Developmental Psychology PDF

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Notes and chapter summaries from Developmental Psychcology with Professor Spikes....

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Developmental Psychology (Fundamental Issues of development) 1. Nature and Nurture 1. Involves the degree to which genetics or heredity influences (nature) and experiential or environmental influences (nurture) determine the kind of person you are 2. Development is ultimately shaped by both 2. Continuity and Discontinuity 1. Concerns whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents a smooth progression throughout life (continuity) or a series of abrupt shifts (discontinuity) 3. Universal and Context-Specific Development 1. Whether there is just one path of development that is universal or several paths depending on where the person is The Biopsychosocial Framework (Basic Forces in Human Behavior) 1. Four interactive forces that affect development (each person is a unique combination of the forces which interact together) 1. Biological forces (exercise, diet, puberty, menopause) 2. Psychological forces (behaviors, attitudes, personality) 3. Sociocultural forces (race, ethnicity, culture, background) 4. Life Cycle forces (same event on different ages/people affects each person differently) 2. Processes involved in developmental changes 1. Biological processes: changes in an individual’s physical nature 2. Cognitive processes: changes in the individual’s thought, intelligence, and language 3. Socioemotional processes: changes in the individual’s relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality Periods of Development 1. Prenatal 2. Infancy 3. Early Childhood 4. Middle/Late Childhood 5. Adolescence 6. Early Adulthood 7. Middle Adulthood 8. Late Adulthood Neuroscience (Enhance Our Understanding of Human Development) 1. The study of the brain and nervous system, especially in terms of brain-behavior relationships 2. Allows us to actually see how developmental forces interact 3. Allows a better understanding of how each person is a unique expression of the forces Developmental Theories 1. What is a developmental theory?: 1. Ways to organize thoughts and knowledge and testable explanations for human behavior and looking at how behavior changes over time through growth 1. They each focus on a specific aspect of behavior (there is no single unified theory of human development) 2. There are no comprehensive theories of human development to guide research (instead, five general perspectives influence current research)

3. Psychodynamic Theory 1. Erikson’s psychosocial theory: personality develops through a series of stages (less focus on the biological forces; nature-nurture interaction based) 2. Development is primarily determined by how people deal with conflict that they face at different ages 4. Learning Theory 1. Skinner’s behaviorism and Bandura’s social learning theory: consequences determine repetition of behaviors and people learn through modeling and observing (less focus on life cycle forces; strongly nurture based) 2. The focus is on development of observable behavior 3. Ideas of reinforcement and punishment; people learn by observing others 5. Cognitive Developmental Theory 1. Focus on thought processes 2. Piaget’s theory: thinking develops in a series of stages (less focused on psychological and life cycle forces; strongly nature based) (people create their own theories to determine how the world works) 3. Information-processing theory: thought develops by increases in efficiency to handle information (less focused on sociocultural and life cycle forces; nature-nurture interaction based) 4. Vygotsky’s theory: development is influenced by culture (less focused on biological forces; nature-nurture interaction based) 6. Ecological and Systems Theory 1. Bronfenbrenner’s theory: a developing person is embedded in a series of interacting systems (less focused on biological forces; nature-nurture interaction based) 2. Competence environmental press theory: adaptation is optimal when ability and demands are in balance (focused on all forces; nature-nurture interaction based) 3. Dependent on surrounding (what school you go to, where you live, etc) 7. Life Span and Selective Optimization with Compensation Theory 1. Baltes's theory: development is best when goals are optimized (focused on all forces; nature-nurture interaction based) 2. Life span perspective: Human development is characterized by multi-directionality, plasticity, historical context, and multiple causation (all interact) 3. Selective Optimization with Compensation Theory: The tendency for aging individuals to focus their effort and abilities in successively fewer domains and acquire ways to compensate for normative losses 8. Life Course Theory: life transitions are decreasingly tied to age, life paths across cultures are different (less focused on biological forces; nature-nurture interaction based) 1. Understanding human development within the context of the historical period in which a generation develops, which creates unique sets of experiences Developmental Research 1. Validity and reliability matters so must have a good design and a good sample 2. Decide how to measure the topic or behavior of interest (choosing from four approaches) 1. Systematic Observation 1. Naturalistic Observation 1. Strength: captures peoples behavior in natural setting 2. Weakness: difficult to use with rare behaviors 2. Structured Observation: 1. Strength: used to study behaviors that are rare or occur in private settings

