Developmental Psychology

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Developmental Psychology
What physical, cognitive, and social changes take
place over the human lifespan?
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Developmental Psychology
Pre-Natal Development
Zygote - conception to 2 weeks -
period of rapid cell division
Embryo 2 weeks to 9 weeks
Fetus 9 weeks to birth
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Developmental Psychology
Pre-Natal Development
40 days 45 days 60 days 120
days
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Developmental Psychology
Pre-Natal Pathology
Development of the zygote/embryo/fetus may be
altered through exposure to chemicals or viruses
(teratogens).
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Developmental Psychology
Pre-Natal Pathology
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Pre-natal exposure to alcohol can lead to FAS
Symptoms may include poor vision, facial
misproportions, cognitive impairment
Timing of alcohol consumption is more important
than volume of alcohol
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Developmental Psychology
Newborn Development
Newborn babies already show several reflexive
behaviors
Rooting Reflex if touched on the cheek, a
newborn will turn towards the touch (feeding
response)
Babinski Reflex pressure on the sole of the
foot will cause a newborn to extend his/her legs
(locomotor response)
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Developmental Psychology
Testing Newborn Development
We can test some abilities / preferences in
pre-verbal newborns using the phenomenon of
habituation.
In general, the more interesting or novel an
infant finds something, the longer they will look
at it.
As the infant becomes used to the stimulus, they
will look away faster (they habituate to the
stimulus)
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Developmental Psychology
Time Spent Looking
Number of times presented
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Developmental Psychology
Testing Newborn Development
For example, we can test the ability of infants
to discriminate male and female faces
1. Present a series of male faces until the
infant begins shows habituation
2. Present a female face. If looking time
increases again, the infant must see the female
face as a new kind of face.
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Developmental Psychology
Testing Newborn Development
Habituation is also used to assess visual acuity
in newborns. They are presented with a series of
simple black and white grid patterns with
different spatial frequencies.
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Developmental Psychology
Testing Newborn Development
If the newborn cannot tell the difference between
2 grids, they will continue to show habituation
to the new grid. If they can tell the
difference, they will look longer at the new grid.
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Developmental Psychology
Newborn Development
Newborns show a clear preference for stimuli
(sight, smell, sound) associated with the mother.
More generally, newborns prefer face-like shapes
to non-face shapes
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Developmental Psychology
Physiological Development
By the time you are born, you have (almost) all
the neurons you will ever have.
Patterns of neuronal connectivity, however, will
continue to change / modify themselves until
adolescence
While some of these changes are affected by the
environment, most are the result of biological
hard-wiring.
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Developmental Psychology
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Developmental Psychology
Cognitive Development
You will have 15 seconds to study the picture
below. After the image has disappeared, try to
draw it yourself.
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Developmental Psychology
Cognitive Development
Cognition mental activities associated with
thinking, remembering, knowing (higher mental
functions)
Schema a conceptual framework for organizing
and interpreting information
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Developmental Psychology
Cognitive Development
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Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development
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Developmental Psychology
Cognitive Development
Note that Piagets theory is based on the idea of
discrete stages, rather than on continuous
development through childhood. The discrete vs
continuous debate is still an issue in the
developmental psychology of children.
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Developmental Psychology
Sensorimotor stage (0 2 yrs)
Object Permanence the awareness that an object
still exists even when it is out of sight
Children develop the concept of object permanence
during the first 2 years
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word picture object
dog
- to adults, all 3 items refer to a single
concept
- not necessarily the case for young children
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Developmental Psychology
Preoperational Stage (2 6 years
Representational Thought the ability to use
words and/or images to represent objects
Prior to this stage, a child would not identify a
picture of a dog with a real dog (for example)
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Is there more water or less water in the new
container?
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Developmental Psychology
Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 yrs)
Conservation prior to this stage children will
not understand the principle of conservation of
volume
If you pour a tall thin glass of water into a
short wide bowl, a pre-operational child will
tell you there is now less water.
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Developmental Psychology
Formal Operational Stage (12 yrs)
Abstract thinking and moral reasoning become
possible at this stage.
Child is no longer a completely egocentric
individual
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Developmental Psychology
Mathematics in Pre-Verbal Infants
Possible outcome
1. two objects placed in viewer
2. Objects are concealed
3. One object seen to be removed
Impossible outcome
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Developmental Psychology
Mathematics in Pre-Verbal Infants
Infants will stare longer at the impossible
outcome (2 objects still there after one has been
removed)
Suggests that even pre-verbal children have some
innate mathematical/logical abilities
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Attachment emotional tie with another person
Evident in the childs desire for close contact
with their caregiver, and in the distress shown
by infants when separated from their caregiver
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Stranger Anxiety fear of strangers displayed by
infants
Usually begins to appear at about 8 months
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
What is it about the caregiver that the infant
responds to?
Infant monkeys prefer contact with the cloth
mother even when they are fed by the wire
mother
Parent as safe haven
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Critical Period a specific time during which
certain environmental stimuli must be present in
order for optimal development
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Imprinting in many species, there is a critical
period for proper bonding between parent and
offspring (often very soon after birth)
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Parenting Style
The kind of interaction the infant has with its
parent(s) will have an influence on later
behavior / temperament
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Monkeys in the previously mentioned artificial
mother studies were terrified and incapable of
interaction with others when separated from their
mother
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Parenting Styles
Authoritarian
-impose rules and expect obedience
-little or no demonstration of affection
-tends to produce children who do not internalize
social/moral/ethical rules
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Parenting Styles
Permissive -few demands or expectations -child
is basically free to do as they please -also
tends to produce children who do not internalize
social/moral/ethical rules
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Parenting Styles
Authoritative -demands and expectations are
explained to the child -input from the child is
valued -tends to produce self-reliant, socially
competent, children
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Developmental Psychology
Social Development
Parenting Styles
It is important to note that data on the various
parenting styles is correlational, not
experimental, data. There may be a 3rd factor
that influences both the parenting style and the
childs temperament (e.g., the parents get along
with each other)
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Developmental Psychology
Moral Development
Kohlbergs Moral Ladder
Ideally, people should progress through the three
stages as part of a normal moral development
Postconventional
Conventional
Preconventional
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Developmental Psychology
Moral Development
Kohlbergs Moral Ladder
Preconventional Morality I will do what I am
supposed to do in order to avoid punishment
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Developmental Psychology
Moral Development
Kohlbergs Moral Ladder
Conventional Morality I will do what I am
supposed to do because things work better when
everyone follows the rules
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Developmental Psychology
Moral Development
Kohlbergs Moral Ladder
Postconventional Morality I will do (or wont
do) what I am supposed to do because I think (or
dont think) it is the right thing to do