Chapter 3 Human Development

Chapter 3 Human Development

Nature vs. Nurture Developmental Psychology: The study of progressive age-related changes in behavior and abilities Heredity (Nature): Transmission of physical and psychological characteristics from parents to their children through genes Environment (“Nurture”): All external conditions that affect development Sensitive Periods: A period of increased sensitivity to environmental influences; also, a time when certain events must occur for normal development to take place

Figure 3.2 FIGURE 3.2 (Top left) Linked molecules (organic bases) make up the “rungs” on DNA’s twisted “molecular ladder.” The order of these molecules serves as a code for genetic information. The code provides a genetic blueprint that is unique for each individual (except identical twins). The drawing shows only a small section of a DNA strand. An entire strand of DNA is composed of billions of smaller molecules. (Bottom left) The nucleus of each cell in the body contains chromosomes made up of tightly wound coils of DNA. (Don’t be misled by the drawing: Chromosomes are microscopic in size, and the chemical molecules that make up DNA are even smaller.)

Figure 3.3 FIGURE 3.3 Gene patterns for children of brown-eyed parents, where each parent has one brown-eye gene and one blue-eye gene. Because the brown-eye gene is dominant, one child in four will be blue-eyed. Thus, there is a significant chance that two browneyed parents will have a blue-eyed child.

Temperament and Environment
Temperament: The physical “core” of personality Easy Children: 40%; relaxed and agreeable Difficult Children: 10%; moody, intense, easily angered Slow-to-Warm-Up Children: 15%; restrained, unexpressive, shy Remaining Children: Do not fit into any specific category

Environment Environment (“Nurture”): All external conditions that affect development Sensitive Periods: A period of increased sensitivity to environmental influences; also, a time when certain events must occur for normal development to take place

Environment (cont'd) Genetic Disorder: Problem caused by inherited characteristics Anything capable of causing birth defects (e.g., narcotics, radiation, cigarette smoke, lead, and cocaine) Deprivation: Lack of normal stimulation, nutrition, comfort, or love Enrichment: When an environment is deliberately made more complex and intellectually stimulating Enriched Environments: Environments deliberately made more novel, complex, and stimulating

The Mozart Effect: Real or Rubbish?
Rauscher & Shaw (1998) claimed that after college students listened to Mozart they scored higher on a spatial reasoning test Original experiment done with adults; tells us nothing about infants What effect would listening to other styles of music have? Most researchers unable to duplicate the effect Conclusion: Those who listened to Mozart were just more alert or in a better mood

Newborns (Neonates) and Their Reflexes
Grasping Reflex: If an object is placed in the infant’s palm, she’ll grasp it automatically (all reflexes are automatic responses; i.e., they come from nature, not nurture). Rooting Reflex: Lightly touch the infant’s cheek and he’ll turn toward the object and attempt to nurse; helps infant find bottle or breast. Sucking Reflex: Touch an object or nipple to the infant’s mouth and she’ll make rhythmic sucking movements. Moro Reflex: If a baby’s position is abruptly changed or if he is startled by a loud noise, he will make a hugging motion.

Maturation Physical growth and development of the body, brain, and nervous system Increased muscular control occurs in patterns Cephalocaudal: From head to toe Proximodistal: From center of the body to the extremities

Emotional and Social Development
Social Smile: Smiling elicited by social stimuli; not exclusive to seeing parents Invites parents to care for them

Figure 3.6 FIGURE 3.6 Motor development. Most infants follow an orderly pattern of motor development. Although the order in which children progress is similar, there are large individual differences in the ages at which each ability appears. The ages listed are averages for American children. It is not unusual for many of the skills to appear 1 or 2 months earlier than average or several months later (Frankenberg & Dodds, 1967; Harris & Liebert, 1991). Parents should not be alarmed if a child’s behavior differs some from the average.

Behavioral Capacities of the Newborn
Lack muscle control, especially in extremities 1 day-old infants show a preference for their mom’s voice Newborns have visual preferences Newborns have little muscle control, and exhibit the greatest purposeful movement with their eyes and mouths. Development proceeds from the head down and from the midline out, and so gradually babies can move their trunks, limbs and fingers. Newborns’ Vision Newborns have far from perfect vision, but see far better than was believed just a few generations ago 2-day-infants prefer to look at drawings of human faces. Infants direct their gaze at the same things that attract adult attention. As infants gain voluntary control of their arms and legs, and begin to crawl, a fear of heights develops that is almost certainly related to improved depth perception. Visual motor coordination develops quickly but must be practiced to continue being improved. Experiments with kittens suggest that eye movements must be allowed to coordinate with body movements for further development of all visually guided behavior.

