Objective 1: State the three areas of change that developmental psychologists study,
and identify the three major issues in developmental psychology

Developmental Psychologist:

Three major issues in developmental psychology
1.
2.
3.
Prenatal Development and the Newborn
Conception
Objective 2: Describe the union of sperm and egg at conception
Prenatal Development
Objective 3: Define zygote, embryo, and fetus, and explain how teratogens can
affect development

Zygote:
o Appearance:

Embryo:

Fetus (Latin for
):
o At 9 weeks it can bend fingers and toes
o At 6 months the fetus can cry, open and close its eyes, and grasp. The 6
month old fetus even has taste buds
o During the 6th month, organs are sufficiently formed and functional
enough to allow a prematurely born fetus a chance of survival
o Fetuses are responsive to sound
o During the last 8 to 9 weeks the fetus usually gains ½ lb per week
o Average birth height is 20 inches long
o Average birth weight is 7 + pounds

Teratogens (ta-RAT-a-jens):
(See chart)
o Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS):
The Competent Newborn
Objective 4: Describe some abilities of the newborn, and explain how researchers
use habituation to assess infant sensory and cognitive abilities


These
reflexes
serves a s
survival
functions.
They
disappear
over the
course of
the 1st year
of life
William James (1890) described the world of a newborn as “one great blooming,
buzzing confusion”, suggesting a world of instability and chaos. We now know
that newborns have many more capabilities than they were given credit for.
Reflex:
o Rooting reflex:
o Moro reflex:
o Palmar reflex:

Newborns senses at birth
o Vision:

Size Constancy:

Depth Perception:
o Hearing:
o Taste:
o Smell
These senses at birth help the newborn adapt to life outside the womb
Infancy and Childhood
Physical Development
Physical Growth and Development Quiz
Give your opinion (true or false) on each statement below
_____1. Babies who walk early are inclined to be especially bright.
_____2. The average 2-year-old is already about half of his or her adult height.
_____3. Half the nerve cells (neurons) in the average baby’s brain die (and are not
replaced) during the first few years of life.
_____4. Most children walk when they are ready, and no amount of encouragement will
enable a 6-month-old to walk alone.
_____5. Hormones have little effect on human growth and development until puberty.
_____6. Emotional trauma can seriously impair the growth of young children, even those
who are adequately nourished, are free from illness, and are not physically
abused.
Brain Development
Objective 5: Describe some developmental changes in a child’s brain, and explain
why maturation accounts for many of our similarities.

Maturation:
Motor Development
Objective 6: Outline four events in the motor development sequence from birth to
toddlerhood, and evaluate the effects of maturation and experience on that
sequence.
Maturation and Infant Memory
Objective 7: Explain why we have few memories of experiences during our first
three years of life.

Infantile amnesia:
Cognitive Development
Objective 8: State Piaget’s understanding of how the mind develops, and discuss
the importance of assimilation and accommodation in this process

Jean Piaget:

Piaget’s general beliefs
o Children are ACTIVE thinkers
o Children think differently than adults
o Older children are not necessarily smarter, their thought processes are
totally different
o The child’s mind develops through a series of stages from simple reflexes
to the abstract reasoning that is characteristic of adults

Schemas:

Assimilation:

Accommodation:
Piaget’s Theory and Current Thinking
Objective 9: Outline Piaget’s four main stages of cognitive development, and
comment on how children’s thinking changes during these four stages
 Cognition:
Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)
 Sensorimotor Stage:

Object Permanence:

Stranger Anxiety:

Also in the latter half of this sensorimotor stage, infants are capable of
Preoperational Stage (2-6 years)
 Preoperational Stage: (The preoperational stage is characterized by cognitive
limitations such as: egocentricism animism, and artificialism)
l
i
m
i
t
a
t
i
o
n
s

Lack conservation skills:

Egocentrism:

Animism:

Artificialism

One dimensional thinking:

Pretend Play

Language development
Concrete Operational Stage (7-12 years)
 Concrete Operational Stage:

Conservation Skills:

