Development over the lifespan chapter 3

Overview Conception to year one Cognitive development Learning to be good Gender development Adolescence Adulthood The wellsprings of resilience chapter 3

Prenatal development Conception 30 Hours 6 weeks 4 months chapter 3

Agents that cross the placenta German measles X-rays and other radiation Sexually transmitted diseases Cigarette smoking Alcohol and other drugs chapter 3

Physical abilities Newborn reflexes Rooting Sucking Swallowing Moro (“startle”) Babinski Grasping Stepping chapter 3

Perceptual abilities Visual abilities Quickly develops beyond initial range of eight inches Can distinguish contrasts, shadows, and edges Other senses Hearing Touch Olfaction chapter 3

Culture and maturation Many aspects of development depend on customs Baby’s ability to sleep alone Recommendation to have babies sleep on their back has caused many babies to skip crawling. chapter 3

Attachment A deep emotional bond that an infant develops with its primary caretaker Contact comfort In primates, the innate pleasure derived from close physical contact The basis of the infant’s first attachment Tested using strange situation A parent-infant “separation and reunion” procedure that is staged in a laboratory to test the security of a child’s attachment chapter 3

Types of attachment Secure A parent-infant relationship in which the baby is secure when the parent is present, distressed by separation, and delighted by reunion. Insecure A parent-infant relationship in which the baby clings to the parent, cries at separation, and reacts with anger or apathy to reunion. chapter 3

What causes insecure attachment? Abandonment and deprivation in the first two years of life Parenting that is abusive, neglectful, or erratic Child’s genetically influenced temperament Stressful circumstances in the family chapter 3

Language development Acquisition of speech begins in the first few months. Infants are responsive to pitch, intensity, and sound. By 4-6 months of age children can recognize their names and repetitive words. By 6-12 months they become familiar with sentence structure, start babbling. chapter 3

Language development By 11 months, infants use symbolic gestures. About 12 months, infants use words to label objects months, toddlers combine 2-3 words into telegraphic speech. chapter 3

Innate capacity for language Language too complex to be learned bit by bit Sentences have surface and deep structures. Surface structure: the way a sentence is spoken Deep structure: how a sentence is to be understood To transform surface sentence structures into deep ones, children must apply rules of grammar. chapter 3

Language acquisition device If we don’t teach syntax to toddlers, the brain must contain a language acquisition device. An innate module that allows young children to develop language if they are exposed to an adequate sampling of conversation Children are born with universal grammar, a sensitivity to the core features common to all languages. Nouns and verbs, subjects and objects, negatives chapter 3

Evidence supporting the LAD Children... in different cultures go through similar stages of linguistic development. combine words in ways adults never would. learn to speak or sign correctly without adult correction. not exposed to adult language may invent a language of their own. as young as 7 months can derive simple linguistic rules from a string of sounds. chapter 3

Evidence for learning and language Children learn the probability that any given word or syllable will follow another. Parents respond to children’s errors by restating or elaborating the phrase. Children imitate these adult recasts and expansions. chapter 3

Thinking According to Piaget, cognitive development consists of mental adaptations to new observations. Two adaptive processes Assimilation: absorbing new information into existing cognitive structures Accommodation: modifying existing cognitive structures in response to new information chapter 3

Your turn At what age will children recognize that the two clay balls on the right have the same amount of clay as the two balls on the left? 1. Ages Ages Ages Ages 12 and over chapter 3

Sensorimotor stage Birth–2 years Major accomplishment is object permanence. The understanding that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see or touch it chapter 3

Preoperational stage Ages 2–7 Focused on limitations of children’s thinking. Children at this age could not reason. Unable to perform operations Egocentric Cannot grasp concept of conservation chapter 3

Conservation Of substance “Do the two pieces have the same amount of clay?” Of number “Do the two rows have the same number of pennies?” chapter 3

Concrete operations Ages 7–12 Children’s thinking is still grounded in concrete experiences and concepts, but they can now understand conservation, reversibility, and causation. chapter 3

Formal operations stage Ages 12–adulthood Teenagers are capable of abstract reasoning Can compare and classify ideas Can reason about situations not personally experienced Can think about the future Can search systematically for solutions chapter 3

