Human Development

1. Human Development AP Psychology

2. Chapter Objectives: • AP students in psychology should be able to do the following: • • Discuss the interaction of nature and nurture (including cultural variations) in • the determination of behavior. • • Explain the process of conception and gestation, including factors that influence successful fetal development (e.g., nutrition, illness, substance abuse). • • Discuss maturation of motor skills. • • Describe the influence of temperament and other social factors on attachment • and appropriate socialization. • • Explain the maturation of cognitive abilities (e.g., Piaget’s stages, information • processing). • • Compare and contrast models of moral development (e.g., Kohlberg, Gilligan). • • Discuss maturational challenges in adolescence, including related family • conflicts. • • Characterize the development of decisions related to intimacy as people mature. • • Predict the physical and cognitive changes that emerge as people age, including steps that can be taken to maximize function. • • Describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of • development. • • Identify key contributors in developmental psychology (e.g., Mary Ainsworth, • Albert Bandura, Diana Baumrind, Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Carol Gilligan, • Harry Harlow, Lawrence Kohlberg, Konrad Lorenz, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky).

3. What Are We Doing Today? • By the end of this lesson I will be able to: 1. Discuss the interaction of nature and nurture (including cultural variations) in the determination of behavior.

4. Introduction: Developmental Psychology • Developmental Psychology – the study of physical, intellectual, social, and moral changes across the life span from conception  death.

5. Developmental Theories • 1. Nature versus Nurture • How much is human development influenced by our heredity (nature) and how much by our experience (nurture)? • 2. Continuity versus Discontinuity (Stages) • Is development gradual and continuous or does it proceed through a sequence of separate stages? • 3. Stability versus Change • Do our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as we age?

6. Nature vs. Nurture refresher: • Nature = heredity • Nurture = experiences • Some argue that we are “pre-wired” • Some argue that life experiences and parenting determine what we’re like. • How do we decide?

7. What we know about Nature vs. Nurture • What we do know – Maturation – we all go through orderly changes in behavior, thought, or physical growth, regardless of experience. • How do we study this issue – identical twins

8. Continuity vs. (Discontinuity) Stages: • Change Happens. • Is developmental change gradual or continuous? • Or does it proceed through a sequence of separate stages. • Do people go through stages at different times? What if they “miss” a stage?

9. Cont. • Behaviorists often focus on quantitative changes (ht. and wt.) • Other theorists focus on qualitative changes (stages) – Piaget, Kohlberg, etc. • The resolution of conflicts is key – everyone passes in the same order but at different times in life.

10. Stability versus Change • How much do we change? • For many years psychologists believed that once a person’s personality forms, it hardens like clay. • They are now doing longitudinal studies to see how much the past influences a person’s future.

11. Stability versus Change – Cont. • Are the effects of early experiences enduring or temporary? (abuse, starvation, isolation, etc.) • Will the cranky infant grow up to be the irritable adult? • Do we grow into older versions of our early selves, or do we become new persons? • Social attitudes are more likely to change than temperament.

12. Lesson Two Objectives: • By the end of this lesson, I will be able to: • 1. Describe several perspectives that aim to show the origin of gender roles. • 2. Identify several key terms that relate to gender roles.

13. To get us started…. • Gender roles play a big part in our lives: • Gender – male or female • Gender Role Stereotypes – what is socially acceptable for boys and girls (colors, hobbies, etc.) • Gender identity – our personal sense of being male or female. • Androgyny – recognizing desirable masculine and feminine characteristics in the same individual.

14. The Five Perspectives on Gender Roles: • Biological • Evolutionary • Psychoanalytic • Behavioral • Cognitive

15. The Biological Perspective: • Cites hormonal differences as the reason why men may be more aggressive, muscular, and bigger in size. • Therefore, men take on “hardier” roles in life.

16. The Evolutionary Perspective: • This perspective purports that males are more likely than females to be risk takers, show dominance, and achieve alpha status. • Our behavioral tendencies prepare us to survive and ultimately, reproduce.

17. The Psychoanalytic Perspective: • Freud proposed that young girls learn to act feminine from their mothers and young boys learn to act masculine from their fathers. • He also argued that children will identify better with their same sex parent, increasing the strength of his theory.

18. The Behavioral Perspective: • Social learning theory – children respond to rewards and punishments for their behavior. • They observe, and imitate socially desirable traits in others. • This helps them to acquire their gender identity.

19. The Cognitive Perspective: • Children have a “social filter” that allows them to sort out what is appropriate for their gender and what isn’t (gender schema). – Sandra Bem • This theory uses the behavioral perspective as a stepping stone to explain the theory.

20. Turn and Talk: 5 minutes • 1. Which of the following perspectives do you agree most with? Why? • 2. Do you think that our society will ever become completely androgynous? Why or why not? • 3. Now that you know about gender roles, do you think that you will knowingly channel your children (if you have them) towards “appropriate” gender stereotypes?

21. Lesson Three Objectives: • By the end of this lesson, I will be able to: • 1. Define the top four most widely used methods of studying development. • 2. Identify when each method would be applicable for research.

22. How do Developmental Psychologists gather data? • Developmental psychologists used naturalistic observations, experiments, correlational studies, and case studies to asses change over time. • They use four basic research designs: • 1. Longitudinal studies • 2. Cross-sectional studies • 3. Cohort-sequential studies • 4. Retrospective studies

23. Longitudinal Studies: • Longitudinal study – follows the same group of people over a period of time (months to years) • They evaluate changes in the individual(s) • These studies can be quite costly, take a long time to produce results, and can lose participants over time.

