Development

(question it asks)

Question: Is there any common pattern in the developmental progression that marks the developmental history of each human life? If so, what is it? 

Methods in Developmental Psychology

    1. Cross-Sectional: Different Ages

    2. Longitudinal: same person across time

3. Biographical: Reconstruct past through interviews and investigating the effect of past events on a person’s current behavior.

Prenatal Development

Fertilized egg to embryo (first 8 weeks) to fetus

 Problem if teratogens (toxic substances form the environment ex-alcohol, drugs) that can damage the developing baby

The Nature/Nurture Debate

Genetic Influence on Behavior: Chromosomes which affect physical and psychological development. 

Many argue that heredity sets an upper limit and learning affects how closely limits might be approached.  

Newborn (web Pix)

They sense the world around them, and understand things that are said and done to them.

They imitate adults

born with number of useful reflexes

Rooting Reflex- they turn towards finger for food

  Grasping Reflex- they grab on you

Stepping reflex- You lift them up, they try to step

  Sucking Reflex- Allows them to eat

Infant Sensation and Perceptual Development (newborn)

At first things look fuzzy to an infant.

Visual acuity develops by 6-8 months (full vision)

Infants can see some color even in the first week of life, but they are more interested in contrasts initially (black and white contrasts)

Physical Development in a child

      In the first year of life a child will grow 10 inches in height and gain 15 pounds.

Development will slow downs in adolescence 

Physical Development of a child follows a regular course know as maturation

Motor Development at approximately 15 months, a child starts to walk. 

Everybody Follows Oder of Locomotion

Cognitive Development

Intelligence Growth

o   Perceiving, reasoning, imagining, problem              solving, use of memory

o   Novice to expert

o   How you think about the world

Stages in Cognitive Development

   1) Sensorimotor (birth to 2)

   2) Preoperational (2-7)

 3) Concrete Operations (7 to 11)

   4) Formal Operation (11 and Up)

Sensorimotor 

(birth to 2)

At birth there is no sensory impressions

no distinction between stable and fleeting 

Starting to develop object permanence (baby has no idea where the monkey is)

Preoperational

ages 2-7

Centrism- cannot take viewpoint of others 

Cannot have another perception

cannot perceive both height and volume

Concrete Operations 

ages 7 to 11

Can take into account 2 perceptual factors

juice with two different size glasses

Formal Operations

11 and Up

Reasoning apart from concrete situations

Reality is what might be (hypothesis)

Differences in formal Reasoning

Social Development

Begins with the first human bond- attachment to person who takes care of them (lays foundation for all later relationships)

Social Development includes

     Mother

   Father

            Family

Peers of same sex and peers of different sex

attachment

·      If there is not attachment (due to separation) distress may result

Research by Harry Harlow (on monkeys) found out no attachment is bad!

Origins of attachment

  Original view of attachment was that it served an adaptive function

  Parents fulfilled physical needs such as eating and drinking

 But, Harlow also showed that love of mother goes beyond bodily needs

In experiments, he showed that the monkeys prefer the security (cloth monkey) and a safe place to explore rather than a feeding monkey.

17 hours on cloth monkey 1 on feeding

Childhood Socialization

·      Process by which a child acquires patterns of thought and behavior that are characteristic of the society in which he/she is born.(our society, there are certain basic rules you follow, so when you meet someone for the first time, you say hello goodbye.  You say thanks no matter what.)

Morality

system of beliefs, values, and underlying judgments about the rightness of wrongness of acts

taught by family (limited context)

moral codes

You learn rules (moral codes) they must be learned and internalized to deal with others.

 These moral codes are adopted so that they control behavior even when there are no external rewards or punishments.  (If you help someone who dropped something, your parents aren’t there to reward u)

Adolescence

·      Transition period- child to adult

·      Initiation rites in some societies

Biological changes

1. Physical and Sexual Maturity 

2. Body Proportions change (hair on body, voice)

3. Puberty- being able to reproduce for 1st time

Psychological changes

8 things

1. Maturing of sex attitudes

2. Ambivalence and Stress

3. Identity Crisis 

4. Though no longer dependent on direct experience

5. Become person on one's own

6. Committing to basic beliefs

7. Deciding on a preferred social and vocational role

8. Formal thought