Developmental Psychology

1. Developmental Psychology A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social changes throughout the lifespan.

2. What are the stages of prenatal development including the zygote, embryo, and fetus? • What are the maturation stages (of baby)? • What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development? • What are Ainsworth’s attachment styles? • What are Diane Baumrind’s parenting styles? • What are Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development? • What are Kolberg’s stages of moral development?

3. Prenatal Development • Conception begins with the drop of an egg and the release of about 200 million sperm. • The sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to penetrate the eggs surface.

4. Once the sperm penetrates the egg- we have a fertilized egg called…….. The Zygote The first stage of prenatal development. Lasts about two weeks and consists of rapid cell division.

5. After two weeks, the zygote develops into a Embryo

6. By nine weeks we have something that looks unmistakably human… A Fetus

7. Teratogensharmful agents to the prenatal environment

8. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome • Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant women’s heavy drinking. • Severe cases symptoms include facial disproportions.

9. So what will a healthy newborn do? Reflexes • Rooting Reflex- a babies tendency, when touched on the cheek to open mouth • Sucking - requires sequence of tonguing, swallowing breathing Gaze longer at human face like images. Turn towards human voices.

10. The Competent Newborn • Habituation • Novelty-preference procedure • Sensation and perception

11. The _____ is the structure that allows nutrients to pass from the mom to the fetus. A. zygote B. amnion C. uterus D. placenta

12. The embryonic stage of prenatal development refers to the A. formation of a zygote B. implantation of the fertilized egg on the uterine wall C. the 2nd through 8th weeks of prenatal development D. the last 7 months of pregnancy

13. Maria is concerned about taking OTC allergy meds while pregnant. She should be most concerned if her pregnancy is at A. placental stage B. germinal stage C. fetal stage D. embryonic stage

14. The 3rd stage of prenatal development lasts from 2 months until the end is called A. postgerminal stage B. embryonic stage C. fetal stage D. postnatal stage

15. Infancy and Childhood Social Development

16. Physical DevelopmentBrain Development • Brain development • Pruning process • Maturation

17. Physical DevelopmentMotor Development • Motor development • Learning to walk

18. Physical DevelopmentMaturation and Infant Memory • Infantile amnesia Thank goodness I have no memory of this!

19. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

20. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development • Mind develops through a series of stages in an upward movement from newborn to adult

21. Learning • Schemas - mental constructs - Organized units of knowledge about objects, events, and actions • Cognitive adaptation involves two processes • Assimilation is the interpretation of new experiences in terms of present schemes • Accommodation is the modification of present schemes to fit with new experiences

22. Schemas • For example, a child may call all four-legged creatures “doggie” • The child learns he needs to accommodate (i.e., change) his schemes, as only one type of four-legged creature is “dog” • It is through accommodation that the number and complexity of a child’s schemes increase and learning occurs

23. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

24. Sensorimotor Stage 0-2 • Infant learns about the world through their sensory and motor interactions (including reflexes) • Lack object permanence - knowledge that an object exists even if it can’t be seen or 1111111 heard until about 8 months. 2. Symbolic representation - using a symbol to represent an object • First one-word stage then, telegraphic speech tttttttttttttttttt develops in the latter part of this stage Bunny

26. Stranger Anxiety • Stranger Anxiety - a form of distress that • children experience when exposed to people • unfamiliar to them. ...

27. Stranger Anxiety Wouldn’t you be afraid if you saw this man?

28. Sensorimotor Stage 4. Circular reaction – tendency to repeat novel experiences ; repetition of an action over and over again Ex. – kicking a mobile with feet 5. Self awareness

29. Preoperational Stage • Age 2-7 • Symbolic thinking – give labels to things they see; develop schemas • Egocentrism - Can’t view a situation from any other way but their own. • Creative play - pretend play & imagination • Role-playing – mommy & daddy, doctor