24. Cross-Sectional Studies: • Cross Sectional – break up age groups and give the same test to each group (15, 25, 35, 45, 55, etc.) • These studies are cheap, quick, and easy • Cohort – those within the same age group

25. Cohort-Sequential Studies: • Cohort-sequential – cross sectioned groups are assessed at least two times over a span of months or years. • Results from one cohort are compared with others at the same age range. • This method of study can help to eliminate the…. • Cohort effect. - Differences in the experiences of each age group as a result of growing up in different historical times.

26. Retrospective Studies: • Retrospective Studies – case studies that investigate development in one person at a time. • It is typical to use older adults for this method. • Questions are asked about the past and any changes that have occurred during the subject’s lifespan.

27. A Class Divided:Turn and Talk: 3 min • 1. What are you overall reactions to this study? • 2. From a developmental perspective, do you think that older/younger children/adults would act differently? • 3. From an ethical standpoint, could this study have been done the same way today?

28. Lesson Four Objectives: • By the end of this lesson, I will be able to: • 1. Describe the process of physical development in humans • 2. Identify several of the social issues that affect pregnancy.

29. :20 How are we feeling today? • Great • Good • Average • Not so good • Bad

30. Physical Development: • Physical development focuses on two things: • 1. Maturation – “like a bulldozer” • 2. Critical Periods

31. Prenatal Development: • Prenatal Development – Begins with fertilization and ends with birth • Zygote – 46 chromosomes that divide again and again until it turns into a embryo. (between the 3-8th week) • While in embryonic stage, organs, placenta, and umbilical cord develop.

32. 20 A critical period refers to: • Newborn development • The initial 2 minutes after a child’s birth • The preoperational stage • A restricted time for learning

33. Getting Bigger!! • Once the 8th week hits, the embryo becomes a fetus. • Organs systems begin to interact, bone replaces cartilage, sex organs become defined. • Head eyes, limbs, and cartilage skeleton will develop.

34. Newborn Behavior: • Neonates – newborn babies • Most newborn prefer being with mom – odors, touch, voice, etc. • The sense of hearing is dominant for the first few months of life (they can see however) • Sight becomes the primary sense at about 6 months • They get used to repeated stimulation - Habituation • Reflexes • 1. Babinski • 2. Grasping • 3. Moro/Startle/Heisman • 4. Rooting

35. Birth Defects: • Can be from a malfunctioning gene or environmental stimulus • Chemicals or viruses can cause birth defects • Teratogens – Chemicals (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, mercury) or viruses that can cause birth defects.

36. Critical Periods: • First 3 months – Eyes, arms, ears, legs, heart • First and 2nd months – Reproductive system • All three – Nervous system and brain

37. 20 Which one of the following is not considered a dangerous teratogen? • Tobacco • Alcohol • Heroin • Mercury • These all are dangerous teratogens

38. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: (FAS) • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome– Occurs in babies whose mothers drink alcohol during the early months of pregnancy. • Leading cause of MR in USA • Low intelligence / mental retardation • Small head, flat face, misshapen eyes

39. Other Teratogens: • Cigarettes – Miscarriage, low birth weight • Heroin and Cocaine – Baby goes through withdrawal symptoms • Prescription drugs – Various birth defects

40. Lesson Five Objectives: • By the end of this lesson, I will be able to: • 1. Describe the changes that occur during adolescence. • 2. Discuss the changes that occur as we age. • 3. Identify the various stages of dealing with death.

41. Introduction: • Children grow up fast! • Many brain cells and neural networks are created within the first few months of life. • Walking, talking, and learning all happen at a rapid pace

42. Adolescence: • Puberty = sexual maturation • During adolescence, both primary and secondary sex characteristics develop. • Primary sex characteristics – Reproductive organs grow and become “useable” • Secondary sex characteristics – Body hair, chest development, deepening of voice, menstrual cycle (menarche) • Females develop faster than boys

43. Getting Older: • Bad news – physical output, vision, hearing all decrease • Good news – We can slow down and even reverse aging by: • 1. Maintaining a good diet • 2. Staying physically and mentally active

44. Other Aging Terms / Concepts: • Midlife crisis – some see this as a last chance to achieve their goals. • “better to live one day as a lion, than an eternity as a sheep.” • Death and Dying – Kubler-Ross developed “stages of grief/coping” • 1. Denial • 2. Anger • 3. Bargaining • 4. Depression • 5. Acceptance

45. Lesson Six: Objectives • By the end of this lesson, I will be able to: • 1. Define each of Erik Erikson’s stages of development. • 2. Describe how each of these stages applies to our lives.

46. Who is Erik Erikson? • Erikson was a developmental psychologist that created a series of stages he proposed we all go through. • He suggested that healthy “success” in each stage would lead to a happy life. • He hinted at the fact that struggle in any of these stages can lead to maladaptive behavior that can last a lifetime, therefore affecting your overall personality.

47. Psychosocial Stages of Personality Development • Crisis: must adaptively or maladaptively cope with task in each developmental stage • Respond adaptively: acquire strengths needed for next developmental stage • Respond maladaptively: less likely to be able to adapt to later problems

48. Something to Remember: • Stages 1-4, children are mostly dependent on their parents or guardians for successful development. • Stages 5-8, young adults/Adults are responsible for successful development.

50. Stage 1: Basic Trust vs. Mistrust • Birth to age 1 • Totally dependent on others • Caregiver meets needs: child develops trust • Caregiver does not meet needs: child develops mistrust • Basic strength: Hope • Belief our desires will be satisfied • Feeling of confidence