1. Developmental psychology

2. Resources
Click on nature-nurture & development

3. Research Methods
Most studies in developmental psychology are either cross-sectional or longitudinal
Cross-sectional can be affected by historical events
Longitudinal are very time consuming

4. Prenatal Influences Genetics- twin studies
Teratogens- harmful chemical or agents ingested by the mother
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)- small skulls and mental retardation
Fetal Alcohol Effect- other problems later in life
Drugs (cocaine, heroin)
Polluting chemicals
Bacteria and Viruses

5. Newborn Reflexes Rooting Reflex Sucking Reflex Grasping Reflex
Automatic, inborn, and specific
When touched on the cheek, a baby will turn his or her head to the side and seek to put the object in his or her mouth
Rooting Reflex
When an object is placed in a baby’s mouth, the infant will suck on it
Sucking Reflex
If an object is placed on a baby’s palm or footpad, he or she will try to grasp it with his or her fingers or toes
Grasping Reflex
When startled, a baby will fling his or her limbs out and then quickly retract them, making himself or herself as small as possible
Moro Reflex
When a baby’s foot is stroked, he or she will spread out the toes.
Babinski Reflex

6. Newborn Senses Vision is different in important ways
At birth, hearing is the dominant sense
Babies can only see well 8-12 inches in front of them
Normal vision by about 12 months old
Babies like to look at faces and face-like objects more than any other objects

7. Newborn Motor Development
Motor control develops as neurons in the brain connect with one another and become myelinated
Roll over at about 5 ½ months
Stand at about 8-9 months
Walk by themselves at about 12 months
Very approximate

8. Attachment Theory Harry Harlow
Monkeys preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing wire mother

9. Attachment Theory Mary Ainsworth- the Strange Situation
Infants were left alone for a short period of time and then their parents returned

10. Attachment Theory
Secure Attachment (66%)- confidently explore the novel environment with the parents present, are distressed when they leave, and come to the parents when they return
Avoidant Attachment (21%)- may resist being held by the parents and will explore the novel environment. They do not go to the parents for comfort when they return after an absence
Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment (12%)- have ambivalent reactions, may show extreme stress when parents leave but resist being comforted by them when they return

11. Parenting Styles Authoritarian Authoritative Permissive
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
Permissive
submit to children’s desires
make few demands
use little punishment
Rejecting-neglecting
disengaged
expect little
invest little

12. Erik Erikson- Psychosocial Devel.
Trust v. Mistrust
Babies must learn that they can trust their caregivers and that their requests are effective
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Toddlers learn to control their own bodies through potty training and learn to control their environment in reasonable ways in order to develop a healthy will.
Initiative vs. Guilt
Children feel a natural curiosity about their surroundings and must feel comfortable about this curiosity. If scolded, will feel guilty about asking questions in the future.
Industry vs. Inferiority
Beginning of formal education, we must feel competent. If we feel as though we are falling behind, we develop an inferiority complex in that area

13. Erik Erikson- Psychosocial Devel.
Identity vs. Role Confusion
Main social task is to discover which social identity we are most comfortable with and might try out different roles to find which fits best. Otherwise, the result might be identity crisis
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Must figure out how to balance their ties between work and relationships with other people.
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Looking critically at our lift path to ensure that we are creating the life we want. Might seize control to ensure things are going according to plan.
Integrity vs. Despair
Are we satisfied with what we have accomplished? If yes, we can offer insight. If no, the result might be despair over lost opportunities.

