Exam 1 - Summary Life-Span Human Development PDF

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26 August 2011 The Study of Human Development and Its History I. What is Human Development?  Based on scientific and empirical research  At the beginning of developmental psychology, just studied children. Over time, they learned that they needed to study adults too because people grow and change over time.  Change occurs throughout life, but is most obvious in childhood.  Two kinds of change o Quantitative: change in number or the amount of something. For example, height and weight. o Qualitative: a change in kind, structure, or organization. For example, language development or cognitive development, how you think. All adults think in a qualitative way; we view and understand the world in very different ways. II. Goals  Description: the observation and measurement of behavior and mental processes o Behavior is anything you can directly observe and measure o Mental processes are things that cannot be directly observed and measured, you make assumptions about mental processes based on what you observe. Ex: you can assume that someone is happy based on the fact that they are smiling and the tone of their voice is cheery. o Developmental psychologists are interested in studying both behavior and mental processes.  Explanation: explication of what the data means o Theory: a coherent, integrated group of assumptions and propositions that can explain the data.  Prediction: forecast of later development on the basis of earlier or present development.  Use of knowledge gained through study to promote the welfare of people. III. Aspects of Development  Physical: changes in their body, brain, sensory capabilities and motor skills.  Cognitive (Intellectual): the way people think, how they solve problems, how they learn, what they remember, how language development evolves. o Measuring intelligence, how intelligence and memory changes with age  Psychosocial: changes in personality and socially o For personality, the unit of study is the individual. What characterizes you as a person and makes you different? o Social development is the unit of the group. How do people interact together in a group? IV. Periods of the Lifespan: age divisions are approximate and somewhat arbitrary a. Prenatal: what’s going on inside the womb? b. Infancy and toddlerhood: Infancy is the first year of life, next two years are toddlerhood.

c. Early childhood d. Middle childhood e. Adolescence f. Young adulthood g. Middle adulthood h. Late adulthood V. Individual Differences in Development a. generalizations b. rates of development vary i. same general sequence of development ii. wide range of individual difference in rate c. results of development i. we vary in the results of development d. increase as people get older i. changed by our experiences ii. children meet a lot of milestones at about the same time, but as we get older, there is more variability. VI. Influences on Development a. heredity, environment, and maturation a. heredity: inborn influences on development, carried on the genes and inherited from the biological parents b. environment: totality of nongenetic influences on the development, external to self. For example, the role of family, culture and ethnicity. How does this impact the development of psychological disorders, intelligence, etc? c. maturation: growth that unfolds naturally and biologically and is genetically determined. b. 29 August 2011 Normative or non normative a. Normative: occur in a similar way for most people in a given group. Divided into two types i. Age graded: highly similar for people in a particular age group, no matter when or where they live. For example: puberty; menopause; entering school; retiring. ii. History graded: significant environmental events that influence the behavior and attitudes of people living at a particular time in history. For example: hurricane, the depression, use of computers b. Non normative: unusual events that have a major impact on an individual’s life or a typical event that happens to a person at an atypical time of life. For example: having a baby at age twelve (typical event, atypical time). c. Environmental (contextual) influences a. Nuclear family: an economic and household unit consisting of two parents and their biological and adopted children; as opposed to extended family b. Socioeconomic status: income; education; occupation

i. Low SES: stunted growth, serious physical or mental disabilities, pneumonia, learning disabilities, placement in special education, dropping out c. Human capital of the neighborhood: presence of educated, employed adults who can build the community’s economic base and provide models of what a child can hope to achieve. Presence of lack of human capital is a risk factor in terms of the child’s well being. d. Culture: a way of life which includes, for example, customs, beliefs and language, all passed on from parent to child. e. Ethnicity: group united by ancestry, race, religion, language and/or national origins VII. Gender Differences in Development a. gender similarities: motor development, appearance of teeth, vocabulary, intelligence, happiness b. Physical a. Men are taller and heavier than women b. Boys enter puberty about two years later than girls c. Colorblindness is significantly more common in men than women d. Women have a longer life expectancy by about ten years e. Men are more likely to go bald at an earlier age f. Women are more likely to be able to smell faint odors and retain the sense of smell longer. c. Psychological a. Women are more likely to develop an anxiety disorder, eating disorder, attempt suicide and become depressed b. Men are more likely to become alcoholics, have ADD, develop antisocial personality disorders and succeed in suicide i. More aggressive kinds of behavior are more common in men than women d. Cognitive a. Men are more likely to have a speech disorder, are better at mathematical problem solving and have better visual spatial skills. b. Women are better at mathematical computation, e. Social behavior a. Women value social connections more than men and are more likely to be the caregiver for their children and aging parents b. Men are more likely to define themselves as independent, making their own mark on the world, are more aggressive and more socially dominant. They are also more likely to take the initiative in a sexual encounter. Physical Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood I. The Neonate (newborn) a. Physical characteristics i. 7.5 pounds ii. 18-20 inches long iii. boys > girls

