Chapter 3, pp 50-68: Child
Development
Lectures 17 & 18
Learning Outcomes
• Explain prenatal development and the role that
sex hormones play.
• Explain the physical, cognitive, moral, social,
and emotional development of children.
Learning Outcomes
• Explain the physical, cognitive, moral, social and
emotional development of adolescents.
Truth or Fiction?
Your heart started beating when you were only
one-fifth of an inch long and weighed a fraction
of an ounce.
Prior to 6 months or so of age, “out of sight” is
literally “out of mind.”
Prenatal Development
1. Developmental Psychology: Basic Issues
and Methodology
• Developmental Psychology
– Some study particular age group
– Others - physical development, cognitive or language
development, emotional or moral development.
• Nurture or nature controversy
– The best nurturing environment cannot produce Albert
Einstein
– Resilience, Vulnerability and protective factors
• Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies
2. Prenatal Development
Three Stages: Germinal stage, Embryonic stage,
and Fetal
• Germinal Stage (1 to 2 weeks)
– Conception through implantation
– Zygote divides rapidly and becomes implanted
in the uterine wall
– At the end of 2 weeks, zygote is the size of the
period at the end of this sentence.
3. Prenatal Development
• Embryonic Stage (3 to 8 weeks)
– Major organ systems are formed
• 4th week- a primitive heart begins to beat
• Facial futures distinct, (embryo 1 inch long and
1/30th to 1/7th of an ounce)
– Genetic code (XX or XY) causes sex organs to
differentiate
• Y sex chromosome – testes form and produce
androgens
4. Prenatal Development
• Embryonic Stage
– Embryo is suspended in amniotic sac w/fluid
• Nutrients and wastes are exchanged with
mother through placenta
• Embryo is connected to placenta by
umbilical cord
12 weeks/ the end of first trimester
• Fetal Stage (9 weeks to birth 38 weeks)
– Characterized by maturation and gains in size
– Rapid growth and further development of the body
structures, organs, and systems.
– By the end of 3rd month fingers and toes are formed
– In the middle of 4th month, the mother detects the first
fetal movements
– The fetus opens and shuts its eyes, sucks its thumb,
alternates between periods of being awake and
sleeping, and responds to light and sound (25th week)
5. Prenatal Development
• Fetal Stage (9 weeks to birth 38 weeks)
– Characterized by maturation and gains in size
– Rapid growth and further development of the body
structures, organs, and systems.
– By the end of 3rd month fingers and toes are formed
– In the middle of 4th month, the mother detects the first
fetal movements
– The fetus opens and shuts its eyes, sucks its thumb,
alternates between periods of being awake and
sleeping, and responds to light and sound (25th week)
6. Negative Influences on Prenatal
Development
• Maternal Diseases/Conditions
–
–
–
–
–
Diabetes-growth abnormalities
Rubella-heart defects, blindness, deafness
Herpes-nerve damage; transmitted to fetus
HIV-transmitted to fetus
Chicken pox- scars, eye damage
• Drugs
• Alcohol- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
• Cocaine- prematurity, physical defects, sleep diff.
• Marijuana-tremors
Childhood
7. Physical Development
• Reflexes
– Inborn, unlearned, automatic responses
elicited by specific stimuli
• Rooting and sucking, withdrawal, blinking,
grasping
• Video CD1 #14
• Motor Development
– Brain maturation and environmental factors
M.D.
8. Physical Development
• Perceptual Development
– Within days, infant can track moving light
– 2-month prefer human face as visual stimuli
• Fixation time – measure of visual preference
– Perceive depth about time begin crawling
• Visual cliff experiments (Gibson and Walk
(1960))
Two-Month-Olds’ Preferences for Visual Stimuli
9. Physical Development
• Perceptual Development
– Newborns hear normally; prefer mother’s voice
• Show no preference for father’s voice
Newborns and Infants: Sensation and
Perception
PLAY
VIDEO
10. Attachment
•
Emotional tie formed between infant and
caregiver
–
•
•
•
Failure to develop attachment seriously compromises later development
Why? Harry Harlow experiments (videos 12 A,B,C,)
Mary Salter Ainsworth
Behavior that defines attachment
– Attempts to maintain contact
– Anxiety when separated
– Stranger anxiety
11. Attachment
•
Strange Situation
– Method to assess infants’ response to
separations and reunions with caregivers
and a stranger
• Three Types of Attachment
– Secure attachment
– Avoidant attachment
– Ambivalent/resistant attachment
12. Stages of Attachment
•
•
Initially infants show indiscriminate attachment
Beginning about 4 months of age
– Initial-preattachment phase, indiscriminate
– Attachment-in-the-making phase
– Clear-cut-attachment phase
• Fear of strangers – 8 to 10 months
13. Theoretical Views of Attachment
•
Behaviorists viewed attachment as learned
behavior based on caregiver’s attention
• Harry F. Harlow
– Inborn need for contact comfort
14. Theoretical Views of Attachment
•
Konrad Lorenz (1981)
– Ethologist – attachment is an instinct
– Critical period
– Imprinting
• Ainsworth and Bowlby
– Attachment is instinctive in humans
15. Cognitive Development
• The way in which children mentally represent and
think about the world
– Jean Piaget – Cognitive-development theory
– Lev Vygotsky – Sociocultural theory
– Lawrence Kohlberg – Theory of moral
development
16. Piaget’s Cognitive-Development Theory
• Schema
– “Mental structure” in organizing knowledge
• Assimilation
– Respond to new stimuli through existing habit
• Accommodation
– Create new ways of responding to objects
17. Stages of Cognitive-Development Theory
• Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete
Operational, & Formal Operational Stages
• Sensorimotor Stage
– Object Permanence
• Before 6 months of age does not mentally
represent objects
Object Permanence
PLAY
VIDEO
18. Stages of Cognitive-Development Theory
• Preoperational Stage (approx. from 2 to 7 y.o.)
