Understanding Psychology 6th Edition Charles G. Morris and Albert A Understanding Psychology 6th Edition Charles G. Morris and Albert A. Maisto PowerPoint Presentation by H. Lynn Bradman Metropolitan Community College ©Prentice Hall 2003

Life-Span Development Chapter 9 Life-Span Development ©Prentice Hall 2003

Enduring Issues and Methods in Developmental Psychology What are some of the limitations of the methods used to study development? Cross-sectional studies involve studying different age groups of people Longitudinal studies test the same group of individuals at different times in their lives. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Research Methodologies Cross-sectional: Examining groups of subjects who are of different ages. Longitudinal: Examining the same group of subjects two or more times as they age. Biographical: Studying developmental changes by reconstructing subjects’ past through interviews and investigating the effects of past events on current behaviors. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Cross-Sectional Studies Advantages Inexpensive Relatively quick to complete No high attrition rate ©Prentice Hall 2003

Cross-Sectional Studies Disadvantages Different age groups may be dissimilar Age and maturity may not be equivalent Confounds cohort and age differences ©Prentice Hall 2003

Longitudinal Studies Advantages Detailed information about subjects Provides great detail of developmental changes Follows same cohort groups ©Prentice Hall 2003

Longitudinal Studies Disadvantages Expensive and time consuming Potential for high attrition rates May confound age differences & differences in assessment tools ©Prentice Hall 2003

Biographical Studies Advantages: Rich detail about one individual’s life Allows for in-depth study of one individual ©Prentice Hall 2003

Biographical Studies Disadvantages Individual’s recall is often untrustworthy Can be very time consuming and expensive ©Prentice Hall 2003

Prenatal Development The period of development from conception to birth. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Prenatal Development Prenatal development: Embryo: Fetus: Development from conception to birth. Embryo: 2 weeks after conception to 3 months. Fetus: 3 months after conception to birth. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Importance of the Placenta During prenatal development teratogens can pass through the placenta and cause irreparable harm to the embryo or fetus. This harm is greatest if the drug or other substance is introduced just at the time when some major developmental process is taking place. If the same substance is introduced outside this critical period, little or even no harm may result. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Alcohol is a drug most commonly abused by pregnant women. Heavy alcohol consumption by the mother during pregnancy is characterized by facial deformities, heart defects, stunted growth, and cognitive impairments. Smaller amounts of alcohol may also cause impairments. ©Prentice Hall 2003

The Newborn ©Prentice Hall 2003

Reflexes Rooting reflex: Sucking reflex: Swallowing reflex: A baby turns its head toward something touching its cheek and gropes around with its mouth. Sucking reflex: Sucking on any object placed in a baby’s mouth. Swallowing reflex: Enables the baby to swallow liquids without choking. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Reflexes Grasping reflex: Stepping reflex: Closing their fists on anything placed in their hands. Stepping reflex: The light stepping motions made by babies if they are held upright with their feet just touching a surface. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Temperament The physical and emotional characteristics of the newborn child and young infant. Babies are born with individual differences in personality called temperament differences. Often a baby's temperament remains quite stable over time due to a combination of genetic and environmental influences. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Temperament Stability in temperament is not inevitable; changes in temperament can also take place. Your own temperament may be both similar to and different from the temperament you displayed as a newborn. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Three Types of Temperaments Easy: Good-natured and adaptable, easy to care for and please Difficult: Moody and intense, reacting to new people and new situations negatively and strongly Slow-to-warm-up: Relatively inactive and slow to respond to new things, and when they do react, their reactions are mild ©Prentice Hall 2003

Perceptual Abilities All of a baby's senses are functioning at birth: Sight Hearing Taste Smell Touch ©Prentice Hall 2003

Vision A baby’s least developed sense is probably vision, which takes 6 to 8 months to become as good as the average college student's. Infants prefer: a novel picture or pattern with clear contrasts and their own mother rather than a stranger. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Depth Perception Crawling babies will not cross over onto the deep side during the visual cliff experiments. Babies too young to crawl: No anxiety, but do demonstrate depth perception 2-4 months old: Begin to perceive patterns, objects, and depth ©Prentice Hall 2003