iv. First born < later born v. Influenced by genetic factors (eg parent’s size) and by environmental factors (eg mother’s nutrition and health) vi. During the first few days, the baby loses about ten percent of their body weight vii. Babies are born with disproportionately large heads, and their heads are often misshapen. viii. Fontanels: soft spots on neonate’s head where bones have not yet grown together. Covered by tough membrane, close within first month of life ix. Healthy babies are pinkish in caste because they have thin skin and you can see through to their capillaries. x. Lanugo: fuzzy prenatal hair not yet fallen off neonate xi. Vernix caseosa: oily protection against infection that covers new babies; dries within the first few days b. Body systems and brain i. Brain grows fastest prenatally and very soon after birth ii. Brain is 25% of it’s adult weight at birth, nearly adult size by age 12 iii. The newborn brain has plasticity, which will decrease as the child gets older. c. Reflex behaviors: automatic responses to external stimulation i. Normally disappear during the first year following a biologically-determined timetable ii. Abnormal presence or absence may indicate neurological damage. iii. Rooting reflex: baby’s check or lower lip is stroked with finger or nipple; head turns, mouth opens, sucking movement begins iv. Darwinian reflex: palm of baby’s hand is stroked; makes a strong fit and the baby can be raised to a standing position if both fists are closed around a stick. v. Walking reflex: baby is held under arms, with bare feet touching flat surface; makes steplike motions that look like wellcoordinated walking vi. Moro reflex: baby is dropped or hears loud noise; extends legs, arms, and fingers, arches back, draws head back. vii. Tonic neck reflex: baby is laid down on back; turns head to one side, assumes fencer position, extends arms and legs on preferred side, flexes opposite limbs. viii. Babinski reflex: sole of baby’s foot is stroked; toes fan out and food twists in d. Health i. Medical and behavioral screening 1. Apgar scale

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2. Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment: neurological and behavioral test used to measure a neonate’s response to their environment a. Interactive behaviors b. Motor behaviors c. Physiological control d. Response to stress 3. Low birth weight and infant mortality a. Weigh five and a half pounds or less at birth i. Preterm (premature): babies born before the 37th gestational week ii. Small-for-date: weigh less than 90% of all babies of the same gestational age. b. small babies may be placed in an isolette, which is an antiseptic temperature-controlled crib 4. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) a. Sudden death of any infant under one year of age in which cause of death remains unexplained after a thorough investigation that includes an autopsy. b. Most common between 2 and 4 months of age c. More common in babies who are black, male and of low birth weight d. Increases with prenatal exposure to nicotine and caffeine Physical Development During the First Three Years of Life a. Principles of development i. Top to bottom: cephalocaudal- head develops faster then legs and feet, etc. The child will learn to use their arms and hands before they learn to use their legs ii. Inner to outer: proximodistal- the child begins to use their gross motor skills in their arm before they use their hand and before they use their fingers. iii. Simple to complex: children learn how to use simple motor skills before complex. Children learn how to roll over before they crawl before they walk before they run. b. Sleep i. Neonates sleep on average 16 hours daily and they wake up every two to three hours ii. 3 months: start to sleep through the night iii. 6 months: do more than half of their sleeping at night. c. Growth i. Birth: average 7.5 pounds ii. Two years old: weight quadruples iii. Later: growth tapers off iv. Birth: approximately 18-20 inches long v. Three years old: height doubles

d. Teeth i. See information on page 21 in book ii. Deciduous teeth v. permanent teeth e. Nourishment (breast-feeding) i. The percent of women who breast feed their babies has risen and declined since the 1900s, and now hovers at around 60% ii. Advantages 1. Highly digestible 2. Less likely to develop allergic reaction 3. Provides immunity to disease 4. Less likely to die of SIDS 5. Better jaw formation and straighter teeth 6. Lower incidence of chromic disease and acute infections in childhood and adulthood 7. Less likely to be overweight as adults 8. Fewer problems with high cholesterol as adults iii. Solid food: introduce one food at a time; start at about six months of age iv. When children are one and switch over to regular milk, they recommend that it be homogenized, iron fortified, and has vitamin d. f. Senses i. Touch: earliest sense to develop 1. Even one day old babies can and do feel pain ii. Taste: 1. Can discriminate between different tastes 2. Prefer sweet tastes to sour or bitter ones iii. Smell 1. Have preferences 2. Can localize smells 3. Can make subtle discriminations based on smell 4. By the time they are six days hold, they can recognize the smell of their mother’s breast milk and can discriminate it from someone else’s. iv. Hearing 1. Respond to auditory stimulation 2. Functional even before the baby is born 3. Can identify the sound of their mother’s voice at a very early point in time after being born. v. Vision 1. Have incomplete retinal structures 2. Have narrow peripheral vision 3. Have underdeveloped optic nerve 4. Blink at bright lights and moving objects. 5. Within the first few months of life, babies develop mature color vision and can discriminate between colors.

6. Children’s vision becomes more acute across the first few years; first visit to an ophthalmologist typically occurs at age three. 7. Depth perception develops sometime within the first six months vi. Visual Preferences of Infants 1. Curved lines to straight lines 2. Complex patterns to simple patterns 3. 3d objects to 2d objects 4. pictures of faces to pictures of non faces 5. new sights to familiar sights vii. Motor development 1. Denver Developmental Screening Test: provides norms for normal development between ages of 1 month to 6 years 2. 3 months: roll over 3. 1 year: stand alone; walk 4. 2 years: run and jump 5. 3 years: balance on one foot; begin to hop

FOR THE TEST  know ages that she has stressed in class o Ex: babies roll over and teeth and start to sleep through the night at three months  The first four chapters in the textbook  There are analogy questions  Sequential questions  Understand causality and the order of things  Understand theories and perspectives  Know the order of different stages (freud, ericson, piaget)  Which one of the following statements is true (or false)?  Some definitions (from class and the book)  Most stuff from class, some things from the textbook.  Fifty questions; no matching  End of chapter summarys; can pull out verbatim statements for the true/false questions  Application questions  All you need to know about birth defects is what we talked about in class. TaySachs, hemophilia, etc.  Low birth rate is the second leading cause of infant mortality; first leading cause being birth defects.  Gender differences! o Autisim: more common in boys o Depression: more common in women

o Anxiety: women o Alcoholism: men 31 August 2011 Understanding and Critically Evaluating Psychological Theories I.

Psychoanalytic (Psychodynamic) Theory a. Psychosexual theory: Freud- a pioneer who was the first to come up with the theory of personality, etc. A lot of his stuff provides us with the basis of everything that follows. Very interested in figuring out what made people tick. He wrote 24 volumes. i. Methods 1. Hypnosis: attempted to put them into a trance, but very quickly realized that was sometimes more effective than other times 2. Free association: used more regularly, main technique. Go into the doctors office and start talking, until one thought leads to another and then another, etc, until eventually it leads to your unconscious mind a. Goal of psychoanalytic theory: to tap into the persons unconscious and help the person get better 3. Dream analysis: interpreted dreams as wish fulfillment ii. Topography of the mind 1. Conscious mind: includes all of our current thoughts; conscious does not equal conscience. 2. Preconscious mind: contains memories which are not part of our current thought but can be readily brought to mind 3. Unconscious mind: the bulk of the human mind, which contains our thoughts, desires and impulses of which we remain largely unaware. iii. Structure of personality 1. Id: the reservoir of unconscious physic energy; the part of one’s personality that strives to satisfy one instinctuallythe need to reproduce, survive, and be aggressive. It operates on the pleasure principle of instant gratification. 2. Ego: the medium, wants to please both the id and the superego. Operates on the reality principle, trying to maximize long term gain and minimize long term pain. Executive of personality. 3. Superego: akin to our conscience; tells us what we should do. Contains moral principles and values. 4. NOT a lot of empirical support iv. Psychosexual stages: Freud believes we all go through these at the same time and at each stage, our libido (instinctual energies

