Introductory Psychology Winter 2014

Human Development Chapter 5 of Feist & Rosenberg Psychology: Perspectives & Connections

Van Selst

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IMPORTANT QUESTIONS  How does the prenatal environment affect development?  What are the major developmental milestones (stages)?  How do brain and behavior change before and after adulthood?

CHAPTER OVERVIEW  The Developing Fetus  The Developing Infant and Child  The Developing Adolescent  The Developing Adult  Making Connections: Personality Across the Life Span

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Stages of Prenatal Development Germinal stage •  conception to 2 weeks •  Zygote

Embryonic stage •  2 weeks to 8 weeks •  Formation of major organs

Fetal stage •  9 weeks to birth • Formation of bone cells, etc.

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Brain and Sensory Development Before Birth Neural migration

•  Movement of neurons from one part of the fetal brain to their more permanent destination •  Occurs during months 3-5 of the fetal stage •  Certain toxins and viruses (Teratogens) may interfere with normal

neural migration Prenatal programming (events in the womb) – Environmental Influences on

Fetal Development •  Maternal nutrition (morning sickness & epigenetics) •  Teratogens (substances and chemicals that negatively influence fetal and

infant development) •  Viruses (measles, flu, …), Nicotine, Prescription drugs

(antidepressants), Alcohol (Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)), cocaine, …

Prenatal Development Timeline

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Early motor development in Infancy and Childhood

Moro reflex: an outstretching of the arms and legs in response to a loud noise or sudden change in the environment. The infant's body tenses; arms are extended and then drawn inward as if embracing.

Babinski reflex: an outward projection of the big toe and fanning of the others when the sole of the foot is touched.

Sucking reflex: occurs when an object touches the lips. Rooting reflex: turning of an infant's head toward a brush on their cheek (e.g.,

from a breast or hand). Grasping reflex: the vigorous grasping of an object that touches the palm. Plantar reflex: the curling under of the toes when the ball of the foot is touched

IMPRINTING ( not humans [WHY?] )

Development of Fine motor skills

Drawing skills scribbles @ 2y

crude drawings @ 3-4y

letters @ 5y (and can dress self as well)

Physical Development in Infancy and Childhood: Early sensory development • Five major senses

develop at different rates •  Auditory (fast),

Vision (slow), … • Critical period •  “Visual cliff” shows

depth perception before crawling

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Physical Development in Infancy and Childhood • Early brain development •  Rate of brain growth slows down after age six,

then slows down again after adolescence •  Pruning (after age 2…)

•  Degradation of synapses and dying off of neurons that are not strengthened by experience

•  By adolescence half of original synapses pruned (increased efficiency)

Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1926- 1977) spent over 50 years exploring how a child’s thought processes develops.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Stage Age (Years) Major Characteristics

Sensorimotor

Preoperational

Concrete operational

Formal operational

Birth to 2

2 to 7

7 to 12

12 on

•  Infant understands world through sensory and motor experiences

•  Achieves object permanence

•  Exhibits emergence of symbolic thought

•  Child uses symbolic thinking in the form of words and images to represent objects and experiences •  Symbolic thinking enables child to engage in

pretend play

•  Thinking displays egocentrism, irreversibility, and centration

•  Child can think logically about concrete events •  Grasps concepts of conservation and serial

ordering

•  Adolescent can think more logically, abstractly, and flexibly •  Can form hypotheses and systematically test

them

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Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Early Cognitive Development Jean Piaget (Sensorimotor stage) • Ages 0-2 •  Infants learn about the world by using their

senses and by moving their bodies • Object permanence

Early Cognitive Development

Preoperational stage • Ages 2-5 • Begins with the emergence of symbolic thought • Animistic thinking • Egocentrism (fail the illustrated task) • Conservation is not possible

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Early Cognitive Development • Concrete operational stage •  Ages 6-11 •  Child can perform mental operations - such as

reversing - on real objects or events •  Conservation is possible

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Concrete operational stage: Conservation Tasks

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Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Copyright 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Physical Development in Infancy and Childhood

Developing a Theory of Mind •  Our ideas and

knowledge about how other people’s minds work

•  False-Belief Task (pass at c. 4y)

Cognitive Development: Vygotsky’s Theory

According to Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky, the culture in which we are raised significantly affects our cognitive development.

