© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Psychology in Action, Fifth Edition by Karen Huffman, Mark Vernoy, and Judith Vernoy PowerPoint  Lecture Notes Presentation Chapter 8: Life Span Development I Paul J. Wellman Texas A&M University

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Lecture Overview Issues in Development Physical Development Language Development Social-Emotional Development Cognitive Development

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Developmental Psychology The focus of developmental psychology is on age-related changes in behaviors throughout the life span Key issues include: –Nature versus Nurture? To what extent are behaviors the result of experience or the result of biological processes such as maturation?

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Key Issues continued –Continuity versus stages? Continuity suggests that change is uniform and gradual Stage theory suggests that change can be rapid with qualitatively different stages evident across the life span –Stability versus change? Issues here is the extent to which behaviors are constant over the life span

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Developmental Research Methods

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Cohort Issues Cross-sectional studies examine age-related changes across different cohorts Longitudinal studies follow the same cohort across time From Schaie, K.W. (1994) The life course of adult intellectual abilities. American Psychologist, 49, Reprinted by permission of the American Psychological Association.

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Culture and Development Culture is an important determinant of development Human development has to be studied within a sociocultural context Culture is invisible to its participants The beliefs of a culture are key determinants of behavior within that culture

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Prenatal Development Prenatal development occurs in 3 stages: –Ovulation to implantation: the ovum travels down the fallopian tube, is fertilized by a sperm, and then implanted within the wall of the uterus. –Embryonic period: implantation to 8 weeks –Fetal stage: 8 weeks to birth

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Prenatal Hazards Teratogens are environmental substances that can cause birth defects –Maternal alcohol use leads to fetal alcohol syndrome (facial defects, low IQ) –Nicotine exposure leads to premature birth, low birth weight, and more fetal deaths Poor maternal nutrition can impair fetal development Drug use by father can impair sperm quality

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Body Proportions (Brain Relative to Rest of Body)

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Milestones in Motor Development

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Perceptual Abilities at Birth Infant vision is poor at birth (equivalent to 20/200 to 20/600) Other sensory systems: –Hearing is functional prior to birth –Smell is functional at birth –Touch and pain are functional at birth Infant perception is inferred by changes in heart rate upon stimulus exposure or by changes in sucking rate

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Language Development Newborns communicate via crying –Basic hunger cry, anger cry, pain cry Cooing starts at 2 months Babbling appears at about 6 months Single words appear at one year of age By age 2, telegraphic speech is evident By age 5, children have mastered grammar and have a 2000 word vocabulary

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Social-Emotional Development Attachment is defined as an active, intense, emotional relationship between 2 people that endures over time Attachment as an innate process: –Bowlby argued that infants have verbal (cooing) and nonverbal (smiling, following) responses that elicit nurturance Attachment as “contact comfort” –Harlow found that infant monkeys preferred contact with terry cloth over food

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Types of Attachment Ainsworth found 3 distinct categories of attachment evident in children in a strange situation: –Secure attachment: infant stays close to mother, shows moderate distress when separated, and is happy when mother returns –Avoidant: Infant does not seek contact with mother and does not cry when she leaves –Anxious/Ambivalent: infant is upset when mother leaves and angry when she returns

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Piaget and Cognition Cognitive reasoning is primitive at birth and changes from infancy to adulthood Schemas are the basic units of intellect Cognitive adaptation reflects the actions of two complementary processes: –Assimilation allows an existing schema to adapt to the environment –Accommodation allows the schema to change in order to handle a new environmental situation

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Cognitive Development Stages –Sensorimotor period: Birth through age 2 Infant schemes are simple reflexes and interactions with people and objects –Preoperational period: Age 2 to 7 Child begins to use mental representations but problem solving is limited –Concrete operations: Age 7 to 11 Child performs mental operations (conservation) –Formal operations: Age 12 through adulthood Child can use formal problem solving and higher level abstract thinking

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Conservation Test Conservation is the ability to recognize that a given quantity, weight or volume remains the same despite changes in shape, length, or position

© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Huffman/Vernoy/Vernoy: Psychology in Action 5e Copyright Copyright 2000 by John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner.