1. Life Span Development
Chapter 10

2. Methods in Developmental Psychology

3. Cross-Sectional Study
Study people of different ages at the same point in time
Advantages
Inexpensive
Can be completed quickly
Low attrition
Disadvantages
Different age groups are not necessarily much alike
Differences may be due to cohort differences rather than age

4. Longitudinal Study Study the same group of people over time Advantages
Detailed information about subjects
Developmental changes can be studied in detail
Eliminates cohort differences
Disadvantages
Expensive and time consuming
Potential for high attrition
Differences over time may be due to assessment tools and not age

5. Biographical or Retrospective Study
Participant’s past is reconstructed through interviews and other research about their life
Advantages
Great detail about life of individual
In-depth study of one person
Disadvantages
Recall of individual may not be accurate
Can be expensive and time consuming

6. Prenatal Development Period of time from conception to birth Embryo
From about two weeks after conception to three months after conception
Fetus
Three months after conception to birth
Placenta
Connects fetus to mother
Brings oxygen and nutrients
Takes away wastes

7. Prenatal Development Critical Period Terotogens Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Time when influences have major effect
Terotogens
Substances that can damage an embryo or fetus
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Occurs in children of women who consume large amounts of alcohol during pregnancy
Symptoms include facial deformities, heart defects, stunted growth, and cognitive impairments

8. The Newborn Baby

9. Reflexes Rooting Sucking Swallowing Grasping Stepping
Baby turns its head toward something that brushes its cheek and gropes around with mouth
Sucking
Newborn’s tendency to suck on objects placed in the mouth
Swallowing
Enables newborn babies to swallow liquids without choking
Grasping
Close fist around anything placed in their hand
Stepping
Stepping motions made by an infant when held upright

10. Temperament Easy Difficult Slow-to-warm-up
Temperament refers to characteristic patterns of emotional reactions and emotional self-regulation
Thomas and Chess identified three basic types of babies
Easy
Good-natured, easy to care for, adaptable
Difficult
Moody and intense, react to new situations and people negatively and strongly
Slow-to-warm-up
Inactive and slow to respond to new things, and when they do react, it is mild

11. Kagan has added a fourth type
Temperament
Kagan has added a fourth type
Shy Child
Timid and inhibited, fearful of anything new or strange
Temperament may predict later disposition

12. Perceptual Abilities Vision Depth Perception Other Senses
Clear for 8-10 inches
Good vision by 6 months
Depth Perception
Visual cliff research
Other Senses
Ears are functional prior to birth
Infants particularly tune in to human voices
Taste and smell are fully functional

13. Infancy and Childhood

14. Physical Development
Children grow about 10 inches and gain about 15 pounds in first year
Growth occurs in spurts, as much as 1 inch overnight
Growth slows during second year

15. Motor Development Developmental Norms Maturation
Ages by which an average child achieves various developmental milestones
Maturation
Automatic biological unfolding of development in an organism as a function of passage of time

16. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensory-Motor Stage (birth to 2 years)
Object permanence
Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
Egocentric
Concrete Operations (7-11 years)
Principles of conservation
Formal Operations (11-15 years)
Understand abstract ideas

17. Criticisms of Piaget's Theory
Many question assumption that there are distinct stages in cognitive development
Criticism of notion that infants do not understand world
Piaget may have underestimated influence of social interaction in cognitive development

18. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Preconventional (preadolescence)
“Good” behavior is mostly to avoid punishment or seek reward
Conventional (adolescence)
Behavior is about pleasing others and, in later adolescence, becoming a good citizen
Postconventional
Emphasis is on abstract principles such as justice, equality, and liberty

19. Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory
Research shows that many people never progress past the conventional level
Theory does not take cultural differences into account
Theory is considered by some to be sexist in that girls often scored lower on tests of morality

20. Language Development Babbling Holophrases
Make the sounds of all languages
Holophrases
One word is used to mean a whole sentence

21. Theories of Language Development
Skinner theorized that language develops as parents reward children for language usage
Chomsky proposed the language acquisition device
A neural mechanism for acquiring language presumed to be “wired into” all humans
Bilingualism and the development of a second language

22. Parent-Child Relationships in Infancy
Social Development
Parent-Child Relationships in Infancy

23. Development of Attachment
Imprinting
Tendency to follow the first moving thing seen
Occurs in many species of animals
Attachment
Humans form a bond with those who care for them in infancy
Based upon interaction with caregiver
Autonomy
Sense of independence
Socialization
Process by which children learn appropriate attitudes and behaviors