Newborns’ Vision Newborns have far from perfect vision, but see far better than was believed just a few generations ago 2-day-infants prefer to look at drawings of human faces. Infants direct their gaze at the same things that attract adult attention. Figure 10.4 Infants pay more attention to faces than to other patterns. These results suggest that infants are born with certain visual preferences. (Based on Fantz, 1963)

Newborns’ Vision As motor skills develop, perceptual abilities improve (e.g., depth perception) Visual motor coordination develops quickly but must be practiced to continue being improved. Experiments with kittens suggest that eye movements must be allowed to coordinate with body movements for further development of all visually guided behavior. As infants gain voluntary control of their arms and legs, and begin to crawl, a fear of heights develops that is almost certainly related to improved depth perception.

Infants as young as one month old can discriminate between speech sounds. Infants show a preference for their mom’s voice They showed this preference on the day of their birth, suggesting that they have some memory of her voice from before birth. Older infants (2-3 months old) show ability to learn responses and remember them for days afterwards, such as kicking their legs to make a mobile move. Nine month olds can learn to press a lever to move a toy train around a track, and can retain this memory for a fairly long time.

Assessing Newborns’ Hearing Capabilities via Habituation
Figure 10.6 After 5 minutes of hearing a ba sound, the infant’s sucking habituates. When a new sound, pa, follows, the sucking rate increases, an indication that infants do hear a difference between the two sounds. (Based on results of Eimas, Siqueland, Juscyk, & Vigorito, 1971) Newborns’ Hearing In general, infants suck more vigorously when they hear sounds that they find stimulating. Some sounds (such as the human voice) are more stimulating than others. Most sounds eventually produce a decreased response as the infant becomes habituated to them Playing new sounds for an infant will increase responding, and may even result in a dishabituation, or increased responding to previously habituated sounds.

Newborns’ Learning and Memory
8 week-olds show ability to learn responses and remember them for days afterwards (make mobile move)

Mobile Task from Rovee-Collier (1984)
According to Rovee-Collier and Boller (1995), 2- to 6-month-old infants seem to like this game. After several minutes, they begin to kick rapidly and pump up the mobile; then they lie quietly and watch parts of the mobile move. As the movement dies down, they typically shriek and kick vigorously, thereby pumping it up again. In operant conditioning terms, the response is a foot kick, and the reinforcement is the movement of the mobile. At the end of the second session, the ribbon is unhooked and returned to the empty stand for 3 minutes in order to measure what the infants remember; this is the immediate retention test. Long-term memory is then measured after 1 to 42 days have elapsed. The mobile is once again hung above the infant’s crib, with the ribbon hooked to the empty stand. Of course the mobile is still present. If the infant recognizes the mobile and recalls how kicking had produced movement, then he/she will produce the foot-kick response. Notice, then , that Rovee-Collier has devised a clever way to “ask” infants if they remember how to activate the mobile. She has also devised an objective method for assessing memory, because she can compare two measures: (1) the number of kicks produced following the delay, and (2) the number of kicks produced in the immediate retention test. Rovee-Collier and her colleagues also devised a second task that would be more appealing to infants between the ages of 6 and 18 months. By combining information from the two tasks, they could trace infant memory from 2 months to 19 months of age. In this second task, older infants learn to press a lever in order to make a miniature train move along a circular track. (deferred imitation) Figure 12.2 shows how much time can pass before infants no longer show significant recall for the task. ***1 or 2 days for 8-week-olds **Up to 2 weeks for 6-month-olds (mobile task and train task). Retention shows a steady improvement during the first 18 months of life.

Figure 3.8 FIGURE 3.8 The traditional view of infancy holds that emotions are rapidly differentiated from an initial capacity for excitement.

