DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Day 1: Physical Development & Parenting

Developmental Psych:

Physical Development & Parenting

The Developmental Psych Approach

Continuous vs. Discontinuous

Stability vs. Change

Stage Theory (same order for everybody / not necessarily the

same age)

PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Zygoteconception – 2 weeks

period of rapid cell division

Embryo2 weeks – 3 months

cells attach to mother’s uterine wall & organs

developFetus3 months - birth

developing human organism

Prenatal Development - TERATOGENS

TERATOGENS: Agents that can reach the developing embryo or fetus and cause harm

Alcohol Nicotine Drugs (both prescription drugs & “street” drugs) Viruses (the flu) Toxoplasmosis (contact with cat feces) Food poisoning

Teratogens and Prenatal Development

INFANT REFLEXES

Rooting

Grasping

Startle (Moro Reflex)

Baby’s abilities - http://www.learner.org/resources/series150.html?pop=yes&pid=1619#

Primary Reflexes:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyVLD0hl0XY

INFANT VISION A baby’s vision improves dramatically during

the first 6 months as children become able to accommodate (focus)

NEWBORNBabies’ vision is 40x less accurate than adults at seeing fine details

1 MONTHMost of the cells in the visual cortex are not yet coated in myelin. Poor contrast sensitivity & color recognition.

2 MONTHSA newborns rods are fairly mature but their cones are not, making it difficult to decipher fine lines and color.

ADULTBetween age 6-7 years, a child’s vision reaches adult values

3 MONTHSDramatic change occurs as the visual cotex begins to control vision better. Vision has caught up to other senses. Depth perception is still not accurate.

6 MONTHSA baby can focus at different distances as well as an adult can. Their ability to see fine details is only 8xworse than ours, 5x better than it was at birth.

Babies like to look at complex shapes & faces

IMPRINTING:

Owen the baby hippo & Mzee, the 130-year-old tortise

the process by which animals form attachments during a limited critical period early in life

IMPRINTING

Tink the dachsand & her piglet “puppy”, Pink.

Newborn Capacities

Habituation: describes infants’ decreasing responsiveness to repeated stimuli. Researchers infer that newborns have cognitive ability to differentiate between different visual stimuli.

 

What’s your earliest memory?Our earliest memories rarely predate our 3rd birthday. This is called “INFANTILE AMNESIA”.

EARLY MEMORY FORMATION

 

Why don’t we remember earlier events?Our brains are still developing Limited language before age 3 – we remember in words

MATURATION: Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior that are relatively unaffected by experience

In terms of brain development, natural maturation causes neural interconnection to multiply rapidly after birth.

However, severe deprivation and abuse will retard development. Furthermore, increased stimulation will cause early neural connections.

Maturation sets the basic course of development; experience adjusts it.

Normal Maturation

John LOCKE

Proposed that when children are born they are “Tabula Rasa”

key name163

2-1

704

“Tabula Rasa” = blank slate

Jean PIAGET

Constructed a stage theory of Cognitive Development

Observed that children think differently than adults

key name189

6-1

980

Piaget & Cognitive Development

SCHEMAA concept or framework that organizes and interprets

information

AssimilationAccommodationMake new

information fit into existing

schemas

Adjust your schema to fit

new information

SCHEMA

AssimilationMake new information fit into existing schemas

“Heart” =

AccomodationAdjusting your schema to fit new information

ASSIMILATION vs. ACCOMMODATION

Assimilation When a student downloads music by an artist that is already on the iPod, this can be compared to assimilation (adding a new bit of info to an existing schema).

AccommodationWhen a student downloads music by a new artist, this can be compared to accommodation (creating a new 'folder' is like building a new schema)

Assimilation Accomodation

SCHEMA

AssimilationMake new information fit into existing schemas

Examples?

Work with a partner to write down two real life examples of assimilation, and two examples of accomodation.

AccommodationAdjusting your schema to fit new information

GENDER SCHEMAA concept or framework that organizes and interprets information about what it

means to be a boy or a girl

How do we develop our gender schemas?

Warm up

1. What are teratogens? Give one example and define the term in your own words.

2. Describe two of the primary infant reflexes we discussed.

3. What is infantile amnesia?

Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

Lack object permanence (until about age 8-10 months)

Sensorimotor Birth – 2 yearsstage 1

Develop separation anxiety at about 12 months.

Stranger anxiety also occurs in this stage.

Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

Egocentric (which does not (in Piagetian thought) mean selfishness, but rather the inability to take another's perspective or even to recognize that others have different perspectives and points of view. )

Preoperational 2 – 6 yearsstage 2

Use of symbols (especially language; difficulty using more than one category)

Representational thought

Role Playing

Animism, or the tendency to attribute psychological properties to inanimate objects.

Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

By age 7, develop law of conservation

Concrete 6 – 12 yearsstage 3

Can sort objects into multiple categories (color & size, for example)

Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

Abstract thinkingCan think hypothetically

Formal 12 years - adultstage 4

AUTHORITARIAN

PARENTING STYLES

rhymes with “Totalitarian”Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect obedience.

Permissive parents submit to their child’s desires, make few demands and use little punishment.

PERMISSIVE

Authoritative parents encourage open discussion and allow for exceptions when enforcing rules.

AUTHORITATIVE

“Because I said so.”

“Whatever.”

“Let’s talk about it.”

AUTHORITARIAN

PARENTING STYLES - consequences

rhymes with “Totalitarian”– anxious, withdrawn, and unhappy

disposition – poor reactions to frustration

– (girls are particularly likely to give up & boys become especially hostile)

– do well in school – (studies may show authoritative parenting is

comparable)

– not likely to engage in antisocial

activities

PERMISSIVE

PARENTING STYLES - consequences

-poor emotion regulation (under regulated)-rebellious and defiant when desires are challenged. -low persistence to challenging tasks -antisocial behaviors

AUTHORITATIVE

PARENTING STYLES - consequences

-lively and happy disposition -self-confident about ability to master tasks. -well developed emotion regulation -developed social skills

World’s Strictest Parents http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=World%E2%80%99s+Strictest+parents+&oq=World%E2%80%99s+Strictest+parents+&gs_l=youtube.3...1038.1038.0.1868.1.1.0.0.0.0.169.169.0j1.1.0...0.0...1ac.1.dlXa-HBt6j8

Dum Dums and Gloquex Activity