1. Objective 2/21/17
Provided notes & activities SWBAT describe and analyze the theories of Piaget, Erikson, & Kohlberg
Agenda:
-Do Now
-Notes
-Activity

2. Introductory Psychology: Developmental Psychology
“From egghood to personhood…”
Stage
Span
Infancy
Newborn to toddler
Childhood
Toddler to teenager
Topic: Infancy & Childhood

3. Infancy & Childhood: Physical Development
Part one

4. Physical: Brain Development
During prenatal development, the brain produces 250,000 neurons/minute
Peak: 28 billion neurons at months (prenatal)
By birth, this number has been pruned to 23 billion
By the end of the first year, the brain is about 35% larger than it was at birth

6. Physical: Brain Development
Brain development unfolds according to genetic instructions, causing various bodily and mental functions to occur in sequence
Maturation
The orderly sequence of biological growth processes
Relatively uninfluenced by experience
EXAMPLE
Memory not solidified until after 3rd birthday; known as “infantile amnesia”

7. Physical: Motor Development
Cephalocaudal Development
The head develops before the arms & trunk
The arms & trunk develop before the legs
Proximodistal Development
The head, trunk and arms develop before the hands & fingers
***Applies to both prenatal development AND development during the first two years

8. Physical: Motor Development
Motor Milestones
Raising head & chest (2-4 months)
Rolling over (2-5 months)
Sitting up with support (4-6 months)
Sitting up without support (6-7 months)
Crawling (7-8 months)
Walking (8-18 months)

9. Infancy & Childhood: Cognitive Development
Part two

10. Cognitive Development
Cognition
All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating
Jean Piaget ( )
Piaget DID NOT believe that a child’s mind was a mini-adult mind
Believed that cognitive development is shaped by errors; a struggle to make sense of our experiences as children

11. Cognitive Development
Schemas
A concept or framework that organizes & interprets information
Mental molds into which we pour our experiences so that the maturing brain can continually build upon concepts
Example
If Bob points to a picture of an apple and tells his child, “that’s an apple,” the child forms a schema for “apple” that looks something like the picture

12. Cognitive Development
Assimilation
Interpreting a new experience in terms of an existing schema
Example
Bob’s child might see an orange & say “apple” because both objects are round
Accommodation
The process of adjusting/modifying a schema
When Bob corrects his child, the child might alter the schema for apple to include “round” and “red”

14. Cognitive Development

15. Piaget: (1) Sensorimotor Stage
Birth to 2 years
Description of Stage
The use of senses & motor abilities to learn about the world/ interact with objects in the environment
Developmental Phenomena
Object Permanence (unfolds gradually)
The awareness that objects continue to exist when not perceived
Critical step in developing language & abstract thought
Stranger Anxiety
Separation Anxiety

16. Piaget: (1) Sensorimotor Stage

17. Piaget: (1) Sensorimotor Stage
Criticisms of Stage
Piaget believed that children in the sensorimotor stage are incapable of thinking – no abstract concepts or ideas
Recent research suggests that children in the sensorimotor stage can both think and count
Babies can…
Understand basic laws of physics
“Count” (Karen Wynn)

18. Piaget: (1) Sensorimotor Stage

19. Piaget: (2) Preoperational Stage
2 to 7 years
Description of Stage
Children learn to use language as a means of exploring the world; however, they are not yet capable of logical thought
Too young to perform mental operations; lack conservation
Developmental Phenomena
Pretend Play
Animism
Egocentrism
Centration
Irreversibility

20. Piaget: (2) Preoperational Stage

21. Piaget: (2) Preoperational Stage
Egocentrism
Example
“John, do you have a brother?”
“Yes.”
“What’s his name?”
“Jim.”
“Does Jim have a brother?”
“No.”

22. Piaget: (2) Preoperational Stage
Theory of Mind
4 to 5 years
People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states – about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict
Seek to understand…
Why their playmate is angry…
Why their sibling will share…
Why their parent would buy a toy…

23. Theory of Mind Test…
A child without theory of mind, would assume that Sally…
A child with theory of mind, would assume that Sally…

24. Piaget: (2) Preoperational Stage
Criticisms of Stage
Judy DeLoache (1987) found that children as young as 3 are able to use mental operations & think symbolically
When shown a model of a dog’s hiding place, a 2 ½-year-old could not locate the stuffed dog in an actual room, but a three year old could…

25. Piaget: (3) Concrete Operational Stage
7 to 11 years
Description of Stage
Children become capable of logical thought processes; physical, concrete, touchable reality; lack abstract thinking
Developmental Phenomena
Conservation
Reversible thinking
Mathematical transformation
Developmental Limitations
Abstract thinking
Freedom, peace, love, etc.

26. Piaget: (4) Formal Operational Stage
12 years to adulthood
Description of Stage
The adolescent becomes capable of abstract thinking
Developmental Phenomena
Abstract logic
Hypothetical thinking
“If women were in charge of countries, would there be fewer wars?
Potential for mature moral reasoning

27. Reflecting on Piaget’s Theory
Globally influential; however, today’s researchers believe the following…
Development is a continuous process
Children express their mental abilities & operations at an earlier age
Formal logic is a smaller part of cognition

28. Activity
1. Log on to google classroom-sign in with your school account: classroom.google.com
2. You will finish the development web-quest, be sure to submit by clicking turn in assignment on google classroom
3. When you are finished, take the handout on Piaget meets Santa Clause

29. Vygotsky: Sociocultural Theory
Lev Vygotsky ( )
Stressed the importance of social interactions with other people, especially highly skilled children or adults, in the child’s cognitive development

30. Vygotsky: Sociocultural Theory
Scaffolding
Process in which a more skilled learner gives help to a less skilled learner, reducing the amount of help as the less skilled learner becomes more capable
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
The difference between what a child can do alone and what the child can do with the help of a teacher

31. Vygotsky: Sociocultural Theory
Example
If Jenny can do math problems at a 4th grade level on her own, but can work up to a 6th grade level with the help of a teacher, her ZPD is two years
If Suzy can do math problems at a 4th grade level on her own, but can work up to a 5th grade level with the help of a teacher, her ZPD is one year – not as great as Jenny’s

33. Language Development Cooing Babbling Holographic Speech
2 months of age; begin to make vowel-like sounds
Babbling
6 months of age; add consonant sounds to vowels
Holographic Speech
1 year; “Milk!” or “Ball!”
Telegraphic Speech
1 ½ to 2 years; short, simple sentences; “Baby eat” or “Mommy go” or “Where ball?” or “Doggie go bye-bye”
Whole Sentences
Preschool years

34. Infancy & Childhood: Psychosocial Development
Part three

35. Psychosocial: Temperament
The behavioral and emotional characteristics that are fairly well-established at birth
Alexander Thomas & Stella Chess (1986)
“Easy” Babies
Regular, good-natured, easy to care for, adaptable
“Difficult” Babies
Irregular, moody & loud, react negatively to new situations
“Slow-to-Warm-Up” Babies
Quieter, slow to respond to new situations

36. Psychosocial: Temperament
Psychologist, Jerome Kagan has added a fourth temperament
“Shy” Child
Timid and inhibited; fearful of anything new or strange
Longitudinal research (Kagan, 1998) strongly suggests that these temperament styles last well into adulthood, although there is the potential for environmental influence
“Goodness of fit”

37. Psychosocial: Attachment
The emotional bond between an infant and the primary caregiver
Demonstrated by a child’s “closeness-seeking” and distress upon separation
Develops within the first six months of life

38. Psychosocial: Attachment
Attachment through contact
Humans form a bond with those who care for them in infancy; based upon interaction with caregiver
Harry Harlow
Role of physical contact, or “contact comfort” in attachment

40. Psychosocial: Attachment
Attachment throughout familiarity
Occurs in many species of animals during a critical period
Konrad Lorenz
Imprinting
The tendency to follow the first moving object seen as the basis for attachment

42. Psychosocial: Attachment
Mary Ainsworth
The “Stranger Situation”
Identified 4 distinct styles of attachment
Secure
Avoidant
Ambivalent
Disorganized-Disoriented

43. Ainsworth: (1) Secure Attachment
Characteristics
Very willing to explore
Frequently “touched base”
Wary of strangers, but calm as long as the mother was nearby
When the mother left, the infant was noticeably upset; however, he or she was easily soothed upon her return
*** Generally corresponds to secure attachment in adulthood ***

44. Ainsworth: (2) Avoidant Attachment
Characteristics
Only somewhat willing to explore
Did not “touch base”
Did not look at strangers
Reacted very little to mother’s absence or to her return
**Generally corresponds to dismissive attachment in adulthood

45. Ainsworth: (3) Ambivalent Attachment
Characteristics
Unwilling to explore; clingy
Very upset by strangers regardless of mother’s presence
Very upset by mother’s departure; not easily soothed
Mixed reaction to mother’s return
***Generally corresponds to preoccupied attachment in adulthood ***

46. Ainsworth: (4) Disorganized Attachment
Characteristics
Subsequent studies by Mary Main & Erik Hesse (1990)
Sometimes referred to as Disorganized-Disoriented Attachment
Generally fearful with dazed and depressed expression
Unable to decide how they should react to their mother’s return; little to no eye contact

47. Psychosocial: Attachment
Deprivation of Attachment
Impact of denying monkeys physical comfort from their mother?
Cases of “Genie” and “Victor”
Daycare?

50. Psychosocial: Attachment
Erik Erikson
Concept of “Basic Trust”
Securely attached children tend to believe that the world is predictable and trustworthy
Erikson attributed attachment & basic trust to parenting
Identified eight stages of psychosocial development; first four occur during childhood; each contains a developmental “crisis”
Trust versus Mistrust (Birth–1 year)
Autonomy versus Shame & Doubt (1–3 years old)
Initiative versus Guilt (3–5 years old)
Industry versus Inferiority (5–12 years old)

51. Psychosocial: Parenting Styles
Diana Baumrind’s THREE PRIMARY Styles
Authoritarian
Demanding; not responsive
Impose rules and expect obedience
Permissive
Not demanding, but responsive
Use little punishment
Authoritative
Demanding and responsive
Exert control by establishing/enforcing rules, but they also explain the reasons for the rules

52. Psychosocial: Self-Concept
Understanding of who we are
Just as infants can achieve attachment, children must achieve a positive self concept; develops gradually in the first year
“Mirror Test”
By 18 months, children know THEY are the image in the mirror
Children with a positive self-concept are more confident, assertive, optimistic and socialable…how is this achieved?

53. Relationships with Other Children
Solitary Play
Children first play by themselves
Parallel Play
As they get older, children play side-by-side with other children, but do not interact
Cooperative Play
By about 3 1/2, children begin playing with others
Peer Group
A network of same-aged friends and acquaintances who give one another emotional & social support