Other Senses Although it is hard to tell exactly what a baby's sensory world is like, newborns seem particularly adept at discriminating speech sounds; This suggests that their hearing is quite good. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Other Senses Infants have likes and dislikes with regard to smells. Infants like sweet flavors, a preference which persists through childhood. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Infancy and Childhood ©Prentice Hall 2003

Physical Growth During the first dozen years of life a helpless infant becomes a competent older child. This transformation encompasses many important kinds of changes, including physical, motor, cognitive, and social developments. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Physical Growth Growth of the body is most rapid during the first year, with the average baby growing approximately 10 inches and gaining about 15 pounds. It then slows down considerably until early adolescence. When growth does occur, it happens suddenly, almost overnight, rather than through small, steady changes. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Motor Development Babies tend to reach the major milestones in early motor development at broadly similar ages, give or take a few months. The average ages are called developmental norms. Maturation, the biological process that lead to developmental changes, also is shaped by experiences with the environment. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Developmental Trends Cephalocaudal: Proximodistal: Development occurs in areas near the head (cephalo) first and areas farther from the head develop later (caudal means tail). Proximodistal: Development occurs near the center of the body (proximal) first and near the extremities (distal) later. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Developmental Trends Gross to specific development: Children tend to gain control of gross (large muscle) movement before they gain control of specific (or fine motor control) movement. ©Prentice Hall 2003

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Cognitive Development According to the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, children undergo qualitative changes in thinking as they grow older. Piaget depicted these changes as a series of stages. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Cognitive Development (Piaget) Sensory-motor stage (birth-2) Preoperational stage (2-7) Concrete operational (7-11) Formal operational (11-15) ©Prentice Hall 2003

Sensory-Motor Stage Object permanence: Mental representations: The concept that things continue to exist even when they are out of sight. Mental representations: Mental images or symbols (such as words) used to think about or remember an object, a person, or an event. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Preoperational Stage A child becomes able to use mental representations and language to describe, remember, and reason about the world. Egocentric: Unable to see things from another person’s point of view. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Concrete-Operational Stage A child can attend to more than one thing at a time and understand someone else’s point of view, though thinking is limited to concrete matters. A child can understand conservation. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Principles of Conservation The concept that basic amounts remain constant despite superficial changes in appearances. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Formal-Operational Stage Teenagers acquire the ability to think abstractly and test ideas mentally using logic. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory Piaget underestimated the cognitive ability of infants. Cognitive milestones are reached sooner than Piaget believed. Piaget did not take the role of social interaction into account. The stage theory does not address human diversity. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Preconventional: Interpreting behavior in terms of its concrete consequences. Conventional: Interpreting behavior in terms of social and societal approval. Postconventional: Emphasis on abstract principles, for example justice, liberty, and equality. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory Many people never progress beyond the conventional level. The theory does not take into account cultural differences in morals. Carol Gilligan has pointed out that there may be a gender bias in the theory. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Language Development Some psychologists believe that childhood is a critical period for acquiring language. If so, this would explain why learning a second language is also easier for children than for adults. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Language Development Cooing (around 2 months): Babbling (3-4 months): Vowel-like utterances Babbling (3-4 months): Meaningless sounds that are the building blocks for later language development. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Language Development Intonation (4-6 months): The changing of pitch that adults use to distinguish questions from statements. Holophrases (12-20 months): One word sentences. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Theories of Language Development B. F. Skinner: Language develops as a result of reinforcement by the environment. Language is a learned behavior like any other human behavior. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Theories of Language Development Noam Chomsky: Humans have an innate ability to acquire language. We are born with a language acquisition device, an innate, internal mechanism for processing speech. This device allows children to understand the basic rules of grammar. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Social Development Developing a sense of independence is just one of the tasks that children face in their social development. During the toddler period, a growing awareness of being a separate person makes developing some autonomy from parents an important issue. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Imprinting A form of primitive bonding seen in some species of animals. The newborn animal has a tendency to follow the first moving thing it sees after it is born or hatched. Human infants do not imprint on the first moving objects they see, but they do form attachment. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Social Development Attachment: The emotional bond that develops in the first year of life that makes human babies cling to their caregivers for safety and comfort. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Parent-Child Relationships Parents can encourage independence in their children by allowing them to make choices and do things on their own within a framework of reasonable and consistently enforced limits. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Parent-Child Relationships Other major social issues during the childhood years include: Forming a secure attachment toward and trust in other people (infancy) Learning to take initiative in tackling new tasks (the preschool years) Mastering some of the many skills that will be needed in adulthood (middle and later childhood). ©Prentice Hall 2003