•  Cognitive development occurs as a consequence of social interactions in which children work with others to jointly solve problems. •  Children’s cognitive abilities increase when they encounter information that falls within their zone of proximal development (ZPD). •  ZPD: The level at which a child can almost, but not fully, comprehend or perform a task on his or her own. When children receive information that falls within the ZPD, they can increase understanding or master a new task.

Harlow’s (1958) research on maternal care and mental health

Terrycloth (comforting) vs wire (feeding) “mother” •  in stress, baby retreats to terrycloth mother

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

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Development of Moral Reasoning Lawrence Kohlberg • Preconventional level •  Avoiding punishment or maximizing rewards

• Conventional level •  Valuing caring, trust, and relationships as well as

the social order and lawfulness • Postconventional level •  Universal moral rules that may trump unjust or

immoral local rules •  Western bias / Male bias

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning

Erikson’s Stages of Personality Development

Erikson viewed the developmental changes occurring throughout life as a series of eight stages of psychosocial development.

According to Erikson’s theory: •  The outcome of turning points or “crises” will partly

determine the course of future development. •  Each stage represents a pairing of the most positive and

negative aspects of the crisis of that period.

Stage/Crisis Basic trust vs. mistrust

Autonomy vs. shame/doubt

Initiative vs. guilt

Industry vs. inferiority

Identity vs. role confusion

Intimacy vs. isolation

Generativity vs. stagnation

Integrity vs. despair

Development Accomplishments or Failures Age

0-1 year

1-3 years

3-5 years

5-11 years

11-18 years

18-40 years

40-65 years

65 years on

Acquires sense of own identity; or is confused about role in life

Erikson’s Stages of Personality Development

Characteristics of Aging: Changes in the 20s, 30s, and 40s:

20’s: Humans reach their physical, sexual, and perceptual peak with maximum muscle strength, vision, hearing and reaction time.

30’s: Many physical capacities start to decline, however the changes are hardly noticeable until later years.

40’s and on: Muscles become weaker and less flexible, metabolism rates slow down, vision and fertility decline.

Characteristics of Aging: Cognitive Change

Age-related changes in intellectual skills vary according to the specific cognitive ability in question. • Source: Schaie, 1994

• Mea

n pe

rform

ance

• Age in years • 25 • 32 • 39 • 46 • 53 • 60 • 67 • 74 • 81

• 35

• 40

• 45

• 50

• 55

• 60

Inductive reasoning

Spatial orientation

Number skills

Verbal meaning

Word fluency

Death and Dying Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (1969) brought the subject of death into the open with her observation that those facing impending death tend to move through five broad stages:

1.  Denial: The initial stage: “It can’t be happening.” 2.  Anger: “Why ME? It’s not fair!” (either referring to God,

oneself, or anybody perceived, rightly or wrongly, as “responsible”)

3.  Bargaining: “Just let me live to see my child(ren) graduate.”

4.  Depression: “I’m so sad, why bother with anything?” 5.  Acceptance: “It’s going to be OK.”

Adolescence Alzheimer’s Disease Animistic Thinking Attachment

•  Anxious-avoidant •  Anxious-resistant •  Secure

Concrete operations Conservation Conventional level Critical periods Dementia Embryonic

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder Formal operations Generativity Imprinting Kholberg’s Stages Menarche Neural migration Object permanence Peer influence Piaget’s Stages Prenatal programming

Pruning Puberty-related changes Sensimotor stage Separation anxiety Social referencing Teratogen Theory of mind

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