Developmental Psychology Focus Birth to 5 years

1. Developmental PsychologyFocus Birth to 5 years

2. Cognitive Development Socio-emotional development Developmental Psychopathology/ Clinical What does “developmental psychology” include? • Cognitive Development:memory, language, reasoning • Socio-emotional development: emotion, socialisation • Developmental psychopathology: development of psychological disorder

3. Overview –developmental psychology; why study it? Cognitive development – memory Why do we remember so little from our early years? Socio-emotional development – attachment, families Early experiences - long-term effects? Influence of families? Developmental psychopathology - What shapes development of psychological disorder? What are we looking at?

4. Theories • Stage Theories: Piaget (cognitive development)Kohlberg (moral development), Erikson (personality development) • Development is in steps, one after the other • The behaviour of that stage is available under certain circumstances

5. Theories • Interactive Theories: Vygotsky (cognitive development), Bowlby et al (attachment), Bronfenbrenner (ecological) • Development happens in a sequence but not as rigidly • The focus is on the circumstances that allow development • The interaction of different influences

6. Childhood to Adolescence • Domains of development • Interconnected • Development in one domain depends on development in another • Spurts occur • Continuum of development • Individual differences

7. Figure 10.5 Stage theories of development

8. Infants: "One cannot love humps of flesh and little infants are nothing more (Samuel Johnson) … Children: Until 1880s, no child protection laws “Children of amiable temper ..at 7 years, often return from the collieries … with most hellish dispositions” (Shaftesbury) Views of Children

9. First theories: Research methods, theories relatively unrefined Freud: biological drives, esp. sexual, crucial 20th century: enormous influence Child as scientist, explorer, inquirer (Piaget, Vygotsky, Siegel) => Study of child development as science Beginnings of research on children..

10. Focus of our research…

11. Most powerful learning machine/scientist in the universe Brain: millions of new connections Eyes: decipher others’ each day deepest feelings Ears: comes to turn Mouth (and fingers) sound into language precision exploration And highly ready to socialise Current view …Developmental Science which studies, amongst other things …

12. 3 year-old: Can label emotions and identify their causes 4-year-old: 4000 -5000 words in vocabulary Recall events from one year ago Rapid, but uneven, developmental change Child as Scientist Most powerful learning machine/scientist in the universe..

13. Raising children Guiding social policy Understanding human nature - answering Big Questions Why study developmental psychology? • Ultimate aim: • develop interventions to improve wellbeing of humankind

14. Raising children: Is my young child’s attachment to me likely to stay the same? How should I discipline my child? We will consider these questions! Why study developmental psychology?

15. Raising children contd.. How do I help my child understand and manage strong feelings? Developmental Psychology- why study it?

16. Raising children: what else can I do? “teaching” children to recognise and label their emotions: Developmental Psychology- why study it? embarrassment pride shame

17. Raising children: parents as “emotion coaches”.. Developmental Psychology- why study it?

18. Guiding social policies Example 1: When can children be reliable eye witnesses? Importance of experimental research on memory Why study developmental psychology?

19. Guiding social policies When might their reports be incorrect? After delay When interviewer asks “leading” questions When someone else gives “leading” information…… Critical importance of well-trained interviewers Why study developmental psychology?

20. Understanding human nature Many of the most interesting – BIG - questions regarding human nature concern children. Example 1: Other minds problem: When do children know that other people have minds – including thoughts, feelings, that may differ from their own? Why study developmental psychology?

21. Understanding human nature How do we investigate the other minds problem? False belief task: Where does Bert think the ball is? Where is the ball really? Why study developmental psychology?

22. Understanding of human nature contd. When and how does an understanding of others’ minds develop? Between 3 and 5 years, continuum Learnt via family conversation about mental states? Learning begins in infancy. Why study developmental psychology?

23. Understanding human nature contd. What happens if child has difficulty in this area? Poorer social skills, poor sensitivity to others If severe, associated with severe social difficulties; e.g., autism Why study developmental psychology?

24. Why study developmental psychology? • Understanding human nature contd • Example 2:What factors shape emotional and cognitive development across the life-span?