aka to survive, aggress, and reproduce) is oriented towards a different part of the body. 1. Oral (0-18 mo): Pleasure centers on the mouth- sucking, biting chewing 2. Anal (18-36 mo): Pleasure focuses on bowel/bladder elimination; coping with demands for control. 3. Phallic (3-6 yrs): Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings a. Oedipus complex: little boys sexually desire their moms b. Electra complex: little girls sexually desire their dads c. Not a lot of empirical support. d. Because these sexual urges can’t be satisfied, they identify with the same sex parent and take on that parent’s characteristics while repressing the sexual feelings and moving them into the unconscious 4. Latency (6-puberty): repressed sexual feelings 5. Genital (puberty on): maturation of sexual interests shown by marrying someone of the opposite sex and starting a family. 6. ****Freud believed that the root of adult psychiatric problems came from being stuck in a certain stage and not resolving the conflict in that stage. v. Ego defense mechanisms SEE WORKBOOK 1. Repression: keep unacceptable impulses out of conscious awareness 2. Projection: attributing one’s own threatening impulses or unacceptable characteristics to others 3. Reaction formation: unconsciously feeling or acting the opposite of one’s true anxiety-arousing (and threatening) unconscious feelings 4. Rationalization (intellectualization): intellectualizing or explaining away intellectual occasion. 5. Displacement: venting anger on a vulnerable or less threatening victim instead of the actual source of anger. 6. Regression: retreating to an earlier, more infantile stage of development where some of our psychic energies are still fixated. 7. Sublimation: transforming unacceptable impulses into more socially valued activities b. Psychosocial theory: READ IN TEXTBOOK ABOUT Erikson- each person moves through the stage at the same time and goes through the same sort of conflicts at each stage

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i. Basic trust (infancy): the child needs to learn that it is a trusting world and that their parents will always take care of them. If this is successful, the child will develop hope. However, Erikson didn’t want the child to be gullible. Learning Theory a. Classical conditioning: Pavlov i. Before: the experimenter presents some food to the dog and the dog salivates because of instinct. Then Pavlov takes away the meat and makes a noise, but the dog does not salivate (neutral stimulus). ii. During: the experimenter makes a tone, and follows that immediately with meat over and over again. iii. After: the same tone is presented to the dog, and he salivates as a response because it has been linked with the meat. iv. Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS, automatically triggers a response)  UCR (unconditioned response, salivation) v. N (tone) & UCS (food)  UCR (salivation) vi. CS (initially neutral but comes to produce a response, tone)  CR (learned response to a CS, salivation) b. Operant conditioning: Skinner i. Shaping: Procedure that starts with some existing behavior and reinforces closer and closer approximations of a desired behavior 1. Table manners: when a child stops throwing food and disrupting the table, you need to hug and kiss her and shower her with compliments. ii. Defining and classifying reinforcement: 1. Reinforcer: any even that strengthens or increases the response that it follows a. Positive (a pleasant stimulus that reinforces the response it follows) OR negative (the termination of an aversive stimulus that strengthens or increases the response that it follows) b. Primary (innately reinforcing stimulus) OR secondary (a conditioned stimulus that strengthens or increases the response that it follows, ie spending money) iii. Reinforcement schedules 1. Continuous: every time the desired response occurs, it gets reinforced. Initial learning occurs very quickly. The problem is that extinction also occurs very quickly, so if there is a break in the routine, the routine will be eradicated quickly. 2. Intermittent (Partial): responses are sometimes reinforced, sometimes not. Initial learning doesn’t happen as quickly, but neither does extinction.

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a. A response is going to be learned most rapidly and is most resistant to extinction if it is acquired under conditions of continuous reinforcement followed by ...