Current views of cognitive development Cognitive abilities develop in continuous, overlapping waves. Preschoolers are not as egocentric as Piaget thought. Children understand more than Piaget thought. Cognitive development is spurred by growing speed and efficiency of information processing. Cognitive development depends on the child’s education and culture. chapter 3

Moral reasoning: Kohlberg’s theory Preconventional level Punishment and obedience Instrumental relativism Conventional level Good boy–nice girl Society-maintaining Postconventional level Social contract Universal ethical principles chapter 3

Teaching moral behavior Power assertion Parent uses punishment and authority to correct misbehavior. Users tend to be authoritarian. Induction Parent appeals to child’s own resources, abilities, sense of responsibility, and feelings for others in correcting misbehavior. Users tend to be authoritative. chapter 3

Gender identity and typing Gender identity The fundamental sense of being male or female, independent of whether the person conforms to social and cultural rules of gender Gender typing Process by which children learn the abilities, interests, personality traits, and behaviors associated with being masculine or feminine in their culture chapter 3

Influences on gender development Biological factors Biological researchers believe that early play and toy preferences have a basis in prenatal hormones, genes, or brain organization. Cognitive factors Cognitive psychologists suggest that toy preferences are based on gender schemas or the mental network of knowledge, beliefs, metaphors, and expectations about what it means to be male or female. Learning factors Gender appropriate play may be reinforced by parents, teachers, and peers. chapter 3

Physiology of adolescence Adolescence Period of life from puberty until adulthood Puberty The age at which a person becomes capable of sexual reproduction Menarche A girl’s first menstrual period chapter 3

Timing of puberty Onset of puberty depends on genetic and environmental factors. E.g., body fat triggers the hormonal changes Early vs. late onset Early maturing boys have more positive views of their bodies and are more likely to smoke, binge drink, and break the law. Early maturing girls are usually socially popular but also regarded by peer group as precocious and sexually active. They are more likely to fight with parents, drop out of school, and have a negative body image. chapter 3

Turmoil and adjustment Extreme turmoil and problems with adjustment are the exception rather than the rule. Three kinds of problems are more likely Conflict with parents Mood swings and depression Higher rates of rule-breaking and risky behavior chapter 3

Erikson’s eight stages Trust vs. mistrust Infancy (birth-age 1) Autonomy vs. shame & doubt Toddler (ages 1-2) Initiative vs. guilt Preschool (ages 3-5) Industry vs. inferiority Elementary school (ages 6-12) Identity vs. role confusion Adolescence (ages 13-19) Intimacy vs. isolation Young adulthood (ages 20-40) Generativity vs. stagnation Middle adulthood (ages 40-65) Integrity vs. despair Late adulthood (ages 65 and older) chapter 3

Your turn At what age, according to Erikson, are people likely to wrestle with whether they are able to deal with the tasks facing them in life? 1. Age 4 2. Age 7 3. Age Age 25 chapter 3

Your turn At what age, according to Erikson, are people likely to wrestle with whether they are able to deal with the tasks facing them in life? 1. Age 4 2. Age 7 3. Age Age 25 chapter 3

The transitions of life Emerging adulthood (ages 18-25) Phase of life distinct from adolescence and adulthood In some ways an adult, in some ways not The middle years (ages 35-65) Perceived by many as the prime of life Menopause: the cessation of menstruation and the production of ova, usually a gradual process lasting several years chapter 3

Are you an adult yet?

Old age Some types of thinking change, others stay the same. Fluid intelligence: the capacity for deductive reasoning and the ability to use new information to solve problems; relatively independent of education, declines in old age Crystallized intelligence: cognitive skills and specific knowledge of information acquired over a lifetime; depends heavily on education, remains stable over lifetime. chapter 3

Lifespan intellectual changes Some intellectual abilities dwindle with age. Numerical and verbal abilities relatively stable. chapter 3

The wellsprings of resilience Research psychologists have questioned the psychodynamic assumption that childhood traumas have emotional effects that inevitably continue into adulthood. Considerable evidence disputes this claim. chapter 3

Challenging our assumptions Recovery from war Only 20% of WWII war orphans had problems after being adopted and moving to the US. Most of these eventually established happy lives. Recovery from abusive or alcoholic parents Their children are at-risk for developing these problems, but most do not. Recovery from sexual abuse More emotional and behavioral symptoms, but most adjust and recover. chapter 3