Developmental Psychology
Myers for AP, Unit 9
Overview
• Do now: What is a placenta and
what does it do?
• Life is sexually transmitted!
• 200 million sperm in an average
ejaculate; only one makes it, and
fewer than half of those survive
two weeks!
• It’s a nature/nurture thing all the
way along
• What are teratogens?
Discussion Questions:
• Babies!
1. When does life begin?
2. How do you think the criminal justice system should
deal with mothers who abuse drugs during
pregnancy?
3. Should fetuses be genetically tested for
abnormalities?
4. Should human cloning be allowed?
5. What ethical dilemmas exist for doctors and parents
when multiple fetuses occur in one pregnancy?
Newborns Should Be Able To…
• Reflexes:
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Rooting
Grasping
Moro (startle reflex)
Sucking
Babinski (toes flare and
curl when stroked)
– Plantar (toes curl in when
ball of foot is pressed)
– Stepping
– Swimming
• APGAR – Test given at 1
and 5 minutes after birth.
(Virginia Apgar, 1952).
Scores of 7 to 10 are
normal. Tests:
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Activity
Pulse
Grimace
Appearance
Respiration
1 in 33 babies is born with some kind of birth defect. Causes: teratogens,
genetics, and a variety of unknown factors.
Babies Learn Fast!
• Habituation happens
• Babies look longer at
novel stimuli
• Neural networks grow
like wildfire
Development basics
• Do now: What are the pros and cons of
starting very young children in educational
opportunities?
• There is a nearly universal sequence of
growth, although the timeline varies from
person to person and culture to culture
• Babies growth is cephalocaudal (from head to
toe) and proximal-distal (near to far; trunk to
limbs)
Side notes about SIDS
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Why do babies die?
Sleep apnea
Low serotonin levels
Back-to-sleep campaign
Fumes???
Proximity to mom
• Named one of Time
Magazine’s most Important
people of the 20th Century
• Born in Switzerland
• His main theory: The driving
force of our intellectual
development is an unceasing
struggle to make sense of our
experiences.
• Four stages of intellectual
development. Some key terms
to know:
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Schemas
Assimilation
Accommodation
Object permanence
Conversion
Jean Piaget
1896-1980
More detail about Stages
• Sensorimotor
– Reflexes
– Primary circular reactions
(repeat because pleasurable)
– Secondary Circular Reactions
(repeat to get a result)
– Coordination of reactions
– Tertiary Circular reactions (trial
and error experiments)
– Early representational thought
• Preoperational:
– Children more adept at using
symbols (e.g. a broom is a
horse)
– Conservation rare in children
younger than 5
• Concrete operational
– Inductive reasoning (specific to
general)
– Reversibility: a dog is a Lab and
a Lab is a dog (but only on
concrete concepts)
• Formal operational:
– Deductive reasoning
– Use of abstract concepts (such
as imagining outcomes and
consequences of actions NOT
based on experiences
– The ability to plan organized
approaches to solving problems
Cognitive Development
Reflecting on Piaget’s Theory
• Influential theory
• Development is more
continuous
• Larger emphasis on
social factors
• Lev Vygotsky
– Believed learning
precedes
development
– Zone of proximal
development
Attachment
• Do now: Is daycare harmful?
• Body contact
– Harlow
– Parents – peers – partners (natural shift)
• Familiarity
– Imprinting
• Mary Ainsworth – Secure and Insecure Attachment; strange
situation research
• Sensitive/responsive vs. Insensitive/unresponsive
• Parenting vs. temperament
• Maternal deprivation vs. father absence
• Disruption in attachment (think Harlow baby monkeys in
later life)
Bowlby & Ainsworth
• Bowlby noted for work around attachment and the idea of
separation anxiety
• Ainsworth: Strange situation studies to determine secure or
insecure attachment.
– Secure = comfortable playing when mom’s around, distressed
when she leaves, happy to see her when she returns. (sensitive,
responsive moms)
– Insecure = failure to explore, clingy, but may be indifferent when
she leaves or returns. (insensitive, non-responsive moms.
• Important to note: Much of the research leaves dads out of
the picture. (Gender typing)
• Also, much of the early research was done and reported by
men.
Parenting Styles
• Authoritarian – “it’s my way or the highway!” (Dictator)
• Permissive – “Eh… it’s whatever” (Laissez faire)
• Authoritative – “There are rules, but let me listen and
explain.” (Democratic)
• Diana Baumrind – Children with the highest selfesteem, self-reliance, and social competence usually
have which kind of parents?
• Discussion question: Are childrearing practices, in
general, better or worse in other cultures?
Skim through Puberty
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Primary sex characteristics
Secondary sex characteristics
Menarche
Girls as early as 9, boys as late as 16
Timing may be different, but progression is the same
Advantages and disadvantages of early maturation
Brain development. Frontal lobe still developing –
explains emotional outbursts, impulsive decisions, risktaking, etc. (e.g. smoking, drinking, early sex, etc.)
• Self-focused worry about what others think
Erikson Project
• Do now: Make a quick list of significant things
that typically happen in a person’s life from
birth to death. (5 minutes!)
• Need volunteers to record on whiteboard. (5
minutes!)
• Volunteers mark whether these are physical,
social, intellectual. (5 minutes)
• Freud said…
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
• And Erikson, who followed Freud, said…
Erikson Project Continued
• Form 5 groups
• Each group will have one of the first 5 stages
• Follow remaining instructions on SWIFT
assignment
• Be ready to present tomorrow
Do Now: Who am I? (Erikson, Stage 5)
• Number your paper from 1 to 10. Write down 10
different answers to this question, listing only those
things that, if lost, would make a real difference in your
sense of identity.
• Ideas include roles, responsibilities, groups, traits,
needs, feelings, behavior patterns. For example: “I am
kind” or “I am a musician” or “I am a daughter.”
• Now, imagine what life would be like if those things
were no longer part of your identity. Comment.
• Order the list from most important to least.
Carol Gilligan
Moral Feeling:
•Disgust when we see someone do something degrading or
subhuman
•Elevation when we see someone do something
heartwarming, caring, generous or courageous
Summing up Three Themes
• Nature and Nurture: Both genes and environment;
biological and social factors influence our development
• Continuity and Stages: Even though stage theory has its
flaws, the concepts remain useful and provide context for
research and understanding.
• Stability and Change: Longitudinal studies have found
evidence for both.
– Early years can be indicators, but not hard and fast predictors of
long-term outcomes
– Personality tends to stabilize with age
– Temperament is more stable than social attitudes
– Stability allows us to depend on others; Change motivates our
concerns to create a better future.
Oh, and one more thing
• Researcher James Marcia expanded upon Erikson's initial theory.
• Identity vs. Role confusion: Believed balance = making a commitment to
an identity. He developed four different identity statuses:
1. Identity achievement: an individual explores different identities and
commits to one.
2. Moratorium: a person is actively exploring different identities, but
has not made a commitment.
3. Foreclosure: a person has made a commitment without attempting
identity exploration.
4. Identity diffusion: there is neither an identity crisis nor
commitment.
• Researchers have found that those who have made a strong commitment
to an identity tend to be happier and healthier than those who have not.
Those with a status of identity diffusion tend to feel out of place in the
world and don't pursue a sense of identity.