Parent-Child Relationships Socialization: Socialization, the process by which children learn their cultures' behaviors and attitudes is an important task of childhood. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Play As Social Development Solitary play: A child engaged in some activity alone; The earliest form of play. Parallel play: Two children playing side by side at the same activities, paying little or no attention to each other; The earliest form of social interaction between toddlers. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Play As Social Development Cooperative play: Two or more children engaged in play that requires interaction. Peer group: A network of same-aged friends and acquaintances who give one another emotional and social support. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Sex Role Development Gender identity (age 3): The knowledge that one is male or female. Gender constancy (age 4 or 5): The realization that gender cannot be changed. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Sex Role Development Gender-role awareness: Gender stereotypes: Knowledge of what behavior is appropriate for each gender. Gender stereotypes: General beliefs about characteristics that men and women possess. Sex-typed behavior: Socially prescribed ways of behaving that differ for boys and girls. ©Prentice Hall 2003

What Do You Think? Does television viewing have a harmful effect on children? ©Prentice Hall 2003

Adolescence ©Prentice Hall 2003

Physical Changes in Adolescence Rapid growth and sexual maturation are just part of the transformation that occurs during this period. The child turns into an adult, not only physically but also cognitively, socially, and personally. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Growth Spurt A rapid increase in height and weight that occurs during adolescence. The growth spurt for girls typically occurs around age 10.5. The growth spurt for boys typically occurs around age 12.5. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Sexual Development of Females The first sign of puberty is the growth spurt. The breasts begin to develop and pubic hair begins to appear. Menarche (the first menstrual period) occurs a year after the development of the breasts (between 12.5 and 13 years old). ©Prentice Hall 2003

Sexual Development of Males The initial sign of puberty is the growth of the testes (around 11.5 years old). During the growth spurt (around age 12.5) enlargement of the penis occurs. Development of pubic hair. Development of facial hair. The first ejaculation (around age 13.5). The deepening of the voice is one of the last changes. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Early Versus Late Development Early development for boys has positive impact: They are better in sports and receive greater respect from their peers. Early development has both positive and negative effects for girls: Early developing girls may be admired by other girls, but may be treated as a sex object by boys. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Cognitive Changes ©Prentice Hall 2003

Cognitive Distortions in Adolescence Imaginary audience: The deluded belief of adolescents that they are constantly being observed by others. Personal fable: The deluded belief of adolescents that they are unique, very important, and invulnerable. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Forming an Identity Identity formation: Identity crisis: The development of a stable sense of self, necessary to make the transition from dependence on others to dependence on oneself. Identity crisis: A period of intense self-examination and decision making; Part of the process of identity formation. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Possible Outcomes of an Identity Crisis Identity achievement: Successful resolution of identity crisis Identity foreclosure: Chosen an identity that pleases others Moratorium: Still exploring various roles, but have not chosen one yet Identity diffusion: Avoid considering role options in any conscious manner ©Prentice Hall 2003

Some Problems of Adolescence Declines in self-esteem may result from the physical, social, or emotional changes In addition, teenagers have to cope with the demands of their new sexuality, the potential for early pregnancy, and the threat of violence in their peer groups. Depression and suicide rates for teens are up from past decades. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Risk Factors of Teen Suicide Being female Thinking about suicide Having a mental disorder, for example depression Having a poorly educated father who is absent from the home ©Prentice Hall 2003

