DEVELOPMENT
UNIT FOUR
DEFINITION
• Developmental Psychology is the study of how
people grow and change throughout the life span,
from birth to death.
• Includes physical, social, and cognitive
development.
REASONS TO STUDY DEVELOPMENT
1. To see how childhood experiences effect
adulthood
2. To discover causes of developmental problems
3. To explore how heredity and environment
influence development
• Nature: some development is triggered by genetics
• Nurture: family can have a positive and a negative
influence on development
4. To see if development is gradual or in defined
stages
INFANCY & CHILDHOOD
CHAPTER 10
PRE-BIRTH
• First 8 weeks—embryo
• Develops fingers, toes,
eyes, ears, nose, mouth,
heart, and circulatory
system
• 8 weeks to birth—fetus
• Develops organs and body
systems
• A newborn weighs a
billion or more times
what it weighed at
conception!
INFANCY
• Birth to two years
• Have reflexes at birth
(grasping, breathing,
rooting, moro/startle)
• Hearing is better at
birth than vision
• Have a parental
attachment by 4
months
HARRY HARLOW
• Used monkeys to
study the issues of
attachment,
separation anxiety,
and contact
comfort
• Harlow's
Explanation
CHILDHOOD
• Age two to
adolescence
• Self-esteem declines
during elementary
school
• Make judgments
based on what
society’s views of what
is right or wrong
CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
• Which is more
common?
• neglect
• Influencing Factors
• Stress
• Family History
• Acceptance of
Violence
• Substance Abuse
ADOLESCENCE
CHAPTER 11
PHASES OF ADOLESCENCE
• Early Adolescence
• Ages 11 to 14
• Middle
Adolescence
• Ages 15 to 18
• Late Adolescence
• Ages 18 to 21
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
• The adolescent
growth spurt
• Lasts 2 to 3 years
• Begins first for girls
• Leads to the
awkward look of
early teens
• Boys that mature
early are looked at
as leaders and are
popular
• Adolescence
begins with the
onset of puberty
• Girls that mature
early are often
teased and have
lower self-esteem
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
• There is a shift
during adolescence
from relying on
parents to relying
more on friends for
emotional support
• Parents can still
have some
influence over
morals, education,
and career goals
• Friendships
• Clique: a group of 4
to 5 close friends
• Crowd: a group of
acquaintances that
isn’t as close
IDENTITY FORMATION
• Some adolescents
suffer an identity
crisis: a turning point
in redefining one’s
values and life
decisions
• Girls focus on
relationships, boys
focus on goals and
achievements
CHALLENGES OF ADOLESCENCE
• Eating Disorders
• Substance
Exploration and
Abuse
• Sexuality
• Juvenile
Delinquency
• Avoiding Problems
ADULTHOOD
CHAPTER 12
PHASES OF ADULTHOOD
• Young Adulthood
• Ages 20 to 40
• Middle Adulthood
• Ages 40 to 65
• Late Adulthood
• Begins at age 65
YOUNG ADULTHOOD
• Key goals for this phase: becoming independent
and establishing relationships
• The Age 30 Transition: verify that decisions on
career, marriage, and children are the correct
choices
MARRIAGE
• Erik Erikson thinks
those without
intimate relationships
will be lonely and
isolated
• 25% of Americans do
not marry
• Men are marrying
around age 27,
women marry around
age 25
• Most Americans
marry for love
• Influences on choice:
parents, ethnicity,
education, religion,
social class,
geography
DIVORCE
• Why is divorce
more common
today?
• About half of all
• It’s easy to obtain
American marriages
• Women are
end in divorce
• About 25% of all
children live in a
single-parent home
• Future marriages
usually end up in
divorce too
economically able
• No stigma
MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
• Key goals for this phase: build upon the foundation
established in early adulthood in regards to careers,
marriage, and family
MIDDLE ADULTHOOD ISSUES
• Transition
• Changing perspectives
because they’ve
reached mid-life
• May include a mid-life
crisis
• Middlescence: create
a new identity just as in
adolescence
• Sandwich Generation
• Care for children and
aging parents
• Empty-Nest Syndrome
• What happens when the
children all move out?
• Menopause
• Women reach the end of
the menstruation, lose
hormone production, and
have mood swings
• Men also have a
“menopause” with a
decrease in hormone
production
LATE ADULTHOOD
• Key goals for this phase: dealing with physical,
emotional, cognitive, and financial changes
ISSUES FOR THIS PHASE
• Changes
• Wrinkles
• Decline in senses
• Memory loss (usually
forget names)
• Dementia or
Alzheimer’s
• Retirement
• Grandparenthood
• Living Arrangements
• Why do we age?
• Programmed
Theories: genetics
determine how we’ll
age
• Cellular Damage
Theories: our cells
become injured by
trauma and/or toxins
HOW TO AGE SUCCESSFULLY
• Accept your age
• Plan ahead for
financial stability
• Be positive
• Find appropriate
hobbies
• Look for challenges
DEATH AND DYING
• Stages of Dying
•
•
•
•
•
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
• The Funeral
• Type depends on
religion and culture
• Creates a symbolic
separation
• Bereavement
• How we mourn a
person’s death
CHOICES WITH DEATH
• Hospice: a facility that prepares a person
and his/her family for an impending death
• No visiting hours
• Care is in a home-like facility or in the patient’s
home
• There isn’t any planning for “treatment”
• Euthanasia: also called assisted suicide;
helps a patient choose when he/she will die
• Living Will: a legal document that forbids
any life support for a patient