Mathematical transformations:
Formal Operational Stage (12- )
 Formal Operational Stage: During this stage, people begin to think logically
about abstract concepts
Check your understanding of Piaget’s theory by indicating the stage of cognitive development
illustrated by each of the examples below. For each scenario, fill in the letter for the appropriate
state in the space on the left.
A. Sensorimotor Period
B. Preoperational Period
C. Concrete Operational Period
D. Formal Operational Period
_____1. Upon seeing a glass lying on its side, Zeon says, “Look, the glass is tired. It’s
taking a nap.”
_____2. Zoe is told that a farmer has nine cows and six horses. The teacher asks, “Does the
farmer have more cows or more animals?” Zoe answers, “More animals.”
_____3. Zelda is playing in the living room with a small red ball. The ball rolls under the
sofa. She stares for a moment at the place where the ball vanished and then turns her
attention to a toy truck sitting in front of her.
Reflecting on Piaget’s Theory
Objective 10: Discuss psychologists’ current views on Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development
Social Development
Objective 11: Define Stranger Anxiety

Stranger Anxiety: the distress, fear, and unhappiness experienced by young
children when they are around individuals who are unfamiliar to them. Stranger
anxiety is a normal part of cognitive development: Babies differentiate caregivers
from other people and display a strong preference for familiar faces. Stanger
anxiety usually begins around 8 or 9 months of age (but can begin as early as 6
months) and typically lasts into the 2nd year.
Origins of Attachment
Objective 12: Discuss the effects of nourishment, body contact, and familiarity on
infant social attachment

Attachment:

Body Contact (Harlow rhesus monkey studies):
Familiarity
 Critical Period:

Imprinting:
o Konrad Lorenz
Attachment Differences
Objective 13: Contrast secure and insecure attachment, and discuss the roles of
parents and infants in the development of attachment and an infant’s feelings of
basic trust
 Attachment:

Strange Situation: Mary Ainsworth assessed children’s attachment using a
laboratory situation known as the “Strange Situation”. This study was typically
used for infants between 1 and 2 years of age. First the mother and infant come
into an unfamiliar room which has a variety of toys and a one-way window. A
few minutes later, a stranger enters the room. The mother stays in the room
interacting with the child and stranger for a few moments. The mother then
leaves the baby in the room with the stranger for a short while. After a few more
minutes, the mother returns, spends a few minutes in the room, leaves, and returns
again. She found that infants were either securely attached or insecurely attached.
o Securely attached:
o Insecurely attached:

Were the attachment styles that infants formed a result of how they were raised or
a result of their temperament?

Temperament:
o Difficult Babies:
o Easy Babies:
o Slow-to-warm-up Babies:
Deprivation of Attachment
Objective 14: Assess the impact of parental neglect, family disruption, and day care
on attachment patterns and development
Disruption of Attachment
Does Day Care Affect Attachment?
Self-Concept
Objective 15: Trace the onset and development of children’s self-concept

Self-Concept:
o When does self-concept begin to emerge?
o What are the benefits of developing a positive self-concept?
Child-Rearing Practices
Objective 16: Describe three parenting styles, and offer three potential explanations
for the link between authoritative parenting and social competence

Three types of parenting styles (Diana Baumrind)
1. Authoritarian:
2. Permissive:
3. Authoritative:
Adolescence
Objective 17: Define adolescence
 Adolescence:

G. Stanley Hall:
o “Sturm und Drang”
o Is this true?
o Margaret Mead
Physical Development
Objective 18: Identify the major physical changes during adolescence

Puberty:

Primary sex characteristics:

Secondary sex characteristics:

Menarche:

Early vs. Late Maturers:
Cognitive Development
Developing Reasoning Power
Objective 19: Describe the changes in reasoning abilities that Piaget called formal
operations.