14. Jean Piaget- Cognitive Dev.
Children view the world through schemas, cognitive rules for interpreting the world.
Assimilation
interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas
Accommodation
adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

15. 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

16. Cognitive Development
Object Permanence
the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Conservation
the principle that properties remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Volume
Area
Number
part of Piaget’s concrete operational reasoning

17. Criticisms of Piaget
Many children go through the stages faster and earlier than Piaget predicted
Tests might have relied to heavily on language use
Development may occur more continuously
Information-processing model- our abilities to memorize, interpret, and perceive gradually develop as we age rather than developing in distinct stages

18. Lawrence Kohlberg- Moral Dev.
Describes how our ability to reason about ethical situations changes
Used the Heinz dilemma

19. Kohlberg’s Moral Ladder
Morality of abstract
principles: to affirm
agreed-upon rights and
personal ethical principles
As moral development progresses, the focus of concern moves from the self to the wider social world.
Postconventional
level
Conventional
level
Morality of law and
social rules: to gain
approval or avoid
disapproval
Preconventional
level
Morality of self-interest:
to avoid punishment
or gain concrete rewards

20. Kohlberg Criticisms
Carol Gilligan- Kohlberg developed the model based on the responses of boys
Her research showed that boys have a more absolute view of what is moral while girls pay more attention to situational factors
Recent research does not support her theory

21. Gender Development Different gender roles across culture
Biopsychological differences
Differences in the brain (women have a larger corpus callosum)
Psychodynamic theory
Gender development as a competition
Social-cognitive theory
React to boys and girls differently
Gender-schema theory- we internalize messages about gender into rules about how genders should behave

22. Practice Questions
1) Some researchers consider developmental psychology an applied research topic because
It is more easily applied to people’s lives than research such as behaviorism
Researchers apply findings and theories from other areas of psychology to the specific topic of human development
It is more commonly studied by a graduate student rather than an undergraduate because of the applications for other research
Doing original research in this area is difficult, so most of the research is about application
Pure research is difficult to gain support for, especially when a researcher needs to recruit children as participants

23. 2) You read in your philosophy textbook that humans are born with “Tabula Rasa” or “blank slates”. As a student of psychology, which of the following responses would you have?
The statement is incorrect. Humans may be born without reflexes and instincts, but we are born with the ability to learn them.
The statement is correct. Humans are born without instincts or other mechanisms to help us survive.
The statement is correct. Humans are born with a certain number of neurons, but most develop later as we learn.
The statement is incorrect. Humans are born with a set of reflexes that help us survive.
The statement is impossible to prove since we cannot infer what babies know or not know due to their lack of language.

24. 3) Which of the following statements is most true about how a newborn’s senses function?
A newborn’s senses function the same as an adult’s since the sensory apparatus develops in the womb
All of our senses function normally when we are newborns except taste due to lack of stimulation in the womb
All of our senses function normally when we are newborns except touch due to a lack of stimulation in the womb
A newborn’s senses function at a very low level but develop very quickly with experience
Most senses function normally, but sight develops slowly with experience.

25. 4) Most prenatal influences on humans are genetic or hormonal in origin except for
Teratogens
Stress on the mother
Parents’ level of education about fetal development
Family history of mental illnesses
Operant conditioning occurring before birth

26. 5) Parental involvement can have dramatic effects on all the following human traits except
Intelligence
Reading ability
Self-esteem
Motor development
Emotional development

27. 6) A principal difference between a longitudinal study and a cross-sectional study is
The number or participants involved
The developmental stage of the participants
The time span of the study
The statistical methods employed to evaluate the data
The sampling method used to choose participants

28. 7) A major difference between the psychoanalytic stage theories (Freud and Erikson) and the more cognitive or experiential stage theories (Piaget and Kohlberg) is
The psychoanalytic theories are less empirical
The psychoanalytic theories were based exclusively on data from children with developmental disorders
Freud and Erikson studied only young children, while Piaget and Kohlberg studied the full range of development
Only the psychoanalytic theories take parental effects into account
The psychoanalytic theories are continuous, the others are discontinuous.

29. 8) You have a cousin named Holden who flunked our of three expensive private schools and was arrested for wandering the streets of New York using his parents’ credit card. Holden is intelligent but cannot seem to get motivated toward any career. What conflict would Erikson say Holden is struggling with?
Autonomy vs. identity
Integrity vs. role confusion
Integrity vs. despair
Industry vs. inferiority
Trust vs. mistrust