Developmental Psychology Unit 9 Developmental Psychology

Major Issues Nature vs. Nurture Stability vs. Change Continuity vs. Stages

Conception / Fetal Development Sperm production starts at puberty; girls born will all immature eggs 200+ million sperm attempt to locate egg 85,000 times larger than it Zygote – fertilized egg – 1st 10 days Embryo – 2nd – 9th week – after zygote attachs to uterine wall – forms placenta to keep out teratogens (FAS) Fetus – 9 – 36 weeks

Until 1960, William James and most people thought babies experienced very little – now realize, they know a lot – just have to ask in ways they understand (gazing, sucking, turning heads) – experiments on pgs. 414-415 Neural connections increasing throughout puberty, with pruning process that shuts down excess connections and strengthens others Maturation – biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

Maturation sets the basic course of development; experience adjusts it Motor development is mostly universal (sitting before walking). Not imitation – even blind children crawl before they walk Genes play a major role in motor development Average age of earliest concsious memor is 3.5 years Babies ARE capable of learning – mobile experiment – pg. 417

Cognitive Development Jean Piaget Schemas – mental representations of world Assimilation – interpret in terms of current understandings Accommodation – adjustment to incorporate new understandings Socks Please Cold Feet (order of stages) Sensorimotor – 0 – 2 Descriptions and Preoperational – 2 – 6 or 7 Developmental Concrete Operational – 7 to 11 Phenomena Formal Operational – 12 – adulthood (chart) Piaget had order correct, but underestimated children’s ability – overestimated how much time was needed

Social Development Attachment – Body contact, familiarity, and responsiveness Attachments formed during critical period – optimal period when certain events must take place to facilitate proper development Imprinting – the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life (rigid in animal kingdom)

Temperament and Parenting Temperament – a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity Heredity plays a role – bottom 428 Insecure (anxious) vs. Secure (trusting) attachment – how babies will react differently Erik Erikson – securely attached children approach life with basic trust – sense that world is predictable and reliable – said depended on early parenting

Which do you think is better? 3 Parenting Styles Authoritarian – impose rules and expect obedience Permissive – submit to children’s desires; few demands – little punishment Authoritative – both demanding and responsive Which do you think is better?