Adulthood Reaching developmental milestones in adulthood is much less predictable than in earlier years. There are certain experiences and changes that take place sooner or later in nearly everyone's life and certain needs that nearly every adult tries to fulfill. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Lifestyle Options in Adulthood Marriage (more than 90% of Americans eventually marry) Cohabitation Gay or lesbian relationship Remaining single ©Prentice Hall 2003

Adjustments to Parenthood Parents may have little time or energy for each other. Parents may experience conflict between their careers and home responsibilities. Marital satisfaction tends to decline after the arrival of the first child. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Possible Effects of Divorce on Children Poorer school performance Self-esteem problems Problems with gender-role development Emotional adjustments Difficulty maintaining relationships Negative attitude toward marriage ©Prentice Hall 2003

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Work The vast majority of adults are moderately or highly satisfied with their jobs and would continue to work even if they didn't need to for financial reasons. Balancing the demands of job and family is often difficult, however, especially for women, because they tend to have most of the responsibility for housework and childcare. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Work Yet despite this stress of a 'double shift,' a job outside the home is a positive, self-esteem-boosting factor in most women's lives. ©Prentice Hall 2003

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Cognitive Changes An adult's thinking is more flexible and practical than an adolescent's. Whereas adolescents search for the one "correct" solution to a problem, adults realize that there may be several "right" solutions or none at all. Adults also place less faith in authorities than adolescents do. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Personality Changes Certain broad patterns of personality change occur in adulthood. As people grow older, they tend to become less self-centered and more comfortable in interpersonal relationships. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Personality Changes They also develop better coping skills and new ways of adapting. By middle age many adults feel an increasing commitment to, and responsibility for, others. This suggests that many adults are successfully meeting what Erik Erikson saw as the major challenge of middle adulthood. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Middle Adulthood Midlife crisis: Midlife transition: Menopause: A time when adults discover they no longer feel fulfilled in their jobs or personal lives and attempt to make a decisive shift Most people do not experience a midlife crisis. Midlife transition: A process whereby adults assess the past and formulate new goals for the future. Menopause: The time in a woman’s life when menstruation ceases. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Late Adulthood Over the past century life expectancy in America has increased mainly because of improved health care and nutrition. There is, however, a sizable gender gap, with women living an average of 7 years longer than men. There is also a sizable racial gap, with white Americans living an average of 5 years longer than blacks. ©Prentice Hall 2003

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Factors that Affect Physical Well-Being Diet Amount of exercise Quality of health care Smoking or drug use Overexposure to the sun Attitude and interest ©Prentice Hall 2003

Adjustments to Retirement Psychological adjustments Financial adjustments Marital (or relationship) adjustments Social adjustments ©Prentice Hall 2003

Sexual and Social Behavior Although their sexual responses may be slowed, most continue to enjoy sex in their sixties and seventies. Still, gradual social changes occur in late adulthood. Older adults start to interact with fewer people and perform fewer social roles. They may also become less influenced by social rules and expectations. ©Prentice Hall 2003

The Aging Process The aging mind works a little more slowly, and certain kinds of memories are more difficult to store and retrieve, but these changes are generally not extensive enough to interfere with most everyday tasks. Healthy older adults who engage in intellectually stimulating activities usually maintain a high level of mental functioning. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Alzheimer’s Disease A disorder characterized by progressive losses in memory and cognition and changes in personality that is believed to be caused by a deterioration of the brain’s structure and function. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Risk Factors for Developing Alzheimer’s Disease Family history of dementia Having Down syndrome or Parkinson’s disease Being born to a woman over the age of 40 Suffering a head trauma Being heterozygous for a certain gene located on chromosome 19 ©Prentice Hall 2003

Facing Death Most elderly people fear death less than younger people do. What they do fear are the pain, indignity, depersonalization, and loneliness associated with a terminal illness. They also worry about becoming a financial burden to their families. The death of a spouse may be the most severe challenge the elderly face. ©Prentice Hall 2003

Kübler-Ross’s Stages of Dying Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance ©Prentice Hall 2003