Development How do you become YOU?

Developmental Psychology Developmental Psychology: the study of continuity and change across a human’s life span Prenatality, Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood Question: Who do you think is happier, an infant, an adolescent, or an adult?

Prenatal Development Zygote: single cell that contains chromosomes from both a sperm and an egg Germinal Stage: two-week period that begins at conception The zygote divides exponentially Embryonic Stage: a period that lasts from the second week until about the eighth week Embryo has a beating heart, arms and legs, is one inch long Testosterone masculinizes embryo, lack of T feminizes Fetal Stage: a period that lasts from the ninth week until birth Myelination: the formation of a fatty sheaths around the axons of a brain cell

Zygote

Germinal Stage

Embryonic Stage

Fetal Stage

Prenatal Environment The womb is an ENVIRONMENT, isn’t neutral Teratogens: agents that damage the process of development in the womb Lead in water, paint dust in air, mercury in fish, tobacco, alcohol Effect depends on the developmental stage at which they are encountered Fetal Alcohol Syndrome : a developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Infancy Motor development: emergence of the ability to execute physical actions ReflexesReflexes: infants are born with some peculiar ones Rooting reflex: searching for object that touches cheek Sucking reflex: infants will suck an any object placed in their mouths Grasping reflex: a baby will grasp on object placed in feet or hands Moro reflex: when startled, babies retract limbs Babinski reflex: babies spread toes when feet are stroked

Some Reflexes

Infancy (2) Limited range of vision Detail a newborn can see at 20 ft is equivalent to the same level an adult sees at 600 ft Can follow stimuli with their eyes Can distinguish stimuli they have seen before from those they have not Habituation Newborns mimic facial expressions in their first HOUR of life

Jean Piaget & Cognitive Development Jean Piaget: Swiss biologist, father of developmental psychology Cognitive Development: the emergence of the ability to understand the world Piaget’s Stages: sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, formal operational stage Children ALWAYS pass through them in order Not all reach the final stages Children graduate from stage to stage

Sensorimotor Stage Schemas Rules that are developed over time, allow children to understand their words Assimilation Incorporating information into a schemata in order to understand it Accommodation Adjusting a schemata given new, contradictory information Object Permanence

Preoperational & Concrete Operational Stage Preoperational : begins at about 2 years, ends at about 6 years Centration: tendency to focus on just one property of an object to the exclusion of all others Egocentrism: failure to understand that the world appears differently to different observers Concrete Operational : children can manipulate objects, understand physical principles Conservation: the notion that the quantitative properties of an object are invariant despite changes in the object’s appearance Reversibility: operation made on objects can be reversed

Formal Operational Stage 11 years – adulthood False Belief Tests: understanding why others have false beliefs Theory of Mind: idea that human behavior is guided by mental representations Autistic children, and to some extent deaf children, lag far behind peers in developing ToM Language skills are an excellent predictor of how well children how well they perform on false belief tests

Culture and Development Vygotsky’s Theory of Development : cognitive development is largely the result of child’s interaction with members of his/her own culture rather than interactions with objects Cultural Tools: language and counting systems exert a strong influence on cog. development Are ways for children to HAVE thoughts, not modes of expression Zone of Proximal Development: children are capable of developing a range of skills Whether children develop towards the high range of his/her zone depends upon environment

Social Development Harry Harlow’s monkey experiments Moscow Orphanages Imprinting: attachment, or an emotional bond, is especially strong with the first organism seen

Attachment Styles Mary Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation”: behavioral test used to determine a child’s attachment style Secure attachment Avoidant attachment Ambivalent attachment Disorganized attachment Attachment style prominence varies by culture Attachment styles can CHANGE! Model of attachment: set of expectations about how the primary caregiver will respond when the child feels insecure Temperament: characteristic patterns of emotional reactivity

Parenting Styles Authoritarian Punish undesired behaviors, rarely reinforce desired behaviors Do not discuss reason behind rules Obedience encouraged Permissive No clear guidelines for behavior Punishment/reinforcement are unpredictable Authoritative Clear guidelines set, standards are consistent Rules are reasonable and explained to children

Moral Development Kohlberg’s Stage Theory (of moral development) Preconventional (most children) Stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by its consequences for the actor Conventional (most adolescents) Stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it conforms to social rules Postconventional (some adults) Stage of moral development at which the morality of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core value

Heinz Dilemma A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: “No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it.” So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's laboratory to steal the drug for his wife. Should Heinz have broken into the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?

Adolescence Critical period for learning a second language ends Second neuronal “pruning period” Onset of sexual maturity Ages of physical and mental development vary across cultures Sexual Orientation 2% to 10% of adults self-identify as homosexual yet only.5% of young teenagers are willing to do the same Children raised by homosexual parents and heterosexual parents are equally likely to become homosexual Genetics may play a role Fetal environment may play a role

Adulthood Body starts to deteriorate around years of age Prefrontal Cortex breaks down more quickly than other parts of the brain Cognitive tasks that require effort, initiative, or strategy Brain compensates by putting other parts to work

Get Happy! Socioemotional Selectivity Theory: age and orientation towards future effects memory as much as biology does Younger adults are generally oriented toward the acquisition of information that will be useful later Older adults are oriented towards information that makes them feel emotional satisfaction in the present Why?

Get Happier! Older adults are less likely to be influenced by emotional stimuli than younger adults But O.A.s show more activation of amygdala when exposed to pleasant images Older adults tend to feel more complex emotions than younger Older adults become more selective of friends, relationships

Married? With Children?? Married people report being happier than unmarried people; they also live longer But correlation or causation? Happiness  marriage or marriage  happiness? Children may DECREASE happiness Parents typically report lower marital satisfaction than non-parents Negative impact of parenthood stronger for women than men Women report being less happy taking care of children than when eating, exercising, shopping, napping, or watching TV Yet mothers whose children are adults report positive emotions towards motherhood!

Freud’s Stages & Psychodynamic Theory Oral Phase Anal Phase Phallic Phase Genital Phase