Chapter 4

1. Chapter 4 Development

2. Prenatal Development & the Newborn • Developmental Psychology: • A branch of psychology that studies the physical, cognitive, and social changes throughout the life span

3. Prenatal Development & the Newborn

4. Prenatal Development & the Newborn • Zygote • Fertilized egg • 2 week period of rapid cell division • Develops into an embryo • Embryo • 2 weeks after fertilization until the second month • Formation of organs • Fetus • The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception until birth

5. Prenatal Development & the Newborn 40 days 45 days 2 months 4 months

6. Prenatal Development & the Newborn • Teratogens • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) • Physical and cognitive abnormalities • Pre and post-natal birth deficiencies Photo courtesy of Teresa Kellerman

7. Brain Damage from Prenatal Alcohol • Brain on the left was from a 5 day old child with FAS

8. Prenatal Development & the Newborn • Reflexes • Newborns are equipped for survival • “Rooting” reflex • Preferences • Prefer certain sights and sounds • Prefer things that facilitate social interaction • Gaze longer at pictures resembling the human face

9. At birth 3 months 15 months Cortical Neurons Infancy & Childhood: Physical Development • Maturation • Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior • Relatively uninfluenced by experience

10. Infancy & Childhood: Physical Development • Babies only 3 months old can learn that kicking moves a mobile--and can retain that learning for a month (Rovee-Collier, 1989, 1997).

11. Cognitive Development • Jean Piaget • Developmental psychologist • Administered intelligence tests to children • Became obsessed with their wrong answers • Concluded that a child’s brain is not a miniature version of an adult’s • But that they think differently

12. Infancy & Childhood: Cognitive Development • Schema • Assimilation • Accommodation • Cognition

13. 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 Preoperational Representing things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning • Pretend play • Egocentrism • Language development About 7 to 11 years Concrete operational Thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations • Conservation • Mathematical transformations About 12 through adulthood Formal operational Abstract reasoning • Abstract logic • Potential for moral reasoning Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

14. Infancy & Childhood: Cognitive Development • Object Permanence • Awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

15. Infancy & Childhood: Cognitive Development Conservation

16. Infancy & Childhood: Cognitive Development • Egocentrism • Preoperational child’s inability to take another’s point of view • Birthday parties and presents • Theory of Mind • Begin forming in preschool • Begin to develop ideas about other people’s mental states and emotions • Stranger Anxiety • The fear of strangers that infants display • Begins usually around 8 mos

17. Infancy & Childhood: Cognitive Development • Attachment • Mary Ainsworth • Strange Situation • Studied basic attachment patterns in the first six months • After spending time with mother/child pair, mother leaves the room • Findings: • Securely Attached • Comfortable and happy when mother is present • Distressed w • Insecurely Attached

18. Attachment • Findings: • Securely Attached • Comfortable and happy when mother is present • Distressed when mother leaves but seeks contact when mother returns • Insecurely Attached • Ambivalent • Less likely to explore environment and clings to mother • When mother leaves, very upset and stays upset • OR seems indifferent when mother returns • Avoidant • No signs of distress when mother leaves • Ignores or avoids mother when returns

19. Social Development • Body Contact • Harry Harlow • “Harlow’s Monkeys”

20. Social Development • Familiarity • Attach to what is familiar • Critical Period • Optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development • Imprinting • Process in which certain animals form attachments during a critical period during very early life • Children do not imprint • Mere exposure breeds familiarity

21. Social Development • Why is primary caregiver role so important? • Developmental psychologist Erik Erikson • Securely attached children have a sense of basic trust- that the world is predictable and reliable • Attributed to early parenting • Power of attachment gradually relaxes, but never ceases

22. Social Development: Child Rearing Practices • 3 Parenting Styles • Authoritarian • Characterized by little discussion between parent and child about rules • Parents “say” all the time • Little compromise • Permissive • Submit to the child • Make few demands of the child • Often characterized by lack of respect for the parent • Little punishment • Authoritative • Demand and respond • Exert control but not by strict rules • Explain with reasoning and discussion

23. Adolescence • Adolescence: transition between childhood and adulthood • Puberty • Menarche • Primary Sex Characteristics • Begin to develop dramatically • Secondary Sex Characteristics • Non-reproductive sex traits • Breasts, hair growth, deep voice, etc

24. 1890, Women 7.2 Year Interval 10 20 10 20 Age 1995, Women 12.5 Year Interval Age Adolescence • In the 1890’s the average interval between a woman’s menarche and marriage was about 7 years; now it is over 12 years

25. Height in centimeters 190 170 150 130 110 90 70 50 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 Age in years Boys Girls Adolescence • Throughout childhood, boys and girls are similar in height. At puberty, girls surge ahead briefly, but then boys overtake them at about age 14.

26. Cognitive Development • Lawrence Kohlberg sought to describe moral development • Agreed with Piaget, that children’s moral judgments build on their cognitive development • Understanding right v. wrong • Developed “moral dilemmas” • Asked children, adolescents, and adults if their action was right or wrong

27. Kohlberg & Morals • Pass through three levels of moral thinking • Kohlberg’s Moral Ladder • Tied to cognitive development Morality of abstract principles: to affirm agreed-upon rights and personal ethical principles Postconventional level Morality of law and social rules: to gain approval or avoid disapproval Conventional level Preconventional level Morality of self-interest: to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards

28. Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

29. Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

30. Adolescence: Social Development • Identity • Have many “selves” • Role confusion resolves with the formation of an identity • Identity: one’s sense of self • Erikson- one’s goal is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles • Can be life long • Intimacy • Follows development of an identity • Intimacy: the ability to form close, loving relationships • Primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood

31. Adulthood: Physical Development • Menopause • Alzheimer