Life Span Development

Modules 4-6
Physical Changes
Smoking and Birth Weight
Neural Development
Motor Development
 Language:

Acquisition
& Critical Periods
Noam Chomsky
 natureargument -
children have a
predisposition to learn
language

a person’s brain is hard-

wired to learn vocabulary
and the rules of grammar
B.F. Skinner
 nurtureargument -
believed language was the
result of learning through:
1. association: linking certain
sounds with certain people
or objects
2. imitation
3. rewards
 “I speak, therefore I think.”

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

 proposed by Benjamin
Whorf

 one’s language determines

what we can be aware of or
think about (language
governs thinking)

 example: shades of white

(snow)
 Critical Period & Language
 critical period – limited
time when an event can
occur; may be difficult,
less successful, or
impossible to develop it
later

 language critical period:

around age 10

 example: Genie case

(video clip)
Cognitive Development

Piaget’s Cognitive Stages

pages 63-68
Cognition
 allmental activities
associated with
thinking, knowing, &
remembering

 children think
differently than adults
Jean Piaget
 developmental psychologist

 proposed first theory of the

development of thinking &
reasoning (four stages)

 the way children think &

solve problems depends on
their stage of development
Schemas
 Concepts or mental frameworks that help people
organize & interpret information & experiences
 Examples: dog, school, dating
How do you create schemas?
1. Assimilation

2. Accommodation
Assimilation

 interpret a new experience

within the context of
existing schemas

 Example: inviting someone

out for a date
Accommodation
 adapt(change) one’s current schemas to
incorporate new information
Assimilation/Accommodation
Assimilation/Accommodation
Assimilation/Accommodation
 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
Stage Age Description Key
Range Developmental
Events
Sensorimotor

Preoperational

Concrete
Operations

Formal
Operations
1) Sensorimotor Stage
 birth – 2 years

 childgathers information about world

through senses & motor functions (grasping,
touching)

 key developmental event: object permanence

Object Permanence
 awareness that things
continue to exist even when
they cannot be sensed

 Developsbetween 8 – 10
months & is evidence of a
working memory
2) Preoperational Stage
 age 2 to 6 – 7

 canunderstand language but does not think

logically, egocentric in thought, doesn’t fully
understand cause-and-effect connections

 keydevelopmental events: lack conservation,

develop language, pretend play
Egocentrism
 inability
to take another’s point of view &
understand their perspective
Conservation Task 1
Conservation
 understanding that properties (mass, volume,
numbers) remain the same even if you change
an object’s form
Conservation
Conservation
Conservation
Types of Conservation Tasks
3) Concrete Operational Stage
 age 7 – 11
 learn to think logically, can perform simple math
operations & trial-and-error problem-solving
strategies, difficulty with hypothetical scenarios
 key developmental events: conservation
4) Formal Operational Stage
 age 12 – adulthood

 can
think logically and in the abstract, can solve
hypothetical problems (what if…. problems), can
handle moral & ethical dilemmas

 key
developmental events: abstract logic, mature
moral reasoning
Examples of Formal Operational Thought
 Whenever Emily goes to school, Meredith
also goes to school. Emily went to school.
What can you say about Meredith?

 “What would happen if there was no sun?”

Social Development in Infancy &
Childhood: Attachment

pages 68 - 71
Attachment
 emotional tie with another
person; demonstrated by
seeking closeness to
caregiver

 3 Elements of Attachment:
1. body contact
2. familiarity
3. responsiveness
 Body Contact - Harry Harlow Study
 researched attachment in infant
monkeys

 monkeys had to choose between:

 cloth mother with no food
 wire mother that provided food

Which do you think they choose?

Harry Harlow
 Result:monkeys
spent most of their
time by the cloth
mother
Familiarity
 Sense of contentment with
what/who you already know

 Infants are familiar w/

parents and caregivers

 Strangeranxiety – develops
by around 8 months
Social Development in
Adolescence
page 88 - 89
Erik Erikson
 constructed an 8-stage theory
of psychosocial development

 each stage of life presents a

unique set of social demands
and conflicts

 the way each demand/conflict

is handled leads to a more or
less desirable outcome
Psychosocial Peg Word Mnemonic
Moral Development:
Lawrence Kohlberg

pages 85 -88
Lawrence Kohlberg
 three-stage
theory on
how moral reasoning
develops

 moral reasoning – sense

of right and wrong

 noteto self: read 1st

paragraph on page 86
1. Preconventional Moral Reasoning

 characterized by the
desire to avoid
punishment or gain
reward

 typicallychildren
under the age of 9
2. Conventional Moral Reasoning
 primary concern is to fit
in and play the role of a
good citizen

 strong desire to follow

the rules and laws

 typical of most adults

3. Postconventional Moral Reasoning
 characterized by universal ethical
principles that represent the rights or
obligations of all people

 follow laws unless they violate

ethical principles

 most adults do not reach this level

 not well supported – sample group:

white, male, western cultures