30. Preoperational Stage • Illogical Thinking • Lack of Conservation – “the awareness that a quantity remains the same despite a change in its appearance” • Centration- tendency to focus on only one aspect of a problem at a time • Irreversiblity - inability to realize that certain process can be undone or reversed

31. Tests of Conservation

32. Theory of Mind Ability to know other people have a mind of their own Can empathize, tease, persuade Others can hold false beliefs Begins to develop in latter part of preoperational stage, fully in concrete operational

33. Autism • Autism Spectrum Disorder – disorder characterized by communication deficiencies and repetitive behaviors • Impaired Theory of Mind • Less mirror neuron activity • Aspergers – variation of autism (high functioning) • Normal intelligence, exceptional skill in one area but deficient social and communication skills • Gender– male dominated 1:4 • Males better systemizers – understand things according to rules or laws • Men over 40 have higher risk of fathering autistic child - higher frequency of random genetic mutations

34. Concrete Operational Stage • Ages 7-12 • Logical Thinking about concrete events • Bi-dimensional thinking – understand dual meaning of words • Divergent thinking – ability to see multiple solutions • Multiple classification - understanding that objects can fit into multiple categories

35. Concrete Operational Stage 5. Conservation 6. Arithmetic operations 7. Reversibility - understanding that numbers and objects can change and then return to their original state 8. Difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical events 9. Trial and error problem solving

36. Formal Operational Stage • 12-adult • ability to think about abstract concepts • Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic planning • Potential for mature moral reasoning • Inferential Reasoning

37. Formal Operational Stage 5. Hypothetical Reasoning - Imaginary situation based on certain proven or assumed facts Ex. You discover that your wonderful one-year-old child is, because of a mix-up at the hospital, not yours. What would you do? 6. Algorithms to solve problems

38. Formal Operational Stage • In one scientific thinking task, the child is shown several flasks of what appear to be the same clear liquid and is told one combination of two of these liquids would produce a clear liquid • The task is to determine which combination would produce the blue liquid • The concrete operational child would…. • The formal operational child would…

39. Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory • Influential Research • Underestimated Cognitive Abilities of Infants • Research that involved tracking infants’ eye movements has found that infants as young as 3 months continue to stare at the place where the object disappeared from sight, indicating some degree of object permanence • Overestimated Egocentrism • Theory of mind

40. Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory • Underestimated the continuity of cognitive development - does not always progress in a smooth manner • More support for sequence of changes than for timing of changes • Not all people reach formal operational thought • The theory may be biased in favor of Western culture • There is no real theory of what occurs after the onset of adolescence

42. A baby looks under the sofa for a ball that has just rolled underneath it. According to Jean Piaget, the baby’s action shows development of • conservation of mass • reversibility • logical thinking • object permanence

43. Conservation of matter is mastered in which of the following Piagetian stages • sensorimotor • preoperational • concrete operational • postoperational • formal operational

44. The first time that 4-year old Sara saw her older brother play a flute, she thought it was a large whistle. Sarah’s initial understanding of the flute best illustrates the process of • Assimilation • Egocentrism • Conservation • Accomodation • Maturation

45. According to Piaget, a child can represent things with words and images but can’t reason with logic during the ________stage. • Concrete operational • Sensorimotor • Formal operational • Preoperational • Postconventional

46. The ability of preschool children to empathize with classmates who are feeling sad illustrates that preoperational children have developed • A sense of integrity • Conventional morality • A theory of mind • A concept of conservation • postconventional

47. Vygotsky • Social learning Theory • Child’s mind grows through social interaction • Zone of proximal development – zone between what a child can learn with and without support • Scaffolding – helpful interactions between adult and child that enable the child to do something beyond his or her independent efforts • Words are important part of scaffolding

48. Social Development • Attachment - An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress in separation. • Stranger Anxiety – fear of strangers; begins about 8 months • Schemas are a cause

49. Stranger AnxietyNeed I say more?

50. Factors of Attachment • Body Contact • Harry Harlow’s studies • Familiarity • Critical period • Imprinting • Sensitive period • Responsive Parenting