25. Child development as developmental science Why study it? Raising children Guiding social policy Answering Big Questions about human nature, including developmental pathways through life ⇒ improving children’s wellbeing! So - in summary

26. Progress Before Birth:Prenatal Development • 3 phases • germinal stage = first 2 weeks • conception, implantation, formation of placenta • embryonic stage = 2 weeks – 2 months • formation of vital organs and systems • fetal stage = 2 months – birth • bodily growth continues, movement capability begins, brain cells multiply • age of viability

27. Figure 10.1 Overview of fetal development

28. Environmental Factorsand Prenatal Development • Maternal nutrition • Malnutrition linked to increased risk of birth complications, neurological problems, and psychopathology • Maternal drug use • Tobacco, alcohol, prescription, and recreational drugs • Fetal alcohol syndrome

29. Environmental Factorsand Prenatal Development • Maternal illness • Rubella, syphilis, mumps, genital herpes, AIDS, severe influenza • Prenatal health care • Prevention through guidance

30. The Childhood Years: Motor Development • Basic Principles • Cephalocaudal trend – head to foot • Proximodistal trend – center-outward • Maturation – gradual unfolding of genetic blueprint • Developmental norms – median age • Cultural variations

31. The Growth of Thought:Cognitive Development • Jean Piaget (1920s-1980s) • Assimilation/ Accommodation • 4 stages and major milestones • Sensorimotor • Object permanence • Preoperational • Centration, Egocentrism • Concrete Operational • Decentration, Reversibility, Conservation • Formal Operational • Abstraction

32. Figure 10.7 Piaget’s stage theory

33. Language • Baby Human Language Development

34. Self Awareness • self awareness shopping cart • Self awareness scale

35. Facial Recognition • Early focus • Facial recognition 1

36. Early Emotional Development: Attachment • Separation anxiety • Ainsworth (1979) • The strange situation and patterns of attachment • Secure • Anxious-ambivalent • Avoidant

37. Attachment • What is attachment? • Do early attachment relationships and styles stay stable, or do they change? • Can the effects of early problems in attachment be “fixed”?

38. Attachment • Emotional bond between infants and carers • Developed from work of John Bowlby (1953) • WWII children reared in institutions, separated from parents: • Some – withdrawn, isolated • Some – overactive, distractible, abusive • Many – no feeling for others • WHY? Disruption of relationship with caregiver (mother) • Bowlby attachment

39. Attachment • Emotional bond between infants and carers • Bowlby: • Profound influence on policy re: children’s hospitalisation • Laura, aged 2 years, on film: Protest => Despair => Denial grief, confusion; distraught withdrawn, apathetic seems happy, shuns mother Child’s “grievous need” of mother

40. Attachment • Bowlby: • for infant to grow up mentally healthy: “warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment”

41. What can we learn from animals? Other species: biological programming to seek the familiar. What is attachment? Let’s do a detour…

42. Konrad Lorenz Attachment in animals: Imprinting In some species, Imprinting: basis for attachment to mother (e.g., ducklings, chicks) Follow, become attached to, first moving object

43. Occurs most readily during specific time period (e.g., few days after hatching) Sensitive period Do human infants manifest a sensitive period? No: Attachment relationships emerge more gradually

44. Big Question addressed by Harlow: Nature of love and attachment Rhesus monkeys Raised by mothers, relatives Harlow’s “monkey love” experiments

45. Young monkeys raised by surrogate mothers, isolated from other monkeys Harlow: Nature of love and attachment Soft cloth Both can dispense milk wire

46. Harlow: Nature of love and attachment • Harlow’s observations: • Even when food dispensed by wire mother • Infants chose cloth mother

47. Harlow’s observations: Even when food dispensed by wire ‘mother’, preferred cloth “mother” in other ways: Explored in unfamiliar situation Bar pressed to see when separated Harlow: Nature of love and attachment

48. Harlow: Nature of love and attachment Harlow’s observations: When had no choice of “mother” Behaviour differed when frightened: • rubbed against mother • ⇒ calm, playful, • inquisitive • PSYCHOLOGICAL • BASE • no approach to mother • ⇒ threw selves on floor, • rocked • NO BASE

49. Harlow: Nature of love and attachment • Harlow’s observations: • Infants isolated from all living things for 3 mths-1year: • Longer isolation => more dramatic effects • Huddled, clasped selves, rocked, even with normally reared age-mates.

50. Harlow’s observations: As adults, isolated infants incompetent in sexual and parenting: Partner: failure to conceive Parenting: negligent or abusive Harlow: Nature of love and attachment