The Study of DevelopmentPhysical and Social

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Developmental Psychology

The study of how humans grow, develop, and change throughout their life.

The Nature-Nurture Interaction

• Long-standing debate over the

relative importance of

nature (heredity) and nurture

(environment) in their influence on

behavior and mental processes

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007•Continuity View vs. Discontinuity

View

Age

Performance

Continuity view

Discontinuity view

Physical Developme

nt

Physical DevelopmentDuring the first 8 weeks, the tiny embryo develops fingers, toes, eyes, ears, a nose, a mouth, a heart, and a circulatory system.

At 8 weeks, the 1 ½ -inch long embryo becomes a fetus and the organs of the various body systems develop to the point at which they can sustain the life of the baby after he/she is born.

**Within 9 months of pregnancy, the embryo develops from a nearly microscopic cell to a baby about 20 inches in length.

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MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

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MaturationMaturation: genetically determined biological pattern of individual development.

• sitting before standing• standing before walking• babbling before talking

**Order is the same,rate is different.

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Motor Development1. roll over 2. sit unsupported3. crawl4. walk

Renee Altier for W

orth Publishers

Jim C

raigmyle/ C

orbis

Phototake Inc./ Alamy Im

ages

Profimedia.C

Z s.r.o./ Alamy

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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Social Development……involves the ways in which infants and children learn to relate to other people.

Factors that affect social development:-attachment-parenting styles-child care-child abuse and neglect

Attachment is……the emotional ties that form between people

-by four months, infants have developed attachments to their main caregivers—usually the mother- infants may experience separation anxiety (frequent crying and distressful behaviors) if their mothers leave them

Stranger Anxiety

-some infants develop a fear of strangers at about 8 months- the closer they are to a stranger, the more upset they become

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Contact Comfort

Harry Harlow (1971) study

- showed that infants bond with surrogate mothers because of bodily contact and not because of nourishment.

Harlow

Primate Laboratory, U

niversity of Wisconsin

**instinctual need to touch or be touched by something soft.

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Harlow’s studies showed that monkeys experience great anxiety if their terry-

cloth mother is removed

Harlow

Primate Laboratory, U

niversity of Wisconsin

Imprinting is…

-for many animals, attachment is an instinct-ducks, geese, and some other animals become attached to the first moving object they see-for humans, it takes months for the infants to become attached to their main caregivers

…the process by which some animals form immediate attachments during a critical period

Parenting Styles

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Parenting Styles:Authoritarian Parenting

•Distant, uncommunicative, unresponsive

•Expect obedience•Dictators

What are some problems associated with this type of parenting?

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Parenting Styles:Permissive Parenting

•Children make the decisions

•No rules or expectations

What are some problems associated with this type of parenting?

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Parenting Styles:Authoritative Parenting

• easy-going • firm• respectful• realistic expectations

Other Factors?

-child care-child abuse and neglect

YOU TELL ME: How could these factors affect a child’s social development?