2. Weakness: may be invalid if the setting distorts the behavior 2. Sampling Behavior with Tasks 1. Strength: convenient, can be used with most behaviors 2. Weakness: may be invalid if the task is not the same as it occurs naturally 3. Self Reports 1. Strength: convenient, can be used with most behaviors 2. Weakness: may be invalid because people can answer incorrectly (forgetting or bias) 4. Physiological Measures 1. Strength: provides a more direct measure of underlying behaviors 2. Weakness: highly specific, cannot be generalized Research Designs 1. General designs and Developmental designs 1. General designs 1. Correlational: observe variables as they exist and determine their relations (telling about relationships but not determining cause and effect like in experiments) 1. Strength: behavior is measured as it occurs naturally 2. Weakness: cannot determine cause and effect 1. Three basic interpretations of correlational coefficient (since there is no direct way to access cause and effect): 1. The first variable causes the second variable 2. The second variable caused the first variable 3. Neither variable is caused by the other; both are caused by a third variable that was not measured in the study 2. Experimental: manipulate a variable and determine the effect on another variable 1. Strength: control of variables allows determination of cause and effect 2. Weakness: laboratory based, which can mean artificial results 3. Qualitative Studies: uncovering reasons for the results of an experiment (in depth analysis of behavior with the goal to uncover reasons for certain aspects of behavior) 2. Developmental designs 1. Longitudinal: test one group of people repeatedly as they develop (same people over time to look for patterns) 1. Strength: chart one individual and can look at stability over time 2. Weakness: expensive, people drop out 2. Cross-Sectional: test people of different ages at the same time 1. Strength: convenient, solves issues of longitudinal 2. Weakness: cannot study stability 3. Sequential: test multiple groups of people over time (based on multiple Longitudinal or Cross-Sectional designs instead of just one study) 1. Strength: addresses limitations of both longitudinal and cross-sectional 2. Weakness: very expensive and time consuming Ethics 1. Preserve the rights of research participants 1. Internal review boards (IRB) make sure that before things are printed everything has been checked and confirmed (especially when it comes to the participants and their information being released that makes them identifiable) (must keep participant privacy)

2. Must be clear to participants what they are doing and that they are allowed to drop at any time 3. Deception: 1. A good way to test behaviors and morals without influence 2. Conducting Research Ethically 1. In choosing a good research design, scientists must determine that their methods are ethical and do not violate the rights of people who participate 2. To verify that every research project incorporates protection of participants, local panel of experts and community representatives review proposed studies before any data are collected 3. Communicating Research Results 1. When the study is complete and the data have been analyzed, researchers write a report that describes what they did and why, their results, and the meanings behind their results and publish it to public 4. Applying Research Results/Social Policy (has a role in establishing laws and regulations) 1. The research is powerful and can inform and shape the public mind and actions 2. Ex. education reform laws, child abuse laws 1. The Birth Process 1. Stages of Childbirth (Vaginal childbirth/labor) 1. First Stage: typically lasts 12 hours or more for a women having her first child (when cervix begins to widen) 2. Second Stage: typically lasts one and a half hours or less (when babies head begins to move through cervix) 3. Third Stage: typically lasts about 5 to 30 minutes (when baby is still attached to umbilical cord and placenta comes out) 4. Fourth Stage: the couple of hours after delivery (when mother rests and is monitored) 2. Settings, Attendants, and Methods of Delivery 1. In the US most people have their babies in hospitals compared to other countries 2. High risk pregnancy: have risk of something going wrong (recommended to have baby in hospital) 3. Low risk pregnancy: most likely that nothing will go wrong 3. Vaginal versus Cesarean Delivery 1. Vaginal Delivery: delivery of a baby [non-surgical] via the vagina (most common) 2. Cesarean Delivery: delivery of a baby by surgical removal from the uterus 1. A cesarean delivery is performed as a major surgery (5 days in hospital compared to 48 hours) 1. When labor is too slow or if the fetus is in trouble (umbilical cord wrapped around neck, big headed baby, or in a bad position to come out because of movement) 2. When is a cesarean delivery more likely? 1. When the mom wants to choose/schedule when the baby is delivered 2. Don’t want to feel labor pains 3. More likely for the first child, when having a large baby, or for older women 3. Cesarean deliveries in USA (32% of births) 1. Among highest rates in the world 4. Medicated versus Un-medicated Delivery 1. Medicated Deliveries:

1. General anesthesia 2. Regional/local anesthesia 3. Relaxing analgesic 2. Do drugs pass through the placenta to enter the fetal blood supply and tissues, and thus pose danger to the baby? 1. Drugs pass through, but in almost all cases the drugs do not pose danger 3. Improvements in medicated deliveries 1. Smaller amounts of drugs are being delivered and the doctors wait until dilation 4. Un-medicated Deliveries: 1. Natural Childbirth: preventing pain by eliminating fear through education (training in breathing and relaxation during delivery) 2. Prepared Childbirth: using instruction, breathing exercises, and social support to induce control, and reduce fear and pain 5. The Newborn Baby 1. Neonatal Period: first four weeks of life 2. Size and Appearance: 1. Boys tend to be longer and heavier than girls 2. Firstborns tend to weigh less at birth than laterborns 3. First few days neonates will lose weight (losing the fluid, 10% of body weight) 4. New babies have distinct features (receding chin, thin skin) 5. Lanugo (fine bodily hair that covers the body of the baby for the first few days) 6. Vernix Caseosa: protection against infection Body Systems 1. States of Arousal (degree of alertness) 1. Regular Sleep 2. Irregular Sleep 3. Drowsiness 4. Alert Inactivity 5. Waking Activity and Crying 1. Seem to be inborn and highly individual 2. Newborns average about 16 hours of sleep a day 3. Most wake up every two to three hours, day and night 4. It is important to quiet low-birthweight babies for quiet babies maintain their weight better 1. NICU’s at hospitals have individuals that are cuddles that hold and quiet the babies 5. The best way to soothe a crying baby is to keep the baby in constant motion (rocking, etc) (try to refrain from walking with the baby) 6. As infants grow, less required sleep and can sleep through the night (more wakeful periods in afternoon/evening) 2. Neonatal Reflexes: 1. Infants are born with simple, coordinated, unlearned responses, called reflexes that provide limited ways for them to interact with their environment 1. Some reflexes aid survival because they orient the infant toward food or protection 1. Protective reflexes include coughing, sneezing, blinking, and muscle withdrawal 2. Feeding reflexes include the rooting and sucking reflexes 2. Because reflexes help a newborn survive, an assessment of reflexes provides important insight into problems that some babies may face. 3. Survival and Health 1. Medical and Behavioral Assessment

1. The Apgar Scale 1. Assessed 1 minute after birth, then again 5 minutes later 2. Max score = 10 3. Score 7-10 4. Score below 7 5. Score below 4 (immediate life treatment if they score like this) (they have 10 minutes where they can be in this range and still end up okay) 2. The Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale 1. Used to assess neonates’ responsiveness to their physical and social environment, to identify problems in neurological functioning, and to predict future development 2. Tested multiple times and the best scores are kept 3. Neonatal screening for Medical Conditions: 1. Routine screening for rare conditions 2. Very expensive (insurance might not cover) 3. State requirements 1. Screening in states for certain conditions is required (some more thorough than others) 4. Risk in doing these tests 4. Complications of Childbirth: 1. Birth Trauma: injury sustained at the time of birth (due to infections, difficult births, etc) 2. Postmaturity: a pregnant woman who has not gone into labor two weeks after the due date, or forty-two weeks after last menstrual period 3. Postmature babies 1. Delivery of a postmature baby (induce these babies, either vaginally or C section) 4. Prematurity and Low Birthweight 1. Very Low Birthweight: less than five and a half pounds at birth because of prematurity or just being small for date 2. Premature (preterm) Infants: born before completing the 37th week of gestation 3. Small-for-date (small-for-gestational age) infants: birthweight is less than that of 90% of babies of the same gestational age, as a result of slow fetal growth 1. May or may not be preterm 2. Usually the case of poor prenatal care 4. Successful treatment for saving low-birthweight babies in the United States is more successful than any other developed country 5. Who are most likely to have a low-birthweight baby? 1. People who schedule C-sections (induced labor) 1. The babies are born thinner because they weren't “ready” 2. More women over the age of 35 are having babies and they get c-sections because it is less trauma for older women 2. Those with multiple births (twins, etc) 3. Women under the age of 18 and women over the age of 40 4. A women who has had multiple miscarriages or previous low weight births 5. Short women or thin women 6. Low-birthweight babies in the African-American population 1. More than twice as likely as white and hispanic babies to be low birthweight 2. Low birthweight is a major factor in the high mortality rate of black babies 1. A correlation with lower socioeconomic factors (less prenatal care, less insurance, less education, etc)

7. Immediate treatment and outcome 1. Fed intravenously (don’t have sucking or swallowing reflexes yet) 2. Treated for infections (don’t have a good immune system yet) 3. Susceptible to respiratory distress syndrome (very underdeveloped cardiovascular system and lungs so they have to have a breathing tube) 4. Placed in an incubator (is sterile and temperature controlled environment that protects them from infection) 8. Long term outcomes 1. In general, there are developmental concerns if low-birth weight babies survive the dangerous early days 2. Small-for-gestational age babies compared to premature but appropriate weight babies 1. Small-for-gestational age babies are more likely to be cognitively and neurologically impaired 3. Preterm low-birthweight babies who are in fact neurologically and cognitively impaired they usually remain so as they grow older 4. Very low-birthweight babies have a greater chance of having longterm and more severe impairments Death During Infancy 1. Improving Infant Survival in USA, but compared to other industrialized nations aren't doing well 1. Looking at number of deaths in the first year of life per 1000 live births 2. The US is making less progress than other countries in reducing infant mortality 2. Infant mortality rate 1. Leading causes [in order] of death during the neonatal period: 1. Birth defects 2. Low birthrate 3. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 4. Maternal complications of pregnancy 2. Why do babies in the United States have a poorer chance of reaching their first birthday than do babies in many other industrialized countries? 1. The other industrialized countries offer free prenatal and postnatal care unlike the US and also give parents maternity leave unlike the US 2. Giving the mother time off to be with her baby and spend quality time is good for child development 3. Racial disparities in infant mortality [in the USA] have increased 1. Black babies are twice as likely to die, black low birth babies are four times as likely to die than regular white babies 4. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) 1. Leading cause of death in infants after the neonatal period (1-4 months but always under a year of life) 2. Most often results from a combination of factors (teratogen, sleep position, etc) 1. Research strongly supports a relationship between SIDS and sleeping on the stomach (overheating, rebreathing, etc), side sleeping is also not safe because its easy for the babies to turn onto their stomach 3. Immunization for Better Health: the benefits outweigh the risks 4. Teratogens: any environmental agent that causes damage during the prenatal period 1. Harm done is not always simple and straightforward, depends on following factors:

1. Dose 2. Heredity 3. Other negative influences 4. Age of the organism 5. Specific Teratogens: 1. Prescription and Nonprescription Drugs: 1. Accutane 2. Any drug with a molecule small enough to penetrate the placenta barrier can enter the embryonic or fetal blood supply 2. Caffeine 3. Aspirin 4. Antidepressant Medication 5. Illegal Drugs 1. Nearly 4% 2. Babies born to users 3. Contradictory findings on babies prenatally exposed to cocaine 4. Marijuana 6. Tobacco 1. Best known prenatal effect of smoking is low-birthweight, but, there are other serious consequences 2. Basically, nicotine constricts blood vessels, lessen blood flow to the uterus causes placenta to grow abnormally 3. Also, raised carbon monoxide in bloodstream 4. One-third to one-half of nonsmoking pregnant women are “Passive Smokers” 7. Alcohol 1. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) encompasses a range of physical, mental, and behavioral outcomes caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. Children are given one of three diagnoses which vary in severity 2. When provided with enrich diets 3. Mental impairment 4. In adolescence and early adulthood, FASD is associated with… 5. 25% of US mothers report drinking at some point in their pregnancy 6. Higher in poverty-stricken women 8. Radiation 9. Environmental Pollution 10. Other Maternal Factors 1. Nutrition 2. Emotional Stress 3. Rh Factor Incompatibility: when the mother is Rh-negative (lacks the Rh blood protein) and the father is Rh-positive (has the protein), the baby may inherit the father’s Rh-positive blood type. If even a little of a fetus’s Rh-positive blood crosses the placenta into the Rh-negative mother’s bloodstream, she begins to form antibodies to the foreign Rh protein. If these enter the fetus’s system, they destroy red blood cells, reducing the oxygen supply to organs and tissue. Miscarriage, mental retardation, heart damage, and infant death can occur. 4. Maternal age 1. I...