24. Parent-Child Relationships in Childhood
Social Development
Parent-Child Relationships in Childhood

25. Baumrind’s Parenting Styles
Authoritarian
Tightly control children’s behavior and insist on obedience
Can produce children who have poor communication skills, who are moody, withdrawn, and distrustful
Permissive-indifferent
Parents have too little control and often are indifferent and neglectful
Children tend to become overly dependent and lack social skills and self-control

26. Baumrind’s Parenting Styles
Permissive-Indulgent
Parents are very attentive and supportive, but do not set limits on behavior
Children tend to be immature, disrespectful, impulsive, and out of control
Authoritative
Parents provide firm structure, but are not overly controlling
Parents listen to their children’s opinions and explain their decisions, bur are still clearly in charge
Children tend to become self-reliant and socially responsible

27. Relationships With Other Children
Solitary play
Children first play by themselves
Parallel play
As they get older, children play side-by-side with other children, but not interacting
Cooperative play
By about 3 or 3½, children begin playing with others

28. Relationships With Other Children
Peer group
A network of same-aged friends and acquaintances who give one another emotional and social support
When children start school, peers begin to have greater influence
Nonshared environment
Unique aspects of the environment that are experienced differently by siblings

29. Sex-Role Development Gender identity Gender constancy
Knowledge of being a boy or girl
Occurs by age 3
Gender constancy
Child realizes that gender cannot change
Occurs by age 4 or 5

30. Sex-Role Development Gender-role awareness Gender stereotypes
Knowing appropriate behavior for each gender
Gender stereotypes
Beliefs about presumed characteristics of each gender
Sex-typed behavior
Socially defined ways to behave different for boys and girls
May be at least partly biological in origin

31. Adolescence

32. Physical Changes Growth spurt Sexual development
Begins about age 10½ in girls and about 12½ in boys
Sexual development
Puberty
Onset of sexual maturation
Menarche
First menstrual period for girls

33. Physical Changes Early and late developers Adolescent sexual activity
Approximately ¾ of males and ½ of females between 15 and 19 have had intercourse
Average age for first intercourse is 16 for boys and 17 for girls
Teenage pregnancy
Rate of teen pregnancy has fallen in the last 50 years
Highest in U.S. of all industrialized nations

34. Cognitive Changes Imaginary audience Personal fable Invulnerability
Adolescent delusion that everyone else is always focused on them
Personal fable
Delusion that they are unique and very important
Invulnerability
Nothing can harm them

35. Personality and Social Development
Major occurrence in adolescence is identity formation
Forming an identity
Achievement
Successfully find identity
Foreclosure
Settle for identity others wish for them
Moratorium
Explore various identities
Diffusion
Unable to “find themselves”

36. Personality and Social Development
Relationships with peers
Adolescents often form cliques, or groups with similar interests and strong mutual attachment
Relationships with parents
Adolescents test and question every rule and guideline from parents

37. Some Problems of Adolescence
Declines in self-esteem
Related to appearance
Satisfaction in appearance is related to higher self-esteem
Depression and suicide
Rate of suicide among adolescents has increased 600% since 1950, but has leveled off in ’90s
Suicide often related to depression, drug abuse, and disruptive behaviors

38. Adulthood

39. Love, Partnerships, and Parenting
Forming partnerships
First major event of adulthood is forming and maintaining close relationships
Parenthood
Having children alters dynamics of relationships
Marital satisfaction often declines after birth of child

40. Marital Satisfaction

41. Other Issues The World of Work Cognitive Changes Personality Changes
Balancing career and family obligations is a challenge
Cognitive Changes
Thinking is more flexible and practical
Personality Changes
Less self-centered, better coping skills
Some men and women have a midlife crisis (or midlife transition)
The "Change of Life"
Menopause

42. Late Adulthood

43. Physical Changes
In late adulthood, physical deterioration is inevitable
A person’s response to these changes are important

44. Independent and satisfying lifestyles Retirement
Social Development
Independent and satisfying lifestyles
Retirement
Most people will stop working and face challenges with that sudden change
Sexual behavior
Research shows that many older couples continue to be sexually active

45. Cognitive Changes
Research has demonstrated that those who continue to “exercise” their mental abilities can delay mental decline
Alzheimer’s disease afflicts approximately 10% of people over 65 and perhaps as many as 50% of those over 85

46. Facing the End-of-Life
Kubler-Ross’s Stages of Dying
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance