1. Developmental Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social changes throughout the lifespan.

2. Prenatal Development
Conception begins with the drop of an egg and the release of about 200 million sperm.
The sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to penetrate the eggs surface.

3. Once the sperm penetrates the egg- we have a fertilized egg called……..
The Zygote
The first stage of prenatal development. Lasts about two weeks and consists of rapid cell division.

4. The Zygote Stage
Less than half of all zygotes survive first two weeks.
About 10 days after conception, the zygote will attach itself to the uterine wall.
The outer part of the zygote becomes the placenta (which filters nutrients).

5. After two weeks, the zygote develops into a
Embryo

6. The Embryo Stage Lasts about 6 weeks.
Heart begins to beat and the organs begin to develop.
The “baby” is more vulnerable to damage at this stage than any others. Don’t drink or do drugs!

7. By nine weeks we have something that looks unmistakably human…
A Fetus

8. Brain at 22 weeks

9. The Fetus Stage
By about the 6th month, the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside of mother.
At this time the baby can hear (and recognize) sounds and respond to light.

10. Teratogens harmful agents to the prenatal environment

11. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant women’s heavy drinking.
Severe cases symptoms include facial disproportions.

12. So what will a healthy newborn do?
Reflexes
Rooting Reflex- a babies tendency, when touched on the cheek, to open mouth and search for a nipple.
Turn towards human voices.
Gaze longer at human face like images.

13. Maturation Maturation is the physical development of a person.
First you roll over, then crawl, then walk, then run.
Some babies skip crawling but that can be bad for cognitive development.

14. Cognitive Development

15. Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Piaget did not conduct formal experiments, but rather loosely structured interviews in which he posed problems for children to solve, observed their actions carefully, and questioned them about their solutions
Was particularly interested in children’s error, which would provide insights into children’s thought processes
Assumed that a child is an active seeker of knowledge and gains an understanding of the world by operating on it

16. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor
Birth - age 2
Preoperational
2 - 6 years
Concrete Operational
years
Formal Operational
12+ years

17. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

20. Sensorimotor Stage 0-2
Infant learns about the world through their sensory and motor interactions (including reflexes)
Lack object permanence, the knowledge than an object exists independent of perceptual contact
Symbolic representation of
objects and events starts to
develop during the latter part of the
sensorimotor stage (e.g., use of
telegraphic speech)

21. Preoperational Stage
The child’s thinking becomes more symbolic and language-based, but remains egocentric and lacks the mental operations that allow logical thinking
Egocentrism is the inability to distinguish one’s own perceptions, thoughts, and feelings from those of others
Cannot perceive the world from another person’s perspective

22. Animism
Giving animal qualities to inanimate objects

23. Preoperational Stage
Conservation is the knowledge that the quantitative properties of an object (such as mass, volume, and number) remain the same despite changes in appearance
Some grasp of conservation marks the end of the preoperational stage and the beginning of the concrete-operational stage
The liquid/beakers problem is a common test of conservation ability

24. Preoperational Stage
A major reason why a preoperational child does not understand conservation is that the child lacks an understanding of reversibility, the knowledge that reversing a transformation brings about the conditions that existed before the transformation
Child’s thinking also reflects centration, the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a problem at a time

25. Tests of Conservation

26. Concrete Operational Stage
Children (age 6-12) gain a fuller understanding of conservation and other mental operations that allow them to think logically, but only about concrete events
Conservation for liquids, numbers, and matter acquired early, but conservation of length acquired later in the stage

27. Concrete Operational Stage
Can demonstrate concept of conservation.
Learn to think logically
Click the penguin to see kids try to grasp concrete logic.

28. Formal Operational Stage
What would the world look like with no light?
Picture god
What way do you best learn?
Abstract reasoning
Manipulate objects in our minds without seeing them
Hypothesis testing
Trial and Error
Metacognition
Not every adult gets to this stage

29. Criticisms of Piaget
Some say he underestimates the abilities of children.
Information-Processing Model says children to not learn in stages but rather a gradual continuous growth.
Studies show that our attention span grows gradually over time.

30. Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory
Not all people reach formal operational thought
The theory may be biased in favor of Western culture
There is no real theory of what occurs after the onset of adolescence
Despite refinements, recent research has indeed shown that cognitive development seems to proceed in the general sequence of stages that Piaget proposed

31. Infancy and Childhood Social Development

32. Stranger Anxiety

33. Attachment
An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress in separation.

34. Factors of Attachment Body Contact Familiarity Responsive Parenting
How not to hold a baby!

36. Body Contact Then this guy came along……..
It was first assumed that infants became attached to those who satisfied their need for nourishment.
Then this guy came along……..

37. Harry Harlow and his
Discovered that monkeys preferred the soft body contact comfort of a cloth mother, over the nourishment of a hard/wirily mother.

38. Familiarity
Attachments based on familiarity are formed during our critical periods.

39. In general, a critical period is a limited time in which an event can occur, usually to result in some kind of transformation. A "critical period" in developmental psychology is a time in the early stages of an organism's life during which it displays a heightened sensitivity to certain environmental stimuli, and develops in particular ways due to experiences at this time. If a child does not attach during the critical period for attachment, then it may be impossible to attach later. Same for language acquisition. Can you learn language at 4 years old?

40. Konrad Lorenz
Konrad Lorenz studied how goslings (baby geese) will imprint themselves to a human if they get human exposure during a critical period

41. Same with dogs

42. Deprivation of Attachment
Often withdrawn, frightened and in extreme cases speechless.
Harlow’s monkeys would either cower in fright or act extremely aggressive. Many could not mate and if they could, the mothers were unresponsive parents.
Is there a connection between crime and lack of childhood attachment?

43. Cognitive Development
Rats who are raised in a rich environment have more neurons.

44. Daycare
High Quality daycare has shown no detrimental effects on children over the age of two.
The studies go both ways for children under the age of two- no clear answer yet.

45. Child Attachment Styles
based on Ainsworth’s (1971) “The Strange Situation” studies

46. Mary Ainsworth studied children's’ attachment styles
Mary Ainsworth studied children's’ attachment styles. She would place a mother and young child in a room. The independent variable was a “strange situation” like a stranger or have the mother leave the room. The dependent variable was how the child would react.

47. Ainsworth’s attachment styles
Mary Ainsworth would have a stranger enter the room. Children with a secure attachment would go to the mother for comfort when a stranger entered the room. The child would cry when the mother left but was happy when the mother returned.
Most common (66%)

48. Ainsworth’s attachment styles
Insecure-avoidant (20%) – not distressed at mother leaving or stranger arriving; cool response when mother returns
Probably caused by distant mothers

49. Strange situations studies

50. Ainsworth’s attachment styles
insecure- resistant (12%) – clingy to mother; traumatized by every stage of the experiment; distrustful of their mothers
Caused by over-bearing, controlling mothers

51. General Parenting Styles
Based on Diana Baumrind’s studies
They are:
Permissive
Authoritarian
Authoritative

52. Permissive Parents
Parents submit to their children’s desires, make few demands and use little punishment.

53. Authoritarian Parents
Impose rules and expect obedience.
“Why, because I said so!!!!”
What word that begins with A describes an authoritarian?

54. Authoritative Parents
Parents are both demanding and responsive.
Exert control by setting rules, but explain reasoning behind the rules.
Encourage open discussion.

55. Do you remember this FRQ?
The Smith-Garcias are planning for their first baby. Both parents-to-be have had a psychology course and are looking forward to applying the principles they learned from theories and research that address child development.
A. Summarize one main idea or finding of each of the following four researchers.
Skinner’s operant conditioning
Bandura’s social learning theory
B. Provide a specific example of actions the Smith-Garcias might take to raise their child to produce positive outcomes using each of the theories below to address the corresponding psychological concept.
Skinner’s operant conditioning: tantrum management
Bandura’s social learning theory: sharing behavior

56. Now, answer the rest….
The Smith-Garcias are planning for their first baby. Both parents-to-be have had a psychology course and are looking forward to applying the principles they learned from theories and research that address child development.
A. Summarize one main idea or finding of each of the following four researchers.
Skinner’s operant conditioning
Bandura’s social learning theory
Ainsworth’s attachment research
Baumrind’s research on parenting styles
B. Provide a specific example of actions the Smith-Garcias might take to raise their child to produce positive outcomes using each of the theories below to address the corresponding psychological concept.
Skinner’s operant conditioning: tantrum management
Bandura’s social learning theory: sharing behavior
Ainsworth’s attachment research: self-reliance
Baumrind’s research on parenting styles: self-esteem