1. Social Development HOW WE ACT THROUGH LIFE AND DEATH

2. Lev Vygotsky  Piaget believed that biological maturation is the driving force in development.  Vygotsky, on the other hand, believed that much of development occurs through internalization.  Internalization : The absorption of knowledge into the self from environmental and social contexts.  Vygotsky also proposed the concept of a “zone of provisional development”, which is the range between the developed level of ability that a child displays and the potential level of ability of which the child is actually capable of.  These two levels are often referred to as the actual development level and the potential development level.

3. Lev Vygotsky  According to Vygotsky, the way by which a child realizes his potential is through the process of scaffolding.  Scaffolding is the support given during the learning process which is tailored to the needs of the learner with the intention of helping the learner achieve his/her learning goals. This helps the learner move across the zone of proximal development incrementally.  Ways of encouraging learning include:  Gaining and maintaining the learner’s interest in the task.  Making the task simple.  Emphasizing certain aspects that will help with the solution.  Control the child’s level of frustration.  Demonstrate the task.

4. Be A Teacher  Little Timmy needs to learn basic algebra (ex. X + 2 = 4, solve for X). Sadly, he can’t do it at all, even with assistance from friends and teachers. Little Timmy can do basic addition and subtration on his own, and can add and subtract multiple numbers in one equation effectively with extra assistance.  How would you go about using “Zones of Proximal Development” to help little Timmy go from “Adding on his Own” to “Doing Basic Algebra On His Own.”  Remember ways of encouraging learning include:  Gaining and maintaining the learner’s interest in the task.  Making the task simple.  Emphasizing certain aspects that will help with the solution.  Control the child’s level of frustration.  Demonstrate the task.

5. Social Development  Basic Trust  a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy  said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers  Self-Concept  a sense of one’s identity and personal worth

6. Social Development: Child- Rearing Practices  Authoritarian  parents impose rules and expect obedience  “Don’t interrupt.” “Why? Because I said so.”  Permissive  submit to children’s desires, make few demands, use little punishment  Authoritative  both demanding and responsive  set rules, but explain reasons and encourage open discussion

7. Be the Parent  Little Timmy has brought home a failing grade in algebra. Apparently, they teaching we tried earlier didn’t quite do the job. Now pretend your little Timmy’s parent.  How would an Authoritarian Parent act towards Little Timmy?  How would a Permissive Parent act towards Little Timmy?  How would an Authoritative Parent act towards Little Timmy?

8. Mary Ainsworth and Attachment  Mary Ainsworth studied human infant attachment. Using the “strange situation”, where a parent of primary guardian leaves a child with a stranger then returns. Ainsworth recognized three attachment patterns:  Secure – The child use the parent for support. This is the most common type.  Insecure – The child is not sure whether the parent will be supportive and shows great discomfort in the arms of a stranger. This type of attachment is relatively rare (7-15% of the studied population).  Avoidant – The child does not use the parent for support.  Disorganized – A fourth, hard-to-categorize pattern. The child behaves erratically and in inconsistently. This is associated with abuse.

9. Adulthood: Cognitive Development  Cross-Sectional Study  a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another  Longitudinal Study  a study in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period 253239465360746781 35 40 45 50 55 60 Age in years Reasoning ability score Cross-sectional method Longitudinal method Cross-sectional method suggests decline Longitudinal method suggests more stability

10. Adulthood- Cognitive Development  Verbal intelligence scores hold steady with age, while nonverbal intelligence scores decline (adapted from Kaufman & others, 1989). 20355570254565 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 Intelligence (IQ) score Age group Nonverbal scores decline with age Verbal scores are stable with age Verbal scores Nonverbal scores

11. Adulthood: Cognitive Development  Crystallized Intelligence  one’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills  tends to increase with age  Fluid Intelligence  ones ability to reason speedily and abstractly  tends to decrease during late adulthood

12. Adulthood: Social Changes  Social Clock  the culturally preferred timing of social events  marriage  parenthood  retirement  What ages do you think each should happen?

13. Brain over Time  Life span psychologists have realized that cognitive development continues well into adulthood. Childhood and early adulthood (25+) are times marked by relatively rapid neural network growth. However, we all lost a small percentage of brain weight between out late twenties and eighties.

14. Social Development  Critical Period  an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development  Imprinting  the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

15. Wisdom?  Another feature of the adult cognitive development is wisdom. It is assumed in many cultures around the globe that older members of society have a perspective and level of accumulated knowledge that gives them wisdom. Wisdom is a form of insight into life situations and conditions that results in good judgment into life problems.

