1. Developmental Psychology A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social changes throughout the lifespan. The study of humans womb to tomb

2. Developmental Psychology Four Basic types of development: 1. Physical: The ways our body changes from womb to tomb 2. Social: The ways our social needs change from womb to tomb 3. Cognitive: The ways our thinking and learning change from womb to tomb 4. Moral: The ways we think about right and wrong change from womb to tomb

3. Developmental Psychology Basic question: What shapes the way we change over time? Focus on psychological changes across the entire life span Every area of psychology can be looked at from this perspective –biological development –social development –cognitive / perceptual development –personality development

4. Nature Versus Nurture What is role of heredity vs. environment in determining psychological makeup? Are you who you are because of: *The way you were born- Nature *The way you were raised- Nurture

5. Nature vs. Nurture What is role of heredity vs. environment in determining psychological makeup? –Is your IQ inherited or determined by nutrition and early environment? –Is there a ‘criminal’ gene or does poverty lead to criminal behavior? –Is sexual orientation a choice or genetically determined? These are some of our greatest societal debates Mistake to pose as ‘either / or’ questions

6. Fundamental Issues in Developmental Psychology Critical period - Are there periods when an individual is particularly sensitive to certain environmental experiences? –Are the first hours after birth critical for parent-child bonding? –Is first year critical for developing trust? –Easier to learn a language before age 10? Are there individual differences in stages and critical periods?

7. Fundamental Issues: Stability vs. Change Do our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as we age?

8. Research Methods Cross-Sectional Studies Participants of different ages studied at the same time. Longitudinal Studies One group of people studied over a period of time.

9. Prenatal Development Conception begins with the drop of an egg and the release of about 200 million sperm. The sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to penetrate the eggs surface.

10. Once the sperm penetrates the egg- we have a fertilized egg called…….. The Zygote *The first stage of prenatal development *Lasts about two weeks and consists of rapid cell division.

11. The Zygote Stage Less than half of all zygotes survive first two weeks. About 10 days after conception, the zygote will attach itself to the uterine wall. The outer part of the zygote becomes the placenta (which filters nutrients).

12. After two weeks, the zygote develops into an…. Lasts about 6 weeks. Heart begins to beat and the organs begin to develop. Embryo

13. Fetus By nine weeks we have a… The fetus by about the 6 th month, the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside of mother. At this time the baby can hear (and recognize) sounds and respond to light.

14. Teratogens harmful agents (chemicals and viruses) to the prenatal environment

15. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant women’s heavy drinking. Severe case symptoms include facial disproportion, small and malformed skulls FAS is now the leading cause of mental retardation

16. Childbirth…It’s a beautiful thing!

17. Childbirth Click the woman in labor to watch a birthing video. Please be aware that it is graphic….beautiful - but can be difficult to watch.

18. Healthy Newborns Turn head towards voices Recognize their mother’s smell Show preferences for novel stimuli See 8 to 12 inches from their faces Gaze longer at human like objects right from birth

19. So what will a healthy newborn do? Reflexes Rooting Reflex- a babies tendency, when touched on the cheek, to open mouth and search for a nipple Suckling Reflex – the baby will suck on anything put in their mouth Grasping Reflex – when something is placed in the palm of hand or foot, the baby will try to grab hold of it Moro Reflex – when startled, the baby will flail out its arms and legs, then retract them, making herself as small as possible Babinski Reflex – when baby’s foot is stroked, he or she will spread their toes

20. Reflexes Babinski Click on pictures to see clips of reflexes. Moro Rooting Suckling Grasping

21. Methods for Studying Infants Infant reflexes provide insight into their mental life –gaze duration related to visual perception –head turning related to auditory attention –sucking, reaching, kicking can be used to measure interest

22. Infant Perception Infants explore their environment in whatever way their physical development permits At 2-3 months will grasp object and put in mouth to explore At 3-4 months will manipulate object, examine it visually, selectively attend to novel objects or events

23. Developmental Psychology Infancy and Childhood

24. The Brain and Infancy Good News While in the womb, you produce almost ¼ million brain cells per minute. Bad News That is basically all you are ever going to develop.. Although the brain does not develop many new cells, the existing cells begin to work more efficiently- forming more complex neural networks.