Figure 3.9 FIGURE 3.9 Infants display many of the same emotional expressions as adults do. Carroll Izard believes such expressions show that distinct emotions appear within the first months of life. Other theorists argue that specific emotions come into focus more gradually, as an infant’s nervous system matures. Either way, parents can expect to see a full range of basic emotions by the end of a baby’s first year.

Mary Ainsworth and Attachment
Emotional Attachment: close emotional bond babies form with their caregivers Separation Anxiety: Crying and signs of fear when a child is left alone or is with a stranger; appears around 8-12 months Quality of Attachment (Ainsworth) Secure: Stable and positive emotional bond; upset by mother’s absence Insecure-Avoidant: Tendency to avoid reunion with parent or caregiver Insecure-Ambivalent: Desire to be with parent or caregiver and some resistance to being reunited with Mom

Figure 3.10 FIGURE 3.10 In the United States, about two thirds of all children from middle-class families are securely attached. About one child in three is insecurely attached. (Percentages are approximate. From Kaplan, 1998.)

Play and Social Skills Solitary Play: When a child plays alone even when with other children Cooperative Play: When two or more children must coordinate their actions

Optimal Caregiving Maternal Influences: All the effects a mother has on her child Goodness of Fit (Chess & Thomas): Degree to which parents and child have compatible temperaments Paternal Influences: Sum of all effects a father has on his child

Figure 3.11 FIGURE 3.11 This graph shows the results of a study of child care in homes other than the child’s. In most cases, parents paid for this care, although many of the caregivers were unlicensed. As you can see, child care was “good” in only 9 percent of the homes. In 35 percent of the homes, it was rated as inadequate

Figure 3.12 FIGURE 3.12 Mother-infant and father-infant interactions. These graphs show what occurred on routine days in a sample of 72 American homes. The graph on the left records the total amount of contact parents had with their babies, including such actions as talking to, touching, hugging, or smiling at the infant. The graph on the right shows the amount of caregiving (diapering, washing, feeding, and so forth) done by each parent. Note that in both cases mother-infant interactions greatly exceed father-infant interactions.

Parenting Styles (Baumrind, 1991)
Authoritarian Parents: Enforce rigid rules and demand strict obedience to authority. Children are obedient and self-controlled. Overly Permissive: Give little guidance. Allow too much freedom, or don’t hold children accountable for their actions. Children tend to be dependent and immature and frequently misbehave. Authoritative: Provide firm and consistent guidance combined with love and affection. Children tend to be competent, self-controlled, independent, and assertive.

Types of Child Discipline
Power Assertion: Using physical punishment or a show of force Withdrawal of Love: Withholding affection; refusing to speak to a child or threatening to leave Management Techniques: Combine praise, recognition, approval, rules, and reasoning to encourage desirable behavior

Language Acquisition Cooing: Repetition of vowel sounds by infants (like “oo” and “ah”); starts at about 8 weeks Babbling: Repetition of meaningless language sounds (e.g., babababa); starts at about 7 months Single-Word Stage: The child says one word at a time Telegraphic Speech: Two word sentences that communicate a single idea (e.g., Want yogurt)

Figure 3.13 FIGURE 3.13 Infant engagement scale. These samples from a 90-point scale show various levels of infant engagement, or attention. Babies participate in prelanguage “conversations” with parents by giving and withholding attention and by smiling, gazing, or vocalizing.

Figure 3.14 FIGURE 3.14 This graph shows the development of turn-taking in games played by an infant and his mother. For several months, Richard responded to games such as peek-a-boo and “hand-the-toy-back” only when his mother initiated action. At about 9 months, however, he rapidly began to initiate action in the games. Soon, he was the one to take the lead about half the time. Learning to take turns and to direct actions toward another person underlie basic language skills.

Noam Chomsky and the Roots of Language
Biological Disposition: Presumed readiness of ALL humans to learn certain skills such as how to use language Chomsky: Language patterns are inborn Parentese (Motherese): Pattern of speech used when talking to infants Marked by raised voice; short, simple sentences and repetition

Jean Piaget and Cognitive Development
Piaget believed that all children passed through a set series of stages during their intellectual development; like Freud, he was a Stage Theorist. As child interacts with the environment, thinking/reasoning patterns change through two main processes: Assimilation: Application of existing mental patterns to new situations. Accommodation: Existing ideas are changed to accommodate new information or experiences.