Formal Operations:
Formal Operations Exercise
Problem Solving
1. The maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t use it, and the user doesn’t see it. What is it?
2. Zinfandel Zablocki was born on December 27th, yet her birthday always falls in the summer.
How can that be?
3. Something extraordinarily unusual happened on the 6th of May in 1978 at exactly 12:34 p.m.
What was it?
4. A man left home one morning. He turned right and ran straight ahead. Then, he turned left.
After a while he turned left again, running faster than ever. Then he turned left once more and
decided to go home. In the distance, he could see two masked men waiting for him. Who
were they?
5. A hunter sees a bear 1 mile due south. He shoots, misses, and the bear runs off. The hunter
walks the 1 mile south to where the bear had been, then 1 mile due east, then 1 miles due
north—at which point, the hunter is standing, again, at exactly the same spot from which the
gun had been fired. Question: What color was the bear?
DOWN ON THE FARM
Old MacDonald had a farm, and so did Old MacAlpine, and Old MacManus. From the
clues given, can you work out how many cows, pigs, and goats each farmer had on his
farm?
Cows
1
2
Goats
3
1
2
Pigs
3
1
2
3
Old
MacAlpine
Old
MacDonald
Old
MacManus
Clues
1. Old MacDonald had more goats, but fewer pigs, than Old MacAlpine; both of them
had more than one cow.
2. The farmer with two cows had three pigs.
3. Each farmer has a different number of each type of animal.
Farmer
Old MacAlpine
Old MacDonald
Old MacManus
Number of cows
Number of goats
Number of pigs
Developing Morality
Objective 20: Discuss moral development from the perspectives of moral thinking,
moral feeling, and moral action.

Lawrence Kohlberg (See handouts)
o PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL (Birth- 9 years old):

STAGE 1: “Spanking Stage”

STAGE 2: “Lollipop Stage”
o CONVENTIONAL LEVEL: (9 to 19 years of age)

STAGE 3: “Good Boy/Nice Girl Stage”

STAGE 4: “Play-by-the-rules Stage”
o POST CONVENTIONAL LEVEL: (End of adolescence)


Stage 5: “Conviction Stage”

Stage 6: “Love Stage
Criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory
Moral Action:
Social Development
Objective 21: Identify Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development and
their accompanying issues.
(See Handouts)
Forming an Identity
Objective 22: Explain how the search for identity affects us during adolescence, and
discuss how forming an identity prepares us for intimacy.

Identity:

Intimacy:
Parent and Peer Influence
Objective 23: Contrast parental and peer influences during adolescence
Emerging Adulthood
Objective 24: Discuss the characteristics of emerging adulthood.
Adulthood
Physical Development
Physical Changes in Middle Adulthood
Objective 25: Identify the major physical changes that occur in middle adulthood

Menopause:

Men have no equivalent to menopause but they do experience a gradual decline in
testosterone level. If the testosterone level falls too quickly men may experience
depression, irritability, insomnia, impotence, or weakness.
Physical Changes in Later Life
Objective 26: Compare life expectancy in the mid-twentieth and early twenty-first
centuries, and discuss changes in sensory abilities and health (including frequency
of dementia) in older adults.
Life Expectancy
Sensory Abilities
Health
Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease
 Alzheimer’s disease
Cogntive Devlopment
Aging and Memory
Objective 27: Assess the impact of aging on recall and recognition in adulthood

Recall vs. Recognition:
Aging and Intelligence
Objective 28: Summarize the contributions of cross-sectional and longitudinal
studies to our understanding of the normal effects of aging on adult intelligence.

Cross-sectional studies:

Longitudinal studies:

Fluid intelligence:

Crystallized intelligence:
Social Development
Adulthood’s Ages and Stages
Objective 29: Explain why the path of adult development need not be tightly linked
to one’s chronological age


Midlife transition:
Social Clock:
Life Events and Chance Encounters
Adulthood’s Commitments
Objective 30: Discuss the importance of love, marriage, and children in adulthood,
and comment on the contribution of one’s work to feelings of self-satisfaction.
Love
Work
Well-being Across the Life Span
Objective 31: Describe trends in people’s life satisfaction across the life span.
Death and Dying
Objective 32: Describe the range of reactions to the death of a loved one.


Usually the mot difficult separation is from one’s spouse. Grief is especially
severe when the death of a loved one comes before its expected time on the social
clock.
Debunking myths:
o Grieving strongly and immediately does not help one to deal with grief
more quickly.
o Therapy and self-help groups do not replace the healing power of time and
supportive friends.
o Terminally ill and grieving people do not go through predictable stages.
Grief is very personal.