Developmental Psychology

The study of YOU from womb to tomb.

We are going to study how we change physically,
socially, cognitively and morally over our lifetimes.
Developmental Psychology
Issue Details
How do genetic inheritance
Nature/Nurture (our nature) and experience
(the nurture we receive)
influence our behavior?
Is development a gradual,
Continuity/Stages continuous process or a
sequence of separate stages?
Do our early personality
Stability/Change traits persist through life, or
do we become different
persons as we age.

2
 Developmental Terms

cephalocaudal development
head develops before arms and trunk and
arms and trunk develop before legs
proximodistal development
head, trunk, and arms develop before hands
and fingers
Both apply to prenatal development and
development during the first two years

Unit IX. Development 3

 Nature Versus Nurture
While going through
this unit always been
in the back of your
head.
Are you who you are
because of:
The way you were
born- Nature.
The way you were
raised- Nurture.
 Research Methods
Cross-Sectional Studies Longitudinal Studies
Participants of One group of people
different ages studied studied over a period of
at the same time. time.
 Prenatal Development
Conception begins
with the drop of an
egg and the release
of about 200 million
sperm.
The sperm seeks out
the egg and
attempts to
penetrate the eggs
surface.
 Once the sperm penetrates the egg- we have
a fertilized egg called..

The Zygote
The first stage of
prenatal development.
Lasts about two
weeks and consists of
rapid cell division.
 Zygotes
Less than half of all
zygotes survive first
two weeks.
About 10 days after
conception, the zygote
will attach itself to the
uterine wall.
The outer part of the
zygote becomes the
placenta (which filters
nutrients).
After two weeks, the zygote develops into an.
Embryo
Lasts about 6 weeks.
Heart begins to beat
and the organs begin
to develop.
Fetus
By nine weeks we have a
The fetus by about the
6th month, the stomach
and other organs have
formed enough to survive
outside of mother.
At this time the baby can
hear (and recognize)
sounds and respond to
light.
Teratogens
Chemical agents that
can harm the prenatal
environment.
Alcohol (FAS)
Other STDs can harm
the baby..
HIV
Herpes
Genital Warts
 Healthy Newborns
Turn head towards
voices .
See 8 to 12 inches
from their faces.
Gaze longer at
human like objects
right from birth.
Reflexes
Inborn automatic
responses.
Rooting
Sucking
Grasping
Moro
Babinski
Maturation

Physical growth,
regardless of the
environment.
Although the timing
of our growth may
be different, the
sequence is almost
always the same.
Cognitive Development
 Right now in your head,

Schemas picture a model.

Children view the

world through
schemas (as do adults
for the most part). These 3
Schemas are ways we probably fit into
interpret the world your concept
(schema) of a
around us. model.
It is basically what
you picture in your But does this one?
head when you think
of anything.
 If I teach my 3 year

Assimilation
that an animal with 4
legs and a tail is a
dog.
Incorporating new
experiences into
existing schemas.

What schema would you assimilate this

into?

Or this?
What
would he
call this?
 Assimilation in High School
When you first meet
somebody, you will
assimilate them into
a schema that you
already have.

If you see two guys dressed like this,

what schema would you assimilate them
into?
Would you always be right?
 Accommodation
Changing an
existing
schema to
adopt to new
information.
If I tell someone from Lodi to picture their schema/prototype
of Oakland they may talk about the ghetto areas.

But if I showed them other areas of the Bronx, they would be forced to
accommodate (change) their schema to incorporate their new information.
 Stage Theorists
These psychologists
believe that we
travel from stage to
stage throughout our
lifetimes.
Cognitive Development
It was thought that
kids were just stupid
versions of adults.
Then came along
Jean Piaget
Kids learn
differently than
adults
Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor
Stage
Experience the
world through our
senses.
Do NOT have object
permanence.
0-2

Click Mom to see a baby with no

object permanence.
Preoperational Stage

2-7
Click the boy Have object
to see kids
with permanence
egocentrism. Begin to use language to
represent objects and
ideas
Egocentric: cannot look
at the world through
anyones eyes but their
own.
Do NOT understand
concepts of
conservation.
 Conservation
Conservation refers
to the idea that a
quantity remains the
same despite
changes in
appearance and is
part of logical
thinking.

Click the boy to see kids

trying to grasp
conservation.
 Concrete Operational Stage
Can demonstrate
concept of
conservation.
Learn to think
logically

Click the penguin to see kids try to grasp concrete logic.

 Formal Operational Stage
What would the world Abstract reasoning
look like with no light? Manipulate objects
Picture god in our minds without
What way do you best seeing them
learn? Hypothesis testing
Trial and Error
Metacognition
Not every adult gets
to this stage
 Criticisms of Piaget
Some say he
underestimates the
abilities of children.
Information-
Processing Model says
children to not learn in
stages but rather a
gradual continuous
growth.
Studies show that our
attention span grows
gradually over time.
 Parenting Styles
Authoritarian
Parents
Permissive
Parents
Authoritative
Parents
Attachment
The most important
social construct an
infant must develop is
attachment (a bond
with a caregiver).
Lorenz discovered
that some animals
form attachment
through imprinting.
 Types of Attachment
Mary Ainsworths
Strange Situation.
Three types of
attachment:
1. Secure
2. Avoidant
3. Anxious/ambivalent

Click picture to see clip of Ainsworths experiment.