Jean Piaget: Sensorimotor Stage
Sensorimotor (0-2 Years): All sensory input and motor responses are coordinated; most intellectual development here is nonverbal. Object Permanence: Concept that objects still exist when they are out of sight.

Sensorimotor Stage Children learn with their hands and mouths
Major development is object permanence—around 8 months of age

Object Permanence

Figure 3.16 FIGURE 3.16 The panels on the left show a possible event, in which an infant watches as a toy is placed behind the right of two screens. After a delay of 70 seconds, the toy is brought into view from behind the right screen. In the two panels on the right, an impossible event occurs. The toy is placed behind the left screen and retrieved from behind the right. (A duplicate toy was hidden there before testing.) Eight-month-old infants react with surprise when they see the impossible event staged for them. Their reaction implies that they remember where the toy was hidden. Infants appear to have a capacity for memory and thinking that greatly exceeds what Piaget claimed is possible during the sensorimotor period.

Jean Piaget: Preoperational Stage
Preoperational Stage (2-7 Years): Children begin to use language and think symbolically, BUT their thinking is still intuitive and egocentric. Intuitive: Makes little use of reasoning and logic. Egocentric Thought: Thought that is unable to accommodate viewpoints of others.

Three-Mountain Task (Preopperational)

Conservation of Volume (Preoperational)

Jean Piaget: Concrete Operational Stage
Concrete Operational Stage (7-11Years): Children become able to use concepts of time, space, volume, and number BUT in ways that remain simplified and concrete, not abstract. Conservation: Mass, weight, and volume remain unchanged when the shape or appearance of objects changes. Reversibility of Thought: Relationships involving equality or identity can be reversed.

The Concrete Operations Stage
From about age 7 children begin to exhibit reversible operations and seem to understand the conservation of physical properties. According to Piaget, during the stage of concrete operations children can perform mental operations on concrete objects. They may however have trouble with abstract or hypothetical ideas. The Formal Operations Stage Formal Operations is Piaget’s term for the mental processes used to deal with abstract, hypothetical situations. These are processes that demand logical, deductive reasoning and systematic planning. Piaget proposed that children reach this stage just before adolescence (at about age 11.) Researchers have found that some people take longer to reach formal operations, and some people never do.

Jean Piaget: Formal Operations
Formal Operations Stage (11 Years and Up): Thinking now includes abstract, theoretical, and hypothetical ideas. Hypothetical Possibilities: Suppositions, guesses, or projections. Critics of Piaget’s theory claim he underestimated children’s abilities because he 1) didn’t pay attention to cultural differences 2) confused inability to make a physical response with lack of cognitive skills 3) didn’t think infants could form internal representations

Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Children’s cognitive development is heavily influenced by social and cultural factors. A child’s thinking develops through dialogues with more capable persons Zone of Proximal Development: Range of tasks a child cannot master alone even though they are close to having the necessary mental skills; they need guidance from a more capable partner in order to complete the task. Scaffolding: Adjusting instruction so it is responsive to a beginner’s behavior and so it supports the beginner’s efforts to understand a problem or gain a mental skill

Lawrence Kohlberg and Stages of Moral Development
Moral Development: When we acquire values, beliefs, and thinking abilities that guide responsible behavior Three Levels Preconventional: Moral thinking guided by consequences of actions (punishment, reward, exchange of favors) Conventional: Reasoning based on a desire to please others or to follow accepted rules and values Postconventional: Follows self-accepted moral principles Stage theorist, like Freud and Erikson

Few people are absolutely consistent in their moral reasoning.
TABLE 10.3 Responses to One of Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemmas by People at Six Levels of Moral Reasoning The dilemma: Heinz’s wife was near death from cancer. A druggist had recently discovered a drug that might be able to save her. The druggist was charging $2000 for the drug, which cost him $200 to make. Heinz could not afford to pay for it, and he could borrow only $1000 from friends. He offered to pay the rest later. The druggist refused to sell the drug for less than the full price paid in advance: “I discovered the drug, and I’m going to make money from it.” Late that night, Heinz broke into the store to steal the drug for his wife. Did Heinz do the right thing Kohlberg assessed the level of moral reasoning using the explanation for the decision offered, rather than the decision itself. Few people are absolutely consistent in their moral reasoning. Kohlberg believed that very few people actually reached the highest stages.

