Chapter 9 Notes - Human Development PDF

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PSYCHOLOGY: CHAPTER 9 – Human Development

1. Exploring Human Development - Development – refers to the pattern of continuity and change in human capabilities that occurs throughout the course of life Developmental psychology is interested in HOW people change – physically and psychologically as they age Changes occur in different levels: 1) Physical processes – changes in individual’s biological nature a. Genes from parents b. Hormonal changes c. Changes throughout life  brain, height, weight & motor skills d. Maturation – biological growth processes 2) Cognitive processes – changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence and language a. Constructing sentences about future, imagining future self, memorization b. Reflect role of cognitive processes in development 3) Socioemotional processes – changes in individual’s relationships with other people, in emotions and personality a. Baby’s smile responding to mother’s touch, development of assertiveness, older couple’s affection Research Methods in Developmental Psychology - Cross-sectional studies – number of people of different ages are assessed at one point in time and differences are noted o Try and relate to the characteristics measured, researchers try to make connections/differences between ages  PROBLEM: cohorot effects – differences between individuals that stem not necessarily from their ages but from the historical and social time period when they were born and developed Cohort is generational group (born in same time period) - Longitudinal study – assesses the same participants multiple times over a lengthy period o Can find out if age groups differ but whether same individuals change with respect to particular characteristic as they age How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development? - Nature – refers to person’s biological inheritance, especially his or her genes - Nurture – refers to individual’s environmental and social experiences o Phenotype shows contributions of both nature (genetic heritage) and nurture (environment) Are Early or Later Life Experiences More Important in Development? Developmental psychologist debate if early experiences or later experiences are more significant.  some believe if infants don’t receive warmth and caregiving first year of life, won’t develop into full potential.

- Life-span developmentalists – study both children and adults o Claim research has given little attention to adult development and aging o Say both early and later experience make significant contributions to development - Resilience – person’s ability to recover from or adapt to difficult times o Can refer to the factors that compensate for difficulties, buffering the individual from the effects of these, or the fact that moderate difficulties may themselves help to promote development o Researchers have found that resilient children have strong intellectual functioning or a close, supportive relationship

2. Child Development Focus on fundamental developmental processes – physical, cognitive, and socioemotional—of childhood. Prenatal Development  The Course of Prenatal Development 1) Germinal period – weeks 1 and 2: begins with conception. After 1 week the zygote is formed 2) Embryonic period – weeks 3 through 8: rate of cell differentiation intensifies, support systems for cells develop, and beginnings of organs appear a. Spinal cord forms, heart begins to beat, arms and legs differentiate, face starts to form and intestinal tract forms 3) Fetal period – months 2 through 9: at 2 months, fetus is size of kidney and starts moving around.  Threats to the Fetus - Teratogen – any agent that causes a birth defect  substances ingested by mother and certain illnesses that can lead to birth defects o Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) – cluster of abnormalities and problems that appear in the offspring of mothers who drink alcohol heavily during pregnancy o Preterm infant – one born prior to 37 weeks after conception may be at risk for developmental difficulties Cognitive Development in Childhood - Cognitive development – how thought, intelligence and language processes change as people mature - Cognition – the way individuals think and also to their cognitive skills and abilities  Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development - Jean Piaget o Believed children actively construct their cognitive world as they enter new stages of life o Schema – mental concept or framework that organizes and provides a structure for interpreting information, also various behaviors and skills - Two processes for developing schemas:

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o Assimilation – when individuals incorporate new information into existing knowledge  Applies old ways of doing things to a new experience o Accommodation – individuals adjust their schemas to new information: rather than using old ways of doing things, new experience promotes new ways of dealing with experience Sensorimotor Stage o Piaget’s first stage – from birth to about 2 years of age o Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences (seeing/hearing) with motor actions o Object permanence – term for the crucial accomplishment of understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot directly be seen, heard or touched  Nativist approach – infants possess primitive expectancies about events and objects in the world that are less dependent upon experience Preoperational Stage o Piaget’s second stage – from 2 to 7 years of age o More symbolic than sensorimotor thought  LANGUAGE o Begin to represent their world with words, images and drawings  Conservation – belief in the permanence of certain attributes of objects despite superficial changes  Egocentrism – cannot put themselves in someone else’s shoes  Intuitive thought – children make judgments based on gut feelings rather than logic Concrete Operational Stage o Piaget’s third stage – 7 to 11 years of age o Using operation and replacing intuitive reasoning with logical reasoning in concrete situations  Ability to classify things into different sets or subsets and to consider their relationships  playing sorting games Formal Operational Stage o Piaget’s fourth stage – 11 to 15 years of age o More abstract and logical than concrete operational – thinking about things that are not concrete, making predictions using logic to come up with hypothesis about the future  Idealistic thinking – involves comparing how things are to how they might be  Hypothetical-deductive reasoning – denotes adolescents ability to develop hypotheses, or best hunches, about ways to solve a problem such as an algebraic equation...also systematically deduce or come to a conclusion about best path for solving the problem

 Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory - Lev Vygotsky o Russian psychologist who recognized that cognitive development is an interpersonal process that happens in a cultural context - Thought children as apprentice thinkers who develop as they talk with more knowledgeable people (parents/teachers) o Expert thinkers spur cognitive development by interacting with a child  these interactions allow child’s cognitive abilities to be built higher and higher Socioemotional Developmental in Infancy and Childhood  Temperament - An individual’s behavioral style and characteristic way of responding - Three basic temperaments in children: 1) The easy child – positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy and easily adapts to new experiences 2) The difficult child – reacts negatively and cry frequently, engages in irregular daily routines, slow to accept new experiences 3) The slow-to-warm-up child – low activity level, semi-negative, cautious in face of new experiences  Attachment - Infant attachment – the close emotional bond between an infant and its caregiver - Secure attachment – infants use the caregiver, usually the mother, as a secure base from which to explore the environment o Strange situation  secure infant upset when mother leaves, calms down, then happy when returns  Erikson’s Theory of Socioemotional Development - Erik Erikson o eight stages of development from infancy through old age (first four in childhood; last four in adolescence and adulthood) - viewed socioemotional development as a LIFELONG process, marked by important developmental milestones in young and middle adulthood and into old age 1) Trust vs. Mistrust a. Trust is built in infancy (birth to 18 months) when basic needs are met by sensitive caregivers; once trust is established, toddlers see themselves as independent agents in the world 2) Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt a. Toddlerhood (18 mo. To 3 years) – children develop either positive sense of independence and autonomy or negative feelings of shame and doubt b. Likely to develop strong sense of independence 3) Initiative vs. Guilt

a. Early childhood (3 to 5 years) – experience what it’s like to make own interests and friendships and responsibilities  if not, may feel guilty 4) Industry vs. Inferiority a. Middle and late childhood (6 years to puberty) – achieve industry by mastering knowledge and intellectual skills, if not = inferior  Parenting and Childhood Socioemotional Development o Four basic styles of interaction w/ parents and kids: 1) Authoritarian parenting – restrictive punitive style in which the parent exhorts the child to follow the parent’s directions a. “doing things the parent’s way” 2) Authoritative parenting – parenting style that encourages the child to be independent but that still places limits and controls on behavior 3) Neglectful parenting – parenting style characterized by a lack of parental involvement in the child’s life a. “not involved in child’s life” 4) Permissive parenting – parenting style characterized by the placement of few limits on the child’s behavior a. “parents let child do what they want” Moral Development in Childhood Moral development involves changes with age in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding the principles and values that guide what people should do  Kohlberg’s Theory - Stage of moral development: 1) Preconventional – individual’s moral reasoning based on consequences of behavior and punishments and rewards from external world 2) Conventional – individual abides by standards learned from parents or society’s laws 3) Postconventional – individual recognizes alternative moral courses, explores the options and develops increasingly personal moral code  Current Research on Moral Development - Pro-social behavior – behavior that is intended to benefit other people o Found that supportive parenting relate to increased helping and comforting of others

3. Adolescence  Pubertal Change - Period of rapid skeletal and sexual maturation that occurs mainly in early adolescence...