Human Development

1. Human Development AP Psychology

2. What is Covered in This Chapter? • Describe the physical development of infants and children from conception to puberty. • Analyze the cognitive development of infants and children. • Evaluate the importance of social development in infants and children. • Define adolescence and evaluate how adolescence has changed over the last century. • Summarize Piaget’s theories of child development. • Describe and analyze Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning. • Describe how nature and nurture affect behavior. • Describe how developmental psychologists research development over the lifespan.

3. Schedule of Events: • Day One – LS 1 - Key Issues and Theories in Dev. Psychology • Day Two – Gender Roles Intro / How to be a good wife • Day Three – LS 2 – Where do Gender Roles Come From / Go over revised Wife • Day Four – LS 1 / LS 2 Quiz / LS 3 Methods of Studying Development / Class Divided • Day Five – LS 4 - Physical Development Part 1 (Birth) • Day Six – LS 3 and 4 Quiz / LS 5 - Physical Development Part 2 (Adolescence & Cognitive Changes in Aging (pg. 170) / Death and Dying (Kubler-Ross) • Day Seven – LS 6 – Piaget / Class activity • Day Eight – LS 5 & 6 Quiz / LS 7 – Vygotsky / Harlow / Ainsworth • Day Nine – LS 8 – Baumrind’s Parenting Styles / Activity • Day Ten – LS 7 & 8 Quiz / LS 9 – Kohlberg / Dilemmas • Day Eleven – LS 10 – Erikson / Grandma Video • Day Twelve – Review • Day Thirteen - TEST

4. What Are We Doing Today? • By the end of this lesson I will be able to: • 1. Describe what developmental psychologists research. • 2. Discuss the difference between several developmental theories.

5. Introduction: • We all are born pretty much the same way. • Almost all children walk by the age of 1 and talk by the age of 2. • Then why are we so different when we grow up? • Genetics, experience?

6. Developmental Issues • 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?

7. 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. • Remember John Locke?? – Tabula Rasa

8. Continuity vs. (Discontinuity) Stages: • Change Happens. • Are we like trees? – Grow slowly over time. • Are we like caterpillars? – Grow in distinct stages. • Is developmental change gradual or continuous? • Or does it proceed through a sequence of separate stages.

9. Cont. • What about people that are developmentally ahead? • There are children that walk, talk, and eat solid foods earlier than others. • What about child prodigies? • They have seemed to break through the stages faster than others.

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?

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 roles – sets of expectations that prescribe how males and females should act, think, and feel. • Gender identity – our personal sense of being male or female.

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. Two Key Terms: • Gender Role Stereotypes – what is socially acceptable for boys and girls (colors, hobbies, etc.) • Androgyny – recognizing desirable masculine and feminine characteristics in the same individual.

21. Turn and Talk: 4 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?

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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.

25. 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 • Cohort Effect – Differences in the experiences of each age group as a result of growing up in different historical times.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. Turn and Talk: 3 min • 1. Which of these research methods do you think would yield the most in depth results? • 2. Are some of these research methods more applicable in certain situations and not others? • 3. What are some other potential pitfalls of using a longitudinal approach?

29. 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.

30. :20 How are we feeling today? • Great • Good • Average • Not so good • Bad

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

32. 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.

33. 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

34. 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.

35. 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

36. 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.

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

38. 20 Which one of the following is not considered a dangerous teratogen? • Tobacco • Alcohol • Heroin • Mercury • These all are dangerous teratogens

39. 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

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

41. 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.

42. 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

43. 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

44. 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

45. 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

46. 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.

47. 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.

48. 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

49. 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.