Nature

1. Nature • Innate • Inborn • Hard-wired • Instinctive • Reflex • Maturation • Biological • DNA • Genetic • Biological Parents • Heritability • Similarities of Identical Twins

2. Nurture • Environment • Surroundings • Culture • Raised • Reared • Attachment • Caregivers • Peers • Adoptive Parents • Differences of Identical Twins

3. Dimensions of Development • Physical growth and motor skills • Cognition and intelligence • Language • Social relations and attachment • Moral development

4. Ways to study development Cross Sectional Studies Kids of different ages compared to each other at the same time 20 5-year-olds compared to 20 10-year-olds compared to 20 15-year-olds How are the groups different? 4

5. Longitudinal Studies Same group of people followed as they age 60 5-year-olds, then five years later the same 60 kids as 10-year-olds, then five years later when they are15 years old. Take a Long time to complete As the study goes on people drop out or get lost. This can affect the results. 5

6. Nature or Nurture? John Locke: Newborns are a blank slate (“tabula rasa”). This would mean we are completely shaped by the environment. John Watson: The environment, not nature, molds and shapes development.

7. Heritability Heritability refers to the extent to which the differences among individual peopleare attributable to genes (nature). The fact that Tom is tall while Bill is short is because height is almost 100 percent heritable. (like in the word inherit) But the fact that average height of humans has gone up over the last 200 years is due to changes in the environment (nutrition, health care, etc.)

8. Identical Twins separated at birth and adopted separately are the best way to study Nature vs. Nurture They have the same Nature (genes) but different Nurture because they are raised in different environments. So the ways in which they turn out the same must be from Nature and the ways in which they are different must be from Nurture.

9. Twin Studies and other adoption studies have show that intelligence, temperament and personality are heavily influenced by Nature, but also have some influence of Nurture. Things such as religion, culture, food preferences, social attitudes are heavily Nurture, but may be a little Nature.

10. Stages of PrenatalDevelopment: • When a sperm fertilizes an egg, it becomes a Zygote. • About 10 days later, the zygote implants in the wall of the uterus and is now an Embryo. • After 9 weeks, the embryo becomes a Fetus. • -By 8th month, fetus is sensitive to outside sounds and responsive to light and touch

11. Teratogens Teratogens are harmful chemicals that a fetus is exposed to that can harm its development. Ex: drugs, nicotine, alcohol, pollution, viruses, disease Fetal Alcohol Syndrome – alcohol depresses nervous system activity. In a developing fetus this can cause birth defects and retardation.

12. Reflexes of the Newborn Babies show involuntary, unlearned reactions, or reflexes, in the first weeks after birth Examples of reflexes in infants Grasping reflex - grabbing Rooting reflex - turning toward touch Suckling reflex - breastfeeding Moro reflex - when startled arms flail Babinski reflex - toes lift when sole of foot is rubbed

13. Milestones of Motor Development

14. Maturation The development of the brain unfolds based on genetic instructions, causing various bodily and mental functions to occur in sequence— standing before walking, babbling before talking—this is called maturation. Maturation sets the basic course of development, while experience adjusts it.

15. Individual Temperament Temperament: An infant’s individual style and frequency of expressing needs and emotions Reflects nature’s contribution to the beginning of an individual’s personality Calm or excitable; focused or spacey; pleasant or sour 15

16. Imprinting In some animals, imprintingis the cause of attachment. Konrad Lorenz raised baby ducks to imprint to him and follow him as if he were their mother. This must happen during the critical period. Alastair Miller

17. Importance of Attachment Attachment: A deep, affectionate, close, and enduring relationship with the person with whom a baby has shared many experiences Harlow demonstrated the importance of attachment in research involving monkeys 17

18. Harlow’s monkeys were put in a cage with a wire “mother” that provided food and a terrycloth “mother” that didn’t provide food. The monkey’s spent more time with and showed more attachment to the cloth mother Tactile (touch) Comfort mattered more than food 18

19. Wire and Terrycloth “Mothers” 19

20. Secure Attachment Responsive and Attentive caregivers (mostly mothers) lead to children feeling secure about being cared for Kids who grow up feeling secure are more likely to develop social competence as they grow up. They are generally able to make friends and form supportive relationships. 20

21. Variations in Attachment Mary Ainsworth studies differences in infant’s attachment using the “Strange Situation Test” Secure Attachment: Infants urge to be close to mother is balanced by urge to explore the surrounding environment. They prefer being with mom, but are OK on their own. 21

22. Insecure Attachment Unresponsive or Inattentive caregivers can lead to children feeling insecure – worried, anxious unsure they will be cared for. Kids who grow up feeling insecure are more likely to have social difficulty. They may be aggressive and distrustful. 22

23. Types of Insecure Attachment Avoidant: Infant tends to avoid or ignore mother when she approaches or returns after a brief separation Ambivalent: Infant is upset when mother leaves, but acts angry and rejects mother’s efforts at contact after a brief separation Disorganized: Infant’s behavior is inconsistent, disturbed, and disturbing 23