16. Death and Dying  Elisabeth Kubler-Ross investigated the stages of death and dying. Kubler-Ross identified the following ways people tend to come to terms with terminal illnesses – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.  Late psychologists have acknowledged these emotions (as well as others) in the grieving process, but asserted that the stages are not necessarily ordered (you can go from denial to depression, to acceptance, to bargaining, back to acceptance, to depression).

17. Denial  We see the signs but deny their meaning or our need to take action. It is a normal reaction to rationalize overwhelming emotions.  It is a defense mechanism that buffers the immediate shock.  We choose evasive tactics instead of directly dealing with the situation.

18. Denial  Magical thinking:  believing by magic this situation will go away  Excessive fantasy:  believing nothing is wrong; this situation is just imagined; when I wake up everything will be OK.  Withdrawal:  believing we can avoid facing the situation and avoid those people who confront us with the truth  Rejection:  believing we can reject the truth and those who bring us the news of the situation to avoid facing it.  Minimalization:  believing good traits overshadow the situation and negate the need to take action.  Situational thinking:  believing something in the environment prevents you from taking action at that moment,

19. Anger  Rationally, we know the person is responsible for his/her behavior.  Emotionally, however, we may resent the person for causing us pain.  We feel guilty for being angry, and this makes us more angry.  Anger must be expressed and resolved; if it is suppressed and held in, it will become "Anger in" leading to a maladaptive condition of depression that drains our emotional energy.

20. Anger  Self-blaming:  believing we should blame ourselves for this situation.  Switching blame:  believing we should blame others for this situation.  Blaming People:  believing we should blame a person in our life for this situation.  Aggressive anger:  believing we have a right to vent our blame and rage aggressively on the closest target.  Resentment:  believing our hurt and pain is justified to turn into resentment toward those involved

21. Bargaining  We berate ourselves with “if only” questions.  We bargain or strike a deal with our higher power, ourselves, or the whoever to make the situation go away.  We take extreme measures in order to make this situation disappear.  We try to regain control but lack confidence in our attempts to deal with the situation.

22. Bargaining  Shop around: believing we can find the ``right cure” through some other means  Take risks: believing we can put ourselves in jeopardy administratively, emotionally, and physically to get to an answer or ``cure'' for the situation.  Sacrifice: believing in our pursuit of a ``cure'' to change the situation we can ignore our real needs.

23. Depression  Two types of depression are associated with the drain of dealing with high maintenance behavior: 1. Overt – Sadness and regret in reaction to the practical implications of the situation. 2. Covert – More private…a quiet preparation to leave.  We need support to assist us in gaining the objectivity to reframe and regroup our lives. Where do you find support?

24. Depression  Guilt:  believing we are responsible for the situation.  Remorse:  believing we should feel sorry for our real or perceived ``bad luck.''  Loss of hope:  believing that because the real or perceived effect of the situation becomes so overwhelming that we have no hope of being able to return to the calm and order our life held prior to the loss.  Loss of faith and trust:  Believing that because of this loss we can no longer trust our belief in the goodness of humankind.

25. Acceptance  We accept the need to take action. This is not a period of happiness but of resignation that action is required.  To come to full acceptance we need support to gain objectivity and clarity of thinking.  We can be growing in acceptance and still experience denial, bargaining, anger, and despair.

26. Acceptance  Rational thinking:  believing we are able to refute our irrational beliefs or fantasy thinking in order to address our loss from a rational perspective.  Adaptive behavior:  believing we can begin to adjust our lives to incorporate the changes necessary after our loss.  Appropriate emotion:  believing we begin to express our emotional responses freely and are better able to verbalize the pain, hurt, and suffering we have experienced  Patience and self-understanding:  believing we can recognize that it takes time to adjust to the loss and give ourselves time to “deal” with it. We set a realistic time frame in which to learn to cope with our changed lives.  Self-confidence:  believing, as we begin to sort things out and recognize the stages of loss as natural and expected, that we gain the confidence needed for personal growth.

27. Be the Counselor  Little Timmy is going to lose his Aunt Clara, somebody who was very dear to him. She has terminal brain cancer, and Aunt Clara has elected not to receive chemotherapy or attempt any dangerous operations.  Using Kubler-Ross stages of grief, how can we expect Little Timmy to behave? Remember to use all five stages in your answer.