 Attachment
Harry Harlow and his
monkeys.
Harry showed that
monkeys needed
touch to form
attachment.
 Attachment
Critical Periods: the
optimal period shortly
after birth when an
organisms exposure to
certain stimuli or
experiences produce
proper development.
Those who are deprived of
Click on the monkey to see
touch have trouble forming what a baby monkey does
attachment when they are when he HAS attachment
and imagine what it is like
older. when he does not (like
above).
 Puberty
The period of
sexual
maturation,
during which a
person becomes
capable of
reproducing.
Click above to see all you ever need to
know about puberty.
Primary Sexual Characteristics
Body
structures
Penis
that make
reproduction
Testes

possible.

Vagina
Ovaries
 Secondary Sexual Characteristics
Non-
reproductive
sexual Body Hair

characteristics.
Widening of the Hips

Deeper Voice Breast Development

 Landmarks for Puberty
Menarche for girls.
First ejaculation for
boys.

Click Tampax for one of those ridiculous commercials.

Social Development
 Social Development
Up until about a year,
infants do not mind
strange people (maybe
because everyone is
strange to them).
At about a year,
infants develop
stranger anxiety.
Why do you think it
starts at about a
year?
 Erik Erikson
A neo-Freudian
Worked with Anna
Freud
Thought our personality
was influenced by our
experiences with others.
Stages of Psychosocial
Development.
Each stage centers on a
social conflict.
Trust v. Mistrust
Can a baby trust the
world to fulfill its
needs?
The trust or
mistrust they
develop can carry on
with the child for
the rest of their
lives.
 Autonomy V. Shame & Doubt
Toddlers begin to
control their bodies
(toilet training).
Control Temper
Tantrums
Big word is NO
Can they learn
control or will they
doubt themselves?
Initiative V. Guilt
Word turns from
NO to WHY?
Want to understand
the world and ask
questions.
Is their curiosity
encouraged or
scolded?
 Industry v. Inferiority
School begins
We are for the first
time evaluated by a
formal system and our
peers.
Do we feel good or bad
about our
accomplishments?
Can lead to us feeling
bad about ourselves for
the rest of our lives
inferiority complex.
Identity v. Role Confusion
In our teenage years
we try out different
roles.
Who am I?
What group do I fit
in with?
If I do not find
myself I may develop
an identity crisis.
 Intimacy v. Isolation
Have to balance
work and
relationships.
What are my
priorities?
Marriage
At least a 5 to 1
ratio of positive to
negative interactions
is a clear indicator
of a healthy
relationship.
Generativity v. Stagnation
Is everything going
as planned?
Am I happy with
what I created?
Mid life crisis!!!
 Integrity v. Despair
Look back on life.
Was my life
meaningful or do I
have regret?
 Moral Development

Three Stage Theory by Lawrence Kohlberg!!!

 Pre-conventional Morality
Morality based on
rewards and
punishments.
If you are rewarded
then it is OK.
If you are punished,
the act must be
wrong.
Conventional Morality
Look at morality
based on how others
see you.
If your peers , or
society, thinks it is
wrong, then so do
you.
 Post-Conventional Morality
Based on self-
defined ethical
principles.
Your own personal
set of ethics.
 Criticisms of Kohlberg
Heinz Example of Morality
Carol Gilligan pointed
out that Kohlberg
only tested boys.
Boys tend to have
more absolute value
of morality.
Girls tend top look
at situational
factors.
Adulthood
Adulthood
All physical
abilities
essentially
peak by our
mid twenties.
 Adulthood

Then it all
goes
downhill.
 Life Expectancy
Life Expectancy
keeps increasing-
now about 78.
Women outlive men
by about 4 years.
But more men are
conceived 126 to
100. Then 105 to
100 by birth. In
other words, men die
easier.
Death
Elizabeth Kubler-Rosss
Stages of Death/Grief.
1.Denial
2.Anger
3.Bargaining
4.Depression
5.Acceptance
 Sigmund Freud
We all have a libido
(sexual drive).
Our libido travels to
different areas of our
body throughout our
development.
If we become
preoccupied with any one
area, Freud said we have
become fixated on it.
Together Freud called
these stages our
Psychosexual Stages of
Development.
Oral Stage
Seek pleasure
through out mouths.
Babies put
everything in their
mouths (0-2).
People fixated in
this stage tend to
overeat, smoke or
have a childhood
dependence on
things.
 Anal Stage
Develops during
toilet training (2-4).
Libido is focused on
controlling waste and
expelling waste.
A person fixated
may become overly
controlling
(retentive) or out of Click to see a classic example of anal
retentive and anal expulsive behaviors.
control (expulsive).
 Phallic Stage
Children first
recognize their
gender (4-7).
Causes conflict in
families with the
Oedipus and Electra
Complexes.
Fixation can cause
later problems in
relationships.

Click the baby to see real Oedipus Complex

 Latency Stage
Libido is hidden
(7-11).
Cooties stage.
Freud believed
that fixation in
this stage could
lead to sexual
issues.
Genital Stage
Libido is focused on
their genitals (12-
death).
Freud thought
fixation in this stage
is normal.