Development

1. Development Part I – Infancy and Childhood

2. Section 1 - The Study of Development • Developmental psychology – Study of how people grow and change throughout the life span • Also study different types of development • Physical development • Social development • Cognitive development • Use 2 methods to study change over time • Longitudinal method – One group for long period of time • Cross-Sectional method – Group of mixed ages and compare participants of the different age groups • Concerned with 2 issues • Heredity and environmental influences • Whether development occurs gradually or in stages

3. Nature vs. Nurture • Heredity (Nature) • Environment (Nurture) • Some aspects of behavior originate in genes inherited from parents • Kinship studies (Twins) • Maturation – automatic and sequential process of development that results from genetic signals • Critical Period – stage or point in development during which a person or animal is best suited to learn a particular skill or behavior pattern • John Watson • Mind of an infant • Tabula Rasa (Latin for “blank slate”) • In this view nurture (environment) will have greatest effect on development

4. Stages vs. Continuity • Climbing a set of stairs (Stages) • Stage – period or level in development process that is distinct from other levels • Walking up an incline plan (Continuity) • Continuous development – happens so gradually we usually are not aware of the changes as they are occurring • Ex: weight and Height

5. Section 2 – Physical Development • Reflex – involuntary reaction or response • Ex: Swallowing • Some reflexes are kept, while others disappear when they are no longer needed • 4 Examples of Physical Development • Reflexes • Height and Weight • Motor Development • Perceptual Development

6. Reflexes • Baby is born • Grasping • Reflexes are inborn not learned • Some reflexes are essential to survival • Breathing • Swallowing • Sneezing • Coughing • Yawning • Blinking • Rooting – turn towards stimuli that touch their cheeks • Babies reflexively withdraw from painful stimuli • As they develop reflexes such as rooting and sucking disappear

7. Height and Weight • A newborn weighs a billon or more times what it weighed at conception • Infancy – period from birth to the age of two years • Infants double birth weight in about 5 months • Triple the weight by one year • Grow about 10 inches in height in the 1st year • During 2nd year generally gain another 4-6 inches in height and 4-7 pounds • Childhood – two years old to adolescence

8. Motor Development • Purposeful movement • Usually proceeds in stages • The point at which these occur varies from infant to infant and from culture to culture • Uganda – walk at 10 months • United States – walk at 1 year • Carried upright vs. lying in cribs

9. Perceptual Development • Process by which infants learn to make sense of the sights, sounds, tastes, and other sensations to which they are exposed • Prefer new and interesting stimuli • Infants perceptual preferences are influenced by their age • “Visual Cliff” • Very young infants are unafraid • By 9 months responded with fear • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6cqNhHrMJA • Vision = 1 type of perception • Hearing – respond to high-pitched sounds more than low-pitched sounds • Smell – spit, stick out tongue and wrinkle nose to bad smells • Smile and show licking motions to sweet smells

10. Section 3 - Social Development • Ways in which infants and children learn to relate to other people. • Infants – comforted by being held • At first cling to their mothers • As they age they venture out • Infants – tend to play with toys by themselves even when other children are around • As they age tend to play with others

11. Attachment • Attachment – emotional ties that form between people. • Mary Ainsworth – studied attachment in infants around the world • Infants prefer being held • By 4 months infants develop specific attachments to main caregivers • Attachment grows stronger by 6 to 7 months • Try to maintain contact with their mothers • 8 months some develop fear of strangers (Stranger anxiety) • May also experience separation anxiety • Two factors involved = Contact comfort & imprinting

12. Contact Comfort • Harry E. Harlow – observed that infant monkeys without mothers or companions became attached to pieces of cloth in their cages. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weXEaTKckzY • 1 object made from wire vs. 1 object made of soft terry cloth • Monkeys spent most of their time with “cloth” mother • Harlow concluded that they monkeys had a basic need for contact comfort. • Contact comfort – instinctual need to touch and be touched by something soft, such as skin or fur. • Even stronger than the need for food • Bonds of attachment between mothers and infants provide a secure base for infants to explore their environment • Wire mothers – fear of objects in cage • Cloth mothers – eventually begin to explore objects

13. Imprinting • For many animals attachment is an instinct • Occurs during a critical period shortly after birth • Ducks, Geese, and some others attach to first moving object they see • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PBYySnwHxc • Imprinting – process by which some animals form immediate attachments during a critical period • Konrad Lorenz • Acquired a family of goslings for himself • Present as they hatched • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJMof_HX1uU • For Humans it takes several months before infants are attached to main caregiver • No known critical attachment period for humans

