PSYC 2201 Human Development Chapter 10 Outline for Weiten (2005)

1. PSYC 2201Human DevelopmentChapter 10 Outline for Weiten (2005) Bill Hill Kennesaw State University

2. Basic Concepts in Understanding Research on Development • Stages Most theories are stage theories. Stages refer to age-defined periods that are defined in terms of specific behaviors or physical characteristics. • Developmental norms Median or Mean age at which a characteristic appears.

3. Basic Concepts in Understanding Research on Development Two common research methods • Longitudinal • Cross-Sectional

4. Children are • creatures whose basically negative or selfish impulses must be controlled. • neither inherently good nor inherently bad. • creatures who are born with many positive and few negative tendencies.

5. Biological influences (heredity, maturational forces) and environmental influences (culture, parenting styles, learning experiences) are thought to contribute to development. Overall, • biological factors contribute far more than environmental factors. • biological factors contribute somewhat more than environmental factors. • biological and environmental factors are equally important. • environmental factors contribute somewhat more than biological factors. • environmental factors contribute far more than biological factors.

6. People are basically • active beings who are the prime determiners of their own abilities and traits. • passive beings whose characteristics are molded either by social influences (parents and other significant people, outside events) or by biological changes beyond their control.

7. Development proceeds • through stages, so that the individual changes rather abruptly into quite a different kind of person than he or she was in an earlier stage. • in a variety of ways, some stage like, some gradual or continuous. • continuously—in small increments without abrupt changes or distinct stages.

8. When we compare the development of different individuals, we see • many similarities; children and adults develop along universal paths and experience similar changes at similar ages. • many differences; different people often undergo different sequences of change and have widely different timetables of development.

9. What Theory Do You Lean To? • a b b a a is consistent with Freud’s psychoanalytic theory • c b a a ais consistentwith Piaget’s cognitive‑developmental theory • b e b c bis consistent with Skinner’s learning theory • b d a c bis consistent with Bandura’s learning theory • b c a b bis consistent with contextual/systems theory

10. Basic Concepts in Understanding Research on Development Basic factors that influence development • Genetics • Exploration/Experience • Environment

11. Basic Aspects of Development • Physical • Cognitive • Social/Personality

12. Prenatal Development Covers period of conception to birth This period is primarily focused on physical development. However, some basic innate cognitive abilities develop and are present at birth.

13. Prenatal Development Stages of Prenatal Development • Germinal • Embryonic • Fetal

14. Prenatal Development Factors Impacting Prenatal Development • Genetic • “Environmental”

15. Childhood Covers period from birth to adolescence This period is primarily focused on continued physical development, as well as cognitive and social.

16. Babies who walk early are inclined to be especially bright. • True • False

17. The average 2-year-old is already about half of his or her adult height. • True • False

18. Half the nerve cells (neurons) in the average baby’s brain die (and are not replaced) during the first few years of life. • True • False

19. Most children walk when they are ready, and no amount of encouragement will enable a 6-month-old to walk alone. • True • False

20. Hormones have little effect on human growth and development until puberty. • True • False

21. Emotional trauma can seriously impair the growth of young children, even those who are adequately nourished, are free from illness, and are not physically abused. • True • False

22. Childhood:Physical Development A combination of factors appear to contribute to physical development: • Maturation (sequential genetically programmed unfolding, which can vary in timing) • Genetics (affects end points, another form of reaction range) • Nutrition • Environment (which may reflect cultural practices) • Practice or Experience

23. Childhood: Physical Development • Sensory/Perceptual • Motor Development

24. Childhood:Personality & Social Development • Temperament • Attachment • Types of attachment (Ainsworth) • Secure • Anxious-Ambivilant • Avoidant

25. Childhood:Personality & Social Development Factors affecting attachment formation • Contact Comfort (Harlow) • Biological predisposition: infant to emit behavior that triggers adult responses (Bowlby) • Types of adult responses (sensitive and consistent v. insensitive and inconsistent)—may be related to culturally influenced parenting styles • Infant temperament style

26. Childhood:Personality & Social Development Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development Addresses personality development across the lifespan in context of crises centered on relationship changes

27. Childhood:Personality & Social Development Erikson’s stages during childhood • Trust v. Mistrust (1st year) • Autonomy v. Shame & Doubt (2-3) • Initiative v. Guilt (4-6) • Industry v. Inferiority (6-puberty)

28. Childhood:Cognitive Development Innate Abilities? • Basic properties of objects (boundaries, movement characteristics) (3-4months) • Basic classification of familiar/common objects (9-12 months) • Number, including addition and subtraction (5 months)

29. Childhood:Cognitive Development Piaget’s Theory Cognitive growth as an interaction of maturation and environmental exploration. Cognitive development occurs through: • Assimilation: incorporating new experiences into existing cognitive structure • Accommodation: modifying or building new cognitive structures

30. Childhood:Cognitive Development Piaget’s Theory Sensorimotor Period (up to age 2) • Acquisition of object permanence • Gradual appearance of symbolic thought

31. Childhood:Cognitive Development Piaget’s Theory Preoperational Period (2-7) • Lacks conservation • Centration • Lacks irreversibility • Egocentrism in thinking • Animism

32. Childhood:Cognitive Development Piaget’s Theory Concrete Operational Period (7-11) • Overcomes limitations of Preoperational thinking • Thinking limited to familiar examples, difficulty generalizing

33. Childhood:Cognitive Development Piaget’s Theory Formal Operational Period (11+) • Overcomes limitations of Concrete Operational thinking • Abstract problem solving

34. Childhood:Cognitive Development Piaget’s Theory An Evaluation: • Cognitive abilities may appear earlier than Piaget suggested • Does not account for individual differences • Sequence appears constant, but rate varies across cultures

35. Childhood:Cognitive Development Understanding the Thinking of Others • Desires & emotions (~ age 2) • Beliefs & thoughts (~age 3) • Connection between thought and behavior (~ Age 4) • Understanding that others have false beliefs (~ age 4)

36. Childhood:Cognitive Development Moral Reasoning (Kohlberg) 3 levels, which are closely tied to cognitive development • Preconventional • Punishment and reward orientation • Conventional • Rule-oriented • Postconventional • Personal ethics, societal rules flexible

37. Childhood:Cognitive Development Evaluating Kohlberg’s Theory • Relationship to cognitive development confirmed • Stages are not distinct; thinking characteristic of multiple stages may coexist • Theory may be culture-specific, especially as expressed in values underlying dilemmas used for testing • May reflect gender bias (men: justice orientation; women: caring and self-sacrifice

38. Adolescence:Physical Development Pubescence • Physical Growth • Secondary sex characteristics Puberty • Mature sexual functioning

39. Adolescence:Personality & Social Development • Early v. late physical maturation • Period of turmoil?

40. Adolescence:Personality & Social Development • Search for identity • Erikson’s 5th stage: Identity v. Role Confusion • Marcia’s Identity Statuses • Foreclosure • Moratorium • Identity diffusion • Identity achievement

41. Adolescence:Cognitive Development No significant changes, mostly refinement of abilities established during childhood and expanded content knowledge

42. Everyone becomes “senile” sooner or later if he or she lives long enough. • True • False

43. American families have by and large abandoned their older members. • True • False

44. Depression is a serious problem for older people. • True • False

45. Intelligence declines with age. • True • False

46. Sexual urges and activity normally cease around ages 55 to 60. • True • False

47. Older people should decrease exercising and rest. • True • False

48. As you grow older, you need more vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. • True • False

49. Extremes of heat and cold can be particularly dangerous to older people. • True • False

50. More men than women survive to old age. • True • False