twenties, defining adulthood into stages is more difficult than defining the stages of childhood or adolescence. Rick Doyle/ Corbis

Physical Development The peak of physical performance occurs around 20 years of age, after which it declines imperceptibly for most of us. Preview Question 13: What physical changes occur during middle and late adulthood?

Batting performance of Willie Mays. Middle Adulthood Muscular strength, reaction time, sensory abilities and cardiac output begin to decline after the mid-twenties. Around age 50, women go through menopause, and men experience decreased levels of hormones and fertility. Bettman/ Corbis Batting performance of Willie Mays.

Old Age: Sensory Abilities After age 70, hearing, distance perception, and the sense of smell diminish, as do muscle strength, reaction time, and stamina. After 80, neural processes slow down, especially for complex tasks. Michael Newman/ PhotoEdit

Old Age: Motor Abilities At age 70, our motor abilities also decline. A 70-year-old is no match for a 20-year-old individual. Fatal accidents also increase around this age.

Aging and Intelligence A number of cognitive abilities decline with age. However, vocabulary and general knowledge increase with age.

Developing Morality Kohlberg (1981, 1984) sought to describe the development of moral reasoning by posing moral dilemmas to children and adolescents, such as “Should a person steal medicine to save a loved one’s life?” He found stages of moral development. AP Photo/ Dave Martin

Lawrence Kohlberg Who was he? What did he do? Psychologist who researched moral development What did he do? Developed 3 levels of moral development (ways people judge what is right or wrong) “moral ladder”

"The Heinz Dilemma" Kohlberg based his theory upon research and interviews with groups of young children. A series of moral dilemmas were presented to children, who were then interviewed to determine the reasoning behind their judgments of each scenario. The following is one example of the dilemmas Kohlberg presented…

"Heinz Steals the Drug” In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug.

Should the husband have done that? (Kohlberg, 1963)." The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that? (Kohlberg, 1963)."

Kohlberg and Moral Development Kohlberg was not interested so much in the answer to the question of whether Heinz was wrong or right, but in the reasoning for the participants decision. The responses were then classified into various stages of reasoning in his theory of moral development.

Moral Decisions are based on: At Preconventional Level: Consequences of the action Benefits from the action At Conventional Level: Love and approval The law and social rules At Postconventional Level: Fairness, justice and the truth Ethical principles that apply to everyone (what is right for the world, for ALL people)

3 Basic Levels of Moral Thinking Preconventional Morality: Before age 9, children show morality to avoid punishment or gain reward. Conventional Morality: By early adolescence, social rules and laws are upheld for their own sake. Postconventional Morality: Affirms people’s agreed-upon rights or follows personally perceived ethical principles. Many people never get to this level!

Morality As our thinking matures, so does our behavior in that we become less selfish and more caring. People who engage in doing the right thing develop empathy for others and the self-discipline to resist their own impulses.

Kohlberg http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=9780495093039&discipline_number=24 Chapter 11 drag and drop

Nature vs Nurture The issue: How much of development is the result of inheritance (heredity…nature)? How much of development is the result of what we have learned (environment…nurture)?

Twin Studies

Fraternal twins, who develop from separate fertilized eggs, are genetically no more similar than ordinary brothers and sisters. Identical twins, who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, are genetically identical. They are nature’s own human clones.

Nurture begins in the womb Two-thirds of identical twins share the same placenta, and therefore a more similar prenatal environment

Adoption Studies Are adopted children more like their adoptive parents who contribute a home environment or their biological parents, who contributed their genes? Studies of adoptive families have provided clues to hereditary and environmental influences. Adopted children share many values and attitudes with their adoptive parents, but adopted children’s personalities tend to be more similar to their biological parents.

“Heredity deals the cards; environment plays the hand “Heredity deals the cards; environment plays the hand.” Psychologist Charles L. Brewer (1990)

Nature vs Nurture Do you think you are more a product of nature or nurture or both? Why? Give examples.