TABLE 10.3 (cont.) Responses to One of Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemmas by People at Six Levels of Moral Reasoning The dilemma: Heinz’s wife was near death from cancer. A druggist had recently discovered a drug that might be able to save her. The druggist was charging $2000 for the drug, which cost him $200 to make. Heinz could not afford to pay for it, and he could borrow only $1000 from friends. He offered to pay the rest later. The druggist refused to sell the drug for less than the full price paid in advance: “I discovered the drug, and I’m going to make money from it.” Late that night, Heinz broke into the store to steal the drug for his wife. Did Heinz do the right thing

Erikson tutorial Ages 0 - 1 The infant faces the issue –
“Is my social world predictable and supportive?” The main conflict of infancy is basic trust versus basic mistrust. Ages 1 – 3 The toddler asks the question – “Can I do things for myself or must I always rely on others to help me?” The main conflict of toddlerhood is autonomy versus shame and doubt. Ages 3 – 6 The preschooler needs to figure out – “Am I a good person or a bad person?” The main conflict of the preschool aged child is initiative versus guilt. Ages 6 – 12 In an expanding social world, the school-aged child wants to know – “Am I successful or am I worthless?” The preadolescent faces the struggle with a sense of industry versus inferiority. Adolescence Teenagers begin to seek independence and seek the answer to this fundamental question – “Who am I?” The adolescent needs to resolve the conflict between a settled identity versus role confusion. Young Adulthood Young adults come to terms with the importance of companionship and connection – “Shall I share my life with another person or live alone?” The central conflict of early adulthood is that of intimacy versus isolation. Middle Age In the middle of adulthood one wants to feel that they have contributed to society in some meaningful way – “Will I add anything of real value to the world as a worker and a parent?” The conflict of middle adulthood is the desire to achieve generativity versus stagnation. Old Age The reality that time is growing short forces people to face a final and profound question – “Have I lived a full and meaningful life, or have I squandered my time?” As older adults we struggle to determine whether we have arrived at a stage of ego integrity versus despair. Erikson tutorial

Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Dilemmas
Stage One: Trust versus Mistrust (Birth-1): Children are completely dependent on others Trust: Established when babies given adequate warmth, touching, love, and physical care Mistrust: Caused by inadequate or unpredictable care and by cold, indifferent, and rejecting parents Stage Two: Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt (1-3) Autonomy: Doing things for themselves Overprotective or ridiculing parents may cause children to doubt abilities and feel shameful about their actions

Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Dilemmas (cont'd)
Stage Three: Initiative versus Guilt (3-5) Initiative: Parents reinforce via giving children freedom to play, use imagination, and ask questions Guilt: May occur if parents criticize, prevent play, or discourage a child’s questions Stage Four: Industry versus Inferiority (6-12) Industry: Occurs when child is praised for productive activities Inferiority: Occurs if child’s efforts are regarded as messy or inadequate

Figure 3.17 FIGURE 3.17 Dramatic differences in physical size and maturity are found in adolescents of the same age. The girls pictured are all 13, the boys 16. Maturation that occurs earlier or later than average can affect the “search for identity.”

Stage Five (Adolescence): Identity versus Role Confusion Identity: For adolescents; problems answering, “Who am I?” Role Confusion: Occurs when adolescents are unsure of where they are going and who they are Stage Six (Young adulthood): Intimacy versus Isolation Intimacy: Ability to care about others and to share experiences with them Isolation: Feeling alone and uncared for in life

Stage Seven (Middle adulthood): Generativity versus Stagnation Generativity: Interest in guiding the next generation Stagnation: When one is only concerned with one’s own needs and comforts Stage Eight (Late adulthood): Integrity versus Despair Integrity: Self-respect; developed when people have lived richly and responsibly Despair: Occurs when previous life events are viewed with regret; experiences heartache and remorse

Effective Parenting Have stable rules of conduct (consistency)
Show mutual respect, love, encouragement, and shared enjoyment Have effective communication I-Message: Tells children the effect their behavior had on you (Use this) You-Message: Threats, name-calling, accusing, bossing, criticizing, or lecturing (Avoid this)

Consequences Natural Consequences: Effects that naturally follow a particular behavior; intrinsic effects Logical Consequences: Rational and reasonable effects

Chapter 3 Human Development

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