What is development?
Human Development
Tiffany Daniels, M.S.
The Great Debate
Nature vs. Nurture
Nature: An
organism’s
biological
inheritance
(genetic
makeup)
Nurture: An
organism’s
environmental
experiences
(parenting,
schools, peers)
So what influences our behavior? Our genetics or our
environment? Why is a criminal a criminal? Was he/she
born that way or is he/she a product of the environment?
Do our early experiences as a
child affect us our whole life?
•
The pattern of continuity and change
in human capabilities that occurs
throughout the course of life.
•
Involves 3 processes:
1) Physical (e.g. puberty)
2) Cognitive (e.g. language)
3) Socioemotional (e.g. relationships)
The Great Debate
Nature vs. Nurture
• Most researchers will agree that it is an
interaction of the two that makes us who
we are.
• Some even say that we can develop
beyond nature and nurture by striving
towards the construction of optimal life
experiences.
Child Development
• Yes, but our later experiences are just
as important and worth researching.
• There is no doubt that significant
developmental changes occur
throughout childhood, adolescence, and
adulthood. We will examine all 3 in this
chapter.
Halloween with my nephew, Bennett (left) and niece,
Brooklynne (right)
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Prenatal Development
Threats to the Fetus
• Teratogen: any agent that causes a birth
defect (alcohol, cigarettes, drugs)
• Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) - cluster of
abnormalities that occurs in children born
to mothers who are heavy drinkers. May
include: small head, wide-spaced eyes,
flat nose, lower intelligence.
How do psychologists study
infants when they can’t talk?
• Preferential looking - A
test of perception that gives
an infant a choice of what
to look at. If the infant
shows a reliable preference
for one stimulus over
another when they are
repeatedly presented, we
can infer that the infant can
distinguish between the
two.
How do psychologists study
infants when they can’t talk?
• Preferential looking and habituation
studies have found that as early as 7
days old, infants are already perceiving
and organizing faces.
• At 3 months, they prefer real faces to
scrambled, and their mother’s face to a
stranger’s.
Full-term vs. Pre-term infants
• Studies show that pre-term infants (born prior
to 38 weeks after conception) are more likely
to have developmental problems such as
learning disorders, especially if they grow up
in poverty.
• A study conducted by Field (1986) showed
that massaging infants for 15 minutes 3 times
a day can help with weight gain and
performance on developmental tests.
How do psychologists study
infants when they can’t talk?
• Habituation: decreased responsiveness to a
stimulus after repeated presentations
• Ex: A patterned square is presented repeatedly
to the infant until it is no longer interesting.
Then, a slightly different patterned square is
presented. If there is no change in interest, then
we can assume the infant did not notice it.
Cognitive Development in
Childhood - Jean Piaget
• Cognitive development how thought, intelligence,
& language processes
change as people mature.
• Piaget posited that
children actively construct
their cognitive world in
stages.
1896-1980
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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
• Children use schemas to make sense of what
they experience. A schema is a concept or
mental framework that exists at any given
moment in a person’s mind that helps him or
her organize information.
• They may have a schema for sucking, licking,
crawling, etc.
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
• We use and adapt schemas in 2 ways:
• Assimilation: An individual’s incorporation of
new information into existing knowledge
• Accommodation: An individual’s adjustment
of a schema to new information
Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive
Development
• Example: A child may learn that objects can be
picked up. This is assimilation, the addition of
new knowledge to an existing repertoire.
Realizing that only some objects can be picked
up (a toy) and others cannot (the couch) is
accommodation. The child is making
adjustments/modifications to the existing
knowledge.
Sensorimotor Stage
(birth - 2 years)
• Infants coordinate sensory experiences (ex:
seeing, hearing) with motor experiences (ex: arm
movements)
• The goal in this stage is to obtain object
permanence - understanding that objects exist
even when they cannot directly be seen, heard, or
touched.
• Ex: Peekaboo - If they have not developed object
permanence, they really think you’re gone!
Preoperational Stage
(ages 2 - 7)
• Begin to represent the world with words,
images, art.
• Have difficulty reversing operations. For
example, they can add, but subtraction is
difficult. Their thought is intuitive, oftentimes
involving guesswork instead of logic.
• Have not yet grasped the concept of
conservation, a belief in the permanence of
certain attributes of objects or situations
despite superficial changes.
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Preoperational Stage
(ages 2 - 7)
Preoperational Stage
(ages 2 - 7)
• Children at this stage
are also egocentric,
meaning they cannot
distinguish between
their own perspective
and the perspective
of someone else.
In the second picture, which has more, A or C?
A child in the preoperational stage would say C.
Above: Piaget’s
Three Mountain Task
Concrete Operational Stage
(ages 7 - 11)
• Children in this stage can start to use
operations, classification, and logic instead of
intuition and guesswork. They are able to solve
conservation problems.
• However, they think “concretely” and are not yet
thinking abstractly. They struggle using logic in
situations that are illogical.
Formal Operational Stage
(11-15 yrs through adulthood)
• Involves abstract, idealistic, logical
thought.
• Individuals in this stage can generate
hypothetical possibilities and use
systematic reasoning to solve
problems.
• Not everybody makes it to this stage.
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Evaluating Piaget’s theory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRF27F2bn-A
• Pros:
Introduced testable
concepts that have
endured across
time.
Envisioned children as
active thinkers who
construct their own
world.
• Cons:
Some kids go through the
stages earlier or later
than hypothesized.
Doesn’t account for
individual, educational
& cultural differences
Some view development
as a continuous
process, not chopped
up into stages.
Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust
Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt
Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority
Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity Confusion
Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair
Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
• Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
• Ages 1.5 - 3
• Children realize that they have a will of their
own and begin to develop a sense of
autonomy, but if they are restrained too much
or punished too harshly, they may develop a
sense of shame/doubt.
Erikson’s theory of
Socioemotional Development
• 8 Stages from infancy
through old age
• Each stage has a crisis
that one must negotiate.
Erik Erikson
(1902-1994)
• The more successful the
negotiation, the more
competent the individual
becomes.
Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
• Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust
• Birth through age 1.5
• Trust is built if basic needs
(food, shelter, etc.) are met
by a sensitive caregiver.
Mistrust develops if needs
are not met.
Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
• Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt
• Ages 3 - 5
• When asked to assume more responsibility
for their actions, children can develop
initiative. When permitted to be irresponsible,
or if they feel anxious about the responsibility,
they can develop guilt.
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Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
• Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority
• Ages 6 until puberty
• Children achieve industry (feeling
worthwhile) by mastering
knowledge and intellectual skills. If
they don’t, they can feel inferior,
unproductive, or incompetent.
Identity Status
Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
• Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity Confusion
(ages 10 through 21)
In seeking an identity, adolescents are trying to
figure out who they are, how they fit in, &
where they are headed in life. If they do not
adequately explore their identity, they can
become confused. They might become
withdrawn or get completely lost in the crowd.
Identity Status
• James Marcia (1980) expanded upon
Erikson’s notion of identity confusion
and named 4 identity statuses to
describe a person’s position in his or
her identity development.
• Identity diffusion - Person has neither
explored identity options nor made a
commitment (ex: most young
adolescents)
• Identity development involves 2
processes: the exploration of various
options and the commitment to options.
• Identity foreclosure - Person makes a
commitment to an identity before
exploring other options. (ex: becoming
a doctor because that’s what your
parents want you to be)
Identity Status
• Identity moratorium - Person is exploring
options, but hasn’t made a commitment
(ex: the typical college freshman)
• Identity achievement - Person has
explored alternative paths and has made
a commitment (ex: the typical college
graduate)
Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
• Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation –
Emerging Adulthood (ages 18-25)
The task here is to form intimate
relationships with others. If not, we
become socially isolated. This involves
both finding oneself and losing oneself in
another. Awwwww…..
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Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
• Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation
(ages 25-65)
Main concern here is to help the younger
generation (especially one’s children) in
developing useful lives. This is called
generativity. The feeling of having done
nothing is stagnation.
Evaluating Erikson’s Theory
• Pros:
Focus away from
sexuality (as Freud
had done)
Stresses the
importance of
overcoming
socioemotional
tasks
• Cons:
Research based on
mostly case studies
There are other tasks
going on in each
stage besides the 2
he describes
Erikson’s 8 Stages of
Socioemotional Development
• Stage 8: Integrity vs.
Despair (age 65 – death)
Integrity involves looking
back on one’s life and
feeling proud, satisfied.
Despair is the doubt,
gloom, and disappointment
than an individual may
have regarding how his or
her life was spent.
Other Developmental Topics
of Study
• Attachment (especially in infancy)
• Temperament
• Parenting Styles
• Moral Development
• Marriage
• Cognitive Development in Adulthood
• The Mid-Life Crisis
• Life Span and Life Expectancy
• Alzheimer’s Disease
Attachment in Infancy
•Attachment - the close emotional bond
between an infant and its caregiver.
•Attachment is instinctive and intensifies by
the time the infant is 6-7 months old.
• Classic attachment study was
conducted by Harry Harlow
(1958)
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Attachment in Infancy
• In Harlow’s study, monkeys were fed by either
a cold wire mother or a warm cloth mother.
• Regardless of which mother was feeding
them, they spent way more time with the cloth
mother than the wire mother, demonstrating
that warmth and intimate contact was more
important than food.
• The most time was spent with the cloth
mother who also provided food.
Attachment in Infancy
• The securely attached
child:
• Is upset when the
mother leaves but
calms down quickly
• Is happy when the
mother returns
• Moves freely from the
mother when she’s
around but keeps
periodic “tabs”
• The insecurely attached
child:
• During interactions,
avoids the mother
completely or is
ambivalent towards her
• May not even notice the
mother is gone, or quite
the opposite, may never
get over her absence
• Fears strangers and is
upset easily by minor
situations
The 4 Parenting Styles
• Authoritarian: restrictive, punitive style in which
the parent exhorts the child to follow the parent’s
directions and to value hard work and effort. Ex:
The military dad
• Authoritative: style that encourages children’s
independence (but still places limits and
boundaries), verbal give and take, and warm,
nurturing interactions. Ex: The Bradys
Attachment in Infancy
• Mary Ainsworth (1978) devised the
strange situation to see how children
responded when their mother left the
room and then subsequently returned.
This helped her identify children who
were securely vs. insecurely attached to
their mothers.
Temperament
• Temperament - An individual’s behavioral style
and characteristic way of responding.
• Three types of temperament in children: the
easy child, the difficult child, and the slow-towarm up child.
• Some determinants of temperament may include
the ability to regulate emotions, shyness, and
negative affectivity (frustration or sadness).
Temperament can influence parenting styles.
The 4 Parenting Styles
• Neglectful: style in which the parents
are uninvolved in their children’s life. Ex:
movies stars who are too busy with their
careers to spend time with their kids
• Indulgent/Permissive: permissive style
in which parents are involved but place
few limits on them. Ex: The “cool” mom
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The 4 Parenting Styles
• Not surprising, the most effective
parenting style is authoritative. Children
of authoritative parents tend to be
socially competent, responsible,
independent.
• Children of the other 3 styles tend to
have anxiety about social comparison,
lack of initiative, and poor
communication
• A wife is near death from a rare cancer. There
is one drug that might save her. The only
druggist who makes the drug sells it for $2000
even though it only costs him $200 to make.
After doing everything he can to raise the
money, the wife’s husband can only afford to
pay $1000. The druggist will not sell the drug
unless he receives the full amount. Desperate,
the husband breaks in to the drug store and
steals the drug for his wife. What do you
think? Are his actions right or wrong? Why?
Moral Development
• Conventional Level - Based primarily on
standards such as those learned from
parents (stage 3) or society’s laws
(stage 4)
“He should steal the drug because that’s
what a good husband should do.”
“He can’t steal because it’s against the
law.”
Moral Development
• Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory
• Moral development includes
people’s basic values but
also includes what they
should to in interactions with
others.
• 3 levels, 6 stages
Lawrence
Kohlberg
(1927-1987
Moral Development
• Preconventional Level - Based primarily
on punishments (stage 1) or rewards
(stage 2) that come from the external
world.
“The husband cannot steal the drug
because he might get caught.” “He
should steal the drug because his wife
will owe him a favor.”
Moral Development
• Postconventional Level - Based on a personal
moral code reflecting the principles generally
accepted by the community (stage 5) or more
abstract principles for humanity (stage 6)
“The law was not set up for these circumstances,
so he should steal it.”
“The wife’s life is more important than this law,
so he should steal the drug.”
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Evaluating Kohlberg
• Examined how people think about moral
issues however…
• Moral reasoning does not necessarily
mean moral behavior.
• Focus is on the individual’s decision
without accounting for the influence of
interpersonal relationships.
Marriage
• People are getting married later in life
nowadays than they did in the past. In the
year 2018, the median age for first marriages
was nearly 28 for women and almost 30 for
men. What is a median again?
• Studies show that the older an individual is
when he or she marries, the lower the chance
of divorce.
• Average length of a marriage: ~9 years
Marriage
•
A successful marriage demonstrates 4
principles:
1) Fondness & Admiration
2) Friendship & Emotional Support
3) Shared Power
4) Positive Conflict Resolution
Cognitive Development in
Late Adulthood
Cognitive Development in
Middle Adulthood
• Crystallized Intelligence - an individual’s
accumulated information and verbal skills (ex:
vocabulary)
• Fluid Intelligence - an individual’s ability to
reason abstractly. (ex: puzzle solving ability)
• Crystallized intelligence tends to improve in
middle adulthood, yet fluid intelligence tends to
decline. “Use it or lose it.”
The Midlife Crisis
• Some cognitive abilities sharply decline with age
(perceptual speed, memory), however, other
areas seem to improve with age. One area is
wisdom, the expert knowledge about the
practical aspects of life.
• “When I was your age….”
• Contrary to what you see in
the media, only 10% of the
general population
experiences a midlife crisis.
https://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=gx
kNuHrS6cg
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Life Span/Life Expectancy
• Life span - the upper boundary of a species life.
Ours is 120.
• Life expectancy - # of years that will probably be
lived by the average person. Ours has extended
as a result of industrialization & advancements in
medicine.
• U.S. Life expectancy as of 2017: ~80 years
(ranked 42rd in the world)
• Men = ~76.9 years Women = ~81.6 years
Alzheimer’s Disease
• An unfortunate condition that affects some
individuals as they age.
• Progressive, irreversible brain disorder that is
characterized by gradual deterioration of
memory, language, reasoning, and
eventually, physical functioning.
• Increasing number of tangles (bundles of
proteins that impair neurons - the cells in our
brain) and plaques (deposits that accumulate
in the brain’s blood vessels)
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease
• The main treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease
is Aricept, however more research is needed
to examine its effectiveness in preventing
the deteriorization in the brain.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1mcAAgr
Cnw
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