24. Critical Period A time of extra sensitivity to learning or development. If a task is not mastered during the critical period, the person may be permanently behind Early childhood is a critical period for language. The story of Jeannie Feral children

25. Piaget’sTheory of Cognitive Development Cognitive development proceeds in a series of stages or periods Entering each stage involves a true change in the way of thinking from the previous stage The building blocks of intellectual development are schemas Schemas organize past experiences and provide a framework for understanding future experiences

26. Piaget’s Theory Two complimentary processes guide cognitive development: Assimilation: The process of trying to fit new objects into existing schemas Accommodation: The process of changing schemas to fit new objects

27. Child has dog at home, knows the word “doggy.” Goes to a house with a cat, calls the cat “doggy.” Assimilation – new thing fits what he knows Mom say, no that is a “kitty.” Next time kid sees a cat he says “kitty” Accommodation – he changes what he knows to fit the new thing 27

28. Accommodation – child expands her understanding. Accommodation is at the heart of learning and cognitive development Example: after trying to fit a square block in the triangle hole, a child understands that it won’t fit and they use the square hole. 28

29. Sensorimotor Development Piaget Mental activity is confined to schemas about sensory functions and motor skills This period is marked by the development of object permanence: the understanding that objects exist even when not in view

30. Sensorimotor Stage: Object Permanence

31. PreoperationalDevelopment During first half of the preoperational period, children begin to understand, create, and use symbols to represent things that are not present Language development Language is symbolism

32. Preoperational Children are highly egocentric They appear to believe that the way things look to them is also how they look to everyone else Can only take their own perspective Children don’t have a theory of mind: the ability to think about what others are thinking or feeling

33. Theory of Mind Preschoolers develop the ability to understand another’s mental state when they begin forming a theory of mind. Before having a Theory of Mind, a child would say that Sally will look in the blue cabinet. Upon developing a Theory of Mind, a child understands that just because they know it is in the blue cabinet that doesn’t mean that Sally knows it, so Sally will look in the red cabinet.

34. Preoperational Children display: Animism They think of objects as being alive “My teddy bear misses me” “The ball was hiding from me” Artificialism Thinking natural events were made to happen by someone. “The rain is God crying” Johnny Appleseed planted all the trees

35. Most importantly, Preoperational Children lackConservation. They don’t understand that mass and volume are the same even in different shapes

37. Original Setup Alter as Shown Ask Child Usual Answer Which has more liquid? Conservation of liquid Has more Do they both weigh the same, or does one weigh more than the other? Conservation of mass Weighs more Are there still as many pennies as nickels, or more of one than the other? Conservation of number More Are they the same length, or is one longer? Conservation of length Is longer Is one pencil as long as the other, or is one longer? Conservation of length

38. Concrete Operational Thought About 6 or 7 years old Concrete Operational children understand Conservation Acquiring Conservation is the gateway that sends a kid from Preoperational to Concrete Operational

39. Concrete Operational Thought Concrete Operational children have a better understanding of Reversibility They understand the physical (concrete) world Butthinking is mostly about real, concrete objects. They don’t do well with abstract ideas

40. -The adolescent or adult is able to think about abstractions (the difference between fairness and justice)-Can use hypothetical concepts (“What if”)-Is able to speculate or use propositional (root word: propose) reasoning: “If, then” Formal Operational (12+)

41. Modifying Piaget’s Theory Modern research shows that Cognitive development is not a sudden, permanent shift from one way of thinking to another. Instead children begin using the different ways of thinking more frequently, but for a little while still show thinking from both stages Piaget also underestimated the thinking of babies. Children’s knowledge and mental strategies develop at different ages in different areas

42. Modern research studies the memory of babies using the process of Habituation(from the root work habit) - the more a baby is used to something, (if it is familiar or expected) the less the baby will stare at it. If something is new, unfamiliar or unexpected, the baby will stare at it longer.

43. Variations in Cognitive Development Cognitive development can be impaired if raised in a stimulation-deprived environment But can’t be “sped-up” much

44. Erikson’s Psychosoical Stages Eric Erikson was important because he extended the idea of stages into adulthood and covered the entire lifespan. His theory was that each stage, we faced a conflict that we had to resolve within ourselves.

46. Three distinct Parenting Styles of European-American parents: Authoritarian: Parents tend to be strict, punishing, and unsympathetic “Because I said so!” Permissive: Parents give their children freedom and provide little discipline. Either out of disinterest or because they want to be “cool.”

47. Parenting Styles Authoritative: Parents are still the authority but child has input Discussion, compromise, explain reasons Authoritative parenting correlated (but not perfectly) with more successful life outcomes.

48. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning Preconventional Level: Moral choices tend to be selfish in nature Follow rules to gain reward or avoid punishment Consequences is what matters

49. Conventional Level: Choices based on following rules and social conventions. Morality comes from others “It’s the law” “That’s just how everyone behaves”

50. Postconventional Level: Moral judgments are based on personal standards or universal principles of justice, equality, and respect for human life Civil Disobedience, MLK, Ghandi