1. Introduction to developmental psychology
Modules 45, 46 and 47

2. Copy down these questions and answer during the lecture
What are the 3 main questions guiding developmental psychology?
What are the 3 main stages in prenatal development? (prenatal= before birth in the womb)
What are teratogens? What ways can a mother affect a developing fetus?
What abilities do newborns have?
What happens to the brain during childhood? During puberty? Describe the mantra “use it or lose it” from a biological perspective.
When do we begin remembering things?

3. Major questions of developmental psychology
The big question: Nature vs Nurture
What affects us more? How has nature shaped your development? How has nurture
Continuity vs stages
Continuum or spurts of rapid development?
Stability and change
Are we the same “person” as we grow older?

4. Nature… Nurture… Joel Embiid: Grew up in Cameroon
Played basketball for the first time at age 15
2 years of high school and 1 of college
Missed ‘15 and ‘16 NBA seasons due to injury
Likely ROTY for 2017
Karl Anthony-Towns
Grew up in New Jersey
Practiced with the high school JV team in 5th grade, played bball for as long as he can remember
Father played college ball and coached
ROTY 2016

5. Continuity
Stages
Do we develop gradually along a continuum or do we take major steps at key moments?
Evidence for both
Piaget, Erikson, Kohlberg have stage theories

6. Stability and change “High school never ends” by Bowling for Soup
How are you different and how are you the same you were 5 years ago? 10?
Essentially: are we different people than we used to be or are we essentially the same?
TRUE/FALSE: Every 7 years the body completely replaces itself

7. Prenatal developmental stages
Zygote (fertilization to 10 days)
Fertilized egg
Most don’t make it
Embryo (10 days to 9 weeks)
When the zygote attaches to the uterus it becomes an embryo
Fetus (9 weeks to birth)
Looks like a human
Heartbeat, begins developing organs and learning mother’s voice

9. What can a baby even do though?
Babies are dumb. They can do nothing at all and are leeches, just like all of you.
Thumbs up for true, thumbs down for false
FALSE! Babies have instincts and they have learned behavior
Babies begin learning language in the womb by listening to their mother talk
They prefer their mother’s voice to others
Rooting Reflex- a baby will turn towards a touched cheek, seeking nourishment
Habituation- babies become less sensitive to repeated stimuli

10. The developing brain
You are born with most of the brain cells you will have
Your brain develops by creating neural connections between cells and reinforcing pathways
Rapid development until puberty when pruning begins
Pruning- shuts down unused pathways and reinforces the important ones.
Memory develops in a peculiar way- while 3 year olds can learn to talk, walk and associate things (procedural) most of us do not have any conscious memory (episodic) before 3 ½ years of age

11. Piaget (1896 - 1980) Swiss Psychologist, worked for
several decades on understanding
children’s cognitive development
Most widely known theory of cognitive
development.
Was intrigued by kids’ thoughts & behavior, & worked to understand their cognitive development

12. …Piaget and Constructivism
Best known for idea that individuals construct their understanding, that learning is a constructive process
Active learning as opposed to simply absorbing info from a teacher, book, etc.
The child is seen as a ‘little scientist’ constructing understandings of the world largely alone

13. Piaget & Learning Equilibration: assimilation & accommodation
We adjust our ideas to make sense of reality
Assimilation:
process of matching external reality to an existing cognitive structure (schema).
Accommodation:
Changing our understanding to adapt to new information

14. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
A child’s capacity to understand certain concepts is based on the child’s developmental stage

15. Piaget’s Four Stages 2. Preoperational (~2-7)
Believed that all children develop according to four stages based on how they see the world.
He thought the age may vary some, but that we all go through the stages in the same order.
1. Sensori-motor (birth –2 years)
2. Preoperational (~2-7)
3. Concrete operational (~7-11)
4. Formal operations (~12-15)

16. Sensorimotor Stage
Birth to about 2 years, rapid change is seen throughout
The child will:
Explore the world through senses & motor activity
Early on, baby can’t tell difference between themselves & the environment
If they can’t see something then it doesn’t exist (Object Permanence)
Begin to understand cause & effect
Can later follow something with their eyes

17. Preoperational Stage About 2 to about 7 Better speech communication
Can imagine the future & reflect on the past
Develop basic numerical abilities
Very egocentric
Can’t understand conservation of matter
Has difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality (ex: cartoon characters are real people).

19. Concrete Operational Stage
From about 7 to about 11
Able to problem solve with actual things
Numerical skill increases
Tough time with abstracts and hypotheticals
Understands conservation of matter

20. Formal Operations From about 12 to about 15
Be able to think about hypothetical situations
Form & test hypotheses
Organize information
Reason scientifically

21. … Piaget’s Development
Development happens from one stage to another through interaction with the environment.
Changes from stage to stage may occur abruptly and kids will differ in how long they are in each stage.
Cognitive development can only happen after genetically controlled biological growth occurs.

22. …Piaget’s Development
Development leads to learning
Drive for development is internal
The child can only learn certain things when she is at the right developmental stage
Environmental factors can influence but not direct development
Development will happen naturally through regular interaction with social environment

23. Problems with Piaget’s Theory
Children often grasp ideas earlier than what Piaget found
Cognitive development across domains is inconsistent (e.g. better at reading than math)
Studies have shown that development can to some degree be accelerated

24. Lesson plan project
Since you are all adolescents, you should be experts on the subject
Your group will be assigned a lesson. You must develop a 6-7 minute lesson plan. You may teach it however you want, but you will be “presenting” to the class. It must involve some type of activity (note taking, a game, a worksheet or discussion) and some type of assessment (essential question, quiz, essay, ect.)
Examples: powerpoints, lecture, short clip, quote/discussion
You must turn in to Mr Wells your physical copy of the lesson. You must actually teach the lesson to the class.
The lesson is worth 15 points. You will also be “assessed” on each groups lesson for 1 point each. You get 1 free point. Total of 20 points.
51.1, 51.2, 52.1, 52.2, 52.3