14. Secure vs. Insecure Attachment • When mothers or other primary caregivers are affectionate and reliable, infants usually become securely attached • They cry and protest if the parent or caregiver leaves, but when they return they are happy again • When caregivers are unresponsive or unreliable they infants are usually insecurely attached • They do not seem to mind when they leave and when they come back the child makes little to no effort to seek contact with them

15. Styles of Parenting • Warm vs. Cold • Warm – Great deal of affection • Cold – Not very affectionate • Strict vs. Permissive • Strict – many rules and punishments for behaviors, watch children closely • Permissive – Fewer rules and punishments, watch children less closely • Authoritative – parents combine warmth with positive kinds of strictness • Authoritarian – believe in obedience • Strict guidelines for their children to follow • Often rejecting and cold

18. Child Care • In US both parents are working • Psychologists are concerned about daycare and its effects on the child • Good daycares – provided test scores equivalent to children who stayed at home with parent • Psychologists worry about insecure attachments • Others argue that children are adapting to repeated separations • Daycare • More likely to share and play with others • Less cooperative and more aggressive • Quality of care seems to be more important than who provides it

19. Child Abuse and Neglect • Physical and Psychological • 3 million children in the US • ½ a million suffer serious injury • Thousands die • Neglect – inability to give child adequate food, shelter, clothing, emotional support, or schooling • Reasons • Stress • History of abuse • Lack of attachment to child • Abuse can cause greater risk to psychological problems • Violence • Child abuse can run in families • Children imitate their parents behavior

20. Self-Esteem • Self-Esteem – the value or worth that people attach to themselves • High self-esteem gives people the confidence to know that they can overcome their difficulties • Unconditional positive regard – parents love and accept their children for who they are no matter how they behave • Conditional positive regard – that parents show their love only when the children behave in certain acceptable ways • Both heredity and environment play a role in individual differences in skills

21. Gender and Self-EsteemAge and Self-Esteem • Ages 5-7 children begin to value themselves on physical appearance and performance • Children gain in competence as they grow older • Self-esteem tends to decline during the elementary school years • Low point – 12-13 • Increases during adolescence • Realize people may not see them as they see themselves • Begin to compare themselves to their peers

22. Cognitive Development • Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development • Develop in a sequence of stages • Realized children he questioned gave certain types of wrong answers • These answers fit patterns child to child • Believe human being organize new information in two ways • Assimilation – process by which new information is placed into categories that already exist • Accommodation – a change brought about because of new information • Ex: Cats and Dogs

23. Piaget’s Theory • 1st Stage – Sensorimotor stage – infants begin to understand that there is a relationship between their physical movements and the results they sense or perceive • Ends at 2 years old • 2nd Stage – Preoperational Stage – can only see one aspect of a situation at a time • Focus on the way a substance looks • Egocentrism – the inability to see another person’s point of view. Judging a culture by your own • Ages 2-6

24. Piaget’s Theory • 3rd Stage - Concrete Operational Stage – show signs of adult thinking and can focus on two dimensions of a problem at the same time • Begins around 7 years old • 4th Stage – Formal Operational Stage – Realize that ideas can be compared and classified. Capable of dealing with hypothetical situations • Criticisms • Believed his methods caused him to underestimate the abilities of children

25. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development • Story on page 246 • Kohlberg – Stage theorists, Children advance at different rates • Preconventional Level – base judgments on consequences of behavior • Stage 1 – What is “good” helps avoid punishment • Stage 2 – “Good” is what satisfies a persons needs • Conventional Level – make judgments in terms of whether an act conforms to conventional standards of right and wrong • Stage 3 – “Good” is what meets one’s needs and the expectations of other people • Stage 4 - Moral judgments are based on maintaining the social order

26. Kohlberg Continued • Postconventional Level – Moral judgments reflect one’s personal values, not conventional standards • Stage 5 – Obedience to accepted law, judgments based on personal values • Stage 6 – Morality of individual conscience, not necessarily in agreement with others • Criticisms • Bias in Kohlberg’s scoring to favor males

27. Development Part II - Adolescence

28. Section 1 - Physical Development • Biological changes that occur during adolescence are greater than those of any other time in life. • Exception infancy • Adolescence growth spurt – abrupt burst of growth • Usually lasts 2 to 3 years • Most grow 8 to 12 inches in height • The growth spurt usually begins in girls at about the age of 10 or 11 and usually 2 years later in boys. • Can be awkward because different parts grow and mature at different rates. • Adolescences worry they “just don’t look right”

29. Sexual Development • Primary sex characteristics – directly involved in reproduction • Secondary sex characteristics – not directly involved in reproduction • Linked to changes in hormone levels • Males – Increased output of testosterone • Females – Increase output of estrogen • Every child matures at different rates • Rites of Passage page 255

