Lecture Overview
• Studying Development
• Physical Development
• Cognitive Development
• Social-Emotional Development
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Studying Development
• Developmental Psychology: studies agerelated changes in behavior & mental
processes from conception to death
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©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Studying Development– Key Theoretical
Debates
• Nature vs. Nurture: heredity vs. environment
• Continuity vs. Stages: continuous & gradual
vs. periods of abrupt change followed by
periods of little change
• Stability vs. Change: characteristics maintained
vs. characteristics vary over time
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Studying Development (Continued)
• What position on these three
debates is most correct? Most
psychologists support the
interactionist perspective,
which recently evolved into
the biopsychosocial model.
Biological
Social
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Psychological
Pause & Reflect:
Critical Thinking
Behaviorist John Watson said: “Give me a
dozen healthy infants, well-formed, & my own specified
world to bring them up in, & I'll guarantee to take
anyone at random & train them to become any type of
specialist I might select-- doctor, lawyer, artist,
merchant-chief, &, yes, even beggar man & thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities,
vocations, & race of his ancestors." (Boakes, 1984, pp.
226) Do you agree? Why or why not?
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Cultural Guidelines for
Developmental Research
• Culture is a very important determinant.
• Development cannot be studied outside its
socio-cultural context.
• Each culture’s ethno-theories are important
determinants.
• Culture is largely invisible to participants.
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Physical Development—
The Moment of Conception
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Physical Development—
Three Stages of Prenatal Development
1. Germinal Period:
conception to uterine
implantation
2. Embryonic Period: uterine
implantation through the
eighth week
3. Fetal Period: eighth week
until birth
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Physical Development—
Three Stages of Prenatal Development
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Physical Development—
Hazards to Prenatal Development
• Teratogens: environmental agents that cause
damage during prenatal development
• Categories of teratogens:
– Legal & illegal drugs
– Diseases & malnutrition
– Exposure to X-rays & stress
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Physical Development—
Hazards to Prenatal Development
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Physical Development—
Early Childhood
• Three key areas of early childhood
development:
–Brain
–Motor
–Sensory/perceptual
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Physical Development—
Prenatal Brain Development
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Physical Development—
Brain Development
• As a child develops, his or her neurons
grow in size & the number of dendrites &
axons increase.
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Lifespan Changes in Body Proportions
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Physical Development—Early Childhood
• Milestones in motor development
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Physical Development—
Sensory & Perceptual Development
• Smell, taste, touch, &
hearing are well
developed at birth.
• Vision is poorly
developed at birth.
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Cognitive Development
• Jean Piaget believed infants begin at a
cognitively “primitive” level & progress in
distinct stages.
• Piaget’s schemas are the most basic unit of
intellect, which act as patterns that organize
interactions with the environment.
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Cognitive Development (Continued)
• Schemas grow &
change due to:
– Assimilation: absorbing
new information into
existing schemas
– Accommodation:
adjusting old schemas
or developing new ones
to better fit with new
information
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Cognitive Development—
•
•
•
•
Sensorimotor: birth-2 years
Preoperational: 2-7 years
Concrete Operational: 7-11 years
Formal Operational: 11 years & up
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©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Assessing Piaget’s Theory—
Two Major Criticisms
1. Underestimated
abilities (e.g.,
newborns can
imitate facial
expressions)
2. Underestimated
genetic & cultural
influences
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Social-Emotional Development
• Social Development
• Attachment: strong
affectional bond with
special others that
endures over time
– Harlow’s work with
monkeys--feeding or
contact comfort?
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Social-Emotional Development—
Three Levels of Attachment
• Ainsworth’s strange situation
procedure identified three
types of attachment in children:
1. Securely Attached Child stays
close to mother, shows
moderate distress when
separated, & is happy when
mother returns.
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Three Levels of Attachment
(Continued)
2. Avoidant: Child treats mother & stranger
the same & rarely cries when mother
leaves.
3. Anxious/Ambivalent: Child is upset when
mother leaves. When mother returns, child
seeks closeness, but also squirms away.
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Pause & Reflect:
Psychology at Work
• Research suggests the
attachment patterns we
develop as infants may
carry over into similar
patterns in our adult
romantic relationships.
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Social-Emotional Development—
Baumrind’s Three Parenting Styles
1. Permissive (PermissiveNeglectful & PermissiveIndulgent)
2. Authoritarian
3. Authoritative
• Identified by degree of
control/demandingness (C)
& warmth/ responsiveness
(W)
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Social-Emotional Development—
Baumrind’s Three Parenting Styles
1. Permissive
a.Permissive-Neglectful Few limits or
control (Lo C), little warmth or
responsiveness (Lo W)
b.Permissive-Indulgent Few limits or control
(Lo C), high warmth & responsiveness (Hi
W)
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Baumrind’s Three Parenting Styles
(Continued)
2. Authoritarian Highly
controlling (Hi C), little
warmth or responsiveness
(Lo W)
3. Authoritative Set & enforce
firm limits (Hi C), high
warmth or responsiveness
(Hi W)
©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010
Study Tip:
• Two “Rs” in
AuthoRitaRian =
“Rigid Ruler!”
• Two “Ts” in
AuThoriTative =
“Tender
Teacher!”