1. Developmental Psychology
Day 1: Physical Development & Parenting

2. Developmental Psych: Physical Development & Parenting
The Developmental Psych Approach
Continuous vs. Discontinuous
Stability vs. Change
Stage Theory
(same order for everybody / not necessarily the same age)

3. PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT Zygote Embryo Fetus conception – 2 weeks
period of rapid cell division
Embryo
2 weeks – 3 months
cells attach to mother’s uterine wall & organs develop
Fetus
3 months - birth
developing human organism

4. Prenatal Development - TERATOGENS
TERATOGENS: Agents that can reach the developing embryo or fetus and cause harm
Alcohol
Nicotine
Drugs (both prescription drugs & “street” drugs)
Viruses (the flu)
Toxoplasmosis (contact with cat feces)
Food poisoning
Teratogens and Prenatal Development

5. INFANT REFLEXES Rooting Grasping Startle (Moro Reflex)
Play three movies

6. Babies like to look at complex shapes & faces
INFANT VISION
A baby’s vision improves dramatically during the first 6 months as children become able to accommodate (focus)
NEWBORN
Babies’ vision is 40x less accurate than adults at seeing fine details
1 MONTH
Most of the cells in the visual cortex are not yet coated in myelin. Poor contrast sensitivity & color recognition.
2 MONTHS
A newborns rods are fairly mature but their cones are not, making it difficult to decipher fine lines and color.
3 MONTHS
Dramatic change occurs as the visual cotex begins to control vision better. Vision has caught up to other senses. Depth perception is still not accurate.
6 MONTHS
A baby can focus at different distances as well as an adult can. Their ability to see fine details is only 8xworse than ours, 5x better than it was at birth.
ADULT
Between age 6-7 years, a child’s vision reaches adult values
Babies like to look at complex shapes & faces

7. IMPRINTING: Owen the baby hippo & Mzee, the 130-year-old tortise
the process by which animals form attachments during a limited critical period early in life
Owen the baby hippo & Mzee, the 130-year-old tortise

8. IMPRINTING
Tink the dachsand & her piglet “puppy”, Pink.

9. IMPRINTING: Koko’s Kitten

10. IMPRINTING: Duck with a Dog

11. Newborn Capacities
Habituation: describes infants’ decreasing responsiveness to repeated stimuli. Researchers infer that newborns have cognitive ability to differentiate between different visual stimuli.

12. EARLY MEMORY FORMATION
  Why don’t we remember earlier events? Our brains are still developing
Limited language before age 3 – we remember in words
  What’s your earliest memory? Our earliest memories rarely predate our 3rd birthday. This is called “Infantile Amnesia”.
EARLY MEMORY FORMATION

13. Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior that are relatively unaffected by experience
MATURATION:
In terms of brain development, natural maturation causes neural interconnection to multiply rapidly after birth.
However, severe deprivation and abuse will retard development. Furthermore, increased stimulation will cause early neural connections.
Maturation sets the basic course of development; experience adjusts it.

14. Normal Maturation

15. Research on parenting styles
key name
Diana BAUMRIND
1927 -
Research on parenting styles

16. PARENTING STYLES AUTHORITARIAN PERMISSIVE AUTHORITATIVE
“Because I said so.”
AUTHORITARIAN
rhymes with “Totalitarian”
Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect obedience.
PERMISSIVE
“Whatever.”
Permissive parents submit to their child’s desires, make few demands and use little punishment.
“Let’s talk about it.”
AUTHORITATIVE
Authoritative parents encourage open discussion and allow for exceptions when enforcing rules.

17. PARENTING STYLES - consequences
AUTHORITARIAN
rhymes with “Totalitarian”
anxious, withdrawn, and unhappy disposition
poor reactions to frustration
(girls are particularly likely to give up & boys become especially hostile)
do well in school
(studies may show authoritative parenting is comparable)
not likely to engage in antisocial activities

18. PARENTING STYLES - consequences
PERMISSIVE
-poor emotion regulation (under regulated)
-rebellious and defiant when desires are challenged.
-low persistence to challenging tasks
-antisocial behaviors

19. PARENTING STYLES - consequences
AUTHORITATIVE
-lively and happy disposition
-self-confident about ability to master tasks.
-well developed emotion regulation
-developed social skills

20. Dum Dums and Gloquex Activity