– Use words and symbols to represent objects and
relationships among them
– Think one dimensionally, reversibility is not understood
– Egocentrism
– Animism
– Artificialism
– Conservation is absent (play video)
• Objective Responsibility
13. Stages of Cognitive-Development Theory
• Preoperational Stage (approx. from 2 to 7 y.o.)
– Use words and symbols to represent objects
and relationships among them
– Think one dimensionally
– Egocentrism
– Animism
– Artificialism
– Conservation
• Objective Responsibility
Piaget’s Conservation Experiment
PLAY
VIDEO
19. Stages of Cognitive-Development Theory
• Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 12 )
– Beginning of capacity for adult logic around
tangible objects, but not abstract ideas.
– Decentration (Video)
– Reversibility
• Subjective Moral Judgment
Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage
PLAY
VIDEO
20. Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory
• Piaget tended to underestimate children’s abilities
• Egocentrism and conservation appear to be more
continuous than Piaget thought
• Developmental sequences do not vary
21. Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
•
•
•
•
Continuous theory focused on influence of
culture and children’s interactions with elders
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Scaffolding
Children internalize explanations that
encourage skill development
22. Lawrence Kohlberg’s
Theory of Moral Development
•
•
Use of “moral dilemma” story to explore
reasoning of right and wrong
Stage theory with a specific sequence
23. Lawrence Kohlberg’s
Theory of Moral Development
•
Preconventional Level
– Base judgment on consequences of behavior
• Stage 1 – Obedience and avoid
punishment
• Stage 2 – Good behavior allows people to
satisfy their needs
24. Lawrence Kohlberg’s
Theory of Moral Development
•
Conventional Level
– Base judgment on conformity to conventional
standards of right and wrong
• Stage 3 – Good-boy orientation
• Stage 4 – Judgments are based on rules
that maintain social order
25. Lawrence Kohlberg’s
Theory of Moral Development
•
Postconventional Level-moral conduct id under
internal control
–
–
Stage 5: respect for individual rights and laws that
are democratically agreed on. Rational valuing of the
wishes of the majority and general welfare. Society is
best served if the citizen obey the law.
Stage 6: The morality of universal ethical principles.
The person acts according to internal standards,
independent of legal restrictions or options of others.
26. Evaluation of Kohlberg’s
Theory of Moral Development
•
•
•
Research suggests moral reasoning does follow
a sequence
Most people do not reach postconventional
level (consistent with formal operational
thought)
Kohlberg underestimated the influence of social
institutions and parents
27. Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial
Development (Lifespan)
•
Eight stages that represent life crises
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Trust versus Mistrust (birth to 1 year)
Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt (1-3)
Industry versus Inferiority (6 to puberty)
Identity versus Role Confusion (adolescence)
Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood 20s-30s)
Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood)
Ego Integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood)
28. Parenting Styles
•
Diana Baumrind’s styles of parenting
–
•
Connection between parental behavior and
development of instrumental competence
Four aspects of parental behavior
–
–
–
–
Strictness;
Demands for child to achieve intellectual, emotional
and social maturity;
Communication ability;
Warmth and involvement
29. Parenting Styles
•
Diana Baumrind’s styles of parenting
– Authoritative
– Authoritarian
– Permissive
– Uninvolved
Adolescence
30. Physical Development
•
•
Growth spurt
Puberty is the period when the body becomes sexually mature
– Begins with appearance of secondary sex
characteristics (body hair, change voice in male, testosterone,
estrogen - rounding of the breasts and hips in female,)
– Menarche
• Usually occurs between 11 and 14
• Timing of puberty influence self-esteem, body
image, confidence, but sometimes negative
consequences
31. Cognitive Development
•
Piaget’s Formal Operations Stage
–
–
–
•
•
•
Classification, logical thought, ability to hypothesis
Abstract thinking
Able to deal with hypothetical situations
Metamemory
Effective learners
Adolescent Egocentrism
–
–
Imaginary Audience
Personal Fable
Abstraction and Hypothetical Propositions
PLAY
VIDEO
32. Moral Reasoning
•
Kohlberg’s Postconventional Level
– Many people do not reach this level
– Judgment is based on person’s own moral
standards
– Stage 5 – Laws are made to preserve order
but exceptions can occur
– Stage 6 – Adherence to universal ethical
principles
33. Sex Differences and Moral Reasoning
•
Kohlberg’s theory shows higher levels of moral
reasoning in boys
• Carol Gilligan argues difference is result of
socialization
– Girls make judgments based on needs of
others
– Boys make judgments based on logic
34. Social and Emotional Development
•
•
Independence is the challenge of adolescence
Erikson’s Psychosocial Development
– Ego Identity versus Role Diffusion
• Adolescent Sexuality
–
Before1960s-societal influence- no sex before marriage
–
Now about 50% of American teens engage in sexual
intercourse
25% had 4 or more partners before they are seniors
–
Beyond the Book
Slides to help expand your lectures
Is Development Continuous or Discontinuous?
• Continuous – gradual changes
– Behaviorists and learning theorists
• Discontinuous – changes in stages
– Freud and Piaget
Child Abuse
•
Factors that contribute to child abuse
– Stress
– History of child abuse in at least one of
parents’ families of origin
– Acceptance of violence as coping mechanism
– Failure to attach with children
– Substance abuse
– Rigid attitudes toward child raising