General Psychology PSYC 200

1. General PsychologyPSYC 200 Development

2. Outline Prenatal Development The Competent Newborn Physical Development Cognitive Development Social Development

3. Developmental Psychology • continuity and change across the lifespan • physical • cognitive • social

4. I Prenatal Development • conception to birth

5. Zygote • sperm fertilizes the egg → zygote • attaches to uterine wall at 14 days

7. Embryo • if zygote attaches to uterine wall → embryo • weeks 3-8 • grows from a dot to an inch • has a beating heart, limbs, fingers, and all major organs 4 weeks 8 weeks

8. Fetus • weeks 9-40 • time of rapid growth and development • all structures and systems • skeleton • organs and muscles • viable at 25 weeks

9. Genetic Influences • inherit set of 23 chromosomes from each parent • genes • DNA • some traits are determined simply by one gene • eye color • most involve more complex patterns of genes

10. Environmental Influences • How can the environment influence development before a child is even born? • mother’s nutrition, stress, illness • illegal drugs, legal drugs, x-rays • terotogens • environmental agents that may harm prenatal development • Would any decent parent give their newborn a bottle full of beer? • what is safe for Mom isn’t necessarily safe for her baby

11. cumulative impact

12. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome • leading, known, preventable cause of mental retardation • lifelong and permanent condition • growth deficiencies • small; underweight; poorly coordinated • mental and learning disabilities • problems with learning, memory, attention span, speech, language; difficulties in school; poor reasoning and judgment; hyperactive • social difficulties • communicating; getting along with others

13. II The Competent Newborn • impressive range and extent of abilities

14. Reflexes • instinctual, not learned • swallowing, coughing, blinking • grasping • rooting and sucking • important for nursing • startle reflex

15. How do we know? • Better techniques led us to discover what babies know • preference technique • habituation technique

16. Partial List of Newborn Abilities • can see, hear, smell, touch, taste • can recognize new from old stimuli • can imitate facial expressions • can recognize their own mother’s face • can distinguish Mom’s odor and voice from that of other new Moms

17. newborns prefer face-like images • evolutionarily adaptive

18. III Physical Development

19. Discussion Questions • Provide several examples of how egocentrism leads to false beliefs in young children. Then describe how passing the false belief test illustrates the acquisition of a theory of mind. • The bonding experience between an infant and her mother during breast-feeding is an important component to the development of a secure attachment. Fathers of newborns often are worried that their babies will not form an emotional bond with them because they cannot participate in this experience. Using the results from Harry Harlow's studies on socially deprived rhesus monkeys as a rationale, explain why this worry is unfounded.

21. Brain Development • brain and nervous system are only partially developed at birth • 25% • neural networks are still forming

22. Developmental Landmarks • Estimate the age at which about 50% of children begin to: • laugh • pedal a tricycle • sit without support • feel ashamed • walk unassisted • stand on one foot for 10 seconds • recognize and smile at mother or father • think about things that cannot be seen

23. sit, crawl, walk, run sequence is universal

25. IV Cognitive Development • a child’s mind is not a miniature version of an adult’s mind • fundamentally different way of thinking

26. Jean Piaget • spent 50 years studying children’s cognitive development • babies begin with basic schemas • simple cognitive structures • sucking, grasping • cat, dog • babysitter; what happens at mealtimes, etc.

27. Note: Many children progress to next stage earlier than Piaget originally thought

28. Sensorimotor Stage • babies understand the world through their senses and movements • limited to what can be perceived directly • initially lack object permanence • objects continue to exist when taken away or hidden • stranger anxiety • develops suddenly, usually around 8 months • adaptive

29. Object Permanence • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBh9ld_yIo&NR=1 1:03

30. infants show a limited sense of object permanence as early as 4 months

31. even at 3 ½ months! possible event impossible event

32. 5 month-old infants may even be able to do math!

33. Preoperational Stage • beginnings of logical thought • develop language skills • have representational thought • leads to more imaginary play • yet highly egocentric • unable to take another person’s point of view • No, my mommy! • I’m 3 years old!

34. animistic thinking • believe inanimate objects are alive • no theory of mind • can’t grasp idea of mental representations • difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is imagined • easily fooled by appearances • difficulty processing negatively phrased instructions • “hold the guinea pig gently” vs “don’t squeeze the guinea pig • have not yet mastered conservation • notion that quantity does not change despite changes in appearance • have trouble mentally undoing something

35. Conservation • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYcAjC_tHkE&feature=related 0:35

37. Concrete Operational Stage • realize that others may see, think, and feel differently • thought is more logical and complex • acquire conservation of number, substance, length, area, weight, and volume • but still limited to concrete problems • can not think abstractly or hypothetically

38. Formal Operational Stage • can think abstractly • about the world of ideas • philosophy, politics, etc. • can think hypothetically • more self-reflective

39. V Social Development • How do infants establish emotional bonds with their primary caregivers?

40. Imprinting • Konrad Lorenz • zoologist

41. Harry Harlow • baby rhesus monkeys • no social contact for first 6 months • artificial “mothers” • comfort, not nourishment formed the basis of the attachment

42. terror-stricken when placed in strange situations without their surrogate mothers • http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2310389945258736844

43. Bowlby’s Attachment Theory • infants are predisposed to attach with primary caregiver • innate • use primary caregiver as a secure base

44. Mary Ainsworth • UVA • “strange situation” • procedure for assessing a child’s attachment to its mother • classified according to their response

45. Attachment Styles • Secure (60%) • shows distress when caregiver leaves • glad to see caregiver at reunion, but not clingy • Ambivalent/Anxious (15%) • panics when caregiver leaves • reestablishes contact, but resists caregiver’s efforts at comfort • Avoidant (20%) • not upset when caregiver leaves; does not greet caregiver upon return • Disorganized (5%) • no consistent way of coping

46. And the winner is …. • securely attached children • play more cooperatively when interacting with friendly strangers • engage in more frequent and more mature forms of interaction with peers • more socially competent and independent in preschool; show fewer behavior problems • show better cognitive performance through at least kindergarten