Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY
(5th Ed)
Chapter 3
The Developing Child
James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University
Worth Publishers
The Developing Child
Developmental Psychology
study of changes across the life span
Developmental Issues
Nature versus Nurture
How is our development influenced by our
heredity (nature) and by our experience (nuture)?
Continuity versus Stages
Is developmental change gradual and continuous
or does it proceed through a sequence of
separate stages?
Stability versus Change
Do we grow into older versions of our early
selves or do we become new persons?
Union of Egg and Sperm
Genetic Influences
X- Chromosomes
sex chromosome found in both males and
females
females have two, males have one
an X-chromosome from each parent
produces a female
Y-Chromosomes
sex chromosome found only in males
when paired with a X-chromosome from the
mother, it produces a male child
The Developing Child
Testosterone
most important of the male sex hormones
both males and females have it
additional testosterone in males
stimulates growth of male sex organs in the fetus
stimulates development of male sex
characteristics during puberty
Gender
characteristics, whether biologically or socially
influenced, by which people define male and
female
Prenatal Development
Zygote
fertilized egg
enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division
develops into an embryo
Embryo
developing human organism from 2 weeks
through 2nd month
Fetus
developing human organism from 9 weeks to
birth
Prenatal Development
Teratogens
agents that can reach the embryo or fetus
during prenatal development and cause harm
chemical, e.g. alcohol, some medicines,
cocaine, nicotine
viral, e.g. HIV, Rubella
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
physical and cognitive abnormalities in
children caused by drinking in pregnancy
The Newborn
Rooting Reflex
tendency to turn head, open mouth, and search
for nipple when touched on the cheek
Preferences
human voices and
faces
facelike images-->
smell and sound of
mother preferred
Infancy and Childhood
Maturation
biological growth
processes that enable
orderly changes in
behavior
relatively uninfluenced
by
experience
sets the course for
development
while
experience adjusts it
At birth
3 months
15 months
Cortical Neurons
Infancy and Childhood
Babies only 3
months old can
learn that kicking
moves a mobileand can retain
that learning for
a month (RoveeCollier, 1989).
Infancy and Childhood
Impoverished environment
Enriched environment
Rats reared in an
environment enriched
with playthings show
increased
development of the
cerebral cortex
(Rosenzweig, et al.,
1972).
Infancy and Childhood
Plasticity
the brain’s capacity for
modification
evidence for plasticity
• brain reorganization following damage
–especially in children
• experiments on the effects of
experience on brain development
Infancy and Childhood
A finger-tapping task activates more motor
cortex neurons after training (right).
Infancy and Childhood
Cognition
mental activities associated with thinking,
knowing, and remembering
Schema
a concept or framework that organizes and
interprets information
Assimilation
interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s
existing schemas
Accommodation
adapting one’s current schemas to incorporate
new information
Piaget’s Stages of
Cognitive Development
Typical Age
Range
Description
of Stage
Developmental
Phenomena
Birth to nearly 2 years
Sensorimotor
Experiencing the world through
senses and actions (looking,
touching, mouthing)
•Object permanence
•Stranger anxiety
About 2 to 6 years
Preoperational
Representing things
with words and images
but lacking logical reasoning
•Pretend play
•Egocentrism
•Language development
About 7 to 11 years
Concrete operational
•Conservation
Thinking logically about concrete
•Mathematical
events; grasping concrete analogies
transformations
and performing arithmetical operations
About 12 through
adulthood
Formal operational
Abstract reasoning
•Abstract logic
•Potential for
moral reasoning
Piaget’s Theory of
Cognitive Development
Object Permanence
the awareness that things continue to exist even
when not perceived
Conservation
the principle that properties such as mass, volume,
and number remain the same despite changes in
the forms of objects
part of Piaget’s concrete operational reasoning
Egocentrism
the inability of the preoperational child to take
another’s point of view
Cognitive Development
Habituation
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation
newborns become bored with a repeated stimulus,
but renew their attention to a slightly different
stimulus
Cognitive Development
Percentage of
time spent
looking
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Familiar
stimulus
Novel
stimulus
Cognitive Development
Time spent
looking
(seconds)
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
Presentation
6
7
8
Cognitive Development
Baby Mathematics
Shown a numerically impossible outcome, infants
stare longer (Wynn, 1992)
4. Possible outcome: Screen
drops, revealing one object.
1. Objects placed 2. Screen
in case.
comes up.
3. One object
is removed.
4. Possible outcome: Screen
drops, revealing two object.
Social Development
Stranger Anxiety
fear of strangers that infants commonly
display
beginning by about 8 months of age
Attachment
an emotional tie with another person
shown in young children by seeking closeness
to the caregiver and showing distress on
separation
Social Development
Harlow’s Surrogate
Mother Experiments
Monkeys preferred
contact with the
comfortable cloth
mother, even while
feeding from the
nourishing wire
mother
Social Development
Critical Period
an optimal period shortly after birth when an
organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences
produces proper development
Imprinting
the process by which certain animals form
attachments during a critical period very early in life
Temperament
a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and
intensity
Social Development
Monkeys raised
by artificial
mothers were
terror-stricken
when placed in
strange situations
without their
surrogate
mothers.
Social Development
Basic Trust (Erik Erikson)
a sense that the world is predictable and
trustworthy
said to be formed during infancy by
appropriate experiences with responsive
caregivers
Self-Concept
a sense of one’s identity and personal worth
Social Development
Percentage
of infants
100
who cried
when their
mothers left
80
Groups of infants
who had and had
not experienced
day care were
left by their
mothers in a
unfamiliar room.
Day care
60
40
Home
20
0
3.5 5.5 7.5 9.5 11.5 13.5 20
Age in months
29
Social Development
 Percentage of
children
experiencing
school problems
in the previous
year
Percentage
of children
20
15
10
5
0
Repeated
school
grade
Expelled
or
suspended
Treated for
problems in
last year
Live with both biological parents
Live with formerly married mother and no father
Social DevelopmentChild-Rearing Practices
Authoritarian
parents impose rules and expect obedience
“Don’t interrupt”
“Why? Because I said so.”
Authoritative
parents are both demanding and responsive
set rules, but explain reasons
encourage discussion
Social DevelopmentChild-Rearing Practices
Permissive
submit to children’s desires
make few demands
use little punishment
Rejecting-neglecting
disengaged
expect little
invest little
Social DevelopmentChild-Rearing Practices
 Three explanations for correlation between authoritative
parenting and social competence
(1) Parent’s behavior
may be influencing child.
Authoritative
parents
(2) Child’s behavior may
be influencing parents.
Self-reliant,
Socially competent
child
Authoritative
parents
(3) Some third factor may be
influencing both parents and child.
High education, ample
income, harmonious
marriage, common genes
Authoritative
parents
Self-reliant,
Socially competent
child
Self-reliant,
Socially competent
child
Gender and Child-Rearing
Gender Identity
one’s sense of being male or female
Gender-Typing
the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine
role
Social Learning Theory
we learn social behavior by observing and imitating
and by being rewarded or punished
Gender Schema Theory
children learn from their cultures a concept of what it
means to be male and female
adjust behavior accordingly
Gender and Child-Rearing
Social learning theory
Rewards and
Punishments
Gender schema theory
Cultural learning
of gender
Gender schema
(looking at self and
World through a
gender “lens”)
Observation and
Imitation of
models
Gender-organized
thinking
Gender-typed
behavior
Gender-typed
behavior