1. Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (5th Ed)
Chapter 3
The Developing Child
James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University
Worth Publishers

2. The Developing Child Developmental Psychology
study of changes across the life span

3. Developmental Issues Nature versus Nurture Continuity versus Stages
How is our development influenced by our heredity (nature) and by our experience (nuture)?
Continuity versus Stages
Is developmental change gradual and continuous or does it proceed through a sequence of separate stages?
Stability versus Change
Do we grow into older versions of our early selves or do we become new persons?

4. Union of Egg and Sperm

5. Genetic Influences X- Chromosomes
sex chromosome found in both males and females
females have two, males have one
an X-chromosome from each parent produces a female
Y-Chromosomes
sex chromosome found only in males
when paired with a X-chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child

6. The Developing Child Testosterone Gender
most important of the male sex hormones
both males and females have it
additional testosterone in males
stimulates growth of male sex organs in the fetus
stimulates development of male sex characteristics during puberty
Gender
characteristics, whether biologically or socially influenced, by which people define male and female

7. Prenatal Development Zygote Embryo Fetus fertilized egg
enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division
develops into an embryo
Embryo
developing human organism from 2 weeks through 2nd month
Fetus
developing human organism from 9 weeks to birth

8. Prenatal Development Teratogens Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
agents that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
chemical, e.g. alcohol, some medicines, cocaine, nicotine
viral, e.g. HIV, Rubella
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by drinking in pregnancy

9. The Newborn Rooting Reflex Preferences
tendency to turn head, open mouth, and search for nipple when touched on the cheek
Preferences
human voices and faces
facelike images-->
smell and sound of mother preferred

10. Infancy and Childhood Maturation
biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior
relatively uninfluenced by experience
sets the course for development while experience adjusts it
At birth
3 months
15 months
Cortical Neurons

11. Infancy and Childhood
Babies only 3 months old can learn that kicking moves a mobile- and can retain that learning for a month (Rovee-Collier, 1989).

12. Infancy and Childhood
Impoverished environment
Enriched environment
Rats reared in an environment enriched with playthings show increased development of the cerebral cortex (Rosenzweig, et al., 1972).

13. Infancy and Childhood Plasticity the brain’s capacity for modification
evidence for plasticity
brain reorganization following damage
especially in children
experiments on the effects of experience on brain development

14. Infancy and Childhood
A finger-tapping task activates more motor cortex neurons after training (right).

15. Infancy and Childhood Cognition Schema Assimilation Accommodation
mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering
Schema
a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Assimilation
interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas
Accommodation
adapting one’s current schemas to incorporate new information

16. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Typical Age
Range
Description
of Stage
Developmental
Phenomena
Birth to nearly 2 years
Sensorimotor
Experiencing the world through
senses and actions (looking,
touching, mouthing)
Object permanence
Stranger anxiety
About 2 to 6 years
About 7 to 11 years
About 12 through
adulthood
Preoperational
Representing things
with words and images
but lacking logical reasoning
Pretend play
Egocentrism
Language development
Concrete operational
Thinking logically about concrete
events; grasping concrete analogies
and performing arithmetical operations
Conservation
Mathematical transformations
Formal operational
Abstract reasoning
Abstract logic
Potential for moral reasoning

17. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Object Permanence
the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Conservation
the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
part of Piaget’s concrete operational reasoning
Egocentrism
the inability of the preoperational child to take another’s point of view

18. Cognitive Development
Habituation
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation
newborns become bored with a repeated stimulus, but renew their attention to a slightly different stimulus

19. Cognitive Development
Percentage of
time spent
looking 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
Familiar
stimulus
Novel
stimulus

20. Cognitive Development40 30 20 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time spent
looking
(seconds)
Presentation

21. Cognitive Development
Baby Mathematics
Shown a numerically impossible outcome, infants stare longer (Wynn, 1992)
4. Possible outcome: Screen
drops, revealing one object.
1. Objects placed
in case.
2. Screen
comes up.
3. One object
is removed.
4. Possible outcome: Screen
drops, revealing two object.

22. Social Development Stranger Anxiety Attachment
fear of strangers that infants commonly display
beginning by about 8 months of age
Attachment
an emotional tie with another person
shown in young children by seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

23. Social Development Harlow’s Surrogate Mother Experiments
Monkeys preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing wire mother

24. Social Development Critical Period Imprinting Temperament
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
Temperament
a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

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

26. Social Development Basic Trust (Erik Erikson) Self-Concept
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

27. Social Development 20 40 60 80
100
3.5
5.5
7.5
9.5
11.5
13.5 29
Percentage
of infants
who cried
when their
mothers left
Age in months
Day care
Home
Groups of infants who had and had not experienced day care were left by their mothers in a unfamiliar room.

28. Social Development
Percentage
of children
Live with both biological parents
Live with formerly married mother and no father
Repeated
school
grade
Expelled or
suspended
Treated for
problems in
last year 15 10 5 20
Percentage of children experiencing school problems in the previous year

29. Social Development- Child-Rearing Practices
Authoritarian
parents impose rules and expect obedience
“Don’t interrupt”
“Why? Because I said so.”
Authoritative
parents are both demanding and responsive
set rules, but explain reasons
encourage discussion

30. Social Development- Child-Rearing Practices
Permissive
submit to children’s desires
make few demands
use little punishment
Rejecting-neglecting
disengaged
expect little
invest little

31. Social Development- Child-Rearing Practices
Three explanations for correlation between authoritative parenting and social competence
(1) Parent’s behavior
may be influencing child.
(2) Child’s behavior may
be influencing parents.
Self-reliant,
Socially competent
child
Authoritative
parents
Self-reliant,
Socially competent
child
Authoritative
parents
(3) Some third factor may be
influencing both parents and child.
High education, ample
income, harmonious
marriage, common genes
Authoritative
parents
Self-reliant,
Socially competent
child

32. Gender and Child-Rearing
Gender Identity
one’s sense of being male or female
Gender-Typing
the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role
Social Learning Theory
we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Gender Schema Theory
children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male and female
adjust behavior accordingly

33. Gender and Child-Rearing
Rewards and
Punishments
Observation and
Imitation of
models
Gender-typed
behavior
Social learning theory
Gender schema theory
Cultural learning
of gender
Gender schema
(looking at self and
World through a
gender “lens”)
Gender-organized
thinking