25. Motor Development Maturation - Physical growth, regardless of the environment. Sequence is the same- but once again timing varies. First learn to roll over, sit up unsupported, crawl, walk etc…

26. Walking Walking- in US 25% learn by 11 months, 50% within a week of 1 st birthday, 90% by 15 months. Varies by culture- if the culture emphasizes walking then babies can walk at younger ages (NURTURE). But identical twins tend to learn to walk on the same day (NATURE).

27. Cognitive Development This field is Dominated by a man named Jean Piaget. He was developing IQ tests and noticed that many children got the same answers wrong. Thought to himself, “These kids are not stupid, they just think differently than adults.”

28. Piaget’s important concepts Children are active thinkers, always trying to make sense of the world. To make sense of the world, they develop schemas. Schema- a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

29. Piaget’s important concepts Assimilation- interpreting one’s new experiences into one’s existing schemas. Accommodation- adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

30. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete Operational Formal Operational

31. Sensorimotor Stage The Sensorimotor Stage is from approximately birth to 2 years of age. Babies take in the world purely through their senses- looking, hearing, touching, tasting and grasping.

32. Sensorimotor Stage At 4 to 8 months of age, your child will learn that she can make things move by banging them and shaking them. (Example--shaking a rattle, banging on toys, banging on tray of high chair)

33. Sensorimotor Stage Between 12 and 18 months your child will be able to represent hidden objects in her mind (Object Permanence). In other words, she will be able to “see” objects even when they are out of sight. Before Object Permanence- what is out of sight, is gone from the universe forever.

34. Sensorimotor Stage At 18 to 24 months of age, a child will begin to use images to stand for objects (symbols). In other words, a physical object can represent something else. This ability is called mediation and is very important in a child’s development because it means the child can think about more than just the objects that are around her; she can think about the whole world.

35. Sensorimotor Stage

36. Preoperational Stage The Preoperational Stage is from approximately 2 to 6 years of age. At the early part of this stage, a child will develop the ability to use symbols (mediation).

37. Preoperational Stage Between the ages of 3 and 4, your child will be able to apply this ability to symbolize with objects, to people (names represent people). By the end of this stage, the child will understand the concept of conservation. Properties such as mass, volume, number remain the same despite changes in forms of objects

38. Preoperational Stage Children in the preoperational stage are egocentric (the inability to take on another’s point of view). Preschoolers begin forming Theory of Mind – the realization that people have minds and the ability to infer intentions and feelings of others.

39. Preoperational Stage

40. Concrete Operational Stage 7-11 years old Understand concept of conservation. Can think logically, use analogies, and perform mathematical transformations (5+9 is the same as 9+5) also known as reversibility. God is love. Love is Blind. Stevie Wonder is Blind. Stevie Wonder is god. Less egocentric Inability to reason abstractly or hypothetically

41. Concrete Operational Stage

43. Formal Operational Stage 12 years old - adulthood We can reason abstractly (adult reasoning) * hypothesis testing *deducing consequences - if this, then that The stage where we can manipulate objects on our minds that we have never actually seen We can think about the way we think, called metacognition Piaget theorized that not all of us reach formal operations in all areas of thought

44. Formal Operational Stage

45. Piaget and Play-Doh Select one of Piaget’s stages of Cognitive Development and create a play-doh structure that symbolically represents that stage. Be prepared to explain your creation.

46. Piaget and Toys: Optional Extra Credit Worth 20 points Extra Credit Go to a toy store, alone or with a friend, and for each of Piaget’s four Stages of Cognitive Development, find one educational toy, and (1) Explain which of Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development is the toy apparently designed for; (2) Discuss which developmental phenomena the toy targets; (3) Assess the educational value of the toy; and (4) Decide whether, through design or marketing, the toy is targeted at a specific gender. You need to insert into the document a photograph of you in the toy store. Photograph the toys, if possible, and associate those photographs with your analysis of the toy. (Both of these steps are to verify that you did the assignment...)

47. How to Memorize Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development