30. Section 2 – Social Development • Parent-child relationships undergo redefinition • Most changes are positive • Quest for independence • Attachment to people who are not family members • More activities outside the home • Greater independence does not mean emotional withdrawl • Do not fall completely under influence of their peers • Interact more with mothers than fathers

31. Relationships with Peers • Increase in the importance of peers • 7th grade • Same gender • Seen as providing more support than parents • Most adolescents tend to have one or two “best friends” • Have other good friends • Value loyalty as a key aspect of friendship • Contribute to self-esteem • Choosing friends • Similar in age, background, educational goals, and attitudes towards drinking, drug use, and sexual activity

32. Cliques and Crowds • Cliques – 5 to 10 people who spend a great deal of time with one another • Often include members of both sexes • Crowd – Larger groups who do not spend as much time together but share attitudes and group identities • Adolescents • Influenced by parents and peers in different ways • More likely to follow their peers in terms of dress, hairstyles, speech patterns, and taste in music • Likely to agree with their parents on issues such as moral values and educational and career goals • Peer pressure is relatively weak in early adolescence • Increases in the middle, peaking at 15, decrease after 17

33. Dating and Romantic Relationships • Dating develops in stages • 1st – Situations with peers – After school activities • 2nd – Mixed groups at the movies • 3rd – Traditional dating • Helps adolescents learn how to relate positively to other people • Tend to be casual and short lived

34. Section 3 – Identity Formation • Erik Erickson – Journey of life consists of 8 stages • Each stage there is a task that must be mastered • For healthy development to continue • Identity is accomplished mainly by choosing and developing a commitment to a particular role or occupation in life. • Identity Crisis – turning point in a person’s development when the person examines his or her values and makes or changes decisions about life roles. • Identity Status – reaction patterns and processes

35. Identity Continued • Identity moratorium – delay making commitments about important questions • Actively exploring various alternatives • Identity foreclosure – category makes a commitment that forecloses other possibilities. • Commitment is based on the suggestions of others not ones own choices • Identity Diffusion – constantly searching for meaning in life and for identity because they have no committed themselves to a set of personal beliefs or an occupational path • Can lead to “I don’t care” attitude • Identity Achievement – category have coped with crises and have explored options • Have had a crisis and emerged from it with a solid set of beliefs or life plan

37. Gender in Identity Formation • According to Erikson • Embracing a philosophy of life and a commitment to a career • Development of interpersonal relationships • More important than occupational issues • Values to women’s identity • Women’s identities were intimately connected • Roles of wives and mothers • Men’s identities depended on • Roles of husbands and fathers

38. Ethnicity in Identity Formation • More complicated for minorities • Two sets of cultural values • Prejudice and discrimination can also contribute • Father – 1 Culture • Mother – Another Culture • Finding a balance can be difficult for adolescents • May lead to emotional conflict

39. Challenges of Adolescence • Anorexia Nervosa – self-starvation and a distorted body image • Bulimia Nervosa – recurrent cycles of binge eating followed by dramatic measures to eliminate food • Origins • Fashion models • 9 percent taller, 16 percent slimmer • 16 percent = 16 pounds • Men with eating disorders • Wrestling, dancing, and modeling • Tends to run in families • Treatment – See a psychologist on a regular basis, weight checked weekly

40. Substance Abuse • Usually begins with experimentation in adolescence • Reasons • Curiosity • Peer pressure • Parental abuse • Rebelliousness • Boredom • Excitement • Pleasure • Cigarettes – Up 35% • Marijuana – Up 15% • Can make it difficult to retain information • More difficult to learn in and out of school • Drinking alcohol during adolescence is a risk for abuse later in life • Addicts experience intense cravings when effects wear off

41. Treatment and Prevention • Physically and Psychologically painful • Detoxification • Removal of toxic substance from body • Using to avoid facing life and/or school • Prevention • Stop use of “gateway” drugs • Mixed results with adolescence

42. Sexuality • Mixed messages during adolescence • Body giving “Go Ahead” • Parents – “Slow Down” • Media • TV Shows • Music • Movies • Adolescence are dating earlier • Lead to early sexual relations • Teenage pregnancy • 900,000 Teenage Pregnancies a year

43. Juvenile Delinquency • Juvenile Delinquency – illegal activities committed by children or adolescents • Status offenses – illegal only when they are committed by minors • Truancy (unexcused absence from school) • Drinking • Smoking • Low self-esteem and feelings of alienation • Lack of affection • Behavior problems that begin at early age • Poor grades and lack of education goals • Parents or siblings who have been convicted of crimes

44. Development Part III - Adulthood