Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology Theories and Theorists

Social Development • Up until about a year, infants do not mind strange people (maybe because everyone is strange to them). • At about 6mths – 1yr, infants develop stranger anxiety. • STRANGER ANXIETY is the fear of strangers. • Infants form schemas for familiar faces and cannot assimilate a new face.

Attachment Placed in a strange situation, 70% show secure attachment. They explore their environment happily in the presence of their mothers but distressed when mom leaves. The other 30% show insecure attachment. These children cling to their mothers or caregivers and are less likely to explore the environment.

Origins of Attachment • Harry showed that monkeys needed touch to form attachment. • Harlow (1971) showed that infants bond with surrogate mothers because of bodily contact and not because of nourishment. • Those who are deprived of touch have trouble forming attachment when they are older.

Types of Attachment • Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation. • Three types of attachment: • Secure • Anxious / Avoidant • Anxious / Resistant

Parenting Styles – (Baumrind) AuthoritarianParents Permissive Parents Authoritative Parents

Sigmund Freud • We all have a libido (sexual drive). • Our libido travels to different areas of our body throughout our development. • If we become preoccupied with any one area, Freud said we have become fixated on it. • Together Freud called these stages our Psychosexual Stages of Development.

Oral Stage (0-2) • Babies seek pleasure through out mouths. • Fixated people overeat, smoke or have a childhood dependence on things.

Anal Stage (2-4) • Develops during toilet training • Libido is focused on controlling waste and expelling waste • A person fixated may become overly controlling (retentive) or out of control (expulsive)

Phallic Stage (4-7) • Children 1st recognize gender • Causes conflict in families with the Oedipus and ElectraComplexes • Fixation can cause later problems in relationships

Latency Stage (7-11) • Libido is hidden • Cooties stage • Freud believed that fixation in this stage could lead to sexual issues

Genital Stage (12 - RIP) • Libido is focused on their genitals • Freud thought fixation in this stage is normal

Erik Erikson—SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT • A neo-Freudian • Personality is influenced by our experiences with others • Created Stages of Psychosocial Development where each stage centers on a social conflict

Trust v. Mistrust (0-1) • The trust or mistrust they develop can carry on with the child for the rest of their lives • All about control • Control bodies (toilet training) • Control people (temper tantrums, saying NO) • They either learn control or will they doubt themselves Autonomy V. Shame & Doubt (1-3)

Initiative V. Guilt (3-6) • Favourite question - WHY? • Want to understand the world and ask questions • Curiosity is encouraged or scolded • Start School – evaluated by school and peers • Feeling good and bad about accomplishments • Can lead to inferiority complex Industry v. Inferiority (6-12)

Identity v. Role Confusion (12-19) • Teenage years – try different roles • Ask - Who am I? What group do I fit in? • May develop an identity crisis • Balance work and relationships. Must prioritize • Struggle to form close relationships and gain capacity for intimate love…or, feel isolation Intimacy v. Isolation (20-25)

Generativity v. Stagnation (26-64) • Re-evaluating goals / purpose / happiness • Mid – life crisis • Reflect on life • Contemplate meaningfulness, Successes, failures, regrets Integrity v. Despair (65- ?)

Jean Piaget – COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT • Cognitive development- information processing, concepts, and perceptual skill. The construction of thought processes (remembering, problem solving, and decision-making), from childhood through adolescence to adulthood • 4 Stages / Levels

Important Terms First!!! • Schema – Ways we interpret the world around us (picture in our heads) • Assimilation – incorporating new experiences into existing schemas. Eg, meeting someone new • Accomodation – Changing an existing schema to adopt new info. Eg, Campion

Sensorimotor stage (0-2) • Experience world through senses • Developing object permanence • Understands some symbols and language • Develops language, symbol use, memory and imagination • Nonlogical thinking • Ego-centric • Does not understand conservation Pre-operational Stage (2-6)

Conservation

Types of Conservation Tasks

Concrete Operational stage (7-11) • Develops logic • Understands symbol use • Demonstrates conservation • Develops abstract reasoning • Hypothesis testing • Trial and error • Metacognition • Not all adults reach this stage Formal Operational Stage (12- Adult)

Kohlberg & Gilligan – Moral Development • Moral development - the process through which children develop proper attitudes and behaviours toward other people in society, based on social and cultural norms, rules, and laws. Kohlberg Gilligan

Heinz Steals the Drug In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that? (Kohlberg, 1963, p. 19)

Criticisms of Kohlberg Carol Gilligan pointed out that Kohlberg only tested boys. Boys tend to have more absolute value of morality. Girls tend top look at situational factors.

Developmental Psychology