The Developing Person Cognitive (thinking) development Social development Moral Development Psychosocial Development Aging Cognitive Development • Jean Piaget Sensorimotor (0-2 years) Object Permanence Preoperational (2-7 years) Conservation of Matter Egocentric Concrete operations (7-12 years) Concrete objects Formal operations (12 to adult) Abstract thought Social Development • How do we develop social bonds? Body contact Familiarity Self Concept Body contact • Harlow monkey studies • Wire mother & terrycloth mother Preferred non-nourishing cloth mother Familiarity • Critical period • Imprinting Birds forming attachment during the critical period Parental attachment • Toddlers with secure attachments to parents: More sociable More enthusiastic and persistent in tackling challenging tasks. Self concept • Parenting Authoritarian Impose rules & expect obedience Permissive Go along with child’s desires Authoritative Discusses and negotiates rules Produce more self-confident children Moral Development • Kohlberg - Moral development • Preconventional Obey to gain rewards or avoid punishment • Conventional Respect for laws and rules simply because they are there • Postconventional Abstract reasoning-rights and ethics Morality and social influence • Social influence effects whether or not we will act on our morality. • Eg. The best predictor of a H.S. student using drugs, is the number of the student’s friends that use drugs. Erickson’s eight stages of Psychosocial Development • • • • Infancy = Trust vs mistrust Toddler = Autonomy vs Shame & doubt Preschooler = Initiative vs guilt Elementary school = Competence vs inferiority • • • • Adolescence = Identity vs. role confusion Young adult = Intimacy vs. isolation Middle adult = Generativity vs. stagnation Late adulthood = Integrity vs. despair Integrity achieved in late adulthood Adulthood and aging • Alzheimer’s disease Deterioration of the brain Effects memory and thinking Difficulty in naming familiar objects or people Linked to genetic abnormalities Linked to activity (Use it or lose it) Aging and memory • Crystallized intelligence Accumulated knowledge Increases with age • Fluid intelligence Ability to reason and solve problems Decreases with age Aging and Society • The “social clock” The feeling that events in life regularly occur at specific ages. Graduation, marriage, children, retirement, etc. Varies greatly from culture to culture No biological basis for timing of events